We had a busy weekend and got to spend most of it outside in this beautiful weather we've been having.
Friday we made our weekly trip to the farmers market to buy our produce for the week. Spent some time in the yard & gardens working, cleaned up behind the shed and then built a fire and sat outside for the evening.
Saturday we had visitors and spent most of the day outside playing with the kids. Built a fire Saturday night and spent St Patricks day in style with some Irish car bombs & Guinness. I think my bar tender had a ulterior motive as she kept the drinks coming and then the talk turned to chickens and I mentioned we should maybe get some.
Sunday we took a trip to a local nursery to pick up a couple plants for the garden, baseball practice and then we hiked to the creek close to our house to try some fishing. I caught a nice sized rock bass on the first cast. Shortly after that my reel broke so we didn't get to do much fishing but it looks like a good spot and since it's close enough to walk to we should be able to get out and do some fishing this summer. The banks and trees are covered in plastic from the flood we had last year. If I see the property owner out sometime I'll ask if there is access other than walking down a steep hill that we could use if we clean up the area some.
Got a chance to talk to the neighbor who we are growing corn and potatoes with this year. We will be spreading compost in the field sometime later this week. We have onion sets and a few other things to plant this week.
Started working on a material list for the new shed, still not sure what will be happening with that project. Price is a big factor so we might go with a metal shed kit or enclosing the area with fencing and build a cover for the rabbit cages. Moving the rabbits out of the existing shed can't happen soon enough for me. Need the space they are taking up so I can start working on some projects.
The bar project is on hold once again. I do have the top of the bar now. So it will be a matter of finding time to start building. It's been so nice outside that when I get home from work and on weekends I try to spend as much time outside as possible.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Mead, from the winemaker's recipe handbook
THESE INGREDIENTS MAKE ONE GALLON OF WINE! It's easy to modify for larger batches, which we do after we've tried a batch once.
2 1/2 lbs honey
7 pts water
3tsp malic acid
1 1/2 tsp tartaric acid
1/4 tsp tannin
3/4 tsp energizer
1 campden tablet crushed
1 pkg wine yeast
2 1/2 lbs honey
7 pts water
3tsp malic acid
1 1/2 tsp tartaric acid
1/4 tsp tannin
3/4 tsp energizer
1 campden tablet crushed
1 pkg wine yeast
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Bar update
I wanted to be done with clearing out the bar area of the basement by now,but things kept popping up that take priority over building a bar. Had to have some work done to my truck, birthday parties, family visits and running low on split fire wood. The firewood is now all split and stacked, and the next two weeks, for now anyway, seem to be not very busy for us. There's some rainy weather on the way, so that means I'll have time to get back to work in the basement. My goal is to have the bar side of the basement cleared out, the stuff put away, and to get started on framing the bar by Sunday. Wish me luck.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Spent Grain No-Knead Dough Recipe
(It only takes about 5 minutes to make the dough ahead of time)
6 cups All Purpose Flour
3 cups Spent Grains
1 1/2 tablespoons Yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons Kosher Salt
1 tablespoon Sugar
1/4 cup Oil (canola or olive) or butter or margarine
1 1/2 cup lukewarm, room temperature or cold liquid
(this can be water, wort, milk, beer, or a combination)
CAUTION: Start by adding 1 cup of liquid, then add a 1/2 cup and test the texture of the dough. It's better to add more water than to add more flour to absorb the liquid. Remember, the spent grain is going to be wet too.
Put all ingredients in a 6 quart bowl or dough bucket. Mix by hand or with a mixer.
DO NOT KNEAD!
Let the dough in the bucket sit on the counter for approximately two hours, until it has doubled in volume. Don't worry if you forget it overnight, as long as there are no eggs in it it's okay.
Once it has risen, put it in the fridge or a cooler overnight, or for at least 3 hours. If it's cold outside you can put it on the patio or porch in a cooler. You want it in 36 to 40 degree temps so it will get good and cold, and be easier to work.
You can keep this dough up to 5 days. After 5 days it will start to turn color a bit, but it's still okay up to 7 days. You can also freeze it.
When ready to use, take the dough out of the refrigerator and immediately shape into bread loaf, cinnamon rolls, pizza, or bread sticks. For all but pizza let the dough rise for 30 minutes, then stick into a hot oven (400 or 450 degree oven) to bake. Bread is approximately 30-40 minutes, cinnamon rolls 25-30, and bread sticks 20-30. Further notes about pizza coming soon.
Hope you enjoy! This recipe was from a local homebrew shop we frequent. Happy brewing and baking!
