What did you do in the garden today?

[Liz Birdlover]

Is this a typical summer temperature? Somehow I thought it wasn't that hot there.

We get this hot usually the End of July & into August. Every year the annual State Fair is held last week of July & I always say, who's bright idea was it to hold a fair, with many parts set up on asphalt, the hottest freaking week of the year? I'd never subject my animals to that. But yeah, I don't think we've EVER had a June this hot & dry before.

 

[Eagle343]

We also were gifted a bee hive ! I’m still in learning phase- won’t get bees till next year

Yes, do your due diligence in learning. While beekeeping can be fun, relaxing, and dare I say relaxing (I'm a bit different) if you are not ready for them you will have an increase chance for having a bad time.

 

[cj2024]

I run the convection for the first 10 minutes only.

I am using the pizza setting with the rack at the lowest possible position with a pizza stone.

 

[cj2024]

Now I’m really curious. I baked cookies, small cakes, and biscuits in the counter top ovens, but I never thought to do a loaf of bread in it. I may be making bread tomorrow because I can’t deal with the store bought crap any longer. I usually bake my sourdough bread in loaf pans since I mainly use it for breakfast toast. I may bake one in the countertop oven and one in the regular oven and see how they compare.

It's so much fun and kind of easy...........I am using a 450g or 3.25 leveled cup of flour, 100g or 1/2 cup starter, tsp salt and 300 gram or 1.25 cup of water recipe.

The dough on a 500g flour recipe gets a little too close to the top of my Breville smart oven when it rises.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

It's so much fun and kind of easy...........I am using a 450g or 3.25 leveled cup of flour, 100g or 1/2 cup starter, tsp salt and 300 gram or 1.25 cup of water recipe.

The dough on a 500g flour recipe gets a little too close to the top of my Breville smart oven when it rises.

The sourdough recipe I have been using can make one large loaf but I make two loaves in pyrex loaf pans. I can use Pyrex in my Ninja oven. These loaves don’t get all that high but I can use a bit of aluminum foil as a cap to protect it. I bake sourdough because it’s a healthier bread. Very low on the glycemic scale so it’s a good choice for diabetics. I don’t do fancy, I’m only trying to make a healthy and tasty breakfast / sandwich bread.

 

[Happy hen lover]

I went to town to get all flock and my Orchelns is changing over to Boomgars and they had veggie plants at 75% off!! Oh yeah chicken/ plant math took over. I bought dill, oregano, thyme, lemon grass, Cherokee purple, mortgage lifter, and sweet potato vine. For .69 cents!!! Bonus bonus. . It's hot and I've been mostly just trying to keep all garden watered and alive! My cukes are loving heat I've been threading them through the trellises I have for them, even saw some blooms on a few. My radishes all bolted and kohlrabi got eaten down to sticks by something. ! Those were sent to processing plant aka chickens . Thinned out some beets also sent to processing plant. Jicama did not come up but so far squash plants are looking good . Planted delicata, Patty pan, and carnival yellow zucchini, and crookneck.

 

[Liz Birdlover]

The sourdough recipe I have been using can make one large loaf but I make two loaves in pyrex loaf pans. I can use Pyrex in my Ninja oven. These loaves don’t get all that high but I can use a bit of aluminum foil as a cap to protect it. I bake sourdough because it’s a healthier bread. Very low on the glycemic scale so it’s a good choice for diabetics. I don’t do fancy, I’m only trying to make a healthy and tasty breakfast / sandwich bread.

I love sourdough bread, but also like dark rye. Is Rye OK for diabetics? Just wondering

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

I love sourdough bread, but also like dark rye. Is Rye OK for diabetics? Just wondering

The reason sourdough bread is good for diabetics is because it is low on the glycemic scale. Sourdough rye bread would also be considered because the reason it’s a low glycemic bread is because the sourdough starter is fermented. Fermentation converts the “sugars” into a healthier form.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

I need to clarify apparently. Sourdough rye is not the same as regular rye bread. There is light rye, dark rye, and pumpernickel rye. On a side from this there’s also marble rye. Regular dark rye bread calls for brown sugar and molasses. That’s too much sugar. However, making it a sourdough version would be healthier.

 

[Sally PB]

Sorry, so many pages behind and so many things to respond to...

Mark your next email from Temu as "spam". That should take care of it.

That's it! My hubby told me the same thing, since unsubscribing didn't work. Thank you.

We also were gifted a bee hive ! I’m still in learning phase- won’t get bees till next year

As Eagle 343 says, learn all you can. Get a book to read. Look online. We've had bees for a year, and while we have learned A LOT, we have barely scratched the surface.

Is there a beekeeper's club near you? Join and go to meetings. Do you know someone who has bees? Offer to help them. Being an extra pair of hands really is a big help.

Start getting the rest of the gear you'll need now; don't wait until you have a package of bees to find out you don't have something essential, like a hive tool or a bee brush. Some of the stuff isn't cheap, but some things are only $10-20.

Get a good quality bee jacket or suit. That's something I wouldn't skimp on. I feel "safe" in my jacket, and that helps keep me calm when bees are flying around. Yeah, I'm still a bit nervous around them.

Pulled one, just to see if it was ready. First time growing garlic. Do they need more time?
Also - I cut off the stem because I will be mincing and freeze drying the garlic - no need to cure.

I've dug a couple and I think they're ready. I'm going to give them a bit longer, just because I need to get out my drying racks and set them up.

One way to see if they're "done" is to open up the bulb into individual cloves. My understanding is that the bulb separates into cloves later in the growing season.

We had a fresh clove in tonight's spaghetti sauce.

Yes, do your due diligence in learning. While beekeeping can be fun, relaxing, and dare I say relaxing (I'm a bit different) if you are not ready for them you will have an increase chance for having a bad time.