Remember all my foraging and brewing adventures? Well… I currently have about a pound and a half of buckwheat sprouting for my next GF beer experiment. Fun! But it doesn’t look like anything special yet, so let’s focus on the other works in progress 🙂

About a week ago, I started a ginger bug. You may be thinking, “What in the world is a ginger bug?” I don’t blame you. It’s like a sourdough starter or a kombucha scoby… but for ginger beer! I’ve essentially been cultivating wild yeast in a mason jar, and some time in the next few days, I’m going to make some homemade ginger beer. Yummy!

And remember all the wild violets in the yard? Sugared violets and violet syrup were both suggested. Sadly, it turns out that sugared violets are reeeeeeeally boring and labor intensive to make. After about a dozen, I decided I’d rather try the syrup first, picked some more flowers, and began steeping the petals in some hot water. This morning the water is turning bluish purple (I was worried it might not work because the violets aren’t the deep purple kind), but later tonight or early tomorrow I’m going to make some syrup!