sprouting

I love sprouting. I've up-graded from simple sprouting with mung beans and lentils to growing sunflower sprouts. They are a little more work but so worth the effort. Plus they are ridiculously overpriced at the store.

If you have never sprouted before here are the simple directions. Sprouts are great during the winter, they sprout in 3 to 7 days and add a touch of green to the house.

Want to start sprouting today?

Supplies:

-an old jar

-a rubber band and cheese cloth (or paper, old cloth, fancy sprouting screen)

-water

-brown lentils, french lentils mung beans, sunflower seeds

1. soak mung beans over night in warm water (they will vastly enlarge so use maybe an 1/8 cup)

2. place cheese cloth on jar and drain

3. place jar in a warm well lit area but not in direct sun light

4. rinse mung beans twice a day (I place mine by my coffee maker to remind myself to wash them)

5. After about three to four days when sprouts look almost full grown place them in direct sun light to green for a day.

6. rinse and place in refrigerator.

Sunflower seeds are a bit more complicated.

Follow steps 1-4 like regular sprouts. After rinsing the sprouts for two days transfer to tray with growing medium. I use a plastic take out container as my tray. I then cut holes in the bottom for drainage. I use an extra lid under the take out container to catch water.

Water the seeds then cover the tray with the lid and keep out of direct sun light for two days.

Then remove the lid and place tray in south window to green for two days. Be sure to keep the growing medium moist.

Trim with scissors then place your sprouts in a bag with a little water and refrigerate.

Bread Making with Papa Steve

We finally achieved a measure of success with our bread making. After producing five loafs of brick like whole wheat bread, we sought out Papa Steve's advice. He introduced us to the magic of Vital Wheat Gluten. (which I now refer to as the magic powder which must be added to everything just incase)

The results were two lovely loafs of honey roasted sunflower whole wheat bread.

all I could think about was my play-dough factory days

Bryan and I have wanted to make our own pasta since the beginning of our project. Bryan fondly remembers makings spaghetti with his grandmother as a child. Not to mention that we were excited to make a product that was entirely on project. The wheat was grown organically on my father's farm and he and I recently ground it into pasta flour. The eggs of course came from our chickens and we used our own frozen vegetables from the garden in the flavored pastas.

Grandfather Siebels was kind enough to gift us Grandmother's old pasta machine. We were tickled to find the original receipts attached to the bottom of the machine. Includling the amount she had paid in cash and with a check. The only directions however were in Italian, thankfully we found many helpful videos on the internet to guide our noodle making adventure.

We spent two days making pasta, the ravioli was served deep fat fried for a super bowl party at Papa Steve's house. The rest of the pasta was shaped into carrot and beet flavored fettucini. We soon ran out of drying locations and converted two curtain rods in to pasta dryers. We decided that pasta curtains were definitely a whimsical addition to the kitchen. I was sadden to have to remove them after the drying period.

We greatly enjoyed the pasta creation but we were happy to pack the pasta maker back into the original box. It will be a few months before we again play with our adult "play"dough factory.

finally emerging from our winter malaise

While we are still in the middle of a possible blizzard, Bryan and I have begun to turn our thoughts toward spring. Temperatures in the low 30's over the last two weeks felt like a glorious heat wave. Even the chickens remerged from their coop and could be seen playing in the snow. Our heads are filled with seed orders and garden plans. Now we just have to wait out the next two months. We did finally hang our vertical cherry tomatoes in the windows. They will have to be hand pollinated, but at this point I'd sell my soul for a garden fresh tomato.

As we sit in the house, watching the snow fall outside the window, our farm designs spin rapidly out of control. Spring will be so wonderful, if it ever arrives.

Winter Ice Storm

We are still in the midst of the Iowa winter. Perhaps it was our time spent basking in the glow of the Florida sun that has left us unprepared for the mental strength that is required for a landscape drained of all color. However, as if sensing our absolute fatigue, winter provided an unexpected experience this morning. We emerged to find the world covered in glass. Tiny colonies and cities of ice made strange every surface.

Latest Developments

Bryan and I have been helping Papa Steve harvest his industrial crop of corn and soy beans. While we are not interested in supporting this type of farming, we do acknowledge at it is this larger farm that allows our gifted sustainable farm to exist. The first week of driving the wagons was mildly interesting. Unfortunately after the initial training the whole process just became painfully banal. With the extra hours and the approaching winter we have not made that many improvements to the farm.


A small bit of news from the farm would be that we found our first cluster of eggs, while cleaning out the chicken house this morning. We are so proud of our little hens.

Was that a snowflake?

Our garden plans were interrupted this weekend by an early freeze. During our stay in Florida we had forgotten what a cruel mistress the Iowa weather can be. We were able to save most of the remaining vegetable crop and now have basins of green tomatoes and buckets of potatoes in the basement.



A few weeks ago we installed a plastic "green house" like structure into the garden in order to save the beets and the peas we planted late in August. It is a mystery how Bryan and I are still married after this endeavor. Take one sheet of 50 foot plastic and add 30 MPH wind. Result: shouting matches about the best plastic procedure and later rolling on the ground laughing so intensely that I burst into tears. Oh, and the plastic blew off the next day. It has since been retrofitted and reinstalled. Good times. We just have to focus on the prospect of beet wine this winter and search for another equally obnoxious project to begin.