I'm a fair bit north of you so I'm still waiting for the dandelions to show themselves and then garden season will be in full swing!
I've recently started up a food preservation / urban homesteading blog. It's partly my attempt to organize my hundreds of recipes and partly to "do something" with my food passion. (So many people have told me to start up a food truck, but a blog is more my speed.) I run a publishing company, so my ultimate goal once I have the recipes written out and organized is to then put them into a couple cookbooks.
With alllll that in mind, do you have any suggestions or tips or advice for someone new to the food and homestead blogging world?
Hi! I have so many questions about your indoor citrus growing extravaganzas. How do you deal with pests? Leaf drop? What are your most common pests? Do you fertilize? With what and when? Any questions I'm missing?
Would love to know any new (this or last yr) fun things you've planted this season that you're looking forward to! We added a wolf cider apple tree to pollinate our liberty trees, and replanted a black raspberry bed with lingonberries, strawberries and 1 wild rose (all of them want similar soil!). Our goji berry of 3+ years is finally thriving and a good amount of our saffron that we planted has made it another year!
It'll be about three weeks out before I do my first racking of the dandelion wine, but I'm worried about how to get the flowers and citrus debris out without stirring things up unnecessarily. It's probably very obvious, but how do you accomplish this? I do have the wide-mouthed 1 gallon containers. I was thinking that I could take a small sieve dipped in Camden tablet water and then bail out the petals, etc. as best as possible before syphoning. I'm wondering if some sort of coffee filter setup would be feasible. I'm definitely practice the whole syphoning process ahead of time so I know I know what I'm doing!
Ashley, I made my first batch of wine and it was dandelion wine. I was surprised at how long it took to separate the "flower" from the green part. When I separated them, the part that is yellow really was mostly white and "seed" like. They were very young dandelions, so I am hoping that that is okay. Also, I made a note to cut back the water added to the sugar for the simple syrup because mine overflowed, too. I'm thinking cutting back by just a 1/4-1/2 cup. That should be okay, right? It might be a little stronger, but I'm good with that! After reading the comments where many said that theirs overflowed, I preemptively put a flat-bottomed fruit bowl beneath the gallon carboy to catch the overflow. This worked perfectly and was very easy to clean and set back up. Thank you for such straight-forward directions and simple ingredients. It was not intimidating at all. As produce starts to become bountiful in my fruit forest, it will be so nice to turn to your recipes. I really appreciate all that you do.
Hi Ashley, I grew a lot of cabbage last season thinking it would last all winter in the basement but it did not. I made sauercraut in jars and stocked the frige, did not want to can ... Wanted the enzyes. How did the oldtimers eat it all winter? It only lasts so long in a fresh BIG crock? It's known as a cancer prevention and don't want it to come back. THanks!
Hi Ashley, where is the recipe for the dandelion cake? It was not listed under the red link. Also, I have a lot of dried aronia berries on some of my trees that did not get picked. If I wash and dry them what can I do with them? Can I plant Corn in the same place as I did last year. I have not had good luck with heirloom varieties. Thank you!
I have a decent sized area that I would like to use for more raised beds but two black walnut trees abut the area. They are just over my property line.suppose I can plant greens in the mustard
Garlic mustard thrives there, so I suppose I can try greens in them mustard family. Do you have any experience planting near black walnut trees and juglone tolerant (edible) plants?
Hi Ashley, I was gifted a bunch of bok choy and Napa cabbage. I know there’s no canning instructions for them - but I was wondering if there is an Asian base soup I could can them in? Any recommendations? One can only eat so much kimchi lol
I'm a fair bit north of you so I'm still waiting for the dandelions to show themselves and then garden season will be in full swing!
I've recently started up a food preservation / urban homesteading blog. It's partly my attempt to organize my hundreds of recipes and partly to "do something" with my food passion. (So many people have told me to start up a food truck, but a blog is more my speed.) I run a publishing company, so my ultimate goal once I have the recipes written out and organized is to then put them into a couple cookbooks.
With alllll that in mind, do you have any suggestions or tips or advice for someone new to the food and homestead blogging world?
Hi! I have so many questions about your indoor citrus growing extravaganzas. How do you deal with pests? Leaf drop? What are your most common pests? Do you fertilize? With what and when? Any questions I'm missing?
Thanks!
Would love to know any new (this or last yr) fun things you've planted this season that you're looking forward to! We added a wolf cider apple tree to pollinate our liberty trees, and replanted a black raspberry bed with lingonberries, strawberries and 1 wild rose (all of them want similar soil!). Our goji berry of 3+ years is finally thriving and a good amount of our saffron that we planted has made it another year!
I want to can but am totally terrified of screwing up! I would just start with water bath but don't know what to begin with. Any recommendations?
Perfect! Thank you!
Thanks so much for your time.
Will you be able to answer my previous question about homemade food wrap recipes using pine resin or pine rosin as an added ingredient?
I am planting and planting and then... planting some more! It's make or break time.
It'll be about three weeks out before I do my first racking of the dandelion wine, but I'm worried about how to get the flowers and citrus debris out without stirring things up unnecessarily. It's probably very obvious, but how do you accomplish this? I do have the wide-mouthed 1 gallon containers. I was thinking that I could take a small sieve dipped in Camden tablet water and then bail out the petals, etc. as best as possible before syphoning. I'm wondering if some sort of coffee filter setup would be feasible. I'm definitely practice the whole syphoning process ahead of time so I know I know what I'm doing!
Ashley, I made my first batch of wine and it was dandelion wine. I was surprised at how long it took to separate the "flower" from the green part. When I separated them, the part that is yellow really was mostly white and "seed" like. They were very young dandelions, so I am hoping that that is okay. Also, I made a note to cut back the water added to the sugar for the simple syrup because mine overflowed, too. I'm thinking cutting back by just a 1/4-1/2 cup. That should be okay, right? It might be a little stronger, but I'm good with that! After reading the comments where many said that theirs overflowed, I preemptively put a flat-bottomed fruit bowl beneath the gallon carboy to catch the overflow. This worked perfectly and was very easy to clean and set back up. Thank you for such straight-forward directions and simple ingredients. It was not intimidating at all. As produce starts to become bountiful in my fruit forest, it will be so nice to turn to your recipes. I really appreciate all that you do.
Hi Ashley, I grew a lot of cabbage last season thinking it would last all winter in the basement but it did not. I made sauercraut in jars and stocked the frige, did not want to can ... Wanted the enzyes. How did the oldtimers eat it all winter? It only lasts so long in a fresh BIG crock? It's known as a cancer prevention and don't want it to come back. THanks!
Hi Ashley, where is the recipe for the dandelion cake? It was not listed under the red link. Also, I have a lot of dried aronia berries on some of my trees that did not get picked. If I wash and dry them what can I do with them? Can I plant Corn in the same place as I did last year. I have not had good luck with heirloom varieties. Thank you!
I have a decent sized area that I would like to use for more raised beds but two black walnut trees abut the area. They are just over my property line.suppose I can plant greens in the mustard
Garlic mustard thrives there, so I suppose I can try greens in them mustard family. Do you have any experience planting near black walnut trees and juglone tolerant (edible) plants?
Hi Ashley, I was gifted a bunch of bok choy and Napa cabbage. I know there’s no canning instructions for them - but I was wondering if there is an Asian base soup I could can them in? Any recommendations? One can only eat so much kimchi lol