Can you feel the burn?

[Sideshow]

All fish waste we got went in the garden. Even old stuff from the freezer when i was a kid. It is one of the best fertilizers on the planet. One year when i was around 15, pops had a farmer friend deliver about a ton of pig poo. We composted it all fall and winter with yard waste. It had steam rising from it like a volcano. Our garden then was around 60ftx14ft. The compost pile was in the center. The neighbors were not too fond of that pile of poo. A few weeks before planting that whole pile got tilled into the garden.

If you want your compost pile to REALLY cook, add some high nitrogen poo like pig or poultry. Any natural nitrogen source works. Chemical fertilizer based sources you have to be careful of phosphorus and sulphur. Too much of either will kill the bacteria. Milorganite is safe but i dont use it for veggie/food. Its fine for compost for your flower beds.

And no the massive poo piles across the street are fine. I cant smell them from home. Well mostly. Occasionally you can smell "bison" and the exotic cattle under perfect conditions. I normally only smell it when we got 50 plus roaming right across the street so im probably smelling the freshly dumped loads As a old Nebraska farm boy i know EXACTLY what that smell is. Been near stock yards and cattle often. Gramps ran a artificial insemination side business for years.

Nebraska is my Favorite place in the whole country to bird hunt !!! Great folks there !!! We'd hunt around Odel in the se corner most . Saw some whopper bucks too . Best beef i ever ate there too . Maybe cuz of milo ?? I know they raised angus and white face for market but kept the Limosines all for themselves !!! I LOVED Nebraska !!!

 

[GM54-120]

That pile in the backyard stunk but being from a farming background it didnt bother us much. That pile got so hot in the dead of winter you could not put your hand in it for more than a couple seconds. It literally had a column of steam from the top for months.

Neighbors though...yeah they were not at all happy about it. I dont remember us ever doing that again. Pretty sure none of them were raised outside the burbs or city.

 

[Sideshow]

That pile in the backyard stunk but being from a farming background it didnt bother us much. That pile got so hot in the dead of winter you could not put your hand in it for more than a couple seconds. It literally had a column of steam from the top for months.

Neighbors though...yeah they were not at all happy about it. I dont remember us ever doing that again. Pretty sure none of them were raised outside the burbs or city.

Yea "brown sugar" has some definate qualities about it !!! Lol !!! Dont get hit with that steam neither !!! It WONT AIR OUT !!! Good sinus cure tho.....

 

[GM54-120]

Gramps farm and 2 of my uncles had farms bordering Desoto Bend Wildlife Refuge near Blair. One of my uncles was the top conservation officer for the Nebraska side of the refuge. The part open to the pubic is on the Iowa side. Biggest crappie i ever saw came out of a slough on that refuge. We had duck blinds surrounds it. Ive seen HERDS of deer on and off the refuge.

 

[Sideshow]

Gramps farm and 2 of my uncles had farms bordering Desoto Bend Wildlife Refuge near Blair. One of my uncles was the top conservation officer for the Nebraska side of the refuge. The part open to the pubic is on the Iowa side. Biggest crappie i ever saw came out of a slough on that refuge. We had duck blinds surrounds it. Ive seen HERDS of deer on and off the refuge.

Wow you had it GOOD !!! Nebraska is a great , great state !!! I loved the folks and loved the hunting !!! Its just the Best ive ever been . Been to 21 states and None were better .

 

[GM54-120]

Small green area (top) with 2 silos was Gramps. The house is long gone now but 2 silos remain. House on the right with the pond is my uncles place. He was the conservation agent and a farmer. Gate to the refuge is at the T in the road just above the house. Keep going forward to go in the refuge if the gate was open. House on the bottom was my uncle Hardy's place. Family owned everything from Long Creek to the refuge.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/D...f421e11509453e!8m2!3d41.5410111!4d-96.0307556

 

[GM54-120]

Basically done now aside from minor weeding, laying down straw, some weed barrier and 3 smaller ones still hardening off. Got 5 or 6 pots to spare too....Need a little spring clean up as well. My straw atm is under that tarp and storms the next few days.

