Getting back to living off the land.....

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Originally Posted by bumblefoot

Another attempt to dial it in right! The thing I like about no-knead bread is that the long fermenting time (24-hours in this case) makes a very "sourdough-like" bread. And there is no kneading except from folding the dough. Has a bit of the sourdough flavour and the honeycomb-like interior without all the fart-arsing around! "Poor Man's Sourdough"! And it seems very reliable; no inedible disasters yet (touch wood!).....

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I like the long ferments as well when doing pizza dough - up to three days in the fridge. The longer your ferment, the less yeast you need to put in at the start otherwise you will over proof - typically 0.25% by weight of flour or less.

I have found that different yeast strains behave differently as well, so pick a yeast that you can get time and time again and get to know it well. Changing yeasts while experimenting can lead to frustration.

One of the secrets of the no kneed bread is the very high hydration (78% for the dough in the video you linked). As a comparison, high hydration pizza dough is around 60-63%.
One tip I picked up a month back is to only mix about 70% of the flour with the water, salt and yeast and let it sit for 1/2 hour, then mix in the remaining flour. Seems to proof better, but I am machine mixing - not sure if it will make any difference with the higher hydration or not.
Another key is timing - when to put the dough in the oven. It needs to be as the dough is on the rise, not once it has peaked. This ensures you get a good 'spring' before the heat of the oven kills off the yeast, and the rest is done as a result of the high moisture content of the dough expanding and venting off as steam.

I wish fresh bread and butter was less fattening and better for you ……...

This is that loaf cut into. I fold the dough in the morning and let it rise again for about an hour before baking it.

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Check out no need turbo bread with Steve on you tube

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Originally Posted by johnd

Check out no need turbo bread with Steve on you tube

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Good thread thks..I hunt goats for meat close to Stratford. Unfortunately we are semi-locked into the big smoke and grow nothing much edible except spuds in bags. Countdown is us...My last goat dish was a beaut Vindaloo. Hoping to go get venison next month on a paid meat hunt. Better than nothing but would be nice to get onto some bush pig etc. I get rabbits from time to time and an occasional hare. Yum. Takes me back to growing up on a farm with a .22. Yell if you want a great Vindaloo recipe, genuine grind yer own spice one.

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Originally Posted by johnd

Check out no need turbo bread with Steve on you tube

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Thanks; I've seen that one and it's basically the same recipe and technique :)

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Originally Posted by Jhon

Yell if you want a great Vindaloo recipe, genuine grind yer own spice one.

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Thanks; always looking for recipes!

A busy morning of baking bread; plain white and a sultana and cranberry, picking Shiro plums and cooking a cured (unsmoked) goat ham. The reason the ham isn't pink is that no nitrites were used in my brine to keep the pinkness.

Also; made up another batch of Chinese tea eggs. They last for about a week in the fridge, super handy for a healthy snack.

The Shiro plums were loaded in only their second season (The Warehouse bargain bin trees). But the birds beat me to a lot of them. An awesome plum; lots of flavour and as juicy as a golden queen peach.

So a lazy tea of home cured goat ham, home baked bread and plums for dessert....

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Originally Posted by Phil_H

My dinner tonight courtesy of my darling wife Sharon.

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It has been a bountiful summer. The dinner does not have the same presentation as other pictures on this thread, but all from our own piece of land none the less.
Peas, potatoes, silverbeet, pumpkin and onions all from our garden. The meat is a bit of rolled hogget - one of our seven - that I butchered yesterday. Makes a change from venison which has been our staple meat over the last 12 months. Oh, and an old Plonker in behind it all is her husband......poor girl.

Cheers
Phil

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Good effort Phil. How do you have Pumpkins and onions ready now ??

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Originally Posted by Phil_H

My dinner tonight courtesy of my darling wife Sharon.

