Kimbo Baugh

I can get a picture of one of the leaves, too, if that would help.

Can someone here identify what kind of fig this is? This is on my neighbor's tree, which she let me collect a few cuttings from. All she could tell me was that the tree was grown from a cutting they got from someone.

I took a pic with my hand for scale. It's almost the size of a tennis ball.

Tereza Okava wrote:Kimbo, you're very welcome to post links. (and I have made that recipe, if it's the one I think it is, and it is worth making!). Discarded starter also makes the most amazing cornbread.

Sourdough discard cornbread sounds amazing!

Here is a link to their sourdough discard recipes (I think one or two are actually sourdough bread recipes, but you can probably figure it out):

https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/collections/sourdough-discard-recipes

Anne Miller wrote:If you are talking about the leach field, then yes, there are some concerns; If you are talking about a low-pressure-dose septic system, yes there are some concerns.  

Here are some threads regarding those:

https://permies.com/t/135173/veggies-proximity-septic

https://permies.com/t/62163/growing-pressure-dose-septic-system

There maybe some other good thread that I have not found yet.

Thank you! Excellent posts. So I guess the answer is "it depends"...

Bill Crim wrote:On a related topic, Northwest Sourdough is an amazing resource. The YouTube channel is an amazing resource. I can't recommend her enough. She does works with normal sourdough starters, but also mother-dough, salted starters, and techniques applicable to general bread making.

I got started with sourdough following her videos. She's excellent.

Sourdough discard is awesome to add to lots of baked goods. King Arthur Flour has a great recipe for sourdough discard crackers that I have made a few times. Not sure if I'm allowed to post links here, but it is pretty easy to find on their site. They have other sourdough discard recipes as well, including a sourdough discard chocolate cake.

I'm assuming it's not a good idea to plant a vegetable garden over a septic field for sanitary reasons. Is this correct? We have a decently sized back yard, but there is a septic field, which makes a chunk of it unusable unless we build planters to set on top of it.

M Johnson wrote:First try at sourdough from a starter I made.  

And it tasted like regular bread.

Had more holes than my 5 minute bread but basically same flavor and no sourdough taste.

Any suggestions?  

Try increasing the amount of whole grains. My whole grain bread always tastes more sour. Also, try doing a small inoculation (like 1-2% starter) and let it bulk ferment over night.

So a formula you can use for a 700g-ish loaf would be:

200g bread flour
200g white whole wheat flour (or whatever wholegrain wheat you have on hand)
300g water
4 to 8 grams of starter
6g salt

Mix it together the night before, then leave it on the counter and check it the next day.

Rebecca Norman wrote:Lots of great advice above.

When using sourdough starter to make bread, I find that adding the salt as late in the process as possible makes the result less sour. I think I read that this is because the salty environment encourages lactobacteria (as in sauerkraut and kimchi) whereas without salt encourages mostly yeast, which doesn't make bread sour unless it goes too far.

Interesting! I'll have to play around with this and see how it goes.

Scott Foster wrote:
I need to get a dutch oven. I've been using bread pans.

Do you have a roasting pan with a lid? Or a pizza stone/steel and a large metal bowl that can be placed over top? Dutch ovens are ideal, but anything that will trap steam and heat will work.

Another thing you can do is use two sheet pans. Heat both of them up in your oven, one on the middle rack and on the lower rack. When the oven is ready, load your dough into the top pan (with parchment or a dusting of cornmeal), then carefully pour hot water into the bottom pan and close the oven door. I have baked baguettes this way with a great deal of success.