Sourdough Bread - 1st Time

To those of you with lots of real homemaking or simplicity experience this may sound silly... but I've been so excited the past week watching my sourdough starter re-hydrate and get to doing exactly what the pamphlet from the website said it should!  It bubbled up right on schedule, it formed the liquid on top just as anticipated. It even has that sourdough smell.  So today, I made bread.  Yes, it's true... I am a sourdough virgin no longer.

Last night before I (finally) went to bed, I decided on the Alaska Sourdough Bread from the Carl Griffiths 1847 Oregon Trail Sourdough Pamphlet and per those instructions, took 1 cup of starter and in one of my biggest Tupperware bowls combined it with 3 cups of flour and 2 1/2 cups of water.  This sat inside my oven with the seal on the bowl and the light on in the oven overnight to form the sponge that is the basis for bread.

To the remaining starter, I added 1 cup flour, 1 cup water and 1Tbl sugar and set it back in the fridge.  And yes, I know I didn't perfectly follow the feeding instructions for starter but this morning it's doing just what it should so I'm gonna be happy and go with it.

Today when I was ready to dig into making up my bread dough, I added 4 Tbl canola oil, 1 Tbl salt, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 cup sugar and enough flour that it made a ball that pulled cleanly away from the bowl and off my fingers.  The recipe calls for 5 more cups but I didn't need that much.  It only needed a touch more than 3 cups to form a beautiful, smooth, elastic-y dough.   Put just a touch of oil on top of the dough ball to help condition it and prevent it from drying out, snapped the seal back on the bowl and set it back in the oven (with the light still on to keep it just barely warm) to raise until doubled.

Next, I divided the dough into fourths and shaped into balls for those traditional round sourdough loaves.  Then covered with a damp tea towel and set them in the oven to raise a bit.  When they were getting close to size, I set them on top of the range and brought the oven temperature up to 375F.  Then I cut the expansion slashes and set them inside to bake for almost an hour.  In my research I read that moisture in the oven is what makes sourdough bread nice and crusty so I also put a cake pan with about 1 inch of water on the bottom shelf while they baked.

The result?

Oh yes!  I AM a domestic godess!!

I've linked this post the the Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop #48 at White Wolf Summit Farmgirl.

and A Country Saturday #3 at Life on a Mini Farm.

I Made Tape

Seed tape, that is.

With all the garden tasks starting to creep in here, can you tell I want it to be spring already?  We got 4 inches of snow overnight and it's cold and gloomy and I needed something to keep me focused on learning and applying new skills for a sustainable lifestyle.  So I made seed tape to get me one step closer to planting my garden.

My intention was just to make a tape with carrot seeds because carrots are something I've had an especially hard time growing successfully.  But I was on such a roll with it that I prepped lots of other veggies as well.

To make your own you need some kind of quickly biodegrading paper.  Newspaper and single-ply TP are two of the easiest and cheapest to use.  You'll also need a little bit of plain white flour, some water and the seeds you want to plant.  I used newspaper.  And yes, I know there's a debate over whether the colored ink is ok or poisonous to your ground.   The printer of these inserts uses soy ink, which I understand makes the impact of the colored ink much less.  Anyway... debate or no, this is what I had so this is what I used.

The first step is to cut your paper into strips.  I made mine roughly an inch wide.  This particular mail insert is two feet across when unfolded and 4 sheets thick which is perfect for the 8-foot rows I'm planning in my garden.

When you have the strips cut, label them so you know what you are planting when the time comes!  You see here I'm planting carrots. I planted them mixed with radishes because they work together symbiotically.  Radishes are larger, fast sprouting seeds which will break the soil and keep it soft for the tiny, slower to sprout carrots.  And then when it's time to thin the carrots out it's just about the perfect time to pull the radishes because they also mature much more quickly.

Mix flour and just enough warm water together to make a paste the consistency of thick glue.  I dobbed it on in dots with a toothpick using the recommended spacing on each seed packet.  I used roughly (ok... I eye-balled it instead of grabbing a measuring cup) 1/4 cup flour and just added my water a little at a time to get the consistency I wanted, stirring constantly to work out the lumps.  That was oodles and scads more than enough for my project today.  Like 10 times more than enough!

I left my tapes in 2-foot sections because it was easier to spread them out to dry on my kitchen counters that way.  I could stick them together later to plant as one long tape or... it's more likely I'll just lay down the shorter pieces end-to-end and go from there.  Again, they will ultimately be  8-foot long rows and today I made tapes for:

3 Bush Beans - Blue Lake
1 Genovese Basil
2 Mixed Leaf Lettuces
1 Swiss Chard - Bright Lights
1 Carrot/Radish - Danvers Half Long/Cherry Bell
1 Beet - Detroit Dark Red

Not a bad task for a snowy cold 'in like a lion' first of March when I'm aching for weather warm enough to be out working in the yard and garden!

I've linked this post to Rural Thursday #5 at A Rural Journal.

Sourdough... Start Your Engines

After The Sourdough That Wasn't because the Post Office mangled it, the wonderfully kind folks, known as Carls' Friends, at Carl Griffith's 1847 Oregon Trail Sourdough Starter sent me a replacement packet of dried starter.  After worrying for a couple of weeks that my house wouldn't be warm enough (I'm only heating it to 55F because I don't love the gas company enough to give them all my money this winter then wearing a sweater and using a space heater in the area where I'm working) I took the plunge this afternoon and started the starter.

First I found a suitable container.  The directions on the website say use glass or plastic NOT metal.  I came up with a vintage food service jelly jar my Mom probably brought home from one of the many diners she worked at in rural Southeast Idaho.  Here's the very simply printed lid.  The bottom of the bottle is stamped Pure Food Manufacturing Svc. Co., Denver Colo.  This bottle holds several cups.  It's from the good old days before the plastic single serve cups were even invented... back when we trusted restaurant workers to know that washing their hands after using the restroom was not just sanitary but simple good manners without a dozen posters in various languages to remind them.  I barely remember those days but I miss the simpler, and in many ways wiser, times.

