In short I decided to try making some granola. Mark Bittman has a simple recipe that I adapted for my tastes. However I didn't stir it sufficiently while baking. I'd suggest checking on it every couple of minutes the first few times you make it (I certainly will). I'm also going to try using a glass baking pan instead of a sheet pan. I find it hard to stir the granola without knocking it off the pan. That or just use a couple of extra pans perhaps.
What wasn't burnt was quite good though.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Mushrooms
While there are circumstances in which I enjoyed zucchini I really hadn't had much luck with mushrooms. But a few varieties of these fungi are reportedly easy to grow, require no soil per se and can be grown in your closet. I haven't done this yet, but I've read enough to take a stab at liking mushrooms. From the view of urban sustainability, mushrooms are just too good (nutritionally) to pass up given their meager requirements.
So enter the 'mushroom crust' quiche. Its a recipe from the same book as the zucchini frittata (isbn: 1-57215-308-3). The mushrooms are sort of hidden in the crust...though perhaps not hidden enough :). The flavor was good, though I'm still not a fan of mushrooms I could eat this on a regular basis.
5 T butter
1/2 lb mushrooms coarsely cut*
1/3 C bread crumbs
2 T wheat germ
3/4 C chopped green onions (inc. tops)
2 C Cheese (your choice, but something strong perhaps, I used Cheddar)
1 C cottage cheese
3 eggs
1/4 t thyme
1/4 t marjoram
Paprika (gets dashed over the top before baking)
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F
Use three tablespoons of butter to saute the mushrooms until limp. Remove from heat and stir in bread crumbs and wheat germ. This is the crust material, you pour it into a greased 9 inch pie plate and press it into a crust as you might a graham cracker crust. In the same pan, put the rest of the butter and saute the onions until soft. Spread these over the bottom of the crust and sprinkle the cheese over these. Then in a blender whirl the cottage cheese, eggs, thyme, and marjoram until smooth. Pour into crust and sprinkle with paprika. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
NOTES:
Next time I'm going to finely chop the mushrooms, maybe even use a bit more and add in a bit more wheat germ as I didn't feel as though I had enough crust. Also the chunkiness of the mushrooms can make it tough to spread evenly.
Also I can't really see any reason you couldn't use olive oil instead of butter if you wanted. Butter is likely to be more local, while olive oil will be imported but if you're watching the types of fats you're eating it would make a difference. In fact, I think you could use less of the fat in any case.
I might try adding a bit more egg and a bit less cheese as well. While speaking of cheese, if you're interested in making mozzarella, a natural by product of that process is to make ricotta and you could certainly use the ricotta in this recipe instead of cottage cheese.
I think the cooking of the onions could be skipped and you could just cut, via some scissors the green onions into the crust and skip the addition of the butter and it would be just fine.
Well try it, experiment and see what you like. I don't like mushrooms but I had seconds on this one.
So enter the 'mushroom crust' quiche. Its a recipe from the same book as the zucchini frittata (isbn: 1-57215-308-3). The mushrooms are sort of hidden in the crust...though perhaps not hidden enough :). The flavor was good, though I'm still not a fan of mushrooms I could eat this on a regular basis.
5 T butter
1/2 lb mushrooms coarsely cut*
1/3 C bread crumbs
2 T wheat germ
3/4 C chopped green onions (inc. tops)
2 C Cheese (your choice, but something strong perhaps, I used Cheddar)
1 C cottage cheese
3 eggs
1/4 t thyme
1/4 t marjoram
Paprika (gets dashed over the top before baking)
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F
Use three tablespoons of butter to saute the mushrooms until limp. Remove from heat and stir in bread crumbs and wheat germ. This is the crust material, you pour it into a greased 9 inch pie plate and press it into a crust as you might a graham cracker crust. In the same pan, put the rest of the butter and saute the onions until soft. Spread these over the bottom of the crust and sprinkle the cheese over these. Then in a blender whirl the cottage cheese, eggs, thyme, and marjoram until smooth. Pour into crust and sprinkle with paprika. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
NOTES:
Next time I'm going to finely chop the mushrooms, maybe even use a bit more and add in a bit more wheat germ as I didn't feel as though I had enough crust. Also the chunkiness of the mushrooms can make it tough to spread evenly.
Also I can't really see any reason you couldn't use olive oil instead of butter if you wanted. Butter is likely to be more local, while olive oil will be imported but if you're watching the types of fats you're eating it would make a difference. In fact, I think you could use less of the fat in any case.
I might try adding a bit more egg and a bit less cheese as well. While speaking of cheese, if you're interested in making mozzarella, a natural by product of that process is to make ricotta and you could certainly use the ricotta in this recipe instead of cottage cheese.
I think the cooking of the onions could be skipped and you could just cut, via some scissors the green onions into the crust and skip the addition of the butter and it would be just fine.
Well try it, experiment and see what you like. I don't like mushrooms but I had seconds on this one.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
yogurt cheese
Well just for kicks I'd thought I'd try this. I'd seen some videos on it and it looked dead simple. Basically you just put your yogurt into a strainer lined with cheesecloth and wait 24 hours. It comes out super creamy, soft with a tangy flavor. I tried it on some toast and was pretty happy. Presumably you could use this instead of cream cheese or sour cream. Or you could put some herbs/spices into it and use it as a spread (or just use it plain). Here are a few photos, like I said....really simple.
