First efforts

Saturday I started a batch of the super-tea, Kombucha. I have never made this stuff before so I will post again when it finishes to let everyone know how it came out. I am excited about planting when the weather gets better. I plan on starting my garden indoors this week since I have some time off finally.

From Food I Made

Last year I started a lot of plants inside in March and by the time the frost stopped coming, many of my plants had already grown too big for their containers and died. This time around, I am starting a bit later and then as long as I have some sprouts when the weather turns, I'll be in business.

Things I plan to do differently this year? Well, last year we closed on our house on June 24th, so that left me in the lurch for a good early start on my garden. I will definitely have the plants in the ground after the last frost this year. I also used Garden-Tone vegetable fertilizer which worked pretty well for me. This year I plan on giving compost tea a shot. From everything I read, not only is it better than any fertilizer on the market, but it is also as vegan as fertilizer comes. The garden tone had live enzymes and microbiotics to help increase the fertility of the soil. Compost tea is essentially the same, without the chicken feces as a fertilizing agent.

After a year of growth and stabilization I think the soil I am using will probably be pretty fit to grow pretty much anything and with the mixture of compost and peat I am planning on adding, the potential should be plentiful. I know that it can take as many as 3 years for a good soil base to form, but I am working on starting that base now. I also have my own heap of compost that I am tending to which may add to my efforts later in the summer.

In addition to the Kombucha, I am also making my own seitan now. I just finished my first batch and it looks amazing! We have been using this meat substitute for a while now, but buying it can be taxing. You only get enough for one serving and it costs between $3 and $5 a package, depending on what you buy and where you get it. A box of vital wheat gluten was $3 at my natural food store and it makes 2 batches, 16 servings. I love wheat gluten as a protein substitute because of the highly absorbable protein it contains. Soy is alright, but wheat gluten is better (provided you don't have a gluten allergy).

That's all for tonight. Just imagine how rewarding it will feel when you are able to make the food your family eats in an easy and plentiful way! I'm even more excited than you are!