Search Results for: label/water%20conservation/page/5/2010/06/the-urban-homestead

884 results

Prickly Pear Jelly Recipe

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Food, Recipes
95 Comments
...uit (you need not skin it) into quarters and put in a pot with just enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes. Mash with a potato masher and strain the juice and water through a colander with two layers of cheesecloth to remove the seeds and pulp. 3. We’ve found that 2 1/2 pounds of fruit will yield a little over 2 1/2 cups of juice using the method above. 4. We use a recipe from the Jamlady Cookbook, by Beverly Ellen Schoonma...

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Federico Tbn’s Self Irrigating Pots

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Gardening, Self Watering Containers
12 Comments
...SIPs) he built out of found materials. The one in the picture above uses a water jug and a five gallon bucket. Unlike my really ugly SIPs, Federico has taken the time to ornament the outside of the bucket. Federico says, This one is a variation on the 5 gallon bucket system. The handle on the jug was a convenient way of inserting a piece of 1/2 inch PVC pipe to refill the reservoir. The plastic on the 5 gallon jug was surprisingly pliable; I was a...

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Moldy Grapes!

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Fermentation, Food
13 Comments
...e is to weight them down somehow. In this case, I had a baggy full of salt water (salt water so that if it leaked, it wouldn’t dilute the brine) sitting at the top of the jar. But I didn’t pay attention to the jar during the fermentation, and a couple of the rolls popped up at the sides and mold set in––a kind of fluffy, spider-webby black mold that crept from the exposed bundles up the sides of the jar. The lesson to be learned here is to pay som...

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Waxed Cloth Food Wrap (Made in a solar oven for bonus self-righteousness points)

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Domesticus, Food, How-to, Solar Oven Summer
8 Comments
...wax cloth will dry out more quickly than it would in plastic, and it’s not watertight, so it’s not good for drippy/juicy things. Also, it’s not recommended for wrapping meat, because it can’t be cleaned with hot water. But it works very well for wrapping things like cheese and sandwiches, cookies, nuts, carrot sticks, etc. In my testing so far I’ve settled on using my cloths as snack carriers, using them to wrap up trail mix or carrots or chunks o...

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An Ancient Quince Recipe

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Food, Food Preservation, Fruit Trees, Gardening
16 Comments
...website, but to summarize you simply cook quince in equal parts honey and water until it turns red. The addition of a small amount of cracked pepper cuts the sweetness ever so slightly. You can then process the jars in a hot water bath. The end result is quince slices preserved in honey. It turned out great and, without having to worry about the jell point, reduced the anxiety level associated with preserving my entire harvest at once. Do you hav...

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