Friday, May 28, 2010
I might be able to like Zucchini
Sara has this cookbook called "Vegetarian Cooking" which is one of those generic cookbooks you'd see on sale. In any event, its pretty decent and I've been trying recipes out of it. One recent success was Zucchini Frittata. I'm not a natural fan of zucchini, but this was really tasty. As a seasonal dish it could be made whenever you start getting some zucchini since spinach can be grown year round.
Zucchini Frittata
2T Olive Oil
1 small onion (or scallions, or chives)
1 clove garlic (minced or pressed)
1/2 - 1 C of spinach (or swiss chard)
1 medium zucchini, coarsely chopped
6 eggs
1/8 t pepper
1/4 t dry basil
1/4 t oregano
1 C Parmesan (though cheeses like asiago would work fine too, these cheese pack a lot of flavor)
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Heat the oil in a wide frying pan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, leafy stuff and zucchini; cook, stiring occasionally, until vegetables are soft (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
Beat eggs with pepper, basil, and oregano. Stir in cheese and veges. Grease a 9-inch pie plate (I use olive oil again) and pour mixture in. Cook for 25-30 minutes (should be puffed and the top should be lightly browned).
Enjoy!
Zucchini Frittata
2T Olive Oil
1 small onion (or scallions, or chives)
1 clove garlic (minced or pressed)
1/2 - 1 C of spinach (or swiss chard)
1 medium zucchini, coarsely chopped
6 eggs
1/8 t pepper
1/4 t dry basil
1/4 t oregano
1 C Parmesan (though cheeses like asiago would work fine too, these cheese pack a lot of flavor)
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Heat the oil in a wide frying pan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, leafy stuff and zucchini; cook, stiring occasionally, until vegetables are soft (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
Beat eggs with pepper, basil, and oregano. Stir in cheese and veges. Grease a 9-inch pie plate (I use olive oil again) and pour mixture in. Cook for 25-30 minutes (should be puffed and the top should be lightly browned).
Enjoy!
Yogurt
Yogurt
I've made a couple of batches of yogurt and so have an opinion or two about the process. You can find the details of yogurt making on dozens of other sites so I'm going to provide comments based on my experiences.
Basically yogurt is a way of preserving milk. Friendly bacteria eat lactose into lactic acid. This apparently causes the proteins in the milk to clump creating curds which, with any luck, will become tasty yogurt.
What kind of milk? I'd recommend 2% or higher. I started using skim milk and it gives a runny yogurt. A lot of recipes call for adding nonfat dry milk to help it set. I like to avoid adding anything into a recipe I don't have to. Dry milk isn't something I can easily create on my own so I'm going to pass on that. Just use 2% or higher and it'll set quite nicely and you won't have to add anything.
Ingredients: Milk and starter. You can buy starter but why not just buy some yogurt instead? I just used the generic brand of plain yogurt from the supermarket that I used to buy anyway. Make sure it has active cultures, which many do anyway. You can buy organic if you want, but I'm still undecided on that detail.
Containers: I use mason jars and old yogurt tubs. Both seem to work well. Use what you have
Essential tools: a cooking thermometer. The process involves heating the milk to 175 then cooling it down to around 110 (optimal temp for bacteria) so you'll want to know the temperature. I'm honestly also considering a double boiler so I don't have to attend to the milk during heating so much.
Cooling the milk after its reached 175: a water bath is useful for this, just be careful you don't cool it too fast and shoot under 110.
Keeping the milk at the right temperature: Once the milk is around 112-115 degrees I put in the yogurt starter (I'm not exact, I just dump a few spoonfuls of the previous yogurt into the new one.) Then I transfer the containers (1-2) into a cooler then stuff that cooler with towels and top it with a towel and close the lid. This seems to work. There are 'yogurt makers' you can buy that are just incubators really. Sometimes I'm tempted but I'm too cheap.
Costs: The yogurt you make is in a 1:1 ratio with the milk you used. So if you use a gallon of milk you'll make a gallon of yogurt. That's pretty good. Up my way I can buy a gallon of store brand milk for $3.50 but pay about a $1.80 or so for less than a quart, so I'm saving over 50%.
Taste: its plain yogurt so its tart and tangy which I like just fine. But if you've never had plain yogurt keep this in mind. Most yogurt is sweetened and stuff (lots of it) is added. But I keep mine plain in the fridge and if I want berries I just add some at the time of eating.
Time: I can get the milk from jug to cooler in about 30-60 minutes. I haven't timed myself, but its not long. I like to do it at night and let the milk sour into yogurt over night.
So there you go, my two cents. Yogurt isn't complicated, don't let some recipes fool you.
I've made a couple of batches of yogurt and so have an opinion or two about the process. You can find the details of yogurt making on dozens of other sites so I'm going to provide comments based on my experiences.
Basically yogurt is a way of preserving milk. Friendly bacteria eat lactose into lactic acid. This apparently causes the proteins in the milk to clump creating curds which, with any luck, will become tasty yogurt.
What kind of milk? I'd recommend 2% or higher. I started using skim milk and it gives a runny yogurt. A lot of recipes call for adding nonfat dry milk to help it set. I like to avoid adding anything into a recipe I don't have to. Dry milk isn't something I can easily create on my own so I'm going to pass on that. Just use 2% or higher and it'll set quite nicely and you won't have to add anything.
Ingredients: Milk and starter. You can buy starter but why not just buy some yogurt instead? I just used the generic brand of plain yogurt from the supermarket that I used to buy anyway. Make sure it has active cultures, which many do anyway. You can buy organic if you want, but I'm still undecided on that detail.