Stumpy with rosemary and Genovese basil

Lotta Thyme on my hands...Too much Thyme on my hands

The jala patch soil looks awesome. turned by hand. Mixed in a couple coffee cans of alfalfa meal. That plot has a whole winter worth of egg shells/coffee grounds in it and quite a bit of last years plants ground up. Black and full of worms.

Really liking this Spicy Slice jala so far. Its a little trooper.

4 Aji Amarillo. Removed its shade today since its gunna be cloudy for most of the next few days

Giving these guys just a few more days to adjust.

Scorpion late start in all mushroom compost (experiment). Did this one year with a hab that cranked pods

Baby Aji Oro that looks like it will be fine. The 2 others are way larger but been in real sun longer too.

Came inside for a nice bowl of homemade chicken noodle soup. Just chicken, bone broth, egg noodles (cooked on the side), celery, white part of some green onion and a dash of Aleppo pepper.

 

[GM54-120]

Moved my spicy kraut...(basically a simple kimchi) into a 2qt jar for easier storage. My fermenting pail is square and takes up more room and the cabbage is plenty sour now.

This is very easy to make and after you learn to make your own kraut you probably wont ever buy it again.
3 14oz bags of Dole Slaw mix. 1190.68grams
2% salt by weight of the veggies. I used good pickling salt. About 24grams for this batch. Just dont use table salt with iodine in it.
2 TBS mild pepper flakes....I used Korean but ripe jalapeno is tasty too
1 TBS really good fish sauce (Redboat40n). TOTALLY optional but you wont taste it when its done. Just helps with the ferment.

Salt and weep cabbage for 2 hours. Mix it good every 20-30min.
Mix in pepper flakes and fish sauce
Pack it tight in a jar with minimal head space (maybe 2" tops)...and i mean PACKED TIGHT.
Top off with a 2% salt brine if needed....mine usually dont need it until i pack it into the final jar.
Put a lid on it just 2 finger tight. Mason lids will burp if just barely tightened.
Put the jar in a sorta warmish dark spot for 3-7days on a drip pan in case it over flows. Dont bother it at all for 3, it wont be ready.
When it smells sour toss it in the fridge for at least 2 weeks. Its starts getting really good around a month+

I use this kind of kraut for this.....Topped with some Thousand Island dressing.

 

[Matthew323]

Moved my spicy kraut...(basically a simple kimchi) into a 2qt jar for easier storage. My fermenting pail is square and takes up more room and the cabbage is plenty sour now.

This is very easy to make and after you learn to make your own kraut you probably wont ever buy it again.
3 14oz bags of Dole Slaw mix. 1190.68grams
2% salt by weight of the veggies. I used good pickling salt. About 24grams for this batch. Just dont use table salt with iodine in it.
2 TBS mild pepper flakes....I used Korean but ripe jalapeno is tasty too
1 TBS really good fish sauce (Redboat40n). TOTALLY optional but you wont taste it when its done. Just helps with the ferment.

Salt and weep cabbage for 2 hours. Mix it good every 20-30min.
Mix in pepper flakes and fish sauce
Pack it tight in a jar with minimal head space (maybe 2" tops)...and i mean PACKED TIGHT.
Top off with a 2% salt brine if needed....mine usually dont need it until i pack it into the final jar.
Put a lid on it just 2 finger tight. Mason lids will burp if just barely tightened.
Put the jar in a sorta warmish dark spot for 3-7days on a drip pan in case it over flows. Dont bother it at all for 3, it wont be ready.
When it smells sour toss it in the fridge for at least 2 weeks. Its starts getting really good around a month+

I use this kind of kraut for this.....Topped with some Thousand Island dressing.

GM54-120

I have been wanting to get into fermenting vegetables for several years. I have made kefir and yougurt in the past, and of course bread from scratch.

This is pretty simple, I think I am going to have to try it. Can it be down sized to fit a pint Mason jar? I don't want to try too much at once, in case the taste is not to my liking. I DO LIKE most types of kimchee.

