"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge"

How to clean, process, pickle, and can wild thistle for months of unrefrigerated preservation without harmful chemical preservatives.

Pickling, also known as brining or corning is the process of preserving food by anaerobic fermentation in brine (a solution of salt in water) to produce lactic acid, or marinating and storing it in an acid solution, usually vinegar (acetic acid). The resulting food is called a pickle. This procedure gives the food a salty or sour taste. In South Asia edible oils are used as the pickling medium instead of vinegar.

Another distinguishing characteristic is a pH less than 4.6, which is sufficient to kill most bacteria. Pickling can preserve perishable foods for months. Antimicrobial herbs and spices, such as mustard seed, garlic, cinnamon or cloves, are often added.

Pickling began as a way to preserve food for out-of-season use and for long journeys, especially by sea. Salt pork and salt beef were common staples for sailors before the days of steam engines. Although the process was invented to preserve foods, pickles are also made and eaten because people enjoy the resulting flavors. Pickling may also improve the nutritious value of food by introducing B vitamins produced by bacteria

Canning is a way of processing food to extend its shelf life. The idea is to make food available and edible long after the processing time. Although canned foods are often assumed to be of low-nutritional value (due to heating processes), some canned foods are nutritionally superior—in some ways—to their natural form. For instance, canned tomatoes have a higher available lycopene content.