Living-mudflower

Tvorog is a traditional Eastern European farmer's cheese that can easily be made at home from milk kefir.  This simple fresh cheese requires no special equipment, uses up excess or over fermented kefir, and produces a mild, tangy cheese that works well in both sweet and savory dishes. I’ve been making this simple fresh cheese from milk kefir for a few years now.  ...

What is FilmjölkFilmjölk (also called Tykmælk in some countries) is a mesophilic ferment similar to yogurt, that I recently started making.  If you've never tried filmjölk before, imagine a cultured milk somewhere between drinking yogurt, sour cream, and kefir.  My kids describe it as "drinkable sour cream".  I have never tried to make regular ...

I first wrote about the Lucky Iron Fish in January 2022 after several months of use, and followed up with an 18-month update in 2023.  Now that more than three years have passed, I thought it was time for another update.  Do I still use it? Has my opinion changed?  And would I still recommend it today?One reason I still like the Lucky Iron Fish is that it fits my ...

I've been growing African violets for over five years and using self-watering wick pots for the past two.  To see whether wick pots genuinely improve growth, I grew genetically identical African violet plants using two different watering methods for around 7 months and compared their growth, leaf size, flowering, and overall performance. This post contains affiliate li...

I experimented growing staghorn ferns (Platycerium superbum) from spores.  While they had good germination rates and they initially grew well, many refused to grow further until I divided and transplanted them.  I carried out this division around November/December 2025 when they were already about 12 months old.Around that time, I separated and repotted my staghorn spo...