Pomegranate Problem/Homeschool Dad

HappyHope said:

I did not realize there might be different kinds of pomegranate. My neighbor's all-natural pom trees might not have the kind of pom I enjoyed from Walmart. I do not like 100%pom juices for some reason but the fruit....

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I was referring to all of those heavily watered down and heavily sweetened fruit drinks which blend pomegranate with other fruit juices.

i bought one once. It must have had 200 seeds in it!!!! It was so much trouble, for me, to eat and it took so much time to dig out the good (user manual, please!). I do not have that kind of time to waste. The juice is a good alternative for me. I suppose if I were from the Middle East I might have a different perspective but I am not and I do not think that it should be so much trouble, effort, and time to get what little you do from one fruit. Fruit here in the USA, Apples, Oranges, Plums, Peaches, and the like are a LOT more user-friendly.

Monksailor said:

I was referring to all of those heavily watered down and heavily sweetened fruit drinks which blend pomegranate with other fruit juices. i bought one once. It must have had 200 seeds in it!!!! It was so much trouble, for me, to eat and it took so much time to dig out the good. I do not have that kind of time to waste. The juice is a good alternative for me. I suppose if I were from the Middle East I might have a different perspective but I am not and I do not think that it should be so much trouble, effort, and time to get what little you do from one fruit. Fruit here in the USA, Apples, Oranges, Plums, Peaches, and the like are a LOT more user-friendly.

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You spit put pomegranite seeds??? I just eat them! They have anti-inflamatory properties and other benefits. They would be a prolem only to those who have severe constipation, it can worsen a blockage. Otherwise, very healthy, have always eaten them.

mmksparbud said:

You spit put pomegranite seeds??? I just eat them! They have anti-inflamatory properties and other benefits. They would be a prolem only to those who have severe constipation, it can worsen a blockage. Otherwise, very healthy, have always eaten them.

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It has been a long time since I bought that ONE pomegranate. I remember all of those seeds but now that I think about it I may have eaten them, but not sure. All I remember is that to get to the edible part was as bad as trying to get the meat out of a black walnut. There was all kinds of inedible walls and partitions, I think, and the edible part had to be tediously and carefully removed, I believe. It was something I did not want to bother with ever again. Maybe I should have taken a college course on how to eat one, but with all of the other EASY fruit around, why bother I thought. I get all of the stuff in the fruit that you eat in the juice. I just pay for someone else to get to the edible part for me and liquefy it for me. In the 8 oz glass, I get 3 pomegranate's worth of juice Bolthouse Farms and about 2, with Pom Pom.

Monksailor said:

It has been a long time since I bought that ONE pomegranate. I remember all of those seeds but now that I think about it I may have eaten them, but not sure. All I remember is that to get to the edible part was as bad as trying to get the meat out of a black walnut. There was all kinds of inedible walls and partitions, I think, and the edible part had to be tediously and carefully removed, I believe. It was something I did not want to bother with ever again. Maybe I should have taken a college course on how to eat one, but with all of the other EASY fruit around, why bother I thought. I get all of the stuff in the fruit that you eat in the juice. I just pay for someone else to get to the edible part for me and liquefy it for me.

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LOL!! We all have our place in the wheel of life---yours is the juice, I guess. I just cut around the little top knot, that exposes the top and you can see the seeds and the white membrane that sections it, cut through the sections from the top to the bottom, you do not have to cut all the way through. You will end up with about 6 sections---there abouts. You can just pry those sections apart, pull them open like a flower. Quite pretty actually. This is best done alone and not in front of a mirror, wearing a bib with a spit bowl next to you. It goes very fast, actually. Then just take each section and chomp down, chewing, sucking and just stuffing your face with it till it is sadly gone. You can spit out what ever you dont want, but I eat the seeds and there is seldom anything left but the skin and some membrane. This makes you feel totally debauched and primal. There are more genteel ways to acquire just the seeds if you want to do something else with them beside gorge yourself, but nowhere near as much fun and satisfying.
You can just google how to eat a pomegranate and it will show you all sorts of effecient ways. Most prefer the underwater method for less mess and less loss of fruit.

HappyHope said:

I had not thought of that.

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That might be but for me I don't like them and so my tree ends up with a load on the ground under its limbs. I think there are more that don't like them then do. They are tough to eat and messy. I inherited them with the house I bought. They might welcome the cleanup and also they have bugs in them that spread. If you do pick them off the ground check for bugs. If you have kids have them ask as sometimes they are more welcome. On the other hand maybe not They might appreciate you asking over just taking as I get here with my other fruit. You can also offer to pick them as maybe they can't physically pick them and ask to keep back a few for yourself. Another possibility is offer to clean them up for them and don't mention you want some and then take them to the can via your house. That is not stealing if they agreed to throw them away. Besides, it is a help your neighbor project.
Good luck.

HARK! said:

I don't think that would be tacky. I would offer to buy them; but if it was my tree; and I wasn't eating them all; I wouldn't hear of taking any money for them from a neighbor.

I once had a flourishing apple tree in my backyard. When my neighbor, from across the street and 3 doors down, sheepishly inquired if he could have some; I told him to come over anytime and take as many as he wanted. (I trusted him.) I was glad to see them go to good use.

