We moved into our little homestead just over a year ago. It has adorable front yard with a decent size lawn, rosebushes, and magnolia trees. It's fenced in so our smalls are somewhat contained from running a muck. We even have a teenage neighbor who is willing to earn a buck by keeping it mowed.
The problem with it is two fold. 1-It requires quite a bit of water to maintain the lush appearance. 2-It would be the best space to really garden and make a go a this urban homesteading idea.
The conflict is keeping up this image of what I thought a front yard should look like, vs what really suits our needs. Truthfully, we are rarely out there except to trim roses or wave to the neighbors. My husband really wanted to plant a few citrus trees, and I really want a vegetable garden.
So we are going to let the lawn go and in it's place have a small grove of citrus trees and begin to build raised garden beds. If all goes well, we should have things in place for next spring's garden and if we are really on it, maybe a winter garden this year.
Stay tuned for future posts on adventures in woodworking the inevitable ER trip that will come from a novice trying to cut wood and build garden beds.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Monday, June 18, 2012
An Early Jam Session
Don't worry, I'm not adding folk singer to my list of aspirations. I'm talking about that fruity goodness that comes in a jar. A quick trip to the store ended in a unexpected bounty of perfectly ripe and delicious organic blueberries. I bought 10 pints and while I imagine my kids would have gladly eaten them all right away, I saw the perfect opportunity to practice my canning skills. Or I might be a fruit hoarder, but that is a different conversation.
The driving force behind making my own jam was the overly sweet taste most store jams have. Even the less sugar brands taste more like sugar than fruit. Thanks again to the inter-webs, I found the solution in Pomona's Universal Pectin. Pectin, in case you like to know these sorts of things, is what helps thicken jam. Traditional pectin uses about one cup of sugar to one cup of fruit. Holy sugar Batman. Pomona's uses as little as 3/4 cup of sugar for 4 cups of fruit. You can even try honey, agave, stevia or juice, but I'm opting for regular sugar as I learn the art of making jam. For this batch of jam, I used 4 cups of mashed blueberries, 1/4 lemon juice, 3/4 cup of sugar and the 2 tsp of calcium water and 2tsp of pectin from the Pomona's box.
Beyond the ingredients you need a few pieces of cooking equipment. You can buy pots just for canning, but so far I've used what I have. I did buy a jar and lid lifter, because handling scalding hot jars is hard (as I learned the hard way on my first canning adventure).
I also highly recommend having a pint sized sous chef, although you will may need to factor in additional berries, as it's impossible for smalls to resist fresh berries (at least for mine it is).
There are detailed directions in the Pomona's box but here is the gist of what I did. Boil the jars in a big pot and keep the pot simmering while you cook. Do the same thing with jar lids in a smaller pot.
In a cup mix the sugar with the pectin. In a pan, mix the mashed blueberries, calcium water, and lemon juice. Heat it to almost boiling. Mix in the sugar/pectin mix, stir rapidly and boil for 1-2 minutes. Now this is where I wish I could convey the smell and taste of this perfect combination of sweet and tart. It is so good.
After the jam is cooked, take it off the burner. One by one, take a jar from the pot, fill it to 1/4 inch of the top, wipe the rim of the jar so it's perfectly clean, put a lid on it and then gently tighten a screw band. When all the jars are filled, place them back into the big pan of still simmering water. Return it to a boil and let it boil for 10 minutes. Take the jars out and let them cool. As they are cooling, you will likely hear a popping sound meaning the jars have sealed.
For an hour of time, and $10 in materials, I have 4 beautiful jars of delicious, low sugar, super fruity jam goodness. I have decent skills in the kitchen, but I'll confess the idea of canning intimated me. but I will say this was much easier than I imagined. Now that I've done it, I can't imagine buying jam again. Give it a try, it's worth the effort and I bet you will be a convert as well.
Beyond the ingredients you need a few pieces of cooking equipment. You can buy pots just for canning, but so far I've used what I have. I did buy a jar and lid lifter, because handling scalding hot jars is hard (as I learned the hard way on my first canning adventure).
