Fermentation!

In the Kitchen

I am not sure why this has taken me so long but I finally have decided to do some fermenting and I just LOVE it!  I picked up this book at the library (click on this picture to check out their blog):

I started with some pickles...both slices and whole dills...

Then, I made some salsa (and more pickles...)

Then, I decided to ferment some garlic as a way to preserve part of my harvest...

Then, I decided to start some fermenting some sunflower wine:

Sunflower petals ready for making wine.

Sunflower petals with hot water to make sunflower tea.

Sunflower tea...getting ready to add sugar and yeast to ferment.

I kept reading in the book for more recipes to try to ferment.  A lot of the recipes call for whey (a byproduct of making cheese).  So, I decided to make some cheese so I could have whey!

Just finished cutting the curd...its really hard to see, it just looks like milk but it solid...

This picture is showing the curds in the cheesecloth draining off whey.  In the background, you can see the whey...I collected 1 1/2 gallons of whey.

This is not fermenting but the boys and I went to pick peaches and I did can some of the peaches.  I also made a peach pie (not pictured):

At the Farmer's Market, someone from Kallstrom Corn came over and bartered for some huckleberry jam.  Then, my neighbor brought me over some corn that he got from his friend in Lewiston.  So, while the cheese was busy fermenting and curding (is that a word) and draining...I decided to process some corn to freeze...

Click on this picture to check out their website and where they are selling corn!

So, as maybe you can tell, it has been a busy 2 weeks for me with all the fermenting, canning and freezing of food items.

Still on the hunt for our future farm...starting to think about looking for land to build...hmmm...decisions, decisions...

The sunflowers are pretty much finished blooming so I am finished with the Farmer's Market for this year.  I will blog about this and some reflections another time...I am exhausted and heading to bed...

Fermentation!

In the Kitchen

I am not sure why this has taken me so long but I finally have decided to do some fermenting and I just LOVE it!  I picked up this book at the library (click on this picture to check out their blog):

I started with some pickles...both slices and whole dills...

Then, I made some salsa (and more pickles...)

Then, I decided to ferment some garlic as a way to preserve part of my harvest...

Then, I decided to start some fermenting some sunflower wine:

Sunflower petals ready for making wine.

Sunflower petals with hot water to make sunflower tea.

Sunflower tea...getting ready to add sugar and yeast to ferment.

I kept reading in the book for more recipes to try to ferment.  A lot of the recipes call for whey (a byproduct of making cheese).  So, I decided to make some cheese so I could have whey!

Just finished cutting the curd...its really hard to see, it just looks like milk but it solid...

This picture is showing the curds in the cheesecloth draining off whey.  In the background, you can see the whey...I collected 1 1/2 gallons of whey.

This is not fermenting but the boys and I went to pick peaches and I did can some of the peaches.  I also made a peach pie (not pictured):

At the Farmer's Market, someone from Kallstrom Corn came over and bartered for some huckleberry jam.  Then, my neighbor brought me over some corn that he got from his friend in Lewiston.  So, while the cheese was busy fermenting and curding (is that a word) and draining...I decided to process some corn to freeze...

Click on this picture to check out their website and where they are selling corn!

So, as maybe you can tell, it has been a busy 2 weeks for me with all the fermenting, canning and freezing of food items.

Still on the hunt for our future farm...starting to think about looking for land to build...hmmm...decisions, decisions...

The sunflowers are pretty much finished blooming so I am finished with the Farmer's Market for this year.  I will blog about this and some reflections another time...I am exhausted and heading to bed...

Berries and cherries...

Growing and Foraging...

A short post this week about all the cherries/berries we have collected this summer.  The season started the end of June with red raspberries and then golden raspberries ripening.  We have some bushes right in our yard so these were easy to pick.  Next, our tart cherry tree started to produce.  Last year, I collected 2 cups of cherries.  This year, I got 2 gallons!  Also, a friend of mine said I could glean some off her tree so I ended up picking about 14 more pounds of cherries off her tree.  I made cherry pie filling which was a new venture for me...super easy and delicious!

I didn't really keep track of the raspberries that I got.  I got about a gallon of the golden raspberries and I would guess 3-4 gallons of red raspberries.  Then, in mid-July the wild blackberries started to ripen.  The boys and I like to go to Boyer Dam in the swimming area each summer so the boys can play in the water while I pick blackberries.  I picked about 23 pounds of blackberries.

Just as the blackberries started, the huckleberries were also beginning to ripen.  They are a little bit more challenging to get because I drive about 1 hour 30 minutes to the top of a mountain to pick.  We picked for 4 Sundays (a new record for us...).  Anyway, we ended up with 22.5 pounds of huckleberries.  I was talking to a guy at the Farmer's Market that sells huckleberries for $40/gallon.  He said that 1 gallon weighs approximately 5.7 pounds.

So, it has been a "fruitful" summer...pun intended.  This is the most fruit we have collected by far.  I already made a cherry pie and it was delicious.  Also, I used some of the leftover huckleberry jam to make ice cream and it was AMAZING!