Well, what a coincidence! There's an add for El Dorado Heirloom Seeds on the right side of the screen when I click on this thread. Only $139.95 for a survivalist kit of 67 heirloom varieties ... OR $4.50 a pack for 30 seeds. Oh brother!!!

Anyway, back to the thread topic, I tried growing quinoa this past year, as a rice substitute, since my family is not big on rice, but wasn't clear about how to know when to harvest. We ended up getting an early frost down at the community garden, and I lost my crop. May still try again, but would love harvesting tips if anyone has any.

In my fourth year of trying to grow beans, which is mostly futile, considering the grasshopper population around here, I found a type of bean that they didn't seem as interested in, limas. Grew Jackson Wonder, and Dixie Speckled Butterpea. The only problem was I waited for the pod to fill out, and since limas are flat (duh!), the beans started to dry before I realized they were ripe, so I saved them as dried beans. The kids had great fun popping the dried pods open, so I may just give up on fresh, and grow them for soups in the the winter.

Had a friend back home that belonged to a co-op, where they would send her bags of wheat berries, and she ground them up to make her own flour for bread. At the time, I wasn't a gardener, and we lived in the city, so I thought she was a bit of an extremist : )

Bonnie

Steve, the only grinder/press I've seen for sunflower was intended to get the oil out, and, well, the result was some sort of black oil and gook. The gook fed the chickens, the oil was used for cooking - I imagine there is an easy way to filter it so it looks more palatable.

For grinding wheat, which I dunno much about it, aside from chatting with the wheat-grinding bread sellers at the farmers market, seems to be a question of needed volume - they use electric ones and grind 25 lbs at a go.

Anywho, these days, when I'm after something I don't know much about, I head to Amazon and read the customer reviews. When you have a whole buncha people rating something 5 stars, go for it (

Limas? Now there is one plant I haven't grown. I had assumed that they wouldn't be happy with our cool nights . . .

Sunflower mills? I did find Buffalo Bird Woman's sunflower processing information. It is linked below.

Dear Wife has promised to begin using the soybeans I grew! Tofu - I will take a few photo's of the process. It is really quite simple (he says in an offhand manner). We will put a potful of soybeans to soak tonight.

S'

Here is a link that might be useful: Buffalo Bird Woman's Garden

Well, that takes care of the sunflower processing!!!

I'd watch out re homemade tofu. Speaking from personal experience here, you go to an awful lot of trouble, lugging and simmering and straining and letting cool a series of multi-gallon pots around the kitchen, dreaming you'll end up with huge blocks of the stuff, and, well, you don't. Tastes good, though. All four bites.

One unforeseen consequence has been an endless source of mirth for DW, who, anytime I get cranked up to try something new and exotic in kitchen, starts singing her "tofu" song in the background.

Not counting the overnight soaking and clean up, the following takes about 1 hour. Having a "kitchen assistant" is helpful.

Rinsing the soybeans actually removes about half of the skins which is probably helpful but not of necessary importance:
{{gwi:1188593}}From Tofu

The next morning, half of the beans go into the food processor at a time:
{{gwi:1188594}}From Tofu

The processing takes a minute or 2 until the consistency is nearly the same as pancake dough:
{{gwi:1188595}}From Tofu

The cotton dish towel is gathered about the soybeans and squeezing takes out the juice and water. DW always turns over the job to me at this point because I do such a "good" job with this task. I have to pay attention not to tear the fabric:
{{gwi:1188596}}From Tofu

The liquid goes into a deep pot and stirring is constant over medium high heat.
{{gwi:1188597}}From Tofu

As a full boil is reached, the heat is turned down to medium and a water mixed with vinegar is slowly added, a ladle at a time. The water mix is about 2 cups/4 tablespoons of rice vinegar:
{{gwi:1188598}}From Tofu

As the water & vinegar mix is added, curds begins to form. Scorching and foaming is no longer likely. Not all the water & vinegar mix needs to be added - too much and the tofu will be too sour. How much is necessary is determined by the clarity of the liquid. As curds develop, the liquid is no longer "milky."
{{gwi:1188599}}From Tofu

The curds are placed back in a clean dishtowel to drain:
{{gwi:1188601}}From Tofu

So, out of two lbs soybeans, what would be the final yield?

I didn't weigh the soybeans before starting, David. (Or, are you asking about seed and crop yield?)

Three cups of soybeans was what I started with. Nothing was lost since it was only water that separated from the curds or was boiled away. The squeeze-dried meal went in the oven on a cookie sheet. I left it there around an hour at about 180F. Now, the chickens can have it. There is about 2 cups.

Tofu doesn't amount to much from 3 cups of beans - there is probably less than 2 cups.

I thought you would tell us about boiling things over on the stove and filling the house with smoke . . . or, something like that. This is the risk of making tofu - a deep pot is critically important. Put the spoon or whisk down once and things stick on the bottom of the pan while the foam begins to RISE!

Once the water with vinegar mix begins to go in - the risks diminish.

Steve

We never boiled it - on purpose, anyway.:-) Soak them over-night, grind em up, soak the mushed beans in water for I dunno how many hours, strain and put the milk somewhere, soak the mushed beans again, strain off the milk, then bring the combined milk to a simmer and hold at that temp for a while, take off the heat, then add an acid - we used lemon juice. We'd buy 2 kg of beans and end up with less than a lb of tofu. Good tofu, to be sure. But the whole operation takes most of the day using lots of pots.

lima beans, no wonder the grasshoppers won't eat them, neither will my kids. Tofu on the other hand they like in their egg drop and hot and sour soup. I might try that. At least it would be worth the effort if it was going into something we like.

Billie

Billie, there are a couple more things that I could have taken pictures of. The dishtowel is gathered about the curds and suspended above the sink from a string. In about 3 hours, you have a nice, firm tofu ball.

It only takes that long to put up with this odd, unsightly thing hanging in the kitchen.

"They" say that food is one of the hardest subjects for a photographer. With that in mind, here is what happened to the tofu - with mushrooms, green onions, chicken broth, cornstarch, and soysauce:
{{gwi:1188603}}From Tofu

Now, how do you suppose they make that soysauce??

digitS'

I saw a show once about how soy sauce is made. The traditional method is fermentation, which takes about 6 months.

Here's an article about brewing your own.

Here is a link that might be useful: How to make soy sauce at home

Well, I think we all know how Digit's gonna be spending next winter!

When you're ready to start your project, Digit, I have some mold I can send you! What color would you like???

;-)
Skybird