Friday Favorite: Nourishing Bone Broth
I grew up in a culture that served consommé as a beverage quite regularly. Now a cup of bone broth is a very comforting thing for me, there really is nothing better on a cold winter day. This time of year I keep a pot of perpetual stock going on the wood stove. I add vegetable trimmings as I get them along with bones and other savory items. It’s really nice to have hot broth ready whenever I want it. For my nourishing bone broth recipe and to read up on the health benefits of broth head on over to this post.
If you’ve never sipped on a nourishing cup of broth you’re missing out. When I drink it I feel like my body reacts like Popeye’s does when he downs a can of spinach. I can tell that it’s nourishing every part of my body from my skin to my joints!
What’s your favorite nourishing beverage?
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Here We Go
Yesterday I sat down with afternoon coffee and a seed catalog. I’ve been thinking about what I want out of the garden this year and greens are at the top of my list. I always grow lots of lettuce, endive and other greens, but I’m hoping to have a greater variety of greens for a longer season.
As I look through the catalog I’ve been looking through my seed stash. Thank goodness most seed companies put dates on the packages because I’m weeding out seeds that are past their prime. I made this handy guide a few years ago, head on over to this post to download a PDF version for your files.
Luckily, I don’t need very many seeds this year. I’m really trying to keep my seed purchased to a minimum this year to use up the stock I have on hand. Seeds don’t last forever and I love to use them up when they still have good germination rates. Next year it looks like I’ll have to purchase a lot of seed, most of my stash will be planted this year. It’s a good feeling to use up the old to make way for new!
What’s your seed list look like for this year?
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Brrrrr…..
“Winter descended suddenly, with bone-chilling cold. The damp, raw wind swept in fem the ocean and entered through cracks in the walls of the hut. It made the fire flicker and hiss.”
Lois Lowry from Son (Giver Quartet, Book 4)
I started reading this series of books this past weekend and have been enthralled with them, reading every second I can find here and there. When I came across this quote yesterday morning I had to laugh. There I was warming myself in front of the wood stove at 5:30 am…
We were up early yesterday morning, the fire radio called about a fire alarm at 4:30 which ended up being a false alarm. It hailed once again an hour later for a car in a ditch. I was up early and it was cold. The outdoor thermometer read -9 and the indoor thermostat read 54 – BRRRRRR. Winter has truly arrived.
I’m thankful that our basement is filled with stacks of lots of dry wood, which we worked on cutting, splitting, and stacking two years ago. Our wood for the next year is already in stacks outdoors to dry this coming summer.
What is the coldest weather you experience during your winter?
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Goals
I don’t make resolutions this time of year, but I do try to think about what I want to accomplish in the coming year. Usually I come up with one big project that will take a large amount of time and spend time planning out the steps for that project.
This year my goal is to clean and organize our ginormous garage. It will be a task that’s for sure. When we moved to Maine we hit the ground running and unfortunately the garage has been a bit of a mess since we unloaded the moving truck.
My goal for the year, mostly this summer when it’s warm, is to get all the junk in the garage organized. No doubt I’ll take a trip to the dump and a load or a few to Goodwill. Mostly, things just need organized into boxes and on shelves. Hooks need to go in he wall for hanging bits and bobs and everything needs a good cleaning. It’s one of those projects that I haven’t made the time for the past two year, but 2015 will be the year!
Did you set any goals for the coming year?
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Winter Garden
In my office I have quite a winter garden growing. It’s not for me, it’s for the chickens. I’m writing an article for Grit Magazine about small scale fodder for livestock and thus I’m experimenting with the best methods for small scale fodder systems. Over the past couple weeks I’ve been working on perfectly my system.
It’s certainly nice to see so much green out of the corner of my eye while I work. In a few days these trays will be a carpet of lush barley sprouts ready for the chickens to devour. They grow about an inch a day, which is quite remarkable. I’ve always wanted to have a fodder system for winter chicken greens and I’m thankful for the nudge I needed to finally get it up and running.
Do you have any new experiments going this winter?
