Photo Wrap-up For July

Summer has been moving right along and here it is, the end of July. What's really amazing is how the temperatures have dropped since last weekend. Very unsummerlike for us! And very welcome! To finish up the month, here's everything I didn't have time to blog about.

Since Dan finished his tractor wagon he's been busy with firewood ...

A good start on this winter's supply safely tucked away in the carport.

... and making woodchips.

There's plenty to chip! The tractor and chipper are in the background.

If you read my blog much then you're probably aware that we've had a lot of downed treed in our wood lot over the years. They're mostly old pines and they've sure left a mess. Some of them Dan has milled into lumber. The rest we'll put to good use as chips.

Hauling chips up out of the woods.

A good day's work.

Last week I showed you the garden and how it's doing. Also growing...

New ginger plants.

I lost my original ginger plants the winter before last. Usually they overwinter on our enclosed back porch, but ginger is a tropical plant and the temps that year were just too cold.

July is also the month we start fruit harvest. Blueberries ripen first and that means...

fresh blueberry pie and

pancakes with fresh blueberries.

I've been experimenting with different kinds of flour we can potentially produce ourselves and that's been fun. For the pancakes in the above photo I used oat flour and almond meal, about half and half. Makes for a very tasty combination.

I harvested the crabapples. I made a small batch of jelly with some and pectin with the rest (that link will show you how.)

Crabapples

We've begun to harvest the first of the pears.

Pears, figs, and apples will keep me busy next month.

July is also a good time of year for...

Homemade ice cream! Chocolate!

Of course every photo wrap-up should have a cat photo.

Sam trying to find some shade.

Also one of some goats.

Violet and Nova hoping for treats.

I reckon that about wraps up July. Anybody ready for August?

Photo Wrap-up For July © July 2019 by Leigh

at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Dr. Schultz's Super Tonic

"Let food be thy medicine" is attributed to Hippocrates, or at least it used to be. With the current social trend to question and criticize everything, who knows? Either way, it points to a different philosophy of heath and medicine than is common today.

So who is Dr. Schultz and what is his Super Tonic? I'm glad you asked. Dr. Richard Schultz is an herbalist and former student of Dr. John Christopher. He developed a food-based cold fighter and immune booster which he called Super Tonic. I found out about it from a friend who loaned me a video. That was about fifteen years ago and we've been making and taking it ever since. We recently needed a new batch, so I thought I'd take you a few pictures and tell you about it.

The ingredients can easily be homegrown or found in the produce section of most grocery stores. All are fresh, and preferably organic. I use equal parts by weight, but there's no need to be exact. For a one gallon jar I used about a quarter pound of each.

• Garlic (not necessary to peel)
• Hot peppers (the hotter the better such as habaneros)
• Ginger root
• Horseradish root (sometimes hard to find)
• Onion (hottest you can get such as white)
• Apple cider vinegar, raw, organic

Chop all ingredients. You can do it by hand or with a food processor, the only precaution is to wear gloves when handling the hot peppers, because they burn! Put it all in a glass jar and cover with the vinegar. I let it settle and add more if needed, the proportions I'm looking for are 3/4 settled herb and 1/4 vinegar on top. Exactness not required.

Place in a cool dark place for a minimum of two weeks; longer is better. Give the whole whole thing a daily shake to mix it up. When you need it, strain it into dark glass bottles, but save the veggies for squeezing.

I use my wine press to extract as much of the herbal vinegar as I can.

From this batch I squeezed out more than two extra cups of tonic.

Store in a cool dark place.

There is no specific dosage, but it's recommended to start small, such as half a teaspoon in a small glass of water or juice (tomato is good). It can be used as the vinegar in oil and vinegar salad dressing, to season greens, etc. All the ingredients are common foods, so it's impossible to overdose. It mostly boils down to taste preference and how much health support you want.

Why are these ingredients so good for you, and how to they help fight winter colds and sinus problems, plus boost health and immunity? I'm glad you asked that too.

Garlic - antiviral, antimicrobial, antioxidant, antibacterial, expectorant

Hot peppers - anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, decongestant, antibacterial, analgesic, stimulant

Ginger - antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, stimulant, digestive, analgesic

Horseradish - antibiotic, decongestant (especially sinuses), expectorant, stimulant

Onion - similar to garlic, anti-inflammatory, anti-allergenic, decongestant

Apple cider vinegar - antioxidant, antibacterial, antiseptic, antiviral, and ant-fungal, preservative

All that healthful benefit from common foods. You can understand why we keep in on hand.

