Homesteading the Avenue- Bread Making Action in pictures

Fifteen people gathered at the Alberta Avenue Community League kitchen to make bread. We made white loaves, brown loaves, seed loaves- as well as chowed down on fresh pizza and cinnamon buns. We tried steam baking, quick rises, and cold fermentation. Here are some pictures of a great afternoon:

Some folks used mixers:

While others battled with the dough by hand:

The Beautiful colour of molasses:

Some of the final products cooked in house:

Thanks to our sponsors for making this event so affordable: The Alberta Avenue Initiative, The Rat Creek Press, The Alberta Avenue Community League

Homesteading the Avenue Workshops 2010

The following workshops are designed to share information and techniques that for many have been long forgotten.  

Workshops are offered free or for a nominal fee (to cover materials) thanks to our sponsors Avenue Initiative Revitalization, Rat Creek Press and Alberta Avenue Community League.

All the workshop facilitators share their knowledge free of charge, however participants are welcome to ‘share’ back with a donation of cash or (in the spirit of homesteading) gifts-in-kind.

Child care can be provided on request.

Register with Carissa by email: halton7@telus.net or by phone (780) 439-7934.

Sunday, January 24, 2010 from 2-5 pm-  Bread Making

Few things make a home feel as comfortable as the smell of bread baking. In this workshop, Rat Creek Press’ An Avenue Homesteader, Carissa Halton, will share the techniques and formulas she uses to make bread that is nutritious, affordable. Participants get to experiment and will go home with two of their own ‘home-baked’ loaves.

Facilitator: An Avenue Homesteader, Carissa Halton           

Cost: $5

Location: Alberta Avenue Community League (9210 -118 Ave)

Number of Participants: 10

Sunday, February 28 , 2010 from 2-5 pm- Seed Starting

Save money and start a few vegetables and annuals at home! At this workshop, you will plant tomatoes, basil, sweet peppers and snapdragons. The Rat Creek Press’ Gardening Diva, Cheryl Walker, will share with you the techniques and equipment she uses to start dozens of garden plants in her dining room.  This hands-on seminar is sure to make the last months of winter feel warmer.

DON’T HAVE A GARDEN? Join us for this session, as well as May’s ‘Building a Square Foot Garden’ session.

LIVE IN AN APARTMENT? All these plants are great for growing even on small apartment decks.

Facilitator: The Gardening Diva- Cheryl Walker

Cost: $10

Location: Alberta Avenue Community League (9210 -118 Ave)

Number of Participants: 15

Sunday, March 14, 2010- Grafting Fruit Trees

Henry Stainthorp has multiple varieties of apples in his Spruce Avenue yard thanks to his skill in grafting. Grafting introduces great fruit production possibilities to your garden. Henry will share from his experience and inspire you with a tour of his garden. In this session, participants will get hands on practice grafting.

Facilitator: Henry Stainthorp

Cost: $5

Location: Meet at Alberta Avenue Community League (9210 -118 Ave)

Number of Participants: 15

Sunday, April 18, 2010 from 2- 5pm- Homemade Beauty Care Products

Visit the Skin Deep Website  (www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/index.php) and you soon realize how many of our beauty care products contain untested and non-FDA approved additives. Save money (and possibly your skin!) by making these products at home. Local neighbour, RN and mom, Hannah Barrington, will share her knowledge about the basic techniques and ingredients involved in creating beauty products on your kitchen stove. Participants will make two product samples.

Facilitator: Hannah Barrington

Cost: $10

Location: Alberta Avenue Community League (9210 -118 Ave)

Number of Participants: 10

Sunday, May 2, 2010- Square Foot Gardening Technique

Garden on your deck, cement pad, grass or weeds- even garden on a table- by trying the Square Foot Gardening method! Participants will learn how to make and plant a square foot garden by building and planting boxes for the Alberta Avenue Community League. Printed resource materials will be provided so participants can remember how to repeat the magic at home.

