Wild Plum Sorbet

It's February and we're already thinking of sorbet and Scrub Jay fledglings.



Yes, it's early February and the Wild Plum outside our kitchen window is in full bloom. It's always the first tree to bloom on our little homestead. It grows on the shady North side of the house and gets it's water from the underground spring that also feeds the giant Redwood further back in the yard. It is always the indicator of approaching Spring. It has served as the sunning spot for the resident Scrub Jays for years and years. It was here when we bought the place and was probably planted by earlier generations of these same Birds. It's smack in front of the "garage" doors and no human in their right mind would plant it there.


We feel blessed by this tree in so many ways. The blossoms, the birds, the fruit, a beautiful natural dye from it's leaves, plum jam and... sorbet!


A couple of years ago my Wild Plum jam did not set and as disappointing as that was it lead to a new discovery. I realized I could simply pour it into the little Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker (a Recycletown find and easily found in thriftshops) and make sorbet. I add some dried ginger but you could add fresh grated too. Plum Ginger Sorbet is a huge hit around here. We always make it during our Spring Herb Camp and the kids love it.



"Thank you" little plum tree for being so giving...

Make your own Yogurt

At our house we make two and a half quart jars every two weeks. We are blessed here in Petaluma to be surrounded by organic dairies. The Clover processing plant is literally a few blocks away. We pick up a half gallon of organic milk at the grocery store. My friend Karen has a cow-share here in town so she's getting raw milk. I keep meaning to look into that. That would be the way to go.


So, most recipes have you heat the milk to 114 degrees. The milk we buy at the store is already pasteurized. So, I only heat it to 80 degrees just to get it warm enough to warm up the culture I'm putting in it.


I take a few tablespoons of my previous batch of yogurt and put it in each jar. Into that I pour my 80 degree milk and stir. I then put the lids on the jars and stick them in the oven overnight. We are blessed to have an old stove with a pilot light. It stays 150 degrees in the oven all of the time. I know that if you search for alternative methods of keeping the yogurt warm you will find many options. My friend Karen heats towels in the dryer, wraps them around her jars and puts them in a cooler.



It all takes 5-10 minutes to do. In the morning we have fresh warm yogurt for breakfast. I often do this in the evening before bed. It only needs to stay warm for 8 hours or so. I've forgotten it in the oven for up to 18 hours and it's just fine.

I have heard that if you use the same culture strain too many times it will eventually be unable to culture the milk fully. I have not had this happen but every month or so we end up eating all of the yogurt in the fridge and I buy a small container of plain yogurt and start over. Straus is very tart, Siggie's is sweet, Nancy's has the largest variety of cultures and is recommended following a round of antibiotics. We like the mild taste of Clover's organic yogurt so that's what we usually pick up.

I make yogurt for my neighbors and their kids like it thick so I add some powdered milk to the yogurt I'm using as a culture. It works. Yum!

Rain! It's about time.

We've just weathered the FIRST storm of the season and it's January 26th. Our area got up to 4 inches of rain in just a few days. Luckily, our rainwater catchment tanks were down to 700 gallons. That amount came from the only other bit of rain we've had this Winter which was months ago. We let the first day if this storm's rain rinse off the roof then turned the valve and sent all that glorious water to our tanks.


We've got two 1350 gallon water tanks and a 150 gallon stock tank (duck pond). The first night of the storm brought us the remaining 2000 gallons we needed and the rest came out of the overflow pipe to flush the duck pond. It rained for two or three more days and we now have a VERY clean pond! The fish are happy, the ducks are happy, we're happy. You get the picture.


We need more tanks!

Our tanks come from Tank Depot. We order online and have them delivered to our driveway. They are lightweight and if you have the clearance you can just roll them into place. We have them on base rock platforms framed with rot-resistant wood.

The duck pond stock tank was purchased on Craigslist. It's the Rubbermaid brand. Whenever possible we buy things used but you can find these tanks at any good feed store.

