Citrus graft success!

I finally just noticed our citrus graft took in the front yard Mandarin orange. If I remember, the graft might have been Sudachi line. Happy Interdependence day!

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Happy Solstice 💗 The Hillside Homesteaders: #ourlocalharvest today includes Pomelos, cocktail grapefruit, Eureka lemons, early Anna apples, Loquats, salad mix, Red Ricoto pepper, Rosemary, Marjoram, Thyme, red Shiso, Passionflower, Pomelos, Plums, Peaches, Pluot, and an avocado. #hillsidehomesteaders #happysolstice

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Baby goat in the garden

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Sunday for New Goat Baby Co-Parents

hillsidehomesteaders : A cuppa Hot Mocha with porcini and fresh mint for my co-goat parent, while he's picking browse for mama goat and soon-to-be-mama goat. Drying rose petals on paper as the roses are really blooming now & some fresh cut lupine flowers, given as a #Congoatulations gift! The goats are in our house and we moved our bed to the side of it. We sleep under the stars this week until we build a safe pen and I've been waking up the birds chirping away, the sound of hummingbirds (a morning visitor/buddy here) zipping around through the garden, Saru my cat snuggling me and the sounds of munching goats until the inevitable big head of Bettina pops over to ask what's up? What's for breakfast?

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Our Local Harvest right now!!

#ourlocalharvest bench today!! Lots of #herbs!! #sagebrush #feverfew #lemonbalm #Zaatar #purpletreecollards #gardencress #calendula #cocktailgrapefruits

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Ma' March Mud Birthday

the breakfast spread prepared by John

I had a truly special birthday this past Tuesday. We were blessed with beautiful warm, clear weather!

A SUNNY March 1

Everyone in the mud  :)

Monarchs danced around us that day

Friends came over to the garden to play in the mud filled frog pond (one day, I'm sure we'll finish it). So appreciated everyone who came out to celebrate with me, get dirty in the mud, come sit and eat tropical fruit on our newly made beach (thanks to Farmer John for hauling the sand bags!), and a beautiful meal with friends followed!

Thanks for the sand Farmer John

we made a little beach in the garden, thanks for the flowers, friends

Valerie brought this beautiful homemade cake for us with corn meal, pistachios, biodynamic orange reduction

back in the mud

More friends came over for dinner following mud time. 
This is the beautiful cake that Farmer John & Dandelion baked for me. It is a millet flour cake, 100% plant based, made with dates & young coconut. The frosting was a young coconut creme, with freshly cracked walnuts, variegated pink lemon peel, cardamom, cinnamon, & a tad of coconut sugar, topped with a mint palm tree & borage flowers. The cake was sliced into 4 layers, with frosting and our own frontyard honey in between.

 

This cake was a recipe found through experimentation, creativity, & John's love of millet flour baking. 

We have no exact measurements for this cake, however, if you'd like to try this yourself, here are the steps, roughly which we used:

Ingredients
Cake:
-millet, ground into a flour in a dry vitamix, about 5 cups worth (post grinding)
-young coconuts, 2-3, water and meat
-dates, about half a small container
-a little bit of vanilla
-a little bit of salt
-baking soda, teaspoonish
-baking powder, teaspoonish

the Frosting:
-young coconut (meat and water)
 -freshly cracked walnuts
-homegrown pink lemon peel
-cardamom
-cinnamon

Cake Decorations:

-Starfruit, 2

-Mint (palm tree)

-Borage flowers

-Lavender

-honey

Steps:

First, grind the millet into flour in a dry vitamix & make about 5-6 cups worth. Place in a large mixing bowl. Add salt, baking soda, & baking powder.
Make the wet part: blend (into a milkshake) the young coconut meat, water & dates together
and a tiny bit of vanilla.
Pour the wet into the dry until it makes a cake like consistency.
Grease a large baking pan & bake.

Making the frosting, add all ingredients & blend until smooth in a vitamix.

Allow to cake to cool, then pop onto a board. Slice horizontally 3 times into 4 pieces. Frost in between with honey. Frost top & sides. Slice starfruit to lay starfish & sprinkle borage flowers (water) & mint pieces (algae) & top with mint palm tree.

Sunday fun day

Grafting new varieties from California Rare Fruit Growers Scione Exchange on a sunny Sunday :)

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Chayote - grow your own cat toys :)

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Abundant bounty

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