Author Archives: pollygoldman
Wood fired oven build (2/2)
(continued from part 1) At this point the core of the oven is complete, and we’re moving out to the external layers.
Wood Fired Oven Build (1/2)
(Part 1 of 2) The following is a condensed account of our 32″ x 36″ Alan Scott barrel vault wood-fired oven build. We are sharing this for others interested in pursuing a similar project, but – just a warning – … Continue reading
Corn tortillas
One of the great things you can do with field corn is make tortillas. Here’s how we do it.
Small grain harvest and cleaning, part 2
As I said in the previous post, we quickly realized that adding some key pieces of processing equipment would be necessary if we were to continue to grow grains. So in the years since that first oat crop we have … Continue reading
Small grain harvest and cleaning, part 1
I love working with grains. They are not at all showy in the field; having evolved away from having the fancy flower parts that in other plants help attract pollinators, they instead rely on wind for pollination, or are self-pollinating. … Continue reading
Sugar production, part 2: sorghum syrup
Around the same time we started playing around with sugar beets we also discovered sorghum syrup. Sorghum species are cultivated worldwide for multiple uses – human and animal feed, alcohol, biofuels, brooms – and some varieties have been bred to … Continue reading
Sugar production, part 1: sugar beets
A couple of years ago we decided that it would be interesting to see if we could produce our own sweeteners. If nothing else, it would surely help us decrease our sugar consumption if we were to rely just on … Continue reading
Resources for grain production and baking
Some information on wheat and ancient grain production and use: Production of alternative (organic, specialty market) wheat and related grains in California Evaluating Spring Wheat Variety Performance in Organic Environments. Report to California Wheat Commission by Mendocino Grain Project researchers. … Continue reading
Bread: home grown, home made
I’m a life-long bread baker, having grown up in Berkeley in the 1970s with a homemaker (grow it/can it/dye it/weave it/build it) type of mom. One year she grew some wheat in the back yard, threshed it, ground it, and … Continue reading
Backyard chickens: more about feed
I want to go into a bit more detail about the chicken feed ratio links I included in the previous post. Here is the UC Davis Department of Animal Science suggested feed mixture:
School Road Farm 