Facilitator: Carissa and Matthew Halton

Cost: Free

Location: Alberta Avenue Community League (9210 -118 Ave)

Number of Participants: 20

Sunday, June 13, 2010- Homemade Cleaning Products

 Cleaning products account for a significant percentage of household toxins. Freshen up your house! Learn how to make cleaning products that are safe for your family and yet are effective germ and grime busters. Participants will go home with two different products.

Facilitator: An Avenue Homesteader, Carissa Halton,

Cost: $5

Location: Alberta Avenue Community League (9210 -118 Ave)

Number of Participants: 15

My Loud, Reclaimed Couch

My last couch was saved from a back alley in Spruce Avenue. It was extra long, super pink and only half of it fit in the hatchback of our small Yaris.

A few years later I traded up. I fell in love with another vintage special at the Bissell Centre Thrift Shoppe. She was saggy, dusty and, when you found yourself snuggled in a fort built out of her cushions you realized, she was very stinky. But when I sat down, her arms curved familiarly around me. Her brown brocade flower pattern shouted, “Look at me!” I couldn’t leave her at the shop, so spent $50 to bring her home.

My husband Mat wasn’t so sure about this new seating arrangement. Pink hadn’t been his favorite couch colour but at least it had no pattern to shout at him from the living room. I convinced him that we could make the couch fit. I had a vision.

My vision was finally realized over a long weekend, initiated partly by the aforementioned smell and partly due to a strong hormonal need to nest. Here’s what happened:

1. I emptied the cushions of their disintegrating foam then soaked the covers in a tub of vinegar overnight. When it came to rinsing them, those cushion covers required 10 minutes under the hard stream of the tap before the water ran clear.
2. After buying 4-inch thick High Density Foam (bought on sale at Fabricland), I cut the pattern of each cushion cover out, then wrapped and glued on thin quilt batting to soften the edges of the foam (I used spray-on glue).
3. Next I squeezed the new foam into the old covers and managed to pop all four zippers, leaving me no choice but to sew up the covers.   

1. As I worked on the cushions, Mat feverishly blasted the couch with an upholstery cleaner rented from Save-On Foods. 

1. Then I painted the wood parts a Robin Egg Blue (I love this colour but am not brave enough to do a whole wall of it).

1. I used liquid fabric glue to fuse on new trim. Beaded blue trimmed the bottom and a dark brown trim replaced the cream around the arms and back.

1. I sprayed everything with Scotch Guard (A decidedly non-environmentally friendly thing to do but you didn’t see what I saw in that tub!)
2. Finally, I recovered my throw cushions using silk fabric I had found at a liquidation sale and buttons from Value Village.

 I write this from a firm, comfy perch. The couch has not gotten any less loud but it has a custom look and a great set of cushions that you have to respect it for.

Homesteaders up to our elbows in apples and potatoes

This fall a number of homesteaders from Alberta Avenue area have convened cheerfully in the Community League kitchen.

In October, six of us joined forces to process pounds and pounds of apples (picked from a couple very large trees!). At the end of a long day we had:
- 240 cups of frozen apple slices
- 30 litres of applesauce
- 15 jars of crab apple jelly
- 7 pints of crab apple syrup
- dehydrated apple slices for snack

Then in November, 14 people squeezed into the kitchen again. This time to produce a 1000 perogies. Neighbour Alice walked us through a recipe her Ukrainian neighbour had shared with her. Four delectable varieties were made: Cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, onion, and blueberry (this last one was a surprisingly delicious addition!). Pictures yet to come...

Thanks to the City of Edmonton Matching Grant, our neighbourhood now has a Dehydrator and Food Processor to share. If you want to mash apples/tomatoes/potatoes or dehydrate them (or jerky/seeds/flowers/etc), email me and we'll arrange a way for you to borrow these.

If you want to be informed of other Homesteader Group activities, email me and I'll make sure to add you to our group's contact list.

