THE FINISHED PRODUCT

Because of the three long rising processes, this loaf of bread was nearly an all day project. I had used mostly whole wheat flour in the starter, so that slowed it down too. And the fact that I chose to make the starter as a purist would and not 'cheat' by putting a little dry yeast into the mixture. Also, I misread the bread recipe and added 4 tablespoons of sugar instead of the 4 teaspoons the recipe called for. It was okay, I guess, but really pretty tasteless. Blah. It was heavy, too, and didn't have a sourdough flavor. I kept thinking that I could have made my regular yeast bread recipe that I always used and be done faster and have great tasting bread... But I am going to keep with this starter for awhile, and see if it improves.

In garden news, Shabree and I will be cutting the first batch of mesclun tomorrow. It could have been cut before now, but I let it grow a little longer. The chickens are doing a great job in their chicken tractor. Shabree and I moved it again today. I'm wondering if they are doing such a great job in clearing out garden weeds because they don't like the pellets I got them last time for feed. If they don't start eating them better by the time this (not so) small bag is done, I guess I'll go back to the other kind. After they clear this new patch where their tractor is, I will be moving them to smaller chicken tractors (one for each hen) and putting them between rows and in tighter spaces.