Yeast

Wild Yeast Sourdough Starter Recipe:

Looking to buy bread at the grocery store, and seeing it was sold out at the time, I next moved on to looking for yeast. Thinking well I'll just make bread myself, and the yeast was sold out! After a few shopping trips at multiple stores I did indeed find yeast and eventually bread, but I was then inspired to start my own yeast to have on hand as well. An abundance of herbs and the cool spring weather fuelled the desire to bake as well.

What you need:

• Pineapple juice
• Flour
• Water
• Mason Jar 

How to:

1. Keeping at room temperature, Mix 2 tbsp of Pineapple Juice and 3 Tbsp Flour in a Mason Jar.
2. Stir the mixture 3 times in 24 hrs.
3. After 24hrs, add 3 Tbsp of Flour and 2 Tbsp of water.
4. Stir the mixture 3 times in 24 hrs.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for 5 days. Yeast should start forming after that, creating bubbling.

Ongoing Maintenance:

• Discard half, use in a recipe.
• If you plan on using a lot of yeast you can leave it at room temperature to grow faster while feeding it daily/or you may keep it in the fridge, feeding once weekly to make about enough for weekly use.
• ...And to Feed:
• After discarding half of the mixture, fill mixture amount back with equal amounts in weight of water and flour(2 parts water and 3 parts flour). Place the mixture in the fridge. 
• If your mixture starts to have an unpleasant smell or shows growth of mold, toss immediately and start again new.
• If your mixture accumulates access liquid, poor the excess liquid out and add more flour to feed it in the future.
• If you are going to substitute dry yeast in a recipe for your wild yeast sourdough starter: Substitute 1 cup of starter for a package of dry yeast, then subtract 1/2 a cup of water and 3/4 cup of flour from your recipe. 

All DIY projects shown on LittleLakeviewConservatory.com are purely "at your own risk". As with any DIY project, unfamiliarity with the tools and process can be dangerous. Posts should be construed as theoretical advice only. 

If you are at all uncomfortable or inexperienced working on these projects (especially but not limited to electronics and mechanical), please reconsider doing the job yourself. It is very possible on any DIY project to damage your cottage, void your property insurance, create a hazardous condition or harm or even kill yourself or others.

Little Lakeview Conservatory LLC will not be held responsible for any injury due to any featured DIY project.

Little Lakeview Conservatory, LLC

Please feel free to contact us at LittleLakeviewConservatory@gmail.com be added to our email list or with any questions, requests and comments.

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Making Maple Syrup

Little Lakeview Conservatory LLC made our first Maple Syrup Run this year, February 2020. Here is how we made our syrup, following up from our Blog on tapping Maple Trees 

https://www.littlelakeviewconservatory.com/2020/02/maple-tree-tapping.html . 

What you will need to make Maple Syrup:

• Maple Sap (40 gallons of Sap will make roughly 1 gallon of Maple Syrup.)
• Large Pots is what we used. There are also pans made specifically for Maple Syrup making.
• Something to Boil the sap in the pots on. We used an old wood burning stove that a friend gave us. You could use a well maintained campfire or again a unit that is pre-designed for Maple Syrup making. You could use your kitchen stove top. We did to finish, but that will let a lot of humidity into your home, so not ideal.
• Fuel and Fire/Electricity. We used wood. If you are doing the process the way we have you will need a lot of firewood to boil the sap for multiple days. 
• A Hydrometer
• A filter and something to support it. We used a funnel.
• Your choice of storage. We used mason jars.

Boiling Sap through the Night and Day to make Syrup.

As our Syrup was boiling down low outside, we brought it into the kitchen to finish up. 

How to, or how we did:

• Pour the Sap from your 5 gallon collection buckets into large pans for boiling.
• Start a fire in the wood stove to heat the Sap to a boil.
• Keep the sap boiling uncovered until most of the water has boiled off. This may take a couple of days.
• When you think the sap may be getting boiled down enough, take a sample and test it with your Hydrometer. Here's a link for how to use your Hydrometer https://www.wikihow.com/Read-a-Hydrometer. Sap reaches Syrup at 66% sugar.
• When the Syrup is ready use a filter to strain the mixture so that you can remove any impurities. 
• Pour your strained, 66% sugar Syrup into the jars or containers that you will be storing them in. Refrigeration is recommended. Syrup will keep longest frozen and will not fully freeze. 