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It has been a bountiful summer. The dinner does not have the same presentation as other pictures on this thread, but all from our own piece of land none the less.
Peas, potatoes, silverbeet, pumpkin and onions all from our garden. The meat is a bit of rolled hogget - one of our seven - that I butchered yesterday. Makes a change from venison which has been our staple meat over the last 12 months. Oh, and an old Plonker in behind it all is her husband......poor girl.

Cheers
Phil

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Good on you. You are eating that hogget pretty fresh - was it tough? I have always hung my meat for at least a few days.

I like what you are doing.

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Originally Posted by Phil_H

No not tough at all. I hang them in the winter but this week the wool shed was in use so I had to use an implement shed. The flies were horrendous so I actually delivered the carcass onto the kitchen table still warm. Sharon had him in the freezer within the hour. The local farm manager showed me how he does it. He claims the secret is not to stress them at all. Put out some sheep nuts and let them feed away merrily and then from a distance put a bullet in the head. They drop without even knowing what has happened. Then go and slit their throat, hang them immediately and let them bleed out. I use the 10/22 which is my possum gun set up with a red dot. It always drops them on the spot but often they are not dead but just unconscious, hence why I cut their throat straight away. But it seems to work, no stress and the meat is vastly different to animals that have the adrenaline running high through their system.

Cheers
Phil

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Good. This Sharon - she sounds very handy. :thumbsup:

Great thread thank you.

We live on a small section at the outskirts of the city, although we have a rural outlook and rural postal delivery. We don't have much garden space so we don't grow potatoes or corn, but we always try to have greens, especially silver beet (a very reliable cropper), and herbs. During the season we might plant beans, carrots, parsnips etc.

For a long time I grew garlic every year. The last few seasons we've had rust which really munts the garlic. I have some perennial Egyptian Walking Onions which don't seem to get affected by the rust though, and these are handy to have. These actually might be better classified as shallots. You can eat the green tops... or the relatively small mature bulbs... or the crazy little bulbs that grow from the flower heads. These onions 'walk' and replicate themselves as the top bulbs grow and cause the plants to bend over until the top bulbs reach the ground and take root. Our garlic chives also seem to survive the rust quite well. I'm hoping I will overcome the rust problem with the garlic though... maybe someone will come up with a resistant variety.

Another standby perennial I grow is Jerusalem Artichoke. I enjoy the flavour of these (especially when roasted), although we don't eat many at a time as they can be rocket fuel for your farter.

We grow quite a bit of fruit. I figure if you are going to have trees or shrubs on your property you may as well be producing fruit. I've trained several trees as espaliers, and I've grafted my apple trees to have more than one variety on them. My best 'keeper' apple is Court Pendu Plat. Another good disease resistant variety is Liberty. Our favourite cooker which explodes into a gelatinous pulp is Monty's Surprise. The apples have quite a few codlin moth holes in them this year but, while undesirable, they don't wreck the whole apple and they can still be eaten or processed. I don't like codlin moth, but I don't like insecticides (or 1080) either. We have a wonderful French Sugar Fig which has already produced its first crop, an Omega Plum with a heavy crop that is just about ready, some excellent grapes, citrus and feijoas.

We discovered the flavour of kaffir lime in recent years, so we planted a tree. We also have a bay tree which we have to keep trimmed.

I love growing tomatoes. I have a mission to find the variety (or method of growing) that works best for my area. So far my most successful variety seems to be Stupice. I tend to grow the early maturing varieties so that I can get a crop before the dry weather and psyllids arrive. I make tomato sauce, and I dry slices of tomato which we like to use on pizza throughout the year.

We make bread too. I think my favourite bread is a simple flat or naan bread. I love the texture. We quite often make 'wraps' .... our recipe is based on Annabel Langbein's Chicken Tex Mex Wrap recipe. I buy the 500 gram packets of Bakels instant dried yeast. This yeast is meant to be used within a few days of opening the packet, but I keep it in a plastic jar in the freezer and I find that it will keep and work well for months once opened.

