Miranda Sieh

We turned an old refrigerator into a germination chamber for starting seeds. I removed everything inside the refrigerator to make as much space available as possible. Then I sprayed sealant on the inside of the door which was a fiber-board after I took off the shelving layer. I found wire shelves at Menards. My hubby built a rack out of 1/2" pvc and cut down the wire shelves to fit. In the bottom I set a ceramic tile as a trivet and a crockpot of water. The crockpot is plugged in to an Inkbird temperature controller so it doesn't overheat the germination chamber. It is great for starting seeds in late winter/early spring. I can fit 14 10x20 trays inside. It needs cleaning out regularly to prevent mold.

My husband made a sourdough starter with a recipe from America's Test Kitchen 3 years ago. He uses it weekly for bread, pizza crust, English muffins etc. We sell sourdough bread at farmer's market and have many return customers. Now we are trying to use locally grown wheat, but whole wheat is too dense. We're experimenting with different grain varieties, sifting and additional grinding to get the bread flour texture. It can be a challenge.

My family would LOVE to test your recipes! We live in zone 4b Minnesota on a small farm with poultry and veggies and I am a vendor at the farmers market. We make jams, jellies, various preserves and from-scratch pasta. My husband makes sour dough bread and other baked items. We have a gas stove. We are a foodie family who loves to try new recipes and ingredients. I am very interest in non-cane-sugar fruit preservation.
Thank you for this opportunity!

Welcome John!
I can't wait to read your book. The reviews look great. I have been loving black elderberries for a few years now and always looking for more information about growing and using them. I never thought of using the wood for crafts! My daughter and I will be whittling elder this summer for sure.

I spent some time documenting the differences between the wild red elderberry and wild black elderberries on my 9 acre property. I have been propagating the wild black elderberries and adding in named varieties including Adams, Ranch, and Bob Gordon black elderberries.

I love using the flowers and berries of black elderberries. I soak berries in brandy with cinnamon sticks and dried rose hips. After a couple months I strain to remove solids and add honey. This is my winter tonic and my family loves it for a nightcap. I am interested to learn to make tonics without alcohol for children.

Black elderberry love!

My husband and I live in Minnesota (zone 4). We're looking at purchasing a property, but the oaks on it are suffering with oak wilt and it has sandy-loam soil. I'm wondering if I could use them to build hugelkultur beds/mounds. I'd like to build the mounds on contour to catch water flowing down the gently-sloped hill. Is there an edible fungus (shiitake or something) that would outgrow the oak wilt fungus once the trees are cut down and put into the mounds? Would the mushrooms fruit through the soil on the mound (under other edible plants and shrubs)? I don't know if I'm trying to combine too many things: building loam in sandy soil, berm and swale to manage water, hugelkultur beds, and edible fungi, while dealing with oak wilt infected trees.