Saturday 7 July 2012

After a while....

I thought I would give you an update on a couple of things.

Sourdough: A friend asked if I could bring some of the first batch along when I visited her - but I didn't think it would be great after 5 days (and in the end there wasn't any left), so I made my second batch a couple of days earlier than planned.
The first batch was made primarily with Coles brand wholemeal flour.  The second with Biodynamic Wholemeal Wheat Flour by Red Gum Milling.  This second flour was much finer, without all the obvious pieces of bran.  I also tried to handle the dough less between the first & second proof - to retain more of the air as I felt the first batch was a bit dense for my liking (SMD described it as tasting & feeling like a German Rye Bread - fine if that is what you want).  The other change is that the second proof took place overnight in the fridge, so I could bake the bread fresh in the morning.
This is the result:

I forgot to slice the tops - so they are very plain looking.
They turned out a lighter colour inside, and slightly less dense.

I have planted out the seedlings that I showed you in "Inactive - not quite" into the second vegetable garden.  And labelled them using plastic labels cut from a 2 litre milk bottle.  I found that the icy-pole sticks quickly grew mould and became unreadable, hopefully these will work better.


Seedlings newly planted - still in their toilet roll or egg carton homes.
As you can see I set up the automatic watering system at the same time, it's on the same circuit as the other bed, but has small sprays instead of drip lines.  The net cover is essential - when I had it open to work on the watering system Elsa (the Isa Brown) was in digging up the seedlings straight away!

The potatoes in the chicken feed bags are going well.



I have already added some lucerne hay to the bags, and straight after this picture was taken I rolled the sides up a bit and added plenty of soil, filling up the gaps as much as I could, then gave them a good water.

And lastly - the first vege bed is going OK - with its beetroot, carrots & bok choy.






11 comments:

  1. Another use for the chicken feed bags that I keep meaning to do is to drop them off to my local horse or cow poo supplier. They reuse them & I get good value manure for my garden. I keep forgetting to put them in the car when I go past though.

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  2. Hey! Thanks so much for linking up to my blog! You're the first person. :) Your site looks so creative. It makes me wish I lived in a house instead of an apartment so I could plant a garden.

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  3. Very impressed with your blog! Looks like we have a lot of the same interests. Love your quilts too. Remind me on Friday to bring my notes from a recent sourdough course I attended - might have some good tips for you. Maybe you can share some of your textile crafting wisdom in return :-D. Have a great week! Cindy

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    1. Thanks Cindy, I would love to see your notes, and have a chat about sourdough. Have to discuss textiles anytime as well!

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  4. I love to make my own bread! Your picture drew my attention to this post so I just HAD to read it!

    I found your blog via the connect on SecondHand Couture! I joined the list recently and have been atempting to visit each of the blogs on the list!

    Helen
    Blue Eyed Beauty Blog

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    1. Helen,
      Thank you so much for ALL your recent comments. I don't get many and it gives a real lift.
      I am very glad that you have enjoyed reading my blog thus far and I will be coming back to it soon, I hope.
      The reason it has been so long since my last post is that I have been very busy, the addition of my Permaculture Design Course to my schedule once a week has really made things hectic - but very exciting! I have been loving all the things I am learning, and getting to know the other students, we are quite a diverse group. In two weeks we will be doing a group design project - at my children's school (my suggestion of location), which will give me three concept plans to pull together & finalise & then drive the implementation of. I'm going to be busy next year! But I'll have heaps to write about.
      Look out for a post about extracting honey from our native bees in the near future (I hope).
      Best wishes,
      Ravs

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    2. Wow sounds like a LOT! :)

      I am visiting back again (I haven't been by in awhile) to let you know I did feature your blog on mine awhile back. It's on the post Wednesday Weekly Review #9! I thought you might like to see that. I know I'm always super excited when bloggers let me know they featured my blog!

      Anyway, hope everything with the class went well!

      Helen
      Blue Eyed Beauty Blog
      Exercise Encouragement GROUP Blog

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    3. Dear Helen - thanks for coming back! And for letting me know you did. I went and had a look at the post where you mentioned me (and a glance at the rest of the blog).
      Your comment has prompted me to do my first post in a year, and if you have a look you will see why I only had time to glance at most of your prolific blog!
      I really hope, having now done it once, I can find the time to post a little more often.
      Many thanks
      Ravs.

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    4. I'm glad I could inspire you to blog more!!! I personally am about to be moving out to the country and won't have internet but still plan to write posts on word documents and have photos all edited and ready to go for when I DO go into town so I can at least have some new posts on my blog in the future! :)

      Helen
      Blue Eyed Beauty Blog
      Exercise Encouragement GROUP Blog

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  5. How far out in the country? Our remote farmers etc rely a lot on the internet nowadays, including for their children's schooling. Mostly via satellite I'm guessing, though some landline.

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    1. It's about 20 miles out from where we live now. There are a few internet options out there, but they're insanely expensive...unlike the $24 we pay each month for service in the middle of town. It's there, we just wont be able to afford it.

      Helen
      Blue Eyed Beauty Blog
      Exercise Encouragement GROUP Blog

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