Once everything was washed, the instructions told me to dissolve the packet contents in 3/4 cup warm water.  I added both to the jelly bottle and let it sit for a few minutes.  I admit it.  I am a very curious person.  I took a sniff.  And no, it didn't smell sour at all!  Next, I added 3/4 cup plain white flour and 1 tsp sugar and used a plastic scraper/spatula to mix it all into a moist dough.

To keep it warm enough, the website suggested setting it in the oven with the light on.  I draped a tea towel over the top just in case there is stray dust or a bug (since the spiders are coming out the past couple of weeks).  And I guess, we'll see what happens.

The 48 hours is up on Thursday between 3:30 and 4:00 p.m.  At that point I will need to feed it again and then it can be kept in the fridge until I'm ready to try my hand at breadmaking.

Can hardly wait until next week when it will be ready to use!


I LOVE SOURDOUGH BREAD!!


I've linked this post to The Country Homemaker Hop - Week 9 at White Wolf Summit Farmgirl.

Appreciate What You've Got

Yesterday afternoon I was scanning through some blogs as I do many times during a week.  This post from The Way Grandmama Does It caught my attention for a couple of reasons.  First, I love the idea of prepping to share.  What a truly kind and thoughtful way to fill a need when a neighbor meets hard times!  As I can get financially back on my feet a bit, I want to incorporate this idea into my food storage.  The second thing that grabbed my attention was this paragraph:

(Let me pause for a moment to say this:  I do not believe in hoarding, buying up gold, or stashing away large amounts of cash.  The Bible has plenty to say about what happens when we store up treasures on earth and my faith rests in the Lord for all needs.)

By some the act of storing a supply of food and other necessary supplies against the hard times that are predicted in our future is seen as hoarding.  I accept that as their viewpoint.  And if they choose not to stockpile these life sustaining necessities that is their God-given right.  Just as it is my right to keep a working
 supply as part of how I manage my household.  Indeed, food storage is a part of my faith.  The Bible tells us the Lord will look after our needs; it also teaches that He helps those who help themselves... that if we give our best effort, He will compensate for our lack.

Let's consider some spiritual aspects of being prepared to survive future emergencies and urgencies.  Looking to the Bible for guidance,  God directed Joseph (who was carried away to Egypt and gained a position of trust in Pharoah's household) to store up grain against a seven year famine.  Because he did so, he was able to save his own family when they came destitute and hungry thereby preserving the lineage of all Israel.  Now, if we read the Bible because there are lessons for us to learn, what do we learn from Joseph?  I draw from it the need to shore up both my temporal and spiritual supplies against future calamity.

If you read through the New Testament, you're likely familiar with the story of the loaves and fishes.  Yes, it demonstrates a great miracle of God's power in multiplying just a small amount of food into enough to feed a crowd.  But look at the context.  A large group of hungry people were gathered to learn from the Master.  Did He choose to speak great truths to them first?  No.  He made sure their temporal needs were met then He taught them.  You can't effectively share the Gospel with those who are physically starving.  And that includes yourself.

From a practical standpoint, food storage encourages you to take advantage of sales.  Your limited resource, money, then stretches a little farther.  Rotating through your food storage makes you plan meals to use items before they expire.  I know I am much less stressed when I know what I'm cooking that day rather than having to scramble at the last minute.  Having a supply of food already available in your home cuts down on last minute shopping trips and, thereby, unplanned purchases which are often junk food.  Done right, food storage promotes healthy eating because the best foods to store are the basic, and often minimally processed, ingredients for a meal.  Many of the fruits and vegetables in my store room came from my own garden so I know how they were grown, when they were picked and exactly how much sugar and salt were used in preserving them.  And finally, if there is a huge disaster food will become the most highly valued currency of all.

Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established: And by knowledge shall the chamber be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.      Proverbs 24:3-4

If this is hoarding, then yes, I do believe in it!

Chicky, Chick, Chick... Chick?

Rumpless Araucana

Among the many things I want to add to my yard and garden is a few chickens.  I know myself well enough to admit right up front that they will be pets, chickens raised for eggs and entertainment not meat.  I couldn't kill something with my own hands that I've petted and loved and nurtured and given a name and laughed at its personality quirks.  And I certainly couldn't eat a family pet.

Australorp

If I'm going to do this, I want to do it right.  So I've been doing some research.  And that's led me in all sorts of directions from thinking about the broodiness traits of different breeds of chickens... to coop design... to what to feed them... to their unique benefits with garden compost and bug control... to the nutritional benefits of home-grown eggs... and even to the horrors of factory-farming.  And it seems like the more I research, the stronger my desire to add some backyard chickens becomes.  But also, I have even more questions; not just about how to do everything but about my ability to do it all.  I really dislike feeling so unsure of myself.

Here are some of my current questions:

New Hampshire Red

Do I just pick a supplier and order sexed chicks?  When?  What do I do with them after they arrive until they are big enough and the weather is warm enough for them to survive outside?


If I get 6-8 hens, how big of a coop/run do
I need?  How many nesting boxes do I need?  Where do I best site it on my property? 

Buff Orpington

Should I let them free-range at least part of the day?  Is free-ranging as important in the winter as in the summer?  What about predators?  I do see a few hawks circling in the summertime and we have racoons in the neighborhood.


How much should I plan on spending for feed?  Is feeding them a morning chore or an evening chore or both?  When do eggs need to be gathered?

Wyandotte

How do I tell if they are getting sick?  Where do they pick up pests like fleas, lice and worms?  Do I periodically treat for these things as a proactive step or wait until there's reason to suspect an infestation?


Any thoughts, experience, advice you can share to relieve my angst?



Credit for all chicken photos and identification to poultrykeeper.com.

