Saturday, June 5, 2010

mason jar sauerkraut


We have been harvesting cabbage for the last couple weeks and the other day we finally had enough so that we could make some kraut .The recipe I use is near fail proof and I have never lost a batch, I can not say that about using a crock and making it that way.

The basic process is to chop or shred your cabbage, chuck some salt on it, mix it up and let it sit overnight. After 24 hours put the cabbage into sterilized jars and cover with the brine. Cap and let sit 6 weeks or more, then process. It really is nearly that easy. The last time I made our kraut this way the 6 weeks was not quite a long enough fermentation period,this time we will let it go 8 weeks and sample. I jarred up 4 quarts today and hopefully we will get another batch or two with the spring cabbage and then some come fall.

For a more in depth recipe at making easy kraut go here.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

monday's mountain musings

Our rains the other day did quite the driveway damage. When I called the gravel hauler this morning I explained to him that we were stuck in and no one could get in until we had some work done to the driveway. He kindly said he would get in touch with the driveway fixer upper feller and asked if someone would be home today. I laughed n said ayup we are stuck in and he replied oh ya ain't kiddin huh? Made for a good laugh on an other wise craptacular day. The good thing is that the fixer upper feller is slow enough in work that he can get started on it tomorrow. A big chunk to be putting out but hopefully it will get the driveway back into decent shape for a good while.

The gardens are coming along rather nicely and I will be harvesting cabbage to make kraut with tomorrow. The peas are near played out as is the broccoli. I do not think i am going to grow broccoli in the spring any more it just does no do that well and take a fair bit of space.

I am working on a garden update but thought I would put a pic up of my stick garden. It is actually a flower garden that I threw a bunch of extra beans from last year in to and to my surprise they are coming along quite nicely. Today I went and picked small branches from a down tree and poked them in the ground. I quite like the look myself and hope the beans continue growing. If i could knit or had a bunch of string I would wrap the branches and make them real cool.

Caught a picture of one of our little hummingbirds today at the feeder. Boy they are tough to capture because they are so quick and tiny. In the end I got a half decent pic and am happy, more than happy since my camera is one of the cheapest models there is out there .

Monday, May 31, 2010

North Ga rains

This was taken yesterday  afternoon. We got about 6 inches of rain in 2 hours or so. This  is a lot of rain in one shot but not too out of the ordinary. It is very typical to get our rains in 3-5 inch down pours every couple few days all through the summer. We are in the Katuah biosphere which is why we have such crazy rain amounts and this is one of only three areas in the USA like it.

After a quick walk through the gardens this morning most seem okay. We didn't walk down to check the tobacco, I just didn't have the mind set to walk down and see a mess. Manthing went to check the drive way a bit ago and that is going to take some work and some $$$$ to fix again. Living in the middle of nowhere is wonderful but the driveway upkeep costs are phenomenal.Wouldn't ya know its on a day we are expecting company too which is like a one time of year event ...