Mead - delicious drink and medicine

Divine drink and medicine

We always thought that making mead (an alcoholic drink from honey) was a complicated and long process. The opposite is true – it’s very easy and can be very fast.
The mead we have been making at home takes about 1 hour to prepare and is ready to drink in about 10 days. Here is the recipe of our homemade mead.

Mead Recipe:
1.5kg honey
4 litres water
a small piece of ginger (about 50g)
5g sachet of brewer's yeast (available from Woolworths or buy mead yeast from a brew shop)

Mead on tap

Boil honey, water and ginger for about half an hour to get flavours, then cool down to room temperature. Pour into a home brew fermenter, add yeast, stir well and let it ferment for about 5-10 days (till it stops bubbling). Bottle your brew into clean sterilised bottles and store them in your fridge. You can drink it after 10 days, however the older the mead is the better it gets. It is the same as wine and women, the older they get the better they get :-). Once, I forgot a bottle of mead for about half a year and I have never drunk anything so delicious and healthy in my life.

Practical note: If you do not have a fermenter you can use a large glass jar, just make a hole in the lid to put through a bended straw. Seal around the straw where it comes through the lid with BluTak, and it can bubble into a small glass jar filled with water – so gas can be released but nothing can get in.

If you have your own honey like we do, you will be the very first person to touch and taste mead – a drink of the gods.

SAUERKRAUT – Delicious & Healthy Fermented food

Sauerkraut

Fermented food is regarded as extremely healthy, loaded with enzymes, vitamins and probiotics which are so beneficial for our gut and health. The gut bacteria influence not only our health but also our mood. There is an analogy between the bacteria in soil and the health of plants and the bacteria in the human body and our health. Bacteria and microorganisms living in soil and along roots of plants (on walls of our gut) predigest - making nutrients available to plants (human body). Plants absorb about 2/3 of nutrients through bacteria, so without good bacteria in soil (gut), plants (human body) struggle. While using artificial fertilisers and sprays we are killing bacteria in soil. The same applies to using antibiotics which wipe out all bad and good bacteria in our body which need to be replenished. In soil good bacteria would be replenished with compost, in the human body it would be with fermented food loaded with probiotics (sauerkraut, yoghurt, kombucha etc.)

But did you know that fermented food is very easy to prepare? And if properly stored it will last for several weeks/months. We make great tasting sauerkraut in less than 20 minutes. So how do we prepare it?

Ingredients: 

1 head of cabbage (preferably organic)
2 onions
2 tablespoons of salt (sea salt or Himalayan)
2 tablespoons of caraway seeds
Optional spices (dill, turmeric, ginger... whatever you like)

Process:
- Peel cabbage and onion of outer leaves/skin.

- Cut the head of a cabbage in half with sharp knife and start chopping in thin slices – the thinner the better. The same with onion. (you can use a grater or a food processor)
- Put all ingredients in a large bowl and mix it for a few minutes (use your hands) till cabbage becomes juicy and leave it to rest for a while.
- Load the mix into a large jar (2 or 3 litres glass jars) while constantly pressing cabbage into the jar by hand or with a spoon.
- When it’s nearly full, about 3 cm from the top there should be enough juice to cover the cabbage pieces which is very important. If not, add brine (boiled water with salt at room temperature) to make sure cabbage is completely submerged.
- Clean the rim of the jar and screw a lid on – make sure it’s not tightly screwed as during the fermentation process CO2 gas has to be released from the jar (otherwise you are making a pressure vessel)
- Leave it to ferment at room temperature for at least three days but the longer you leave it to ferment the better tasting sauerkraut you get. The fermentation process is quite dramatic and sometimes it can overflow – so put the fermentation jar on a saucer to prevent a spill.
- Once ready and opened store it in a fridge otherwise it might go off.

We leave our sauerkraut to ferment in a cupboard for a few weeks. One time we left it for a couple of months in summer and it was still fine – self-preserved. If you open it to taste and decide to leave it for a few more days/weeks make sure to use a clean fork for sampling and most importantly everything needs to be submerged in brine when reclosing lid otherwise bacteria can get in and your efforts will be wasted.

