The universe seems to open paths to knowledge at the most opportune times. A group of community members that were involved in the garden immersion sessions were reflecting over the lessons that presented themselves over the past year. Our gardens and wild food harvests were spectacular this year. Sometimes all that goodness has it challenges . We were running out of fresh ideas of how to prepare, process and/or store the abundant crops from the years harvest. Too many times over-planted crops end up in the compost pile. Kale and cucumbers are wonderful and nutritious, but you can only eat so much of it. We also wrestled with the issue of the fruits having a lot of sugar added to them in making jams and juices. Being the enthusiastic group that we are, we knew resolve would come our way.
The fine folks from Leatherwood Vinegary offered a tour of their amazing establishment. Once there, the answers to so many issues came to us in one neat package. Vinegar. A kitchen staple that may be overlooked and under used by many of us.
Plans were made on the spot for a workshop to learn the basics of vinegary. A small group went to the intensive hands-on teachings given by experienced vinegarist, Ron Leasman. With a lot of patience (and written instructions), Ron sent us on our way to produce fine vinegars.
In a few months, this group will have had enough experience to share their knowledge with the community. Please contact WETCC Extension if you would like to learn the fine art of vinegary!
Gaining knowledge is all about trial and error. It seems that the most successful techniques are stumbled upon, at least it does in my case. The following is one of many such experiences:
Sitting there pondering the astuteness of my situation, I caught a glimpse of the wood chipper. The hair around my ears stirred as the brain storm gained momentum. A few minutes later the shredding was finished. The drying of the shredded stalks then began. I tried to air dry them. After 2 days they seemed to have more moisture in them than when this adventure started. (Please take note of the stalks ability to collect moisture even in their shredded form.) The next option was to place them in the dehydrator. This cut the drying time down to a few hours. The final stage was placing the shredded, dehydrated pieces into a blender to grind the pieces into a powder. As this process was taking place, some of the pieces could not be ground down to a powder. The hair around my ears once again stirred as a thought creeped into my mind. The bigger pieces of stalk would work much better in the medicinal applications, and the powder in the organic insecticide uses. Challenge solved! A fine wire mesh strainer separated the two mediums.