Containers: I use mason jars and old yogurt tubs. Both seem to work well. Use what you have
Essential tools: a cooking thermometer. The process involves heating the milk to 175 then cooling it down to around 110 (optimal temp for bacteria) so you'll want to know the temperature. I'm honestly also considering a double boiler so I don't have to attend to the milk during heating so much.
Cooling the milk after its reached 175: a water bath is useful for this, just be careful you don't cool it too fast and shoot under 110.
Keeping the milk at the right temperature: Once the milk is around 112-115 degrees I put in the yogurt starter (I'm not exact, I just dump a few spoonfuls of the previous yogurt into the new one.) Then I transfer the containers (1-2) into a cooler then stuff that cooler with towels and top it with a towel and close the lid. This seems to work. There are 'yogurt makers' you can buy that are just incubators really. Sometimes I'm tempted but I'm too cheap.
Costs: The yogurt you make is in a 1:1 ratio with the milk you used. So if you use a gallon of milk you'll make a gallon of yogurt. That's pretty good. Up my way I can buy a gallon of store brand milk for $3.50 but pay about a $1.80 or so for less than a quart, so I'm saving over 50%.
Taste: its plain yogurt so its tart and tangy which I like just fine. But if you've never had plain yogurt keep this in mind. Most yogurt is sweetened and stuff (lots of it) is added. But I keep mine plain in the fridge and if I want berries I just add some at the time of eating.
Time: I can get the milk from jug to cooler in about 30-60 minutes. I haven't timed myself, but its not long. I like to do it at night and let the milk sour into yogurt over night.
So there you go, my two cents. Yogurt isn't complicated, don't let some recipes fool you.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Potatoes etc
The potatoes in a bucket are finally coming through and speeding up.
There'll be a flurry of blog posts at sometime in the future. I'm doing a lot of planting and dirt work at the moment. I start up grad stuff next week so I'm trying to get everything done by Monday night.
There'll be a flurry of blog posts at sometime in the future. I'm doing a lot of planting and dirt work at the moment. I start up grad stuff next week so I'm trying to get everything done by Monday night.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Free!
It was a great day for penny pinching and free stuff. This morning my neighbor took me around her lawn and pointed out a dozen different flowering plants she'd be happy if I helped myself to. What's nice is that many of them are shade loving and I have a couple shady spots on the house I've been pondering over!
Next we headed down to the island to pick up Lanie and stopped at a home that had a horse. There's a sign out front that advertises free horse poop if 'you scoop.' Well I'm a happy scooper and came prepared with a couple of rubbermaid tubs and a pitch fork. I'll be stopping there on a weekly basis :)
From there we stopped by Sara's father's where we scored a chives plant and some other assorted plants they were keen to share.
Then we headed home where we met up with Sara's mother who had brought up a number of household items Sara's grandfather was getting rid of: a couch, sewing equipment, scrap wood and tin and other detritus. They also brought up the rest of their unused seeds and onion bulbs so Sara and I treated them to ice cream at Spencer's in Bradley.
I'll have a busy day tomorrow preparing ground, planting and transplanting! But the rewards are many for the small investment of time and smiles :)
Next we headed down to the island to pick up Lanie and stopped at a home that had a horse. There's a sign out front that advertises free horse poop if 'you scoop.' Well I'm a happy scooper and came prepared with a couple of rubbermaid tubs and a pitch fork. I'll be stopping there on a weekly basis :)
From there we stopped by Sara's father's where we scored a chives plant and some other assorted plants they were keen to share.
Then we headed home where we met up with Sara's mother who had brought up a number of household items Sara's grandfather was getting rid of: a couch, sewing equipment, scrap wood and tin and other detritus. They also brought up the rest of their unused seeds and onion bulbs so Sara and I treated them to ice cream at Spencer's in Bradley.
I'll have a busy day tomorrow preparing ground, planting and transplanting! But the rewards are many for the small investment of time and smiles :)
Saturday, May 22, 2010
A great day for recipes!
Tried a few recipes today and they came off pretty well.
Bruschetta
Tarator: which is a Bulgarian Cold Cucumber soup. This is pretty good though the directions (for me) are a little vague...I'm not sure what a 'bunch' of dill is. Also, I cut the cucumbers a bit too big and wow that garlic had a kick, so I might try only two cloves. But I'm excited about this dish as summer's coming and its a simple, cheap and healthy way to eat well in the heat.
Ice Cream like dessert: Pretty awesome, it helps to help a mixer. Its amazing because it only takes a couple of ingredients and it tastes great! A little sweet for me, but it has lots of potential!
The above three recipes end up cool or cold and will be great ways to beat the summer heat. Try them out and if you find a neat alteration, let me know.
Bruschetta
Tarator: which is a Bulgarian Cold Cucumber soup. This is pretty good though the directions (for me) are a little vague...I'm not sure what a 'bunch' of dill is. Also, I cut the cucumbers a bit too big and wow that garlic had a kick, so I might try only two cloves. But I'm excited about this dish as summer's coming and its a simple, cheap and healthy way to eat well in the heat.
Ice Cream like dessert: Pretty awesome, it helps to help a mixer. Its amazing because it only takes a couple of ingredients and it tastes great! A little sweet for me, but it has lots of potential!
The above three recipes end up cool or cold and will be great ways to beat the summer heat. Try them out and if you find a neat alteration, let me know.
A bit more gardening
Still puttering around the yard. My slow progress would probably frustrate an observer. Part of the process is that the more I wait the more I tend to find cheaper solutions. For example, I've decided I'd like to grow chives to replace my consumption of scallions. Turns out Sara's stepmother was just given a bunch of chives and she has no real desire for them...score! I've also been trying to think about a source of vegetation besides vegetables and lo and behold one of my neighbors invites me to come over and take some of his! A trip to the greenhouse could easily run up to a hundred dollars, the less I can spend on all of this the better.
