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Each year, it seems like a different plant goes gangbusters in the pastures. Two years ago, it was red clover: so plentiful, it seemed like it was everywhere. Sadly, despite my plans to make something delightful with it, last year was a red clover bust. This year, the standout plant is the delicately white-flowered chickweed.
Right before we go out to do morning chores, we have a quick snack. Today, it was fresh, thick-sliced homemade sourdough toast with grass fed butter and wildcrafted jelly. There’s nothing like homemade to start the day right!
Continue reading “Eat This: Homemade Sourdough Toast And Wildcrafted Jelly”
It may be freezing outside, but I’m bottling the essence of summer: the lemon balm wines are ready!
With the cold weather, the lemon balm plants have been looking peaked, so I decided to cut them back. In doing so, I harvested a large amount of leaves that were still green and smelled aromatic. How could I make the lemon balm last? By making some wine I can appreciate at my leisure!
Why preserve? Fundamentally, it’s about finding ways to extend the “shelf life” of edibles: fermenting, drying, pickling, canning, freezing, and curing are some of the common ways of preserving food. In this case, I made jelly because it’s an economical way to have this delightful treat available even when fresh leaves may not be…like in the dead of winter. Continue reading “Preserve This: Lovely Lemon Balm Jelly”
Once again, we are now in October and still it’s in the high 80’s here, reaching well into the 90’s with the humidity; while some leaves have fallen, it just doesn’t feel like fall at all. The leaves’ colors don’t look right and the pesky summer bugs are still hanging around. Is this the new “normal”?