Laura Kombrink

Waiting for Mother Nature.

I haven't updated my Green Experiment blog lately because there really hasn't been much to add at this point. We've got our seeds started and some are sprouting and beginning to grow.

Kyle has started to produce more components for his vertical and hydronic gardening system and it's really too early to forage for any spring time plants like wild asparagus or mushrooms. Too late for hickory nuts or rose hips.

So, now is the time to wait....continue starting my seedlings...and be as efficient with our resources as possible.

Looking for the Right Land.

Kyle and I really love our current home. He designed it and we built it together over a period of 2 years. It sits on 2.5 acres with a small area of woods. Theres a small creek that runs through the woods, but no pond or other source of water on the property.

This bothers Kyle quite a bit...so we've kind of been looking into finding a piece of property with a water source on it. We may have found the right one...it has potential.

So, we may be getting our home ready to put on the market soon. It was definitely a hard decision to make. However, we don't feel we can really be self-sufficient on the property we have now.

Grandchildren due soon!

Everyday, my daughter's belly gets a little bigger. I'm sure my daughter-in-law is doing the same. William and Caden will be coming into our world in about 5-6 weeks and I can't wait.

So, as I watch my seedlings germinate and wait for them to be ready to plant...I also watch my grandson growing and getting ready to make his appearance along with spring.

I guess this blog is really all about waiting. Sometimes we just have to sit and wait...and let mother nature do her thing. :)

"He said to my heart....peace...be still."

Yesterday was a very exciting day! I spent most of it with clients and had a wonderful time.

My husband, Kyle, spent it in the garage bringing a vision to life.

In some of my previous posts, I have mentioned that Kyle has been researching and designing a vertical, hydroponic gardening system. Well, yesterday he took his concept to reality by creating his first prototype in our garage.

The tower will allow us to grow 28 plants in a 2 foot space. Because he is growing vertically, this means that we can grow more produce in less space! No tilling, no weeding and no waste.

After he finished the prototype, he brought it into the house and we sat down together, sipped on a little wine and began to brainstorm all of the possibilities for this nifty tower that he has created.

I can see these hanging from under a deck or smaller versions being hung under a porch. The system he envisions will be modular, which means a person could have as large or small a garden as they'd like based on the space available to them.

We both envisioned people in an apartment or inner city setting being able to grow pretty much anything they'd like using this system.

Today, I will be meeting with clients again, and I'm pretty sure he will be back in the garage making more towers.

I think one of the coolest things about his system, is that we are recycling things that we have in our basement already to create the system. And his creative side is coming out. He showed me some other systems he has designed to go along with this one.

I can't wait to see what he comes up with next...and I can't wait to pick and eat the goodies that we grow!

Last week I launched this blog series called the Green Experiment. In my first post I said that I would share with you something that I have been researching that will allow me to create a liquid fertilizer and solid compost for our garden project.

Well, Kyle and I have finished up our research and will be starting this project in our basement in the next few weeks....so what is it that we've found?

Earth Worm Farming!

We will be starting an earthworm farm! Sound crazy? Not at all. Mother Nature has it all figured out! Earth worms can convert half their weight in food scraps to compost in 24 hours.

Kyle and I have always wanted to compost our food waste, but found that it can take several months for the bacteria in the air to eat and convert organic waste to compost. This isn't very practical as one would have to build a bin, (preferably away from the house to avoid the odor) then make sure that we are stirring the waste regularly for aeration to help facilitate the process and so on.

We discovered that we could save the labor (and odor) by letting our little wiggly friends do the work.

We thought we would avoid the cost of purchasing the earthworm farm by making it ourselves, however it turns out that it would be more efficient and cost effective to purchase one that is specifically built to house our earthworms. The manufactured farms also make it easier to collect the "castings" and liquid for use in our garden.

The system is a series of perforated trays the allow the castings and liquid to drop to the bottom of the farm while the earthworms migrate upward to their food source (kitchen scraps). The farm is actually a little worm condominium and fairly quickly becomes a mini ecosystem if properly maintained.

The benefit is a much speedier composting process with much less odor. As a matter of fact, our research indicates that this process is virtually odor free.

One of the other benefits is that our earthworms will also supply us with fishing bait. We love to fish, so it will be great to just be able to go down to the basement and pull a few worms from the community any time we decide to go fishing!

The castings and liquid they produce are said to be excellent for plants and is a natural fertilizer. This means we won't be spending money to purchase fertilizers which contain harsh chemicals. Once the expense of setting up the farm is taken care of, it is basically free for us to operate and we will be putting some or our garbage to good use!

Once we get this up and running, I will be sure to keep you updated with photos and any snags we run into.

Why Make a Sourdough Starter?

Back in the day...people didn't just run to the store to purchase yeast for their baking needs. Yeast is actually abundant in the air all around us. One method of capturing this yeast is by creating an environment that it enjoys and wait for it thrive in that environment.

So, to create a sourdough starter, one could theoretically mix together flour, water and sugar (yeast's favorite food) and leave it out for the happy little yeast to come along and feast. The by-product of this would then be sourdough starter.

The problem with this method is that you have no control over what type of yeasts you may attract. And some of them aren't very tasty.

In our current culture, it is very easy to obtain a wonderful tasting yeast by running out to the grocery store and purchasing bread yeast. Although yeast is not outrageously expensive, it can be stretched much further by using it to create your own sourdough starter. The other benefit, of course, is a more flavorful bread with a wonderful texture.

You can also determine the "sourness" of your starter. If don't like it too strong, you are able to make a milder version.

The last time I bought a simple loaf of white sandwich bread, I payed neary $2.00 for the loaf...and any type of artisan bread runs much more. So, I have begun to make my own bread using my bread machine. I still had to run out and purchase yeast rather often because my family eats quit a lot of bread....especially when it's home made.

So, I began to read up on sour dough starter...mainly because we like the flavor, not realizing there would be monetary benefits as well.

The benefit that I found is that when I make a batch of sour dough, I end up with a gallon jar full of active yeast. This means that I can make many, many loaves without having to purchase more yeast. As a matter of fact, as long as I keep the culture alive, I will always have yeast!

So, every weekend I make 2 loaves of bread to last my family the entire week. I do use my bread machine on the dough setting and let it do all the mixing and kneading and rising. I then turn the dough out onto a pizza stone to shape, rise and bake. It really takes suprisingly little effort and the rewards are great. One of the nicest things is that I know exactly what is in our bread!

By the way....I also use the sourdough in a recipe for a pizza crust that would blow you away. Pizza night is a lot more fun!

More Treasures!

Kyle, my husband, was inspired by the warmer than usual weather this weekend and did his own hike in the woods. He came home with a handful of nuts and a detailed description of the trees that they came from. After about a half an hour of research and verification we discovered that he had found Hickory trees and their nuts.

We knew that the wood from the Hickory tree is very useful and I love to smoke meat with it, but we weren't quite sure if the nuts would be edible. Low and behold...they are. I cracked one open and tasted it. Although the nuts had been on the ground since last fall, they were still tasty. They reminded me of a pecan, but not quite as sweet.

At Thanksgiving, I like to make pecan pies. I went to the store this year to buy the pecans and about had a heart attack when I looked at the price. Next Thanksgiving, I will be giving the Hickory nuts a try. I'm quite sure they will work very well and won't cost me anything but a little time to shell them.

On the garden front...

A week ago, Sunday, I had started some seeds in starter pots, watered them and placed them under my kitchen sink. As of last Saturday, two have sprouted and are now enjoying a prime spot in front of my brightest window!

Kyle and I are both excited by the new life and can't wait to get things moving forward on the garden front. He has drawn out detailed plans for both the hydroponic and vertical gardens. We have chosen the spot for the garden and he is anxious to get the materials and begin the process.

The warm weather is very motivating, but we both know that it will turn cold again...so our efforts are focused on not getting ahead of ourselves. I would like for him to build the cold frames so we can set the seedlings as early as is reasonably possible.

In The Mean Time...

I am a mother of 3 adult children...2 boys, both in the Marine Corps and a daughter. Both my daughter and my son, Ben's wife are pregnant and are due on the same day in March. My daughter is growing rounder by the day and her body has begun practicing to deliver my new grandson.

This weekend was quite eventful. I received a call from my son-in-law....all in a panic. Hannah was having contractions 7 minutes apart and was very uncomfortable (I laughed as the last trimester of pregnancy is uncomfortable by nature). We came home immediately and sure enough her little belly was as hard as a rock. Of course, it is really too soon for her to be in labor, but she was having practice contractions.

They stopped and the grandbaby kicked like a soccer player and all is well. The next day my son called...all in a panic...same thing going on with his wife. It's so awesome to feel the weather warming, the new seedlings sprouting and my grandbabies coming!

Very soon, there will be new life all around!