Signs of Spring

Out and about the last few days I've been noticing that nature is beginning to rejuvenate... Spring is truly just around the corner.  For a few weeks now, I've been watching robins in the tree outside my kitchen window.  The first robin sighting of the year is a grand thing to me as it means that winter is coming to end.  I am not a big fan of snow and cold.

The robins in my yard move faster than I can get my camera focused and zoomed in on them so I pulled this stock photo from another website.  And learned a lot about the American Robin and how to attract more of them to my yard .

I've also noticed the past week or so that the buds are noticeably swelling on most of the trees around town.  And just today I was thinking the lawn has a definite greenish hue that's different than the straw-like shade of winter months when it's dormant.  Tulip, hyacinth, daffodil, crocus and other bulbs have sent up leaves and a few are beginning to get flower buds.   And the rhubarb crowns are starting to poke out where leaves will soon uncurl.

The spiders seem to be waking up, too.  Yesterday I saw two in the bathroom (why do spiders so frequently show up in bathrooms anyway?) and just now one ran across my screen.  No worries, they are just harmless little critters that look very much like this European Garden Spider.  If I don't know what it is, I kill it.  But these live for another day.  I've even been known, if it was in the bathtub when I wanted to use it, to catch one in a dixie cup and let it go outside.  They do their part to keep insects that are harmful to my garden plants under control so, to me, they are part of the good guys that I want to protect and have hanging around.

Inspiration photo for patio though mine won't
be so elaborate with columns and a fireplace.
And it will have orange trumpet vine growing
overhead because I already have some of those.

A few more nice days and I'll be itching to get outside and dig into those flowerbeds and finish the patio structure and figure out how to do it and what to use to mulch the garden.  And of course then I'll complain about sore aching muscles that haven't seen that much or kind of movement in many months.  I may find my garden ambitions are bigger than my abilities but I'm sure planning on giving it my best shot.

Spring.  Bring it on!

A Fellow Blogger's Seed Give-Away

Fellow gardeners... meet fellow blogger. Clint Baker!  On his blog, you'll find all kinds of great ideas you'll want to check out to make your garden grow better and more cost-efficiently along with some devotionals and other inspiring happenings.  And there's a great seed give-away going on right now.  Be sure to click over and enter at The Redeemed Gardener.

The Ambitious Woman

On the last page of every Working Mother magazine is an editorial feature called "The Last Word."  This morning I read that editorial by Carol Evans, President of Working Mother Media, from the February/March 2012 issue and I want to quote a bit of it for you.

I hear the lamest excuses for the lack of business power entrusted to women.  "We can't find qualified women." is a self-fulfilling prophecy.  Women make up 50 percent of the workforce, and qualified women are all around us.  Companies need to give them the power positions to get them ready to advance.

"When women have babies, they go off the career track" is another lame excuse.  Most women have babies, but they can also create a viable career path even if it doesn't look like the typical steady upward climb men can achieve.

"They don't want it" is the worst excuse.  A lot of executive men don't aspire to be CEO either, but no one says men don't want to succeed.

"Women aren't ambitious" reflects conflicted social norms.  Being an ambitious woman can feel wrong, like living in an '80's movie with the big hair and stilettos.  We need to reexamine "ambitious."  [Is it] greedy, unprincipled and cold?  No.  Ambition is the desire to succeed, to get to the next level of responsibility and trust - a strong desire in women.

We need to get past the subconscious feeling that men are better, stronger, more suited to lead than women.

What do you think?  Does Ms. Evans make a valid point?  Based on my personal observations, I agree that in the typical American workplace there is a double standard between what's expected and what's rewarded to men and women.  And that's not right to have such a lopsided system not only in place, but in wide acceptance.  At the same time, men and women are created differently.  We do have different outlooks, different work styles, different strengths.  Perhaps the bigger problem is how those outlooks, styles and strengths are valued.  Perhaps it's in how we, as women, value them ourselves.  Because it is different, is our contribution less valuable?  Or do we accept receiving less than full value for it?

I have, in the past, worked for female managers in male-dominated industries.  I wasn't always a happy employee in this situation because it felt like, in the effort to be taken seriously in their managerial role, many of these women caved and became the stereotypical nag.  They were hard, harsh, often cutting and cut-throat.  I felt less valued as an employee much more frequently with a female supervisor.  Thinking about it then and now makes me sad.  But to analyze from a distance, I think it's because they tried too hard to be something they were not and so their actions came across as insincere and incongruent.  I'm not trying to assign fault, just to make an observation that  when we act outside of our core values and beliefs it's noticed and we never gain the respect and authority we seek that way.

Perhaps women would do far better to embrace our differences and create products, information, position, power and influence based on our God-given strengths instead of trying to become what we innately are not.

Anyway, that's my ambition!

In Danger of Becoming Free

"In our society, growing food yourself has become the most radical of acts."  That's a quote from near the end of the video.  And something to really think about...

This is not just a lifestyle I'm interested in but a very needed and sustainable business model as well.  It's something I'm going to be investigating seriously to meet my future income needs.

Windowsill Greenhouse

Tomatoes and cucumbers and a few other garden plants have been purchased as seedlings when I'm ready to plant them unprotected outside for the most part.  I think once or twice I've tried starting them indoors in egg shell halves and got a sprout that I promptly killed because I couldn't seem to control the moisture.  I live in a very dry climate... and that tiny bit of soil doesn't hold much water.  But, I've rigged up a new plan this year and decided to give it another try!

The materials I pulled together were a rectangular clear plastic tub that salad greens come in from the grocery store, tubes from toilet paper rolls and some dirt (half soft garden dirt and half leftover potting soil from my last shot at houseplants).

I cut the TP tubes in half and placed them in the plastic tub, filled them with the soil mixture and poured a little warmish tap water over all.  Then I snapped the lid on and waited for it to get absorbed evenly.  The amount of steam it created, and so far kept, surprised me a little, but I figured it's a 'greenhouse' and so a little humidity was normal.

