This and That

Even though I know spring planting time is not here yet, it was depressing to that there was a freeze warning out last night for us, and is still in effect until 10am today. We are hoping it won't damage the asparagus or rhubarb.  I'm sure it may damage some of my early spring herbs however.  My sage plants were just starting to produce again too.

I found the pattern location for the crocheted rose cup coasters, using crochet thread #10.  Sharing for those who were interested in the pattern.

The pattern is in this book, on page 55.  Check your library for the book.

Book information:  Creative Crochet, A Leisure Arts Publication, ISBN:  0-942237-63-3

Not wanting to go fetch my recipe binder, I recently just used good ol' google to find a breakfast casserole with sweet potatoes and breakfast sausage (the hubs bought sausage that needed used).  I also thawed and used some kale, added garlic, onions and frozen bell peppers (from last year's garden), and seasoned the eggs.  

We canceled our camping trip for this weekend.  Am I upset?  I'm more mad, but also sad.  My hiking shoes will be waiting for me for the next trip.  We thought about going anyway, but then thunderstorms/and high winds sealed the decision.  Our camper is too small to spend an entire weekend inside it vs. sitting around a campfire and/or hiking.  Always have a back up plan.  Although today will be a beautiful sunny 70 degree day, the rain is still on the way.

I may have found another source to donate my lap afghans to.  It's local, which is what I wanted.  I am reaching out to verify.

Short blog post today.  Have a good weekend.

This and That  © April 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Best Way to Dehydrate Chives ~ Homemade Dry Ranch Dressing/Dip Mix

Spring herbs are here!

Store bought chives are expensive. The cost for the above bottle of dried chives was $4.58!  I freeze my chives, but for the dry Ranch mix recipe, I need dehydrated/dried chives.  The bottle above is .12 oz and when ground makes 7 1/2 teaspoons.   It is horribly expensive, and I have managed to kill the indoor chive plant I brought inside.

So....on a mission I went...

 I dehydrated chives many years ago, but did not do my research before hand.  I had snipped them, and placed them on parchment paper in the dehydrator, and they the fan blew them all over the inside.

Here is what I have researched.  

-if you wash your chives, be sure to let they dry or dry them with a towel, or use a vegetable drying pad to let them dry off any water from washing them.  Otherwise, your dehydrator time will be a lot longer.

-do not snip them, keep the the chives whole, and place in the dehydrator.

-do not use a heat higher than 95°F, and dry them for 12-16 hours (mine took closer to the 16 hour mark, and this can vary).  Check your dehydrator for the temperture setting.  My chives are very long and thick, so I used every tray in my dehydrator to avoid cutting them at all.  Also, rotate your trays during they drying time.

Keeping the chives whole, prevents them from moving around too much, and the temperature keeps the flavor retained.

I stored mine in a canning jar, and use a vaccuum seal to remove any extra air.  I also kept them as long as I could, and will grind them only when I need them, to retain flavor.

(the first time making this recipe, I did not have dehydrated chives, so I ground up a teaspoon of dehydrated shallots, and it was very good).

Dry Ranch Dressing Mix 

1/2 cup Cultured Buttermilk Powder

1 Tbsp. homemade garlic powder

1 Tbsp. homemade onion powder

1 tsp.  parsley* (see note below for this and next two ingredients)

1 tsp. dill* 

1 tsp. chives *

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

Store in the refrigerator, or if you prefer to store it on a shelf, replace the buttermilk powder with powdered milk.  If stored dry with buttermilk in the fridge, you'll want to use it up in about 2 months.

It will fit in a half pint jar.  I used my canning funnel to fill the jar with ingredients.

*parsley, dill and chives are all dehydrated from the herb garden.

I first used this on chicken for a chicken, wild rice and broccoli casserole.  Years ago, I would just put the bone in chicken in the pan, but this time I cooked the chicken on the stove top, cubed with this ranch dry mix.  It turned out wonderful.

We also used it for a dressing (add what you like), and it's pretty good, and uses less ingredients to make.  It makes a very good dip recipe for vegetables.  We like to blend cottage cheese (vs. sour cream) and add the dry Ranch mix.  So good!

On a side note, I freeze chives as well, for other dishes .  I simply snip, store in freezer bags (flat), or fill freezer containers.  I just take it out, use what I need and put it back into the freezer.  We can enjoy chives in the colder months of winter.  I also freeze some of our green onions with the same process.

