Book Review: Put 'Em Up by Sherri Brooks Vinton

I've recently been looking for books that give me more canning ideas and recipes. I am still not entirely comfortable with making my own canning recipes as I am still nervous about pH levels. But pretty soon I am going to start figuring out how to safely can some things that I love, like my family's homemade salsa. But I digress, I wanted to talk about this fantastic book. I'm only going to say a little bit about it, because really, how much can you say about a book full of canning recipes? There are great pictures throughout this book, and all of the recipes I have tried have been tasty.

One of the main things about this book that I love is that it is divided by type of thing you're trying to preserve, and for most recipes it gives you multiple ways to preserve, either freezing, canning, refrigerating, drying, etc. I really liked that when I had a pile of green beans I was able to just leaf through that section and figure out what I had the ingredients for. The same with the beets I ordered from my CSA. There are few books that are so easy to use.

The beginning of the book gives you all the basics you need to know for food preservation, and they are well explained how-tos. I really recommend this book, not only is it full color which I just love, but it is neatly organized and a joy to use!

Book Review: Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz

I can't say enough good things about this book. It was easy to read (I power read through this in about 3 days), informative, and interesting. I picked up the e-book for my Kindle on a recommendation from a friend, because I had posted on Facebook that I was interested in learning more about fermentation, and really wanted a good book to get me started. This book has so many different fermentation recipes, that it's going to keep me busy for a while.

Let me go into a little more detail about the recipes, since there are so many of them in this book. First of all, there is a huge variety, not only are there recipes for traditional favorites like fermented pickles, but there are also recipes for Ethiopian dishes. There are bread, beverage, vegetable, and anything else you can think of fermenting. The best part is that, as he explain in the book, you can do most of these fermentations with little more than a food-safe sterile container, and salt water. I currently have a batch of vegetables/fruits on the counter fermenting away in a brine solution, and I am very anxious to see how they are turning out but I want to give the ferment a few more days.

I think one of the more important things that I need to stress about fermenting is that a lot of people are going to tell you how dangerous fermenting foods can be. Well, this is true, but from my experience thus far, it's also really easy to avoid any problems. Thing is, anytime you talk about canning or fermenting, someone somewhere is going to bring up the B-word, Botulism. Yes, that is a very dangerous bacteria, and yes it does love to grow on foods, but the key here is hat botulism LOVES a low acid, low oxygen environment. So how do we prevent this B-word from getting into our ferments? Well, the main thing to keep in mind is airflow. There are a lot of sites I've seen that talk about putting a lid on your ferments, and that scares the crap out of me, as a beginning fermenter, I am not versed enough with airlocks or any of that to trust myself with lidded ferments. However, covering the lid of the jar with cheesecloth and securing it with a rubber band is just the trick. The airflow stays at max, and you don't have to worry about depriving all those good little bacteria of the oxygen they need to thrive. Another issue is light, which is why I keep mine covered. I have previously used fabric bags (again something breathable) to keep my jars in the dark, but recently, I've started crocheting covers. Whatever you choose to do if you're using glass containers (my personal preference) this is what I suggest. Keeping things submerged in the brine is the last major piece of this puzzle. But of course I am simplifying.

So if you're interested I suggest you do your research, until you feel comfortable giving it a shot. Once again, I highly recommend the book "Wild Fermentation" as it will be a great guide as you get into this wonderfully fun food science experiment. Also use your nose and taste buds to guide you. You're going to know when a food is bad because it will smell bad, and it will taste bad. Botulism will give things a distinctly unpleasant mildew-like odor. Always be cautious, but trust me once you start fermenting you'll see how easy it is, and you'll get hooked. Pretty soon you'll end up like me and you'll have an entire shelf full of fermented goodies that you're not consuming fast enough.

Book Review: Grow It!

Grow It!:The beginner's complete in-harmony-with-nature small farm guide by Richard W. Langer

I stumbled across this book at The Cornerstone Bookshop, and for $6, I really couldn't pass this up. Not only do I love old books with cheesy covers, but it was also on a topic, that as you may have already guessed, I am highly interested in. First of all, I would like to point out that I find this book highly amusing for 2 reasons: 1, the cover makes me giggle and I came really close to tagging my Dad in the photo cause the picture reminded me of photos of him from when my parent's first met, and 2, the book is so obviously written with for the audience of city mice looking to become country mice. Sometimes the book is a little dated, but it was published in 1972, and besides the information that this book is really useful for is completely timeless.