Dr. Schultz's Super Tonic © October 2018 

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

"How To Bake Without Baking Powder" Winners & Another In the How-To Series

Winners of my "How To Bake Without Baking Powder" eBook giveaway are:

Peg Cherre

Dawn Clo

Deborah Harvey

Jackie P. Neal

Ashley A.

Carmen N.

Congratulations! If your blogger profile has an email address, I'll be contacting you today. If it doesn't, you will need to contact me at 5acresandadream at mail dot com. The free code will be good at Smashwords, where you can download a copy in the format of your choice. Regular price is $2.99 at Smashwords or Amazon.

Also I'd like to announce my newest addition to The Little Series of Homestead How-Tos

How To Grow Ginger: 

how to grow, harvest, use and perpetuate 
this tropical spice in a non-tropical climate

It's one of a couple others I've had in the works, and is now available at Smashwords and Amazon for 99 cents.

For a list of all volumes in the series, click here. And stay tuned for announcements for more additions to the series plus another giveaway in the future. 

"How To Bake Without Baking Powder" Winners 
& Another In the How-To Series
© March 2016 by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Blackstrap Gingerbread

The Christmas baking season is upon us! One of my favorites is gingerbread. This recipe was adapted from one given me by a friend whose husband is diabetic. She made it with blackstrap molasses and it was a sweet treat he could enjoy. Blackstrap is the end product of the third and last boiling of sugar cane juice in the sugar making process. Most of the sucrose has already been crystalized for sugar, so that it is less sweet than other molasses. It has a low glycemic index, which means the glucose and carbohydrates are metabolized slowly, requiring less insulin plus stabilizing blood sugar. The result is less lipids or fats in the blood, making it an excellent sweetener for anyone concerned about blood sugar levels.

I'm embarrassed to be showing you store butter instead of homemade! The
molasses is Golden Barrel brand, which I've been using for years. It's "real",
i.e. from cane sugar and unsulfured, plus the price is unbeatable ($7.99/gal)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup molasses (black treacle) *see recipe notes
• 1 & 1/2 cups flour
• 3/4 tsp sea salt
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup boiling water

I also love my Polish dough whisk. It's my favorite mixing tool!

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and molasses, beat thoroughly. Sift together dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture alternately with boiling water. Bake in greased, floured 8"x8" baking pan at 350° F for 35 - 45 minutes. 

Recipe notes:

• Blackstrap is a strong flavored molasses, but you can mix it with lighter molasses or even honey. If you're uncertain about it try 1 tablespoon to start. 
• For non-baking powder leavening power, the chemical reaction is between the molasses (acidic) and baking soda (alkaline). The cake is very light and tender.
• Molasses is the waste product of the sugar refining process, both cane and sugar beets. Commercial sugar beets are genetically modified and the two molasses types are very different.
• Molasses is rich in calcium, iron, and carbohydrates.
• Blackstrap molasses contains the above plus folate & other B vitamins, magnesium, potassium, manganese, and copper.

Served with goat milk whipped cream.
We also love it with applesauce or apple butter.

Blackstrap molasses is a must-have for goat owners as well. A couple of tablespoons is commonly mixed in a gallon of warm water for does after they kid. They appreciate the extra energy.

Bibliography:

• Blackstrap Molasses - Wikipedia
• What You Should Know About Unsulphured Blackstrap Molasses - Natural News
• Frequently Asked Questions About Golden Barrel Molasses - Golden Barrel 

Blackstrap Gingerbread © December 2014

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Ginger Fig Cake & Cinnamon Ice Cream

Fig season is just about over for us. Still, there are a few on the tree and I'd hoped to get enough to have another go at a fig bar recipe I'm working on. My last picking, however, only gave me half of what I needed so I had to try something else. These two recipes evolved together, and were a happy success.

Ginger Fig Cake

2 cups unbleached flour
1.5 cup sugar (I used unbleached)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 cup shortening (I used organic palm)
1 cup whey (to react with the baking soda)
1 tsp vanilla
3 egg whites, beaten fluffy
1 cup mashed fresh figs

Cream sugar and shortening. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Bake in greased bundt pan for about 40 to 45 minutes at 350° F. / 180° C. or until done.

