The Seigne of Urynes- what your urine said about your health in the 16th century, part.1

This is a transcription of the first half of a printed text from 1522. There is a second half that I'll work on later. 

I used this as part of my research into what medieval physicians had as part of their knowledge base for diagnosis and prognosis (understanding what disease and the course it would take).

Slides from my recent classes at University of Atlantia

 Poisons and how to avoid them from Antiquity to the Renaissance-

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vQYv1f9DX0PLZTQYU-457P8cAN9FT1KyUndAOfN9pnhnwPWi4phz5_5STwoZtwMBkA94GgtN2sSJ80c/pub?start=true&loop=true&delayms=10000

Brew your own Theriac (or electuary, probably, because we don't want to be poisoned)-

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vQqo29-VtHCaB2CqpBpNJZ9lIwtzijZvG-K2dyokL3hGzr3IWDDaR3VnaQOnsxKQArpOliK8ArQyD3u/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=10000

Cannabis sativa from antiquity to the Middle Ages

I wrote this as a bit of a giggle for my local SCA newsletter. I am not advocating for the use of Cannabis sativa for psychotropic purposes, but I do believe that we should be using the fibre in place of wood. It also makes pretty good shirts.

How to make yoghurt

• Take one bag of milk, pour into saucepan, and put a lid on
• Turn on the heat to about 4 (medium-low), leave lid on and heat gently for 10 minutes
• Stir to get sticky bits off bottom
• The milk is ready when the smell changes to 'nutty', and little, frothy bubbles show up when stirring (depending on the stove between 10-15 minutes)

• Let it cool until the outside of the pan is the temperature of a very warm bath
• You can put the sauce pan in a larger bowl with a bit of water to speed up the cooling
• When the milk is a good temperature sprinkle the powder, or dump in reserved yoghurt from last batch, and stir well

No-mato pizza

My mouth and stomach don't like too much acid, so I've been thinking about different ways to make pizza. I had heard of people using pumpkin purée, and it sounded weird to me.

The bees are dead, long live the bees

I had a 100% deadout this year. I know a couple of the things that I did wrong, but I don't know all the factors that contributed to it. This is really sad. Now, I have to try to figure out what the reasons were, and if there was anything I could have done differently.

The learning curve on beekeeping is pretty much a vertical wall.

Scaling up my gardening

I've had a veggie garden of some kind since I moved out of my parent's place when I was 19, but it's never been a very big garden. We were always temporary. We moved a LOT. Except when we lived at the housing co-op while Abby was young. My community garden plot there was larger and much more productive. I gave away a LOT of tomatoes. I never supported myself from it.
I've been reading these how-to market gardening books, and dreaming, and thinking, and planning... but never doing. This year my plan is to grow as many veggies as I can and try to grow all of our produce for the months of July and August. Fruit isn't possible yet, so that can be a plan for next year. Herbs are completely possible. I'm going to be able to grow all of my mint tea for the year, and hopefully a good portion of my chamomile.