Kefir Madness

Water Kefir

Hello Everyone!  Long time no blog! It's been quite a busy 9 months for me.  Since my last post in April, my husband Jay was diagnosed with a massive pituitary tumor in July.  This was just on the heels of his having a golf-ball sized nodule (along with the right side of his thyroid) removed in April.  A short time after his brain surgery (which went well and he has been recovering from nicely) he successfully defended his PhD dissertation in October and then graduated in early December.  During this time my job also got measurably busier, and I've developed a nasty bit of tendonitis in one of my thumbs, so at the end of the work day I'm not motivated to sit for more time at the computer to write.  But I realized I had things knocking around in my head that I wanted to share, so here I am.

I became interested in balancing my body's digestive health a few years ago, and started drinking a dairy-based kefir. Kefir is a fermented drink that contains beneficial microorganisms and probiotics that can help keep your digestive and immune system healthy.  It contains vitamins, minerals and has anti-fungal properties.  Dairy-based kefirs can also be expensive, especially the goat-milk ones that Jay has to drink due to an allergy to cows milk.  As a way to continue eating in a more healthy way, we wanted to reduce the amount of dairy we consumed, but I wanted to continue with the 'idea' of kefir.

I found out from my sister-in-law that you could make your own water kefir.  This sounded like a great way to keep drinking kefir, reduce the dairy, and make it myself.  I did some research and found a local company that sells kefir grain starter kits. Erin, from Water Kefir Grains sent me a little starter packet to get me going. Her website has more than a dozen different recipes as well as tips to keep your grains happy.  I also used a resource called Love and Trash to get a basic ginger-based recipe that is a favorite.  Since I started with my first batch, my sister-in-law has begun her own business based on healthy living, and also does Kefir Classes as part of her service offerings. She can be reached at My Plentiful Living  I don't want to steal anyone's thunder and research that went into their kefir web pages, so my post is just going to be a little pictorial of my first batch.

Kefir Starter Kit

You start with about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of grains in a quart-sized jar.  The grains come from some sort of cactus and look a bit like translucent cauliflower.  Each time you grow a batch that is successful and happy, the grains multiply.  Yes, this is equivalent to Amish Friendship bread starter.  I've shared my grains with friends and family, and anyone else who wants any.  I've also added it to my morning green smoothie and to rice dishes and treats for the chickens.  To the grains, you add a solution made of about 1/2 to 1/2 cup of organic sugar of some kind to about a cup of Spring Water (NOT tap)  I've used Evaporated Cane Juice, Organic Dark Brown and Sucanat.  I've found the lighter the sugar, the happier my grains are.  Some people's grains respond well to the higher molasses content in the dark sugar, and even add a tablespoon of molasses to their kefir, but my grains multiply like crazy with the lighter sugars.  Leave about an inch to an inch and half space between the water level and the top of the jar to allow for fermentation gases to expand.  Let it sit for about 18-24 hours.  I find I like mine best if I stop fermentation before 24 hours.  It gets too sour for my taste if I go much past 36 hours.

Fermented Grains

Strained Grains

After your time is up, strain the liquid from the grains (and you'll see you have at least 50% more than you started with).  At this point you can start a new batch right away, or store the grains in a tightly-capped jar in the refrigerator.  You can also freeze them indefinitely.  Some people do what's called a Secondary Fermentation, where they add some sort of fruit or flavoring to the kefir and let the solution ferment for more time, infusing it.  I tend to add ginger and lemon to my kefir from the start, and bottle the solution in those nifty Grolsh-style bottles for another evening, allowing more fizziness to build up, but not necessarily any more flavor.  I have also added unsulphured dried apple, figs and apricots to the initial fermentation.  As I said earlier, I like mine not-so-sour.

