Categories
Homesteading

10 Simple Tips for Better Beer

Hops can be added up to three times during the brewing process to alter the bitterness, flavor and aroma of the beer. Photo by Stephanie Staton (HobbyFarms.com)
Photo by Stephanie Staton
Hops can be added up to three times during the brewing process to alter the bitterness, flavor and aroma of the beer.

Whether you’re making ales or lagers, your ultimate goal when brewing beer is to achieve an appealing flavor. With the simplicity of beer’s ingredients, plus the availability of pre-assembled brewing kits, it seems like you can’t go wrong, but as most brewers know, there’s usually room for improvement. When brewing your next batch of beer, keep in mind these beer-brewing techniques from Tony Aiken, former president of Brewers of Central Kentucky, for a superior swigging experience.

1. Practice sanitation.
Sanitation is important during every stage of brewing. Use bottled spring water for boiling the wort and bagged ice for cooling the wort to avoid contamination from chlorine and chloramines. While you shouldn’t dump the ice directly in the wort, it’s wise to use bagged ice to prevent any accidental contamination. On brewing and bottling days, also take measures to keep all equipment and bottles clean. It’s OK to reuse bottles, but make sure to sanitize them in the dishwasher or oven.

2. Use grain and hop bags.
These tools aren’t necessary but they simplify the process of separating the grain and hops from the liquid, straining the liquid and saving time.

3. Buy good yeast.
Look for yeast with a freshness date on the package—don’t use yeast older than 4 to 5 months. Kits often come with dry-yeast packets, but it’s hard to know how old the yeast is so it might be better to use yeast that you know is fresh. Yeast also comes in a liquid form with wort included—called a “smack pack”—which contains an interior packet that breaks when smacked, releasing the yeast to mix with the wort.

4. Don’t boil grains.
Boiling the grains will extract the bitterness of the grain hulls, leaving your beer with an undesirable flavor.

5. Time your hops.
The addition of hops affects both the flavor and aroma of your beer. You can add them at three points in the process, with the goal being to achieve a balance of sweet and bitter. The first addition of hops is the bittering hops. Adding bittering hops too early in the process can yield an unfavorable bitterness, so avoid this. The second addition is the flavoring hops, and the third addition is the aroma hops. For all additions, the hops should be in a bag for easy straining.

6. Cool wort quickly.
Place your kettle in a sink or tub, and dump bagged ice around the kettle to cool the wort quickly. Be careful not to spill ice in your wort—it could taint the batch, adding an off-flavor or introducing unwanted bacteria.

7. Make a splash.
When transferring your wort to the fermentor, splash the mixture around (without splashing it out or contaminating it) to add oxygen, which will aid in fermentation.

8. Stop splashing.
At bottling stage, don’t splash the beer around when siphoning it from the brew bucket to the bottling bucket. Adding oxygen at this stage will make the beer go stale more quickly.

9. Go dark.
Use dark bottles, and store beer-filled bottles in a dark room. When light hits the resin in beer, it causes photoisomerization, creating a skunk-like aroma.

10. Stay cool.
Store your bottled brews at 65 to 70 degrees F. Allow the bottled beers to set for at least two weeks at 70 degrees F to allow the yeast do its job.

Categories
News

Horse Slaughter Debate is Back

Brown horse on farm
Photo by Rachael Brugger
The recent USDA appropriations bill removed wording that prohibited federally funded USDA inspection of horse-slaughtering facilities and transport.

Enter “horse slaughter” into an online search engine and you’ll find pages of recent articles, blog posts and organization web pages asserting “Obama wants you to eat horses” (among other entries). What people are talking about is the recent passage of bill H.R. 2112, the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2012. While this bill does not prohibit the funding of USDA horse-slaughter inspections as appropriations bills have in the past, assertions that horse meat will be offered in your grocer’s deli might be exaggerated.

From 2006 through 2010, language was introduced in the annual USDA appropriations bill—the one that says what the department can spend money on—that prohibited federal funding for the USDA inspection of horses in transit to slaughter and at slaughtering facilities. When the appropriations bill passed into law in November 2011, this language was no longer present, essentially re-allowing USDA inspection of horses going to slaughter.

