I like to feed it before putting it the fridge just to make sure it’s happiest if I end up going longer than two bakes.
I almost dehydrated mine before our move, but decided to just keep it alive with English muffins in our rv’s easy bake oven instead. Boy I’m glad those days are over. :)
Oooooh. I’ve also successfully made sourdough biscotti. We moved recently. I would have to dig up the recipe. I will share if I can find it.
And sourdough tortillas are quite simple with the addition of oil. Most recipes call for discard. I like to let mine ferment a bit still before rolling out. You need to roll them out very thin allowing the dough to rest between rollings. Unless you want to make thick ones :)
Nikki Roche wrote:I read about dehydrating sourdough discard and using it in place of part of the flour in baked goods, like cookies and such where you normally don't want the extra moisture of sourdough. It's on my list to try.
Now that is an idea :) I love to take recipes and convert them to sourdough. This would help with high liquid recipes. As it is...I run a lower hydration starter. 80% instead of 100%. You could also feed off a stiffer starter to lesson the liquid.
I just started grinding my own. I use a Country Living Mill and sift through a 30 mesh strainer stacked above a 50 mesh strainer. I feed the largest to the chickens and regrind what’s left on the 50 mesh before sifting that one more time.
It’s a lot of work, but I’m very happy with the crumb I’m getting in my loaves. They still have a whole wheat depth of flavor to them with a light structure.
I use to sell sourdough at a Farmer’s Market. I’ve switched to just friends and the homestead since cooking with a wood stove now and grinding my own flour. That is so not feasible for a business. :)
I really like to make sourdough English muffins...I call them Mountain Muffins.
This should yield approx 2 dozen muffins. It is half of my batch size. I use a 4.5” diameter round cutter to cut them out.
4 cups of milk (or whey) (if you leave it out to come up to room temp fermentation will happen faster)
740 grams ripe starter
125 grams honey
1300 grams flour
20 grams sea salt
I mix directly in a 12 qt container and add ingredients in the order listed (flour and salt pre-mixed) so that things don’t stick to the sides too bad. I mix it by hand until it is well mixed.
Leave it out to ferment 12-16 hours (you’re looking for at least double in size) before rolling it out on a well floured surface. It’s sticky. Flour is your friend. Let it rest for just a minute so that your rounds don’t suck back in after you cut them. I like them rolled out to roughly 1/2” thick. Cut with your round cutter. I keep re-rolling out the dough until I’ve used it up, hand shaping the last one or two. Just like roll cookies the more you roll the tougher they get, so we eat those fresh and freeze the best ones.
Proof for an hour and then pan fry over med low heat in your oil of choice (we do lard). You can finish them in the oven after you flip them for a more even cook. I find it takes approximately 5 min in a 400 degree oven.
We’ve been doing our baking in a wood stove. My husband got me one with the largest oven size he could find. I can bake 4 Dutch oven round loaves at once...and they have turned out to be the most beautiful loaves since making the switch to wood heat.
We hope to experiment with rocket mass in the future. For now...we just turn our tiny home into a sweat lodge on baking day.
I made a pumpkin tarragon sourdough loaf a few years back. I’ll have to dig up the recipe I landed on, but basically some roasted pumpkin and tarragon added with the water backed off a touch. Bake it slightly cooler as the pumpkin would like to burn. :)
Has anyone mechanized their hand crank mill other than pedal power? I’m borrowing a pedal powered country living mill right now and I’m trying to decide how to mechanize mine. I’m finding, as a mom of many boys, that I am pulled away from my pioneer spinning class too often and can barely get enough flour milled & sifted for my two recipes. :)
We just moved to N Idaho this year and have a 2020 Jayco 284BHOK for sale now that our winter home is just about complete. We purchased it in February of this year. It is a bunkhouse model and still in excellent condition as well as under warranty. If anyone else is thinking about making a big move right now, this was a huge help for us. You'll need to prep it for winter depending on where you are moving. Specs below:
2020 Jayco 284BHOK Asking $35,000
(linked to manufacturer information)
Well cared for and still in excellent condition
Still Under Warranty
Floor Plan/Amenities 1 slide
Tri-Fold Sofa
"U" Shaped Dinette
Bunk House w/ 2 Double Beds
Bottom Bunk flips up to become pass through storage that can be accessed from the back of the RV
King Bed Upgrade
Sliding door for privacy
Separate Entrance too
Large Shower for an RV w/ great counter space in the bathroom
Tons of well thought out storage
Outdoor Kitchen w/ propane grill, sink & mini fridge.
Extras/Upgrades 32” LED TV
King Bed
American Tradition Decor
LED Fireplace
Climate Shield (Weather Package)
16” Tires
Prepped for Solar
Sway Bar Hitch
Tank Hoses
Fill Hose
Measurements Exterior Length - 34’9”
Exterior Height w/ AC - 12’2”
Exterior Width - 8’0”
Interior Living Height - 7’0”
Tank Capacities Fresh Water - 75 gal
Gray Primary - 32.5 gal
Gray Secondary - 32.5 gal
Black - 32.5 gal
Propane - 60lb
Water Heater - 6 gal
Kristin Bulpitt wrote:Hoping someone (Petr?) can clarify for me, when looking at the calendar he created: https://mooncalendar.astro-seek.com/gardening-moon-calendar-farmers-guide There are two columns (Gardening Calendar by the Moon Phase and Biodynamic Calendar by the Moon Sign).
I normally use the Stella Natura planting calendar so am used to "root day", "leaf day" etc.
These two columns on the website seem to contradict each other often. Fri Feb 22 for example, Gardening Calendar says to "Sow/Plant: Below ground plants, especially Root plants", however the icon for the Biodynamic Calendar indicates a flower day.
I appreciate anyone's input.