Best Way to Dehydrate Chives ~ Homemade Dry Ranch Dressing/Dip Mix© Apr 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Lavender Syrup

 Have you ever made homemade lavender syrup?  Have you purchased this syrup and used it?  

I was curious, as I thought it would be good in an evening cup of tea.  I was also intrigued with it as a lemonade, but  wasn't so sure about the floral flavor bit.

Note:  I now put a canning label on things I make, and write the expiration date on it vs. the date I made it.  It makes it so much easier to check at a glance than looking over the calender.

I chose to use honey, but the recipe states you can use other options if you prefer.  The recipe and instructions are found online with Detoxinista.

I also did a bit more research, and you can even make the syrup sugar-free, by using monk fruit in place of the honey/sugar/maple syrup.

I also found more recipes with different amounts of honey or suggestions for adding things like vanilla extract.  I will be trying more recipes to find the one we like the best.

If you have tried Traditonal Medicinals tea - Nighty Night, the syrup smells almost exactly like this eveing hot tea (the lavender scent).  I made the syrup specifically to add to this tea for additional benefits.

The results were pretty good.  I also made myself a lemonade (just water and and real lemons squeezed), and used the syrup for the sweetener.  I was skeptical, because I have tasted lavender candy a few years back, and it tasted like soap.

The lavender lemonade was pretty darn good.  Homemade is is the way to go, if you are wanting to try this conconction.

Lavender Syrup  © April 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Another Way to Utilize Frozen Blueberries

Do you freeze your home grown blueberries, or freeze locally picked ones?  We are unable to grow the plants, due to the limestone here, so I hunt down produce stands that sell blueberries grown in the area or in MI.

I've been looking for more creative ways to add nutrition, protein (not protein powders), fiber and whatnot into our breakfast. I look for more ways to utilize what we have in the freezer, like blueberries.  My husband was intrigued at this idea for the blueberries.  It looks like blueberry jam, but it is not.

I used a slice of sourdough (or use what you like), topped with the freshly ground peanut butter (peanuts only) we purchased, organic hemp hearts sprinkled (to get 1 full Tbsp. I need to sprinkle some on the peanut butter and then on top of everything), and finally topped with frozen blueberries heated with organic cinnamon mixed into it .

I used about 1/3 cup of blueberries.  Yum!  Healthy.  Fills us up. I just heated the blueberries, smashed them down with a fork, sprinkled some organic cinnamon, and gave it a stir.  I let it cool a bit before spreading on top of all of it.  It was pretty good.  Do you have a unique idea to utilize frozen blueberries (we freeze ours during blueberry season in our area).

I have had two people, in the last two weeks, tell me they were diagnosed as pre-diabetic.  Sigh.  There is sugar, dextrose, fructose, etc in almost anything processed in stores.  Be careful, and read labels. 

By the way, if you do not can jam, and have a hankering for it on a piece of toast or a PB and J, this method of mashing blueberries (thawed and heated from the freezer) works great.  When you let it cool a bit, it becomes a spreadable delight.  No sugar added.  I may add a tiny bit of nutmeg the next time I do this.

Another Way to Utilize Frozen Blueberries  © April 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Radish Hashbrowns (another version)

Do you plant radishes in your garden?   

We absolutely love diced hashbrowns made with home grown french breakfast radishes.  We didn't get to grow them last year, and we will be this spring.  We didn't get to grow any variety of radishes last year for that matter.

Hankering some radish hashbrowns, I bought a pound of regular radishes and made a different version of radish hasbrowns. 

My husband made me promise not to serve him green beans for breakfast, but he got radishes ha ha!  

I can see why the original recipe calls for 2# of radishes.  They do not amount to much after you squeeze the water out, prior to cooking them first.  I had 1# on hand, so that is what I used.  I highly recommend using 2#, as you add only one egg, and one egg to 1# vs. 2# was too much, and made the cooking time longer.

You shred/grate (a food processor speeds up the process) the radishes, squeeze the water out, cook them, cool them, add an egg, and cook them in a waffle iron.

I used pickle juice from our home canned bread and butter pickles for the dip recipe.  I used sour cream vs. mayo in the dip as well.

Results?  Delicious!  They take a lot longer to make vs. the diced version, but these were very good.  I think I will make them the day before next time, and reheat either on a skillet or in the air fryer.

