IDC Update 2010/3

Read more about why I am participating in Sharon's Independence Days Challenge, here.

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The weather was gorgeous over the weekend - not nearly as humid as it has been recently - so there was a lot of weeding going on (oh, how I hate couch grass!) and a little planting too for a change. I've also gone through my seeds and laid out the ones I want to get into the ground this coming week (mostly root crops).

Other than that, I've been sick recently, so not much homesteading stuff has been happening at all.


Plant something:

* Silverbeet, stevia, chives, sage, comfrey, kale, kangkong, lebanese cress, lettuce & cucumbers.


Sow something:

* Nil, but with plans to sow root crops this week (carrots, beets etc). Seed saving cucumbers.


Harvest something:

* Herbs aplenty, the last of the beans, chillies, pumpkins, cherry tomatoes, eggplants, carrots, cucumbers, a little kale, the first autumn raspberry of the season, a few leeks.


Preserve something:

* Chopped and froze carrots;
* Roasted and froze butternut pumpkins.



Waste not:

* Made the usual chicken stock from a leftover roasted carcass & veggies scraps;
* Froze celery tops & leaves to use in stocks;
* Roasted the leftover pumpkin seeds.



Want Not:

* After much deliberation over electric versus manual grain grinders - and the reluctant conclusion that I would not use a manual mill very often - I purchased a grain mill attachment for my KitchenAid. Now to experiment with the bag of wheat berries I bought in bulk;

* I purchased a simmer mat for my gas stove top to use in future hard cheese-making, so I don't have to use the dodgy double boiler set up I was contemplating; and

* Again after much contemplation & research, I caved in and found a teeny tiny fridge for maturing the hard cheeses (I want to make) in. Hard cheeses like cheddar and Parmesan need to mature at about 10 - 12'C for long periods of time; a standard fridge is too cold and my house is way too hot, even in winter. I don't like having another appliance plugged in after working so hard to get rid of most of them, but if I'm going to go to the effort of making cheeses which take several months to mature, I don't want them ruined by the weather.


Eat the Food:

* Nothing interesting to speak of - lots of quick & simple with a giant crock of chicken soup for those of use suffering from a nasty chest cold (cough, splutter).


Learn a New Skill

* Nil this fortnight.


Building Community

* Nil to speak of (except replying to lots of emails!).


Future Plans

* Grinding wheat to make fresh flour;
* Hard cheeses;
* Still trying to find a window of opportunity to make the liquid castile soap...


Cheers,