What Playdoh and Irish Cream have in common

Gift giving is a complicated social experience and there’s no other time like Christmas to pile on the complexity. How many of the following questions have you wrestled with?

Who and what circles should receive a gift? Should I give gifts only to those I know will give them in  return? What do I do when someone gives a gift and I’ve nothing to offer in return? What if I exchange a gift that is clearly cheaper? Will the receiver be offended if my gift is second hand/homemade/bought at an outlet?

I must admit that some years the myriad of potential problems pretty quickly saps the joy out of giving.

This season (spoiler alert for the loved ones/neighbours/useful acquaintances in my life) I may opt out. The very act of typing those questions made my eyes start twitching.

Then again, maybe I’ll make up some very large batches of the following items (they are sure to please most people). Hey, perhaps you can make some up too then we can exchange the same homemade gift and call it ‘even’!  

Mom’s Playdoh- (for the kids or kid-at-heart in your life)

1. Mix together in a small saucepan:

-¼ Cup salt

-1Cup flour

-1Tablespoon Cream of Tarter

-1Cup water

-1 Tablespoon oil

-Food Colouring (use lots for vibrant colour)

2. Cook over medium heat (stirring constantly) until mixture forms a thick ball.

3. Remove from heat and let cool.

4. Knead until smooth.

Bath Soak- (for the bathers or the people- you- wish- were- bathers in your life)

           

           1. Mix together in a large bowl:

-       4 Cup fine sea salt

-       4 Cup baking soda

-       4 Cup milk powder

-       10-20 drops essential oil

-       dried lavender, rose petals, citrus peal or favorite herb (optional)

2. Divide into pretty jars. Makes 3 litres of bath soak.

Pretty Convincing Irish Cream (this is a gift I give myself when I’m making the other gifts)

1. Mix together:

- 1 can sweetened condensed milk

- 1 Cup whiskey

- 2 Tablespoons Chocolate syrup

- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

-½ teaspoon coconut extract

-2 Cups- half and half cream

-1 teaspoon- instant coffee

2.     Bottle and refrigerate.  Makes 1 litre. Expires in 3 weeks (roughly).

Hope these tried and true gift ideas bring back (or carry on!) the joy of the giving.  And if I forget to give you a gift: May you have a very blessed Christmas from my homestead to yours.

Cooking as Grief Therapy

Cooking is good grief therapy, I have discovered. For most of the week my grandmother has laid at the University Hospital. The first day I visited, the doctor checked in. Holding Grandma’s wrist, she asked conversationally, “And how are you doing today?”

 

“I’m dying,” Grandma said matter-of-factly, with only a hint of irony in her voice. The doctor quickly moved on to the business of keeping her comfortable.  Yet, how I love the way Grandma embraced the reality of her passing. Common sense, pragmatism and surprising good humour were her strengths in life.

In my first memory of her, she is descending from the Greyhound bus that had meandered its way from Edmonton to the Crowsnest Pass, stopping at most of the postal codes in between.  Instead of a scowl one would expect to see on one disembarking from this terrible trip, she wore a huge grin. “I got the seniors rate!” she said, terribly pleased with herself.

I’m sure she was happy to see her progeny. But she was possibly more thrilled at her deal. In fact, sometimes as I spring-clean my closets, and under the bed, and the downstairs ‘storage room’, I curse the bargain-lover in me. I have Grandma to thank for that trait. (Mostly its a blessing... ask me on any given day what I am wearing that is second hand and I’ll happily tell you what, where I bought it AND ESPECIALLY how much I bought it for. This trait is one shared by many of my maternal family. At any given reunion, compliment an aunt on her blouse, shoes, or purse and she will not thank you for the compliment but gleefully report how much she paid for it. Usually if its over $5 you can’t brag about it.)