So while I wait and read I putter. I enlarged the little planting area next to the stairs today:
This plot contains mostly Sara's stuff right now. There are some bulb plants, rose bushes, and I've put in a tomato plant. I'm going to put in a pepper plant as well (maybe two) and then some onions.
I'm also trying out containers (for example the potatoes) and I've planted a tomato plant in a use cat litter bucket.
I didn't use potting soil, I wanted to experiment with a mix of garden soil and composted manure. We shall see. I'm certain that its possible to get by without buying potting soil, which isn't to say that I know how to do this. But its insane that an interior or container garden be the slave of soil companies. I suspect well composted material is the key to creating oxygenated soil and soil with good water retention and high in plant food. We shall see.
Speaking of pots I've planted a container of basil (lower left) and a larger planter of basil/dill/rosemary/thyme.
The goal is to get the hang of containers while the weather is amazing before working entirely indoors during the winter. This winter I'd like to grow an indoor herb garden along with our vegetable greens. I think I'd need to have staggered plantings. Ideally I'd be harvesting spinach each week during the winter and supplementing that with sprouts for the 'leafy green' portion of our diet. But I'm not sure how many planters I'd need to accomplish that. Window space is tricky too as I plan on covering up a number of them with styrofoam insulation (to reduce heat loss) and the remaining ones tend to be cold. So I'll have to find a couple of sunny spots that Sara's cats won't mess with.
So while I wait and read I putter. I enlarged the little planting area next to the stairs today:
This plot contains mostly Sara's stuff right now. There are some bulb plants, rose bushes, and I've put in a tomato plant. I'm going to put in a pepper plant as well (maybe two) and then some onions.
I'm also trying out containers (for example the potatoes) and I've planted a tomato plant in a use cat litter bucket.
I didn't use potting soil, I wanted to experiment with a mix of garden soil and composted manure. We shall see. I'm certain that its possible to get by without buying potting soil, which isn't to say that I know how to do this. But its insane that an interior or container garden be the slave of soil companies. I suspect well composted material is the key to creating oxygenated soil and soil with good water retention and high in plant food. We shall see.
Speaking of pots I've planted a container of basil (lower left) and a larger planter of basil/dill/rosemary/thyme.
 |  |
The goal is to get the hang of containers while the weather is amazing before working entirely indoors during the winter. This winter I'd like to grow an indoor herb garden along with our vegetable greens. I think I'd need to have staggered plantings. Ideally I'd be harvesting spinach each week during the winter and supplementing that with sprouts for the 'leafy green' portion of our diet. But I'm not sure how many planters I'd need to accomplish that. Window space is tricky too as I plan on covering up a number of them with styrofoam insulation (to reduce heat loss) and the remaining ones tend to be cold. So I'll have to find a couple of sunny spots that Sara's cats won't mess with.
Sprouts-finished
I finished sprouting the mung beans a few days ago and have since eaten most of them between snacks and putting them on Sara's salad. Here's the finished product:
I think they taste like a cross between fresh peas and green beans. I like both, so what I'm saying is that they're tasty. My only concern is scalability and water. To grow sprouts you have to rinse them a couple of times a day. Ideally I'd like to be harvesting sprouts at least every other day if they were to significantly contribute to our green matter, so suppose I have four large mason jars going at any time. A large mason jar of sprouts might take half a pint of water to rinse, so all four would take a quart. Doing this twice a day means using a half gallon of water a day. Seems kind of wasteful.
For a single jar of sprouts I just drink the rinse water, but not sure I'd be able to consistently drink a half gallon of water a day on demand. i suppose the rinse water could be used to water indoor plants (and people :) and in the warmer weather to water plants outdoors (or put through a grey water system...though its far from grey). Another problem is the source of water. I'm using tap water (which works find by the way) which means I'm putting an additional demand on my water source. So ideally it would be nice to use rainwater, but it doesn't rain in the winter here so much as it snows. I'm primarily interested in growing sprouts in the off season.
If you have any ideas feel free to let me know.
I think they taste like a cross between fresh peas and green beans. I like both, so what I'm saying is that they're tasty. My only concern is scalability and water. To grow sprouts you have to rinse them a couple of times a day. Ideally I'd like to be harvesting sprouts at least every other day if they were to significantly contribute to our green matter, so suppose I have four large mason jars going at any time. A large mason jar of sprouts might take half a pint of water to rinse, so all four would take a quart. Doing this twice a day means using a half gallon of water a day. Seems kind of wasteful.
For a single jar of sprouts I just drink the rinse water, but not sure I'd be able to consistently drink a half gallon of water a day on demand. i suppose the rinse water could be used to water indoor plants (and people :) and in the warmer weather to water plants outdoors (or put through a grey water system...though its far from grey). Another problem is the source of water. I'm using tap water (which works find by the way) which means I'm putting an additional demand on my water source. So ideally it would be nice to use rainwater, but it doesn't rain in the winter here so much as it snows. I'm primarily interested in growing sprouts in the off season.
If you have any ideas feel free to let me know.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Chickens!
Turns out, Old Town allows up to 6 chickens, what I don't know is whether they have to be cooped up or whether they can be free ranging around my yard (my preference). Anyway, we'll spend the next year doing research and planning for the spring!
