(Mis)Adventures in Dandelion Jelly
Until a few days ago, I’d heard of dandelion salads and wines, but never dandelion jelly. The idea intrigued me so much, I set about making it today. As we don’t spray for dandelions (or anything else, for that matter,) I had, shall we say, an “ample” supply of blossoms. Since many trees and flowering [...]
A Visit from Heather
My long-lost wonderful friend Heather decided to visit from the Chicago area yesterday, and boy howdy did we ever have a full day. Apart from catching up on each others’ last seven years of life, we picked about 25 pounds of tomatoes, eight pounds of cucumbers and processed nearly all of each of them. We [...]
Pickles for Mom, Pickles for You!
My mom’s financial and health situation right now is dire. She’s at risk for losing her home and she’s already lost her career as the result of being struck by a negligent driver at an intersection back in mid-April. She sustained a severe concussion, and as a result, traumatic brain injury presenting as dementia. Currently, [...]
Making Pickles, Part Next of (N)
The dills I made for Mike got to a point yesterday I deemed “finished.” They are salty and garlicky and pretty tasty, but not quite my thing. Three pounds of sliced cukes left me with exactly one half-gallon of finished product. The brine became a bit turbid in the 24 hours before I put it [...]
Making Pickles, Part 1 of (N)
In our last episode, we saw A Giant Pile of Cucumbers. All told, it yielded about six pounds of sliced cucumber – with another 2.5 pounds left untouched. I officially have 6 pounds of pickles in the works people. I also have a few cucumbers to give away. No promises on ripeness perfection, because, not [...]
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I've started a web hosting company for the homesteading and sustainability community!
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Now Reading
Planned books:
- Bringing It to the Table: On Farming and Food by Wendell Berry
- The Lovely Bones by Sebold Alice
- A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
- Luka and the Fire of Life: A Novel by Salman Rushdie
- The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest by Stieg Larsson
Current books:
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The Art of the Commonplace: The Agrarian Essays of Wendell Berry by Wendell Berry
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The Girl Who Played with Fire (Vintage) by Stieg Larsson
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Poachers: Stories by Tom Franklin
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Song of Ice and Fire Set: A Game of Thrones, a Clash of Kings, a Storm of Swords, a Feast for Crows, by George R. R. Martin
Recent books:
- Ill Wind by Nevada Barr
- A Superior Death (An Anna Pigeon Novel) by Nevada Barr
- Track of the Cat by Nevada Barr
- Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter. by Tom Franklin by Tom Franklin
- Safe from the Sea by Peter Geye
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