Before 2006, the U.S. had three horse-slaughter plants—one in Texas and two in Illinois. After federal funding was denied in 2006, USDA inspectors could seek private funding until 2007, when courts upheld state laws prohibiting horse slaughter and the sale or possession of horse meat. Now, even with horse-slaughter bans lifted, the U.S. currently has no horse-processing facilities available. Building or retrofitting suitable facilities will take some time.

While news of this language omission seems to have taken the general horse community by surprise, organizations on both sides of the debate have not put the issue to rest.

“Since the language was added that prohibited the use of taxpayer funds to pay for the inspection of horse-slaughter plants to the appropriations bill for the USDA, we knew it could be removed at any time,” says Shelley Sawhook, president of the American Horse Defense Fund, an organization working to ban horse slaughter in the U.S. “We did not find out specifically that [the language] would be removed until it actually was, but we did know that there was talk that it could happen for about a month.”

The AHDF has received double the usual number of calls and emails from concerned citizens since this news was publicized.

Anti-slaughter groups are now hopeful that bill H.R. 2966, the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act of 2011, introduced in September 2011, will pass through the House and Senate to be enacted into law. This bill prohibits the shipping, transporting, moving, delivering, receiving, possessing, purchasing, selling or donation of horses and other equines to be slaughtered for human consumption. Similar legislation was introduced in four previous legislative sessions and did not pass. If the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act does not pass in this legislative session, funding for horse-slaughter inspections will undoubtedly be debated and possibly again denied when the next USDA appropriations bill is brought to Congress in September 2012.

@Subhead: U.S. Horse Slaughter’s Impact
While it’s safe to say horse-industry organizations are all interested in what’s best for America’s horses, not all agree on what that might be. There are those who are anti-slaughter, no matter where it takes place; those open to slaughter in the U.S., where it can be regulated and inspected; and those not taking a side on the issue because they have diverse constituents with opposing views. A lot of factors play into the slaughter debate, among them Americans’ emotional and sentimental attachment to horses as companions and as historic figures in this country’s settlement, horse welfare, economics, and the environmental impact of horse slaughter and rendering.

According to the June 2011 United States Government Accountability Office “Horse Welfare” report, “From 2006 through 2010, U.S. horse exports for slaughter increased by 148 and 660 percent to Canada and Mexico, respectively. As a result, nearly the same number of U.S. horses was transported to Canada and Mexico for slaughter in 2010—nearly 138,000—as was slaughtered before domestic slaughter ceased.”

Groups on both sides of the debate show concern about horses being shipped over borders.

“USDA has no jurisdiction in other countries and has no power to make sure that horses are transported and killed in a humane manner. As a result, horses transported to slaughter are protected by law when they are within the borders of the United States but may be transported and killed inhumanely once they leave our borders,” states the “Unwanted Horses and Horse Slaughter FAQ” web page for the American Veterinary Medical Association, an organization opposing the passage of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act.

The GAO “Horse Welfare” report also states, “Closing domestic horse slaughtering facilities significantly and negatively affected lower-to-medium priced horses by 8 to 21 percent. … GAO estimates the economic downturn reduced prices for all horses by 4 to 5 percent.”

In terms of horse neglect and abandonment since 2007, “Colorado data showed that investigations for horse neglect and abuse increased more than 60 percent [from 2005 to 2009]. Also, California, Texas, and Florida reported more horses abandoned on private or state land since 2007,” according to the GAO report.

There are some animal-welfare organizations, such as the AHDF, that say they have not seen an increase or have seen only a small increase in cases of abuse or neglect. (AHDF has had a 20- to 25-percent increase in calls in 2011, but that increase did not come until this year.) Other horse rescue groups’ facilities are at capacity, some being forced to turn away horses needing homes. They attribute this increased need for horse rescue partially to the closing of U.S. slaughter plants (making slaughter a more logistically difficult option for horse owners), partially to the economic downturn and partially to the over-breeding of horses.

Categories
Homesteading

5 Tips for the Advanced Brewer

To brew a flavorful beer, use specialty yeasts suited to the type of beer you're making. Photo by Stephanie Staton (HobbyFarms.com)
Photo by Stephanie Staton
To brew a flavorful beer, use specialty yeasts suited to the type of beer you’re making.