We do buy a bit of meat, but we also eat a lot of game.... and fish when we can get it.

Here are some of this year's tomatoes... Tangella, Moonglow, Azoychka, Bloody Butcher and Black Krim. Out of all these it appears that Bloody Butcher are the earliest and probably the most prolific. The Tangella and Moonglow are meant to be varieties from which you can absorb a lot of beneficial lycopene if you eat them raw and it is said that people who are allergic to tomatoes may be able to eat Tangella without a reaction. Moonglow has a dense texture and is quite attractive. I kept seeds and may grow it again. I'm only interested in growing open pollenated varieties so that I can select seeds from my best plants.

https://i.imgur.com/EnlSgpW.jpg

And here is some bread with a texture that I like.... stringy and soft. We eat all sorts of bread though, including the no-knead variety with its relatively coarse texture.

https://i.imgur.com/EFlgaXL.jpg

I also have enjoyed gathering mushrooms. Recently I have done some research to try to learn what else can be eaten besides the common field mushroom (which is still my favourite). As a result I've eaten giant puffballs ... which are OK, but don't have much flavour, pine boletes (pictured below) and birch boletes (gathered from under silver birch trees). The birch boletes are pretty good if not too old.

https://i.imgur.com/tyxCdKX.jpg

i have just made "manchester eggs"
should have taken a photo before i ate them but basically its like a scotch egg but you pickle the egg, and the coating is 1/2 sausage meat 1/2 black pudding. then crumbed and baked.
tasty but good job i have a dog i could blame the farts on

I went for a hunt today, but didn't see any fresh sign... except maybe for what may have been a little bit of pig digging in a nearly dry creek bed. There is quite a bit of Himalayan Honeysuckle growing in this particular area, and now there are quite a few ripe brown berries. I dunno how the berries can be so juicy in our dry summer months. There were also a few blackberries around.

Some people may regard the Himalayan Honeysuckle berries as not edible, and I have read that the plant may be the cause of some problems with cattle. But people, including me, do eat the berries. I don't eat many in one sitting though.

In the picture below, the ripe berries are the brown ones at the top of the cluster. They are sweet with quite a unique taste that could be described as 'chocolately' or like burned sugar.

https://i.imgur.com/Gmsywsl.jpg

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Originally Posted by Coote

...I have some perennial Egyptian Walking Onions...
....I figure if you are going to have trees or shrubs on your property you may as well be producing fruit. I've trained several trees as espaliers, and I've grafted my apple trees to have more than one variety on them. My best 'keeper' apple is Court Pendu Plat.

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Coote, We grow the walking onions, they are a great grower for us too, I like them fried next to my steak.
Would you be interested in sharing a piece of your Court Pendu Plat tree, I would love to add it to my apple tree.

I'd be delighted to give you some Court Pendu Plat cuttings. I just have to remember to cut them in July or early August. If you want to PM me your contact details I will make a note. Feel free to remind me nearer the time.

I've also got Blenheim Orange which was fairly rare for a while, but it has been shared around a bit now and I think I've even seen nursery trees labelled as Blenheim Orange.

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Originally Posted by Coote

I'd be delighted to give you some Court Pendu Plat cuttings. I just have to remember to cut them in July or early August. If you want to PM me your contact details I will make a note. Feel free to remind me nearer the time.

I've also got Blenheim Orange which was fairly rare for a while, but it has been shared around a bit now and I think I've even seen nursery trees labelled as Blenheim Orange.

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Thank you, I will flick you a message.
I used to have a good collection of older and heritage apples, but have sadly lost access to a lot of them, Time to start again.

Some local Taranaki doofus is on Radio NZ.....
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/progr...arden-of-eatin

So that's you Bumblefoot ! Now I know somebody famous !! I look forward to listening to the talk. The written introduction really grabbed my attention. Thanks for sharing.

Is that a bunch of 'Fartichoke greens in you arms Bumblefoot ?

