Baby steps toward food independence: nuts, nutella, apple juice, cider, apple cider vinegar, wine, bread & jams
This beautiful collection of foraged nuts represents my current stash. Walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, chestnuts & acorns, all of them picked within a few 100 meters of our home. It took an entire afternoon to crack 400g of hazelnuts with that hammer for a sugar-free nutella recipe I wanted to try, but it was worth it in the end!
The original nutella uses more sugar & palm oil than anything else, with only 14% nuts! Mine is around 90% nuts, sweetened with maple syrup and a dash of vanilla. And just so you know, real cacao would have been preferable to this processed chocolate. It was out of date and needed eating so I just went with it.
After roasting the hazelnuts (and doing my best to skin them) I processed until smooth.
Finally I melted the other ingredients in a hot bowl and mixed it all together. In the end it could have probably done with a bit of sugar but no matter, it will still all be finished in a week.
Have also been adding walnuts to my bread mix recently which has been lovely.
The acorns will eventually be turned into flour and used to bolster our current flour stash. With food shortages on the horizon I am always looking for sustainable replacements or additions to things.
A decent video on what to do with acorns here if you're interested. They grow on all continents and represent an amazing food source completely unknown by most, so you really should be interested ;)
Remember those apples I told you about in the last post?
They ended up as apple juice for the kids (left), cider for the adults (center) & apple cider vinegar for everyone (right). We used the left over apple cores to make the vinegar.
I racked & bottled the cider a few days ago, after two weeks of fermenting. Didn't even need to add yeast to the juiced apples. Plenty of natural yeast in there already.
We filled 26 wine bottles in the end, with one party sized bottle!
Two of the corked bottles have since exploded, so these swing cap bottles are definitely preferable.
I added sugar before bottling and it still needs to sit for another week before it is ready but even now it tastes amazing and my mind is consistently blown by how alcoholic it becomes after just two weeks of sitting there, without adding anything at all. If I had only known this as a teenager!
Here is the vinegar after straining out the mushy apple cores.
Like the cider it will need to sit for a further week or so to develop its intensity. And if I understand correctly, this batch can be used as a mother to create more.
Interesting to note that the only difference between cider & vinegar production is the vessel you keep it in. One permits the air to enter, while the other does not.
The red & white wine (which needed yeast) ended up in these glass containers and is still fermenting a little after a month. Baby cat likes to sit and watch the bubbles.
I've not talked much about my jam production this year but I can assure you I have been busy. Opening the fridge door now I can see fig & vanilla, red grape jelly & apricot jam. My favourite is actually fig, cinnamon & ginger, an incredible combination. And now that everyone in my family enjoys at least one of them, we will never again need to buy jams!
In our courtyard things are still looking great. Ripe figs.
Ripe tomatoes.
Even the banana trees are flowering.
Bit beyond his reach for now ;)
Incredibly beautiful right? Let's see if we will be eating home-grown bananas before it gets too cold for them...
Over in the garden things are also looking great. Two varieties of lettuce coming up here.
The ginger is currently in flower, amazingly scented and lightly flavoured flowers.
At the base are their desirable roots.
Looking ready for me to cut a few out before winter.
We created a new kids area with a teepee, hidden behind the Jerusalem artichokes
It has been amazing to see how much they love it there.
Decorating their house & garden as they wish.
Yesterday Esteban planted peas in his little garden, which will be ready to harvest in the spring.
Here he is with our harvest of the day :)
Playing Mr Funny-man as usual.
In other news, am very happy to announce the arrival of @opidia to our little village here on the French side of the Pyrenees Mountains. Later today we will be setting up an office in her house (away from the delightful yet not always desirable distraction of children) as a little HQ of sorts, for crypto trading and planning our future. This last period of the bull market we are moving into now will see insane price moves so one would be prudent to be poised and ready to take full advantage.
So I think that's it for now, but I would like to take this opportunity to remind you all that something great is brewing here in the South of France and perhaps if you are brave like @opidia you would like to join us on our mission (to live freely forever!) at this early stage before we buy land? I cannot stress enough the importance of getting away from built up areas as soon as possible and focusing your attention on food independence. As you have seen in this post we are situated in a perfect part of the world for this, so just drop me a line at [email protected] and let's make something happen!
