Green

Ah, St. Patrick's Day in Savannah. Half a million people flock downtown for the parade, fountains and beer are dyed green, endless porta-potties are brought into the city, and people fill the squares and bars with drunkenness all day. That's not really my style, so other years I've left the state. But this year, I went really green. The greenest I've ever gotten. No, I didn't join in with the River Street festivities, I prepped a garden plot and started a compost pile at my friend Erin's house! And this isn't just any garden, it follows the method of GROW BIOINTENSIVE® Sustainable Mini-Farming. It's a super-cool method that I won't go into details about here, but you should really check it out if you're interested in growing your own food. We prepped a 100 square foot bed in which we will grow cucumbers, pumpkins, peppers, basil, tomatoes, zinnias, zucchini, potatoes, onions, radishes, carrots, cabbage, beets, broccoli, peas, lettuce, bush beans, corn, chard, asparagus, and herbs . . . the first year. Then every subsequent year you add beds and crops until someday, you get to this:

 

According to this method, all food, clothing, and building materials for one person can be grown on 9000 square feet (or about 1/5 of an acre). Amazing. I'm so excited to have the opportunity to grow at my friend's house, but I really can't wait to have my own land!


The other thing that's awesome about this garden is that it's such a great way to build a stronger relationship with my friend Erin, who I really, really admire. She has such a beautiful relationship with God and is an amazing wife and mother. She's right up there on the admiration scale with my mentor, Gina, who is the most awesome woman I know.

Stay tuned for garden updates and photos if I ever get my camera working again.

Hello March!

How is it March 9 already? There is so much life to live every single day that the weeks and months just fly by! I'm really not sure what happened to February, or even what happened in February, but March is full of the promise of spring. It has been absolutely beautiful here. Temperatures in the mid-60s to high 70s and bright blue sunny skies. It's open windows kind of weather - my favorite. The azaleas are already starting to bloom, and I am behind in getting my gardens going at my two friends' houses! But more on that later; I should wrap up with things left undone from other posts . . .

I left off in the last post talking about bread, and on Sunday I successfully baked my first batch of whole wheat sourdough bread! It has great flavor, but the loaf is too dense and didn't rise enough. Not bad for my first loaf ever though. My favorite way to eat it so far is with a little honey drizzled on top. (I get the most amazing raw and local honey from some friends of mine. It's completely raw and unfiltered. Sooooo good.) I still feel pretty lost working with a starter and kneading the dough and just the whole process, so I got Nancy Silverton's Breads from the La Brea Bakery to assist me in this new bread making venture.

Let me tell you, Ms Silverton loves her bread, and you will too if you read this book. I'm going to try another loaf soon with some things I've already learned from the book, so expect more updates. If I ever figure our what's wrong with my camera you can expect some pictures too.

I also finished my review of the YU Test Drive™! The eBook is out now, and I seriously can't recommend it highly enough. (Some of my quotes from my review are on the YumUniverse blog!) Every single recipe was outstanding and I couldn't stop eating all the amazing food I was making. (Although that's not very shocking though to those of you who know me well.) It's only $13.95 and totally worth it in my opinion. As amazing as the Test Drive was, the reason I'm most excited about being a part of it and want everyone I know to buy it is that Heather Crosby, the founder of YumUniverse, is super cool. She is encouraging, positive, and enthusiastic about what she does, and I like to support people like that! I really enjoyed all of my interactions with her as I was testing the Test Drive.

Well, poor Clint isn't feeling well after I was sick-ish for 2.5 weeks and passed it on to him, and after working himself almost to death on this amazing video. He is so talented and amazing, and I'm so proud of the great work he does! Seriously watch it. It's well worth your time.

Bring on the Bread

Who doesn't love some warm, freshly baked bread straight out of the oven? Oh yum. Add some herbed dipping oil, and I'm done for, and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one. But I know what you're thinking: "All those carbs!" or maybe, "All that gluten!" Bread has gotten such a bad reputation in our modern society. What used to be considered the staff of life is now looked at as pure evil. Hmmmm. Something doesn't seem quite right about that. Well that's because it's not. The problem is not with bread in and of itself; the problem is with our modern version of bread. (Big surprise.) Today's wheat has actually been altered to contain more gluten (the protein matrix in wheat and other grains that so many people are intolerant to) than it used to, and many bakers then add even more to their dough. This is not a good combination for people with gluten intolerance or celiac disease. On top of the excess of gluten in most breads, we're all confused in the yeast department too. In traditional breadmaking, dough is typically left to rise for at least 12 hours. During this time, wild yeasts from the air get added to the dough and make themselves at home. Lactobacilli from the air also settle themselves in. These wild yeasts and lactobacilli work symbiotically, the lactobacilli utilizing maltose, which yeasts are unable to use. In today's bread, bakers yeast is used, which is not one of the natural yeasts that have traditionally been used for baking, and it is not a whole food. Plus, breads are no longer allowed to rise for long periods of time, preventing the wild yeasts and lactobacilli from making their way into the dough. Without the lactobacilli, there is no protection from harmful bacteria, and all this extra yeast is bad news for the consumer. Some of it can survive the baking process and then make its way into the gut. Too much yeast in the gut weakens the immune system, increases intestinal permeability, and can cause headaches, digestive disorders, and depression. So you see, all of the problems we associate with bread are actually due to quick, convenience bread - the modern bread - not to artisan breads, which is where I come in :)

I'm happy to report that I am the proud new owner of a cast iron bread pan and a sourdough starter. As soon as I can get my hands on some freshly ground whole wheat flour, the artisan bread experimenting will begin! I'll begin with wheat as a starting point, but who knows where it will lead? I would love to experiment will all different types of grains and even try my hand at sprouted grain breads. Other than the deliciousness that's about to ensue, I'm also excited to have a few more live critters (the sourdough culture) around the apartment. I recently revived my kefir grains after their long hiatus in the freezer, and I'm trying to be more intentional about regularly feeding my composting worms too :)  Stay tuned for the bread updates. The first step will be to activate the dehydrated sourdough starter I received . . .