How to Make Sauerkraut: The Basics

You'll need a bowl, knife, cutting board,
 cabbage and sea salt

I've been making sauerkraut for about two years now. I remember the first couple of times being really nervous about fermenting anything—I didn't trust the process. It just didn't sound safe. After reading about the nutritional benefits of raw sauerkraut in Autoimmune Disease: The Cause and The Cure, I found that buying raw kraut in the store was about $8 a pint. I could make almost two quarts for approximately $5! So,

Polyface Farms, Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund and the Future of Farming

A few short weeks ago I won a raffle. It was the first time in my life that I'd won something. The raffle was for a trip to Staunton, Virginia for the Farm to Table Legal Defense Fund's annual Food Freedom Fest. Included in the activities were dinner with bloggers Jenny McGruther from Nourished Kitchen and Sarah Pope from the Healthy Home Economist, a full day of speakers explaining the Defense Fund's cases and a full day's tour of Joel Salatin's Polyface Farms.

Thursday Dinner with the Bloggers


Thursday night's dinner at Zonodoa with Sarah and Jenny was a real treat. It was so thrilling to meet two very well-known and successful bloggers that spoke my language! We talked a little about

Easiest No Knead Sourdough Bread Ever!

This is the easiest—and best—bread I've EVER made. Seriously.

I've been experimenting with sourdough (no added yeast) bread for about a year now. I tried the "no-knead covered casserole" method before, without terribly exciting results. In my previous post, I wrote about the two day method I've been using to make two loaves of bread-pan sandwich style bread. I've been happy with the results but

Making sourdough bread without added yeast

I recently had a few people ask me how I make my sourdough bread, so thought I'd just post about it and then just send them here to read it. That's one way to get some traffic to my blog!

Before I get started, please know that I AM NOT A SOURDOUGH EXPERT. I'm sure there are plenty of web sites that share everything there is to know about sourdough. Cultures for Health is the first that comes to my mind. I am only reporting my own personal experiences here. So, here goes...

Almost 25 years ago I had bought some starter from Jedediah's in Jackson Hole. I didn't realize you had to keep feeding it and it died pretty quickly. Over the years I've tried to make my own starter from

When life gives you too much lemon balm…

I think it was 15 years ago that I had an herb garden where my chicken run now stands. At that time I planted a small cutting of lemon balm. I didn't know what to do with the stuff, I just thought it looked pretty and smelled wonderful — lemony but more like lemon grass than actual lemons. Every time I walked by the plant and disturbed the air around it, the rich lemony scent would fill the air.

Since then, I've found the stuff is as invasive as mint. It looks a lot like mint. It's actually in the mint family and when people visit my garden they always mistake it for peppermint. Lemon balm is also called Lemon Mint. Pests don't seem to like it one bit, it doesn't seem to need much water and it SPREADS. 

Lemon Balm is supposed to have calming properties, helps with insomnia, stress, digestive issues, colic in babies, menstrual pain, headache, toothache, Alzheimer's… you name it. Apparently it will fix anything that ails you! I'm always in favor of natural calming remedies and decided to try making teas with my plants.

For cold tea, I just take a bunch of the leaves, stem and all (about 2 cups, rinsed first of course), smoosh them into a ball and put that in a heat-proof container. Then I boil a kettle full of filtered water, pour the boiling water over the leaves and let it steep. If the leaves float to the top of the water, I put an upright stainless steel spoon on top of the ball of leaves and use it to weight them down. You can pull the wad of leaves out when the water cools down and use the tea right away or store in the fridge. It will keep for a couple of days. I love pouring this tea over a glass filled with ice cubes and a few drops of Stevia liquid.

The hot tea almost tastes even better! Again I take some leaves, a generous tablespoon-sized wad, and put it in a mug. I add boiling water, let it steep for about 4 minutes and end up with a rich, fragrant, lemony hot drink. Very soothing and delicious! 

You could also add mint to the lemon balm for lemon-mint teas.

As my garden overfloweth with Lemon Balm, I'm thrilled to know how beneficial a plant it is. I'd just love to be able to give some away...