To your health! My first ginger soda (I’m going to call it soda as of now because otherwise my European readers think I am brewing alcoholic beverages) lost its fizz at some point. Probably when it was in the carboy, before I bottled it. It’s still mighty good to drink but I want to make …
Monthly Archives: January 2011
Hoop House Update, Bees, and Washing Indoor Plants
DH and I tried to save it, but the snow inside the “boat”/”float” is unapproachable. The bent pipes are still holding it up, about 1 foot off the ground, which is good on the one hand because the beds inside aren’t (totally) crushed, but which is also a problem because we can’t just jump in …
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RIP Hoop House 3.0 ?
We woke up to one more foot of snow and this: That’s not the shape it had yesterday. Something gave. I’m still smiling here. I don’t know why. A peek inside: one of the connectors snapped. Should I go in and try to push off the snow from the inside? It’s creaking ominously… Better not, …
Ginger Bug Recipe CORRECTION
I bottled the ginger beer. It is still sitting out, and I am waiting for bubbles to reappear before I stick it in the fridge. As I was forwarding the link to the recipe, I noticed that in my haste to share this with you, I made a mistake: I added 1 cup of sugar, …
Of Bees and Birds
The hive in the distance. Gotta go dig it out. Some wading and digging and it’s done. The new dead bees at the entrance means the bees in there are still alive, trying to clear out the die-off. They’re well insulated now in that blanket of snow, as long as the hive gets some ventilation. …
Bug to Beer. And Growing Ginger and Turmeric
Bubbles! The Ginger Bug is bubbling so I’m moving on to the next stage of brewing a good beer: adding the culture to the base (water, more ginger and sugar/honey) and letting it ferment away some more. I’m making a little less than a gallon, about 6 wine bottles, I should say. DH made some …
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Echinacea Tincture in the Making
Today I started an Echinacea tincture. Don’t know why I waited this long (and will have to wait for 6 more weeks) . This winter I’ve already spent a good $40 on store-bought tincture – gah! You can make it for about $2 a bottle at home, and control the ingredients too. It’s a 1:5 …
Woah Sweet Potatoes!
Just realized I need to start the sweet potato sprouts if we want to grow any this season. It begins…
Ginger Bug and Ginger Beer
Yesterday I had great fun at the NOFA Mass. Winter Conference. (I took my red scarf off, I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking.) One of the things I learned, from Sarah Shields of Birch Moon Farm & Herbals, was how to use fermentation from airborne yeasts to carbonate drinks. I just started my first ginger bug, …
Neem for Aphids and Whiteflies
This is what the view out of the window looks like at the moment. Glorious! DH and I spent three hours digging out our driveway on Wednesday (1 1/2 feet of heavy snow over about 2000 sq.f) and it had been a long time since I had been that exhausted. As I trudged back up …