I'd want to live near to my work so I could bike or walk there. That is, unless I'm telecommuting or even supporting myself from my garden (the best, of course, but with my back may not be practical). My house would be made of cob and be solar powered or powered by a mini-watermill. My water would come from a natural spring. All the runoff would be collected and used in the summer, and I'd have composting toilets that would also be used in the garden. A greenhouse would be attached to the house so it would share the heat of the house (if the house was heated, that is), where I'd grow as tropical of edible plants as I could (mainly lemons, ginger and bananas). I would have wormbins near the kitchen door for scraps and compost bins for garden waste. I'd love to have a shredder, but I'm not sure how I'd power it (solar, biodiesel, or petal-powered?). The vegetable garden would make up the central part of the yard. It would be broken up into 1/3 legumes, 1/3 leaf and fruit crops, and 1/3 root and grain crops that would be on a 3-year rotation. I would also try to have it 70% seed crops, 20% root crops, and 10% other stuff. And of course rotating the botanical families as well. Sounds complicated, but I think it could be done (or at least approximated). It would be managed in an organic, intensive, low-till way. I would try to keep it pretty clean, however, to discourage slugs. It would be bordered by a perennial edibles garden, including fruit, edible flowers and herbs. Plenty of edible natives would be included for myself and for the birds and bees. Both the perennial edibles and natives would be left messy to encourage a diversity of insects. A separate bed would have medicinal plants and other useful plants like ones for fiber, dyes, soap, and preservatives. Another small bed would have plants for fresh and dried bouquets. Since these aren't edible, they would be separate from the edible part of the garden. I would not allow weeds to run rampant, and I'd be careful what I plant, because some are very invasive and endanger native species. Invasive species (both animals and plants) have endangered almost 40% of endangered species in the US. Most of them were originally deliberately introduced. St. John's wort and comfrey are two very invasive plants that are commonly used in permaculture books that I would never plant or encourage. Having shade in the perennial areas and keeping the vegetable beds covered with crops would keep them to a minimum. A few weeds would be allowed though, if they were particularly useful and were not very aggressive. I would also have chickens near the house, which of course I'd use in the garden in chicken tractors, and sheep or goats in a little pasture (perhaps under fruit trees) for their meat, milk, and fiber. Who knows how much space this would take up...I'd try to make it as small as I could...

Well, we've made at least four batches of this no knead bread. It's really GOOD! Yesterday morning we turned out our first batch of no knead sourdough bread. It came out very well. I suspected, however, that when they said that one only has to use a 1/4 cup of sourdough starter instead of a 1/4 teaspoon of instant yeast (no mention of baking soda), for this bread, that they were using "fake sourdough." "Fake sourdough," is simply a yeast culture, used like sourdough, but which started with packaged yeast. "Real sourdough" starts out as a "captured yeast culture," without any commercial yeast added. It tends to be stronger than packaged yeast. So, when we did our sourdough no knead bread, we added 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda to the batter. It worked. I might even try 1/3 teaspoon of baking soda, since our sourdough was, well... a little sour. Still, it's good enough that I have to be careful not to eat too much! The beauty of the no knead method is that one can through it together in less than 10 minutes. Let sit for at least 18 hours (I have let it sit 24 hours) and then there's less than five minutes of work before a 1 1/2 hour rise and one pops it in the oven. 45 minutes after that presto! One has a really crispy tasty bread, very much like a good French bread. It's very little work, but one does need to time things. George

This was my first swap ever. I dragged along my next door neighbor, Donna with me & we had a blast!! Thanks to all the friendly people. The trades were great I came home with brugs, gardenias, chocolate mint, a desert rose, a water umbrella plant (which I was told could also be grown in soil - yea cause I don't have a pond & it is the neatest thing.) I also got a new coleus, some iris bulbs, pots & a huge Peace Lilly plant. I know there is more but I can't remember right now. THE BEST THING THAT I CAME HOME WITH IS NEW GARDEN FRIENDS. Looking forward to the Spring Swap. I'm sorry I couldn't print out the info on my swaps. I can send you a couple pictures of what I traded. Silver Pink Hoya Publicalyx [IMG]http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k298/debbiedo7/My%20Flowers/SilverPinkHoyaPublicalyx1.jpg[/IMG] Burros Tail [IMG]http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k298/debbiedo7/My%20Flowers/BurrosTail.jpg[/IMG] Easter Egg plant tree [IMG]http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k298/debbiedo7/My%20Flowers/EasterEggtree-SolanumOvigerum.jpg[/IMG] Debbie

I love the 5 minute a day bread! I can't knead bread any more and this has enabled me to have fresh bread at my finger tips without making them ache. I sort of can't believe how many say it lacks salt, has no flavor, etc. This from people who for any other recipe wouldn't hesitate to tweak it. I add more salt than called for and find it has quite a good taste. I do prefer it after it has been in the fridge for at least four or five days. It lasts for up to two weeks with no problem. I often will make the first loaf after only two days but then I try to wait for several more days before using it again. I've never had a problem with it rising and I keep my heat set at 58 degrees [have to remember the code for the degree symbol]. Sure, it takes longer, but as has been said.. dough rises on it's own schedule. I tend to err a little on the over proofing so usually get quite puffy loaves. I have used my enameled cast iron too with good success but the stone seems to do fine with the water in the oven. I made a mistake when using the enameled and heat the lid too... oops.. it chipped off a hunk of the enamel inside the lid. Oh well. How many times have I heard on here that ... it's bread... flour, yeast, salt, water... it makes itself. Well, this bread is that way too. Add some salt or herbs or whatever. Let it sit longer if you like a stronger flavor. It's wonderful for those of us that can't knead any longer, don't have an expensive machine to do the work, or those who like to be able to grab a hunk out and make rolls or a small fresh loaf. Five day dough wouldn't go for crackers unless I really wanted some of those great looking crackers. Five days is primo dough for me. I'd wait until the two week mark looms. Smiles.