This is a close up of the figs I bought at market yesterday. I look forward to these every year - they truly are the best figs in the universe. The difference is that the farmers leave them on the tree till their super ripe. They're really sweet and a little dehydrated, which condenses their figyness.

Lunch yesterday was leftover potatoes, tomato sauce, and the very last of the fontina cheese.

I attempted to make mozzarella again yesterday afternoon. Things went a little better - the curd separated from the whey enough that I could scoop out the curd and kneed it. I did it for a while, but I think I should have kneeded it more - it never got to the super stretchy phase that they describe in the directions. I ended up with two balls of cheese that tasted a lot more like cheese curds than mozzarella.

For dinner I cut up part of one of the cheese balls with a tomato and basil, and sprinkled salt and pepper on top.


We had this with grilled lamb chops and new potatoes. Yet another delicious dinner!

Yesterday evening we went to a bonfire at our friends' house in Mckinleyville and I picked up a dozen more duck and chicken eggs. We brought them a pint of apple-butter for payment. We heated up the rest pf the gallon of cider I bought in Fortuna last Saturday and drank it by the fire.

This morning I made yogurt and sour cream. I was just remarking to Johnny that at least I knew I wouldn't screw these simple things up, when I totally screwed the yogurt up. I mixed up the yogurt (mine from last week) in with the milk and all of a sudden the milk started to curdle. It happened really quickly! I put it in jars, hoping maybe it's not totally screwed up, but I think it is....the sour cream looked fine. I'm so sick of dealing with curds and whey!

I had a glass of milk, figs, and a pluot for breakfast. Lunch was leftover eggplant with tomato sauce and some of my cheese.

Then, just as I was finishing lunch, my wheat hookup called and told me to meet him in Fortuna at the apple orchard in 30 minutes! He had my wheat! I jumped in Johnny's station wagon and was off!!

Fortuna is about halfway between Redway (where the wheat was grown) and Arcata. It took me about 45 minutes to get there. By the time I did, the wheat farmer and the apple farmer were examining a few heads of wheat on the kitchen counter, trying to determine the best way to get the grain out. They were full of enthusiasm for my project and wished me well. The wheat farmer wouldn't let me pay - he said he was just happy I was drawing attention to wheat in Humboldt.

He gave me three sheaves - 2 are Sonora Wheat, which is the variety the Spanish brought here in the 1820s. I've forgotten what he said was the other variety - I'll have to call him and ask.

This what they looked like - each is about 3 feet high.

I stopped on my way home and bought a clean 32 gallon trash can. I unloaded the bundles into the back yard and the threshing began! I divided the sheaves into chunks and bashed them against the side of the trash can, letting the berries fall to the bottom. It worked pretty well, although I still ended up using my hands to break the berries off as well. Johnny came and helped with the second bundle, but it still took about 2 hours.
This is what we got out of the first bundle. The second was about the same.

The hardest part was separating the berries from the chaff. The best way we found was putting it in a metal bowl and blowing on it. Very low tech! The chaff is light and it blew away while the heavier berries remained.









Here the berries are in the bowl. They're not quite totally separated, but we decided to let the project rest till tomorrow.

I'm realizing how precious this wheat is going to be! I didn't get a whole lot from the first two bundles. They're both Sonora wheat, perhaps the other variety will yield a little more... it'll be really interesting to taste the difference between the two.

I'm probably exerting more calories procuring this wheat as I will gain from eating it. I'll savor this bread more than any other I've ever eaten that's for sure.