I will add a little note of caution:  I can't drink this during the day.  I have to drink it after dinner. When I first started making water kefir I had a small glass with my lunch.  Around 2:00 every day I began to get s-l-e-e-p-y.  I'm talking can't-hold-your-head-up-drooling-on-your-keyboard-sleepy.  I thought it was just latent stress from Jay's surgery/recovery/medical bills catching up with me.  Then one day I realized that fermentation = alcohol.  I was catching a pretty healthy buzz from my 1/2 cup of water kefir.  So I had to stop having it during the day.   Now, my sister-in-law and her family (which includes mom, dad, an almost-five-year-old and an 18-month-old) drink it all the time, in amounts well above what I have daily.  I have NO idea how any of them function like that.  I joked with her that they're all self-medicating using water kefir.  I think I'm just incredibly sensitive to the alcohol produced because I can get pretty buzzed off about a half-inch-worth of a really good Lemon Drop martini, too.

If anyone wants to try some grains, let me know.  I've got plenty to share.  Maybe you, too, will catch Kefir Madness.

Garden Update

Echo Canyon

Red Hot Ad

This is our favorite time of year in Florida.  Spring.  That all-too-brief 3-4 weeks of not-too-ungodly-hot, when we can spend time outside in the yard with the chickens and harvesting food from the hydroponic garden, and best of all, see our daylilies blooming.


We are having our most successful bloom season ever. Our club show and sale is on May 7, and we're hoping to have lots of blooms to pick from to take in for display and judging.  We've already had close to half of our approximately 110 different named varieties bloom, and many of the unregistered seedlings (affectionately called The Bastards) have bloomed prettily as well.

Dark Wonder

Jay at Greenfest

Jay at Booth

The daylily season started out at the Annual University of Tampa Greenfest, where our club sold nearly all of the 450+ plants we had on hand.  Jay is always a hit at the sales tables, turning on the charm to sell the bloomers off the slightly-older-than-us ladies.

Swiss Chard

The hydroponic garden has been doing really well.  We do have some empty containers to fill, and the catnip is going nuclear like it always does, but we've been eating Tatsoi and Swiss Chard most days, and giving it to the chickens as well.

We've harvested two of the cutest little Yellow Pear tomatoes I've ever seen, and have been enjoying strawberries for a few months.  The cucumbers decided to take off in the last week or so, and it's about time to eat the cabbages since the nasty grasshoppers have discovered them.  At least the squirrels will be denied the tomato harvest this year, thanks to The Cage surrounding the area.

Phyllis, Sylvia and Pearl are  doing well, and enjoying the extra outside time that the weather and Jay's surgery recovery has allowed.  Their favorite thing to do is take dust baths underneath my kitchen herb garden.

Long Overdue Hydroponic Garden Update

I took some pictures last night, while Jay was outside covering the plants in preparation for the cold, and when I realized I hadn't posted about the garden since May, I figured I should fix that.  We have been thwarted by squirrels ever since we started our garden.  They ate almost every tomato we've grown (or at least taken big bites out of them) along with a whole tower full of swiss chard as it was just sprouting.  We decided to fight with a steel cage match of sorts.

before

after

Before, the squirrels (and probably fruit rats, but we try not to think about that) had free access to all of our garden goodies.  Now, the entire set of 10 towers has been enclosed in chicken wire, including the top.  This has had a profound (and not unexpected) effect on our productivity.  Duh.






Since the drastic steps, we've been able to re-grow the swiss chard, to the point where both chickens and humans can enjoy it.  We also supplied two counties of family with lettuces on Thanksgiving.  There have been tomato feasts, cucumber festivals (of sorts) and radishes galore.  I had forgotten how much I love radishes.
I even harvested so much thyme that it took me three days with the dehydrator getting all of it preserved.  That much thyme is also a little bit nauseating to smell, by the way.  It ended up not even filling a quart sized mason jar.  Everyone act surprised at Christmas if you get a Gift of Thyme from us :-D