I also highly recommend having a pint sized sous chef, although you will may need to factor in additional berries, as it's impossible for smalls to resist fresh berries (at least for mine it is).There are detailed directions in the Pomona's box but here is the gist of what I did. Boil the jars in a big pot and keep the pot simmering while you cook. Do the same thing with jar lids in a smaller pot.
In a cup mix the sugar with the pectin. In a pan, mix the mashed blueberries, calcium water, and lemon juice. Heat it to almost boiling. Mix in the sugar/pectin mix, stir rapidly and boil for 1-2 minutes. Now this is where I wish I could convey the smell and taste of this perfect combination of sweet and tart. It is so good.
After the jam is cooked, take it off the burner. One by one, take a jar from the pot, fill it to 1/4 inch of the top, wipe the rim of the jar so it's perfectly clean, put a lid on it and then gently tighten a screw band. When all the jars are filled, place them back into the big pan of still simmering water. Return it to a boil and let it boil for 10 minutes. Take the jars out and let them cool. As they are cooling, you will likely hear a popping sound meaning the jars have sealed.
For an hour of time, and $10 in materials, I have 4 beautiful jars of delicious, low sugar, super fruity jam goodness. I have decent skills in the kitchen, but I'll confess the idea of canning intimated me. but I will say this was much easier than I imagined. Now that I've done it, I can't imagine buying jam again. Give it a try, it's worth the effort and I bet you will be a convert as well.
Friday, June 8, 2012
The Near Crouton Catastrophe of 2012
One Friday evening several months ago I made big a tasty salad for dinner and I wanted that little crunch that only croutons would provide. I dug into the cupboards, but there were none to be found. I thought out of the box, maybe we had some tortilla chips or crackers I could crumble up. Negative on that front too. So I was faced with the option of a late Friday afternoon trip to the store with two small people in tow, or no crunch for my salad. Panic set in and I felt my heart began to race at that thought of rounding everyone up, getting into car seats, driving to the store... I knew that if I went, it was unlikely the trip would be quick, easy, and without tears from one of the three of us. I also knew I wanted crunch for my salad.
That's when the light bulb went off... couldn't I make some? The answer according to Google was, yes I could. Low and behold oven+bread+olive oil+seasoning = croutons. I know this would be painfully obvious for most people, but the near crouton catastrophe of 2012 was an eye opening experience. I'd become reliant on the grocery store for dried out crusty bread, when I could easily do it myself, control the ingredients, use old scraps of bread I might have otherwise tossed, save money and use a lot less packaging. I began to wonder what I else I could and should do myself. What else could I do to become more self reliant?
So began this journey. Welcome. I can't wait to see where this goes.
By they way, croutons are easy and yummy. Here is what I did:
-Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
-Slice bread into relatively uniform bite sized cubes (I've used whole wheat, oat nut, and leftover sourdough so far)
-Spray lightly with olive oil (you could also use butter and be more heavy handed with it to get a deeper flavor, but a tiny bit works as well)
-Sprinkle with Trader Joe's seasoning blend (you could use anything here too. I imagine a bit of parmesan cheese would be awesome)
-Bake on a cookie sheet about 15 minutes until your croutons are toasted and tasty
That's when the light bulb went off... couldn't I make some? The answer according to Google was, yes I could. Low and behold oven+bread+olive oil+seasoning = croutons. I know this would be painfully obvious for most people, but the near crouton catastrophe of 2012 was an eye opening experience. I'd become reliant on the grocery store for dried out crusty bread, when I could easily do it myself, control the ingredients, use old scraps of bread I might have otherwise tossed, save money and use a lot less packaging. I began to wonder what I else I could and should do myself. What else could I do to become more self reliant?
So began this journey. Welcome. I can't wait to see where this goes.
By they way, croutons are easy and yummy. Here is what I did:
-Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
-Slice bread into relatively uniform bite sized cubes (I've used whole wheat, oat nut, and leftover sourdough so far)
-Spray lightly with olive oil (you could also use butter and be more heavy handed with it to get a deeper flavor, but a tiny bit works as well)
-Sprinkle with Trader Joe's seasoning blend (you could use anything here too. I imagine a bit of parmesan cheese would be awesome)
-Bake on a cookie sheet about 15 minutes until your croutons are toasted and tasty
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