#Natural Fermentation

[yellowmanula]

From the apples of this wild tree, my Dad and I made 30 liters of wine. Some have already tasted it and claim it's excellent (sic!)

[handweavers]

my mother has asked me to ask “that weaver friend of yours” lol — do you have experience dyeing linen? what does the process look like for natural vs synthetic dyes?

happy to be that weaver friend of yours 🥰❤️ dyeing linen is basically the same as dyeing cotton or any other cellulose fiber, so any synthetic dye that works for cotton will also work for linen. a professional grade fiber reactive dye like procion mx or dharma's procion (here) dyes cellulose fiber without heat, and the process is quick and painless. it just involves a large bucket, water, the dye powder and the cloth you wish to dye. i have little experience with rit dye so i'm not sure if you'd need heat for that, but procion dye is higher quality, comes in a lot more colours than rit, and a 2oz container is like $2 usd and goes a long way

the natural dye process for linen takes a lot longer than the procion dye process and requires several steps. cellulose fibers really don't like to take dyes so you basically have to do a bunch of alchemy to convince it to do what you want (compared to protein fibers like wool and silk which love dyes and only need some gentle nudges)

naturally dyeing linen depends on the dye you'd wish to use, but the process is essentially: scouring, mordanting, and dyeing. it's really important that you scour linen especially because it contains a lot of pectins that prevent dye from penetrating the fiber, so a harsh scouring is best (ie. washing it with hot water and ph neutral soap, even to the point of boiling the cloth. linen can take a lot of heat and is better for it, cotton is more sensitive) you'll probably have to do this before dyeing it with the synthetic dye too for best results

most natural dyes require that you mordant the cloth before dyeing. some dyes don't require a mordant (indigo is the big one, but if you're working with onion skins or other materials that contain tannins this is also true. however mordanting the cloth before dyeing with tannins or even mordanting with tannins is still recommended for better colour performance long-term unless you're working with indigo in which case using a mordant can actually cause problems) but if you're unsure, assume that you need to apply a mordant. you essentially have to simmer the cloth in a hot pot with either a material that contains tannins (tannic acid), a natural bio-accumulator of aluminum (symplocos), or use a metal salt (alum acetate is best for cellulose, but iron and copper salts can also be used. the metal salts route requires more safety precautions esp if you use copper salt, you can't dump that down the drain) your choice of mordant impacts the final colour with different mordants shifting the chemical reaction that happens in the cloth when you dye it

with cotton and linen, after you use the mordant you need to use either a chalk or wheat bran bath to remove excess mordant from the cloth, esp if you use alum acetate, otherwise it can leave a whitish cast over the cloth and also impede dyeing lol. wheat bran baths tend to cause a warmer tone to the final dyed cloth, chalk baths cause a cooler tone. i only use wheat bran baths bc i prefer the warmth and i get the bran cheaply at my local punjabi grocer

only then can you dye the cloth, again unless you're working with a dye like coffee or tea or onion skins OR indigo. linen really doesn't like to take natural dyes unless you do all the above steps, it's stubborn. the dye process itself depends on what dye you use and you can do stuff like solar dyeing if you don't want to simmer it in a pot on a stove. if you plan to go the natural dye route lmk and i can send you some scans of a book i have that contains precise instructions for preparing linen for dyeing

[absolute-artlad]

I know we're on a bagel kick around here however the idea of spider fool drinking a single drop of a monster energy drink and seeing god for the first time hasn't left my mind I think the little crecher would enjoy it

I was talking to a friend earlier about how they prolly could handle like, a spicy chip like a takis or something but prolly couldn’t survive anything carbonated

[trenomas]

Little creatures

I'm telling her that her cut flowers are full of creatures

While I stir salt into cut cabbage leaves

She goggles "three weeks?"

I say "communities take time to grow"

But we can taste the slow passage and revel in each phase

I begin to glow as I hold up a leaf

"these are my people," I say, but she's not listening

"So you just let that rot? You just let them in?"

I can't believe I'm the one telling her. I can't believe

she doesn't know.

These little creatures flow through me,

take part in something greater.

And in turn I take part in their smaller lives.

“We are the same,” I stupidly say.

Eyes wide, she doesn’t see it.

She just takes my hand and links me with humanity once again.

The grocery store chains rust in our brine and, let loose

I am a collective. I am undone.

I stand in the kitchen hand raised and proclaim

"Am I not a god to these beings?

Shouldn't I at least try to be a benevolent one?"

[tomatoluvr69]

Went back to the indie cinemar to pick up my forgotten water bottle but they didn’t open for another hour…oh well lucky for me there’s always trespassing in the old disused trainyard from the halcyon days of domestic industry 👍

[mygardeninglife]

Muceres 2021

Visalis & fermented vegetables

[shiborigirl]

I played with scissors…

[toastful]

Gut Healthy

By Greg Schmitty

(Dedicated to Jeshastevens on TikTok… you have led me astray for the last time)

it was Sunday night

You wanted another

Iced cream

Sandedwhich

You were craving

Two soft and chewy

Chocolate chip cookies

A layer of

Vanilla ice cream

In between

The cookies were sour dough

And naturally fermented

So they were

Gut healthy

Gut healthy

For you

But not for me

Your gut biome rejoice

At the blessing of

Fermentation

Your crops flourished

Your nations grew healthy

Gut healthy

My gut biome wept

Pillaged

Crops salted

Land flooded

The balance upset

As an upset stomach

Cursed with disease

I

B

S

Nation collapsed

Torn asunder

Only darkness

A war cry

A hurricane

Then nothing

But it was gut healthy

She said

Naturally fermented

Gut healthy

Two soft and chewy

Chocolate chip cookies

With a layer of vanilla ice cream

In between

It was gut healthy

For who?

What is gut healthy for God

Makes humanity weep

[darthmillennial]

Went on a nature hike today! It was a beautiful day. I brought some Mason jars to collect some white pine needle and some pine pitch. The needles are used to make a fermented probiotic soda! (Mason jar on thr left) And the pitch is going to be used to make mini torches! (No picture)

I also have a ginger bug going too! That's a fun little fermentation to do aswell (Mason jar on the right)

"Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished." –Lao Tzu

[sarpedon]

i want toast with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper but i cant afford real sourdough and im too lazy to make it. alas.

[buckandduke]

it’s all in the condiments

gimme all the pickles

[sucresanguine]

hiding on my phone losing it from sheer overexertion after a near 10 hour shift of talking to so many people about old grape juice

[devilsskettle]

nellie the biologist and keiko oh i’m there with u…. now i have to read sourdough

sourdough is a very good book but i will warn you that lois is a much more likable and mentally stable character than nellie, the biologist, and keiko! still i cannot recommend the book enough, let me know what you think when you read it!

[geeky-fuckery]

Is this just the dumbest, most ignorant MF on the planet, or...?

Also, fruit ferments in the sun *all the time* on its own. Ask all the drunk birds and squirrels.

[arctic-hands]

this never having alcohol again thing is killer I have the desire to drink exotic sodas to make up for it

[thistle-and-hellebore]

okay I know your trying to make a joke about hard cider being better then beer but like hard cider was actually created when someone decided to make wine out of apples instead of grapes.

or more realistically they accidentally left some apple juice alone too long.

hard cider was invented when someone decided to make beer that tastes good instead of bad