The picture from last year (2015) shows our cowpeas in the West Veggie Garden doing pretty well…
Cowpeas from our own seed 2015
Look at the soil in between the plants and in the walkways. See the sandy soil in the orchard just past the garden. Now see the same rows in the West Garden with this year’s cover crop of cowpeas.
Cowpeas in the West Garden Summer 2016
Notice the mulch in the walkways. The soil looks much richer in texture thanks to the mulching and the cover cropping and crop rotation we’ve been doing. It’s important not to till the soil, but cut the plants off at the base so that the nutrients remain in the soil around the roots.
There are relatively few sandy soil patches on the property now. The chickens are meticulous about scratching around and moving the mulch. They dig down into the soil to find bugs and to take dust baths. We have to replace the mulch in the barnyard area almost everyday!
Kefir is made by fermenting milk with a yeast starter (kefir grains) in a closed non-corrosive container such as a glass jar. The mixture is left in the dark for 24 hours, after which the liquid may be drawn off and more milk added to the grains to continue the fermentation process.
Kefir is rich in nutrients including vitamins, minerals and probiotics and is a good source of calcium for older adults. The kefir milk can be used in recipes such as dressings and smoothies and solid kefir products used in making cheese and yogurt-type dishes.
Messed up on this one. We let the Kefir ferment too long and it separated into curds and whey. 24 hours is the limit. Had to dump the whey and rinse the grains and start over.
And…cheese cloth doesn’t get it. Use a very fine sieve.
The next batch was perfect. we used in in our first Kefir smoothie. Good stuff!
