Spring weather brings sore backs.

It is finally starting to warm up here, which means there is an enormous amount of work to do.
Todd has been working on getting the gravel out of the lawn and we have both been working on the winter mountain of manure as it thaws. It is a pain but once composted grows the most amazing vegetables and fruit. If only we had a tractor the work would be done in one half hour.
We also removed the weed stalks and tilled the beds we made last year on top of the hill. They are nice raised beds that are 4 ft wide and 24 foot long. We filled one with 16 Jersey King Asparagus plants and then made another bed with some plants I bought a few years ago but never officially planted down around the electrical transformer pole. I don't remember what kind they were. Can't wait for all the fruit plants to start arriving although being 6 months pregnant sometimes all I want to do is nothing.

Making Root Beer - the old fashioned way!!

We are soda addicts. Yes, we admit. But since the goal is to make everything we can at home..or at least have the knowledge to do so I thought we would give root beer making a try. My brother, Josh, has made it several times and we have always enjoyed the flavor in frosty mugs.

I got some root beer extract ( and cola and lemon-lime ) from the Brew Haus. I also thought it would be a good chance to use the glass bottles that have been out in the barn for a year, so i also got a package of caps and a capper. Josh later informed me that he suggested we use plastic bottles so that the glass bottles didn't turn into grenades. So instead we "recycled" some 2-liter plasic bottles.

We made just 2 gallons to practice. Recipe per gallon.

1/4 tsp of yeast dissolved in warm water.

tbsp (15mls) of root beer extract

2 cups of sugar

and quantity sufficient warm water to one gallon.

This made 3 2-liters and 1 about 3/4 full. I don't know if the 3/4 full one will work but we shall try, will probably let it sit out longer.

It needs to sit on the counter for 3-5 days until the plastic containers are bulging with pressure. Then goes to the refrigerator. I think a nice batch of homemade ice cream to go with it will be a nice treat.