Popovers (wiki here) are a traditional american type of light bread roll (somewhat similar to Yorkshire puddings) that are very convenient for breakfast and can be consumed in both sweet and savory variations. They seem to be one of those “my grandma used to make these for me when I was a child”-things that everyone has a fond memory of. My wife loves them in the morning, so occasionally I make her some.
Before
After
Despite a cool and rain-spoiled summer, the insects in my garden have thrived apparently. And yes, not only slugs, ants and potato beetles, but luckily also pollinators like bees, moths and lacewings!
Anyway, the Wild Bee Hotel that I set up in spring attracted some customers, most of the holes are sealed shut meanwhile and there’s ample traffic in the area.
We found a little fawn right next to our garden fence these days! It was hiding in the tall grass next to the farm track leading over to the nearby fields that runs along there. So we kept back, watching (and photographing) from a distance and waiting to see what it would do. Now, fawns are left alone by their mother on a regular basis, well hidden and camouflaged against potential predators, but we noticed this one was literally screaming in intervals, as if in pain.
I want to loose some weight (like, really some weight…) and cut down on fats a little, so I bought an air fryer some time ago for low fat food preparation. I like french fries a lot (and yes! The Mc Donald’s style ones not those present-time fancy, like, pretentious halved potatoes they try to sell you as fries instead of just oil soaked potato chunks) and I wanted to make my own, reasonably low-fat yet reasonably tasty stuff. The Air Fryer comes in very handy here. After some fiddling around and trying several internet tips I ended up with this recipe.
No, they won’t beat some well-made, twice cooked golden fries from the deep fryer, but they do get close enough for me and they do taste great. I wasn’t sure about the whole soaking-in-boiling-water-approach, but it turns out it’s an obvious plus, so do try it. Unfortunately, it’s therefore also not completely hassle free, but it’s well worth the effort and there’s a little workaround.
How cool is that? A neighbour gave us some stackable wooden boxes, which were previously used for transportation purposes, but were now scheduled for disposal. They’re designed to fit snugly onto a standard Euro-Pallet and are sturdy and convenient. Plus, they’re perfectly suitable to make some raised beds of them! Thanks a lot dear neighbour!
I used one of the transporting boxes my neighbour gave me to make a new mushroom patch in the backyard. It’s in a shady and usually a little damp spot and I hope it’ll provide good growing conditions for pleurotus ostreatus (Oyster mushroom).
I just officially opened my personal little mushroom growing season. I have already (even successfully, occasionally 🙂 ) made grain spawn by just propagating mycelium plugs in pasteurized grain in the past, but while this is a cheap and simple way to use up “leftover mushroom seeds”, it’s also unfortunately very prone to contamination and failure. I decided to try a more professional approach this time and got myself some liquid mycelium in a syringe and this time aimed for a sterile procedure.
Finally it’s time again to care for the garden, the various vegetables, fruit and herbs. I’m hoping bitterly that the upcoming summer will not turn out to be as much of a complete failure as last year.
Chilies and Red Bell Peppers
These are both going into pots on the patio in may. Each need a sunny spot and much light to grow. Bell peppers must be pruned for robust and bushy growth.
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