Its raining....rain and ...rain
At least for me, now that I'm harvesting rainwater, any water that gets away is a tragedy. Today's rain quickly filled my 35 gallon water barrel, so then I diverted the flow into a 10 gallon storage tub which filled and then I put another there. This is only from gathering the rain from one side of one roof (I have two roofs). It occurs to me that during a rainstorm I could easily gather several hundred gallons of water from my entire roof. Given that we do have dry spells in Maine that can last a week or two, having 200-400 gallons of water would be a real benefit if we're trying develop a sustainable urban homestead.
Sprouts and starter
The sprouts are doing well as you can see below. They are, I maintain, ridiculously easy to grow. At some point I'll do a cost analysis and talk about consumption. I've picked up one good habit though, when I rinse the sprouts I pour the rinse water into a cup and drink it. If you find floaties nauseating this might disturb you, but I figure I'm going to eat the sprouts anyway :). So since I rinse the sprouts several times a day I tend to drink more water.
I've also started a starter (that sounds funny) I used the procedure at this sourdough site which is simple. Essentially I took a mason jar and put in a cup of water and a cup of flour and left it out 24 hours. Then I dumped half (guessed) and then added 1/2 C of flour and 1/2 C of water. I started it on 5/17, Monday night, so I'll feed it a second time tonight. By Friday I hope to have a little 'herd' of yeast living in my jar. My goal is to then use this in the 'no-knead' bread recipes.
I've also started a starter (that sounds funny) I used the procedure at this sourdough site which is simple. Essentially I took a mason jar and put in a cup of water and a cup of flour and left it out 24 hours. Then I dumped half (guessed) and then added 1/2 C of flour and 1/2 C of water. I started it on 5/17, Monday night, so I'll feed it a second time tonight. By Friday I hope to have a little 'herd' of yeast living in my jar. My goal is to then use this in the 'no-knead' bread recipes.
Monday, May 17, 2010
An evening victory
Finnish Summer soup, toasted bread (homemade) and a selection of cheeses (cheddar, havarti and gruyere). While its not summer and many of these vegetables aren't in season yet, it'll be an appropriate 'local-seasonal' meal come mid summer.
Finnish Summer Soup: Bring 2C of water to a boil then add 6-10 baby potatoes halved/quartered (whatever makes sense to you) and turn down the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Then add 1t of salt, 1/8t pepper, baby carrots (or ordinary carrots cut to size) and green beans. You're shooting for about 2C of each of those veges. Also cut off about half the tops of a bunch of scallions (I like to use scissors). Cook this mixture for about 8 minutes. Then add 2C of peas (fresh or frozen) and cook for a further 2 minutes. In a seperate bowl, mix 2C of half-and-half and 3T of flour until smooth. Mix this into the soup and cook for another 5-10 minutes until thick enough for your tastes.
What I like about this recipe is its simplicity. You can mix and match veges, the times they cook depend only upon how tough/hard they are. Naturally potatoes cook longer then carrots, but save the peas for the end. It ends up being quite creamy but crammed with fresh veges which give it a wonderful flavor. The little bit of salt and pepper are just right for me, though you may want to adjust it for your own tastes.
This is the kind of recipe I'm on the hunt for, simple, direct, flexible and understandable. I 'understand' why certain things are added and I 'know' that the quantities are up to me. This is a lesson more than a recipe. Bon Appetite!
Resourceful and perhaps clever?
My lawnmower broke a week or so ago and I've been trying to figure out a way of fixing it for free or cheap anyway. My long term solution is to convert my ENTIRE lawn to a cultivation system, but that doesn't solve the short term problem of grass that grows longer each day. Besides, for the moment the lawn provides another source of nitrogen rich compost material. Well the other day I was cleaning up in the yard and came across my broken snow shovel and the lightbulb went off:
I used it this morning to harvest some grass clippings and it worked alright though I think I can improve it by driving a dowel through the hollow hand grip (and by dowel I mean a chunk of waste lumber I whittle down with a drawknife :)
EDIT: I did spend around $3 for the hardware (the old hardware wasn't long enough and I wanted washers), so this repair wasn't free, but it did find a use for something destined for the trash heap.
I used it this morning to harvest some grass clippings and it worked alright though I think I can improve it by driving a dowel through the hollow hand grip (and by dowel I mean a chunk of waste lumber I whittle down with a drawknife :)
EDIT: I did spend around $3 for the hardware (the old hardware wasn't long enough and I wanted washers), so this repair wasn't free, but it did find a use for something destined for the trash heap.
Raspberries and poop
Today I managed to score a couple of large tubs of horse manure. The farm prefers to serve folks in pickup trucks ($10 a load) but was feeling generous and let me borrow a pitchfork and fill my tubs. This combined with some compost generously donated by a neighbor should afford the raspberry transplants (another generous donation) a nice new home.
I dug in a mixture of horse manure and compost and mixed with the sandy dirt I found under the driveway. I topped it off with compost to absorb and retain water. I've watered them several times today as it was hot and the soil was pretty dry to start with. I'll keep you posted on how they do.
Next I'd like to put in some supports so I can train the canes (and also prevent them from just wandering anywhere) and I'd like to heavily mulch the whole row.
I dug in a mixture of horse manure and compost and mixed with the sandy dirt I found under the driveway. I topped it off with compost to absorb and retain water. I've watered them several times today as it was hot and the soil was pretty dry to start with. I'll keep you posted on how they do.