I've got the Red Boat fish sauce. Where do you purchase the Korean red pepper from? If I recall correctly, Penderey's in Texas sold the Korean red pepper in strand form. But, it's been some time since I ordered anything from them.

Will kosher salt work? It is supposed to be additive free?

 

[GM54-120]

Cabbage is simple.....2% salt by weight of the veggies or water volume. The correct pepper flakes will have a pic of kimchi on the pack. Flakes will be coarse. Fine powder is for something else and hotter most of the time.

I use this brand called Assi but there are several good ones.

 

[GM54-120]

Kosher and Canning salts are normally fine for any ferments. My favorite is Korean solar salt but its a little expensive. Its naturally sun dried sea salt from an island off Korea. He are some videos from Maangchi. Personally i think she goes too heavy on the fish sauce. I skip the seafood most of the time too but fermented shrimp is tasty for kimchi. I just wont use it for anything else. The kimchi "paste" freezes just fine btw.

Mak kimchi aka simple kimchi often does not use the rice flour "porridge" in the paste. I normally dont use it either. Its also cut into bite sized pieces
https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/easy-kimchi
Tong baechu kimchi is the normal whole leaf nappa cabbage kimchi.
https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/tongbaechu-kimchi
Yang baechu kimchi is regular green cabbage kimchi sometimes called emergency kimchi. This kind is REALLY good with Taiwan cabbage. Its similar to regular green cabbage but not easy to find.
https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/yangbaechu-kimchi
At the moment tons of imported products from that region are harder to get and way more expensive. Korean pepper flakes (gochugaru) has always been WAY over priced online at Amazon. At my market i get a kilo bag for about $8 for the cheap stuff and $17-18/lb for top shelf.

This is very good salt for kimchi
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KNGFG2I
Any of these pepper flakes will work. Freeze them after opening.
https://www.amazon.com/Tae-kyung-Korean-Pepper-Flakes-Gochugaru/dp/B005G8IDTQhttps://www.amazon.com/Singsong-Korean-Pepper-Coarse-Powder/dp/B005G8T32Mhttps://www.amazon.com/Korean-Pepper-Coarse-Powder-Pounds/dp/B005OJUSZE

 

[Matthew323]

Kosher and Canning salts are normally fine for any ferments. My favorite is Korean solar salt but its a little expensive. Its naturally sun dried sea salt from an island off Korea. He are some videos from Maangchi. Personally i think she goes too heavy on the fish sauce. I skip the seafood most of the time too but fermented shrimp is tasty for kimchi. I just wont use it for anything else. The kimchi "paste" freezes just fine btw.

Mak kimchi aka simple kimchi often does not use the rice flour "porridge" in the paste. I normally dont use it either. Its also cut into bite sized pieces
https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/easy-kimchi
Tong baechu kimchi is the normal whole leaf nappa cabbage kimchi.
https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/tongbaechu-kimchi
Yang baechu kimchi is regular green cabbage kimchi sometimes called emergency kimchi. This kind is REALLY good with Taiwan cabbage. Its similar to regular green cabbage but not easy to find.
https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/yangbaechu-kimchi
At the moment tons of imported products from that region are harder to get and way more expensive. Korean pepper flakes (gochugaru) has always been WAY over priced online at Amazon. At my market i get a kilo bag for about $8 for the cheap stuff and $17-18/lb for top shelf.

This is very good salt for kimchi
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KNGFG2I
Any of these pepper flakes will work. Freeze them after opening.
https://www.amazon.com/Tae-kyung-Korean-Pepper-Flakes-Gochugaru/dp/B005G8IDTQhttps://www.amazon.com/Singsong-Korean-Pepper-Coarse-Powder/dp/B005G8T32Mhttps://www.amazon.com/Korean-Pepper-Coarse-Powder-Pounds/dp/B005OJUSZE

Thanks for the links to the videos, and the pepper flakes.

Are you talking about the fermented shrimp paste for the kimchee, or something else?

