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I'm not sure how it came to us but early in our marriage, I acquired a cast iron press with a spout at the base. It had steel gears that turned a screw which pressed a steel disc downward in the cast iron case. It sat for a few years until I found a use for it. I was starting a garden and couldn't afford much for fertilizer. I read about natural manure fertilizer but couldn't wait for it to compost. Then I read of a fast way to make “manure tea.” Simply fill a 5-gal. Bucket with green manure and add water. Cover and let it sit for a week to 10 days to age. When pressed out, the liquid is good fertilizer for most any garden. I used that press to squeeze fermented manure for the better part of three seasons until I found a source for free composed manure from a local university AG department. The press sat for another year before my wife sold it at a yard sale. A guy bought it at first sight and seemed thrilled to get it. As he was loading it into his car, my wife asked him what the thing was. He replied as he was getting in to drive away.... “It's a sausage press.”
We never had the chance to tell him of its use but I wonder to this day if he ever got his sausage recipe to taste right.
