Editor’s Note: FSC Community Voices Contributor, Gina M, a local blogger at ModSchooler and a guest contributor at Albany Kid, is back with another doozie of a post: Homemade Veggie Bouillion. Its getting food preservation serious up in here! Her first post, No-Fuss Slow Cooker Beans is also terrific, perfect for the summertime no-heat kitchen!…
Category: DIY
{communty sharecropping} A Homemade Wheat Thresher
We have been growing wheat for three or four years in our community sharecropping plots. Wheat is not hard to grow and not all that hard to harvest although there are some pitfalls. The hard part is removing the teeny wheat berries from the inedible straw and glumes that surround them, which is called threshing. …
{backyard-to-kitchen-poultry} Spatchcock Chicken
As you might already know, we raise backyard chickens in order to have fresh eggs and because, quite frankly, I enjoy having chickens in the yard. Its also old news that most of the poultry we consume comes from birds we’ve raised ourselves, including chickens, turkeys and surplus roosters which are quite tasty when made…
{community voices} No-Fuss Slow Cooker Beans
Editor’s Note: One month ago today, Gina M, a local blogger at ModSchooler and a guest contributor at Albany Kid, mentioned the idea of cooking dried beans in a crockpot in a comment. She mentioned it in response to Alexis’ wildly popular piece about White Bean Burgers. The moment I saw the comment I JUMPED.RIGHT.IN….
{Northeast Grains System} wheat in the ‘hood
Now that the wheat we planted really looks like it might become food, I’m beginning to dread its harvest. I feel like the Little Red Hen’s friend, ready to hide until there’s dinner. Even though I’m the one who convinced my family we should plant our new lot – behind our house in the city…
{gardening} The Busy Person’s Guide to Starting a Perfectly Fine Garden
I love to garden. Maybe you do too. I love to do lots and lots of things. So many things, in fact, that I am too busy to allocate as much time to my garden as I would like. If only I had an extra 2 hours a day… that would make things so much…
{weekend project} Violet Jelly
O wind, where have you been, That you blow so sweet? Among the violets Which blossom at your feet – Christina (Georgina) Rossetti This Spring, I discovered that many of the “weeds” that grow in my yard are edible! This is exciting if, like me, you enjoy foraging for food and, come springtime, are…
{weekend project} DIY Soda Syrup
As spring gets underway and summer looms closer, popsicles, cool salads and fruity cocktails are on my mind. This weekend is Cinco de Mayo, which also happens to fall on Kentucky Derby day – both cause for celebrations in my family! Because I won’t be enjoying any margaritas or cervezas this year with baby #3…
{diy confessions} Baking Bread
Editor’s Note: I have the unbelievably cool job today of introducing a very special guest contributor, Greg Dahlmann, the Co-Founder & Co-Editor of the Capital Region’s best news website/blog All Over Albany (AoA for short). Greg and his partner-in-crime, Mary, have created a one-stop resource for all things- Capital Region. During a recent business coffee…
{diy exercise} Of Dog Trotting and Stand Up Desks
I have a very scary birthday coming up next year. When I think about my birthday, I am reminded of the Frederick Nietzche quote, “And when you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.” The only good things about this birthday are that I am not dead yet and that it…
{weekend project} Dehydrator Yogurt
$1.00 per small container of greek yogurt seems like a good deal until you learn how easy and cheap it is make your own. Last year my husband and I purchased a 9-tray dehydrator. It’s a thing of beauty in our eyes. My husband noticed the yogurt setting on the dehydrator and that was the…
{announcing} FSC Academy
Home Dairy…. Jams, Jellies & Preserves… Fermenting… Bacon Curing… Water Bath Canning… Bread making 1, 2, 3, 4… The Art of Tarts… Home & Body Sampler… Summertime Condiments… Food Preservation 101… Seasonal Soups… Home Brew… Baby Food… Ohhhh am I so excited to share this wonderful news! After a long organizational process, FSC is ready…
{Kitchen Basics 101} from veggie scraps to stock
Making vegetable stock is so easy, yet I’m guessing that not all of you have homemade stock on hand. By the time I remember to make some stock, I only have half an onion or a single celery stalk to work with and something about buying a whole basket of fresh veggies just to boil…
{the honeybee saga} Let Me Start at the Beginning…
Today I went out to the farm where I will be keeping my bees this year. I went out there to get milk but happened to see the owner working outside so we chatted for a bit. We discussed how as soon as the weather looks like it’s going to stay nice, I’m bringing my…
{photo diary} A Temporary Fireplace for Making Maple Syrup
My last post about syruping included a few photos of the cinder block fireplace we built in 2011 for boiling down the sap that we collect from maple trees in our neighborhood. When we built our current fireplace a week later, I took more extensive photos. We changed our fireplace a little this year; we…