 

[Idaholewis]

Basically done now aside from minor weeding, laying down straw, some weed barrier and 3 smaller ones still hardening off. Got 5 or 6 pots to spare too....Need a little spring clean up as well. My straw atm is under that tarp and storms the next few days.

Stumpy with rosemary and Genovese basil

Lotta Thyme on my hands...Too much Thyme on my hands

The jala patch soil looks awesome. turned by hand. Mixed in a couple coffee cans of alfalfa meal. That plot has a whole winter worth of egg shells/coffee grounds in it and quite a bit of last years plants ground up. Black and full of worms.

Really liking this Spicy Slice jala so far. Its a little trooper.

4 Aji Amarillo. Removed its shade today since its gunna be cloudy for most of the next few days

Giving these guys just a few more days to adjust.

Scorpion late start in all mushroom compost (experiment). Did this one year with a hab that cranked pods

Baby Aji Oro that looks like it will be fine. The 2 others are way larger but been in real sun longer too.

Came inside for a nice bowl of homemade chicken noodle soup. Just chicken, bone broth, egg noodles (cooked on the side), celery, white part of some green onion and a dash of Aleppo pepper.

Stumpy ALL THE WAY That is a COOL Use for a Decaying Old Stump, I really like that!

 

[GM54-120]

My massive sunflowers popped up. This small bed is just a few sunflowers and then seeded with bunching onions for ground cover.

Regular "barrel cukes" popped up. Its some container variety.

This zapotec mater is blowing away all the hybrids. I juiced a bunch of limes the other day. Tossed them on top of the raised bed. After they weather more i will toss them in the compost pile.

The one bad thing about a stump pot is they suck nitrogen like mad as they rot. It got a huge dose of slow release because its been raining like mad for days. Plus more rain is on the way.

Turned some leftover cooked beans (50/50 pintos/peruano) into frijoles refritos con chorizo seca (Refried beans with semi cured chorizo). Had it wiff rice and cheeps.

Topped off with Aleppo powder and some Green Mountain Gringo salsa....mmmmm ZESTY

 

[Idaholewis]

This is 1 Flat of My Little Fella’s, i have another Flat Just like it under the Hoop House Lemon Spice, Orange Spice, and Pumpkin Spice. The other Flat has the Same Mixture, PLUS The Sugar Rush Peach i got from GM54, The SRP Are a Little Smaller than the Jalas, but not a Lot

 

[GM54-120]

Only baccatum im growing this year are the Aji Amarillo. First time with this variety. Pods are supposed to get really large but take lots of time to ripen. That is why i avoided them until now. The spots i use on the lower deck steps always crank out pods now matter what i put there. So after good luck with other late producers i had to try the amarillo.

Just like Aji Panca they are usually made into a paste before use.
https://perudelights.com/how-to-make-aji-amarillo-paste/
If you want to try amarillo paste. This one is exceptional and super low sodium. Pretty much all the others are loaded with salt. I thought it was quite mild and very fruity.
https://www.amazon.com/Zocalo-Peru-Organic-Amarillo-Chili/dp/B003D0MP3O

 

[Matthew323]

What level of heat are your aji Amarillo peppers? As I recall, the dried ones that I used to purchase were about a 5-6 on the heat scale.

 

[GM54-120]

The last paste i bought was milder than a really good jalapeno. This is my first year and it can vary from seed stock to seed stock. My seeds are 2nd generation from Peru seeds. No clue how hot mine will be but should be milder than Lemon Drops.

 

[Idaholewis]

The last paste i bought was milder than a really good jalapeno. This is my first year and it can vary from seed stock to seed stock. My seeds are 2nd generation from Peru seeds. No clue how hot mine will be but should be milder than Lemon Drops.

Lemon Drops will Grab your Attention

 

[GM54-120]

Lemon Drops can catch you off guard. Bite off the tip (no seeds) and its like....oh nice. Pop the rest in your mouth and it gets much warmer.

I made my version of fabada without the blood sausage. Its basically a ham-n-bean type soup/stew but instead of ham i use smoked neck bones, a little beef Polish sausage and a locally made green chile pork sausage. 50/50 Great Whites and Peruano beans.