Kombucha brew flavorings

I'm getting pretty good at this kombucha brewing.   My last batch was ready in about 3 days, which I was shocked since it usually takes about a week for a batch to get to the right consistency.  I made my satellite batch, honey basil ginger.  I also had enough to bottle 3 liter sized bottles.  New flavors are black cherry basil, cranberry basil, and blueberry basil.    The cherry one was enjoyed tonight with our spaghetti squash spaghetti dinner.

Even though I have a continuous brew going, I think I am going to clean out the bottom of my jar before fermenting the next batch.    Need to do a little research beforehand.   

Kombucha success

My first real attempt to make kombucha with my home grown scoby came out great.   I was going to do a continuous brew cycle but decided against it after reading a few articles not in favor of it.   So my batch was enough to make two quart sized mason jars and two grolsch style liter jars.   I made four different flavors.  Mason jars- ginger basil honey and lemon cherry sea salt.   The ginger one was better out of the two, both still delicious.  The grolsch bottles I add a bit more sugar to create some carbonation to it.  Three days later, it was time to pop them open to taste.   I flavored one with apples and mint and the other with cucumber and some random flavor mint I have growing in my garden.   Again, both tasted good, but the winner of all four is the cucumber mint kombucha.   It tastes so good that I had to force myself not to drink the whole bottle at once.   I think the carbonated ones are much better tasting, so it looks like I will be traveling back to the store to purchase a few more bottles.  

In addition to my successful first kombucha brewing,  I have also started a nice little scoby hotel, with 3 tenants already checked in.   

Future flavors to try:

Raspberry peach

Coconut lime

Maybe something spicy or smoky 

Until next time...

Get dirty and keep on gardening.  

Fruit trees and kombucha

Got a deal on some fruit trees for $10 a piece at HEB.  I picked up 2 apple, 2 pear, 2 peach, and an apricot tree.  Finding room for all of them was a challenge, but I got them all in the ground.  It took me about 3 weeks, so hopefully the time in the containers hasn't killed them.

I started making my own kombucha about a month ago.  I started from scratch by making my own scoby. Today I brewed a large batch of tea to start a continuous feeding system.  Information I found said this method is less tedious and better for your scoby, so it sounded good to me.  I had about 4 cups left over from my scoby making batch. I used the left overs and experimented with adding some flavoring to the kombucha.  I am trying a ginger lemon batch and an orange lime batch.  I tasted the raw kombucha and it wasn't that bad.  Tasted somewhat like apple cider vinegar.   I have to let the flavors infuse for 3-5 days and then refrigerate them.  

We are heading to Oktoberfest this weekend , so they very first batch of clint's kombucha should be ready upon my return.  I can't wait!

Go outside and Get Dirty!

July 1st update- dry gardening and old barn shed

The dry gardening is doing so-so.  So far I've gotten about two dozen grape tomatoes, a dozen mid-sized green tomatoes, and several jalapeños.   Enough to make two big jars of roasted green salsa.   Lots a romaine lettuce in May and June.. Lots of salads but let it go to seed cause I was tired of washing it all the time.  My neighbor has 3x as many tomato plants and waters his beds frequently,  he says he isn't getting anything.   However, the squirrels are and they are sticking it to him by leaving half of everything they eat on the fence railing, in his kid's clubhouse, and even in my tree right above my hammock.  We had a lot of rain in May and beginning of June, so that really helped establish my plants. Since I planted everything in April, I think, I have only watered twice.  Last week we finally made it up to the high 90's and 100's with no rain so things were beginning to dry out.   

Everything looks scraggly but the fruit is still growing.   I have saved a lot of water usage this year.   

Ironically though,  this summer has already cost me a lot of money too.  Our AC went out, after about 25-30 years, it finally called it quits.  

My first summer project is a garden shed.    Total cost less than $250.  I reused old fence pickets, the old rust nails from the pockets, left over paint and lumber from previous projects.  I did have to buy a few 2x6s and 2x4s, along with the corrugated sheets for the roof.  So not only did I clean out my garage of materials, I was able to create less waste for the landfill.  

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 6

The size is 8x4x8ft.  In hindsight, would have made it shorter, but I guess I can put some shelves in it and hang my garden tools up high, leaving space below for things.  

All in all, I had a blast working in the heat, sweating it up, getting some exercise, creating something, and getting dirty.  The only bad thing was one paper wasp sting on my thumb knuckle.  

Go Garden and Get Dirty!

New season... New experiments

 So this year I am trying the dry farming method.  This procedure you spread out your plants 3 feet apart and water less. The goal is for each plant to take up any available water to use. Best way to describe this method is to think of plants that live in the desert. You bury your plants deep and water less frequently. So far the tomato plants have not grown very much. They're only about a foot tall. Last year at this time my plants were about 3 feet tall and already starting to produce fruit. Not sure if this method is going to work, but patience  is a gardener's worst enemy. 

A cool thing is that some bell pepper and jalapeño plants that I used in the buckets last year are starting to produce again.

I used one bed as my random salad bed.  I just took the seeds and randomly threw them in.  Growing is broccoli, lettuce, and carrots.  

Another experiment I am trying are some worm composting buckets.   Not sure how well they are working yet either.  

Took some cuttings from the grape vines and pear tree in January and they are taking root.  

I also started some seeds back in late March and some are coming up.  Looks like butternut squash from grocery store produce, watermelon, bell pepper, honeydew, and green beans.  

I have big aspirations to turn my whole front yard into an edible garden patch but just haven't had time to get it started.  I did however put in some 4x4 posts and planted 4 grape vines between them.   I want to create a living fence as part of the edible garden design.

Until next time...

Go Garden and Get Dirty!