This book is just bursting with information, and I was really pleasantly surprised at just how much information I found in these pages. I have to admit I completely skipped the chapters on tillage, and grain because they in no way apply to anything I ever plan on doing, but I devoured the other chapters anxiously! I am going to supply you with a listing of the chapters after just so you can see the amazing array of information that can be obtained from this book. Really, I can't say anything bad about this book, it definitely earned it's endorsement from Mother Earth News, and I was really pleased with the sections especially on livestock. It gave information on everything from their care to their butchering. I could go on forever, but really, a listing of the contents of the book will tell you whether or not this is something you want to try and track down for your homestead's library.

Contents
The Land: Your soil-watershed-pond-woodlands
Tillage:Farm Equipment-what it is-how it works-how to use it right-plowing-harrowing-sowing your fields
Fertilizer: Barnyard manure-green manure and how it grows-composting-liming
Fruit: The orchard site-planting-pruning-harvesting-apples-cherries-peaches-pears-plums
Nuts: Almonds-beechnuts-chestnuts-filberts-hazelnuts-hickory nuts-pecans-walnuts
Berries:The berry patch and what's in it-blackberries-blueberries-currants-gooseberries-grapes-raspberries-strawberries
Vegetables: Bountiful varieties from asparagus to watermelon-getting a head start on spring-mulching-how to raise your own seed for future harvest
Pest Control: Preventing pests-feathered and crawling friends-safe nontoxic sprays-how to kill the bugs without killing yourself
Grain: How to raise, harvest, and make flour and feed from your grain-buckwheat-corn-oats-rye-sunflowers-wheat
Forage: Your pastures and meadows-what to grow and how-grazing livestock- making hay-winter fodder
Goats: Breeds-housing-basic equipment-feeding-breeding-kidding-weaning-milking
Chickens: Starting a flock-the henhouse-the brooder-feeding-gathering eggs-how to dress a chicken for your broiler
Other Fowl: Ducks-geese-swans-turkeys
Pigs: Breeds-housing-equipment-feeding-breeding-parasites and other problems
Honeybees: Who's who in the colony-starting a colony-the beehive and where to put it-equipment-handling your bees-swarming-honey and how to get it
The Larder: How to keep what you harvest for the winter-root cellars-krauting-drying fruit-making cheese, butter and yogurt-setting clabbered milk-smoke curing your meat-sausage making-lard and cracklings
Catalog: The government will give you a hand-ordering by mail your farm equipment, organic fertilizers, livestock, fruit and vegetable seeds, and tree stock-publications galore-farm books for winter evening reading

See, what a wonderful amount of knowledge to be had from this book! Really all useful, the catalog is the only chapter that is pretty much completely out-dated. This book has definitely earned a place on my bookshelf.

Book Review: "Twelve by Twelve" by William Powers

Permaculture, homesteading, tiny living spaces, wrestling with the feeling of being out-of-place in our Capitalist society. This book has it all! While it is definitely NOT a how-to, and it is devoid of specific instructions, it chronicles the author's stay in a friend's 12'x12' (yup, it may be the ultimate tiny abode!). It is a wonderful read for anyone who is on the journey to "what's next" as we all begin to realize that the current way of living that we're accustomed to in Western culture is not sustainable.

Powers discusses his thoughts as he lives off grid in a friend's 12'x12' cabin, and I really got into this book. It gave me ideas, and pointed me in directions I would've never thought to research, but this book itself is purely just a good read. While I will make sure to include reviews on other books that I am currently reading in order to obtain more information on the various plans I am hatching, I felt this was a great book to start with. This book doesn't give you tutorials, it gives you ideas and inspiration. Sometimes I feel like it's best to start with a piece of literature you can relate to, so you can enable yourself to envision starting upon the path yourself. It's heartfelt, funny, and just overall human. He talks about his experiences working abroad and he has such a breadth of experiences to share that this book is never dull.

I won't talk too much in detail about the story of the book, since I am posting a review not a summary. I will however say, that at one point in the book he touches upon the idea that a local economy is what we need to develop in order to ensure the success of our nation. I couldn't agree more, and I think that this is something all local businesses should be looking into working toward. If we all looked to buy local more, and limited our visits to the big box stores, we would start to see more changes in the areas in which we live. While, I would like to point out that buying local produce and food can be more pricey (yes, you can cheap coffee at a drive-thru but isn't it more rewarding supporting the locally owned coffee shops?) but this is the real cost of food. So visit those road side stands, and Farmer's markets! You're supporting local people, and you're getting fresher products. I will get off my soapbox now, and end this review on this note: If you're even remotely interested in tiny living, permaculture, living off grid, or just feel a general disillusionment over our throw away culture, this is a great entertaining read, that will be not only enjoyable to read, but also give you plenty of food for thought.

This is just the first of many suggested reads that I will share!