Homesteading

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Homesteadian

an advertisement with a jar of bread and measuring tape on the side that says, feeding meella daily bread flour from 1876 ca

Sourdough Journey #29: A new bread - another learning curve!

I want to buy local I want to buy organic And I’d love to find a local mill that offered stone-ground, organic flour made from local grains. Enter: 1847.ca The 1847 mill is just an hour and a half away in Ferguson Ontario, definitely drivable for me, but they deliver!!! Actually, I ordered my flour on Sunday and it arrived on Tuesday! That was fast. The flours They have lots of flours to choose from which is a blessing and a challenge. A blessing because - oh the possibilities!!…

a woman standing next to a black and white dog in a field with yellow fence

2023 Garden #5: What I learned this week

Plantain Plantain Plantain As soon as our weather shifts (I think we’ve had rain for 3 weeks straight… and it is cold out) I will be searching my yard for plantain!! I know that it is out there and that I have lots of it. I have never pulled it it, knowing that it is a mashkiki-wan (Ojibwe for “medicinal plant”). Until now, however, I have never really looked into it and, wow, it is one of the super-plants that are good for almost everything. The Seeds I will be gathering the…

a potted plant with the words gardening off seedlings

Hardening Off Seedlings

Gardening #16: When to HARDEN OFF seedlings?

From comfy cozy to the realities of life... I start a lot of plants indoors in the spring and, as we enter the month of May, they are ready to get their roots planted into the earth and flourish under the rays of the sun. My seedlings’ home has been a consistent and comfortable 21c (70F) for their entire lives. Being tossed into the real world, with the fluctuating temperatures of the outdoors, intense rays of the sun, and, perhaps, the force of high winds, well, it will come as quite the…

the food is being prepared in the microwave

Mashkiki-wan: medicinal plants #1: COMFREY: as an herbal?

Mashkiki-wan is the Ojibwe word for medicinal plant. Ntam mashkiki: nbiish. Eko-niizhing: mashkiki-wan. First medicine: water. Second: medicinal plants This week, I harvested some comfrey plants, just as they were starting their spring growth, full of nutrients and growth power. Why comfrey? The comfrey that I have in my yard is supposedly the clumping variety but it still spreads like crazy and Rick hates it. I think he hates it because he doesn’t know whether he should run it over…

a man and woman standing in a greenhouse looking at something on the ground with their hands out

Interesting Questions

Whole Wheat

Sourdough Bread

The Ranch

2023 Garden #4: What I’ve learned this week

Yesterday, the temperature outside was a high of 6C and a low of 3c. That’s chilly. Cold weather is a great time for researching! Sourdough This winter, with my very cold kitchen and my new stoneground (and organic) flour, I have struggled to make a good loaf of sourdough bread. I recently watched a video about making a good whole wheat loaf and my life has changed! Well, my bread has changed - I am now baking a beautiful loaf that has a good rise! Unfortunately, even though I saved it,…

an older woman holding a hot dog in her hand and smiling at the camera while standing next to a fence

2023 Garden #3: April 23 - where’s spring?

I know that I’m in a Zone 5/6 area and my estimated last frost date is May 24 …. But ..WHERE IS SPRING? In recently years, spring has been showing up in late March, early April, and then we’ve just had some winter days tossed in for good measure. This year, we are continually having cold weather, with some spring days tossed in here and there. I guess it is a reminder to: Don’t get cocky 2023, so far, is a reminder that Mother Nature is in charge! Walkabout Yesterday, I checked out…

an advertisement for a garden store with the words warm weather outside the cabin

2023 Garden #2: GreenStalks for the win!

GreenStalks: vertical gardening for ascetics, and for best use of space .. and for movability. This past week, I set up my GreenStalks on the “deck” of my backyard cabin. We have had beautiful weather and I used that gift to plant some herbs and perennial plants, such as sage and yarrow, as well as taking a risk with some less cold-tolerant plants such as basil. This week, the weather is dropping to freezing temperatures and this is why I chose the cabin location for my GreenStalks.…

there are many trash cans in the middle of an abandoned farm yard that has been fenced off

Our Hoophouses #14: You served me well ..