6 cups All Purpose Flour
3 cups Spent Grains
1 1/2 tablespoons Yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons Kosher Salt
1 tablespoon Sugar
1/4 cup Oil (canola or olive) or butter or margarine
1 1/2 cup lukewarm, room temperature or cold liquid
(this can be water, wort, milk, beer, or a combination)
CAUTION: Start by adding 1 cup of liquid, then add a 1/2 cup and test the texture of the dough. It's better to add more water than to add more flour to absorb the liquid. Remember, the spent grain is going to be wet too.
Put all ingredients in a 6 quart bowl or dough bucket. Mix by hand or with a mixer.
DO NOT KNEAD!
Let the dough in the bucket sit on the counter for approximately two hours, until it has doubled in volume. Don't worry if you forget it overnight, as long as there are no eggs in it it's okay.
Once it has risen, put it in the fridge or a cooler overnight, or for at least 3 hours. If it's cold outside you can put it on the patio or porch in a cooler. You want it in 36 to 40 degree temps so it will get good and cold, and be easier to work.
You can keep this dough up to 5 days. After 5 days it will start to turn color a bit, but it's still okay up to 7 days. You can also freeze it.
When ready to use, take the dough out of the refrigerator and immediately shape into bread loaf, cinnamon rolls, pizza, or bread sticks. For all but pizza let the dough rise for 30 minutes, then stick into a hot oven (400 or 450 degree oven) to bake. Bread is approximately 30-40 minutes, cinnamon rolls 25-30, and bread sticks 20-30. Further notes about pizza coming soon.
Hope you enjoy! This recipe was from a local homebrew shop we frequent. Happy brewing and baking!
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
weekend work.
The basement bar project is getting closer. Me and my son got 1/2 of the basement cleaned and built some new shelves for our canned food storage.
The top 2 shelves will be for our food storage, the bottom 2 will be for our canning supplies. Doors will be going on in the future.
We moved a giant cabinet my sister had given me months ago into its place and got it filled with the wine making supplies.
We made a trip to a local bulk store and bought 25lbs of flour, and some spices and other baking supplies. We stopped at a local dairy farm and bought 3 gallons of raw milk, one gallon we traded to a friend for a dozen eggs from her chickens. One gallon is for drinking and the other is for making mozzarella cheese. We bought some hamburger from the farm and it was the best beef burger I've ever had. Will definitely be buying a larger amount to freeze in the future.
The top 2 shelves will be for our food storage, the bottom 2 will be for our canning supplies. Doors will be going on in the future.
We moved a giant cabinet my sister had given me months ago into its place and got it filled with the wine making supplies.
We made a trip to a local bulk store and bought 25lbs of flour, and some spices and other baking supplies. We stopped at a local dairy farm and bought 3 gallons of raw milk, one gallon we traded to a friend for a dozen eggs from her chickens. One gallon is for drinking and the other is for making mozzarella cheese. We bought some hamburger from the farm and it was the best beef burger I've ever had. Will definitely be buying a larger amount to freeze in the future.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
It's been a long time since the last post.
The big news from Dirty Hippy Homestead is that we're expecting. Due date is August 2nd. We can't wait to meet our new little dirty hippy.
We've been very busy the past month with the holidays, cutting fire wood, brewing beer and making wine. The garden is pretty much done, although we're still picking brussel sprouts,carrots and the collard greens are still going strong.
With the early winter snow storm and a since a friend had a huge tree cut down we should have 1/2 of next years wood cut and split before this winter is over.
Our cherry and grape wine are bottled. Still need to bottle the dandeline wine and the mead. Beer brewing has been going good. Just kegged a dunkle last night and have the ingredients to make a gluten free beer this weekend. Next beer on "tap" will be a stout, so we can use the spent grains to bake breads. Organizing the home brew equipment and building a bar are in the works. First step of cleaning and organizing the basement is going slow, but once I get to the fun part of building it will go a lot faster. We have friends coming from New York for a visit in early March, and the goal is to have the bar finished by then.
The rabbits are doing well, expecting a new litter this Thursday.
We have a lot of plans for this gardening season. We are building a new raised bed so we will have a total of five 4x6 raised beds. We have permission from two of our neighbors to use some of their garden space also. Planning on building a new shed to house the rabbitry, and yard & garden equipment so the existing shed can go back to being the work shop. Also planning on adding another doe possibly two, to the herd.
We have been looking through seed catalogs and making lists. Hopefully in the next week or two we get our orders in. We are looking forward to using the cold frames and hoops to get an early start on some things.
The big news from Dirty Hippy Homestead is that we're expecting. Due date is August 2nd. We can't wait to meet our new little dirty hippy.
We've been very busy the past month with the holidays, cutting fire wood, brewing beer and making wine. The garden is pretty much done, although we're still picking brussel sprouts,carrots and the collard greens are still going strong.