Make sure whichever methods you use to use all safety precautions and beware the dangers of heat and fire. 

Little Lakeview Conservatory, LLC

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Maple Tree Tapping

Here in New Hampshire Mid February to Mid April, dependant on weather, is Maple Tree tapping season. Carrying out New Traditions today by using some of the Maple Trees located at Little Lakeview Conservatory LLC to collect Sap to turn into Syrup this weekend. 

What you need:

• A Maple Tree
• 12-20 inches in Diameter for one tap
• 21-27 inches in Diameter for two taps
• 28 inches in Diameter or wider for three taps
• Stainless Steel Maple Syrup Taps 
• Hammer
• Measuring Tape
• Drill with 5/16 Drill bit
• 5/16" ID 7/16" OD Clear Vinyl Tubing FDA Approved Food Grade Multipurpose Tube
• Food Grade 5 Gallon Bucket with Lid

How To:

Identify your Maple Tree(s). Measure the size of the Tree you intend to use to verify that it is an adequate size. With the Drill and 5/16 bit Drill a 1.5" hole straight into the tree. Using the Hammer, hammer the Maple Syrup Tap into the hole in the Maple Tree. Push the 5/16 tubing onto the tap to seal, Drill a hole into the lid of the 5 Gallon Bucket to fit the hose into. The lid should prevent anything falling into your sap while you are collecting it. 

You will need to collect 40 Gallons of Sap to boil down to 1 Gallon of Syrup. This is a weekend project here. After the buckets fill they will need to be slowly boiled down to evaporate the water and make the Syrup sweeter. We will follow up this Post with another showing how we made our Syrup.

...https://www.littlelakeviewconservatory.com/2020/02/making-maple-syrup.html 

Little Lakeview Conservatory, LLC

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Growing Roses

We have decided to try a couple of new traditions with our old after Valentine's Day traditions. We love to regrow our Valentine's Day Roses from the leftover stems as they wilt each year. Convinced by a friends suggestion, we gave three methods for growing your own roses from stems a try. Hopefully these will take, and in a few months we will be able to update with which methods worked best for us.

Method 1: Propagation in Water

What you will need:

Water

A vase or jar

Your Roses/Rose Stems with some foliage, preferably the top leaves

Scissors

We saved our petals to use in our Bath Teas and other projects later.

How to:

Cut the bottom of the stem at an angle below a node/bump on the stem.

Cut the rose flower off.

Cut all but the top leaves off.

Place in Water and Expose to light.

Wait for up to 1-3 mths for roots to form in the water. 

Plant the rose in Soil or your choice of growing method.

Water, Fertilize and Expose to light.

Method 2: Plant Stem directly in Dirt, Potted or Outside dependant on location seasonally. 

What you will need:

Dirt and a hand shovel

A vase/jar/space 

Rooting Hormone, such as Fast Root

Water and fertilizer

Your Roses/Rose Stems with some foliage, preferably the top leaves

Scissors

How to:

Have Dirt in vase/jar/space to plant your Rose Stem.

Cut the bottom of the stem at an angle below a node/bump on the stem.

Cut the rose flower off.

Cut all but the top leaves off.

Dip the tip of the bottom of the Rose Stem in a Rooting Hormone.

Place in Soil in vase/jar/space.

Water, Fertilize and Expose to light.

Wait for up to 1-3 mths for roots to form. 

You may use a clear cover to help contain the moisture for your plant while it's rooting. Using something that mimics a greenhouse effect will help ensure that your stems root properly, but monitor your plant to avoid mold or unwanted conditions. 

Method 3: Dip Rose Cuttings in Honey and Plant in a Potato, in Soil.

What you will need:

Soil and a hand shovel

A Potato and Something to poke a hole into it, We used a metal chopstick

Honey

A Bucket/Planter or you may plant it outside dependant on location, seasonally.