In the same way you can prepare a mix of vegetables to ferment such as carrot, beetroot, cucumber, zucchinis, kale, whatever you have surplus of. If using pumpkin, butternut, leave the skin on as it contains beneficial fermentation bacteria. If you want to speed up a fermentation process add a bit of leftover sauerkraut from a previous batch so the process kickstarts faster. Fermentation is an ancient way of preserving garden produce while pre digesting food and enhancing nutritious and biological values ….. and …… we are what we eat.

Happy Fermenting

Living a Simple, Happy and Healthy Life - Article

YOUR VEGIE PATCH magazine in January 2016 issue published an article about our lifestyle. Thank you Tess Holderness for writing such an inspirational story about us and getting our message across.

Stinging Nettle - Spring Detox

Stinging nettle growing through a styrofoam box

Stinging nettle is considered by many as a weed in gardens. For us, it is a most valuable plant. We grow it, eat it and  use it for medicinal, gardening and other purposes. Especially, in spring, young shoots are full of vital energy and natural goodness readily available to us. So why not use it?

Growing nettle in containers keeps it enclosed. It's so vigorous it will grow through a styrofoam box. It is easy to propagate from seeds or runners.

We drink nettle tea in spring. It is a powerful immune system booster washing away toxins and purifying the system - a spring detox for our body to recover after winter.

Summer tea: stinging nettle, mint and honey. When served chilled, it is a most refreshing drink.

Other uses for stinging nettle:

Medicinal:
Richest edible plant source of iron and chlorophyll.
Rich source of vitamins & minerals.

Nettle tea - Spring Detox

Stimulates circulation.
One of the best blood cleansing and blood building herbs known.
Serotonin in nettle can be a benefit to many people who suffer depression.
A rich source of antioxidants.

Leaves used to make nettle shampoo.
Leaves used to make nettle footbath.
Root used to make nettle tincture.

Culinary:

Smoothie (when processed in blender  it does not sting)

Cooked like spinach and used in soup

Animals:
Good for most animals (if dried). Improves egg production in chickens if mixed with their grain.
Nettle rinse for flea control for dogs.

Garden:
Nettle tea fertilizer - full of nitrogen
Nettle plant tonic. (helps build resistance to heat stress)
Nettle spray – for aphid control.

.....and the list is endless....

Did you know when you are stung by a nettle it reduces the risk of developing rheumatism. Also it is supposedly used as a pain killer.

Aloe Vera – Power Packed Green Gem

Aloe Vera - Power Packed Green Gem

The Aloe Vera plant grows in practically every garden or pot. But do we utilize its full potential? 

Most people use Aloe for skin burns (it is the most effective treatment for burnt skin in the world), scratches or insect irritations. However the plant is believed to be capable of much more. So what do we (SpurTopians) use Aloe Vera for?

Drink it in smoothies. We once used just the clear gel in the leaf but now put the whole leaf along with other fruit and leafy greens and flowers into a blender to make morning smoothies. The clear gel is actually tasteless. The yellow sap right under the green skin is bitter, but does not affect the taste at all, and has a disinfecting quality.

Alternative medicine uses Aloe for all sorts of health ailments - it is good for the health of the digestive system by supporting good bacteria in the intestines and repelling parasites and worms. It reduces blood sugar and cholesterol.

Skin moisturizer. It can be used on dry skin or after shaving. It's also good for skin and nappy rash as well as eczema. It provides healing for sun burn and scald burns and a cooling effect. It also mitigates blisters. 

Toothpaste

Take an Aloe Vera leaf, cut it lengthwise down the middle and scoop out the clear gel which is tasteless. Add bi-carb soda and mix it well. The ratio of Aloe gel to bi-carb soda is approx  3:1. If you want a bit of freshness, add chopped mint leaf into the mixture. You can store it in a fridge for several days.

As Hair shampoo, it is very simple to use. Just scoop out the gel and rub it into the hair like traditional shampoo and then wash it away.

Hope the above has inspired you to use Aloe Vera much more . We are going to write about Aloe Vera cake and garden fertilizer soon, so watch this space.

Did you know that in Egypt, Aloe vera was referred to as "immortality plant" and native Americans referred to it as "Wand of the Heaven." Aloe vera is so powerful, it is used to cure  certain skin cancers and  now there is a lot of research into its use in the AIDS and cancer fight. 

Aloe Vera toothpaste with mint

Organic, fresh, free of chemicals toothpaste

We Are What We Eat - Grow Your Own Food

Creating a no-dig garden bed

Empowering people to grow their own food allows them to eat fresh and organic fruit and vegies, be healthier, save money, provide physical and mental exercise, connect with nature and be less reliant and  future resilient.

If people knew how conventional food has been produced and stored, they would not buy it and either grow it at home or purchase it from an organic farmer. With the  amount of "artificial and dead" food people eat it is surprising how the human body can cope continue living.

We are what we eat. It is all about education. And that is why we freely share our knowledge and experience of growing your own  food. In the last few days we have been sharing our gardening and alternative lifestyle knowledge with people to inspire and encourage them to take the first step.

• Filming for Bris 31 TV gardening program Blooming in Brisbane and aiming to have a regular segment – it starts 10 Sept.
• Demonstration of ideas and inventions at DIY Vertical Gardening Workshop at Loganlea Community Centre
• Hands on Workshop – no-dig garden at the Community Garden Bethania Street Wynnum

Talking gardening ideas and  inventions

The TV producer - Lada

Is your body lacking Iron? Fix it with a natural and easy remedy!

Apple and nails - natural source of iron and vitamin C

We would like to share a natural remedy for body iron deficiency. It has worked for us so it should work for you as well. It’s very simple, easy to do and very efficient. Conventional iron pills available from Pharmacies are not really natural and thus not as effective. More importantly, they sometimes cause constipation. For iron to be ‘absorbed' by the human body, it needs to be taken with vitamin C.  We use old nails and push them into an apple. What happens is that acid in the apple causes a release of iron into the apple flesh which along with the vitamin C in the apple, makes iron digestible by the human body. Find about 10 old rusty nails (not galvanized nails) then clean and sterilized them in boiling water. Push the nails into the apple and place it into the fridge. Next morning pull them out and eat the apple. Now push the nails into another apple and repeat the process for a few weeks and you will see the difference. You can see how the apple absorbs iron as along the hole made by the nail, the apple gets darker. However, it does not change its taste. Nature is very clever and powerful!

The World Cheapest SuperFood - Sprouts

Sprouted seeds = Superfood

Sprouts are one of the healthiest, freshest and cheapest superfoods you can eat. You can grow them on a kitchen bench in a container/ jar. In just a couple of days you have great fresh sprouts to eat. Mix them with muesli or into fruit salad. Add lemon juice to enhance taste. The sprouting seed  significantly enhances their vital energy, increases digestible protein multiple times, provides vitamins and minerals. Try sprouting mung and adzuki beans, lentils, fenugreek, wheat, barley, rye and alfalfa. Soak seeds in a container overnight,  then rinse twice daily in an airy container. Once sprouts mature, they can be stored in a fridge for a couple a days not more as they will lost their vital energy. Sprouts on the supermarket shelf can be several days old with diminished vital energy so it's not good value for money. Buy some seeds (mung, azuki and fenugreek to star with) grow your own fresh sprouts. From a handful of seeds you will get sprouts to eat for the entire week. Every day eat a bit and next day sprouts re-grow keeping volume up. Sprouts need air to grow, so cover the top of the jar with an airy cloth or leave the lid slightly aside. Keep sprouts moist but not soaked. If mold appears  there is insufficient air flow. We use organic seeds as these are  chemical free and grown in the most natural way. A kilo of organic seeds for sprouting costs about $6 and will last at least a month. So your family will have plenty of fresh organic food full of goodness.
We source organic seed in http://flannerys.com.au/, http://www.wrayorganic.com.au/, http://thesourcebulkfoods.com.au/ or in health shops.
 Happy sprouting. 
Did you know that Alfalfa (lucerne) seeds are one of the most nutritious. Alfalfa sprouts contain almost all vitamins, minerals and trace elements know to us.

Soaking time over night

Drain and rinse seeds in the morning

First day of sprouting

Second day of  sprouting

Third day of sprouting