Adopt an Indigo Plant in Los Angeles

May 23, 2014

...reen or otherwise! The pigment can be extracted from the mature leaves and used to dye all types of natural fibers. As the season goes on, I’ll be posting harvest and processing instructions, as well as invitations to two separate harvest parties where we pool our collective leaves and do some dyeing! These seedlings will be available for pickup from my workshop in Silver Lake (Los Angeles, CA) from June 6-8, 2014 (10 AM – 2 PM Daily). They will b...

Read…

What Epuipment Do You Need to Bake Bread?

Mr. Homegrown

June 16, 2014

Bread, Food

16 Comments

...humid environment of a commercial bread oven. It works great. For years I used a regular Dutch oven. Just recently, however, I purchased a Lodge Combo cooker, essentially a Dutch oven with a skillet instead of a lid. To bake bread in it you use it upside down. It’s easier to slide a loaf of bread into the pan than it is to plop a loaf down into a Dutch oven. These few items, plus a plastic container large enough to ferment your dough in, are all...

Read…

Sourdough Bread Class at the Ecology Center in San Juan Capistrano

Mr. Homegrown

June 16, 2014

Bread, Events, Food

2 Comments

...c ingredients. Other benefits of baking at home include using less energy (used in harvesting, processing, and shipping store-bought bread), using less plastic packaging, and spending less money. Become a baker and join us for a weekend of heart-healthy, bread baking workshops: Saturday, June 21, 1-3 to make Sourdough and/or Sunday, June 22, 1-3p to make Sourdough rye! Topics discussed will include: How to make your own sourdough starter (also kno...

Read…

Sourdough Rye Bread Class at the Ecology Center in San Juan Capistrano

Mr. Homegrown

June 16, 2014

Bread, Events, Food

6 Comments

...c ingredients. Other benefits of baking at home include using less energy (used in harvesting, processing, and shipping store-bought bread), using less plastic packaging, and spending less money. Become a baker and join us for the rye class on Sunday, June 22, 1-3p. We’ll provide ingredients, and everyone will go home with a jar of starter ready to make bread. Instructor: Erik Knutzen For more information or to sign up head over to the Ecology Cen...

Read…

The canning lid conundrum

Mrs. Homegrown

June 23, 2014

Domesticus, Food Preservation

38 Comments

How do you guys store your used canning lids and rings? We keep a lot of them around because we use canning jars for so many things other than canning: dry goods, leftovers, food-to-go, body care, etc. My collection is driving me crazy. Never was there a set of more awkward objects than a pile of slippery, jangly rings and lids. Ideas? [Mr. Homegrown in my Master Food Preserver mode chiming in here–as per USDA advice we use two piece canning lids...

Read…