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[DeKaFu]

In my experience, anyway, tastiness has nothing to do with being "organic" and everything to do with things being local, fresh, and not harvested prematurely like most supermarket stuff. I think people get confused because there's overlap sometimes, but not always.

I've had some truly awesome fruits and veggies that I have no doubt were doused in chemicals and pesticides, but they were grown just down the street and harvested/sold at the perfect time.

Unrelated, but this reminds me of an interesting thing I read a few years back. Scientists discovered a few years ago that we've actually been unintentionally genetically engineering tomatoes to taste worse for decades. It turns out the same gene that makes tomatoes turn red uniformly rather than unevenly (which is considered desirable) also surpresses the production of the sugars that give tomatoes their flavour. So producers have been breeding for blandness for years, and you now need to go to heirloom tomato varieties to even get an idea of how they're supposed to taste.

I hate raw tomatoes anyway, but I thought it was interesting.

[Bauglir]

Y'know, I don't know too much about this, but building machines to harvest/weed/etc. polycultured fields doesn't sound impossible. You'd pretty much just need to focus on a modular design for the bits that actually do the interacting with the plants, so a given farmer could assemble a machine that fits their particular field layout. Maybe allow nesting for plants whose size differences mean that you'd wind up with them too close together or something. I dunno, but this is definitely something we can engineer around.

[Helgoland]

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Were the two gardens cared for equally? Because it sounds like one was your mom's and one was yours.

[penguinofhonor]

Y'know, I don't know too much about this, but building machines to harvest/weed/etc. polycultured fields doesn't sound impossible. You'd pretty much just need to focus on a modular design for the bits that actually do the interacting with the plants, so a given farmer could assemble a machine that fits their particular field layout. Maybe allow nesting for plants whose size differences mean that you'd wind up with them too close together or something. I dunno, but this is definitely something we can engineer around.

I agree! I think we've managed to fuck up our food and environment on a pretty impressive scale with farming technology, but that doesn't mean we need to back out entirely. Just be smart about it.

It makes me sad when people condemn things like genetic modification as a whole just because they're frequently misused now.

[Sheb]

Jeez, I should rant about this, but I simply don't have the energy right now.

[BFEL]

Also, the fact that someone suggested GM food as a better alternative, well... It is sad but not unexpected.)

Sooo you're saying you don't think genetic modification can result in better food? I mean, admittedly right now its used mainly to make things FATTER and/or better looking, but that doesn't mean if it was used right we couldn't make supa veggies.

[Sheb]

I made Schnitzels for the first time tonight. It was a resounding success. I'm still impressed at how effective the Schnitzelhammer (No idea what would be the actual English name) is at turning a nice pork chop into a slice of meat mere milliters thick, perfect for its fatty, crunchy fate (I cooked them in about 100g of rendered pork fat). It really make you understand why the Nazis never used pork chops to armor their tanks.

 Now I want to try the mighty Schnitzelhammer on some beef steak, to see if I could make a lazy man's carpaccio with it.

[LordSlowpoke]

the english name

is schnitzel hammer

alternatively cutlet hammer

you haven't even tried

[Sheb]

Apparently it's tenderizing hammer. Schnitzelhammer sounds much better in my head.

[Helgoland]

'Schnitzelhammer' sounds like a neutral German from some Indiana Jones movie. Not a Nazi, but someone on the sidelines.
"Dr. Schnitzelhammer, can you tell us where this vase is from?" "I do not know myself, Mr. Jones, but zere is someone who can - ze man I bought it from. He lives near ze harbor; a meeting could be arranged. But be warned: He is a rather... peculiar character, if you know what I mean."

[scrdest]

'Schnitzelhammer' sounds like a neutral German from some Indiana Jones movie. Not a Nazi, but someone on the sidelines.
"Dr. Schnitzelhammer, can you tell us where this vase is from?" "I do not know myself, Mr. Jones, but zere is someone who can - ze man I bought it from. He lives near ze harbor; a meeting could be arranged. But be warned: He is a rather... peculiar character, if you know what I mean."

I lol'd hard.

I'm pretty sure any AdjectiveNoun - style word in German would work as a name. Anything.

There's also a joke here in Poland that in German any short phrase sounds like an execution order. For example, 'Merry Christmas'.

[Vector]

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[LordSlowpoke]

Gonna embark on Mango Sticky Rice, possibly tonight. Wish me luck!!

you don't need any luck you greedy vector you

you'll nail this thing

[Sheb]

That was one of my favourite thing in Thailand. I'd eat whole plate of the stuff as a meal. :p

[Vector]

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