Water and fertilizer

Your Roses/Rose Stems with some foliage, preferably the top leaves

Scissors

How to:

Have Dirt in vase/jar/space to plant your Rose Stem.

Poke a hole into your Potato.

Cut the bottom of the stem at an angle below a node/bump on the stem.

Cut the rose flower off.

Cut all but the top leaves off.

Dip the tip of the bottom of the Rose stem in honey and place into the Potato.

Place in Soil in vase/jar/space.

Water, Fertilize and Expose to light.

Wait for up to 1-3 mths for roots to form. 

You may use a clear cover to help contain the moisture for your plant while it's rooting. Using something that mimics a greenhouse effect will help ensure that your stems root properly, but monitor your plant to avoid mold or unwanted conditions. 

https://www.instagram.com/littlelakeviewconservatory/

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Pine Vinegar

Pine Vinegar

With all the things we use orange peels, lemon peels and lavender vs. all the cleaning that is to be done we have turned to other sustainable ingredients to make our cleaning vinegar. 

Foraging outside we picked up Pine to make a Pine variation of our favorite cleaner. 


https://www.littlelakeviewconservatory.com/p/orange-vinegar.html

Vinegar Cleaning Solution is great for all purpose cleaning. You should test it on the material you intend to clean first. Some varnishes may be taken off by these mixtures. You may add water as desired to dilute your solution to meet your cleaning needs. 

Here is a great link for vinegar cleaning uses: https://www.today.com/home/28-ways-use-vinegar-around-your-house-t72276

Ingredients:

Pine Needles (that may have dropped from your backyard trees).

White Vinegar

A jar to contain your mixture

How to:

Place Pine Needles in jar, fill with vinegar and seal for 3-6 weeks. To make the mixture faster, heat the vinegar before adding it in your jar. 

https://www.instagram.com/littlelakeviewconservatory/

All DIY projects shown on LittleLakeviewConservatory.com are purely "at your own risk". As with any DIY project, unfamiliarity with the tools and process can be dangerous. Posts should be construed as theoretical advice only. 

If you are at all uncomfortable or inexperienced working on these projects (expecially but not limited to electronics and mechanical), please reconsider doing the job yourself. It is very possible on any DIY project to damage your cottage, void your property insurance, create a hazardous condition or harm or even kill yourself or others.

Little Lakeview Conservatory LLC will not be held responsible for any injury due to any featured DIY project.

Little Lakeview Conservatory, LLC

Please feel free to contact us at LittleLakeviewConservatory@gmail.com be added to our email list or with any questions, requests and comments.

Little Lakeview Conservatory, LLC * Grow a little!

Sustainable Scraps

Sustainable Scraps

Some foods, such as celery, can be regrown from the produce you would normally toss. Instead of tossing our Celery scraps into our compost, we have decided to regrow our Celery. This is a great family project to do with kids or for anyone's own self sustaining household.

Celery from Scraps:

What you will need:

Celery Stalk Cutting
A Cup/or Dish
Water
Sunlight/Plant Light

A method for transplanting the Celery once it is restarted:

• Dirt indoors in a planter or outdoors in your garden.
• Hydroponic planting system
• Aquaponic planting system. 

How to:

Once you have finished using your Celery, you will be left with a cut Celery Stalk. 

Take the Celery Stalk Cutting and place in a Cup or Dish with water covering the bottom of the Celery and leaving the top exposed to air. Place the Cup or Dish in a window for sunlight or under a Plant light if you have one. 

Change the water out with fresh water daily. After about a week or two you should see some growth in roots in the water, and leaves appearing on top.

Once there is regrowth, you can transplant your Celery to Dirt in a planter or outside depending on the season in your area. Celery is a harder plant to grow outside.

We have gone with an indoor small Hydroponic System to replant our Starters. 

What we used:

• Organic Clay Pebbles for a Media
• A Net Cup Pot
• A 32 oz Wide Mouth Mason Jar
• A water soluble Fertilizer to feed our Celery.

 

Little Lakeview Conservatory, LLC

Little Lakeview Conservatory, LLC was est. in 2019 to provide sustainable plants in NH and to share information to help people create self sustainability in their own homes.

