Tag Archives: home

Make Your Own Chive Blossom Vinegar

Starting in late May and lasting through June, the garden is speckled with the vibrantly purple blossoms of chives.

Chives are a welcome addition to salads, vegetables, and eggs by adding their mild onion flavor.

Their blossoms are edible as well and can also be added to salads by pulling them apart into smaller bits.


Another simple way to use the flowers is to make a chive blossom vinegar.

Start by snipping the blossoms.  You’ll need a cup or two to fill a pint jar 3/4 full with the blossoms.

After collecting the blossoms, it’s a good idea to soak them for an hour or so in water.  This way any resident bugs can evacuate . We didn’t find any bugs in our freshly-opened blossoms, but if you do find them, consider changing the water another time to make sure they’re all out.

Towel dry the blossoms.

Lightly pack a sterilized pint jar with the blossoms and cover with vinegar.  I wanted the color of this vinegar to be lovely so I used white vinegar,  but generally I make my herb-infused vinegars with apple cider vinegar as if offers numerous health benefits on its own.

Place a piece of wax paper underneath the lid so that the vinegar doesn’t corrode the metal top.


For best flavor, infuse the chives into vinegar for 2-4 weeks before straining them out. After, keep the chive vinegar in a cool, dark location.

24 Hours Later

 

one week later

 

To recap, you’ll need:

  • 1-2 cups chive blossoms, soaked to remove any bugs and then towel dried
  • a sterilized pint jar
  • wax paper
  • enough white or apple cider vinegar to cover the blossoms

And then:

Add the chive blossoms to the pint jar and cover with the vinegar ensuring that all of the blossoms are completely submerged.  Place wax paper over the opening and screw on the lid. Wait 2 -4 weeks before straining out the chives. Store the vinegar in a cool, dark location.

This vinegar can be used wherever you might use vinegar, but I plan to use it mostly for salad dressings.

A simple Chive Blossom Vinaigrette could be made like this:

(for one cup)

  • 3/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup chive vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Dried herbs and snips of fresh chives (optional)

Place all ingredients into an empty jar, make sure the lid is on, and shake away!

 

 

 

Scenes from (Early) Spring

It’s starting to feel more and more like Spring on the farm!

…And it’s starting to feel more and more like we actually live on a farm!

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Maple production has continued.  We finished our 3rd batch this past weekend and it was the best one yet.  This week we’re in the midst of the fastest rushing sap we’ve seen so there will be at least a 4th (and probably a 5th) installment of our syrup!

We’ve tried boiling the sap down a number of ways – a grill, a rocket stove, and this last time we used a portable electric cooktop that we placed outside.

I think the rocket stove was the most fun, but we had a hard time keeping the sap boiling and it took a lot longer than it should have (like, 10 hours!).  We finished the last bit of sap on the kitchen stove and ended up with a decent amount of syrup.

The electric cooktop definitely won the contest for the most efficient way to boil down the amount of sap we collected. Continue reading →

Homestead Update – We live here!

We’ve been swirling around in the whirlwind that is moving. I am so grateful that we are finally living in our new home.  It’s been a long road here — we put our first offer in on this house early last September.

I guess moving is never easy.  Everything takes longer than anticipated and random inconveniences happen regularly.

Luckily, I have an accommodating family that let us camp there for quite awhile.  I’m too tired to write much else, but I thought I’d share some photos for a bit of a homestead update.  I hope to be back to writing more regularly soon.  Continue reading →

Homestead Update – The Beginning

We’re still in the process of getting our house move-in ready, but it’s always a treat to go visit the land we’ll soon be living with.

Without any input at all there are many strawberry blossoms!

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Homemade Miso Soup

It’s the time of year where rich, heavy dishes are becoming less appealing and I am longing for cleansing, lighter foods.  However, it’s still a bit chilly out and yesterday it even snowed again!  I thought we had seen the last of the snow, but I suppose not….

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Luckily, the sun was shining so we had one last frolic in the snowy woods with a friend and her little man.  It was a thick snow that clung to the trees and flew off in puffs in the wind.  I have to admit, it was quite lovely although I do think I am ready to move on and embrace spring.  It’s going to be so fun with a little one around!

Continue reading →

Gratitude Sunday (3/9/14) on Monday

The weekend was so full that I was unable to put this together yesterday.  However, I’d still like to share what I was grateful for this past week!

Joining with Wooly Moss Roots to celebrate Gratitude Sunday.

G r a t i t u d e  *  S u n d a y
{Sunday’s heartfelt tradition. A time to slow down, to reflect, to be grateful. A list of gratitudes.} 

This week I am grateful for…
  • Celebrating birthdays with family (three of them!).  Seeing my brother and his wife in town for the festivities and visiting the Botanical Gardens, too.
    IMG_5490 Continue reading →

6 Ways to Stay Happy Until Spring

It’s the time of year when people start counting down the days until spring.  I begin hearing a lot of complaining about the cold, the snow, and winter in general.

I understand. It definitely will be nice to feel warmth, wear sandals, and get into the car without scraping off ice.

However, we’re doing ourselves a disservice to wish away the rest of this season.  Despite how it might feel, winter will end, and there are even ways to enjoy the rest of it.  Continue reading →

As the wheel turns…(Imbolc Intentions)

Here we are at another turn of the wheel of the year.

Today marks the halfway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox.  Many who celebrate the seasons of the Earth call this day Imbolc, although it is also known as Candlemas to some and Bride’s Eve to others.

This is the time when winter may start to feel long, gray, and drawn out, but the spirit of this holiday reminds us to keep searching.  Just beneath the snow are the rumblings of spring.  Just as we look out to another gray sky, we also see the days growing longer and new buds on the trees. Continue reading →

Permaculture for Urban Homes and Small Spaces

One of the best things about blogging is discovering a new community of people with shared interests and goals.  One such kindred spirit is Mari of the blog Gather and Grow.  She is a fellow lover of permaculture and has graciously shared some great tips and inspiration for many of us who are interested in being more self-sufficient but feel limited by the space constraints of the urban environment.

Whether you live in an urban environment, or on many acres of land – I think you’ll find something useful here!

Permaculture Strategies for Urban Homes and Small Spaces

Permaculture designers love challenges. After all, permaculture is not just a set of organic gardening techniques, but a toolkit, a decision-making process, for designing sustainable human settlements. And one of its fundamental principles is: “The problem is the solution.”

What if we apply this principle to a challenge that many of us are all too familiar with: living in small urban spaces with little or no access to actual soil on which to grow food? Permaculture and gardening books present pictures of lovely, lush farm landscapes and large suburban lots overflowing with greenery, fruit trees, and vegetable gardens, perhaps even with small livestock. But what do you do if you live in an apartment, or have only a postage-stamp-sized bit of yard by your front door?

The permaculture answer: you can still do a lot. In this case, seeing the problem as the solution means turning the seeming constraints of an urban environment – the density of buildings, people, and resources – to your advantage, and doing things like intensive planting, vertical growing, and maximizing solar exposure in- and outdoors. Here I present ideas and strategies first for the apartment dweller, and then for those who do have yard space but it’s limited. Continue reading →

Nests and Nesting

nestsI am so thankful to have this time of nesting. It has been a period of profound spiritual development, deep insights, and lots of preparation.  Continue reading →