The next day, I planted my seeds...  After I searched through my stash that didn't get used last year (okay... some of them were older than last year) only to find I didn't have tomato or pumpkin seeds like I was planning on planting and made a quick run to Walmart's nursery.

I put 3 seeds in each half tube and will thin depending on what sprouts.  If I'm successful, there will be 3 hills of pumpkins and about a dozen tomato plants.  It's my first time growing pumpkins and I'm hopeful for a couple nice jack-o-lanterns and some frozen puree for pumpkin muffins.

Impatiently waiting to see those first sprouts.  And hoping they survive my "tender ministrations" and good intentions to make it into the garden!  And I can't help checking every time I walk by and thinking...

Now GROW, dammit!!

I've linked this post to the blog hop at My Simple Country Living.

Gardening... by God's Word

 And behold, all things have their likeness, and all things are created and made to bear record of me, both things which are temporal, and things which are spiritual; things which are in the heavens above, and things which are on the earth, and things which are in the earth, and things which are under the earth, both above and beneath: all things bear record of me.  Moses 6:63

But ye are commanded in all things to ask of God, who giveth liberally; and that which the Spirit testifies unto you even so I would that ye should do in all holiness of heart, walking uprightly before me, considering the end of your salvation, doing all things with prayer and thanksgiving, that ye may not be seduced by evil spirits, or doctrines of devils, or the commandments of men; for some are of men, and others of devils.   D&C 46:7

ALL things bear record of me and in ALL things ask of God...  What is there that ALL doesn't include?  What awesome evidence that we have a Creator who takes individual interest in each of us, even in the minutiae of our every day.

But I never thought to ask Him for gardening advice.

For a long time I've been fascinated by the scriptural references to gardening and that Adam, the first man, was placed in a garden and left to tend it.  Also interesting is that neither weeds nor the declaration that sustenance would be gained "by the sweat of your brow" come until God has banished Adam and Eve from the garden as a consequence of their transgression.  I've been awed at how much like our own the veins in tree leaves are and that they have the same purpose of carrying water, nutrients and other enzymes from the core to the extremities.  I've made correlations in the natural patterns of growth, decline, death and renewal between nature and our Lord and even our own mortality.  I've sung hymns in Church denoting "All the Earth's a garden sweet."

And still it never occurred to me to ask Him how to best grow my garden.

Happily not everyone is as dense about that as I am!  Thankfully my paths crossed someone else who'd seen the video Back to Eden and I was intrigued enough to follow their link and watch the presentation.  I jotted down 19 more scriptural references to support this method of gardening during the 3 times I've watched it in the past couple of days.  Paul Gautschi's method makes sense logically, scientifically and scripturally.  And it seems to me that it would be a whole lot less physical labor to care for a garden this way.  It's seriously made me rethink how I'm going to do things in the future... not the layout so much as the methodology of it.  This just makes sense!

I urge you to grab a notepad and watch, too!!  From the Back of Eden website you can either watch the movie or buy a DVD.  Watch it more than once, really ponder what he says and then let's talk about it.  I'd love to get a dialogue going here with thoughts and experiences so we can all experiment and learn together!

My Cleaning Schedule

You might remember from my early mid-January post about setting goals, I mentioned that devising a good cleaning schedule and doing it was one of the things I was working on this year.  So far that's been going pretty well.  I think this schedule works for me:

MONDAY - Master Bedroom
Change linens and make bed
Dust furniture and lamps
Dustmop and spot clean the floor
Clean tub, toilet, shower and sink in main bath
Sweep and mop floor
Take trash to garbage can
Wipe tile, picture frames and mirror as needed
Dishes into dishwasher
Run dishwasher as needed
Wipe stove top, counters and sink
Water houseplants
Get dirty clothes to laundry room
Do laundry loads as needed
Put clean clothes away

TUESDAY - Upstairs Guest Bedrooms
Change linens and make beds (if the rooms have been used)
Dust furniture and lamps
Dustmop and spot clean the floor in bedrooms and hall
Clean toilet and sink in Jack & Jill bath
Wipe mirror and shelves as needed
Take trash to garbage can
Dishes into dishwasher
Run dishwasher as needed
Wipe stove top, counters and sink
Get dirty clothes to laundry room
Do laundry loads as needed
Put clean clothes away

WEDNESDAY - Living and Dining Room
Make bed
Vacuum area rug and furniture
Dustmop and spot clean floor
Dust furniture and lamps and chandelier
Sweep front entry and shake doormat
Dishes into dishwasher
Run dishwasher as needed
Wipe stove top, counters and sink
Get dirty clothes to laundry room
Do laundry loads as needed
Put clean clothes away

THURSDAY - Kitchen
Make bed
Polish appliances
Clean inside of fridge and freezer as needed
Clean inside of microwave
Clean oven as needed
Dustmop and spot clean floor
Trash to garbage can and cans to street
Dishes into dishwasher
Run dishwasher as needed
Wipe stove top, counters and sink
Get dirty clothes to laundry room
Do laundry loads as needed
Put away clean clothes

FRIDAY - Back Entry and Downstairs Bath
Make bed
Sweep back entry and shake door mat
Sweep stairs and spot clean
Clean bed and bath as needed
Plan menu for next week and write a grocery list
Dishes to dishwasher
Run dishwasher as needed
Wipe stove top, counters and sink
Get dirty clothes to laundry room
Do laundry loads as needed
Put away clean clothes

SATURDAY - Family Room and Craft Room
Make bed
Sweep and spot clean floors
Vacuum area rug and furniture
Dust furniture and electronics
Grocery shopping
Plan business/finance activities and blog posts for next week
Dishes to dishwasher
Run dishwasher as needed
Wipe stove top, counters and sink
Get dirty clothes to laundry room
Do laundry loads as needed
Put away clean clothes
1-2 periodic cleaning jobs  (wash curtains, clean fireplaces, wipe ceiling fans, etc.)