Love & Light everyone 🌱
What an awesome post. I loved reading it. I am super jealous that you have all those nut trees growing so close to you. I live in an area where the indigenous plants are not always edible as a food source, more medicinal in nature. There are some fruits that I can forage, but I am not an expert on them yet. For now, I try to grow various leafy greens, and to grow some fruits. Slow journey, but your post is such an inspiration.
As you say it is a slow journey. And for that I am grateful because there is so very much to learn! No more than 3 years ago we were 100% dependent on shops & markets and while we are by no means there yet, we are a whole bunch closer to the goal. I should really be thanking whoever it was that designed this village, planting all the right kind of trees around it. The punchline of course is that 500 years later, almost no one here picks from them! Further evidence of the devolution of humans.
Thanks for sharing a little of your journey. I think foraging will only get us so far, no matter where we live, and having a garden is essential. In this way we can control the soil type & even the climate with poly tunnels etc, ultimately widening the variety of what we can grow. I like that you said "yet" and I wish you all the best on the road to becoming an expert.
What a shame that we devolution so much. I struggle with this so often and I have no idea how to tackle this problem. Fast food and instant gratification (essentially all numbing us) appeal to the masses so easily and they fall for it.
"Yet", yes. There are so many indigenous plants and non-native species that kind of have become native that I still want to learn and explore. The soil here is so fertile and healthy that it is a shame that most people rely on crops grown 100s of kilometres away from us.
Thanks for the thoughtful reply. 😊
Absoutely brilliant! I wish you the best luck for your endeavors! I would not rule out that once I would like to join, if things get much worse than now. There is unfortunately not the slightest hint that it will go back in the right direction, quite the contrary.
Upon checking out your blog I am interested to see there is a hive chess tournament! What a great idea. Esteban & I have been playing for the last few years and I realise he is only six but he seems pretty good to me. Recently I saw him beat his mother in six moves.
As hard as it is to accept, the world will never be the same again and life will be made very difficult for those who don't walk in line with the rest. So, we either comply or exit the system. I made my choice a few years ago and everything I do now is with a view to this. Once we have our own land, that's when the games really begin...
wow amazing foraging is defo a little harder in uk as we don't rly have nuts and seeds growing here, we can eat weeds etc but you need those filling nuts we only rly have mushrooms but I don't dare get it wrong as it can kill/.
In fact, all of those nuts I mentioned can grow perfectly well in the UK. You've just got to know where they are. Why not plant some seeds or buy baby trees for your future food forest? Eventually you will have somewhere for them to put down their roots. That's what I am doing. And seeing them all slowly growing really helps with the manifesting vision. Mountain community with a food forest at its centre... hmmmm :)
For the wild mushrooms I too suffer from an irrational fear which I feel sure has been intentionally programmed into us as children. In fact there is nothing to fear when one has a quality picture guide which is appropriate for the region. Or just hang out with the experts for a while! I have been able to find a local man who has agreed to take my family out after the next big rainfall so we can learn first hand and it won't be long before we don't need the picture guide.
The other thing I wanted to say was to please consider joining us! Have watched a few of your vids (the satan one was particularly interesting) and it would be an honour to have you in our team. I really love the UK but the incoming grand solar minimum will make it very difficult to grow food all year round in the future. Further south better! Just 1000km south and you can grow mangoes & bananas ;)
How wonderful to grow food 365 days a year! Here in Southern BC we are limited to May, June, July, August, and September. But this year we didn't really get any months for growing at all... just heat so bad leaves burned right off the plants. There were no bees, and it only rained 5 times all year. And now the heat is gone and we're getting frost every night. I tried peas a second time because my first crop was singed to death in June, but this one froze. I put hundreds of hours of effort into my garden this year, plus about $100 in seeds, and ended up with about 30 tomatoes, 4 tiny squash, 2 little pumpkins, enough garlic to try again next year, a bag of potatoes, and a few handfuls of beans. Luckily, the local farmers market had food, although it was a lot more expensive than last year. They don't require a health passport... yet.
