FoodShed: late hot july

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Food Shed.1

So very many things on the go on the food front these days! A quick slide show of my food adventures over the last 3 days…

I am picking like a mad woman. I collected Elderflowers on Sunday and started a batch of Elderflower syrup which should be ready by Wednesday, I have a small bundle of Saskatoon berries drying for the pantry, The cherry bag in the freezer is growing slowly: I am not sure however how many more battles with red ants I have in me.. my legs are burning and the cherry tree is covered in the buggers! I need a serious permaculture solution for this tree! * Hoping my Chickens are vigoros enough by September to run around the tree before winter.

I made Bannock last night with Beth’s Grandmother recipe and while I had to use Spelt flour and a BBQ not a open fire I was pretty excited to dig into this adventure to make great Bannock! I found a really interesting web site with over 20 bannock recipes and techniques from different bands, geography and ages. I am looking forward to trying a few out. Also looking forward to sharing my success’s with friends:)

I have given up on the thimble berries… I will add what I have into a jam of some sort but I think I‘ll leave the rest for the bears!  Speaking of bears We purchased an electic fence the other day, and I have got it all but installed… here’s to keeping the Chooks , compost ‘n bits safe in the garden and new garden shed! I have two easy recipes to share today, the first is a sloppy start to a fab martini: Watermellon fizz, and the second plum pumpkin loaf is too good for words! Our friend Ben is here for the workshop build this week and he brought with him a big bag of over ripe plums he picked on Pender Island so I needed to put them to use right away and the results were stunning!

Watermellon Fizz

You know when you have half of a watermelon left over in the fridge you just aren’t really interested in eating? Well I was in this position and wanted to make use of it, so I got out the immersion blender and dug in. created a huge mess along with a thick watermelon slurry which I screened to a bright beautiful liquid.( the left over pulp is freezing in popsicle form right now). From half of a medium sized watermelon I got about 5 cups of juice which I added to half a liter of soda water along with about 2 tbsp lemon juice. Chill ‘til frothy cold and mix up your favorite girlie drink!

Sugar Plum Pumpkin Seed Loaf

Combined wet:

3/4 cup butter

1/2 cup oil

2 large eggs

1.5 cups of course cane or brown sugar

a big splash each of vanilla and grand marnier

Blend dry:

1.5 cups of spelt flour (your could use whole wheat * I plan to try buckwheat next time)

1.5 tsp baking powder

pinch salt

pinch cinnamon

1/2 cup of pumpkin seeds

Bring everything together in large bowl and add 1 cup of pitted diced very ripe plums.

Grease 1 large loaf pan, and pour batter into pan and top loaf with a sprinkle of course sugar, cinnamon and some seeds!

Bake 350º for 50-60 minutes.

fresh direction for SOLE food

Excerpt from rbrand building blog…

“I have also decided to amend my cooking with S.O.L.E blog: while living in the city, seeking out Sustainable, Organic, Local and Ethical Food could be quite a challenge, and cooking with found treasures, while meeting sustainable farmers was really enjoyable, but now that I am living as part of a food system that is so strongly founded in my ethics of eating I am going to shift my blog focus to my adventures in harvesting and preserving and preparing the bounty of my local Food Shed. The blog will be renamed FOOD SHED (in Kootenay time), and I can’t wait to get cooking, fermenting, drying, canning, cold cellaring and over wintering my bounty and sharing my trails and successes.

The garden is EXPLODING which is wonderful, I am still fearful I have not planted enough food, but I feel this way every year, and this garden is by FAR the largest under my belt. I am trying to follow a new mantra these days to do one thing daily which adds to our food shed. Inspired by the novel Independence Days by Sharon Astyk “ a guide to sustainable food storage and preservation” where I will attempt to do one of these things each day: Plant Something, Harest Something, Preserve Something, Minimize Waste , Waste Not, Cook Something New, Manage my Reserves, Work on my Local Food System. And I will add out of my own permaculture ethic BUILD SOIL to this list. Some of these things (especially the later half) I already strive for most days, or on any given opportunity… but planting and harvesting and preserving are my current challenges. Newly inspired by this great read Mia and I starting harvest huge bushels of Mint from our bog, which we have since dried and jarred. We will do more tomorrow along with picking thimble berries starting to splatter the hillside. I have a “Build Solar Dryer” on Dylan’s “TO BUILD” list but it is soooo long these days I am going to keep small batching things with what I can dry inside right now… which might mean frozen berries for a while.”