EASY NATURAL HOMEMADE ROOT BEER.
I'll be honest, I like soda (or pop, or cola, or whatever your colloquialism may be), but I hardly drink the stuff. Too sugary, too processed, not my thing. But having grown up with soda I do sometimes get the craving for one, especially around the fall when a good root beer, or root beer float, could really hit the spot.So here's our recipe to make your own root beer, only using water, roots, honey and fruit (if desired)—no starter needed (though if you keep a ginger bug, go nuts). IMPORTANT NOTE: this is a fermented product and the end result will contain a slight bit of alcohol, akin perhaps to kombucha. If you don't let your kids drink kombucha, this may not be your recipe. Also, the longer it ages, the higher the alcohol level will rise, so kids should drink it fresh and in small quantities. OTHER IMPORTANT NOTE: if this post looks funny, it's because I (Jesse) am doing it all by myself and can't figure out how to put spaces between paragraphs. You will have to pretend they're there. And they're awesome.
Makes One Gallonyou'll need:
1-2 lbs dried sassafras root (and/or other flavorful roots such as sarsaparilla) 1 and 1/4 gallons water 2 cups raw honey (if not raw, or if you choose to use sugar––1 1/2 cups––you may have to add some form of starter or unwashed fruit) 1-2 lbs wild persimmons or other fruit (optional) One 2 gallon glass jar or crock Small plastic bottles for bottling with lids
Chop the dry roots into large chunks. (Our friends at Rolf and Daughters even suggest toasting the roots slightly first to concentrate the flavor.) In a large pot, simmer the roots with 1/2 gallon of water for at least one hour until fragrant and dark. It should reduce slightly, and be a deep red. Add the rest of the water and let cool to room temperature. Once sufficiently cool, stir in raw honey and persimmons whole. Do not crush fruit or the drink will become pulpy (speaking from experience). Place in crock or glass jar and cover with cloth tied on tightly to keep bugs out. Leave at room temperature. Let sit overnight. The next day, stir vigorously two or three times with wooden spoon. Fermentation should begin within 48 hours.
Once it begins to bubble slightly, put it into bottles or jars and put lids on. At this point, allow to sit at room temperature for one day, until carbonation is visible, or until you hear a light "fizz" when you open a bottle. Place in fridge and drink anytime thereafter. Take into consideration that the bottles will become highly pressurized from the carbon dioxide, and if not consumed within few days will need to be "burped" by removing the lid carefully and releasing the gas. The fridge will slow down the pressurization, but keep an eye on them. Otherwise you may have an explosion. For serious. Again, this fermentation will produce trace amounts of alcohol and that percentage will increase over time. Consume fresh and cold.- Jesse
FALLING.
And suddenly, it's fall! We were harvesting beautiful tomatoes, peppers, and summer squash yesterday, and tonight it is going to be 37 degrees. Might get our first frost!We have a garden full of winter squash - butternuts, acorn, sweet dumpling, pumpkins, spaghetti - and our greenhouse is FULL of sweet potatoes curing. I love the colorful bounty of summertime, but there is nothing like the feeling of having a winter's worth of storage crops laid by. As the season winds down, we are slowly preparing to head into hibernation and wait for this little bub to be born.What are your favorite parts of fall?- Hannah.
THIS & THAT.
Some random photos from the past week.
Loading up on acorns for the winter. 
A Steiner reading at the Biodynamic Conference.
Fresh ginger!
A days harvest of sweet potatoes. 
We are having a really good persimmon year!
Scooter kitten is getting so big.
THANK YOU FOR READING.
This past weekend we saw a lot of people we hadn't seen in a while, and many others we didn't know, who said they read our blog regularly and enjoyed it. And we cannot tell you how nice that is to hear, or how much it means.It's not always totally sane for us to keep up the blog being full-time farmers, living without electricity, but we do it precisely for that reason - to share what it's like to live like this. We like sharing the ups and downs, battles with turkeys, pictures of new baby kittens or piglets or chicks. We like being transparent about how hard it is, too, about our money situations, our fears and our mistakes. But we also love talking about how much we love it, or how we wouldn't do anything else. In some ways it helps keep us going to put it in writing, and forces us to maintain perspective, to realize how fortunate we actually are. And we've always just done it that way not thinking about who reads or why, just thinking that it feels good to do.So it's fun to hear from the people who do read, and learn their reasons. It's fun to hear their stories or how they use our story in their own lives. It's exciting to hear from people who have started farming because of blogs like ours, and we hope there will be more of that. We hope to inspire more farmers, more gardeners, more homesteaders, more small-farm bloggers. This blog has been such therapy for us sometimes, and such a beautiful support system. And for that reason it is absolutely worth every bit of the insanity it adds––when our server goes down randomly, or when we have to spend an extra hour or three in town just to keep it going––if we can occasionally get a weekend like this past one where we hear from people that tell us to keep it up.With that said, no need to wait until Thanksgiving to say it (we would honestly say it every day if we could), thank you all for reading––it truly means a lot.- Jesse.