Good News About House; BPA toxins in canning

Thanks for the comments. Yes, we got good news late yesterday. We haggled back and forth during the day, but in the end, we all compromised. The house closes on Feb 25, then we're letting the owners have 3 days to pack up and leave. They'll be gone Feb 28 by noon. So we'll be able to move in before our apartment lease completely expires.

I'm glad we did that. We suspect the reason the house was for sale ... short sale ... was that the couple (sellers) is divorcing or otherwise splitting up. And there are very young girls involved. See this picture to the right? I took that the one and only time we saw the house. This is a pic of the kid's bathroom, filled to the brim with little girl clothing. The closet was full too. I hope that they find a place quickly and get the girls settled in.

In addition to the seller's disclosure, we got a copy of the plat map, which tells us we have a tiny bit more land that I thought (guessing at boundary lines from my perusal of mapquest, google-map, yahoomaps, etc.). We also found out that we can't plant every inch like I wanted to because we need to leave room for utility people to access telephone poles at the back of the property. Was told we probably can get by with leaving walking paths, so that will work. I've also decided to change the barn formation, the location of the greenhouse, and taking out the butternut, heartnut, and chestnut trees from our front yard plan. The walnuts, pecans and almonds, plus the beans, peas, lentils and eggs, will give us enough protein and variety. Trying to reduce costs since I just realized we need to buy a refrigerator, and want to install my verandah and greenhouse by the end of the year. Gotta save! Might reduce number of fruit trees too. Maybe. I don't know. We really like fruit.

Hubby wants to add more herbs to our plan. Medicinal herbs, plus I realized I didn't have any oregano. How am I supposed to make spaghetti sauce?!?!

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I was recently reminded that there is BPA (Bisphenol A), found in most canning jar supplies, "tin" cans and jars that our canned goods are in, and even the jars, cups and bottles we use in every day life. Even in baby food jars. It's the lids in jars, and the coating inside the tin cans.

BPA causes cancer and disrupts the endocrine system. The FDA does not limit BPA in food containers. Not good. (Read here: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/07/is-there-bpa-in-your-home-canning.php). Ball, Kerr... most all the canning supplies companies have BPA in their lids.

I found one that does not. Weck Canning (http://www.weckcanning.com/). I just called the number on their website (Tel: 815-356-8440) and was told that the website hadn't been updated yet but that there are no BPAs in their canning supplies. They use mostly glass, including the lids, and the rubber rings don't have the BPA. The only part you need to replace each time you can is just the rubber ring.

Although I dehydrate almost everything, except for storing the applicable fruits, nuts, seeds, carrots, potatoes and squashes ... I really wanted to start making my own pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce, ketchup, jams, and more. I'll start ordering these Weck canning supplies after we get settled into our new place.

We have enough chemicals and toxins in our lives without adding more to our home-grown organic foods.

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Hubby enjoyed the gifts the Kid and I painted at the pottery place. His mom came over with a special hard-to-find pillow for Hubby. Then we four went to the Outback for dinner and dessert. It was a pretty pleasurable evening.

Have a great day! Vikki