After my husband and I moved into our first apartment, we invited my grandparents over for supper. I served Greek salad as a starter. We munched quietly away until Grandma bit into her first yellow pepper. “What is this delicious thing?” she asked. Never had she tried a yellow pepper. The more affordable green ones, she knew, but yellow peppers were a decadence that she hadn’t indulged!  I loved this about her. She remembered a time when expensive food and out-of-season treats were not an option. So she appreciated these foods in a way I can’t due to my laissez-faire approach (at best) and sense of entitlement (at worst).

She was someone who lived out the values of the type of Homesteaders that I respect so much. She lived conscientiously. Not only was she thoughtful about her finances and valued recycling over new, she was careful about her relationships too. She was committed to her community and dedicated her life to her family, church, neighbourhood.  She was creative about how to make resources stretch and she cheerfully dropped her agenda for the sake of other’s emergencies.  

On Monday morning, Grandma passed away. I made this pie in memory of her. It, as did she, made me feel warm and comfortable.

Squash, Leek and Corn Pie with Garlic Cheese Sauce

1. Heat oven to 350.

2. Thaw or prepare pie shell for two pies.

3. Cook and cool one medium sized Buttercup or Butternut squash (I cut it in half and place face down in roasting pan in oven at 350. Put a little water in bottom of pan to steam. It’s finished when edible parts feel soft). Remove pulp, seeds and skin. Mash squash.

4. In olive oil, fry 2-3 leeks (white and light green parts) and 3-5 minced garlic bulbs until slightly browned (about 5 minutes).

5. Add squash to pan plus: 2 cups Sharp Cheddar Cheese, 2 cups Corn (frozen or fresh), 2 – 4 Tablespoons Pesto (or herb mix), Salt and Pepper to taste.  Mix together.

6. Place mixture in pie shell and cover with top shell. Cook for 1 hour or until crust is golden.

7. Whisk following ingredients in saucepan 5 minutes before serving pie. Stir until thickened.

- 2 T melted butter, 2 T flour, 1 C milk, 1 C cheese, 1 – 3 t garlic powder (to taste)

8. Makes two pies. Serve pie hot with garlic cheese sauce drizzled on top.

Herbs Pesto Style

The herbs were ready to be picked but I was putting the inevitable off. Picking them would mean acknowledging winter is a-coming. I also was mourning the loss of fresh herbs 'out back' for my cooking pleasure.

Setting all this aside, I gathered the strength and cut my basil, oregano, parsley, chives, (some) borage down. I rinsed them well then let them dry overnight.

I've been experimenting with the recipes from Keeping Food Fresh: Old World Techniques and Recipes by The Gardeners and Farmers of Terre Vivante. This recipe is adapted from there.

1. Chop mix of herbs very finely (the more variation of herbs, the more interesting the flavour).

2. Chop/Mince garlic (vary amount according to your taste. I used a whole bulb for about 4 cups of chopped herbs)

3. Mix herbs and garlic with coarse salt (about 1 teaspoon per 1 pound of herbs).

4. Place mixture in sterilized jars (smaller is better). Avoid allowing too much air in, but don't pack herbs too tightly so that oil can penetrate them. Fill jars to 1/2 inch from top.

5. Pour over herbs about 1 Tablespoon of vinegar per 250 Ml jar and 3/4 oil per 250 ML jar. There should be a layer of oil left on top once oil has infused mixture. If not, add more oil until there is a thin layer at the top OR pack herbs in a little more firmly.

6. Tightly screw on lids and store in a cool (10- 15 degrees), dark place or keep in the fridge.

Use this to flavour pasta, vegetables, grains, salads or spread thinly on bread. It should keep for up to a year in a cool place.

Spicy Rhubarb Chutney Recipe

As the number of apple and rhubarb harvest days dwindle, here’s a Spicy Rhubarb Chutney recipe. Partner it with pork or chicken, or try it on toast for a savory jam!

