megmaine

Even though it takes far less water and land resources to grow almond trees than it does to grow dairy cattle, (and that is even without concerns over the humane treatment of animals) you are right to point out that we need to diversify our sources of almonds and everything else, such that a calamity in one growing area will not result in worldwide shortage. Keeping all our eggs in one basket is foolishness. You would also be right to point out that the habit and desire to drink a white creamy beverage that is either dairy or an imitation of dairy, is better to discourage than to encourage, but my purpose with this instructable was simply to help those who wanted to make their own almond milk, do so, not to discuss whether the consumption of creamy white beverages makes sense in a given...see more »Even though it takes far less water and land resources to grow almond trees than it does to grow dairy cattle, (and that is even without concerns over the humane treatment of animals) you are right to point out that we need to diversify our sources of almonds and everything else, such that a calamity in one growing area will not result in worldwide shortage. Keeping all our eggs in one basket is foolishness. You would also be right to point out that the habit and desire to drink a white creamy beverage that is either dairy or an imitation of dairy, is better to discourage than to encourage, but my purpose with this instructable was simply to help those who wanted to make their own almond milk, do so, not to discuss whether the consumption of creamy white beverages makes sense in a given area or situation beyond that of pre-weaned nursing.

True that growing almonds for a world market takes water. But it takes less water than growing dairy cattle for a world market, for those not allergic to almonds. Feeding and watering dairy cattle is far more costly for resources even without humane treatment considerations, than growing almond trees. Any vegetable food costs less in terms of monetary investment and use of resources, than any animal food produced. You do have a very pressing point that there is a great urgency to differentiate sourcing for our needs: we should be wiser than to place all our eggs in one basket. Almonds and other foods ought to be grown in a variety of places so as to avoid dependence on one region. Monocultures are fragile and too easily threatened, such that diversification of species and of growing reg...see more »True that growing almonds for a world market takes water. But it takes less water than growing dairy cattle for a world market, for those not allergic to almonds. Feeding and watering dairy cattle is far more costly for resources even without humane treatment considerations, than growing almond trees. Any vegetable food costs less in terms of monetary investment and use of resources, than any animal food produced. You do have a very pressing point that there is a great urgency to differentiate sourcing for our needs: we should be wiser than to place all our eggs in one basket. Almonds and other foods ought to be grown in a variety of places so as to avoid dependence on one region. Monocultures are fragile and too easily threatened, such that diversification of species and of growing regions is our best insurance against calamity.

Thank you for sharing your success with this method, plus your innovation of using tights to strain it. Especially helpful is your report of the measurements involved, for others. I do hope you will share this with anyone you know who might benefit by it. It is important to spread practical knowledge freely. The increase in food allergies makes it even more important for people to have the power to feed themselves without too much reliance on packaged commercial goods, because additional ingredients to make commercial products taste good and last beyond natural freshness, are a problem for more people these days. :)-Meg, in Maine USA

Glad to hear you had success, and I hope you continue to enjoy making your own sauerkraut, and check out some of the interesting variations others have shared here on Instructables, too! :) I agree that the degree of crunchiness does seem to be inverse to the degree of fermentation. Sometimes if a kraut batch seems to go soft too quickly, it can mean it will not hold long before spoiling, and in that case, using it up quickly may be a good idea. Thanks for sharing your success!

Seeing a lot of criticisms back and forth, how these tricks aren't really learning it, how anyone can and should be able to memorize their times tables if they just apply themselves, etc. While it may be human nature to universalize our own experiences, it's true that some people really do have extraordinary difficulty with tasks that are simple for most, such as memorizing math facts, and for those, having any hook or peg to hang the thought on, to attach it to something else, whether a mnemonic, or this finger method, can be helpful. So what? If a person who could never remember what 6X9 was through more traditional methods, was able to do it with this one, that hurts no one, and helps the person it helps.As for it not being an authentic representation of what 6X9 is in terms of array...see more »Seeing a lot of criticisms back and forth, how these tricks aren't really learning it, how anyone can and should be able to memorize their times tables if they just apply themselves, etc. While it may be human nature to universalize our own experiences, it's true that some people really do have extraordinary difficulty with tasks that are simple for most, such as memorizing math facts, and for those, having any hook or peg to hang the thought on, to attach it to something else, whether a mnemonic, or this finger method, can be helpful. So what? If a person who could never remember what 6X9 was through more traditional methods, was able to do it with this one, that hurts no one, and helps the person it helps.As for it not being an authentic representation of what 6X9 is in terms of arrays, well...that depends. If you closely examine the 9 method on fingers, you will see it does indeed represent something real going on with multiplication of 9s. Even if you draw arrays, you see the same pattern that 9 is always one less than 10, so that however many 9s you have, you have that many more ones, fewer. 9X3 is 3 instances of something being 1 less than 10, so it's only 1 less than 10 the first 10, then the next 10, it's 1 less again, for a total of two less (18...2 less than 20!) and then for each iteration, take again another "one less than 10" cumulatively (27...3 less than 30). I see the same pattern evident in the finger method for the 9s, at least. In mathematics, there can be many ways to solve the same problem, and still be correct in the end, and all are valid. In fact, the more comfortable you are with finding more than one way to solve a problem, the stronger your overall understanding is.

Thanks for this! Intriguing and would have saved me a lot of frustration in high school because I could never, never remember the stupid combinations, nor which way to turn first. Having discovered I can feel sticking points and easily opened a 3-digit dial number combination lock without knowing the combination, I look back and wish I had thought to pick my own locker padlock, instead of being late to class trying every combination of turn directions and numbers I thought I remembered. Finally gave up using a locker at all and lugged everything on my back all day. As for those who feel you are doing wrong to share this information, that's a naive position to take, considering as others have mentioned, there are far less subtle ways of defeating cheapo locks if a person is up to no good...see more »Thanks for this! Intriguing and would have saved me a lot of frustration in high school because I could never, never remember the stupid combinations, nor which way to turn first. Having discovered I can feel sticking points and easily opened a 3-digit dial number combination lock without knowing the combination, I look back and wish I had thought to pick my own locker padlock, instead of being late to class trying every combination of turn directions and numbers I thought I remembered. Finally gave up using a locker at all and lugged everything on my back all day. As for those who feel you are doing wrong to share this information, that's a naive position to take, considering as others have mentioned, there are far less subtle ways of defeating cheapo locks if a person is up to no good and wants the job done fast and sloppy. I think you're doing a public service to all the grannies and others mentioned out there, by warning them (or people who love them and want to warn them) that these cheap locks are next to useless, good only for things like keeping toddlers out of something.But yes, honest people CAN have a reason to know how to pick locks: some of us are really scatterbrained, and could save ourselves a lot of trouble by being able to pick our own locks, if and when we lose the key or forget the combination.