That's about it.  My house is never perfectly spotless, but it is very livable and comfortable.  Most days I can be done with my cleaning chores in around an hour, excepting the time clothes are in the washer and dryer.

It All Comes Out in the Wash

For months, maybe even close to a year now, I've been talking about wanting to try making my own laundry soap.  I've read innumerable blogs and watched video tutorials about it.  One thing I noticed is that the recipes are all very similar.  Some use more or less of a specific thing, but they all use the same ingredients.  And so my quest turned to finding one that made a more manageable amount of detergent for me.  I found one that makes 2 gallons, instead of the 5 that was more common, and gave it a try.

Here's what I did:

I cut 1 bar of Fels Naptha soap into thirds and grated 1 piece.  (Yes, it does look just like grated cheese so if you have little ones around be very careful that they don't eat it.)  Then I melted it over low heat with 6 cups of water.  When it was completely melted, I added 1/2 cup each borax and washing soda and let it

continue to cook until it started to get a honey-like consistency.  This took a lot longer than I had anticipated and it foamed up more than I thought it would.  Next time I will use a bigger pot.

In my big blue enameled canning kettle, I put 4 cups of hot tap water.  This happened to be what I had convenient but you can use any container that will hold a little more than 2 gallons and allow for easy stirring.  A plastic bucket commonly used for food storage would be perfect. Add your melted soap-borax-soda mixture and stir together.  You can then add any essential oils you wish to scent your laundry soap.  Use a lot!  I put 16 drops of tea tree oil and I can't even smell it.  If you add nothing for scent, your laundry will just smell clean not perfumed.

Next you add 1 gallon plus 6 cups more hot water (that's 22 cups of water).  Stir it up and let everything sit for 24 hours.

At this stage the recipe I was following said you could have a number of results depending on the temperature of your house... it could have layers of clear and cloudy liquid, be a thin gel, or even have a 'slimy' top coating.  Mine had a top layer that was mostly clear and then a thicker cloudy layer.  I just stirred it all up

good and used a funnel to transfer it to some old water bottles.  You can use any containers that you wish - old laundry soap bottles would be great because they have the measurement on the cap.  Some of the other people posting on line used a 2 gallon water storage/dispenser with a hook attached to the side for a measuring cup.  That was attractive and handy, but for now my old water bottles will do just fine.

For each load of laundry, you'll use 1/2 cup.  Everything I saw in my research indicated it would be fine in the high-efficiency front loaders because it is very low sudsing.

Cost-wise, this laundry soap works out to about 3 cents per load, compared with 15-20 cents per load for commercially available detergents.  The borax and washing soda were each between $2 and $3 (and each contains several cups of product) and the Fels Naptha bar soap was 97 cents so less than $7 total and I should be able to do laundry for more than a year!

The first load is washing now.  I will post a follow up telling you what I think later this evening.

I've linked this post to the Preparedness Challenge #31 at Homestead Revival.

72-Hour Kits

Today I was overtaken by a wild hare and started cleaning out the hall closet... Ok, so it wasn't so much a wild hare as the thought that I might want to use this space differently so all the stuff that lives there now has to be re-homed somewhere else.  More on that in a future post.

One of the things I pulled out was the old 72-hour kits.  Part of them was a small packet of food items designed to keep you from starving during the scramble in the first 3 days following a disaster.  That's what I want to talk about today - the food you need to pack in a 72-hour kit.

Mine is just a little overdue to be renewed by now so I have been snacking my way through it.  And "snacking" is a term I'm using generously here.  In all honesty, so far I've gagged down 1 can (out of 3) of the gelatinous goo called Spaghettios and wrinkled my nose eating the M&M's that absorbed the flavor from the Juicy Fruit gum.

What's in this 72-hour food kit?

1 pack of gum
2 fruit and cereal bars
3 envelopes of hot chocolate mix
2 granola bars
1 pkg fruit snacks (2.5 oz)
10 pieces of hard candy
2 envelopes hot apple cider mix
3 beef jerky sticks (individually wrapped)
3 envelopes cup of soup
3 cans Spaghettios/Ravioli (7.5 oz)
1 packet peanut butter filled cheese crackers
2 pkgs plain M&Ms
4 single-serve boxes of raisins 

Yeah... not the most healthy sounding food is it?  But it was meant to be eaten in an emergency situation and is intentionally high fat and high sugar to provide maximum energy output.

What I liked about this kit was that it was pre-portioned, mostly ready to eat, convenient (pop top cans), very portable (a 12 x 15-inch mylar packet) and intended to be familiar and comforting foods.   What I don't like is the food choices that were made but that's easy to change as I'm purchasing the items to renew my kit during the next week or so.  I'll definitely be looking at other options for the Spaghettios and raisins!

I will also include a plastic spoon and a small metal cup (non-breakable).  Also thinking about adding some packets of instant oatmeal and single-serve drink mixes.  And since I don't have easy access to the mylar bags and a sealing machine, I will be packaging it differently.

Obviously this does not take care of all your needs during that first 72-hours following a disaster.  You still need to think about clothing, bedding, shelter, medication, sanitation, personal hygiene and, perhaps most importantly... WATER.

Along side the packaged food kit I have accumulated some bottled water, water filtration jugs, a small sewing kit, a first aid kit, space blankets and hand warmers into a convenient tote.  It's not all that I need or want to grab and go should I ever be faced with an evacuation/emergency... but it's a start!

So Happy Together

Relationships are complicated.  Sometimes they are deep and beneficial and meant to last forever.  Sometimes they are shallow, short and of little consequence.  Sometimes they are even toxic and we have to leave them to save our own souls and sanity.  So it is with the matter of our hearts...

And with the plants we choose for our gardens, too.

