Self-taught farmers confidently raising chickens, ducks, geese, and pigs. Our focus is on practices that are environmentally harmonious and respectful to our livestock. We appreciate the beauty around us, clean eating, fermenting, and responsibly utilizing the bounty of the land. If you like thinking for yourself, continuous learning, and connecting with the homesteader lifestyle, check us out.
Those gorgeous golden blooms just keep coming, so I had to get out there and pick some for both a wild-fermented dandelion-ginger wine and for (truly addictive) dandelion water kefir. I’ve really come to appreciate those precocious dandelions!
For this version of dandelion wine, I used the recipe found on Pixie’s Pocket’s blog: Wild Fermented Dandelion Ginger Wine. Amber has great recipes on her site (like the Goldenrod-Ginger wine I made last year) – check it out!
Earlier, I shared how we made several enjoyable products from 6 fresh grapefruit: wine (Wine Chronicles: Now Making Grapefruit), fermented syrup (Ferment This: Grapefruit Rind Syrup, No Food Waste: Grapefruit Rind Syrup Part II), and grapefruit water kefir. The wine’s not ready to taste yet, but the syrup and water kefir are great! The final item we made from the grapefruit is candied fermented peel. Interested in how we did it? Read on. Continue reading “No Food Waste: Candied (Fermented) Grapefruit Peel”
Have you heard of banana wine? Does it sound like something you’d make, even if you had bananas handy? Back in January, when we started the banana wine, it truly looked like dirty dishwater. It was this unappealing grayish-brown color from the cooking process (though it smelled wonderful). It was the first time we had tried making banana wine, and you just never know how a first run is going to go…which is one of the reasons I like small batch winemaking: you’re never stuck with five gallons of something you just don’t want to drink! Continue reading “Winecraft (Update): Banana Is Amazing!”
Who uses pineapple peels and cores? I do! It’s probably a natural progression from making the delightful fermented beverage, Tepache, to making wine from the peels and cores; after all, wine is also a ferment.
Per the usual, I began by researching: were there already recipes for pineapple peel wine out there that I could use as a starting point? (yes) Did I have all of the ingredients and equipment needed to embark on this project? (yes) Did I still want to make the wine after doing all that research? (clearly, yes) Continue reading “Wine Chronicles: Pineapple Peel Wine”
We recently posted about making wild-fermented syrup from the grapefruit rinds left over after making grapefruit wine. Today, I tasted it again…and it’s amazing: clean citrus flavor in a slightly effervescent syrup that’s just right – sweet but not cloying. Ready for bottling! Continue reading “No Food Waste: Grapefruit Rind Syrup Part II”
As I look out on the pastures, I see a golden sea of cheery dandelions – and it makes me smile. Back in my unenlightened suburban days, I used to fight them: dig them up by the roots (and – oh, horror! – throw the roots away), apply “weed” killer. No more! We don’t use chemicals here, and we know that the pasture our rabbits and fowl consume is nutritious and unadulterated. It also means that we can freely consume any of the edibles that grow wild on our property, like chicory, plantain, wild violets, and our friends the dandelions.