With the early winter snow storm and a since a friend had a huge tree cut down we should have 1/2 of next years wood cut and split before this winter is over.
Our cherry and grape wine are bottled. Still need to bottle the dandeline wine and the mead. Beer brewing has been going good. Just kegged a dunkle last night and have the ingredients to make a gluten free beer this weekend. Next beer on "tap" will be a stout, so we can use the spent grains to bake breads. Organizing the home brew equipment and building a bar are in the works. First step of cleaning and organizing the basement is going slow, but once I get to the fun part of building it will go a lot faster. We have friends coming from New York for a visit in early March, and the goal is to have the bar finished by then.
The rabbits are doing well, expecting a new litter this Thursday.
We have a lot of plans for this gardening season. We are building a new raised bed so we will have a total of five 4x6 raised beds. We have permission from two of our neighbors to use some of their garden space also. Planning on building a new shed to house the rabbitry, and yard & garden equipment so the existing shed can go back to being the work shop. Also planning on adding another doe possibly two, to the herd.
We have been looking through seed catalogs and making lists. Hopefully in the next week or two we get our orders in. We are looking forward to using the cold frames and hoops to get an early start on some things.
Monday, September 12, 2011
FLOOD
Well the preparation for hurricane Irene helped a little, but was not enough for the flood we had last week.
I left work at 2-o-clock on Wednesday because roads were starting to close because of high water. I got home to about a foot of water in our basement. In the five years I’ve lived at our house, the floor has only gotten wet a few times, and has never had any standing water.
We don’t have a sump pump, so I used a 5-gallon bucket and started to bail. After five hours of bailing, my good neighbor brought over his sump pump and we pumped the basement out.
My wife woke up at 2am, and checked the basement, it had around a foot of water in it again. I decided there was no use in trying to bail, it was still pouring outside, and my back was killing me, so we waited until 7.
When I made it outside my neighbor was already there to lend me his pump, we took turns all day an hour at my house an hour at his. Finally the water stopped coming in, just in time too, the last pumping of his basement and the pump stopped working.
On Friday I tried to get the chest freezer dried out as best as possible, had a box fan blowing on the motor & even used a hair dryer but when I plugged it back in it sparked & smoked.
So we made a trip to home depot. We got a new freezer that's now in our kitchen until I make a cinder block platform in the basement to raise it up. The rest of the day was spent watching flood coverage on the news.
Saturday I built a fire in the woodstove turned on the fans and me and my son spent the day taking everything in the basement that came in contact with the water outside, we scrubbed the floors, walls and everything touching the floors with Clorox, then cleaned everything outside and put it back into the basement.
Our corn & bean crop was in 10 inches or so of flood water so we're not going to get to eat any of it. Our raised beds did ok, although the kale & carrots are starting to die in one bed, most likely from too much water.
In two days we got over 8 inches of rain, I emptied our 4inch rain gauge twice. Overall we got lucky again, there were neighbors close by that had basements full of water and some towns not far from us that lost whole houses, bridges and roadways.
I left work at 2-o-clock on Wednesday because roads were starting to close because of high water. I got home to about a foot of water in our basement. In the five years I’ve lived at our house, the floor has only gotten wet a few times, and has never had any standing water.
We don’t have a sump pump, so I used a 5-gallon bucket and started to bail. After five hours of bailing, my good neighbor brought over his sump pump and we pumped the basement out.
My wife woke up at 2am, and checked the basement, it had around a foot of water in it again. I decided there was no use in trying to bail, it was still pouring outside, and my back was killing me, so we waited until 7.
When I made it outside my neighbor was already there to lend me his pump, we took turns all day an hour at my house an hour at his. Finally the water stopped coming in, just in time too, the last pumping of his basement and the pump stopped working.
On Friday I tried to get the chest freezer dried out as best as possible, had a box fan blowing on the motor & even used a hair dryer but when I plugged it back in it sparked & smoked.
So we made a trip to home depot. We got a new freezer that's now in our kitchen until I make a cinder block platform in the basement to raise it up. The rest of the day was spent watching flood coverage on the news.
Saturday I built a fire in the woodstove turned on the fans and me and my son spent the day taking everything in the basement that came in contact with the water outside, we scrubbed the floors, walls and everything touching the floors with Clorox, then cleaned everything outside and put it back into the basement.
Our corn & bean crop was in 10 inches or so of flood water so we're not going to get to eat any of it. Our raised beds did ok, although the kale & carrots are starting to die in one bed, most likely from too much water.
In two days we got over 8 inches of rain, I emptied our 4inch rain gauge twice. Overall we got lucky again, there were neighbors close by that had basements full of water and some towns not far from us that lost whole houses, bridges and roadways.
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