That was a great interview. Hopefully it will inspire someone, somewhere to grow some veggies or to learn more about hunting. The world needs more of this down-to-earth approach to living.

We've got quite a bit in common... you are the first person I've come across who eats broad bean greens (other than my wife and I).... and I once had the hots for Felicity Kendall.

Your warmth and enthusiasm are obvious. Folks like you must be helping to make the world a better place. Good on you.

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Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

Is that a bunch of 'Fartichoke greens in you arms Bumblefoot ?

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Sure are; the pigs and ducks love the leafy tops

Thanks for the kind words Coote. I just bumble and fumble my way through life. At my age not so much of the fumbling! ;)

Is the no knead bread similar to a Boule? It’s a French style bread I used to make a lot of. Leave it overnight and make rolled balls into “gluten cloaks” I think they were called. Was beautiful bread. I should get back into making it


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https://www.hummingbirdhigh.com/2013...boule.html?m=1

Pretty sure this was the recipe I used to make


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I needed a new chainsaw a while ago. I use my dad's old Jonserad, brilliant chainsaw but too heavy and dicey to use if you're limbing up a ladder etc. I asked the guy in the repair place what he recommended as a good smaller saw. He is super straight up and honest.

He recommended the Japanese Shindaiwa. He used to sell them and reckoned they fly under the radar, he said that even the good brands build their smaller chainsaws to a lesser standard; and their really wasn't much difference between them and the el cheapo Bunnings chainsaws. Whereas Shindaiwa always build them to the same specs as their big ones.
Gotta say it punches well above it's weight. Chews through stuff and uses bugger all gas. I'm really pleased with it.

Tony, the repairer has just retired....... :oh noes: He was a great service man. I bought the Sbindaiwa on special; was around the $390-400 mark. He used to sharpen the chain for $10..... Replaced my lawnmower engine with a good, more powerful motor when the old one crapped out, and serviced it for $120!

Greetings,
Totally agree Bumblefoot. I have 2 Shindaiwa chainsaws that are great. The 18 inch one replaced my old Husky when it crapped out. the chainsaw chap recommended Shindaiwa ahead of the cheaper Husqvavarna saws. It really made cutting up the trunks of some big trees we had had felled easy. Later I was at the chainsaw place for something else but came home with a top handle Shindaiwa with a 10 inch bar. Man is it great for cutting up the smaller stuff especially for us older codgers who do not bend in the middle as much as we used to. These days it does more than 50% of the work.
Grandpamac.

I find that hanging bucket inside a rubbish bin works best as that way the chooks get all the maggots. Any that drop out during the night wriggle away to pupate :) I find that a hare or possum is used up in about 7-days in summer. All that's left is fur and bones. Here's a vid of it

https://www.facebook.com/ross.nolly/...85514844824227

You guys.... I'm impressed. Pity I don't have chooks. Its fantastic that you fool the flies into breeding, yet they will not be contributing to a growth in the fly population. Nice video Bumblefoot.... and one of the cleanest and tidiest hen houses I've seen in my life. Also, please compliment your rooster on his good manners.

A man could set one of these buckets up at the end of a wharf or over a pond to feed and attract fish.... and to help thwart the fly population.

Yup; it's done a lot in Asia. I've also seen people make a fake small island in their pond with a solar light on it. The moths are attracted and a fair percentage end up in the drink; fish food

Well, dang. I didn't know that. Makes perfect sense though. It is kinda win-win unless you are a maggot or a moth.

If you lived at the North Pole you'd stand vertically. At the South Pole you'd be upside down. But you live in between... thus you are horizontal.

We are currently picking our second crop of French Sugar figs. We have to pick them a bit early if we want to minimise bird damage. Unfortunately the tree is located in an area where it is too dangerous to shoot into it, so I don't.... much as I'd love to. Danged sparrows in particular get into our fruit and greens.