I took a bit of inventory last night.  We have asian eggplants for the chickens, two kinds of lettuce, two kinds of tomatoes, red beets, sweet Florida onions, two kinds of non-Plant City strawberries (this will make sense to my Florida readers), two kinds of swiss chard, snow peas, a boatload of thyme (yes, even after all that harvesting), and two kinds of basil and mint.  I'm probably forgetting something that I'll remember after I hit PUBLISH.  Isn't that always the way?  I've gotten a chuckle or two watching The Ladies follow Jay into the cage to see if he'll give them some swiss chard, or to eat some beet greens that are hanging over the side within beak-reach.

herb tower

lots of thyme

We still have issues with squash getting powdery mildew.  Squash doesn't do so well in high humidity, I guess.  We have huge plants, huge leaves that bloom but don't flower... and then get mildewy.  But most everything else is doing really well.

first cuke

I'm pleased with the strawberries, despite their slow start, although if they make gorgeous berries with no flavor, like the variety we planted the last two seasons, it will probably be the last time we grow them.

berry and onion tower

When the weather threatened to get close to freezing last night, we (and when I say, "we" in this case, it means the incredibly tall and handsome man I'm married to) reused some old sheets to cover the towers to keep the tomatoes from freezing, after harvesting all of them that had started to get red on them.  One of the best things about growing hydroponically (aside from more yield, squirrels notwithstanding) is that we save water.  Not just when we grow, but even when it gets cold.  Last year the traditional strawberry farmers, for example, pumped so much water out of the aquifer in the Plant City area that it caused massive amounts of sink holes and water shortages all around the area.  Hydroponic growers can do like we did, and just cover the towers, and not need to spray water as a protective coating on the berries to keep them safe.  We also can turn the pumps on and off, since they're on timers, and we can make sure the unit doesn't water on days without sun.  Handy, huh?

tall and handsome Jay

cold harvested 'maters and cuke

There were probably more than a dozen tomatoes in here, and one cuke.

swiss chard harvest

It took two green bags to store all this swiss chard.



















Before we went to bed, we (remember what 'we means'?) put some plant lights out under them whole thing, to keep everybody warm.  Between that and the red heat lamp we have in the henhouse, it looked like we had the biggest french fry lights in the world in our back yard.

good night, Garden!

good night, Chickies!

The Swag: Vacation of a Lifetime

view from The Swag

This year, following the The Storytelling Festival, we treated ourselves to a few more days in the Smoky Mountains at The Swag in Waynesville, NC.  We found out about The Swag from one of our all-time favorite storytellers, Donald Davis, and his wife, Merle.  Over the years we've been going to the festival we'd become acquainted with Donald and Merle.  At dinner the last night of the festival, they mentioned that they were going up to The Swag for the next week, where Donald would tell stories in the afternoons and evenings, and also lead hikes and walks and talk about the area in which The Swag is located.  Donald is uniquely qualified for that, since his family settled the area in the late 1700s and Donald himself grew up in Waynesville.  We were going to be in Waynesville for the next week, so we decided we'd see if there was going to be room at the inn, and lucky for us, there was.

'back yard' of the main building

The driveway gate is 2.5 miles from the inn, most of the way up a 5,000+ elevation mountain.  You go up 1,000 feet in elevation on the driveway.  The inn itself was constructed in 1971 on 200+ acres from reclaimed logs from historic buildings, the oldest structure dates back to 1795.  The land was last used as a potato farm, and is bordered by the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Four of the six highest mountain ranges are visible from the property.

Jay in front of our lodge

raised beds in the garden

The Swag has won numerous awards including several from Conde Nast and others for the food (much of which is local - some of which is produced on the property's garden) as well.