Don't skip the sauce/dip for these.  It is very good.  Recipe is from gnom gnom.com (Radish Hashbrowns with grated Radishes).

(Pumpkin Oatmeal bake with home grown pumpkin, scrambled farm fresh eggs and rash hashbrowns with herb garden green onions and homemade sauce - see recipe link for hashbrowns)

I didn't realize it, until I wrote up this post, that the original recipe shows a photo with some snipped green onion on top of the radish hashbrowns.  I added some to our leftovers and we loved it.  I will be adding those to it next time as well.

Note:  If I remember, the original recipe states to make these in a mini waffle maker, but I would make several in a regular size waffle iron to speed up the time making them.  It takes about 8-10 minutes to make one in a mini waffle iron.  Unless you are busy in the kitchen with another project, the mini waffle maker will take you a long time to get all of the hashbrowns made.

Another note:  I may even try frying an entire pan full, in heated oil next time.  

Update note:  my husband re-heated his in the air fryer at his work, and said they were amazing topped with the sauce and snipped herb garden green onions. 

Radish Hashbrowns (another version) © April 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

What's Cooking?

 

The ladies are back to normal egg production, so I washed some up for scrambled eggs to go with breakfast.  I also tried a new recipe, and I'll try to get that posted tomorrow.  Any radish lovers out there?  Shockingly, the new recipe was delicious.

I decided to make another pumpkin oat breakfast bake (vs. pancakes) this time around, and I have to say, I'm very happy with the pumpkins we grew last year.  I planted a different variety, and the puree is much thicker than the previous pie pumpkins we've planted.

What did I plant?  Winter Luxury Pie Pumpkin, Baker Creek Seeds.

Do you have a favorite pie pumpkin that you plant in your garden?

The crock pot pork chops I recently made us, used up the very last container of homemade cream of mushroom soup we had in the freezer.  I don't use it that often, but it comes in handy, and it's much healthier.

The spring rains are thankfully bringing the herb garden back to life, and just in time.  I am getting to the bottom of my jar of oregano.  I made us a large pan of roasted vegetables, and I used several of my herbs to season it.

A fresh cut pineapple was cut up and packed for this week's lunches.  My husband joked at my $0.88 pumpkin, but I  was not missing out on that deal, and boy am I glad I bought one.  It is very good!  I do not have any of the gadgets to core this either, so it was a bit of work, but for $0.88??  You can't beat that.

Spring herb garden green onions are back, and I have found so many reasons to add them to meals.  I even snipped some in containers, to pack in my husband's lunch, so he can top his breakfast with them (or even his lunch).

What's Cooking?  © April 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Plantain Poultices ~ Freezing Plantain

Note: This was another resurrected draft post, so the photo is older, as well as the content, but sharing for those who may not know about plantain.  I have also dehydrated it for a medicinal tea.  

I have ground plantain, and applied it to a wasp sting, and it removed the pain and redness within 20 minutes of applying the ground up plantain.  It truly is a wonderful weed to have available.

I know plantain is great to add to some healing salves as well.

Sharing the post today, as it was buried amongst the land of the blog drafts.  The timeline is a bit off, as we are just now nearing spring weeds, but finally sharing.  The blogpost prior shows a comfrey poultice.  Apparently, I never took a photo of the plantain poultices I froze.

~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

Plantain has finally been harvested.  I allow some to grow in my flower beds too. It grows wild here.

I made several poultices, and have put them into my freezer for safe keeping.  These are great for but bites, boils, blisters, stings etc.  A poultice is basically fresh ground herb, sometimes ground with a bit of warm water, and sometimes a bit of flour to make a paste.  I put the "paste" on a long enough piece of gauze that can be wrapped around a wrist, ankle or leg, or I have also had to use plastic wrap to hold it in place before.  You can also make a very small amount and use a Band-Aid to hold it on the area you wish to treat.

The leaf is also edible, and comes in very useful for flu, cold, cough relief, when taken internally.  I do recommend you do your research.  There are so many books available at libraries, to borrow for free.  I have made tea with dehydrated plantain, for an upset stomach.  

Do you have medicinal tea tips, using plantain?

I restocked the freezer with greens, by blanching them first, and placing them in freezer bags for winter. 

Plantain Poultices ~ Freezing Plantain  © April 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Reuben Dip ~ Healthy Version ~ New Recipe Tried

 I have come to realize, that trying new recipes has become a hobby without me even thinking.  I joked that I need to stay away from the computer, stop ordering cookbooks from the library and such.  Golly, I tend to try them every week.  Recipes that is.