Broccoli, for example, grows larger and tastier when you let it mingle with onions and potatoes.  It's healthier when surrounded by rosemary, sage, dill and chamomile.  And does alright in the company of light feeders like beets, nasturtium and marigolds... but try to make it a companion of tomatoes, pole beans or strawberries (all of which siphon off calcium) and it shows its wimpy side.  Force broccoli to hang out with the likes of lettuce and it gets downright nasty, poisoning the lettuce seedlings from its roots.

A little foreknowledge about who's got a crush on who and which families have long standing and bitter feuds will make you a better matchmaker for the seedlings you lovingly place in the garden with hopes and dreams of a bounteous future harvest.   Companion planting, as this matchmaking is called, uses of the complex interactions among plants to accentuate their best qualities.  The National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service defines companion planting as:  the establishment of two or more plant species in close proximity so that some cultural benefit is derived.  Basically, companion plants can be used to:

• Produce odors to deter or confuse pests.
• Draw pests away from crop plants.
• Provide breeding grounds and/or food for beneficial insects.
• Improve the vigor and flavor of nearby plants.

Companion planting is organic gardening at its most basic and has been used since Roman times, and probably even earlier than that.  An example that's so well known that probably nearly everyone has heard of it is the "Three Sisters" technique of planting corn, beans and squash together.  It originated in North America with the Haudenosaunee (or Iroquois) native tribal people and has been used throughout the Americas and in the Caribbean.  With this technique, corn provides the support for the climbing beans; the beans supply extra nitrogen to the corn and squash; and the squash limits weed growth around the plants with its large spreading leaves.  Each provides something the others need so they can happily co-inhabit the same space.

For information on more companion plantings, download my handy dandy work-in-progress chart.

The Sourdough That Wasn't...

For the past couple of weeks I've been wondering what happened to the sourdough starter I ordered...  Now I know.

Pre-printed on the back of the envelope, here is what the Post Office has to say about it:

DEAR VALUED POSTAL CUSTOMER:

I want to extend my sincere apologies as your Postmaster for the enclosed document that was inadvertently damaged in handling by your Postal Service.

We are aware how important your mail is to you.  With that in mind, we are forwarding it to you in an expeditious fashion.

The U.S. Postal Service handles over 202 billion pieces of mail each year.  While each employee makes a concerted effort to process, without damage, each piece of mail, an occasional mishap does happen.  We are constantly working to improve our processing methods so that these incidents will be eliminated.  You can help us greatly in our efforts if you will continue to properly prepare and address each letter or parcel that you enter into the mailstream.

We appreciate you cooperation and understanding and sincerely regret any inconvenience that you have experienced.

YOUR POSTMASTER


Pfft

I think they should at least comp the 4 stamps this mishap cost me.  It took 2 to send the request to Oregon Trail Sourdough and 2 on the SASE that the Post Office destroyed.

Back to the drawing board on this quest...  And after much searching I've decided to give this recipe a try and make my own starter.

• Step 1. Mix 3 ½ tbs. whole wheat flour with ¼ cup unsweetened pineapple juice. Cover and set aside for 48 hours at room temperature. Stir vigorously 2-3x/day. (“Unsweetened” in this case simply means no extra sugar added).
• Step 2. Add to the above 2 tbs. whole wheat flour and 2 tbs. pineapple juice. Cover and set aside for a day or two. Stir vigorously 2-3x/day. You should see some activity of fermentation within 48 hours. If you don’t, you may want to toss this and start over (or go buy some!)
• Step 3. Add to the above 5 ¼ tbs. whole wheat flour and 3 tbs. purified water. Cover and set aside for 24 hours.
• Step 4. Add ½ cup whole wheat flour and 1/4 to 1/3 cup purified water. You should have a very healthy sourdough starter by now.

It comes from the Breadtopia website.  As does this information about the care and feeding of a sourdough starter.

Conversation with an Atheist - Part 3

Here is the 3rd, and concluding, segment of our discussion.  At this point I've broken away for a bit to read through the website on The Venus Project and have come back asking for a clarification.

To start at the beginning, with part 1, click here:    http://kathyburton.blogspot.com/2012/01/conversation-with-atheist-part-1.html.  For part 2:  http://kathyburton.blogspot.com/2012/01/conversation-with-atheist-part-2.html

Kathy:  It's talking about decision making being turned over to machines... these artificial intelligences that superprocess data. What are people, regular human beings like you and me, supposed to be doing while the machines make all the decisions?

Lemontie:  Educate and research every aspect of our existence and the universe.  The machines only do what they are programmed to do.  They have to be maintained.  Humans take care of the planet... all life forms.  Plants, fish, birds everything.  We become the stewards of the planet rather that its destructors.

Kathy:  So... it's almost a return to the Biblical vision of Adam & Eve... we just take care of the garden?

Lemontie:  Somewhat, yes.  We, as humanity, will either destroy ourselves or become stewards of the universe.  Even in your Bible it says that the end of us is our choice... to take place or never happen.  It's coming.  It's close to the time for humanity to make that choice.

Kathy:  Yes, I believe mankind will bring about either its own destruction or not by the choices we make.

Lemontie:  Go check the cdc.gov website.  They have put out a national warning for zombie hoards and give instructions on how to come close to surviving such an event.  The truth is they're telling you how to survive in an anarchist society.

Kathy:  Zombie hoards?  The Preparedness 101 blog posts?

Lemontie:  Because that is what the republican party bought off by the corporate world is wanting to take place.  It gives them the right to kill off all opposers to their control.  It causes extreme competition... to the point that children will turn on their parents.

Kathy:  The CDC was using the media hype around the zombie craze to promote emergency preparedness.  Things like a 72-hour emergency kit, a plan to get and keep your family together in a disaster situation... that kind of stuff.  I don't think zombies are a real concern...

Lemontie:  There's more too it than that.  They're trying to make light of it like a snake in the grass so that it doesn't promote panic against an anarchist society.  Starving people will behave like zombies.  They will  attack those that have and kill to get what they require for survival.  And they will 'hunt' in hoards.

Kathy:  These preparations are, then, to stave off panic when things fall apart?

