Wild Green Smoothie Powder

Chickweed (Stellaria media) is a delicate herb that grows in the cool months here on meadows and the forest floor. You can tell it from it’s tiny white star flower and from the little fuzzy mohawk that lines just one side of it’s stem. A wonderful tonic herb that is high in many vitamins and minerals Chickweed … Continue reading →

Huckleberry Cider

An active weekend was highlighted by the bottling of a 3 year old Huckleberry Cider. It tastes incredible!  This was especially exciting, because I had tasted the beverage when it was just a year old, and the bitter astringent flavors were overwhelming.  Time does wonders and now that this potent fruit has had time to … Continue reading →

Lights out

At the last darkening of the moon our household did a Fossil Fuel Fast. For many generations and among many different cultures the New Moon has been associated with fasting, so we decided to abstain from the use of fossil fuels for one day. No electricity, no propane, no petroleum. It was the beginning of an exciting opportunity to … Continue reading →

Local Grain?

♫There’s a hole in our local food system, dear Maggie, dear Maggie, there’s a hole in our local food system, Dear Maggie,  a hole. ♪…….Staple crops Perhaps the most important food group in our culture is that which is the base for most meals, grain. According to a very comprehensive study called The San Francisco Food Shed … Continue reading →

Bittersweet Honey Harvest

Although there was indeed a sweet ending to this story, it is a sad story.  Our bees have left us.  We don’t know why, nobody saw them go, but my hunch is that the queen died and so the entire colony took off.  We were all very sad, this was a strong yet mellow colony. … Continue reading →

Pizza

With sourdough crust! Continue reading →

Bread Tiles!

After firing the bread tiles in our fireplece they are ready to cook some bread. Jordan heats them directly on the coals and then stacks them alternately with small rounds of bread dough into a short tower to cook. The resulting cookie sized breads have the relief design from the tiles printed beautifully into their crust. Put … Continue reading →

A Nettle Harvest

It was gray and drizzling lightly when Maggie and I set out for the daffodil fields. Maggie, who grew up here, introduced me to this local’s secret place a couple years ago and indeed it is one of the best places to collect stinging nettles. They grow in thick green stands under in the dappled … Continue reading →

Hearth cooking

So our house, built at the turn of the last century, has an iron pot crane in the fireplace. An old relic from a time when home life did not know our modern conveniences and the daily activities of survival and sustenance centered around the hearth. Our household gathers around the fire most nights to warm … Continue reading →