Medieval Festival - Wynyard, Tasmania

Some medieval fun...  

Garden Spectacular @ Highfield House - Stanley, Tasmania

Garden Spectacular at Highfield House in Stanley, Tasmania. 

The heirloom tomato seedlings sure were popular. We got 4 of the 'black from Tula' variety. 

 

 
Peter Rabbit(?) and Humpty Dumpty

Old Holdens in front of The Nut

We took the boys on a bumpy 'train' ride 

 
Teddy bears picnic?

Tips For Making The Best Water Kefir

- Start with clean hands and equipment. There's no need to sterilise but, as with any kind of fermenting, very clean is good. You don't want to be breeding bad bacteria.

 

- The ratio of 2-4 tbs sugars : 2-4 tbs kefir grains : 1L water seems to be good.

- If your kefir's not working or your grains aren't looking too healthy, try something different. Try a different unrefined sugar, a piece of egg shell, dried fruit, fermenting in a warmer or cooler place (a friend of mine could only get hers to work by fermenting in the fridge). Google 'how to make water kefir' and see what you come up with.

- Remember that it can take a few batches for kefir grains to adjust to new ingredients or a different water source. 

- If you're fermenting in an 'open' jar or with just a normal screw top jar lid and it smells a bit funky, isn't as fizzy as you'd like, or just doesn't seem right, consider changing to an anaerobic ferment. You'll need either Fido jars (not very expensive to buy) or a proper pickling airlock system for better and more consistent results.

- There are a few airlock systems around these days. Pickl-Its are popular and are just fancy lids on Fido jars, so if you are in Australia and already have Fido jars you can just get a lid conversion kit.  Kitsa's Kitchen also has a lot of fermenting equipment so check out her product list.

For more posts on water kefir...     

Water Kefir Picture Tutorial - Part 2

This follows on from Water Kefir Picture Tutorial - Part 1.


When the water kefir has sufficiently fermented it will have changed colour slightly and no longer be clear.
   

If you wish to flavour it, pour your flavouring into your bottles (I use 1L swing top bottles). Go to the bottom of this post for flavouring ideas.

Open up your water kefir. Mine is fizzy and pleasant smelling at this stage. Discard lemon slices.

Strain your grains off, funnelling the water kefir into your bottles. I leave a little room and then pour clean water over to rinse the grains, using the water to top up the bottle. Set aside grains.

Close up the bottle. It's at this stage that you can leave the bottle out at room temperature for 12-24 hours for a second ferment but I put mine straight in the fridge. It's best refrigerated for a day or two before drinking, if you can wait that long.

In a heatproof jug: 2 tbs white sugar, 2 tbs jaggery, 1/2 tsp bicarb soda, 1 tsp maple syrup, 1/2 tsp blackstrap molasses. This is the 'resting solution', with a higher ratio of unrefined sugars for extra minerals, that I use when keeping my grains in the fridge (I only make a batch once a week). If you are making smaller batches you might just use your usual recipe to make kefir daily.

 
Stir in just enough hot water to dissolve the sugars. Top up to about 500 ml with cold water.

In a 1.5L Fido jar: 2 cps cold water and 2 lemon slices.

Pour in the sugar solution. Make sure it's cool before adding 3-4 heaped tbs kefir grains. Top up with cold water to the neck of the jar. Refrigerate until required for another batch.

Want some other tips for making the best water kefir? 

Water Kefir Picture Tutorial - Part 1

Everyone seems to have a different way of making water kefir. This is the way I've been doing it for nearly 2 years and it makes about 6L of plain water kefir. For a more detailed version, check out this post. Adjust quantities and ingredients to suit your preferences.


1.5L Fido jar of kefir grains straight out of the fridge after a week of resting and growing.

Discard lemon slices and strain off the liquid. Pour a little clean water over the grains to rinse. Drain and set aside.

In a 1L heatproof jug: 9 tbs white sugar, 2 tbs jaggery, 3 tsp maple syrup, 1.5 tsp bicarb soda.

Stir in enough hot water to dissolve the sugar.

Top up with cold water and stir. Set aside for a few minutes (this will allow any impurities from the jaggery to settle at the bottom).

2 x 3L Fido jars. Into each place 2 unpeeled lemon slices and about 1L of cold water (the cold water is just so the glass jar doesn't crack when the warm sugar solution is poured in).

Pour half the sugar solution into each jar. Discard any impurities left at the bottom of the heatproof jug. Check the temperature of the water in each jug to make sure it's cool. And more plain, cold water if necessary.

Add 6 heaped tablespoons of water kefir grains to each jar. Top up with water to the neck of the jar (leaving 2-3cm). Close lids. Leave in a warm (20-25 deg c) place, out of direct sunlight, for 18-24 hours or until fermented to taste.

Water Kefir Picture Tutorial - Part 2, Bottling

Nest

Shmoo found this beautifully woven old bird nest that had blown to the ground in our front yard.

Survival Skills - Fire Starting

The OH was practising using flint and steel as a fire starter and the boys were keen to learn. Shmoo got the hang of it very quickly; Loo took a while but got there in the end; Beanie doesn't quite have the coordination for it yet but had fun trying.

Spring

The days are warming up and getting longer and the veggie garden is loving it.

Some of the kale is going to seed. 

Bunnings Gardening Session - Homeschool Group

  

Bunnings in Burnie generously hosted a gardening session for the younger homeschooled kids yesterday, with all materials provided free of charge.

There were 2 activities. First our boys planted spring bulbs in a little pot. Afterwards they got to decorate a little cardboard pot with paint, glitter and foam shapes. Each family was also given a box of gardening magazines and each child got to take home a bag of bulbs.

Shmoo

Making gluten free blueberry and lemon friands for a picnic in the park with friends.

Thrilled about the Dyson DC02 that The OH found at the dump for him. 

Total Lunar Eclipse

 

1st Anniversary

Miss you, Princess Fatty Puss <3