The newest recipe to try, is a healthier version of a Rueben dip for crackers or even veggies.  My husband loves Rueben's, and I am always on the hunt for a side dish to take to any gathering of any sort. I linked the recipe above, but you never know how long the links will last.  It's just much easier to share the recipe in case you are interested.  I am not even sure how I came across the recipe.

As for the sauerkraut, you can make your own, or buy it.  When I do buy it, we prefer Eden Organic sold in a glass jar.

Well, I made it, but I had to use google conversions to the best of my searching ability.  The recipe is in "grams" so you do need to do the conversion to cups/Tbsp etc.

I made my homemade Thousand Island dressing for this recipe (I made a half batch of it).  I also can my own ketchup, which an ingredient in the recipe for this dressing.

I used Almond flour (non-gmo) crackers for the dipping choice.  It's what I had on hand.  Did we like it?  Yes!  My husband took some to work and one of his co-workers tasted it. He loved it too.

I didn't get a photo of the completely mixed up dip, but it is delicious cold or hot.  While the recipe states it's good warmed up, my husband and his co-worker liked it cold much better.

Rueben Dip ~ Healthy Version ~ New Recipe Tried © April 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Homemade Hand Lotion

 In December of 2014, I made homemade hand lotion.  I have made it a few more times since then, and then I sort of dropped out of the homemade version and started buying it.  I made the lotion for gifting for Christmas that year.  To be honest, I don't remember if anyone ever let me know if they liked it or not either.  I used orange essential oil it it at the time.

By the way, the link still works on that post (linked above).  She shares a recipe with or without a preservative.  If you want to gift it, I do suggest the preservative.   If I remember correctly, I actually made two different recipes.  

Anyway, the one linked in my older blogpost is super easy to make.  Be sure to read the instructions on her website, and to let it sit overnight.  

I made a batch the other day, and just used a recycled jar and canning jar, but with solid closing lids.  I just haven't bought lotion pump for it yet.  I chose to use lemon essential oil this time around.

Do you have a favorite homemade hand lotion recipe?  Or do you prefer to just buy an organic brand at the store?

Homemade Hand Lotion  © April 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Happy Homemaker Monday ~ First Day of April

 I hope you all had a nice Easter weekend.  We had some excitement going on here so to speak.  First the power went out for several hours, along with an internet outage.  They could not locate the cause, or at the point of powering back on, did not disclose why they both went out of service.  It was a good spectrum of an area to lose both services.

Secondly, we had to cancel our weekend plans. My husband was on the forced overtime list at work.  He worked the entire Easter weekend.  Hence the unfinished home repairs.  

Thirdly, two very suspicious looking people landed on our front porch.  No vehicle, no cell phone (according to them), and their story was that they were "left by the side of the road"  and wanted to use my cell phone or call for a ride etc.  They also said they were from another state, and not from around here.  I was not about to do that, so I shut and locked the door, and called the Sheriff.   Mind you, we live in the country, so we have prepared for such situations.  

I in the meantime, had prepared a new breakfast, and it involved green beans.  

My husband told me that it's because I prepared a "weird" breakfast, that "weird" stuff happened.  I have promised not to put green beans in our breakfast, ha ha!

I am joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

The weather . . .

It's pouring down rain, we are to have rain for a few more days.  Mostly 40-50 degree days.   Possible snow mid-week.  Possibly a sunny 70 degree Sunday.  Weather is all over the map again.

Right now I am . . .

Filling a diffuser with water and lemon essential oil.  The air in the house is super dry this winter.  I also got out our smaller humidifier.

Thinking and pondering . . .

To garden at all this year, or not to garden.  We are still on the fence with giving the soil a rest this year.

To blog or not to blog.  I love to write it, but lately I feel it's monotonous and time consuming. Most of my posts, after so many years of writing, have almost zero comments, so hence monotonous (and boring?).

Blogger continues to have issues, and the photo loader is once again not working.  

The flower beds definitely need some upkeep work done.

I have lost my mojo to do interior house painting.  I'm a bit burned out from that job.  It's getting a rest for now.

I wrote down 3 things to do in the gardens on good weather days.  One has been crossed off the list now.

How I am feeling . . .