1. Combine in saucepan:

a. 4 C chopped rhubarb

b. 1C sugar

c. 1/3 C white vinegar

d. 2 apples

e. ½ C raisins

f. ¼ C chopped onion

g. 1T minced gingerroot

2. Cook, covered, on medium heat for 10 minutes or until thickened and fruit is soft, stirring occasionally.

3. Add:

a. 1 t cinnamon

b. 1t salt

c. ¼ t ground cloves

4. Cook a few minutes longer, stirring frequently.

5. Freeze or can. If canning, allow 10 minutes of processing for 250 ml jars, 15 minutes for 500 ml. Makes 4 cups.

Adapted From “Put a Lid on It!” By Ellie Topp and Margaret Howard. Pick it up at the Sprucewood Library for more great recipes.

A Review of the Square foot Gardening method

The squash have been beckoning me. I’ve never had such a large Sp

aghetti squash or Butternut squash grow in my yard and I’m eager to eat ‘em. So while the coming frost doesn’t thrill me, picking my squash may help me tolerate it.

1. The square foot pattern of planting, instead of rows, made it easier to keep track of how many plants I had, as well as easier to ‘companion plant’. I also think I was able to ‘design’ my veggie garden better than in years past; the aesthetic was much prettier.The first season of using Square Foot gardening (a type of raised bed gardening that Mel Bartholomew has advocated in his book by the same name) is behind me. If you remember, in my May article I outlined how we set up the gardens on our otherwise useless backyard cement pad. I planted a variety of t

hings, some I had tried before in my traditional garden while others were new, then I stepped back and waited for the miracle of huge, organic vegetables to emerge. Mel Bartholomew had promised this, as well as the elimination of weeding, fertilizing and tilling. Here’s a short review of the method:

2. While Mel promised weeding would be a thing of the past with Square Foot Gardening, I didn’t experience that! Sure there are less weeds, but perhaps thanks to my weedy alley, I still had to get on my knees and yank out chickweed.

3. More frequent waterings were required (case in point, I haven’t harvested a single cucumber from my growing vine because I can’t keep up with the watering). Reflected heat from the cement pad has no doubt added to this problem. Others might suggest it’s the drought!

4. A strange mold also grew in only one of the beds. After one week with lots of rain, there appeared some dark, hard piles of what looked like cat puke. I dug into them and they were the consistency of Styrofoam with a couple different layers of colour and consistency. My girlfriend, who works at Telus World of Science, did some sleuthing and emailed me back with the verdict: Dog Vomit Slime Mold!?!? Official title. No lie. It wasn’t harmful but looked gross. I aerated and it went away.

5. Most veggies grew as well in the boxes as in my traditional garden: Tomatoes, carrots, onions, spinach, corn, beans, peas and potatoes grew large. My basil and chili peppers didn’t seem to get as large in the boxes, nor did my beets. I wonder too if the squash would have grown bigger with more space.

6. Fertilizing was also supposed to be a thing of the past, according to Mel. About mid-July, I found my beans and corn turning yellow. Thankfully someone had commented on my blog that she found she had to fertilize. I added a little organic veggie fertilizer (I was out of compost) and the leaves grew green again.

7. Experimentation is still required in the planting design. For instance, I didn’t realize how big my potatoes would get, or how much shade the peas would give off. I found that by August, most of the produce I planted was gone (read eaten!). So I may move my peppers and basil into pots, and leave more space for carrots and beets.

Overall, there was less work and more yields from my garden boxes- if only because my gardens were more organized and I could keep track of produce and replant as needed (I have my third planting of spinach now growing). I am excited that I ‘reclaimed’ the wasted space of my cement pad. Now as the frost comes, I guess I can occupy my time with next year’s planting design; that and cooking up some buttercup squash.

'Making' Yogurt

On Sunday afternoons at the Old Halton Homestead, Mama Halton would pull two large yogurt containers from the fridge and, under intense scrutiny from her six kids, would serve up 8 equal portions. Legend says, each child would grab their share and move off greedily to their separate corners. Some would eat the coveted treat quickly (you never know who’ll jump you). Others would go slow and as the ‘Inhalers’ finished the ‘Savorers’ exaggeratingly licked the yogurt from their spoons. The taunting usually meant someone got hurt.