You know if I could get over there, I would! But unvaccinated Canadians are not allowed to leave the country by any means. We are prisoners here until we take the injections. Many countries are locking down in a similar way now that health passports are in place. Hopefully everybody is where they want to be. Good luck to us all.
Feels a bit like musical chairs hey. And the music has indeed nearly stopped.
Each growing season will see many failures but this is how we learn. I don't talk much about the plants which didn't work in these posts, but you can be sure there are many! There must surely be ways to protect your crops from frosts or keep them cooler in those crazy hot months? As you say, we can't rely on shops or markets for much longer. Perhaps you could connect privately with the producers at your market and set up some kind of unofficial delivery system with them? If they have any kind of humanity left in them, they will understand your predicament and want to help you.
What a lifestyle! So very nice and well prepared for the uncertain future! The children are growing up beautifully. I would love to be your assistant in the garden so I could learn to make wine and vinegar! Thanks for sharing your journey!
And I would gladly take you in as my assistant! Could really do with one ;)
That being said, you don't need my physical presence to learn these things. Just try it yourself! I bet you have plenty of amazing possibilities around you...
Sending hugs :)
🙏😻😻😂😂🍄🌈
Hey cuddlekitten! We managed to get both our cats to the garden the other day. It was very enjoyable ;)
Amazing work and photos!
Much appreciated. It has been a pretty awesome journey. Never ending fun and discovery...
Magnificent looking Garden! I'd love to try that Apple cider vinegar. Pulses, Grains. It's like a dream out there. Your kids are growing up. What you are saying about the bull market seems wise. Get so much joy to see you and your family being self sustaining. Sending Abundance, Love and Light.
Funny you should mention pulses & grains. I think about them often, conscious we don't actually have them in this garden. Have seen someone growing chickpeas here and also wheat, and I am wondering if lentils will grow? Need to check that!
We had drinks last night with the English owners of our land who are here for a few weeks, after a few years away. Was a bit concerned how they would feel about the new garden/playground style and also the few plants hiding in the shadows, which they definitely would not have appreciated. Thankfully they didn't notice the plants in the shadows and seemed very happy with the way it all looked! So we are good to go for another year, free land, lots of fun ;)
I was a bit saddened however to hear one of them mention how their mother had died recently in a UK care home in a suspicious manner, after which covid was put on the death certificate. They did not feel as if covid was the cause but in their grief they let it go and didn't think anything more of it. Such is the story with so many people. Unwittingly they are a part of the scam and I considered telling them what I know but held back in the end. It was all too jolly to ruin with stuff like that.
Am kicking myself a bit for buying back my hive at 0.85 when I could have waited till 0.75! With bitcoin dominance taking over for a while we may yet see further decline. But overall, things are looking very ready for boom time. Once bitcoin breaks that ATH...
All the best to you bro!
I'd like to learn more about your gardening plans. I was pretty excited to read your E-mail by the way. We really have a lot in common and there is a strong connection there. Specially the Mudra blew my mind. Did relate to that sunrise and the early hours of the day. I am sure you could grow garbanzo beans too? Herbs are so good. I think there are so many edible wild herbs for infusions but also really nutritious ones one could cultivate by replicating certain habitats they grow in. So many i'd like to learn more about. Cabbages are totally blowing my mind nowadays, specially since I had an intense dream about them in 2019. Apart from Savoy Cabbage and White cabbage, Collard Greens (Couve-galega) seem to really give me a vital feeling, after consumption. An American friend of mine from LA got me interested in fermenting vegetables and mushrooms. It's become something on my to do it list as well.
When Land is being maintained and someone lives there, it's better than if it lies vacant. Although some like to reign over their properties and get quite frugal. What you are doing out there although is magic and the land is thriving with you. I think that sensation must resonate. It at least does through your posts.
