Ac Baker

I was lucky enough to get this book as a gift from a wonderful friend.  

Couldn't have come at a better time - after about eleven months of questions, investigations, tests, discussions with Dietitians, talking to friends with similar problems, and struggling to eat well, it seems to be the case that I've lost part of my gut microbiome that 'gracefully' digests fructans for me.

Whilst I try to re-introduce the right friendly micro-organisms to my gut, sourdough to the rescue!  It seems that many (most? all?) sourdough cultures, if allowed to work for a full 24 hours, do a rather good job of 'pre-digesting' the fructans in wheat for me.

So I'm learning to make lots of sourdough baked goods, after following your instructions in this book as to how to create my own starter.

I've also now got myself a lovely new gluten-free sourdough starter, which is only about 10 days old.  Already, I've managed to create a gluten-free and vegan-friendly sourdough bread which rises and is good to eat.  

So grateful!  Thank you so much, wonderful author and wonderful friend too!

I'm experimenting for the first time with growing potato 'shoots' separate from the tubers.   This was initially an accident because I had two well-grown chits, rootlets included, fall off my tubers!

I've successfully grown on the shoots in a commercial multi-purpose compost (donated to our community garden).

I'd just planted the first one out - a gorgeous new second-early purple variety called 'Vitanoire' - when the weather unseasonably turned too cold again.  So I've protected it with some mulch.  (We've had about half our traditionally planted potatoes suffer leaf damage because the nights got several degrees centigrade colder than expected, now protected with fine horticultural mesh donated to the community garden).

So, interested to see how these turn out!

I used to have family down that way. I have a lovely huge craft person handmade willow wicker basket that I commissioned at the NE market by the Castle, and brought home on the train from Aberystwyth to Birmingham. (My family gave moved closer to Aber now).

With such cold nights this Spring in these isles, and dry days, we're many of us behind.

If you've got plants ready under cover you could make quite a kitchen garden still this year.

Best of luck!

Lovely photos, exciting updates!

This is so exciting! That little baby tuber! Very interested to find out if they've crossed.  Best of luck!

I think that a valve radio might benefit from air flow, that's a good thought.

Are we thinking this was a handmade one-off item?  Is it possible that recessed tray was for the phone, and that's just the part they had to construct it?

Is the cushioned seat section made from the same perforated sheet metal under the cushion?

That's my recollection from "Mycelium Running How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World" by Paul Stametts!

"The mycelial network is a shared economy, where ecosystems flourish without greed. The mycelium underfoot ensures their close-by neighbors have the resources (nutrients, water, etc.) they need to flourish. But they also have formed ways to distribute nutrients across their entire network."

https://fantasticfungi.com/blogs/news/10-things-to-know-about-the-mycelial-network

Fabulous news!!!  I'm wondering if turmeric will grow for me ..

This is more encouraging:

'at the time of harvest no PAs were detected in the relevant field products (grains)."

Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids in the Food Chain: Is Horizontal Transfer of Natural Products of Relevance?
Said Chumit et al. 2021, Foods doi: 10.3390/foods10081827
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8392022/