Next I'd like to put in some supports so I can train the canes (and also prevent them from just wandering anywhere) and I'd like to heavily mulch the whole row.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
New compost bin
It happened that one of my neighbors had a bunch of leaves that were partially composted that he wanted to get rid of. It also happened that I was there while he was talking about this and promptly offered to take them. However my existing compost bin wouldn't hold them. Time for a new one?
I had picked up a fair bit of scrap wood (i.e. discarded bunk bed frames) from the side of the road (free) and this past winter I had demo-ed the cieling in our bathroom which consisted of plaster and lathe. The lathe was good wood so I saved it (Brenna ended up pulling quite a few of the nails for a penny a piece). I also always have scrap wood from previous projects. So, long story short, the compost bin:
The dimensions were largely the result of the available wood and my laziness (why cut when you don't have to). This isn't meant to impress anyone, heck you don't even need a compost bin you can make a pile. The bin just uses the space a bit better and keeps it all together. If you're interested in making a compost bin, start keeping your eye out for scrap lumber. Up here in Maine its fairly common to see stuff on the side of the road and you'll probably be able to amass enough materials in a short time. You can read about optimal sizes and what not, but its just as easy to figure out how much matter you produce that you'll be composting and try estimate a box that will hold a years worth. There are faster ways to compost but this is the simplest and I expect that by next year I'll have some useful material.
Now, there are some considerations. You might notice that the new compost bin is full of carbon-rich materials. Compost is supposed to have a mix of nitrogen and carbon rich materials (as you can read in any site about composting). So what to add? There are a number of nitrogen rich sources that I'm interested in. I'll let you know how it works out in a future post.
NOTE: I really did minimal measuring for this. It looks decent mostly because the wood had aged (old lathe) or it was stained (from bunk bed frame). I largely eyeballed the measurements.
I had picked up a fair bit of scrap wood (i.e. discarded bunk bed frames) from the side of the road (free) and this past winter I had demo-ed the cieling in our bathroom which consisted of plaster and lathe. The lathe was good wood so I saved it (Brenna ended up pulling quite a few of the nails for a penny a piece). I also always have scrap wood from previous projects. So, long story short, the compost bin:
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The dimensions were largely the result of the available wood and my laziness (why cut when you don't have to). This isn't meant to impress anyone, heck you don't even need a compost bin you can make a pile. The bin just uses the space a bit better and keeps it all together. If you're interested in making a compost bin, start keeping your eye out for scrap lumber. Up here in Maine its fairly common to see stuff on the side of the road and you'll probably be able to amass enough materials in a short time. You can read about optimal sizes and what not, but its just as easy to figure out how much matter you produce that you'll be composting and try estimate a box that will hold a years worth. There are faster ways to compost but this is the simplest and I expect that by next year I'll have some useful material.
Now, there are some considerations. You might notice that the new compost bin is full of carbon-rich materials. Compost is supposed to have a mix of nitrogen and carbon rich materials (as you can read in any site about composting). So what to add? There are a number of nitrogen rich sources that I'm interested in. I'll let you know how it works out in a future post.
NOTE: I really did minimal measuring for this. It looks decent mostly because the wood had aged (old lathe) or it was stained (from bunk bed frame). I largely eyeballed the measurements.
Mission Statement,...sort of
Break time! I was outside working on a second compost bin (post to come later) and I was thinking about my views/motivations or what have you about homesteading, self-reliance and sustainability.
Let me give you an example: no knead bread. I think I might have posted something about this idea, if not I will eventually. The idea is that you can make bread by spending only minutes a day on it (this doesn't count the time in the oven, but presumably you can be reading my blog during that time :). Its very simple and can be done by the busiest of people. College students living in dorms could do this (with access to a communal kitchen). But if you do some reading you'll come across some 'improved' versions that are much more complicated. They use dutch ovens, a couple different rising times, a previously heated baking stone etc. This is all well and good as I understand the need of folks to refine and hone a process to produce the bets product. But there should be some disclaimer such as "there are much simpler ways to do this..." to encourage those without the 'required' equipment or the time to engage in these satisfying, money saving and nutritious activities.
Another example is compost. I'm far from being anything close to an expert, but I'm fairly tired of the detailed accounts of composting. I understand the need for a rough ratio of carbon materials to nitrogen materials, but many descriptions of composting make it sound like a course in organic chemistry. What you want is a dirt simple basic introduction to get people to compost. There are immediate monetary and environmental benefits that are not attained because plenty of people view it as complicated.
So what's my mission with this blog? I've determined that useful (to me) sites on the internet are sites that have boiled down information and techniques for my immediate use and consumption. That's what I want to give to you. I want to figure out cheap/free ways of improving your life whether you live in the country, suburbia, a city or a dorm room. I want to emphasize the cheap/free part. I don't see much sense in buying yogurt makers, new lumber or photovoltaic panels when there are piles of useful debris on the curb waiting to be REUSED. Yes, REUSED, one of those other R's. It way better than recycling because it requires no (or little) additional energy or processing. A kitty litter bucket you find on a curb becomes a container for a cherry tomato plant. Bam! You just saved that bucket from some long and energy intensive process and you've saved a couple bucks and are now growing something. Win...Win....and Win.
I suspect some activities might end up costing a couple of dollars and some activities might be more reliant on details than others. But whenever possible I want to deliver you a simple cheap and easy way to increase your self reliance while improving your health and reducing your impact on the environment.