Tired, but ready to tackle the week ahead.  Due to an extra trip to town, I got a head start on my "to-do" list for the week.

On the breakfast plate . . .

Well, it's not green beans (ha ha!).  I have no idea just yet.

Breakfast enchiladas went into the oven.  I used a spinach tortilla.  Kroger has the ones we like with lots of veggies and non-gmo, when I don't want to make them myself.

On the menu . . .

-leftovers
-soup beans, homemade cornbread, maybe a salad too
-not sure on the rest of the week just yet.

On the reading pile . . .

I am not sure when I purchased this book, but it's off the shelf and I am very much enjoying it.

The back of the book. . .

It starts by saying "Molly Pink has become a yarnaholic."  The book includes a free crochet pattern and a recipe.  

On the TV . . .

It's been difficult to find anything worth watching.

Looking around the house . . .

Windows look great!   I am a firm believer of a homemade window cleaner recipe I found online (link).  It did a fantastic job.  It's rubbing alcohol, white vinegar, arrowroot powder, and distilled water.

On the to-do list . . .

-take items to the local blessing box
-start sorting more yarn, scraps from donations
-sort more craft inventory for donation locations
-bake us a breakfast casserole

-catch up on laundry

-brew tea infusions with nettle/oat straw

-sweep floors

-write out a re-stock shopping list

I need to put together our newest (second) mole-chasing windmill.  It's the perfect time to get the grounding rod in the ground (while the rain has softened the soil).

For the week:

(still on the list)

-wash upstairs windows

From the camera . . .

What I am crocheting . . .

Finished!!!   I got this done on the last day of March.  It measures about 9 inches wide.  It's the second doily I started over a year ago, and it landed in a basket (while we tore up floors and painted walls and ceilings).  So happy it's finally done.  One more unfinished project off my list.  Technically, only one unfinished project remains on that list.  The rest are just items to use up yarn, and keep on hand for gifting.

Progress on the baby blanket.

I used the last bit of leftover gray yarn to start a scrap lap afghan.  By "scrap" I mean those small hand size and golf ball sized balls of leftover project yarn.

I'm still crocheting baby washcloths, but only when I have long drives here or there, or sometimes when we have nice porch sitting weather.  I am blocking the washcloths when I finish each one.  I'll package them up in sets for gifting.

Devotionals, Bible Verses, Prayers . . .

I do not have any prayer requests this week.

Happy Homemaker Monday ~ First Day of April  © April 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Snippets ~ March comes to an end

Bedding dried on the clothesline smells the absolute best!

Birds chirping make you smile.

Sunshine is medicine for the soul.   Enjoying it as much as I can.  Rain returns this weekend.

The chicken coop was spring cleaned.  Man it needed it.   I was hoping we'd have them moved by now, but nope.  Anyway, they are happy ladies.

Although a pine tree fell and slightly damaged the lilac bush, it has spring buds. 

There is a lot of debris that needs cleaned up before the first mowing.  The main trees were cleaned up, but limbs and twigs remain.

New recipe tried.  Einkorn banana muffins (recipe is from A modern Homestead online).  These muffins are basically a one bowl recipe if you sift your pre-measured flour (I used einkorn all-purpose flour) over the mashed bananas.  They use 1/4 cup honey or maple syrup.  They bake up very nicely and are very good.  I will be trying these with some added cinnamon/nutmeg maybe, and there is a possibility of making them with date syrup (to replace honey/maple syrup).  Either way, these are delicious.

 

I was winding leftover yarn into a ball, and about to cut up a rutabaga for dinner, when the doorbell rang.  Confused at who would come out for a visit, but happily surprised at the delivery.  My husband sent me these, along with a box of locally made chocolates (like about 3 hours away local), and I'm sure it cost him a pretty penny.  I tell you what.  It made my day.

Did you know that local chocolate makers are having a difficult time right now?  We found out the florist is having trouble obtaining the boxes of delight.  Why?  We are told that cocoa is up 129% in cost right now.  It's true.  I read a few articles about it.  Then again, what isn't up in cost right now?

Dinner turned out fantastic this time around. I decided to use my crockpot vs. the oven this time.  I wanted the oven to roast the rutabaga, so here is what I did....

The above photo was my husband's plate.  He mixed a bit of sauce into his rutabagas.  Roasted rutabagas are so good, if you haven't tried it yet.  Anyway.

I thawed 2 cups of frozen garden grown spaghetti squash, and layered it in the bottom of a crock pot. I then added half of my home canned herbed tomato sauce (I can Ball's recipe), and then layered in one cooked (cooked them frozen from the freezer) dinner serving (about 15) homemade meatballs (made with organic oats vs. bread crumbs), then topped it with the remaining sauce.  I put the crock pot on low all day, and the squash made the sauce so thick and delicious.  I will be doing it this way from now on.  Three ingredients and that was it.  I got some fresh parmesan out and we sprinkled a bit on top, but we really didn't need it.  

We both had high ambitions to put the "done" stamp on the hallway project by the end of March, but life happens.  However, we are giddy happy, that we are very close to being done.  We just have to make a trip for a few supplies to finish the floor trim and the second step.

I have put the official "done" stamp on this crocheted blanket.  I took the photo yesterday, but the ends are sewn in, and it is completely finished.  My goal was met for this project.  Done before the end/by the end of March.

The last bit of gray yarn from this blanket.  In fact, the last of all of the gray in my entire yarn stash.  It's enough scrap yarn to use in a scrap yarn ripple lap afghan.  

Have a fantastic Easter weekend!  Cheers to all of your end of March goals!  

Snippets ~ March comes to an end  © Mar 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Smoked Bacon? Oh my! ~ Shopping and Hiking

 We have discovered bulk, smoked bacon.  It is a drive for us, but the packages are packed with 150 slices of smoked bacon.  We do not own a smoker, so this was a nice discovery.  Did you know that smoked bacon loses it's fat when smoked?  It greatly reduces the amount of time to cook it as well.  On a side note, it is even more cost saving to cure, smoke and slice your own bacon with pork, if you have a smoker (so many instructions online for this).

It costs a lot less to buy the bacon this way (bulk), and saves us so much money.  We will be stocking up on this, from now on.  We don't use bacon in every meal, but the savings are wonderful.  

We are finding more and more ways to locate supplies at lower prices, organic herbs and other items when we do take the drive for supplies. 

We are now incorporating the shopping trips with an outdoor hike/walk.  It's something new for us, but we are loving this new idea.  We are expanding our outdoor adventures, getting physical exercise, and enjoying nature.

I'm tickled to also find glass bottles for homemade tinctures, lotions, sprays and whatnot.  No more Mountain Rose Herbs, with their high prices, lack of supplies, and outrageous shipping costs.

Oh by the way, I had a conversation with a lady about Mountain Rose Herbs, and my frustrations.  She said they were recently purchased by someone else.  I don't have the information on that, but it all makes sense.

Having spent my entire life devoted to raising our kids, it is finally nice to get out of the house and enjoy ourselves again.  Are you discovering nature this year?  I'm actually writing a shopping list for long distance supplies, and logging what areas to hike/walk in those areas.  It's truly an inspiration, and something to look forward to, besides just shopping.  Finding cost saving, and/or needed supplies, are just a bonus on these wellness travel trips.

Smoked Bacon?  Oh my! ~ Shopping and Hiking © Mar 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Growing Sprouts for the Chickens

 Last summer, the lentil sprouts I grew in the sprout jars did great.  However, this past month they would not sprout much at all.  I thought I had bought bad lentils, and refilled the jars with new lentils.  Again, it was a week and a half, and hardly any sprouts.

I figured out what was hindering the germination - salt in the water softener hooked to our well water.  I didn't even think about it.  Apparently, the salt was shut off for watering the garden in the morning last year.  At the same time the sprouts were rinsed.  Makes sense.  No salt in the well water.

Also, if your house is too cold in winter, it can also hinder your lentils from sprouting.  Humidity can play a part in sprouts vs. no sprouts as well.

Another fact, is that our well water is freezing cold this time of year.  It's pretty cold year round, but during winter, it is very cold. I have to set water out to get to room temperature, just to water plants.  

I started a new jar of lentils, and soaked them in room temperature water, and did the daily rinse with lukewarm water as well.

We have sprouts!  The chickens are super happy!  It only took 3 days to sprout.  I used a 1/2 cup of dry lentils, soaked them overnight, and rinsed each day after.  I have a sprout tray, that holds the jars at a slant (and catches any water), and black out jar covers.  In the past I covered them with a towel to block the light out, so you don't need a fancy tray (I do like mine however).

Growing Sprouts for the Chickens   © March 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart