As mentioned in an earlier post, my berry harvest was phenomenal this year and I’ve started experimenting with preserving methods. One tasty little 
experiment, suggested by a coworker, Rebecca, was to make liqueur. I’m not a big drinker, nor do I know much about alcoholic beverages, including liqueurs. But, I’m fortunate that her husband is a rum meister, recognized as one of the new “mixologists” for his work as a professional bar tender/tropical drink creator/tropical drink bar creator. (For more, see writeups in the SF Chronicle and NY Times, as well as this site for his new SF bar, Smugglers’ Cove, opening this fall.) So, when I received an email with Martin’s instructions for making liqueur, the scientist in me decided it was time to experiment.
Here are his instructions: (more…)
, Novella describes her experiences doing just that, experimenting–particularly with different kinds of livestock–in the heart of a major city. I’m sure she also touches on two key issues for urban farmers, access to land and water.
As readers of this site know, it is dedicated in part to my dearly departed dog, Pepper. She is buried in my back yard, where I planted flowers on her grave. I now have a profusion of beautiful flowers growing there. I like to think that Pepper is still providing me natural beauty by helping these flowers to grow.
My black raspberry is producing now. The berries keep getting bigger and better every year. Perhaps that’s the advantage of a perennial–every year the root system gets bigger and I get more and better berries. This year’s berries are melt-in-your-mouth sweet and juicy. The berry quality seems to come, too, from my learning to be patient, waiting just a few extra days for the berries to be ripe instead of picking them just a little too early. This is part of the art of being a farmer, knowing when to harvest. It’s one of the hardest things for me to learn. That and being patient.
I recently tried a new base material for lactofermentation, apples. This was the first time I have tried fermenting fruit. Although I was warned by a friend that I wouldn’t get good results because the apples weren’t crisp fall apples, I already had the apples and decided to give it a try. I’m glad I did. This chutney has now mellowed into a delightful and well-balanced blend of flavors: salty, sweet and sour. It’s received good reviews from friends.
of this book on Amazon.com.)