Recipe Notes

• Made a very tender, moist cake.
• I use whey because I have lots of it from cheese making. Of course you can substitute buttermilk for the whey. Or milk, but if you don't use baking powder, an acid such as cream of tartar, will need to be added to work as leavening with the baking soda.
• Thank you to Laura (Polymath Chronicles) for mentioning she liked ginger with figs. Tasty!

Cinnamon Ice Cream

2 cups whole goat milk
1 cup goat cream
1/2 cup sugar (I used unbleached)
pinch sea salt
3 egg yolks
1.5 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla

Heat milk, cream, sugar, and salt in a saucepan until barely a simmer. Remove from heat and slowly add to the egg yolks beaten with cinnamon and vanilla. Chill. Freeze in ice cream freezer.

Recipe Notes

• I use goat milk because I have goats.
• The amounts are small because I use a Cuisanart 2 quart ice cream freezer
• Until recently, I had been using a no-cook ice cream recipe. Renee (Forgotten Blog) mentioned the cream seemed to become grainy with the no-cook recipes, so I tried a "custard style" cooked recipe. I think she's right. It's not necessarily harder to make, it just requires a little planning ahead.

Ginger Fig Cake & Cinnamon Ice Cream © September 2013 

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Homegrown Ginger

About a year or so ago, I purchased some fresh ginger to use for something, I can't remember what now. Anyway, I had a rhizome leftover and wondered whether or not I could plant it. We use a lot of ginger, but being a tropical plant, I didn't know if it was possible to grow in the house. I did a little online research, and finally found good information in Tropical Permaculture's article, "Growing Ginger Root". I decided to give it a try and planted my rhizome in a 2 gallon pot.

It was slow to start, but eventually grew into a pretty potted plant (above). When frost was imminent I brought it indoors, and pretty much left it alone until all the leaves died back. Just a few days ago, I pulled the dead leaves and dug it up. It was lovely because I could smell the ginger even before I got it out of the pot.

I didn't know what to expect, but there were several good size clumps of rhizomes. I should have weighed them, but didn't think about it at the time; it's all in the bowl in the photo on the left. It's not a year's worth for us, but it's a start. Considering how easy it was to grow, growing more will be no problem, though at the moment I'm not set up for many house plants due to our remodeling projects. I ended up replanting two of the budding rhizomes, and washed the rest to make candied ginger.  

I looked at a lot of candied ginger recipes. The two I liked the best were from Alternative Medicine About.com because it was the simplest, and this one, Candied Ginger Simplified, because it was so thorough. I used 2 cups of chopped ginger, 3 cups water, and 1 cup sugar. I looked for a recipe using honey instead of sugar, but didn't find anything satisfactory. Also, I did not peel the ginger, I'm just not into peeling things if it can be helped. If that effects it unpleasantly, I'll peel it next year. 

I simmered it until it was soft, drained, and then dried in a slow oven on a cookie sheet. The last step was to coat with sugar, something I did because it seemed traditional.

We use candied ginger medicinally, because it is excellent for nausea, upset stomach, car sickness, flatulence, or any other digestive problems. It really settles a queasy tummy in a jiffy. I also use a lot of powdered ginger, both in baking and in any herbal formula that might be strong on the stomach, like a fresh garlic drink. I haven't yet mastered fine powdering herbs, so I'll save that project for another year. We use some fresh in various tinctures. It's also an ingredient in several tea blends I buy.

All I'll need to grow a year's worth is a number of large pots. And a place to put them during the winter.  I'll have to keep track of this batch, to get an idea of how long it lasts, and how many rhizomes I'll need to plant. So nice this is so easy to grow.

UPDATE: The many visitors to this post have inspired me to add Volume 9 to my The Little Series of Homestead How-Tos eBook series.

How To Grow Ginger: 

how to grow, harvest, use, and perpetuate this tropical spice in a non-tropical climate

I wanted to offer a more comprehensive and detailed guide to growing ginger. Includes chapters on selecting rhizomes, planting, caring for, harvesting, and maintaining a self-sustaining supply. Storage and preservation techniques are discussed, plus how to candy ginger, how to dehydrate and powder it, how to lacto-ferment it, and how to make a ginger bug. Only $1.99. Click here for more information and where to buy.

