I have a question. The library helped me put a picture of the Fava Top that I use for tincture on my email so I could send it out. Can I put this as a reply on my post so people can see the part I use? I am so bad at describing it. A picture is worth a thousand words you know.

Hi Aunt Bean
Yes you can add the photo as a signature picture if you like and then it will show on all your posts, or you can add it to a specific post as either a hosted image or upload it direct from your computer as an attachment

Can't get the picture to copy here...so sending website for the fava blog on Robert Rodgers' site where a picture of the "Top" or bud is now posted
www.favabeans.parkinsonsrecovery.com Hope you all can go there to see te picture. Someday , perhaps, I will understand more about computers (just wasted an hr trying to move a picture !) A Frustrated Aunt Bean

They have a beautiful colour flower, AuntBean.

Next time you are up to trying it, there's info in the FAQ that may help.
You would have it saved on your computer obviously, so it just may need resizing?

From FAQ -Adding Signature

Edit Signature

Where it says Upload Signature Picture -

Click Browse

That will bring up an area on your computer where you'll find your Pictures and Downloads and others.

When you find the correct picture, just click on it.
It should show up in the box.

Don't forget to click Save Signature at the bottom.
Most important.

It is fiddly if you've not done it before.

[Edit Signature can also be found in User CP]

.

Just collected my first fall planting "tops" yesterday. ugh...aphids have found them. Had no infestations this spring, just a couple of plants were attacked then. Had to pick parsley and make tea and spray them all. Then it poured rain about an hour later and could have washed it all off (hope it did a job on them quickly) We shall see.

Aunt Bean is amazed...our watermellons are ripening and this little gray duck is consuming them. Also right now, I have ripe sweet and hot peppers and egg plant and tomatoes (ripe and green)...which I am eating and making into pickled relishes ...anxious to try fermenting them also. I have only taken 3 doses (a dropperful is a common dose of fava top tincture for me now) iin the past three days. Nothing yet today and I have been up for 3 hrs getting ready for dad's birthday celebration tonight (turning 89 this week...pretty cool. Pretty much expect to have to go back to dosing tincture 5 times a day after the fresh produce is gone...but it is wonderful not to have to use much l-dopa supplement for at least a while. It really gives me hope that PD can be held at bay at least so we can "just live" and not think about it so much I am also starting to do a morning drink of 1/2 teas ceylon cinamon, 1 teaspoon of raw natural honey , a teas of Braggs apple cider vinegar and am aquas (a couple drops) all iin a glass of very warm water to start my day. So I have a lot of new things suddenly going on in my daily food consumption. For now at least...I am a very happy little grey duck...with lots of goodies to graze on.

Started preparing the greenhouse (80 foot hoop house without heat source...basically a giant cold frame) Planning to soak favas and other seeds this morning and start seeds in flats tonight. Almost time to dig sweet potatoes...harvesting the best beet greens ever. Trying a variety of new ferments...so far the egg plant/ sweet and hot pepper/ green tomatoes and fava sprout one with salt and miso is not doing anything. Perhaps egg plant won't ferment. Can't research on home computer and will have to find time to go to library...Is there any one out there not in the midst of harvest that could google this for me ?? There may be something simple I could add to help it along. Thanks

Eggplant should ferment.

Maybe it's the combination of the miso with the salt? Miso is already very salty.
Plus aubergine/eggplant can be very moist already.

Maybe it's ratio of liquid to salt. The salt would draw the water from the eggplant.
The amount of water content in the eggplant would depend on the size I guess.

I grew baby aubergine last year and they were great. Not at all like the large ones. They weren't bitter and they had very little moisture in them. They were crisp.

Also came across this regarding the temperature.
http://www.culturesforhealth.com/fer...shooting-guide
Troubleshooting - down the bottom of page.
"Vegetables Don’t Seem to Be Doing Anything"

There's a section in a book below here that mentions starter cultures and the difference seasonally but it is about one particular type of eggplant - Almagro Eggplant

Molecular Techniques in the Microbial Ecology of Fermented Foods
By Luca Cocolin, Danilo Ercolini
Page 152

They mention addition of homemade (not bought) whey in this
http://www.westonaprice.org/health-t...-fermentation/
Lacto-Fermentation

Whey again and lactic acid brine mentioned.
http://thefermentary.blogspot.com.au...-eggplant.html

Bean Acres outside vegies are coming to a close for the winter, except for beets , peas and fava plants. Inside the greenhouse are still hot peppers, tomatoes, turmeric, ginger, potatoes, beets, spinach mustard , fava plants,. There are tiny cabbage/caulifower/kale/ and broccoli babies yet not big enough to plant in there also. Still getting a fig now and then also. Dahlias are dug and sweet potatoes. There is a whole row of bush mucunas that I am not sure what to do with as yet. Freezers are full. God has blessed us with good crops this summer. Still taking less l-dopa fava tincture as yet...eating green tomatoes and the last of the sweet peppers . Still can't believe that hot peppers are not hot when cooked and I have always given them away...along with egg plant that I hadn't developed a taste for before this summer. Glen Pettibone has opened a whole new food world to me that saves on my limited tincture supply. Still getting plenty of exersize cleaning garden and heaping the compost piles with dead vines, etc and making raised beds for next year. Could still use help if anyone out there needs constructive use of surplus energy! Have a blessed day Aunt Bean

We might be having a frost again this morning...so brought in my beautiful ginger plant (which I named Gidget) from the greenhouse to the kitchen. Also dug a few turmeric plants...dried the leaves and chopped some root for tea...wonderful stuff. Froze some root, which I am not sure was a good idea..haven't researched it yet. Covered the rest of the turmeric plants in the greenhouse hoping to let them grow for another week yet. It is exciting to look forward to another year in the garden, starting with a fresh peice of paper and planning new raised beds. It is so nice to sit on the side of a raised bed to pick and weed than to crawl on the ground. Do something special today...try a new exercise/call an old friend. Try a new food . get some sunshine and smile and brighten someones day. Blessings from Aunt Bean