Boberger Niederung

This morning I decided to visit the Boberger Niederung, part of the Elbe Urstromtal, which has a fascinating history, if you're into geology. It's only about a half hour from my place, just one station past Ikea Moorfleet. You take the S 31 to Sternschanze and change into S 21 to Bergedorf/Aumuehle and get off at Mittlerer Landweg. Head left at the station, and you soon come to a sign to Boberger Niederung.

Where else can you find sanddunes in the middle of town?

I did encounter a couple of herons, as well as different kinds of butterflies and a dragonfly. There was also a guy with his bike, listening to the radio out loud, which created quite another kind of experience. At least you could hear him from a ways off.

More info (in German):
http://www.stiftung-naturschutz-hh.de/boberg/allgeme.htm

Duvenstedter Brook/Wohldorfer Wald

Last week I went to Duvenstedter Brook, in the North of Hamburg. I'd been meaning to go there since I moved here, it's a nature reserve, with frogs and deer and such. It's a bit of a trip. From Altona Station you take the S-Bahn to Jungfernstieg and change to the U1 to Ohlstedt, it takes a bit over 50 minutes altogether. Once you exit the train station, you head to the left and very soon you're in the Wohldorfer Wald (Wald=Forest). A stroll of about an hour brings you to Duvenstedter Brook.

Wohldorfer Wald, view from bridge over the Aue. In the back you can see the grainmill of Wohldorf.

Recipes

Polenta
Here's the recipe for a polenta dish I made yesterday. I love coming up with meals that are easy, quick, and don't leave a lot of dirty dishes.

For one portion:
Slice a carrot, then quarter slices. Fry in olive oil in medium sized pan. In the meantime, dice a piece of garlic, add to the carrot. Add some salt, curry, kurkuma and hot water. Bring to a slow boil, add 50 grams of polenta meal. Dice some tofu and add into the mixture. Grab some fresh herbs from your window sill, I used cilantro, basil, and nasturtium leaves, cut them into bits and stir into the mixture just before serving.

Poppyseed Bread
For a pound loaf:
200 g whole spelt flour
200 g 550 wheat flour (all purpose)
100 g rolled oats
1 pack of dried yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon poppy seeds
1 teaspoon flaxseeds
1 table spoon olive oil
warm water

Mix the ingredients, then knead the dough thoroughly for 5 to 10 minutes. Fold into a ball, place in a bowl, put into a warm place with a clean towel on top. Let sit for 30 minutes to an hour, until the ball has doubled in size. Knead dough briefly and form into a loaf, put on a cookie sheet lined with baking paper. Make a cut through the length of the loaf to help release steam while baking, as well as several cross-wise cuts. Put cookie sheet into the oven, let sit for another 30 minutes. Turn oven to 200 degrees Celsius and let bake for about 35 minutes. Turn down temperature to 180 after about 15 minutes, depending on your oven and the browning of the bread. During baking, use a water sprayer to wet the loaf occasionally, this makes for a great crust. I also spray water into the lower part of the oven to provide steaming, for the same reason.

Benefits of Kombucha

There's a lot of controversy around the supposed health benefits of Kombucha. One could assume that the pharmaceutical industry isn't really thrilled about a remedy they can't make money with. So any scientific studies would need to be taken with a grain of salt. And some thorough research on who ordered it and who's behind it.

What I've noticed myself is that my general energy and activity level is higher since I've started drinking it. Within a few days of starting on it, I could notice a difference. It's not like what you would expect from an energy drink, or methamphetamine, or even coffee, nothing like a sudden jolt or a racing heart or such. It's that my overall wellbeing has increased, I get more done, I have more stamina. This means a lot when dealing with fibromyalgia. Recently I've even been able to go for long walks again, which seems nothing short of a miracle.

Also, I haven't been sick since I started on it. Of course, this could be a coincidence.
One other thing, and this is kind of weird. Looking at myself in the mirror, I noticed my hair looking different. There's less silver. Not that I had a lot of it, but, it's noticeably less. Strange, huh? I did find an article later claiming that this effect has been reported by others as well.

Here are some sites to peruse for more info:
http://www.kombuchahome.com/
http://www.gaiaresearch.co.za/kombucha.html
http://en.heilkraeuter.net/kombucha/medicinal-uses.htm
http://www.kombu.de/benefits.htm

Kombucha Goodness

By this time I've been brewing Kombucha for months. For the last few weeks my enthusiasm in the brewing process has somewhat flagged, seeing it is rather involved. It's well worth it, though, and my enthusiasm in drinking it is as high as ever.

I'm starting to build a routine. Every eight days or so is brewing day. I start the tea (using green tea leaves, Sencha to be precise) either the evening before, so it can cool overnight, or early in the morning. First I wash all the implements with freshly boiled water. After the bottles have cooled off - I use glass bottles only, don't know what the culture can do to plastic and don't want to try out - I take the cloth from the container, take out the culture and rinse it well under cold water. I put it onto a plate, use a clean kitchen towel to cover it, and set it aside. Then comes the bottling. I use a measuring cup to pour the liquid, a funnel and a strainer on top of the bottle to catch sediment, and leave a bit of space in case there's further fermentation. Then the container needs to be cleaned with boiling water, and left to cool. Then I pour the tea into it through a strainer, add the sugar, add some of the batch as starter, mix everything together with a wooden spoon, and finally add the culture. A fresh cloth, bound tight with a piece of elastic band, and the new batch gets to sit for another eight days or so. And I get to wash the dishes.

At some point there's taste testing. It's interesting how different the brew gets dependent upon how much sugar I use or how long I let it sit. This is about the only time I drink it straight, since it's rather potent and strong tasting.

I read somewhere that in the making of Bionade they use Kombucha as the foundation. I've been trying out different combinations, using Kombucha, juice, and sparkling water. These drinks taste so good I had to get a soda maker so I don't have to haul all those bottles of sparkling water home.
Pour a small amount of Kombucha into a large glass, add at least the same amount of ginger ale/elderberry flower spritzer/mango juice/banana juice, and fill up with lots of sparkling water. The juice needs to have some kind of sweetness, when using 100% blueberry juice I had to add agave nectar to make it palatable. 

Ohlsdorf Cemetery

After living in this city for well over two years, I finally made it to the most famous cemetery, Ohlsdorf. It's like a very large park with graves in it. And cars. Actually, it's the largest park in the city of Hamburg. It's lovely, with lots of old-growth trees, and statuary from different eras. It's a great place to walk and ponder life and death.

Recent stuff

Porridge with strawberries

Artwork

Handiwork

Oatbread