Lemontie:  It will stave off panic UNTIL it falls apart.  Then there are those who will be prepared and those who ignored the hint.

Kathy:  Well it's doctrine in my religion to be one of the prepared.

Lemontie:  Well it wont be god coming down to save you I am afraid.  You will have to save your self.  Best do it in numbers than to attempt it by your self.

Kathy:  Have you ever looked at how we Mormons do things?

Lemontie:  I know.  I've studied your religion.  Your people would be a good candidate to have this technology.  And you are big enough to fund it.

Kathy:  Did you ever look at the United Order? It was a model society put into place in the early LDS Church. It's easy to brush the basics off as a socialist experiment but if you dig into the depths, it was really not socialism at all. As I understand it, it's doctrine that will someday be restored.  A key difference between the United Order and what your group proposes is that ours was designed to function inside a monetary-based society.

Lemontie:  Like I said, I've studied Mormonism.  Just don't like the god part of it.  I don't believe in a god.  I would join you if you didn't have this god.

Kathy:  He is central to all we believe and do... so to set that aside and join based on anything other than a testimony of Him would be hypocritcal.  But I'm glad you're objective enough to see good things in the Church.

Lemontie:  The angel that he [Joseph Smith] witnessed was not an angel.  Nor was he a demon.

Kathy:  what do you say he was?

Lemontie:  A time traveler from the same ones that visited back in the Biblical times.  They came to teach us.  But how do you explain things such to idiots that are superstitious?  People that lived in caves.

Kathy:  Call him an angel or a time traveler... Moroni was pretty clear in what he taught about the existence of God.

Lemontie:  He also taught that we could create other worlds.  That we could be gods.  So just how many gods are out there?

Kathy:  Not so sure that was Moroni... but yes.  Man is as God once was.  God is as man may become.

Lemontie:  Then what is a god?    Like I said everything is god.  God is the existence of everything, the energy of all existing things that you can, and cannot, see.

Kathy:  The universe is infinite... or so it seems.  Science tells us that it's expanding and new galaxies are being  created constantly.

Lemontie:  If you research that a bit further you will find that it is slowing down, therefore, meaning that there is an end.

Kathy:  Or a new beginning.

Conversation with an Atheist - Part 2

This is the continuation of my chat with Lemontie Piaire.  Click here for part 1:  http://kathyburton.blogspot.com/2012/01/conversation-with-atheist-part-1.html

Lemontie:  Here is something for you to research when you have the time.  It's called thevenusproject.com.  I am a member of this group.  I was learning an autocad program when nano technology was discovered at Texas Instruments.  It was an accident.  A person, I think his first name was Mike if I remember correctly, was working on a microchip under an electron microscope.  He noticed what appeared to him at first to be a dust molecule stuck on the probe of his tool.  He tried to remove it, but could not until he turned off the charge to his tool.  Then he realized that he had discovered a way to hold a piece of matter still.  This was the beginning of nano technology.  All matter on earth is carbon-based.  Everything is made up of matter.  If you can hold two separate parts of matter still, you can join them together into one new part.  That theory is proven.  We can now make robots that can build a house from the ground up from just the existing molecules in any given area.  Fast.  And with all the amenities such as a washer, dryer, curtains, dishwasher, etc.  Faster than it can be made by mankind using present methods.  And that will do no harm to the environment by eliminating the need to chemically alter elements.  There is one downfall of this technology.... mankind's willingness to control.  Even with weapons of mass destruction... with this technology, one could turn the entire atmosphere into a gray glob of goo that is un-breathable.
Kathy:  Make sure I understand... you are saying you could put a robot on a blank piece of ground and it could build all that without anything from outside that single little plot of earth?
Lemontie:  Yes.  You could even make trees that have orange leaves with purple pok-a-dots.
Kathy:  orange leaves with purple dots... Genetic manipulation?
Lemontie:  There's nothing genetic about it.  It is using the smallest building blocks to make any thing.  It's all in how you program the robots to put the molecules together.
Kathy:  So... create the whole tree, not modify an existing plant species?
Lemontie:  Correct.
Kathy:  Create a life form that didn't exist before...  in other words, be a god.
Lemontie:  Be god-like in the Biblical sense, yes.
Kathy:  Wow!
Lemontie:  There is a big battle in Congress as we speak.  Has been since the discovery of this technology back in '89.  The government will not fund it due to fear by the corporate world that it would end the need for  money.  It would actually start what was envisioned in StarTrek.
Kathy:   Someone in possession of that kind of technology would have a terrifying level of control over the lives of everyone else on the planet.
Lemontie:  Why control?  Control has always been the problem of society.
Kathy:  Whoever possesses it decides how it is used.
Lemontie:  That is why the possessor must be someone with no adverse motive.  More than one person... an organization of people that have grown mentally past the desire for power.  They're out there.  I am one of them.  I care not about money.
Kathy:  That's the Venus Project?
Lemontie:  Yes.
Kathy:  I don't care about money either... at least not past the point it keeps a roof over my head and food in my tummy.
Lemontie:  I would gladly throw all of it away for the opportunity to have this technology and the life that it can offer humanity.  No more hunger.  No more lack of education due to money.  No more limits to what one mind can achieve due to the cost of pursuing it.
Kathy:  No more homeless.  No more sickness.  Seems like a Utopian society.
Lemontie:  Pretty much.
Kathy:  So what keeps you from launching it?
Lemontie:  Money.
Kathy:  The ultimate irony...

To continue on to part 3: http://kathyburton.blogspot.com/2012/01/conversation-with-atheist-part-3.html

Conversation with an Atheist - Part 1

Last night a chat that started out about the weather and the possible problems our warm dry winter could bring for next summer turned to matters of religion.  Lemontie Piaire is someone I know only online but our conversation was stimulating, intriguing and surprising.  I think you'll be surprised, too.