We've eaten a lot of figs now, so I think it is time to dehydrate some. While these would keep well for when the fig season is finished, it is unlikely that we will be unable to resist eating them more or less immediately.

https://i.imgur.com/PwNiMyz.jpg

i planted 10 tomato plants for the mrs, got bugga all off them this year (well enough to keep her happy). chili plants failed miserably too. interestingly the neighbours plants plants across his back fence had similar issues.
at least i got a sack of spuds out of the patch this year so that keeps me happy.

I have an NZ made electric dehydrator. I just cut the figs into relatively thin portions and spread them out on the trays. I can't remember how long they took to dry last time. I have read that if you dry things above a certain temperature they will lose some nutritional value. But lately I've cranked up the heat to get the job done. I figure that I could eat supermarket confectionery after dinner.... or I could eat hastily dried fruit. No matter how quick I dry it, it still tastes pretty good and it is natural.

I will possibly dry some apples this year as well. One of my favourite dried fruits is pear. The flavour gets concentrated nicely. Unfortunately I don't have a pear tree.

I dry tomatoes. These are excellent to put on the pizzas we make during the year. And we might toss a few small bits into salads. Canned tomatoes are cheap, so it is a waste to use the dried ones in casseroles etc. I also make tomato sauce.

My tomato crop wasn't wonderful this year.... and once again the peppers didn't produce. I have a friend who got some decent peppers, but his were grown in a glasshouse .... even though, in my mind, they should flourish well outdoors in 'sunny Nelson'. But I've never grown a decent crop of peppers outdoors.

I am on a quest to find the open pollinated variety of tomato that does the best in my area. The first quality I seek is reliability... closely followed by flavour. I've grown many heirloom varieties. This year the best and earliest producer was Bloody Butcher. I've found psyllids on my tomatoes every season for about the last four years. And later in the season the stink beetles/vegetable bugs climb all over the fruit and I suspect they are often the reason that the quality of the fruit deteriorates around this time. So my current philosophy is to grow early varieties that will give me a crop before the psyllid and vege bugs arrive in big numbers.

I think the best variety of tomato I've grown is Stupice. They are a potato leafed type which aren't overly vigorous. They produce early with comparatively good crops. They can be a bit bland when eaten raw, but they are fantastic cooked or dried. I think I will go back to growing them next season. I save my own seeds and I keep the seed in the fridge where it seems to stay viable for several years. I look forward to planting my seeds in the first week of September. I place the seeds in a multi-folded wet paper towel which I keep in a plastic bag on top of my fridge. The seeds generally start to sprout in about three to five days. Before the sprouts get too long I plant them into pots which I keep under a plastic cloche. Starting the seeds in the paper lets me know ASAP whether I have good seeds or not. I also think I save a little growing time.

I'm always happy to share seeds if I have a surplus.

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Originally Posted by gonetropo

i planted 10 tomato plants for the mrs, got bugga all off them this year (well enough to keep her happy). chili plants failed miserably too. interestingly the neighbours plants plants across his back fence had similar issues.
at least i got a sack of spuds out of the patch this year so that keeps me happy.

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The soil is very hungry where you live.You might be best putting in some raised beds and growing in fresh topsoil rather than trying to improve what you have.

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Originally Posted by norsk

The soil is very hungry where you live.You might be best putting in some raised beds and growing in fresh topsoil rather than trying to improve what you have.

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they are in raised beds and the soil came from a garden center, had good result last year but this year was abysmal
now the wife wants me to extend the vege patch and she's the only one that eats the stuff !!!

A very relevant thread right now...does anybody have a toilet paper tree I can take a cutting from, ?also a paracetamol tree would be good as well. thanx.

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Originally Posted by Max Headroom

A very relevant thread right now...does anybody have a toilet paper tree I can take a cutting from, ?also a paracetamol tree would be good as well. thanx.

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dont be silly, there are no painkillers in the jungle cos the parrots eat em all