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Apple, fruit, trees ARE a lot of work if you want them to produce good fruit (hmmm, metaphor?) as my grandparents had a small orchard of apple, plum,pear, and peach trees. I learned just the tip of and ice berg about it. I think that the most demanding thing was the three critical times to spray for worms and bugs which invade the blossom and later the fruit. But now there such a thing as organic. I do not know how organics keep the bugs from getting into the flower bud of the fruit; that is super critical, in MI anyway.

HappyHope said:

Question 1:
My neighbor up the street in the fancy house has 4 pomegranate trees that are ripe and falling to the ground. Would it be tacky for me to ask to buy some? I can't find any pomegranates in my local grocery stores this year. My teenage daughter and I love them a lot. But I don't want to embarrassment myself or make my neighbor feel awkward.

Question 2:
I want to get a job so my retiring military hubby can rest and heal from his military career while pursuing his education. He is open to becoming the homeschool parent instead of me. Are we weird to have me work and dad stay home and homeschool? He is open to joining a co-op and even leading a homeschool P.E. class or similar. Thoughts?

**Not as insecure as this post might imply--trying to be social--for me.

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Q1: I don't see anything wrong in asking thr neighbor if they would sell you some pomegranates. They may offer a low price or even free just to get rid of them. Also it's irrelevant that they have a "fancy" house.

Q2: Within some sections of home schooling it is going to be odd having dad involved. Unfortunately home schooling has become very matriarchal, especially at co-op's and places like that. Your husband will find that even at the conservative groups he's going to be stepping on their turf, into the world of women where he doesn't really belong. If he doesn't care that's fine but he should know going in that's an issue. If he's going to be doing all this work with the kids be might as well have a job and go to classes in tblhe evenings and let you continue to do what you've done for years.

HappyHope said:

Thanks for commenting. You don't dress it up, do you, lol. I hear what you are saying.

Another reason for me to get is a job is that I have not had a job for a long time. I have a limited amount of time before my academic references will not work. They only work for new grads within a year of graduation or so I understand. Other than that I would need professional references for the work I am into. Either that or a license and a 3rd master's degree. But I have been self-employed or a student and have no professional references. My 2 masters degrees will only get me so far without experience or references.

And my hubby was the most social guy before the military "took his soul" as he says. He would likely run the co-op (women or not) if he was given enough time. He knows how to move and inspire people. He is a natural leader with a big fun side. I sometimes catch a glimpse of his old self when he is on leave for a week. I would do a great deal to get him to relax more. We'll see what happens.

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If he's going to go in and take over the cackling hens will fight back. He's entering a world of women.

HappyHope said:

My hubby has a nack for listening and initiating. He can make friends so easy. I can only watch in amazement. It wouldn't be a hostile takeover if he was interested in such a position. But we don't even live in a place with a co-op (minus Classical Conversation, which I have reservations about). I'm looking for jobs in areas with Co-ops though. Fingers-crossed.

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We did classical conversations when we homeschooled the first time several years ago. It was okay, I like the classical focus but the inane songs aren't as helpful as they pretend. It's also hit or miss with the volunteer teachers. Our group had one woman who hated boys and of course taught the 6th or 7th grade level which was full of boys so she could have her kid in the class. Aa I understand it the boys were miserable and I'm sure acted up more than they would have otherwise. Other teachers were perfectly fine.

HappyHope said:

My neighbor up the street in the fancy house has 4 pomegranate trees that are ripe and falling to the ground. Would it be tacky for me to ask to buy some? I can't find any pomegranates in my local grocery stores this year. My teenage daughter and I love them a lot. But I don't want to embarrassment myself or make my neighbor feel awkward.

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Those who raise stuff usually don't mind sharing...and if you sweetened the pot with some kind of home made cookies or treat and a "glad to get to know you" you just might get them for free.

You both like pommegranites and live in the same neighborhood...that's not a bad thing.

I wouldn't go empty handed...that's tacky IMHO...but not completely if you are just out in your yards doing stuff and meet that way.

I've shared out of my garden freely once I got what I wanted and all the overproduction given away.

It bothers me to see fruit and nut trees treated as decoration and left unharvested. I will ask if I can come take some of the produce if I know the person the least bit.

I've often come into pecans in this manner. I've found that if you are polite and respectful of the property most people don't care and will tell you to take what you want. Lately I've scored some prickly pears in this manner from people who had never had a thought of trying to harvest them. I use them to make a pleasant drink for my daughters and I.

HappyHope said:

I can imagine about the hit or miss with the volunteers. I was kind of offered a teaching position with Classical Conversations a few years back when the director found out my educational background. I just could not bring myself to signup for curriculum from only one source. I'm eclectic with curriculum. And I'm glad you mentioned the songs. I thought we were missing out because I kept hearing about those beloved memorization songs. People do love CC.

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My wife, who never went to college, was a teacher at CC. She's competent and should have been pushed by my inlaws to go to college (don't start me). But it made me wonder about the quality of the others.

As a father who works hard all day I can tell you I hated coming home to listen to the kids screech away those songs. Absolutely atrocious. After 3 years in private schools we're homeschooling again. Needless to say we aren't in CC and we're picking and choosing our curriculum. It will be apparent in a couple months whether this was a bad decision or not.