WHAT’S FRESH
WHAT’S FRESH
PHOTO GALLERY
There’s always some strange, interesting, beautiful or fun going on here at the Acre, so I carry a camera. Just in case.
The Bee Hotel Has Guests
Last year I built a bee hotel in the hope of giving a few of our native bees nest space. Looks like it worked, because I can see the work of mason bees in a few of the holes!
AROUND THE ACRE
DIY Wildlife Camera
Make a live backyard or wildlife camera just like Chickencam for less than $50. It’s easy!
Weathercam
Live camera shot facing west toward the Pacific Ocean, which is about 5 miles away.
Camera updates every 2 minutes.
→ Live Camera
→Wunderground
Realtime Weather
Weather Forcast
67°F
HOME & GARDEN
Keyhole Garden Mid-Winter Maintenance
Mid-winter is rough on vegetables, even the ones in the keyhole garden. The secret to keeping the bed productive is a happy compost bin in the middle. Today we checked on how the compost was doing.
Chickcam is Dead. Long Live Chickencam!
My old live stream camera, Chickencam finally died, so I built a new one with a Raspberry Pi . Now I've got a HD live feed from the poultry yard and it cost just $53. Check it out for all the details.
Video: Hot Sauce Progress – Entry 6
It's been a little more than six weeks since we began the fermentation on Batch 20 of my hot sauce. Today I'm popping open the fermenter to see how it's going and give the peppers a stir to keep thing moving.
Keyhole Garden – October 28, 2020
Gardener’s Log : Keyhole Garden day 585. Well, if you want to hammer a keyhole garden into submission, making it rain followed by high winds and near 80°  [keep reading...]
Batch 20 Hot Sauce Progress – Entry 5
Batch 20 of the fermented hot sauce hit 5 gallons of fresh peppers 8 weeks early, so I'm bumping up to 10 gallons by splitting peppers between 2 fermenters. As for what I'm going to do with 10 gallons of finished hot sauce next spring, I have no idea.
Video: A Duckling Redux
Back in August one of our females emerged from the lavender garden with 13 ducklings. They'd hang out by the vegetable garden and after a while developed a taste for tomatoes tossed to them from the garden.
HOME & GARDEN
FOOD & RECIPES
Making Summer Pickles
If you love authentic dill pickles, there's nothing better or simpler to make than old fashioned deli-style summer pickles. This recipe dates back to 1900 and uses just a few spices and natural fermentation to make some of the best homemade pickles you'll ever taste. No refrigeration or fancy gadgets required.
Blackberry Jam Class of 2020
This year's "jam session" yielded about 3 gallons of blackberry and raspberry jam. We picked a little more than 20 lbs of fruit and used this foolproof recipe
Scallop Squash Stuffed with Pesto Chicken
We're up to our eyeballs in squash so I'm always looking for new ways to use it in meals. Here's an easy recipe for pesto chicken stuffed in baked squash that everyone seems to love.
FOOD & RECIPES
Blackberry Jam Class of 2020
This year's "jam session" yielded about 3 gallons of blackberry and raspberry jam. We picked a little more than 20 lbs of fruit and used this foolproof recipe
Scallop Squash Stuffed with Pesto Chicken
We're up to our eyeballs in squash so I'm always looking for new ways to use it in meals. Here's an easy recipe for pesto chicken stuffed in baked squash that everyone seems to love.
Real Smoked Beef Jerky Recipe
Homemade beef jerky hits a new high point when you add real smoke. Here's how you can smoke jerky even if you don't have a fancy smoker.
When the World Gives You Discount Corned Beef, Make Pastrami
Pastrami is actually smoked corned beef. After St Patrick's Day, you can often pick up on sale for as little as $2 a pound. Here's how to turn it into Pastrami.