Please feel free to contact us at LittleLakeviewConservatory@gmail.com be added to our email list or with any questions, requests and comments.

Little Lakeview Conservatory, LLC * Grow a little!™

Lavender and Orange Bath Tea

Bath Tea

https://www.instagram.com/littlellakeviewconservatory/

Making Bath Tea and using our leftover scraps towards Orange Vinegar. #CaraCara #Mandarin #Selfcare #BathTea #BathSalts 

#DIY #Reuse #Recycle #LittleLakeviewConservatory 

LittleLakeviewConservatory.com https://www.littlelakeviewconservatory.com/p/orange-vinegar.html

Little Lakeview Conservatory, LLC

Little Lakeview Conservatory, LLC was est. in 2019 to provide sustainable plants in NH and to share information to help people create self sustainability in their own homes.

Please feel free to contact us at LittleLakeviewConservatory@gmail.com be added to our email list or with any questions, requests and comments.

Little Lakeview Conservatory, LLC * Grow a little!

Soil Sanitizing:

When recycling used soil from old planters or elsewhere, it's a good idea to sanitize your soil to remove possible pathogens. However, once your soil is "Sanitized" it will actually be dirt. You may need to add amendments, microbes, to bring your soil situation back to a living growing environment again. 

What you will need:

A Large container for your Mixture

A garden trowel/hand shovel to mix with

Soil 

Baking dishes

An oven

How to:

Preheat oven to 200

Place dirt in 5 gallon bucket.

Mix with garden trowel/hand shovel. Take out any unwanted matter. 

Place dirt in baking dishes.

Place baking dishes in oven for at least a half hour. 

Remove dirt and let cool before mixing with soil enhancers.

  

All DIY projects shown on LittleLakeviewConservatory.com are purely "at your own risk". As with any DIY project, unfamiliarity with the tools and process can be dangerous. Posts should be construed as theoretical advice only. 

If you are at all uncomfortable or inexperienced working on these projects (especially but not limited to electronics and mechanical), please reconsider doing the job yourself. It is very possible on any DIY project to damage your cottage, void your property insurance, create a hazardous condition or harm or even kill yourself or others.

Little Lakeview Conservatory LLC will not be held responsible for any injury due to any featured DIY project.

Little Lakeview Conservatory, LLC

Additional resources:

https://www.almanac.com/organic-soil-amendments-explained

https://cedarcirclefarm.org/tips/entry/the-living-soil-microorganisms

Choose a large container to mix your sanitized dirt with amendments, bringing it back to healthy Soil again.

Little Lakeview Conservatory, LLC was est. in 2019 to provide sustainable plants in NH and to share information to help people create self sustainability in their own homes.

Please feel free to contact us at LittleLakeviewConservatory@gmail.com be added to our email list or with any questions, requests and comments.

Little Lakeview Conservatory, LLC * Grow a little!™

Banana Peel Tea

Banana Peel Tea Recipe:

Save your ripest Bananas for your Smoothies or Homemade Banana Bread. Save your Peels for Tea!

Ingredients:

Clean Ripe Banana Peels
Hot Water
Cinnamon Stick (Optional)

How to:

Steep Clean Ripe Banana Peels in Hot Water as you would most other Teas. Cut the peels in necessary to fit them in the steeping method of your choice. Toss the used peel into your compost when you are done. Add a Cinnamon Stick or other Flavors and Spices to Taste.

Be careful, hot tea is hot.

If you are using the Tea for a Fertilizer, do not add anything to the tea and wait for it to cool so you don't cook your plant.

All DIY projects shown on LittleLakeviewConservatory.com are purely "at your own risk". As with any DIY project, unfamiliarity with the tools and process can be dangerous. Posts should be construed as theoretical advice only. 

If you are at all uncomfortable or inexperienced working on these projects (especially but not limited to electronics and mechanical), please reconsider doing the job yourself. It is very possible on any DIY project to damage your cottage, void your property insurance, create a hazardous condition or harm or even kill yourself or others.

Little Lakeview Conservatory LLC will not be held responsible for any injury due to any featured DIY project.