My Hoophouse stood strong through high winds, winter snowstorms and hot sunny days … But that one winter storm, that had the wettest and heaviest snow that I’ve ever seen, took its toll and collapsed the Hoophouse frame. The snow was so heavy that I just couldn’t lift it off the plastic after the storm had passed. And, so we will be building another Hoophouse this spring. In the meantime, I keep moving my pile of woodchips. Today, I covered the e area behind my little Hoophouse,…

an older man is looking at a large loaf of bread on his head with the words sourdough bread in just 5 hours

Sourdough Journey #31: Sourdough in just 3 hours!!!!

Yes - you can make bread in just three hours. You can make bread that looks and tastes like sourdough But you can’t make SOURDOUGH bread in just 3 hours because … SOURDOUGH IS A PROCESS Sourdough is a process of developing and feeding wild yeasts and letting them feast on the components of flour, breaking it down which, then, helps it to be more digestible by us. All of that doesn’t happen in just three hours. Sourdough takes time. Embrace it; work with it; benefit from it.

a bag of flour sitting on top of a green field with the words sourdough with new flour part 2

Sourdough Journey #30: Learning curve of a new flour

This week, I ordered some stoneground, organic, LOCAL bread flour from 1847.ca and I am so excited! Excited … but … but there is a learning curve, which I wasn’t expecting. This flour makes the smoothest, strongest (I think that’s the word) dough and I’m not used to it - but but .. it is beautiful and feels so wonderful when working with it. First loaf The first loaf just didn’t seem to rise well and m, then, I assumed that I had overproofed it during the bulk fermentation…

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Food processor recipes

Sourdough Journey #29: Sourdough - BIG MISTAKE!

I forgot the salt ! If you have watched anyone talking about the need for salt in sourdough bread you will hear them say that bread without salt is just plain yucky to eat. First, let’s backtrack in my story. Digestion I can eat my sourdough bread and not get the inflammation that I do from eating white bread (or sourdough bread) from the store. The sourdough process is definitely beneficial, for me, in helping with digest-ability of bread. So … So… I decided to try the autolyse…

Sourdough Journey #28: Sourdough - BIG MISTAKE!

an advertisement for the winter's last kick at the can house

Ice Storm Preparation

Fun Things To Do

Twist

How To Plan

Our Hoophouses #13: One last winter storm and ARGH

Winter’s last kick at the can, one last heavy ice and snow storm, wreaked havoc on my Hoophouse … it had done so well up to this point. We had a lot of ice and snow and I forgot to go clear the roof of the Hoophouse … The frame is now bent and twisted from the weight of the ice. Step 1 Assess the damage: top frame and side frames twisted but still connected. Step 2 Plan the fix: probably lots of propping up with posts but we will have to wait and see. First, all this snow…

Our Hoophouses #12: One last winter storm and ARGH

Winter’s last kick at the can, one last heavy ice and snow storm, wreaked havoc on my Hoophouse … it had done so well. We had a lot of ice and snow and I forgot to go clear the roof it the Hoophouse … The frame is now bent and twisted from the weight of the ice. Step 1 Assess the damage: top frame and side frames twisted but still connected. Step 2 Plan the fix: probably lots of propping up with posts but we will have to wait and see. First, all this snow has to melt so…

there is a bread and a thermometer next to it with words turn it into a silver lining

Sourdough Loaves

Making Sourdough Bread

Sourdough Journey #27: “Too hot; too cold” — learning what’s just right

Saving on heating bills, our kitchen now sits at a not-so-comfortable 58F If I’m not liking it, what about those microbes, the yeast, in my sourdough feeling? When I started this journey, back when my kitchen was warm, I was creating two sourdough loaves a week and they were so beautiful and delicious. And then we turned the thermostat down in order to save on heating costs. My sourdough wasn’t liking it. Since the change in temperature, the bread has still been tasty but it…