Food Independence update

We've had so much rain lately that not much has been done at all aside from planting my seedlings on the one fine day (and fortunately have not been smashed to bits with the heavy rains we've been having!).

But, I have been doing a lot of reading.

First up, there is Johanna over at Star-cooked, and I've been enjoying her posts on solar cooking, hayboxes and foraging. I actually got a library book out last week on NZ Native Edible Plants by Andrew Crowe which looks like it might be a good one to purchase. I was pleased to note I have quite a few of the listed plants in my own garden, and living next to the sea, I have access to many of the others. I now intend on trying to make my own cooker so we can get together for a picnic one day! I'm almost kicking myself for not getting in on a co-op with a few online friends who went for a commercially made model.

I have also been investigated making my own Rewena Paraoa (Maori Potato Bread). In my quest to cook using the least number of processed ingredients and as traditionally as possible, a friend emailed me a recipe for starting my own bread bug instead of relying on store bought yeast. I trialled it today - but substituting in the gluten free flours made my attempt at a starter incredibly dry, so I turned it into scones for lunch. I will need to dabble around a bit to get it into the paste they talk of so it is able to begin fermentation. This still doesn't solve my problem with needing to use imported gluten free flours, so that will be my next project.