Remember- The problem is the solution. We used to have big issues with water around our house foundation. Now, we don't and we also save money on water for our livestock and gardens.

Rainwater is precious. It does not belong in a storm drain. Catch it, slow it, sink it.

From Chaos to Cuteness

Last year some time I posted a need for fabric and sewing notions on our neighborhood yahoo group. I asked for anything folks might have left over from other projects. Some things were dropped off on our porch and I was happy. A few weeks later a neighbor contacted me to ask if a retiring teacher friend of hers could drop off a "few" items. I said, "Sure!". The teacher's husband arrived with a truck and proceeded to unpack box after box! It was great. I sorted out what we could use in our camps and donated the rest.


Well, this week we finally dove into the boxes of felt and had some fun. It was our annual 'Gift-making Camp' and the kids were ready to get to work. While trying to come up with some good ideas I stumbled upon whimsyloft.com and found the "Sock Owl" tutorial. I just showed the kids the picture of the owl and set out the materials and they ran with it!




Two owls and a cat later...


They were quite pleased with their work.


Thank you Whimsy Loft for a fun idea and thank you anonymous retired teacher for the great materials!

Tis' the Season for Persimmons

Persimmons in the Winter here are like Zucchini in the Summer here. They are everywhere and no one knows what to do with all of them. You might come home to find a bag of them mysteriously deposited on your front porch (we do!). One neighbor simply sets up a flood light aimed up at the tree from the ground just to show the beauty of the bare tree full of bright orange fruit. It is a glorious sight indeed.

I've always let them get soft and then scoop out the pulp for use in puddings, breads and pies. I pre-measure 1-2 cups and freeze it in labeled zip-loc bags for future use. It's funny, I never think to use it until the Fall or Winter. Maybe it's the warm color of it when I'm feeling cold.

Our favorite Persimmon Pudding recipe is from Bradley Ogden's Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner- Savory American Fare for Contemporary Cooks. I also simply substitute persimmon pulp for pumpkin in pie and bread recipes. I'm about to try the "Chocolate Persimmon Muffins" in my new favorite cookbook Good to the Grain- Baking with Whole-Grain Flours.



Yesterday, with a kitchen full of bowls overflowing with Fuyu Persimmons I dried my first batch in the dehydrator. I have to confess here that I am not a fan of the fruit uncooked. It's just too sweet for me. I know LOTS of folks who love to eat Fuyu's like apples and others who love to scoop out the pulp of a very ripe Hachiya. Well, I'm now a fan of the dried fruit. To me it tastes like dried Mango. Yum!

Honey Harvest 2011

We got to show the kids how we harvest honey and steward the backyard hive. We found LOTS of honey which was exciting but we did not find lots of brood (egg cells and developing bees). Each time we pulled out frames full of honey the kids would clap with excitement. More importantly, each time we did find brood cells they would cheer, "Go queen! Go queen! (clap clap) Go queen! Go queen! (clap, clap)". They get it. No brood=no future bees.


We took ten honey-filled frames from the hive and left the bees that same amount to feed them through the Winter. We plan to help them with food as well.


Uncapping the comb to prepare it for the spinner. Kids can't keep their fingers out of the cappings!


Frames in the spinner. All set to spin!


Out comes the honey. This year's harvest was 25 pounds of honey which came to 2.5 gallons! Go bees!


While we cleaned up outside the boys ran inside and grabbed some packing paper they had been playing with. They both made their own beekeeper suits!

Cross your fingers for the our bees. We'll pamper them over the Winter and report back to you in the Spring.

Seed Saving- Sunflowers

When the sunflower seeds are fully formed harvest the whole flower head. You can knock off a few flowerettes to check if it's ready for harvest.

Our resident Scrub Jay got a head start on this one! Watch the birds. They'll tell you if the seeds are ready!


Knock off all of the old flowerettes covering the mature seeds.


Then, start picking out those seeds. They are so tasty when they are fresh!


A Mammoth Sunflower gets saved for next year.