Summer Hansell

For those who can't have gluten:  it is not so very difficult to make a sourdough starter with gluten free flours, and I think it is really worth it for the flavour and disgestibility of some of these grains.  I've just started one recently with brown rice and buckwheat flours, and some potato cooking water....and it is bubbling and doubling and doing all of that great sourdough stuff!  Have used the "discard" to make pancakes, crackers and a focaccia bread so far....it's sourness is still young and I"m hoping it will get more complex, sour, and generally fantastic as it grows along.  

I did try sourdough with 100% organic rye flour, to test if my gluten intolerance could be bypassed by the fermenting....but it only took two days of eating that delicious, fantastic bread for all of my gluten-sensitive symptoms to return, unfortunately.

Wow:  are Multiplier Onions the same as Potato Onions?  Okay, now it is all making sense....we always grew Multipliers as green onions:  you plant the bulb, and then you harvest 3 -6 or so little green onions in the spring.  Had no idea you could leave them in the ground all summer and then harvest for storage, much less replant again in the fall or spring!  Lovely!  Thanks people....

The only thing that workS for me to not crave Sugar iS to completely eliminate (almoSt all) carbS.  I am in the "if it'S in the houSe, I will eat it" club, unfortunately.  Fake Sugar makeS me crave Sugar too.  I will go on a harm reduction path for a while, with the monkfruit, erythritol, or honey and maple Syrup only plan....I alwayS end up eating the worSt cheap aSS ice cream right out of the tub!!

There iS much Type 2 DiabeteS in my family, along with obeSity, and I'm pretty Sure I'm juSt prediSpoSed to go that way if I don't continue to be very, very careful with the Sugar demon!

I am very interested in starting some potato onions this fall or next spring.....either from seeds or bulbs would be fine with me.  Anyone know of a Canadian source?  

Well this seems like a fun idea!  Here we go, then.

When the last one gave up, I found that it only takes a minute longer to grind the beans for a 6 cup french press in a mortar and pestle.  We have a nice, large one that we got from China town, and it lives on the counter since I use it almost every day for grinding spices....and now, coffee.  Low tech, yes, but there's a certain charm in that.

Thanks, I will definitely include this in my strategy!

Okay, nice! I can grow tobacco here (am growing some this year, in fact!)--any idea how it is used to de-worm the goats? Do they feed the leaves, make a tea, or what?

Yes, I'm also loving the inter-connection of rural life; although the bit where everyone in our whole rural municipality and half the folks in the next one over know all of our names, business, and life story kind of makes me uneasy sometimes! Haven't met anyone around here with goats yet, though: we are in a pretty cattle dense area with very few homesteaders, back to the landers, permies or anyone who is interested in doing things differently, if you know what I mean