Fermentation Update–Filmjölk

...so on. Now, as a thoroughly industrialized people, it does go against the grain to leave dairy products just sitting around at room temperature. But power to the people, it works! The next day we had a jar full of kind of chunky, yogurty stuff, which was not rancid, but really quiet tasty. We shook it up to remove the lumps before drinking it. We must confess that only one of us partook of that first glass, since our other Homegrown Revolution co...

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Saturday Tweets: From Archery to Jaywalking

...8sM2RcL6lk — Root Simple (@rootsimple) January 22, 2015 Process (Five Year Grain Program) http://t.co/aD8DC5d8ur via @BellegardeNola — Root Simple (@rootsimple) January 21, 2015 5 reasons that Fake grass is so Dead http://t.co/koX2q1nb5h — Root Simple (@rootsimple) January 21, 2015 True impact of settlers on erosion rates in North America revealed http://t.co/wlsoY65EUU — Root Simple (@rootsimple) January 21, 2015 Methinks we’re in a bubble: Cryst...

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Everything Must Go: Tidying Up at the Root Simple Compound

...have a way of piling up over the years, especially when you’re a maker/DIY/homesteady sort of household. As a result, our house was bursting at the seams. Trying to find a place for everything was becoming a Sisyphean task, reminding of nothing so much as playing with those seriously un-fun tile games which children used to get in goodie bags–I dearly hope they’ve become obsolete by now–those little plastic grids of moveable tiles with only one op...

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Rip-sawing by hand

...ace of clamps when rip-sawing (cutting a piece of wood lengthwise with the grain). Some other pointers: The angle at which the saw is held is of importance . . . A common mistake is to “lay” the saw: that is, to bring it too much into the horizontal, and this is especially the case when learning to follow the pencil lines with the saw. It is a habit which the beginner should get out of as soon as he can. The stroke should be wellnigh the full leng...

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Get Baking and Share the Loaves

...I know of, was in Los Angeles this week to share his enthusiasm for whole grain sourdough bread. Enthusiasm is an understatement. Baker always has a big smile on his face and spent hours, at a bake-off and book signing at LA’s new mill Grist & Toll, answering questions and sharing his knowledge. Baker’s love for bread making is infectious. Catch that infection and you’ll go down a very deep and geeky vortex of hydration ratios and cold proofing s...

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