The Inn has also received 2 green 'eco leafs' on  I Stay Green  and is a member of the Haywood County Green Business Initiative.  I can honestly say we've never been to a more warm and welcoming place.  The staff was around in an unobtrusive way.  The chef-prepared food was amazing, with well-thought-out menus to choose from, that were very healthy and incredibly accommodating for special dietary needs.  There was something for everyone, from locally made venison sausage, fresh fruits and vegetables, to artisan cheeses and fresh cookies at tea time (which sounds way more formal and fussy than it was.)  Three meals, afternoon tea and pre-dinner appetizers are included each day of your stay.  The most unique meal included is the lunch option on the last day. They will either pack you a backpack with lunch to take with you on a hike on the property after you check out, or they'll put it in a picnic hamper, or box it up for you to take with you if you can't stay.  Not to be missed are The Swag Bars (made from copious amounts of chocolate and peanut butter.)

Donald on the Deck

Merle on the Deck

The highlight of our trip were the hikes we took with Donald and Merle.  Donald took us on a hike around the property, and through part of the Smoky Mountains National Park.  He told us all about the trees and plants as well as about local history including the Civilian Conservation Corps project that built the fence (still standing) that borders the Inn and the Park.  We learned how to tell the difference between types of pines and firs, and hiked to an old cabin that was preserved on the grounds of the park.

cabin in the park

Merle was so sweet to walk with me at the end of the group.  I was still in my ankle brace, and was very careful to watch my steps.  The trail was very well maintained, and there weren't a lot of spots that were uneven, so I did really well considering the circumstances.  The Swag lets you choose a walking stick of various kinds of wood that they personalize for you with your name and the year.  Mine was a the most crooked dogwood one in the bunch, and Jay's is a very big, manly and heavy one made from a sassafras sapling.

Lunchtime on the hike

hikers

Our room at The Swag was bigger (and ten times nicer) than our house.  It had two bathrooms, one of which had a jacuzzi tub and a steam shower (which was awesome) and a fireplace, along with the king size bed and XM radio.  The lodge our room was in also had a library, common area with fireplace, sauna and basement racquetball courts.

Ridgeview Room

Malcolm Matthews, Swag Cat

 Another highlight was Malcolm, the Swag Cat.  He's a big gray dude that hangs out around the lodge and basks in the sunshine.  He has a brush conveniently located for all the guests to accommodate his grooming needs.  He also can be found on Facebook, which cracks me up.  

The Swag holds several special events during the months they are open to the public, from storytellers to musicians and naturalists, these special evens make an already magical place even more special.

 Our time at The Swag is going to be a memory we hold onto forever.  The hospitality of Deener and Dan Matthews is unparalleled.  The gorgeous mountain views and weather would be memorable under any circumstances; but to share them with Donald and Merle made this an experience even more precious.   They are two of the most kind and gracious people we've ever met.  We love going to the mountains, and love our time at Storytelling even more - but getting the opportunity to go to The Swag after the festival this year was the icing on the cake.  I'm already setting aside a "Swag Fund" so we can save up to go back - maybe next year.

picnic area near Valley View

fall foliage

near the old park border fence

Yes, we "Can"

Summer Mix

Jay grew up canning veggies.  My family never did that, so I'm just learning how.  Luckily our friend Dwain, and his sister Fonda have been mentoring me, and reintroducing the art to Jay.  We just got back from a canning trip to Western North Carolina at Dwain's mountain house in Clyde.  We originally planned on canning bush beans in June when we were there, but the beans weren't quite ready yet.  We lucked out on this trip, because we were able to find fresh local beans  in addition to the tomatoes, okra, onions and corn that we had planned on canning.  We also canned 5 pounds of boiled peanuts, and were a little disappointed that the peanuts we bought in Georgia came from New Mexico.  So much for local!

Dwain and Jay.  And Beans.

Beans

Beans going in the Canner

We started with 2 bushels of green beans, which yielded 46 quarts canned.  Dwain's house is the perfect setting for this, with balconies overlooking the mountain.  In order to not heat up the house, we used a propane turkey cooker on one of the balconies for the canning, and for our prep area as well.  The weather was perfect - about 80 during the day and high 50s at night. His house is in the very center of this photo.  We took it across the valley last time in June.

