Lately: The Broken Camera Edition

Lately :: a brief smattering of what’s been happening here on the homestead and our other content from around the web.

Apparently I needed to take a few weeks off of blogging. I thought it was just recently that I’d posted about the new cabin, but apparently it was nearly a month ago. I attribute part of that to my camera breaking, and my inability to blog without photos because I’m a coward and I hide behind them they inspire me. I attribute another part of it to the usual and unusual goings on that is life on a homestead.

And so I break the ice, which I always find horribly awkward after a long blogging hiatus, with the recent goings on and some older, most likely unrelated photos.

The Garden

We have had rain(!) in June(!) right as the gardens are really coming up!! It’s been such an amazing site to see real live grass that really, truly grows instead of parched ground that puts up tiny shoots that lie about being grass. Texas never stops surprising me.

We’ve been harvesting little bits here and there. Some herbs and peas and Black Spanish Radishes have made their way into salads. The mullein in the lead photo was dried and turned into a tincture for viruses. We pulled the garlic and planted beans everywhere just before we received a large rain.

Sweet potato slips finally got planted as did okra, sunflowers, and melons. All of these are taking off with the rains we’ve had and we’ve hardly had to irrigate at all. Could this be the year of the bean? Stay tuned.

The Kitchen

It’s starting to heat up here, but I’ve been doing a lot of recipe development and testing. My friend Kristen invited me back after Ruth’s arrival and my latest recipe there is the above Irish Nacho Bake. It’s potatoes and lentils and meat and cheese and Tex-Mex fixings. I don’t see how that could be bad.

Speaking of old friends, the folks at Plan to Eat invited me back as well. I’ve been writing about my experiences with Feeding the Growing Family. It’s been fun to share ideas on how to budget, plan, cook, and troubleshoot feeding this little army of mine. (Seriously, boy, you do not need another snack.)

• Feeding the Growing Family: Budgeting and Planning
• Simple Lentil Salad
• Feeding the Growing Family: Breakfast
• One-Pot Spring Pasta (gluten-free)
• Feeding the Growing Family: Lunch and Snacks
• Feeding the Growing Family: Dinner

You can find me over at the Plan to Eat blog every week now.

Fermentation

I’ve been doing a lot with sourdough lately. Just in case saying that has you thinking I’m super on the ball, maybe you should read my Space Cadet’s Guide to Keeping a Sourdough Starter.

I also wrote up these pieces for the Cultures for Health Blog:

Using Kombucha Vinegar to Replace Apple Cider Vinegar (and the differences)

In the Garden and a Spring Vegetable Ferment Recipe Roundup

More importantly though, if your name is Stewart, is this hot sauce. I made it from over-fermented salsa, a ton of ground cayenne, and apple cider vinegar. The following week he turned every meal into whatever we’re eating in a bowl of fermented hot sauce soup. He smiled through the tears and said “This is the best hot sauce ever.” I think I’m going to have to make more salsa just so I can make this hot sauce again.

Fermentation for the win!

So, now that the ice is broken and we’re friends again see you next month? I hope not, but we’ll see.

Oh, and I’ll work on getting that camera fixed in the meanwhile.