Minus Photos at the Moment, sorry my one reader. :)
I've got broccoli and lettuce that is doing great! I got a 4 pk of starters for 1.50 each, planted about 4 weeks ago, fertilized a few days ago and they are doing great! The weather has started to cool finally and the 40degree nights are great for these guys. The lettuce is slow growing but I just fertilized it yesterday, and I keep picking the lower leaves for salads and tacos. Buttercrunch is good.
However there's these horrible bugs that ATE my catnip and now they are getting on my plants. I unfortunately sprayed the broc because it doesn't have the heads yet. But the lettuce I don't feel comfortable spraying since I eat it right off the plant... I know I can wash it but I just feel like it sinks in... So I go out and flick em off the plant here and there.
The bugs fly and are square-ish in shape, with a hard shell. They look like itty bitty dark chicklits~ that weird square gum in vending machines, except slightly smaller on one side. WHAT ARE THEY!? I don't know but they KILLED the catnip. I harvested what I could, but goodbye yummy friend until next year!
Also got some mint growing inside because i wanted a lovely green, good smelling plant that grows "readily indoors." So it was doing great and then it started dying, and then I noticed leaves were getting MUNCHED. A big fat green caterpillar ate my plant. It had some green shoots, so I repotted it, and set it by the window. Low and behold, leaves are growing back quickly.
Carrots~ I started them months ago, I don't even remember when. And what small little things they still are. I did a good thinning out and fertilized. Maybe that will get them growing good. The little ones I pulled were white little taproots that smelled like carrot! they should go through the winter Ok if I cover them in extreme cold (which is not often here in the deep south) and should have nice spring carrots.
I now know that I need to start my seedlings EARLY and get them outside ASAP because an early crop is essential, before the temps start staying above 100 degrees.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Rice Vinegar easily made at home
I've been interested in making vinegars lately. Not the cheap white vinegar, but vinegars more suitable for marinades and dressings. My boyfriend makes home made red wine and once this batch is done I will be making red wine vinegar.
But until then I am experimenting with Rice Vinegar. Not to be confused with Rice Wine Vinegar, simple Rice vinegar is made with just rice, water, sugar, and yeast.
I searched around online for recipes and some were varying. So I went for the middle ground, but also did some things a bit different.
I soaked the rice for 12 hours or so, in the fridge, covered.
Then I strained the rice out with cloth, and measured the murky water that resulted. I had close to 3 cups, so I added a bit of water to get exactly at 3.
Then I put it in a pot with 3/4 C sugar per 1 C water. Stir til sugar dissolves completely.
Cooked it 20 minutes over a double boiler~ one pot sitting on top another slightly smaller pot of boiling water is what I use, some people might actually have a double boiler, but I really don't know what that is.
Then I let it cool, but I let it cool for 8 hours because I left the house and didn't come back until later. My mixture was now at something like 4 cups because of the added sugar.
I added 1/4 TBS (almost 1 tsp) of yeast to the mixture and stirred well. Poured in a glass jar with a coffee filter on top secured with rubber band, the yeast can ferment the rice syrup and breath and release gas. Yuck! I set it in my closet in my house on a top shelf, since "heat rises"- even though my apartment is a steady 68degrees...
Going to bed I wondered if I should have heated the rice mixture a bit so it was warm to activate the yeast... So when I made green tea with breakfast this morning I set my glass jar close to the burner. Then with gloved hands I held if over the steal with the bottle just in the water, only for 30 seconds or so. If it gets too hot it will kill the yeast. I did that twice, with a break in between and set the container close to the burner after.
It appeared to work~ now there were little bubbles all in the container, whereas before there were just a few near the top. My Yeast is aliiiiive! It's Alliiivvee!
Happy Halloween
But until then I am experimenting with Rice Vinegar. Not to be confused with Rice Wine Vinegar, simple Rice vinegar is made with just rice, water, sugar, and yeast.
I searched around online for recipes and some were varying. So I went for the middle ground, but also did some things a bit different.
I soaked the rice for 12 hours or so, in the fridge, covered.
Then I strained the rice out with cloth, and measured the murky water that resulted. I had close to 3 cups, so I added a bit of water to get exactly at 3.
Then I put it in a pot with 3/4 C sugar per 1 C water. Stir til sugar dissolves completely.
Cooked it 20 minutes over a double boiler~ one pot sitting on top another slightly smaller pot of boiling water is what I use, some people might actually have a double boiler, but I really don't know what that is.
Then I let it cool, but I let it cool for 8 hours because I left the house and didn't come back until later. My mixture was now at something like 4 cups because of the added sugar.
I added 1/4 TBS (almost 1 tsp) of yeast to the mixture and stirred well. Poured in a glass jar with a coffee filter on top secured with rubber band, the yeast can ferment the rice syrup and breath and release gas. Yuck! I set it in my closet in my house on a top shelf, since "heat rises"- even though my apartment is a steady 68degrees...
Going to bed I wondered if I should have heated the rice mixture a bit so it was warm to activate the yeast... So when I made green tea with breakfast this morning I set my glass jar close to the burner. Then with gloved hands I held if over the steal with the bottle just in the water, only for 30 seconds or so. If it gets too hot it will kill the yeast. I did that twice, with a break in between and set the container close to the burner after.
It appeared to work~ now there were little bubbles all in the container, whereas before there were just a few near the top. My Yeast is aliiiiive! It's Alliiivvee!
Happy Halloween
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