Kirsten Hughes Bailey

I wish you lived closer to me Stacie. The people in my area just arent permaculture people in any way shape or form. The responses to why are you doing it that way are so based on people's brainwashing that homemade/cooked/grown is inferior to storebought. Even the local people don't shop at our local farmers market, it's usually the people who came from somewhere else and retired here of summer cabin people and tourists. That's why I like these forums and websites I find online because there is so much knowledge out there to just make life better.
Thanks for sharing your little spot in the world.
Kirsten

I opened a bottle and it was very fuzzy! I guess it's been about 6 weeks since bottling.

Kirsten

Hi...
I don't know if this will help but I had seen this a while ago and I will share it with you. This is a video for a rocket stove core that uses fire proof materials so it is probably a bit lighter than just clay and cement.
http://youtu.be/7ANMXGrxgnE
I know when I am ready to create a rocket stove I will follow these instructions for the core.
Good Luck, Kirsten

Wow...
You are a busy woman with ambition. Your list is long. Personally, I would go with more chickens, rabbits and bees along with some seasonal fruits and veggies. That way you have an income almost all year and the critters won't be bigger than you. Add your knitting and hand crafting and you would round it out fairly well. Also blogging with advertising and selling on a website with an amazon affiliate would add a bit more income.
Your list actually reads a lot like mine. If you were closer I would be at your elbow. lol
It's always good to have a plan.
Good Luck.
Kirsten

Hi
Great Instructions!
I made a "ginger bug" a while ago that I am still feeding. I made some soda once but I was a bit anxious about it creating alcohol so I didn't let it sit out long enough before refrigerating it and it had a bit more of a "yeasty" taste than it should have. I poured a bit in some of my lemon water one day but forgot about it after that. One of the kids had the "Flu" and drank it over the course of a day, he said it made his tummy warm and feel better.
As I was feeding my bug today I was thinking I would get more ginger and create the wort and use it up in a gallon jug.
One of the things that I read about this that I would like to share is that it is suggested not to put next to kombucha or sauerkraut as their cultures will over come the bug and cross contaminate it. I just keep them on opposite ends of my kitchen.
Thanks for giving me the push to use the bug and get it off my counter. I now know that it is pretty easy to create so I know I can coax another bug into life if I ever get the urge again.
Thanks again,
Kirsten

Hi -
Thanks for the detail in what you do to create your cider. I have been making wine for about 5 years now but this was my first year for Hard Apple Cider. I used a bag of "deer feed" apples. I read tons of recipes and ended up creating my recipe out of a mesh of a few, the biggest difference was I used brown sugar and molasses to sweeten it and I also used Montrachet yeast instead of Champagne yeast because I had it on hand. I like the way it turned out, it is a beautiful color. I tasted a bit of it and it already has a nice full body to it. I am not fond of wines that are overly dry so this is nice. I bottled it into grolsch bottles that I charged with a bit of sugar syrup. They have been bottled for a few weeks and looked a bit fuzzy but I won't open one for a bit yet.
Thanks again for sharing.
Kirsten

Southern Indiana... out the car port... Oh, and it's a sunrise!
I hope I add this right... learning to navigate this site!