Sima - a tasty traditional Finnish homebrew

Here is the way our friend Saara of Endor makes sima. She says "It's fermented, but not alcoholic, at least not beyond a percent or so, if that". "First we have the ingredients: 8 liters water (not shown) 1/2 kg sugar 1/2 kg brown sugar 2 lemons (organic since rinds are used) 10 hops flowers 1 bottle pilsner 1/4 tsp yeast raisins & more sugar Boil the water, mix in the sugar, and add the lemon rind, sliced lemons (pith and pits removed) and hops. When this mixture has cooled, add in the yeast and beer. Let ferment for one day. Strain into bottles. Into each bottle add 1 tsp sugar and a few raisins. Cap bottles and store in a cool location. Sima is ready to drink in one week."
Further commentary from Saara: "Here is the mixture cooling. No beer and yeast have been added yet. I'll drop in the hops tonight and let it cool until morning. I'll have to split it into a couple of pots when I add the beer and yeast. Apparently I thought a 9 liter stock pot would be enough. Unfortunately, I don't have bottles, a capper, and all that. 2 liter pop bottles would work great..." "Here we were bottling the stuff. A couple of rinsed raisins in each bottle (I was generous since they're a favorite treat), teaspoon or so of sugar (depending on bottle size) and strained into the bottles. "
Apparently bottled sima can explode at random, so might be best to use glass coke bottles or what we're planning to try, champagne bottles with wired-down corks.

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Stay tuned for a pictorial update of our "vacation" week. We've been working on Ryder's new quarters (with a spare stall for any pony we might happen to find), plus trying to fill our new garage with hay for keeping a milk cow, beef steer and bull in good shape all winter. Not to mention the usual garden frenetics. The current heat wave is good for growth, but means lots of watering. We managed a break to take the dogs swimming at Birch Bay, and to sit under the seven trees of Seven Trees with a beer and relax. The heat has been hard on all the beings here, but food comes from sunlight, one way or another, so as the saying goes - make hay while the sun shines....

Who'll stop the rain...

Well, they may not stop the rain, but it looks like the Washington State Department of Ecology is going to seriously interfere with rainwater harvesting. Check out this press release:

Department of Ecology News Release - June 10, 2008
Ecology begins statewide rulemaking for rainwater collection
OLYMPIA – To clarify regulations governing the collection and use of rainwater, Ecology is seeking the public’s help in drafting a statewide rainwater rule.
Three open house sessions for education and public discussion about collecting rainwater for beneficial use are scheduled this month in Everett, Lacey and Wenatchee.
Ecology doesn’t require homeowners to obtain water right permits to collect and store small amounts of rainwater.
The new rule for the first time would define how much rainwater can be collected and used before a permit is required. The rule isn’t intended to regulate storage and release of rainwater when no “beneficial use” will be made of the water.
Under state law, beneficial uses include recreation, irrigation, residential water supplies and power generation.
Washington law identifies rainwater as a water resource of the state. Residential rainwater collection systems can range from a 50-gallon rain barrel to cisterns of 30,000 gallons or more. Commercial systems can be much larger.
Ecology is seeking public comment on what the threshold should be for requiring a water right permit for those systems that could affect the water supply of senior water right holders or stream flows in some river basins. Non-potable uses of rainwater typically include toilet flushing and irrigation for gardens.
In water-short areas such as the San Juan Islands, some homeowners use rainwater as the sole source of their water supply. Ecology is especially interested in encouraging rainwater collection in urban areas like Puget Sound where it can be used to reduce stormwater runoff and supplement municipal water supplies.
"A statewide rule would remove the ambiguity about rainwater collection from existing water law,” said Ken Slattery, manager of Ecology’s Water Resources Program. “We want to ensure that collection and storage of rainwater happens in a way that is consistent with the protection of stream flows and water rights."http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wr/hq/rwh.html

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On a more lively note, we attended a solstice party down-county at Endor. Well, it's not really Endor, but it looks pretty darn close, being in the rainforest on the banks of the Skagit river. We toasted the longest day of the year with sima and doughnuts, traditional Finnish solstice fare, thanks to one of our hosts' Finnish heritage. Here's a pic of sima in the bottle. That's raisins in the bottom of it. If anyone is interested, I can post the recipe with pictures another day. You can also read more here.

A couple days of sun makes a huge difference to the plants. This single poppy is now surrounded by many more. The garden is perking up and most of the replants are doing great. Still not sure about getting a tomato harvest in time though. And we found out that wireworms like radishes! We may have to grow them in a raised bed with hand-fluffed soil next year.
Mercia and Magnus, tandem sleeping. They've gotten good about going outside, but still come in to use the litterbox. Oh well...
This weekend, we'll start building the range shelter. It will have 2 open stalls, one for Ryder and one spare. Should be loads of fun, considering the forecast is for temps in the 80's!