Thank you!
Dre here I am so glad I found this thread! I’ve been studying Astrology pretty intensely lately and my best guess is that Petr’s calendar uses Sidereal Astrology (which takes Precession into account) vs Stella Natura’s use of Tropical Astrology (which does not account for Precession since Babylonian times).
There is a 24 degree difference between the two. Vedic Sidereal is closer to what is actually happening in the sky today.
Now for the kicker, I don’t believe either of them to be truly accurate. True Sidereal also takes the exact sizes of each zodiac constellation into account. Leo and Virgo in the sky are quite large compared to Cancer and Libra. Both Tropical and Vedic Sidereal use an even 30 degrees for each sign to simplify things and this can distort energy readings.
Since I’ve come across this (via Athen Chimenti mostly), I’ve been down quite an illuminating Rabbit hole.
Long story short, one of the many things I would like to do with this knowledge is to create a useful planting calendar from it. This winter will be filled with research for me...as much as the kiddos will allow.
Our family is in a similar situation except that we got onto our land (Northern Idaho) in mid June. I can tell you that in this short amount of time being here, we have changed our minds at least 6 times as to what and where to build. We have come full circle at this point with winter looming, and we are going to finish closing in and insulating a wing of a large pole barn that is here. Our neighbor has been invaluable as a former contractor. He is helping us organize the project and has given tons of advice.
Take the time to get to know your land. Make sure your kiddos get plenty of fun time dotted in too. We have three small boys and it is hard for them to understand how much "work" needs to be done. The play and discovery portion is just as valuable.
Good luck! Get to know your neighbors...we all need each other right now.
We just purchased 15 acres of which at least 12 are coniferous forest. There is so much life in there. We are excited to find what edibles are already there.
We are in escrow on 15 acres! There is a septic, but we don't intend to use it. We plan to remove the current old mobile home and convert the pole barn into a home for us with a composting toilet and grey water system.
The home site is downhill from the current septic. We are already planning to remove the current sump as it is in a prime garden location.
There is a foundation with basement already in place uphill from the septic. We plan to turn this into a greenhouse as it's location is perfect for that.
What should we do with the current septic...besides turning it into a Concrete Dungeon for trespassers?
We are drinking chaga tea and have upped our c & d intake as well. We don’t have a Twitter acct, but I do read @clif_high on Twitter because he is a voracious reader/researcher and on a mission to help people harden their bodies against this.
Otherwise, we have always run food based businesses and keep ourselves stocked on dry goods. Lacto-fermenting, curing meat...etc. just be prepared for anything. The financial/economic ramifications from this are far more dangerous than the virus itself. Harden your immune systems and be prepared for the possibility of a financial global reset.
Inge Leonora-den Ouden wrote:
Hi Dre. I never knew the Solomon's Knot before! So I looked it up, found some youtube videos on how to do it and tried it. Very interesting crochet stitch!
It’s quite versatile too :) If you’ve ever played the connect the dot game where you can’t go over the same line twice...You can create any geometric pattern you want within that frame of mind.
I make infinity scarves with it mostly, but it also makes a pretty jute lattice.
r ranson wrote:If I understand Paul correctly, it's important that each task have a useful finished object. A felted square isn't really useful around the house, but if we called it a hot pad, then it is useful.
The tricky part is finding the useful item at the end of the task to display the different skills.
So then.....crochet or knit a cast iron pan handle cover and felt it to be a perfect fit. :) or crochet or knit a pot holder and felt it down to exactly 6” square.
I was just trying to help conserve yarn as there will likely be more than one attempt to get the right size. :)
Nicole Alderman wrote:Raven and I are working on the Straw Badge requirements. I'm trying to think of useful, relatively easy things people make with lacework. I know NOTHING about lacework! Anyone have a beginner-level lacework task (or two or three) that can be accomplished in 2-4 hours?
I mentioned a Solomon’s knot crochet jute lattice, but a crocheted grocery bag would work too.
True lacework is very small and tedious, but with a larger weight yarn and larger hooks or needles you can do the same thing and get the feel for it.
Shuttle tatting is a beautiful skill that could work higher up.
Maybe textiles should be somewhat categorized by purpose and then you choose your craft to suit the purpose. So....Crochet, knit, sewing and weaving can all create clothes or rugs...etc.
What practical homestead items do we need to create with textiles:
I apologize for the late response. Patrick has switched factories on the pruners due to some quality issues that started coming up. We will be doing a relaunch on the pruners later this year as well as some new product launches soon. Look for upcoming permies posts on all of that. :)
I’m not sure if this should be here or in the Seppers thread...My husband was just at the last Homesteaders PDC and we supported the Kickstarter for the pdc prior. We are a family of soon to be five with two mutts that can sleep in the back of our truck. We are moving to Montana next year and need a base camp for a few days for property hunting in the spring (Aprilish). I would prefer to communicate directly with the rest of the details, but the main question I have is about our specific gapper fee total given the PDC info and/or other accommodation options.
Thank you for the tip We are well equipped to rough it. We just weren't sure what free camping in Idaho was like. We know where to get by with it in NV.
Our family of four plus two dogs will be traveling to the Bonners Ferry area next week (1st week of Aug 2017) to look at properties for sale. This is an extremely low budget trip out of necessity. Are there any homesteaders in the area that would be willing to allow us to camp in exchange for help on their property?
We see this as an opportunity to lift a bit of financial burden on the trip as well as meet like minded families in the area.
Ideally, we would like to camp on a private spot on your property so that our dogs do not pose any problems. They are great dogs, but have no farm experience so we'd rather not risk any harm to livestock. We will keep them at camp.
I am happy to answer any questions for further clarification. I would rather not air our entire situation to everyone though.
I am so glad I found this thread! 
