About
I’m a gardener, cook, writer, weaver, soap-maker, cheese-maker, horticulturist, anthropologist, ecologist, and more. I’ve studied and practiced home and garden care traditions since I was 10 years old, and I’m finding that many of these skills have been lost in families, and it only took a generation or two. While our modern life is more comfortable, it’s time to go back to the past and relearn the skills that made life simpler, even if not necessarily easier.
I’m here to share my knowledge with and learn from those interested in living sustainably, self-sufficiently, naturally, and cheaply. Join me in reclaiming our past for a better today!
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Gregory Richard
May 5, 2012 at 8:26 pm
Hello,
I just want to thank for this website. I started with your wild yeast sourdough because I am trying to eat more unprocessed food – mainly, no chemicals. I wrote to you on twitter because my first loaf was a bit doughy – but excellent. I also want you to know the idea of keeping some aside for pizza crust was a great idea. I rolled the dough out on the counter covered in wheat flour. Then place on a pizza pan that was sprinkled with corn meal. Using tomato sauce and adding Italian herbs, sweet basil, and fresh chopped garlic for the base. I added fresh grated smoked mozzarella, pepperoni, tomato slices, sweet yellow peppers, red onion, and black olives (did not have green on hand). 425 degrees for 12-15 minutes and YUMMY! Crust was perfect. Thank you for inspiring me.
G
Rural Spin
May 6, 2012 at 1:53 pm
You’re welcome! And thank you for sharing your experience! (I didn’t see your twitter note…I have twitter linked to my Facebook page so my FB posts get tweeted, but never go to Twitter for anything besides that. I suppose I should start checking!)
dydner@sbcglobal.net
August 6, 2012 at 6:35 am
I am trying to make cottage cheese like the post says, however, I am not seeing a change in the milk. I am using fresh raw milk. It is starting to sour, but no curd’s.
Rural Spin
August 6, 2012 at 6:40 am
It sours first, then turns to curds (it’s basically the same process). How long it takes can depend upon temperature and how fresh the milk is (the fresher it is, the longer it takes). How long have you been waiting?
dydner@sbcglobal.net
August 6, 2012 at 7:55 am
I’ve put it out Sat afternoon, on dinningroom table, then moved it yesterday to my workshop room because there is very little A/C in there. This morning there was no visible difference.
Rural Spin
August 6, 2012 at 10:20 am
I’ve never heard of raw milk that didn’t turn sour after being left out. It’s amazing that it still looks like fresh milk. I am not sure what to tell you…as far as I know it’s somewhat impossible for raw milk to not sour at room temps (not to say this isn’t happening to you). My only thought is to take your milk and strain as instructed in the directions. It could be that the curds are just not as obvious as they usually are. Try it and let me know what happens!
dydner@sbcglobal.net
August 6, 2012 at 1:15 pm
Just checked at lunch and smelled it, it is starting to sour, I can smell it, hopfully by morning it will be ready to strain. Thanks!
dydner@sbcglobal.net
August 7, 2012 at 7:29 am
Ok, we have cottage cheese! Apparently, alot has happened in the last 24 hrs. LOL However, next time I will pull off the cream before I set it out.
Alicia
August 14, 2012 at 5:00 pm
I absolutely love your site. So helpful!
Jules
August 22, 2012 at 9:01 am
I’m enjoying your Facebook entries and also the information on your website. I’m a Northwest native who transplanted to the Pacific Northwest over 30 years ago. Growing up in North Idaho I learned much from nature and explored on my own…thank you for sharing!
Rural Spin
August 23, 2012 at 7:31 am
Thank you for reading! I’ve been in almost all of the states in the US (with the exception of Hawaii, Alaska…and Idaho). I hope to make a trek up there soon! I hear it’s lovely country. I can imagine what you learned!
cara leigh
October 24, 2012 at 11:54 am
you’re amazing, your wealth of knowledge is very inspiring to me. thank you!
Rural Spin
October 24, 2012 at 12:03 pm
Thank you!
Heather Bach
November 9, 2012 at 6:42 pm
Hi! I have enjoyed your posts immensely on Facebook and really appreciate your wish to share your knowledge and experiences. I have done a lot of searching on different pages regarding a health issue with a pullet, but I thought I would check with you to see if you have any thoughts. We have a backyard flock with several breeds of hens. We have had 2 Speckled Sussex. One died a few months back of what appeared to be a respiratory ailment. The other has seemed sickly for months. Mostly it seems like she has narcolepsy, she just sleeps a lot and seems to have a hard time breathing, but she runs around when she is awake and eats well. She is also deaf. She now seems worse, however, in that she is coughing more and I see mucus in her beak when she opens it. No discharge from her nose though. None of the others show any signs. ANy ideas….? We do not have any vets in our area that will treat chickens so I am stuck using the internet.
Rural Spin
November 10, 2012 at 9:07 am
Unfortunately, I don’t have any ideas beyond a vet. My only advice would be to try to boost this chicken’s immune system and hope it’s enough for the chicken to heal (although she sounds pretty sick). One way I boost my hens’ immunity is to put cloves of garlic and apple cider vinegar in the drinking water. But if this hen is getting worse, you might want to consider putting her out of her misery. At this point I doubt the garlic/vinegar in the water bit will help much (though I do recommend it as part of regular hen care to potentially prevent your other chickens from getting sick, but that’s just me. Lord knows there’s a thousand opinions out there). And you are not sure if she will pass along her disease to the other chickens. Sometimes tough choices need to be made for the sake of the other hens. Sorry about your chickens!
Heather Bach
November 11, 2012 at 6:11 pm
Thank you so very much for your thoughts on this. I am giving her some garlic and vinegar mixed with other things throughout the day to see if it can help. I haven’t seen mucus in her beak anymore and she has plenty of appetite, which I take as a sign that not all is lost. I will give some to the others as well to boost their defenses. One more question for you – do your eggs taste like the hens eat garlic? I was under the impression that onions and garlic would affect the taste of the eggs. Thank you again for your response and for all the knowledge you share so generously!
Rural Spin
November 11, 2012 at 8:12 pm
I haven’t noticed that the eggs taste like garlic. But someone else might disagree. But I don’t think the eggs don’t taste like corn, or crickets, or laying crumbles, either.
But, yes,I’ve heard the same thing–I just haven’t noticed the eggs tasting different.
Karen Russell
February 8, 2013 at 6:45 pm
I found your recipe for sourdough on youtube and I have a fairly new sourdough. I only created it about 2 weeks ago now. I made a loaf using a different recipe last week and it didn’t turn out so good, Trying again this weekend, what else to do here in NH during an epic snow storm as long as we don’t lose power. My ? is, what consistency should the sponge be when you start it? Took starter out of frig this morning, added 1 flour&water, waited 6 hr, just added another cup flour&water. The consistency is still quite runny. Should I add more flour or will it thicken upon resting overnight? I noticed on your video yours was quite thick by the time you added the 4 cups of starter to the bread recipe. Thanks for your help and I have to just say I love your personality.
Rural Spin
February 9, 2013 at 4:38 pm
That is a great question. The answer is, the sponge doesn’t need to be a specific consistency, but if you feel it is too runny, do add more flour. When you get to the point where you’re actually baking the bread, if your sponge is not thick enough you would just make up for it by adding more flour when you make your bread dough. On the flip side, if your sponge is very thick, you would add less flour. Learning the feel of bread dough will guide you on how much flour to add…making bread is one of those things where you really need to make several loaves before you get the “feel” for how much flour is needed. I find that most people err on the side of too much flour, which can make for a dry loaf. Err on the side of a slightly sticky dough (though nice and satiny is perfect). And, yes, great use of time during a snow storm! Good luck with that!
edgeauctionhouse
February 27, 2013 at 1:33 pm
Do you have any eBooks?
Rural Spin
February 27, 2013 at 2:19 pm
Not yet!
I’m working on it.
Oliver Kraft
February 27, 2013 at 5:24 pm
thank you for sharing your knowledge. i think you would also enjoy and benefit from soul mate new zelander kay baxter and her publications (namely “change of heart” and others). i wondered if you have any resources for gluten free living?
Mike Wade
March 13, 2013 at 7:22 am
Rural Spin, I really like what you are doing with your website and fb posts. I am impressed with your credentials and knowledge. We have a very small heirloom vegetable seed company. We have had a number of fans ask us why we are not on your list of companies providing heirloom vegetable seeds. Probably because you have never heard of us. Please check us out at
http://www.bbbseed.com/ and http://www.facebook.com/BBBSeed?ref=ts&fref=ts
We would love to be added to your list. Thanks for the consideration
Have a Terrific Day!
Rural Spin
March 17, 2013 at 8:46 am
Thank you! I will add you to the list.
Rural Spin
March 18, 2013 at 3:55 pm
Hi Mike. I just wanted to let you know that I updated my list to include BBB Seed, and posted the new list to my Facebook page just now. Check it out here if you’d like to leave a personal comment: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=356918767750821&set=a.142959519146748.27427.142936552482378&type=1&theater
Carol Tucker
March 15, 2013 at 8:17 pm
Hi! I wonder if you would contact me? I am a guest co-ordinator for an internet interview show, and we are looking to have a guest who can speak to nutrion, permaculture, and sustainability issues, among other things. If you are interested in being a guest, shoot me an e-mail! I will give you more details and you can decide. Also, you can check our website to see some of the ones we’ve already done. Thanks! And thanks for all the work you do here.
Rural Spin
March 18, 2013 at 3:56 pm
I’m emailing you now.