Yogurt was a big deal for a large family living with one income. It doesn’t come cheap. So when I read that it’s possible to make yogurt at home with milk, milk powder and a tiny amount of yogurt with active bacteria, I was pretty stoked to try it.

There are at least a half dozen ways to make my husband’s family’s most beloved treat . You can make yogurt by putting your milk out in the sun. You can make it by putting milk over your wood burner. You can make it in the oven and in the crock-pot and in a thermos. It all sounds cheap and easy.

Turns out its not as easy as I thought. Tonight I’m on my third attempt. On my first try I managed to burn the ‘yogurt’. The second try ended with a gelatinous, sour mixture that was okay with curry but not passable on its own (the texture was a little like phlegm, so it didn’t go down real easy).

This will be my final attempt. A failure tonight means that the Legend of the Halton Yogurt Sundays will soon become our reality… with a growing family I can’t afford yogurt as an everyday thing.

To keep the tension high for you, I’m going to check on my batches (one is in the crock-pot and another in a thermos) after I run through the details. This basic recipe can be found in multiple sources, however I’m working from the books: The Backyard Homestead by Carleen Madigan and Country Wisdom and Know how by Editors of Storey Books.

Prep: Make sure all utensils are sterilized in the dishwasher or by boiling for 1 minute. Yogurt may come from the interaction of bacteria, heat and milk, but it’s only a certain kind of bacteria you want to grow!

1. Heat/Scald 4 cups of milk – whatever milk fat you choose- to 180 F over medium/high heat.

2. Remove from heat and add 1/3 skim milk powder (If you want to sweeten yogurt, also now add about 1/3 C of sweetener like honey, maple syrup, sugar or artificial sweetener).

3. Let mixture cool to 90 F- 120 F (this step can be speeded up by putting mixture in a chilled bowl in the fridge).

4. Whisk in 1 Rounded Tablespoon of Plain Yogurt with Active Bacteria (I picked up single serving containers at the grocery store)

A. FOR CROCK-POT- HEAT CROCK-POT ON LOW UNTIL HOT TO TOUCH. Place mixture in containers that have tight closing lids (glass jars used for canning work great) and place these in crock-pot. Cover and turn off heat. Over the next three hours, turn on heat to ‘low’ every hour for 10 minute stints. Place containers in the fridge to further thicken.

B. FOR THERMOS- Pour mixture into pre-heated (I boiled it) thermos then do not agitate! Wait 3 hours to check for firmness. When thick, place in fridge to further thicken.

Yogurt can be flavoured with fresh or canned fruit after yogurt is made, or you may add 1 Tablespoon of jam or syrup to bottom of containers before adding the milk mixture.

This is the routine I followed three hours ago and now it is time to check on my yogurt’s status. If you don’t mind waiting, I’ll be a minute…

It is a sad day at the Halton Homestead. Seems I may be forever doomed to supermarket yogurt treats. All I’ve got in my containers is flavoured warm milk. However, since I am an optimist and one of the books does say to leave overnight, I’m going to sleep on it and check it in the morning. Stay tuned.

(8 hours later)

As I opened my yogurt jars this morning, I was treated to the smell of sweet… jam and sour milk. . I’ve been skunked again

My sources give a number of reasons for milk not thickening:

- Too little ‘starter’ yogurt

- ‘Starter’ bacteria was inactive

- Incubation temperature was too hot or cold

- Milk was too hot or cold when ‘starter’ yogurt was added

- Utensils were not sterilized

Frankly that’s a lot of possibilities and, at least for this year, I’m going to accept failure. But perhaps you will have more luck.

And after reflection through the night, there is an option besides supermarket brands. I think I’ll buy a yogurt maker appliance; limited storage be damned.