
“What matters isn’t if people are good or bad. What matters is if they’re trying to be better today than they were yesterday. You asked me where my hope comes from? That’s my answer.”
Michael, The Good Place
“What matters isn’t if people are good or bad. What matters is if they’re trying to be better today than they were yesterday. You asked me where my hope comes from? That’s my answer.”
Michael, The Good Place
“The only task worth doing is fully dismantling and replacing the system.”
Jessa Crispin, Why I am Not a Feminist: A Feminist Manifesto
Square Foot Gardening (SQF) is a method that makes planning and planting your garden way easier. Mel Bartholomew, who came up with the idea, has determined how many seeds or plants can be planted in one square foot of space.
Read moreI’m a lazy gardener. I don’t pull weeds. I don’t harvest the kale and lettuce that’s going to seed. I don’t till the plot where I’m planning on planting fall vegetables. That’s too much work, it’s way too hot, and, besides, the bees enjoy the weeds and kale flowers, and my chickens will gladly do the tilling for me.
Read moreThe first food I ever attempted to grow was herbs. One winter while living in Toronto, I bought some small clay pots, soil, and chive seeds. I planted the seeds, watered them, placed them on my south-facing windowsill, and waited. My mouth watered at the thought of adding fresh chives to my soups, rice, eggs, and salad.
Read moreAdapted from Pascal Baudar’s The Wildcrafting Brewer.
The flavour (and colour) of your hike soda will change with the seasons. Experiment with flavours by combining multiple plants—it’s fun to figure out what plants taste good together…and which ones do not.
IPA beers make me sneeze. The higher the IBU (international bitterness unit), the worse I get. My face gets flushed. My sinuses clog up. After a mere bottle or two I get nauseous.
Read moreAdapted from Pascal Baudar’s The Wildcrafting Brewer.
Not much maple syrup flavour remains after fermenting. This beer tastes a lot like a straightforward ale—dandelion is quite bitter. Experiment with sugars. I’ve substituted syrup for molasses, which resulted it a more porter-like beer.
I like to add something slightly floral like spruce tips or yarrow or chamomile to offset the dandelion.
Pick dandelions just before the flowers open—though you can add a few flowers to the recipe, too.
So far I’ve found I haven’t had to prime before bottling as fresh dandelion residue continues to ferment once bottled.
This ferments to about 3.8 – 5% ABV.
To learn more about the basics of home brewing, equipment, and terminology, check out Charlie Papazian’s The New Complete Joy of Home Brewing.
Makes about 1 gallon of beer.
Before you make your beer, you’ll have to make a wild yeast. Learn how on the Wild Yeast page.