wild yeast and lavender jelly

This October the Crop & Swap began its 2nd season, with over 80 swappers attending, spirits were high and produce was bountiful. Rhubarb champagne, home-baked triple choc cookies, raspberries, broad beans, oranges, lemons, home-made calico print bags, muesli, sourdough and heaps of seedlings were on show. In the lead up to the opening of season 2 we wanted to kick off the swap with a bang. As well as our regular garden produce we decided to try our hand at lavender jelly and sourdough. They were a hit!

our crop & swap produce, silver beet, broad beans,seedlings, potatoes, eggs, sourdough and lavender jelly

A few weeks ago, on an otherwise busy Thursday, I ignored the breakfast dishes with half eaten bowls of porridge, I strode over the unswept morning tea picnic left overs under the kitchen table and confidently donned my martha stewart-esqe apron, declaring to my 4 month old "mummy is making lavveeeennnndeerr jellyyyyy! That's right, you heard me, now don't interrupt, its all in the timing!"

Lavender Jelly Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup dried lavender flowers
1 50g box powdered pectin
4 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice

I successfully started the process using the lavender from our garden that I had dried out and stirred it into boiling water to get the oils and colour out of it. Then I left it to steep for some time, strained it and then added the lemon juice and pectin and continued to stir. Bringing the mixture to the boil and I then added sugar,  and when it reached a hard, 'rolling' boil, I left it for 3 mins, stirring occasionally.

The way to tell if your jam is going to set is to have a glass of iced water, place a metal spoon in it, then put it in your jam mixture and let it cool. If it is thick when cool, it is ready.

Pour your jelly mixture into prepared hot and sterilised jars.

our lavender jelly
 

I thoroughly enjoyed making lavender jelly but have to say I was disappointed with the lack of lavender colour. Other lavender jellies that I had seen were shades of lilac, deep purple and even a gorgeous pink. The initial mixture after steeping the flowers is quite greyish, it is after adding the lemon all of a sudden your greyish mix turns a brilliant .... orangey pink...not quite the purple hues I was planning.
After a little more research I have discovered that ppl sometimes put other ingredients in their lavender jelly to provide the colour, or they use a really rich long dried lavender that must retain its colour much better... either way I have a plan for making more and adding a mulberry or two next time, I figure that will do the trick, Martha and I and even bub (who did interrupt me a lot by the way, thank goodness I have mastered the art of stirring a pot, burping a baby, singing to a toddler, chatting on the phone, making vegemite sandwiches and monitoring glass jars in the oven, all at once ;)...go make some lavender jelly, you'll love it!


Chasing Wild Yeast

after our first season at the Crop & Swap, we came to know a couple who made the most amazing sour dough bread. the crust was crunchy, the inside was soft and the flavor kept us coming back for another slice. We realised that making our own sour dough was something worth doing, and so, we made our own sour dough starter.

date, caramel and coffee sour dough

Making your own Sour dough starter

Sour dough starter is used instead of regular bakers yeast to make the bread rise. It is simply  a mixture of flour, water and wild yeast. The process is very simple. mix together about 200g of flour with 300 ml of water and take it for a walk while whisking, for a couple of minutes. We took ours for a walk in the front garden to make it a truly home made sour dough starter. As you whisk the mix, wild yeast from the atmosphere settles on the mix and begins the fermentation process. As a result, every starter will be unique.

once you have finished whisking, cover the bowl with cling wrap and leave on the kitchen bench over night. By morning, you should notice some bubbles on the surface of the mix. If so, give yourself a pat on the shoulder, you've successfully started your own sour dough starter. for the following week, feed your starter with a cup of flour mixed with water each day. After a week, the yeast culture is strong enough to be used in bread making.

Each day or two, feed your starter with a cup of flour mixed with water to keep it healthy. store it at room temperature, or in the fridge if you are going on holidays... some psycho's take it with them. by the way, yes, you can pour some out when you have too much... you don't have to keep it all.



Making Sour Dough

You can make it as fancy or as simple as you like by adding other ingredients to spice up your bread.

Step 1
add 250g of flour, 350ml of water and one cup of your sourdough maker, mix, cover with cling wrap and leave overnight. Alternatively, you could make it in the morning and leave it until the afternoon.

Step 2
add 300g of flour and a teaspoon of salt. kneed the mixture for 15minutes, sprinkling flour on it as you go if its too sticky. there should be enough dough for 2 loaves. split the dough, shape it, slash the top with a very sharp knife, and leave to rest on a baking tray for an hour or more. we cover ours with a plastic bag. Somewhere warmish is best. If its freeing cold, heat some water in a pot and lay the tray on top of the pot. Just make sure its warm, rather than boiling hot.

Step 3
place in a hot oven (160 - 180 c) for about 45 minutes. to make the crust nice and crusty, place a bowl of water inside the oven also. once cooked, allow the loaves to air, so that they don't sweat.... or, just eat them hot out of the oven. deeeeelicious!

olive sour dough...mmm...mmm

So there you have it, our top secrets for lavender jelly and home-made sourdough. In our next blog we will get grubby with our composting and give the ladies (with feathers) a new chateau...

chapter 13: descent from domestic goddess to jam lunatic

I know... where on earth have we been? It seems that no amount of excuses can possibly suffice for our apparent hibernation, and no excuses will be given. All you really need to know is that we are back, and ready to talk all things jam, luna cycles and why Joe won't be eating snails afterall.

