What did you do in the garden today?

[WilderSkye]

Watering in my happy place. Mowing is on the docket for the day. We gotta relocate the garden next year. The trees have taken off last two years and shading it now.


This was a barren wasteland of goatheads and weeds 9 yrs ago. We have since planted over 75 trees and erradicted 98% of the goatheads. Everything done with sweat equity and on the cheap. I can now walk barefoot pretty much across the place.

 

[jerryse]

Stayed inside. Made bread and not impressed. Gooey sticky mess. CRUST is very tough. Lots to learn. I followed the recipe exactly.

 

[WilderSkye]

Stayed inside. Made bread and not impressed. Gooey sticky mess. CRUST is very tough. Lots to learn. I followed the recipe exactly.

There are so many nuances to bread making. Humidity can be a big factor. Don't worry and keep at it. Youtube has a gazillion people you can watch.

I assume you were doing yeast bread? It sounds like it baked too high and dried out leaving center raw. Or you thought it was done and pulled it too soon. Also, if I am baking without a lid on the bread (I generally use a pullman loaf pan). I cover it about halfway with a tented sheet of foil. Sugar in yeast breads tend to caramelize and over brown fast. With the lid I will bake halfway and then cover with on some recipes but others I will put lid first and bake open next. It depends on how high it has risen. Now that I am dealing with spelt, einkorn, and kamut it gets tricky as they act differently in how they absorb water and how long it takes. But you are most likely using regular flour, so you won't need to deal with that.

I baked sourdough for years and realized for all the work and heating up the oven to 500 deg, it just didn't have much flavor and wasn't worth that effort.

Also, I have a $9 digital thermometer I got off the "river of endless items" site, and that is a godsend. No more guessing when it is done. 190 deg on all breads and we are there.

Don't give up!

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Red Russian kale looks like that

I did more looking and did find some pictures of baby curly kale. It just threw me because it’s not developing anything like the other vates curly kale that I’ve planted. The purple stems made me a little wary because I’ve never seen that on kale before. Apparently the really cold hardy varieties cannot tolerate hot temperatures. The curly kale is my favorite and I ran out of the regular seeds I use. The 3 foot row I planted in early Spring has been producing through several heatwaves.

 

[Rick589]

Stayed inside. Made bread and not impressed. Gooey sticky mess. CRUST is very tough. Lots to learn. I followed the recipe exactly.

If you’re interested I have a great amish white bread recipe that I’ve been baking and freezing for quite sometime.

 

[ShrekDawg]

TSC has the middle sized ones for around $2800 sometimes. Of course, that doesn't include the add ons that you really want to have with it. And they aren't cheap to run. Or quiet, I think.

Oh wow. I’ve seen them for less than $100 many places to up to around $150-$200 or $300 for the better ones. Never seen anywhere near thousands LOL must be a commercial one maybe or something. The Clubhouse recently bought one and idk exactly how much we paid but I think it was less than $200 and it’s a good one too.

 

[OnlySympathy]

Oh wow. I’ve seen them for less than $100 many places to up to around $150-$200 or $300 for the better ones. Never seen anywhere near thousands LOL must be a commercial one maybe or something. The Clubhouse recently bought one and idk exactly how much we paid but I think it was less than $200 and it’s a good one too.

A freeze drier not a dehydrator?

 

[OnlySympathy]

Ripped out another one of my bean grow bags that were done. So now I have another 5 gallon grow bag that I don’t know what to do with

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Not wanting to work outside yet or at all. You enablers have me wanting to make bread. Anyone willing to share recipes?

Before you get inundated with recipes, if you happen to have a copy of the Joy of Cooking there are some really good recipes in that book. Baking bread in reality is not all that difficult and gets better with practice. The first bread I baked was a simple white bread. The Old Farmers Almanac website has a wonderful Farmers white sandwich bread that is easy to follow and produces flavorful white sandwich bread (3 loaves of it) If you want specific recipes let me know. I have a recipe for German brotchen that is easy and great for beginner bakers.

 

[Smokerbill]

I picked four more pickling cucumbers this morning, 3 to 4 inches long. I now have 7 total in the fridge which is probably enough to try making my first batch of garlic dill pickles. Not to can, but to make and keep in the fridge for eating in a few weeks.



My fall red Russian kale seedlings. See the red stems?

And collards, and cabbages.