Homegrown Ginger © January 2012 by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Ginger Beer & More: Taste Test Results

I'm pleased to report that the much anticipated time has finally come to sample my experiments in lacto-fermention: sauerkraut, ginger carrots, and ginger beer. I'll start with the ginger beer because that is the one that seemed to be of most interest to my readers.

Ginger Beer

After patiently (ha!) waiting the required two weeks for my ginger beer to ferment, I discovered a PROBLEM! I didn't tighten down the screw-caps on the bottles! Result? No fizz! It had all escaped the bottle! :(

I was extremely disappointed with myself for this, but Dan, ever my best friend and faithful encourager, pointed out that even so, the flavor was actually quite good. Plus it had a nice natural color and wasn't too sweet. It would have been perfect if it had been carbonated!

So. Another batch will soon be in the making. This time though, I think I will increase the amount of ginger and switch to lemons as the recipe calls for, instead of limes. I will probably only add one lemon instead of two as I would like to enhance the ginger flavor and downplay the citrus, though it does make it tasty.


Sauerkraut

A 5-star yum! Even Dan likes it, and he doesn't care for cabbage. This is so delicious that we're eating it almost every day. This recipe is definitely a keeper and oh so easy. I need to keep it on hand all the time.

I recently started another batch from a recipe from Nourishing Traditions, page 92. It appealed to me because it uses caraway seeds for flavoring. Dan isn't so crazy about caraway as I am though, so he may not care for it as well.


Ginger Carrots

Too salty. I don't have enough experience lacto-fermenting, nor with this particular recipe, to know what went wrong, or if it's supposed to taste like this. One thing I've learned is that fermenting foods is like making yeast bread; the results are not 100% guaranteed. And like learning to make bread, I think learning to ferment will take practice and experimentation.

Never one to call anything a waste if I can help it, I started using it as a condiment for salting things like this potato soup...

Very tasty! It adds a pleasantly salty tang to soups, stews, anything.

Well, one out of three isn't so bad and more experiments are on the way. Another batch of ginger beer for sure, and more with different types of vegetables as well. My turnips care getting to the harvest stage and I would love to ferment at least some of these, as well as adding some different ingredients to my sauerkrauts in the future. One thing is for certain, this is a tasty and nutritious way to preserve the harvest.

Ginger Beer & More: Taste Test Results In photos & text copyright 

December 2009 by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Meet My Ginger Bug

Perhaps I should begin by explaining that this is another experiment in fermentation. This time I'm going to try my hand at ginger beer. This isn't anything like "real" beer, but is a naturally carbonated soft drink. Both Nourishing Traditions and Wild Fermentation (info on these and more in this post) contain recipes for ginger beer, but I opted for the one in Wild Fermentation because it makes a smaller quantity.

The "bug" serves as a starter and is easy to make:

1 cup warm water (I used non-chlorinated)
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp grated ginger

Keep in a warm place. Add the same amount of sugar and ginger every day or so until it starts to bubble. Mine only took a couple of days.

Once the bug was active, I boiled 2 quarts of water and added 2 inches of grated ginger and 1 & 1/2 cups sugar. These are boiled together for 15 minutes and then allowed to cool.

Once the mixture cooled I strained the ginger out, added the liquid from the strained "bug," and enough water to make a gallon total. The recipe also called for the juice of two lemons, but since I only had limes on hand, I used that. I poured the mixture into bottles, capped them, and they must now sit in a warm place for two weeks.

Happily I've saved brown glass root beer bottles from quite a few years ago. I like to save colored glass to store tinctures in, but these quart bottles are perfect for the ginger beer.

Depending on how well we like this, I may or may not try the other recipe. What I'm aiming for is a substitute for soft drinks. We don't drink a lot of them, but they are part of our Pizza & Dessert Night tradition. We've always known they aren't good for us, but some food habits die hard.

One thing I learned a long time ago about making dietary changes, is that there is a better chance for success if the changes are small and adapted slowly. Drastic changes in diet don't last when the motivation for them has worn off. This is why so many folks "fail" at diets or attempts to switch to healthier foods. When I first introduced my family to whole grain flours, I mixed them with white flour, gradually increasing the amount of whole grain. I knew I'd been successful the day everyone commented on how "yucky" store bought white bread tasted.

So. In two weeks I'll let you know how well this one goes over. If acceptable, I will definitely start experimenting more with homemade soft drinks. Heck. I'll experiment even if it isn't acceptable.

Meet My Ginger Bug photos & text copyright 

November 2009 by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/