Let me give you an example: no knead bread. I think I might have posted something about this idea, if not I will eventually. The idea is that you can make bread by spending only minutes a day on it (this doesn't count the time in the oven, but presumably you can be reading my blog during that time :). Its very simple and can be done by the busiest of people. College students living in dorms could do this (with access to a communal kitchen). But if you do some reading you'll come across some 'improved' versions that are much more complicated. They use dutch ovens, a couple different rising times, a previously heated baking stone etc. This is all well and good as I understand the need of folks to refine and hone a process to produce the bets product. But there should be some disclaimer such as "there are much simpler ways to do this..." to encourage those without the 'required' equipment or the time to engage in these satisfying, money saving and nutritious activities.
Another example is compost. I'm far from being anything close to an expert, but I'm fairly tired of the detailed accounts of composting. I understand the need for a rough ratio of carbon materials to nitrogen materials, but many descriptions of composting make it sound like a course in organic chemistry. What you want is a dirt simple basic introduction to get people to compost. There are immediate monetary and environmental benefits that are not attained because plenty of people view it as complicated.
So what's my mission with this blog? I've determined that useful (to me) sites on the internet are sites that have boiled down information and techniques for my immediate use and consumption. That's what I want to give to you. I want to figure out cheap/free ways of improving your life whether you live in the country, suburbia, a city or a dorm room. I want to emphasize the cheap/free part. I don't see much sense in buying yogurt makers, new lumber or photovoltaic panels when there are piles of useful debris on the curb waiting to be REUSED. Yes, REUSED, one of those other R's. It way better than recycling because it requires no (or little) additional energy or processing. A kitty litter bucket you find on a curb becomes a container for a cherry tomato plant. Bam! You just saved that bucket from some long and energy intensive process and you've saved a couple bucks and are now growing something. Win...Win....and Win.
I suspect some activities might end up costing a couple of dollars and some activities might be more reliant on details than others. But whenever possible I want to deliver you a simple cheap and easy way to increase your self reliance while improving your health and reducing your impact on the environment.
A pretty awesome book
We live on barely 0.1 acres and the house and the driveway take up a good chunk of that. So while many books are 'helpful' they are usually aimed at homesteaders with much more land. If I had even 0.5 acres of arable land the situation would be entirely different. I aspire to be an urban homesteader, at least as long as the girls are in school. Its convenient to be close to work and school as it cuts down on the commuting and it gives you a chance to raise awareness. Folks can be walking by, you have neighbors that can inquire, its all part of the little things you can do. But alas, as I've alluded to, its frustrating to listen to podcasts or read books/magazines that refer to acres in the plural and recommend tractors.
This brings me to A Toolbox for Sustainable City Living. I've just started reading/perusing it. Its amazing. All of the information has been tried and tested by the Rhizome Collective, which as far as I can tell, is an urban sustainability group. There are a number of things about this book I appreciate. One is that the fact that they don't necessarily want you to go buy stuff, they often recommend ways of accomplishing a project by using discarded items. They are also very aware of the constraints of living in a city and for once, while reading this book, I feel as though I have plenty of land. They discuss ways of creating small ponds and using these for growing food and green manure and also for filtering grey water. They discuss compost, soil remediation and controversial topics like 'humanure' (the composting of human feces). One interesting fact I wasn't aware of it that human urine is high in nitrogen. If your compost pile is slanted heavily towards the carbon end of things, this might be a good way to use some of that copious amount of urine (versus urinating in perfectly good water). From rainwater collection to sustainable energy this book has a ton of resources. Best of all it realizes the constraints that many of us have, living in urban areas. If (or when) civilization comes crashing down, this would be a book I'd like to have on hand. Its all well and good to be living the good life on your twenty acres in Alberta but what about all the folks living in cities. This book has a lot of ideas for that.
This brings me to A Toolbox for Sustainable City Living. I've just started reading/perusing it. Its amazing. All of the information has been tried and tested by the Rhizome Collective, which as far as I can tell, is an urban sustainability group. There are a number of things about this book I appreciate. One is that the fact that they don't necessarily want you to go buy stuff, they often recommend ways of accomplishing a project by using discarded items. They are also very aware of the constraints of living in a city and for once, while reading this book, I feel as though I have plenty of land. They discuss ways of creating small ponds and using these for growing food and green manure and also for filtering grey water. They discuss compost, soil remediation and controversial topics like 'humanure' (the composting of human feces). One interesting fact I wasn't aware of it that human urine is high in nitrogen. If your compost pile is slanted heavily towards the carbon end of things, this might be a good way to use some of that copious amount of urine (versus urinating in perfectly good water). From rainwater collection to sustainable energy this book has a ton of resources. Best of all it realizes the constraints that many of us have, living in urban areas. If (or when) civilization comes crashing down, this would be a book I'd like to have on hand. Its all well and good to be living the good life on your twenty acres in Alberta but what about all the folks living in cities. This book has a lot of ideas for that.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Sprouts
You know those little things...sprouts...that you see in salad bars and supermarkets. You can grow them...really easily apparently. I've picked up a bit of mung beans from the Natural Living Center in Bangor, they're about $7.50 a pound but I only bought a little over a dollar's worth (a bit more than a 1/4 cup). I took a large mason jar that I had and some window screen I salvaged from the side of the road (washed). I cut out a circle and used the lid to hold it down. I put a whole bunch of water over the beans and now I'll leave them for the next 24 hours. Note, I put them in a cupboard since I've read in some places that they should be in the dark. So here we are at t=0. I'll post tomorrow.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Getting caught up
Well the time has come to catch a bit with the goings ons of the home. First, I've set up the water barrel. Nothing fancy at the moment, just the downspout funneled into a barrel. Access to the water is gained by the use of a siphon (aka discarded garden hose). I plan to add a bit of screen to keep out debris as well.