Picking it up from that turning point:

Lemontie:  Are you a Mormon?
Kathy:  I am.
Lemontie:  I know a few of them down here.  Used to work with one... loved the debates we had.  I am an Atheist.
Kathy:  Well... when we die one of us is going to be surprised!
Lemontie:  Yep, one of us will.  I believe in the life force of the universe.  When we die we just change to a different form of life.  I believe that the universe is god and all things in it make it up as a whole.
Kathy:  Like reincarnation?  A cruel master comes back as a dog to learn unconditional love and such...
Lemontie:  Not at all like that.  I believe that we alternate between different dimensions in time.  There is anti- and positive matter.
Kathy:  So instead of coming back to this particular earth, or dimension, we move on to a different one?
Lemontie:  What you call our souls do, but it's our life force.  Our body just holds it to this dimension until it dies.  We transfer to the other dimension when the body dies.  Heaven and hell were created by man... as population control.
Kathy:  We agree then.  Our bodies hold our spirits.  Heaven and hell, and our place in one or the other, is of our own creation.  But... explain what you mean by population control.
Lemontie:  To force people to control themselves... subdue animalistic behaviors.
Kathy:  So the idea of heaven and hell is a form of behavior control?
Lemontie:  Yes.
Kathy:  Much of an animal's behavior is about eating and mating.  A lot of religious folks have large families.
Lemontie:  Some non-religious people do as well.  And some religions preach to have big families.
Kathy:  Well... to those who read and believe in the Bible, God has never retracted the commandment to populate the earth.
Lemontie:  ...but that was developed after the plague that was like to wipe people off the planet forever.   And is a perfect example of religion being used to control mankind's behavior in order to achieve their will.
Kathy:  Interesting thought.
Lemontie:  No people, no money.  No people, no one to do their work for them.
Kathy:  I can see your point.
Lemontie:  Even now our government leaders use religion to manipulate votes.  Also to cloud the real issues that need to be resolved for equality of life and avoid the stopping of the haves and have nots.  They're starting to infect the churches and cause confusion and hate in the churches toward the poor.  Predjudice and stereo-typing.  If there really was a god, he wouldn't permit that.
Kathy:  But... if man is nothing more than a controlled animal, as you say, take those controls away and he'd return to those old animalistic behaviors and patterns and we'd have even more exaggerated have and have not social classes.
Lemontie:  Man is what man is.  Education has made him think.  Evolution has made him change.
Kathy:  But you just said man is a controlled animal...
Lemontie:  Sometimes the basic instinct comes out in even the most perfect of us.  We are all animals to a degree.  Humans have just evolved into a high functioning one.  One that can reason with more ability to design and not accept the limits of what can be created.
Kathy:  I disagree that man is purely the sum of evolution.  I believe in God... that He created and ordered the earth, and everything in it... including mankind.  We are His creation.  That's why we have the drive to create. Why we seek order out of chaos.  And He gave man the ultimate gifts of intelligence and the ability to choose how it is used.
Lemontie:  Well, that is your thinking and you have the right to do so... but life has shown me that there is no god.  At least not what you refer to as being a god anyway.  What you call God, I call alien.
Kathy:  And you have the right to choose how you view the world.  We can exchange thoughts about it all day... but I can't change your mind any more than you can change mine.  We have to go with what makes the most sense for us.  And that it's different is ok.
Lemontie:  God is the existence of everything matter and anti-matter.  Study dark matter.  Strings.  It all works together like music.  The only thing that changes, what is created from it, is the note that it plays, so to speak.
Kathy:  I'm somewhat familiar with those theories.  And I've seen some of the Ancient Alien programs.  I concede... it's a logical conclusion in context of what's in the Bible.
Lemontie:  I have thought these things since childhood.  Religion makes no sense other than as a control of mankind's behavior.

To continue on to part 2: http://kathyburton.blogspot.com/2012/01/conversation-with-atheist-part-2.html

For the Love of Pickles

I'm very sad today.  I'm realizing I didn't make nearly enough dill pickles last summer while there were cucumbers in the garden.  The Pickle Keeper is almost empty.  And it's only January.  That means it's 7 more months until there'll be cucumbers ready to pick out there again.

I might just cry.

Or break down and buy a few cucumbers at the grocery store...

Here's a peek inside my 1980's vintage 2-quart Tupperware Pickle Keeper.  If I find any of these at a thrift store or yard sale, I think I'd like to have a couple more.  They are lovely, wonderful, useful things.  Maybe Tupperware still makes them?  But if you know me you know that I am cheap, so I'll look around for awhile before I even consider getting a new one in this year's pretty designer colors.

Since there's no water bath processing involved, I'm not sure this really qualifies as canning but I've done it this way... well, since the '80s and have never had spoilage.  I've even cheated and re-used the brine.  Yikes! The pickle confessions are coming out!!

The recipe came to me from my Mother's good friend, Bea Williams.  The Williams' lived across the street from us in Idaho Falls when I was a little kid and she was always my (honorary) Aunt Bea.  I think I was well into school-age years before I realized we weren't really related.  Bea was a simple woman.  She worked hard all her life and had a very strong sense of right and wrong and exemplified the idea that you just treat people well.  She is one of the kindest and most generous adults I remember being part of my childhood.  Every kid should have an Aunt Bea!

To make Aunt Bea's pickles simply pack whole small cucumbers (or larger ones cut into wedges about that same size as you can see I did in the photo) into 1-quart jars with dill weed and sliced garlic according to your taste.

Add to each jar:
2 Tbl salt
1 cup vinegar
1 Tbl sugar
1/2 tsp alum
pinch of pickling spice

Fill each jar with cold water. Put on caps and sealers and store in a cool, dark, dry place. Ready to eat after 3-4 weeks. Can be stored up to a year.

(I make a double batch directly in the Pickle Keeper and just push it to the back of the fridge for a few weeks.)

I linked this post to Homemaking Link-Up #59

And to the Weekend Bloggy Reading Link Up at Serenity Now