![june-roses](https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7367/27919217962_e5bc4b5a5c_z.jpg)
June was a good month. it was an especially good month for making stuff & feeling empowered because of it. Most of the empowerment came from realizing that I can mend my own jeans and now I'm safe from having to buy new ones for a while! This feeling of self-sufficiency led to my first experiments in fermenting vegetables...
![kimchi-making](https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7241/27407906044_11565693d6_z.jpg)
I've always been deeply apprehensive about fermenting, but something switched in my brain this month (possibly from being in daily contact with sourdough starter?) and I felt like I totally could do it! I love kimchi but it's pretty expensive to buy and easy cheap to make. The more I read the more I realized there's not much chance of poisoning myself either. Also, it's not an all day process at all and pretty forgiving as far as ingredients. I used a mixture of this recipe and this one and it took an afternoon of mostly waiting while cabbage salted.
![kimchi-jar](https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7338/27986998336_6c6d80047e_z.jpg)
This is my second jar, the first is eaten! I'm going to let this one ferment a few weeks in the fridge though.
Now I'm ready to ferment everything: sauerkraut, gingerbeer, and mead are high on my list. I'm also thinking about pickling? We'll see.
![bread](https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7421/27919087842_5e5be7284c_z.jpg)
I've still been making bread like crazy. I've got the technique to where it doesn't feel like the main event of the day and I don't have to keep looking at the steps in the book. I feel like I can add more variation now and work on getting a really good loaf. I'd say mine "will do", but they still end up with too tough and done a trust on the bottom & not enough rise in the bake, so I want to work on that.
![tea-and-cake](https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7623/27741007420_a971dc18fa_z.jpg)
I made a earl grey & apricot cake last week. I over baked it a bit. Oh well it still tasted alright, even better dipped into a beautiful tea mixed by my friend the tea maker.
![windowsill-flowers](https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7373/27919087482_45100ece65_z.jpg)
I'm finally able to pick flowers from my garden and fill every spare jar and the few small vases I have!
Looks like you had a wonderful month! And those roses, swoon! Perfection! Ive been in a baking and cooking tizzy myself. Nothing better than homemade bread!~
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