I've also set up some potato buckets. Eight buckets (1$ each from LaBrie's Bakery) and $1.89 in potatoes. I drilled a bunch of holes and placed a sheet of newspaper in the bottom of the bucket (to prevent the soil from leaking out?) and then used composted manure to put the cut up potatoes in. The buckets are nice so far as I can move the buckets around the driveway to capture as much sunlight as possible. We'll see how they turn out.
So I've started demolishing some of our driveway. The hope is to reclaim some land for planting raspberry bushes and also for creating a patio area.
There's more, but I'll save it for upcoming posts.
I've also set up some potato buckets. Eight buckets (1$ each from LaBrie's Bakery) and $1.89 in potatoes. I drilled a bunch of holes and placed a sheet of newspaper in the bottom of the bucket (to prevent the soil from leaking out?) and then used composted manure to put the cut up potatoes in. The buckets are nice so far as I can move the buckets around the driveway to capture as much sunlight as possible. We'll see how they turn out.
So I've started demolishing some of our driveway. The hope is to reclaim some land for planting raspberry bushes and also for creating a patio area.
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There's more, but I'll save it for upcoming posts.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Less impact man
This past weekend my girlfriend, Sara, and I watched "No Impact Man" streamed over Netflix. Its about a fellow and his family who live in New York City and try to live a year with no environmental impact. Its a progression from reducing their trash, nasty cleaners, eating locally (w/i 250 miles) and finally turning off the electricity for six months. Its inspired us to 'lower' our impact. I've been increasingly trying to feed my family food made from more and more basic ingredients. Next week I'm going to start spending some of my grocery time at the local natural foods store where they have an impressive bulk section and you're allowed to bring your own containers. This will cut down on the trash we produce and also save a little money as well. I'm also planning to check out the farmer's market as well. There are going to be a lot of posts over this summer as I garden, cook and shop our way to savings and reduced eco-impact. Stay tuned for more.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Bread
I used to bake bread a lot. But ultimately life caught up with me and I found I didn't have the time to set it up or punch it down and shape it and wait for it to rise again. Life is fast and while we can try to slow it down I prefer to find solutions that fit into it right now. I want bread but I don't have the time to add it to our schedule. Fortunately I came across a post on Lifehacker (http://lifehacker.com/5491922/enjoy-fresh-bread-with-one-minute-of-prep) which referred to an article on Lifehack (http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifehack/kitchen-hack-one-minute-ciabatta-bread.html). I'll summarize here and if you can go looking for more information if you'd like (Youtube for example).
You'll need:
2C Water
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon yeast (dry)*
4C flour
Add ingredients into a bowl, mix. The mixture will be a bit sticky. Clean off your spoon and cover. Let sit for 12-24 hours*. Then heat the oven to 400 degrees. Scrap the dough out of the bowl into a loaf pan if you want a loaf or onto a baking stone or cookie sheet if you just want a blob of bread (its called artisan when its a blob :). Bake for 30-35 minutes.
(*)Why the discrepancy? It depends on your home. In the winter our house is pretty cold (not a fan of paying for oil). It hovers around 50-52 degrees and so in that case I was microwaving the 2C of water for 30 seconds and it took a full 24 hours to rise. But as spring has come I'm letting it sit for much less time. Also if you use 1/2 teaspoon of yeast it'll rise much faster. I made some dough today around 730am and it was baked off around 1pm and it was fine. That used 1/2 teaspoon of yeast. So I think I'm going to drop back to a 1/4 teaspoon so I can stretch the time out until the afternoon (as I'm generally gone in the day time)
There are many variations on this recipe, but appreciate its simplicity. This is something you can throw together while you're coffee's brewing or you're making toast. We use this bread exclusively now in our home. Sandwiches, french toast, toast, etc. It saves money and the ingredient list is impressively short.
You'll need:
2C Water
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon yeast (dry)*
4C flour
Add ingredients into a bowl, mix. The mixture will be a bit sticky. Clean off your spoon and cover. Let sit for 12-24 hours*. Then heat the oven to 400 degrees. Scrap the dough out of the bowl into a loaf pan if you want a loaf or onto a baking stone or cookie sheet if you just want a blob of bread (its called artisan when its a blob :). Bake for 30-35 minutes.
(*)Why the discrepancy? It depends on your home. In the winter our house is pretty cold (not a fan of paying for oil). It hovers around 50-52 degrees and so in that case I was microwaving the 2C of water for 30 seconds and it took a full 24 hours to rise. But as spring has come I'm letting it sit for much less time. Also if you use 1/2 teaspoon of yeast it'll rise much faster. I made some dough today around 730am and it was baked off around 1pm and it was fine. That used 1/2 teaspoon of yeast. So I think I'm going to drop back to a 1/4 teaspoon so I can stretch the time out until the afternoon (as I'm generally gone in the day time)
There are many variations on this recipe, but appreciate its simplicity. This is something you can throw together while you're coffee's brewing or you're making toast. We use this bread exclusively now in our home. Sandwiches, french toast, toast, etc. It saves money and the ingredient list is impressively short.
And we're back!
After a bit of a hiatus the blog will be active again. It will not just be home improvement but will contain useful features of our family's ever changing life. What is the use of a blog? A blog can be a filter for the information of the web and it can be a log of one's personal experience. We're trying to live a greener and healthier life. This isn't easy and we'll let you know what we're doing and how we're doing it. This can include recipes, green solutions, workout ideas, gardening, building etc. I hope you'll stay tuned!
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