That Covid mention would have intrigued me as well. Specially when people who die from motorcycle accidents get the cause of death covid 19 on their death certificates. Specially disturbing one reads that people are admitted to hospitals on emergencies due to a vaccination side effect and vaccine companies don't hold any liability when that occurs. Technically the physicians administering these vaccines also sign a contract that they hold responsibility in the case of any side effects. Therefore these side effects then did not occur from the vaccine legally or officially. That's how they can suit their statistics to feed the narrative of a safe vaccine? I often hold back, because I don't want to be seen as a conspiracy theorist of some kind of be labelled a tin foil hat dude. Although I must admit I take everything into consideration at this point, maintain an open mind but keep my healthy ground. I also try to sneak through with my head down. After all if the vaccine is supposed to trigger an immune response, then that's for people that don't have one. The fact that no one realises the common occurrence of dysbiosis in our age and being oblivious of what constitutes to a good immune system is simply sad? Since they never asked us if we want a tracking device in our phone, they might not ask us if we want microprocessors and nano tech in our vaccines? Who knows? I have seen reports on nano tech in PCR(Polymerase Chain Reaction) tests and counter articles to discredit them. Maintaining common sense and keeping a healthy amount of scrutiny without resorting to paranoia through presumingly being duped by both sides during these times are crucial. I think there is a lot of money put in to feeding both sides. The old game, divide and conquer. Doesn't it get boring at some point? ..These Romans
About the trading. I'd probably bite my nails doing it, so I got into liquidity pools on cosmos. To me the Defi space only begins through the IBC. It marks a new paradigm. I also posted my first lead for Crypto Gems upon receiving your email. This one is about Cosmos. I also mention osmosis. It's a great dex for liquidity pools and buying new projects like Juno. Sifchain is another excellent Dex for liquidity pools. I will probably point out to some unknown projects as well. Some that haven't received attention at all, are compelling projects and true game changers. It seems like everyone is waiting for a major pump and dump with all the S&P Stocks that are in dollars now. BTC rally and then an altcoin rally like back in 2017? I think it might play out slightly different apart from the fact that it will take place. A lot of project offers the incentive of staking for APR, which might see projects that wont enter a crypto winter like last time?
Best Wishes to you and your fam my Brotha!
Electronic-terrorism, voice to skull and neuro monitoring on Hive and Steem. You can ignore this, but your going to wish you didnt soon. This is happening whether you believe it or not. https://ecency.com/fyrstikken/@fairandbalanced/i-am-the-only-motherfucker-on-the-internet-pointing-to-a-direct-source-for-voice-to-skull-electronic-terrorism
Very cool all the things you are able to grow there. I liked the idea of cutting out the sugar and using more nuts for the nutella.
Always useful to know how to make things without sugar, though if I'm going to be honest, I used rather a lot of it making many of the things mentioned in this post. Not sure if there is a way around it for jams, wine & cider?
Good grief, you have been busy!
How's the situation been in France? Are you able to avoid the worst of it being rural?
Adding this to the garden journal update.
Appreciate the addition to the hive garden! Looks lovely in there. Great to have all the gardeners in one place. Is there a tag I can use in future to help you notice the garden related posts?
To answer your question, life around here is much the same as ever. Nothing particular to report, but you can be sure I will be tapping at this keyboard the moment something interesting happens ;)
I generally still search up the #homesteading and #gardening tags. Trying to get into the habit of using #gardenjouranl too, so that @riverflows doesn't nettle slap me. We've been trying to use the Hive Garden community more as well.
I'm not jealous - well, just a little. Who wouldn't be ? Would that be Cherie who has joined you?
It's not a bad situation to be in, though it does all take up rather a lot of my time, leaving so much less of it for posting! Something I intend to change in these next few weeks. Harvest season will be done (once I have my olives) and winter mode begins ;)
Can't answer your question for now.
No problem bro -
Time well spent - feeding the family - and no doubt the neighbors too
Woah!!??? You call these BABY steps? I am so grateful for @minismallholding impressive mention of you in the Garden Journal. This is amazing @samstonehill!
Appreciate your enthusiasm. I was lucky to live in an eco community in Bali for a few years prior to France where I saw how amazing life could be if things were organised enough, so I guess I have high standards now and these steps, while they do feel quite significant, are really only scratching the surface of what we have ahead of us. The ultimate goal of course is to know that life would continue as normal even if (for whatever crazy reason) we should suddenly be unable to access shops. Or our electricity supply. Always good to have that one covered too ;)
All the best to you!
Definitely. Many of us with that goal in mind