SufficientSelf

Whilst I wait for the revolution, I’ve been busy… Learning how to live within my means and by my own hand.After some economic disasters–job loss, foreclosure, another job loss, crippling surgery, job loss–and watching our government turn it’s back on below 30K-a-year workers, I was worried about security. Real security. Not just “money” but the basics. Shelter, food, water, air conditioning.

Thanks to a death in the family and a small bequest, we were able to purchase two and a half acres with a mostly delapidated 25 year old mobile home. Paid cash, and settled down. I started with a small herb garden. Then added a small vegetable garden. Both were planted at the wrong time, in the wrong place in poor soil. But I had fresh parsley, oregano, chives and more for a short season. Only the chives still live, much to my surprise. Planted too many radishes. Found out the French eat them sauteed in butter.

The squirrels got the corn. One little squirrel, pulled up an entire stalk, sat on my fence post and peeled back a cob, stared right at me and nibbled away like a six-year-old on a summer day. I think he wanted to know why I hadn’t provided salt, pepper, and butter.

During winter I find myself a little lost. The garden is covered in snow, the farmer’s market is finished. Our chickens and goats are bored, sure that there should be more for them to do this time of year. Inside, my husband is keeping us cozy with lots of wood in the woodstove. I can’t help but turn on every light I can to battle the winter blues. There are projects that we should be doing during the winter months, but sometimes a little fun is needed. We have found a few indoor projects to entertain ourselves, thus far our favorites have involved culturing various things. It’s the lazy person’s winter entertainment! You take a basic ingredient like milk or water, add some powder or starter culture, keep the mixture warm while you sleep and BAM! You’ve got a wonderful edible product.
We started with a Mr Beer kit, which can be purchased at Target, or off of Amazon. It comes with a barrel about the size of a large fat cat, that is shaped exactly like those root beer candies. In our kit was a set of plastic bottles, beer mixes, a sterilizing powder and a couple other things. I myself don’t enjoy beer all that much, but I like making it! It’s been fun to tend to it. You just follow the directions to brew in the barrel, then once the brewing is finished, you bottle it and let it sit a little while longer. We plan to give some of our home brew as gifts for the holiday season. I enjoy projects that take little time, lots of waiting (while I read and sleep), and only a bit of effort for a great return. Australian beers are delicious, and a company called Coopers, out of Australia, makes wonderful home brew kits. The Mr Beer fits only a third the content of each can that come from Coopers, so we divide the ingredients, and get three batches out of every Coopers kit, all ordered off of Amazon. There is a wonderful home brew supply store online at www.homebrewsupply.com. They also have some fun kits for making your own wine.
Another thing we have been playing around with is to make our own yogurt. There are many different recipes on the web, using the stove, crockpots, thermos’, and more. I used Stoneyfield Farms yogurt as a starter, because it seems to start so well. I was afraid my yogurt might be like something I tasted with relatives in Scandinavia, a slimy chewy concoction that translated to “the mother of yogurt”. My texture conscious sister gagged at it. Our homemade tasted great, although a little loose in texture, almost like kefir. We flavor ours with a teaspoon or two of jam. All kinds of jam taste great in it, try fun ones like passion fruit or just your average mixed berry. The texture of homeade yogurt makes it perfect for a smoothie. I found a used yogurt maker at Goodwill, and it fits a quart sized glass or plastic container. To thicken my yogurt I like to hang it in a cheesecloth. My favorite website to order yogurt cultures from is www. cheesemaking.com . While you are there, check out their 30 minute mozzerella. You’ll impress your relatives when they find you stretching a rope of mozzerella like taffy, that took you less time than baking a batch of cookies. Make sure that you don’t use ultrapasteurized milk, because it will not work to make your cheeses. I try to use only pasteurized milk for my yogurt as well, but I am not sure if it makes a difference or not. Grab a partner and experiment!