The Enchanted Garden Gate

Water Kefir

Tibicos… what a strange word, what might it be anyway? Well, it is fizzy fermented sugar water. Sounds strange right? It is actually quite delicious as well as a healthy alternative to soda. It is also known as water kefir. I first heard about it a few years ago when someone at the Farmer’s Market mentioned it, then a friend of mine started making it. It caught my interest but I didn’t start making any until last fall when my midwife offered me some grains as well as a kombucha scoby(which I also started making and will be another post.) Making water kefir is a very simple process. After looking it up online to figure out the basics here is the method I use. I make mine in a half gallon jar. For ½ gallon of water kefir or tibicos you will need: 10 Tablespoons of water kefir grains 6 Tablespoons of sugar(I use organic cane sugar) 1 small lemon or lime 1 small piece of fresh ginger Helpful equipment to have: Half gallon glass canning jar Cheesecloth Rubberband Funnel Strainer Jars or bottles that seal tightly To make your water kefir measure your kefir grains and sugar into your jar. Fill with water. Cut the lemon or lime into quarter and slice the ginger add to jar. Cover with cheesecloth holding in place with a rubberband. Let sit on counter at room temperature for 1 to 2 days. It should be tangy, with just a little bit of sweetness. Experiment to find how long you like to leave it, the longer it sits the more sour it becomes. I find the time it takes to ferment varies a little depending on the temperature in the house. Next strain out the liquid and pour into airtight jars or bottles. Let sit on the counter another 12- 24 hours. Refrigerate to chill then enjoy! Another variation that I like is adding about 1/3 fruit juice when bottling. It adds extra fizz and flavor! It is also good mixed half and half with lemonade when you serve it. I also want to try making ginger ale syrup to add to it one of these days. To make the next batch simply add 6 more Tablespoons of sugar to the jar and fill with water. After three batches I use fresh lemon and ginger and re-measure my grains, they will keep growing. I keep the extra grains in sugar water in the refrigerator, give them away, or throw them in the compost if there are too many.

My water kefir in my pretty bottles

Ready to sit on the counter

The grains- aren't they pretty?

The grains

The finished drink- so refreshing

Two Boys Painting

Having a great time!

Matthew didn't want to be left out while David was painting

Summer Highlights II: Rendezvous Days

Another highlight from the summer was having a booth at Rendezvous days.We worked like crazy to make and package enough body care products to fill a booth for the three day event.

I think our booth looked pretty good!

David had fun going on stage and blowing the train whistle during my in-laws performance

It was also fun to see Aunt Gina and Uncle Roger who came over from the coast

Summer Highlights I: Camping in Montana

 This summer has been so crazy, busy. With the farm bigger than ever, trying to do more farmers markets, starting a body care business and two active little boys, I have not really had time to keep up my blog. It has been a challenging, stressful, fun, exciting, crazy summer! We expanded the farm, but markets were down so it was harder to sell the produce, but we started selling some of our produce to a local grocery store which is  exciting. We have had a friend of Andrew's working with us all summer which enabled us to get more work done and made it more fun, but also added to the stress of whether the farm would make enough money or not. I have been making a lot of body care products; lip balm, body butter, scrubs and more; to sell on Amazon.com and locally. Plus I have my two sweet, precious, active, demanding little boys to keep me busy!

We had the amazing blessing of having my sister Melissa stay with us for two months this summer. I honestly don't even know how I would have survived without her. She helped with everything and anything; from babysitting to harvesting to making lip balm. It was so fun to have her with us. I haven't had the chance to spend this much time with since I got married and moved away.

We did take the time to squeeze in a few fun activities in the midst of our hectic days. One of the highlights of our summer was going over to the Bitterroot Valley, Montana to camp for a weekend. I lived over there on an 80 acre ranch.until I was 12 years old. My Grandpa still has property up there which is where we camped. It was fun to see all the old places, relax by the creek, and even visit some old friends who are now married and have families of there own.

David playing in the creek

Matthew enjoyed to creek, too

Melissa and Matthew in the old barn

The old barn, built in 1883

David in the barn

Sleeping in

Climbing an apple tree

Are the apples any good?

My sister and I with my boys

Colorful Fresh Salsa

I love summertime when all my colorful heirloom tomatoes come ripe. One of my favorite recipes to use them in is this zesty fresh salsa. It is bursting with color and flavor! It is also so easy to make. Recipe for Fresh Colorful Salsa About 2 lbs of various colored heirloom tomatoes 1 small onion 3-4 cloves of garlic 3-4 hot peppers depending on how hot you like it 1/4 tsp ground cumin 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro juice of one lime salt and pepper to taste Chop up tomatoes, peppers, garlic, and onion. Add spices and lime juice. Mix all together refrigerate until ready to use.

Little Boy Picnic

Last week I packed a little picnic lunch and David and I set out with Matthew on my back. We headed into the forest searching for the perfect picnic spot. Along the way we crossed the little stream and found a few wildflowers. We chose a little clearing in the trees to stop for our lunch; a stump made the perfect table. We spread David's teddy bear blanket over the stump as a table cloth, then proceeded to lay out the feast. We had peanut butter sandwiches cut into bug shapes, watermelon, chips, cookies and lemonade; perfect little boy picnic food. We sat enjoying our meal and visiting together. It was a beautiful day! David had such a good time and Matthew enjoyed looking around at the new scenery. We will have to do it again sometime!

David enjoying his lunch

The picnic fare

We picked some wildflowers along the way

And some yellow ones, too

Me with Matthew on my back

The pretty picnic basket

The flowers we took home and put in a vase

Pies

David and I made pies last weekend. We got a little carried away; we made cherry-rhubarb, rhubarb, and lemon meringue. We made three large pies and several mini pies. We also decorated them all fancy. It was such fun!

New Diaper

OH No! I must be getting really obsessed with cloth diapers now, to be posting about the new one I just bought. I simply couldn't resist this diaper, it is so cute and it matches my wetbag!. I had to buy it. It is a Blueberry cover for over prefolds. I have decided covers over prefolds are my favorite way to go. The Blueberry cover had a lot more color and cute print options than the flip covers I got. I really like this cover for the most part. It seems to run slightly larger than the Flips, which I think would make it hard to fit on a smaller baby, it fits Matthew great. It also doesn't have facing or tabs on the inside to tuck the prefold into like the Flips does. At first I found that more challenging but now I am used to it and it works fine. One feature that I really like are the double gussets around the legs. I have had no leaks with this diaper and would certainly buy another one, especially because they come in such cute prints. I spent $16.50 on this diaper.

ABCDEFG...

The other day while David was drawing on the white board I looked over and found him practicing writing his letters. He has known his alphabet for quite awhile now, but has never tried writing them until now. I think he did a pretty good job!