Snug as Bugs
We’ve been keeping an ear to our ladies this winter. Mr Chiots heads out after each snow fall and makes sure the doors are clear of snow and he scrapes away and dead bees from the entrance. He puts his ear up the hives and listens for that buzzing of bees beating their wings to keep warm. Both of our hives are still buzzing away, one’s louder than the other.
During winter, the worker bees cluster around the queen and brood in the hive. They try to keep the temperature at about 90 degrees. The bees from the outer parts of the cluster will move to the inside as the bees from the inside move out. This way all the bees stay warm throughout the cold winter. On warmer days they’ll take cleansing flights, basically to go to the bathroom. We haven’t had any days warm enough for such flights yet, but we may have one in the next few weeks. We’ll be watching the hives to see what happens come spring.
We’re hoping to have a good honey harvest this coming summer if both of our hives survive. Learning how bees work really makes me appreciate the honey I put in my tea, it’s amazing what they go through to make it!
What kind of foods do you appreciate that take such intricacy to produce?
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I’ll Take a Tall Stack
During the long cold winter months here in NE Ohio, it’s futile to think about gardening all the time! There are still many long months of cold and snow left (they’re predicting a few inches overnight). To keep myself from going crazy, I spend my winter months learning to do new things. I finally mastered sourdough bread, so now I’m learning to use sourdough in places besides bread, like muffins and pancakes. One reason I like sourdough is because the grains are soaked overnight, this is supposed to make them easier to digest and much more nutritious. On Tuesday morning I finally made my first batch of sourdough pancakes and they were a HUGE hit.
I used the basic recipe from Mother Earth News and amended it to suit my tastes. I used my sourdough starter and some freshly ground whole wheat flour, along with some buttermilk leftover from my butter making, eggs from the local farm. We topped them with some homemade butter and some local maple syrup (soon enough we’ll have our own maple syrup).
Sourdough Pancakes
1 cup sourdough starter* (I like to use recently fed starter)
1 cup water or buttermilk (I’ve made both and much prefer buttermilk)
1 cup flour (I used 100% whole wheat freshly ground)
In a large bowl, mix these 3 ingredients just until combined (don’t over mix) and let stand overnight. I use raw milk buttermilk in mine and it doesn’t bother me to let it sit out overnight, it has beneficial bacteria in it, so I don’t worry about the milk going bad. *I feed my starter white flour, so my pancakes were half whole wheat.
2 eggs
1/4 cup melted coconut oil or butter (allow to cool slightly)
1 tablespoon of sugar (or 1 tablespoon of honey)
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of baking soda
vanilla & cinnamon to taste if desired
*you can add a few Tablespoons of powdered milk if you used water in your starter above instead of using buttermilk
The next morning, sprinkle sugar, salt and baking soda over the starter sponge you made the night before (I always put my baking soda through a screen to get rid of any lumps). Whisk egg and butter or coconut oil together then add to sponge mix. Add additional buttermilk if the sponge mix seems to thick for pancake batter (depends on whether you like thick or thin pancakes, this batter is slightly thicker than normal). Mix until combined and allow to sit for 30 minutes before making pancakes.
Drop batter by quarter cups on a buttered, preheated cast iron pan. Cook pancakes until golden brown on both sides, flipping them once only when tops are bubbly and edges look like they’re starting to dry (I guess you know how to do this so I don’t need to explain it too much).
Some of the recipes I’ve read don’t use baking soda, I’ll be making a batch soon without. I hear that it helps reduce the sourness of the pancakes, so if you’re pancakes are too sour, add another half teaspoon of baking soda. Next batch I’ll try making without any baking soda to see how sour they are and how well they raise.
Mr Chiots loved these pancakes, he said they were the fluffiest pancakes I’ve ever made. One great thing about soaking the whole wheat overnight is that it reduces the bitterness of the whole wheat. I must agree, these didn’t taste like they had as much whole wheat in them as they did. I’ll try making some buckwheat pancakes soon as well. I’m not as huge a fan of buckwheat as I am whole grain or oatmeal pancakes.
What’s your favorite kind of pancake?
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All Things Red
I saved red for last because I must admit, I don’t like red in the garden, at least red flowers. I don’t think there’s a red bloom anywhere in my gardens. The one lone red flower in the collage below is at Stan Hywet in Akron.
Red vegetables on the other hand are wonderful. I love having a garden full of big red tomatoes, apples and radishes, shiny red peppers and juicy red strawberries. When it comes to vegetables red is a tasty color!
What’s your favorite red fruit or vegetable?
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All Things Yellow
Yellow is a popular color in the garden. Personally, I prefer other colors, I have a few wild rudbeckias in the garden and a few yellow lilies and you you can’t deny the happiness they bring to their little corner of the garden. Goldenrod in the late summer and fall is as pretty as any cultivated flower and the bright yellow maple leaves in the fall are beautiful. You still won’t find me buying lots of yellow blooms for the garden.
Yellow tomatoes on the other hand are a completely different story! You really can’t beat the tastiness of a yellow tomato for eating!
What’s your favorite yellow flower? A humble native like goldenrod or black eyed susans or something more cultivated?
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All Things Purple
When I started gardening I wanted a lot of white blooms in the garden. All of the things I planted that first ended up blooming purple instead. I don’t mind now, it seems like all these attract so many beneficial insects.
I think my favorite purple flower is the liatris, I love the tall structure they have. They’re so interesting.
Although coming in a close second are petunias. I love hanging baskets filled with white and purple petunias.
What’s your favorite purple flower?