Jam
Like any good domestic goddess, I can be forgiven for toying with the idea of using my many lazy hours about the house to produce a little home made jam, as an expression of my love and appreciation for neighbours, family and of course my dear husband. With the children playing quietlty in the garden, of course, I slipped on my appron, put down my martini, and liesurely set about wipping up my very first batch of home made (organic, of course darlings) grapefruit, lemon and orange marmalade... Perhaps I'll even open up a little jam store in my spare time. I mean how hard could it be???

My goodness, I am never doing that again! After plucking 14 grapefruits, 4 oranges and 2 lemons from our trees, I set about grating off  all the rind (and part of my knuckle). Then I had to peel off the stupid white bit between the skin and the fruit, and finally cut the fruit up into cubes. TZhe citric acid from all the juice on my cut finger, made me less and less goddess like by the second, and by the time I put the diced fruit into the simmering water I was cursing and sweating like Gordon Ramsey in an Aldi's shopping line with two kids. 

Once simmering, I composed myself, added the rind, and decided to taste test the fruit of my labour. It was disgusting...and tasted more like a new form of bio-fuel than a perky marmalade should. So over a period of 2 hours I added 2 kg of sugar. It tasted much better... well it tasted edible, and I was sick of making jam by this stage.

Meanwhile I sterilized 15 jars by boiling them in water, before removing them with tongs, and lining them up in anticipation of my almost deliciously semi-edible jam.  When the time had come to spoon in my marmalade delight, I couldnt believe that it only filled five jars... actually 4 and 3/4 jars... 3 and a half stupid hours later. one for joe, one for dad, one for Joe's sister and my neighbour (because I bragged to them about how I was soon to be a Jam queen), and the 3/4 full jar I am selling on ebay. 

Never ever, will I make jam again... and if joe cant make wine from the grapefruits, I will cut the tree down myself. 

would you like to see a photo?

The Garden
On a brighter front, things are improving in the garden. We have had a successful crop of sweet potato which taste delicious and we are now the proud owners of two planted apple trees. They are both dwarf varieties, an 'Abas' (which is a universal pollinator) and a 'Jonathon'. At the moment they are three feet tall and won't bare fruit for a few more years but we have dreamy notions of one day in the future and saying to the kids, 'run along dears to the pear and apple orchard and collect some fruit...mummy thinks she might do some preserving' (I'm also thinking about planting a martini tree).

Moon Planting
We have also been looking into moon planting. Moon planting is a method whereby certain varieties of fruit or vegetables are planted in unison with the cycle of the moon. Like any sensible person I too was suspicious as soon as I saw the word lunar. Initially I expected I would have to perform midnight rituals such as howling at my broadbeans or dancing around the greenhouse whilst Venus alligned with Uranus and the neighbours quickly pulled their blinds closed...jo was terrified of the possible repercussions of yet another of my new found interests.

Thankfully, there is a rationally scientific explanation for moon planting. Throughout the lunar cycle the moon varies in its gravitational pull towards the Earth which directly effects water (e.g. the tides). During a 'waxing moon' (new moon to full moon) the gravitaional pull increases, drawing water in the soil upward, this promotes upward growth in plants. As the moon wanes (full moon to new moon) the gravitional pull also wanes, drawing more water downward towards the roots, therefore promoting root growth.

In short there are four stages in the lunar cycle. From the New moon to when the moon is half full is known as the 'first quarter'. During the first quarter plant 'leaf' vegetables (such as lettuce, cabbage and pak choy). The second quarter (from the half moon to the full moon) is the time to plant anything that fruits above the ground (such as tomatoes, pumpkins, zucchini and strawberries). The third quarter (from the full moon to the half moon) is a time to plant 'root' vegetables (potatoes, parsnips, beetroot, garlic and carrots). The forth quarter from the half moon to the new moon is a resting period, avoid planting during this time, instead mulch, prune or transplant. 

We are by no means lunar gurus but are going to give moon planting a try and see if it makes a difference to the garden.

Here is a chart of this month's moon planting:

Many thanks to all those who took part in our recent poll as to whether or not Joe should prepare snails for eating. Whilst the votes were overwhelmingly in the positive, after the recent headline news of a man contracting a rare form of meningitis after eating a slug?! for a $10 bet I have made the executive decision that no snails will be harmed in the making of this blog (except for all the ones we stomp on).

Green grubs

Last of all to all those who want to know how to get rid of the green grubs that turn into white cabbage butterflies, we have a break through. Since our last blog Joe trialled spray-on vegetable oil, normally used for cooking. Simply spray it on to your affected plants and laugh despotically. The oil suffocates the grubs...hooooheeee ha ha ha haaaaa.

Next week we attempt to install revamp and install a second hand fire place combustion heater that we purchased on ebay, before we feeze to death.