Little Lakeview Conservatory, LLC

Little Lakeview Conservatory, LLC was est. in 2019 to provide sustainable plants in NH and to share information to help people create self sustainability in their own homes.

Please feel free to contact us at LittleLakeviewConservatory@gmail.com be added to our email list or with any questions, requests and comments.

Little Lakeview Conservatory, LLC * Grow a little!

Fertilizer

Fertilizer:

Plant Food:

Just like Humans, Plants need water and nutrients to live and grow.

Plant fertilizers are labeled in a NPK format. N=Nitrogen, P=Phosphorus and K=Potassium/Potash(Plant Ashes).

http://www.ncagr.gov/cyber/kidswrld/plant/label.htm is a great link for better understanding the fertilizer label. They also have other educational links for Children and Families. Information explaining plant nutrients: http://www.ncagr.gov/cyber/kidswrld/plant/nutrient.htm

The ratio or Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium in a mixture of fertilizer will serve different plants differently. Below is a chart explaining the three and their roles in plant growth, with information from Better Homes and Gardens: https://www.bhg.com/gardening/yard/garden-care/what-do-nitrogen-phosphorus-and-potassium-do/

There are many different types of Fertilizers that can be applied in different ways. Finding the right fertilizer depends on how you are caring for your plants, the envioronment in which they are stored and which type of plants you are fertilizing.

Types of Fertilizer:

• Straight
• Mixed
• Complete 
• Incomplete
• Organic
• Inorganic
• Soluable
• Nonsoluable

Some plants, such as Air plants, don't have roots in soil. They would get their nutrients best through misting a liquid fertilizer on them, or when they are scheduley soaked. Plants that are able to be grown in Hydroponic Gardens will need a fertilizer that is water soluble. An Aquaponic Garden should fertilize itself. If you're growing in an indoor garden or with houseplants, most likely you won't want a harsh smell associated with your home. Each plant has its own needs for best fertilizing them. Always research the needs for a plant's care based on the type of plant and where you are growing it.

This link has a reference chart with a list of Organic Fertilizers and their average NPK ratios:
https://www.americantreeinc.com/healthy-soil-healthy-plants/ 

  

Where Plant care meets Selfcare:

Some teas that do double duty for human and plant care:

Black Tea:

Black Tea is high in Potassium and Phosphorus.

Green Tea:

Green Tea has Nitrogen in it, and is less acidic than Black Tea. Different Plants require more or less acidity to thrive best. 

Chamomile Tea:

Seasonally we use our own Chamomile, grown here at Little Lakeview Conservatory, LLC. Chamomile Teas can be used as a calcium fertilizer. 

This link has a recipe for Chamomile Fertilizer:

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/calcium-fertilizer.htm

Banana Peel Tea:

A fantastic Potassium source can be found in Banana Peel Tea. Whether made for a fertilizer source or for drinking yourself, Banana Peel Tea is easy to make. It is a great way to reuse your discarded fruit peel.

Banana Peel Tea Recipe: https://www.littlelakeviewconservatory.com/2019/12/banana-peel-tea.html

Always use plain, cooled, unsweetened tea for plants.

Always check with your Doctor or Medical Professional to best serve your own dietary needs.

All DIY projects shown on LittleLakeviewConservatory.com are purely "at your own risk". As with any DIY project, unfamiliarity with the tools and process can be dangerous. Posts should be construed as theoretical advice only. 

If you are at all uncomfortable or inexperienced working on these projects (especially but not limited to electronics and mechanical), please reconsider doing the job yourself. It is very possible on any DIY project to damage your cottage, void your property insurance, create a hazardous condition or harm or even kill yourself or others.

Little Lakeview Conservatory LLC will not be held responsible for any injury due to any featured DIY project.

Little Lakeview Conservatory, LLC

Little Lakeview Conservatory, LLC was est. in 2019 to provide sustainable plants in NH and to share information to help people create self sustainability in their own homes.

Please feel free to contact us at LittleLakeviewConservatory@gmail.com be added to our email list or with any questions, requests and comments.

Little Lakeview Conservatory, LLC * Grow a little!