A Loaf of Sandwich Bread. 5.23.22

 I used the mixer to make a batch of pizza dough.  That's just flour, water, yeast, a little salt.  I kneaded it together, let it rise.  Now it needs to age a little in the fridge, up to a week, maybe two.

Then I made a loaf of sandwich bread.  I used a recipe on the King Alfred flour website. This bread has potato flour and milk powder as dough conditioners, and some butter.

I made a mistake and cut the butter back by 1/3 without adding liquid to replace the difference.

The dough was a bit dry.  I realized my mistake and kneaded in a little more water.  It was a bit lumpy before rising.

I realize that dough hooks have been around for a generation of two, but I have always kneaded by hand.  I like being part of the process, and feeling the dough texture with my hands.  That is becoming more difficult, and it's more messy that kneading in a bowl, so the mixer is worth a try.  Cleanup is also easier.

Since the surface was a little lumpy so I kneaded a few times by hand.  Let it rise until very puffy, punch down, made into loaf and let it rise again.  I cut some slices across the top.

It came out really nice.

The bread is maybe a little crumbly inside.  Maybe I over-kneaded.  The flavor was excellent and it was  very tender.

More Forsythia Cuttings. 5.23.22

 A few months ago I forced some forsythia flowers, and kept them to see if they would grow roots.  All I did was shorten the lower end when growth started at leaf nodes, to get some of those new nodes under water.

These are a modern, shorter variety with larger flowers.   I don't know the name.  Rooting ranged from lots of big roots to none.  It's easy to see that new roots often emerge at the nodes, often where there is new stem growth at those nodes.

These are an old historic variety, which is what I'm using for the hedge.

I really didn't try.  I just filled the water jars when the level was low.  The goal is to have the plants close together in the hedge.  I think these will grow, with a little extra watering for the next month.  Eventually, I want it to be a privacy hedge.

Making a Small Water Feature. 5.21.21

 I've been wanting a small water feature to give a calming  atmosphere in my garden.  I haven't found what I wanted, so I'm making one from a ceramic planter.

The inside is unsealed clay, and it has two large holes that need to be sealed.  I'm using self adhesive rubber patches, and liquid rubber sealant.

The  I sprayed with white rubber sealant.

I messed up an area, so will get some more rubber sealant spray and repeat.  I think this will work.  I ordered a floating, solar powered mini fountain, and it will stand on a bird bath pedestal that is missing its bird bath.

Today's Gardening. 5.21.22

Today I installed and tested the drip irrigation system for the sauce tomatoes. They will also need a  support system - my idea is to make a horizontal trellis, using bamboo.  Then they should be almost no maintenance until harvest in Aug or Sept.

Here is Rufus inspecting the fresh eating tomato plants.  I ran the irrigation for an hour.  With the warmer weather, the leaves are greening up as I hoped.  Several have blossoms.

A couple of the irrigation fittings have popped off with the water pressure.  I used a zip tie and zip tie gun to tighten the  better.  Time will tell.  These valves may not be meant for this hose but they were a lot cheaper than the brand name valves.

I laid black plastic for one of the squash beds.  It's about 3/4 done now.  I have last year's experience to tell me that they grow and produce amazingly well with a black plastic mulch, and weeding problems drop to almost zero.  These will also get drip irrigation this year.  I ordered some more tubing for that.

I also installed a cedar trellis for the Honeynut butternut squashes.  I haven't grown them before.  Here is its Wikipedia page.  I also haven't grown squashes on a trellis.  

I suppose, if the squashes look too heavy for  the vine, I can make little hammocks for them.

Lemon Sugar Cookies. 5.21.22

 Today I made a batch of the usual peanut butter cookies.  Then I made a batch of Lemon Sugar Cookies.  The recipe was on the back of a flour package, Bob's Red Mill, and can be found here.  I don't know if it is copyrighted so I linked.

Here is how they came out.

These have a flavor and texture similar to Madelines.   I like them better than the Madelines that I made.  The contain zest from an entire lemon, plus 2 tbsp of the juice.  The recipe stated it made two dozen.  I though it would make more, but it was exactly two dozen.  Very tasty, lemony cookies.

I wonder if the same recipe could be used, but substitute a Mandarin orange or Tangerine for the lemon juice.  It would need to be as acidic for them to rise so nicely.