Dwain's house from across the valley

Boiled Peanuts = Crack

Next, we made boiled peanuts.  They turned out fantastic. I ate an entire pint of them myself the other night when I was nursing my sprained ankle.  Nothing better for a sprained ankle than a crapload of salty goodness, I always say!

Fonda with her mad tomato skills

Jay prepping Summer Mi

Finally came the tomatoes!  In all, we canned 125 pounds of tomatoes in various forms:  whole, juiced, and in summer mix, which has tomato chunks, sliced okra, vidalia onions and fresh shucked silver queen corn.   We cold-packed the whole tomatoes and the juice, and pressure cooked the summer mix.  Having many hands helped made this so much fun.  I love learning from Fonda and Dwain, and spending time with Jay preparing good food for us to share. When all was said and done, we had 140 quarts of food to bring back home.  We had brought up several dozen boxes of jars, and ended up having to buy more from Tractor Supply (we bought them out of wide mouths) and Ingles (a local grocery store).   I also picked up two canning cookbooks, Put 'Em Up by Sherri Books Vinton, and The Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving so I can start dreaming about what we'll try next.  Fonda always brings fantastic food she grows in Illinois. She made some out-of-this-world creamed corn that I'd love to try my hand at if I can make it with non-cow dairy products.  I'm really grateful to Fonda and Dwain for sharing their 'tribal knowledge' and helping us nourish our bodies and our lives with yummy food goodness!  I'm also grateful that my sweet husband and I have so many shared interests.  It would be hard to do this without his help and ability to pick up extremely heavy canners full of mason jars and boxes full of canned produce. 

Chicks, Chickens and Chickpeas

finished product

Chicks (like me) who try to eat healthfully and feed their chickens healthfully, can use chickpeas to do both. I eat chickpeas in a lot of ways - in salads, soups, hummus, falafel and my favorite way: roasted.  The chickens really like chickpeas, too, only they take 'em straight from the can.

People who know me well know that my favorite food group is 'brown and crunchy' just like my favorite color is 'paisley.' Roasted Chickpeas area a large part of my plan to eat well and satisfy my quest for 'brown and crunchy' in a healthy way. I get an added protein boost and just love the crunch.  I've had some friends ask me to post my roasted chickpea recipe, so I decided to do that today.

rinse and drain

Preheat oven to 425. I take a can or two of organic Chickpeas, rinse them and drain in a colander.  I like to buy Eden brand because they don't have BCPs in their lining.  Transfer to a layer of towels on a foil-lined jelly roll pan to dry.  Once dry, I remove the towels and roast in the oven for about 15  minutes on the foil lined pan.

drain on towels

Take chickpeas out of the oven and dump them in a mixing bowl, and drizzle with olive oil.  I add Greek Seasoning from V-Spicery, a locally owned spice shop and sea salt to taste, then return to the oven for another round of roasting, 15 minutes or so.  Stir and return to oven again, another 15 minutes until they get really brown and crunchy. This part is really subjective.  I like mine REALLY brown and REALLY crunchy.  Some days it takes 30 minutes, some days it takes 45 minutes, depending on the humidity.  Shake, stir and sample A LOT, while you are obtaining the right amount of brown-ness for you.  Watch out when sampling, though. I got a really bad chick-pea-sized burn on the inside of my lower lip last time - that olive oil is HOT!  Cool and store in an air-tight container.

add seasoning

bake and stir

Chicken Update: while I have your attention... the chickens have decided to go back to putting themselves to bed at night again, and have started eating again.  We realized they prefer eating off a flat surface like a cement block instead of out of their feeder.  We found a feeder they like better, and replaced their waterer, too.  Both seem to be more accepted than the old ones.  We also switched feed, and they like the new stuff (Manna Pro) better than the last kind.  I thought that Sylvia was going to be giving us our first egg a couple of weekends ago, but it turned out to be a false alarm.  She was walking around, bitching, two or three days in a row.  I know it's really hot here, and that the heat might be causing the delay in their egg production. Here is a <30-second video of Sylvia having PMS: