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	<title>idle hands</title>
	<link>http://www.idlehands.ca/blog</link>
	<description></description>
	<lastBuildDate>Fri, 03 Sep 2010 04:05:37 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>sauerkraut, three ways</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Ahh&#8230; gleaming jars of sauerkraut, full of the promise of tangy raw vegetables in the middle of winter. Despite how frequent my posts on fermentation are I&#8217;ve somehow managed to skip sauerkraut. Oh yeah, it&#8217;s a fall food. It&#8217;s fall?! Damn.
The process for sauerkraut is basically the same, although the spices and ingredients can be [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.idlehands.ca/blog/?p=311</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>crème fraiche</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Crème Fraiche is basically a hybrid of sweet farm cream and cultured cream invented by crafty French epicures. I try to keep a quart or so on hand using buttermilk left over from making cultured butter. The flavor is sweet and tangy with a hint of nuttiness. I use it to finish sauces, soup (it&#8217;s [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.idlehands.ca/blog/?p=299</link>
			</item>
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		<title>the east garden</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I might also have called this post “yet another exercise in patience”. This is a recurring lesson for me, continually popping up in the interstices of my experiences. Those of you that know me are likely familiar with my impatience. Regardless of my perception of time, a garden cannot be rushed. Like so much else.
I [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.idlehands.ca/blog/?p=289</link>
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		<title>beaked hazelnuts</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Corylus cornuta 

Groves of them are scattered all over the property&#8230; what of it we&#8217;ve managed to explore, anyway. I&#8217;ve heard conflicting reports about when they&#8217;re ready for harvest, although each came with a warning of the competition we would have from various rodents, squirrels, birds and even a boring insect.
In light of this we [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.idlehands.ca/blog/?p=283</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>green beans</title>
		<description><![CDATA[lactofermented green beans
2 TBSP salt per quart of boiled water. I used 2 quarts of water for 3 quarts of beans. Pack the beans well and ensure that they remain below the mouth of the jar so the brine will cover them. Pour in the brine and wait a few weeks.
]]></description>
		<link>http://www.idlehands.ca/blog/?p=280</link>
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		<title>cultured butter</title>
		<description><![CDATA[
I&#8217;ve been anxious to start fermenting dairy for a variety of reasons; this experiment with cultured butter is my first. Of course I used the raw local cream I&#8217;ve raved about before, which is endlessly inspiring me. However, as it isn&#8217;t pasteurized it doesn&#8217;t tend to stay fresh very long, even refrigerated.
Butter has always been [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.idlehands.ca/blog/?p=260</link>
			</item>
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		<title>wwoof</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Meet Emma! She&#8217;s the newest laborer around here&#8230;er, I mean family member. Her job is very important: she is in charge of keeping deer out of the gardens and coyotes away from the ducks, chickens and kitties. An unintended side benefit is that she gets us out exploring the wild areas around here daily.
]]></description>
		<link>http://www.idlehands.ca/blog/?p=256</link>
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		<title>apples!</title>
		<description><![CDATA[
I was giddy when I had it confirmed by a long time resident that the apple trees we inherited aren’t crab apples, they’re eating apples! Don’t get me wrong, crab apples are great, but there is already an abundance of them in the area. They won&#8217;t be hard to glean, although we&#8217;ll plant some ourselves [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.idlehands.ca/blog/?p=245</link>
			</item>
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		<title>dwelling here</title>
		<description><![CDATA[
As I’ve mentioned, my husband and I recently relocated to the rural prairies. I think the circumstances of our move warrant some discussion here, as it wouldn’t have been possible without some inspiration and open-mindedness about alternative paradigms for sheltering ourselves. Basically, we’re squatting on an old farm site.
The owner is, of course, perfectly aware [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.idlehands.ca/blog/?p=235</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>medicine from ditches: yarrow</title>
		<description><![CDATA[or, an ode to yarrow
Achillea millefolium
How do I begin to describe the myriad uses of this modest, lovely flower? Or my feelings about its wildness? It doesn’t grow in large colonies (not in my area, anyway), nor try to muscle its way above the vetches and clovers by the roadside; if you weren’t looking for [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.idlehands.ca/blog/?p=228</link>
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