If brewing beer is more than just a passing fad on your list of hobbies, consider upping the ante on your product with these flavor-boosting tricks and tools. While they cost a little more than the standard brewing ingredients and materials, Tony Aiken, former president of Brewers of Central Kentucky, considers them invaluable additions to the brew master’s toolbox.

  1. Use a wort chiller instead of bagged ice for cooling. It’s faster with less risk of contamination when used correctly.
  2. Process the entire batch in a full-sized, 10-gallon kettle. You can convert an old keg or order specialty kettles with burner stands for processing full batches of beer.
  3. Use specialty yeasts suited to the type of beer (ale, lager or stout) being brewed.
  4. Filter your water prior to boiling to reduce the risk of contamination and up the flavor quality.
  5. Don’t order liquid yeasts when the outside temperature is 85 degrees F or higher, and only purchase yeast from retailers who store it in refrigerated areas.
Categories
Urban Farming

Lettuce

lettuce

Photo by Rick Gush

Lettuce is much easier to grow than you think.

I frequently hear from readers that their lettuce is too bitter, or that it is growing too tall, or that they have trouble getting iceberg lettuce to make big heads. It’s not surprising that people often ask about lettuce, since it is the second most popular vegetable for home gardens — after tomatoes.

The Romans and Egyptians grew a lot of lettuce; George Washington devoted almost a third of his huge Mt. Vernon garden to lettuce; and just about every ultra-modern urban rooftop greenhouse or fancy hydroponic operation grows lettuce. Even the experiments in growing plants in outer space stations use lettuce as a base crop.

The key to growing great lettuce is to make it grow really quickly. Young lettuce plants that have grown rapidly taste the best, while older lettuce that has struggled a bit tastes bitter and often grows tall and starts to flower. Rapid growth is also the key to growing nice iceberg lettuce. When I grow lettuce and if, for some reason, the plants aren’t growing quickly, I find it’s best to just throw them away and start over; waiting for struggling plants to turn around never seems to work out well. The same goes for plants affected by pests. If a problem develops, I never treat in hopes of saving a crop; I just start over.

Lettuce grows best in cool weather, so most folks grow lettuce in the spring and fall. Daytime temperatures below 75 degrees Fahrenheit with nights more than 40 degrees are ideal. This can be pushed a bit by starting the young plants inside before planting outside during spring and fall. Using other crops, such as corn, to shade the growing area can also benefit summer crops. One of my favorite tricks for fall crops is to cover the planting soil with thick mulch for the few weeks prior to planting in late summer; this can lower the soil temperature considerably. Of course, cold frames, hoop tunnels and shade cloth can also be used to stretch the growing season.

In general, I like to start lettuce seeds in a separate starting area, like my coldframe, and then transplant the little plants when they are a few inches high. If I do buy little plants at the nursery, I always look for the youngest and smallest plants, not the better looking and larger ones, because I think the bigger nursery plants are often stunted in the plastic containers. The scrawny little guys seem to have better momentum when planted in the garden.

Lettuce plants are fairly heavy feeders, so I try to enrich the soil with a lot of manure or other organic material before planting, and then I also feed frequently, usually once a week with a liquid fertilizer, such as manure tea (or a commercial product if I’m lazy). The idea is to push for maximum possible nutrient availability for the young plants.

Because lettuce is such a short-term crop, I often plant it in between long-term crops. I plant lettuce in between all the spring plantings of corn and squash and the fall plantings of broccoli and cabbage, and the lettuce is in and out before the main crop grows large. This clever arrangement is called catch-cropping, and it’s a great way to get more stuff growing in a small garden space.

Categories
Urban Farming

Asian-American Environmental Justice Movement

asian-american environmental justice

Photo courtesy of Asian Pacific Environmental Network

Though they’re demographically categorized as minorities, when it comes to putting their support behind environmental issues, Asian Americans are becoming increasingly influential in effecting policy change.

For example, a 2009 California League of Conservation Voters Education Fund poll showed that more than 80 percent of Asian Americans support environmental measures.

“Asian Americans should be paid attention to,” the association’s Executive Director James Lau told NewAmericanMedia.org.

In fact, in organized groups, Asian Americans are successfully enacting change in the world of environmental justice.

The concept of environmental justice was officially recognized on February 11, 1994, when the then-President Clinton put his signature to a policy that would ensure equality in environmental protection no matter a person’s background, nationality or income.

Because it was conceived to target low-income earners and minorities — a profile that oftentimes fits immigrants who take on jobs at places such as factories or farms — the policy has found some of its strongest supporters in the Asian American community.

According to Oakland, Calif.,-based Asian Pacific Environmental Network, this group is particularly vulnerable to substandard conditions both at the workplace and at home, from unhealthy factory work conditions to even a lack of standard facilities. APEN also points out that in 2002, almost 50 percent of the Asian Pacific Islander population — which includes Southeast Asians, such as Vietnamese and Cambodians — arrived in the United States only about two decades before.

“We’ve spent 18 years working on fighting big oil, emissions from freeways and sickness caused by that pollution,” said APEN staff director Mari Rose Taruc. “Solutions to climate change are solutions to health. Right now, we’re focusing on renewable energy and the jobs that come along with it, [and] locally generated distributed generation.”

Another group that fights for social equality through environmental justice is the Japanese American Citizens League, whose goals include extending its reach to involve younger people. In May, it held the JACL Environmental Justice Youth Summit in New Orleans, the result of a collaboration between JACL’s Washington, D.C., chapter and two groups from New Orleans: the Mary Queen of Vietnam Community Development Corp. and the Vietnamese American Young Leaders Association-New Orleans.

During the two-day conference, participants focused on regional issues in environmental justice, such as how residents in the city were affected by Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill.

More than 30 percent of the Gulf region’s fishing community is Vietnamese, said Gulf Organized Fisheries In Solidarity & Hope Coalition strategist May Nguyen to Inside Treme.

For more information, contact: Asian Pacific Environmental Network; Japanese American Citizens League; Mary Queen of Vietnam Community Development Corp.

Categories
Crops & Gardening Recipes

Brussels Sprouts and Salad Surprise

Brussels sprouts on purple plate with rice and chicken
Photo by Jessica Walliser
I harvested the last of my Brussels sprouts for the year to make a quick and easy sidedish. 

I harvested the last of our Brussels sprouts last week, and they were delicious. After washing them, I peeled off the outer leaves, then cut them each in half. I put about 2 tablespoons of water and the same amount of butter in the bottom of a lidded pot, turned it onto medium heat and tossed in the sprouts. Then I added some salt, pepper, paprika and whole mustard seeds. It only took about 5 minutes for them to cook. So simple but yet so yummy!

While I was out in the garden I also noticed a few random lettuce plants that had sprung up in the last few weeks. Most of them were tucked into the scallion rows, but it was so very nice to have a fresh salad with our dinner, as well, especially one that was a surprise—I had no idea the lettuce plants had even come up.

That, I guess, is one of the benefits of allowing the plants to bolt and go to seed every now and then. I never knew this, but I was recently told that all lettuce plants come true to type, meaning that the seedlings always look like the parents with little or no chance of cross-pollinating. I think I’m going to allow all my lettuce to go to seed in the coming seasons and perhaps I can get Mother Nature to maintain a nice succession system without any help from me. Now that’s lazy gardening at its finest, and I’m more than OK with it! 

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Categories
Recipes

Kitchen Creation: Eggs Benedict

Eggs Benedict: English muffin topped with Canadian bacon, poached egg, Hollandaise sauce and paprika
Photo by John Ivanko
It’s easy to impress farmstead guests with a beautifully stacked eggs Benedict.

There’s nothing more enticing to the eye, nose and palate than eggs Benedict, especially when made with a couple slices of Canadian bacon and poached farm-fresh eggs with their nutrient-rich orange yolks. It’s a work of art on the farm-breakfast plate.

Eggs Benedict, among the most expensive and enticing breakfast creations on a restaurant menu, will turn your kitchen into a Food Network showplace without sending you to a therapist for food angst. It’s a matter of assembling several distinct steps to create a masterpiece. If a spouse, friend or partner can join you in the kitchen, the tango of sharing some cooking responsibilities makes the whole process a delight. Seriously now, how hard is it to brown some Canadian bacon?

We love the fact that there are omnivore, vegetarian and pescatarian versions of eggs Benedict. Closer to ham in flavor, texture and appearance, Canadian bacon is leaner and doesn’t crisp in its own fat when cooking, so it works well for this dish. But eggs Benedict can be easily modified to be vegetarian by replacing the bacon with a bed of fresh, sautéed spinach or Swiss chard (called eggs Florentine). Make it instead with thinly sliced avocados and fresh bean sprouts and you can call it a California Benedict. It can also incorporate other regional specialties, like smoked salmon or fresh crab.

So whether you want to dazzle some out-of-town guests or just cut back on dining-out expenses, give this recipe a try. The better the eggs and fresher the ingredients, the better it will taste. To make it look as spectacular as those served in the restaurants, we like to use the Poachpod to poach the eggs.

Recipe: Eggs Benedict

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

  • 4 eggs
  • 1 pound Canadian bacon, thinly sliced
  • 2 English muffins
  • 1 cup Hollandaise sauce (see below)
  • 1 tsp. paprika

Preparation
In a pan, fry bacon until fully browned on both sides. Drain fat and cover bacon to keep warm.

Poach eggs, cooking for about 2 minutes, or until the white of the egg is solid but the yolk remains runny.

Toast English muffin halves, and place on plate. Add one to two strips Canadian bacon to each muffin half and top with poached egg. Cover stack with several spoonfuls Hollandaise sauce. Garnish with light sprinkle of paprika. Serve immediately.

Recipe: Hollandaise Sauce
This rich velvety sauce for eggs Benedict can be a fancy stand-by to accompany lightly steamed broccoli or asparagus. Maintain medium heat in a double boiler to avoid over-cooking the sauce, causing it to separate. Whisk the sauce with easy circular stokes. Because it contains eggs and butter, this is one sauce you’ll want to enjoy right after it’s prepared. Thanks to John, there’s never any left over in our farmhouse.

Yield: 1 cup

Ingredients

  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1/4 cup water, simmering
  • 1½ T. lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)

Preparation
In a double boiler over low heat, whisk egg yolks. Make sure water isn’t too hot or eggs will curdle. Stir 1 minute. Add water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Stir 1 to 2 minutes until thick. Stir in lemon juice. Remove from heat and stir in butter. Serve immediately.

Savoring the good life,

John and Lisa's Signatures

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Categories
Urban Farming

Recipe: Reuben Sandwich

Reuben sandwich

Photo by Judith Hausman

This Reuben sandwich recipe can be easily changed up to your liking.

As I promised, here’s the news on my first attempt at sauerkraut. So many of you weighed in with helpful feedback and enthusiasm. Well, I’m here to tell you, I succeeded. After taste-testing from the four jars that I had settled into a cool corner of my living room for about three weeks, I knew they had all fermented well. I froze one batch and debated canning the other with the hot-water-bath method. In the end, I instead decided to live with the room the other two jars temporarily take up in the fridge.

I’ll use up a lot with a celebratory Alsatian choucroute for my family. The rinsed sauerkraut will be simmered in Riesling and then topped with thin-cut pork chops, sausages and thick bacon — all local, of course. I’ll then add sautéed onions and apples.

On the other hand, I recently saw a seafood choucroute recipe that looked mighty tempting and a lot lighter.

Until I decide, my sauerkraut is making the best sandwiches! Here’s a basic Reuben sandwich recipe, which you can easily vary.

Recipe: Reuben Sandwich

INGREDIENTS

  • Rye bread, preferably seeded
  • Russian dressing
  • About 1/4 cup sauerkraut per sandwich, drained
  • 2 ounces or more lean, sliced pastrami per sandwich
  • About 1 ounce good-quality Gruyère, Emmentaler or Jarlsberg cheese per sandwich, sliced

PREPARATION

Lightly toast the rye bread.

To make Russian dressing, mix equal parts ketchup and mayonnaise. (Some people like to put some relish in it, too). Spread this generously on the toast. Drain the sauerkraut well and heap it on one slice of toast. Lay the meat and cheese on the other slice of bread.

The sandwich can then be closed and warmed in a toaster oven until the cheese melts or carefully placed in a sauté pan with a half-tablespoon of hot, melted butter. Brown and turn over.

VARIATIONS

Try horseradish sauce instead of Russian dressing on the toast.

Use cooked roast beef or leftover turkey, or omit the meat for a vegetarian version.

Use jalapeño jack cheese or sharp cheddar.

Add a layer of thinly sliced apple to the sandwich.

Use cole slaw rather than sauerkraut.

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