Frustrated would-be gardeners and bakers

[Mike Nolan]

The Wall Street Journal has an article today, possibly behind their paywall, about gardeners whose 'Victory' gardens were a failure, who are selling their mostly unused breadmakers and who still have virtually all of the 50 pounds of flour they bought in March.

See WSJ article

What people are finding out is that gardening, baking and other craft activities take time to master. I wonder how many will stick with them long enough to gain some skill at it?

My older son, who was a pretty good cook long before COVID19, has been tackling breadmaking, and some of his loaves look great! We send pictures back and forth, an activity my wife calls 'bread wars'.

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[BakerAunt]

The story is indeed behind a paywall.

It makes me sad to think of all that wasted flour. One bright spot would be that if anyone is interested in picking up a lightly used bread machine, they should start popping up at home sales and thrift shops. People who buy bread machines do not often realize that it is not a "dump it all in a forget about it" activity. Most bread machines do not give the kind of information that would help people use them effectively, since I find mine most useful for mixing and kneading dough. I'd never bake in it.

We are living in a society where a lot of people expect instant results. Bread making and gardening require a focus on process, and both demand that the practitioner pay attention, and perhaps change the process while proceeding. As Mike notes, people do not realize that it takes time to master skills. What I thought that the former KAF Baking Circle did well is that it brought together a number of people who helped new bakers master skills. I don't think that the KABC Facebook site creates the same sense of community.

We do have that community here at Nebraska Kitchen, whether it was helping Italian Cook develop her pizza skills or Chocomouse her bagel skills. I've benefitted more than once from other people's suggestions when I had a baking issue. We are also generous here with sharing what we learn--and admitting our not so successful bakes, while celebrating the great ones. We are a lot less intimidating than some baking sites, and I wish that we could have been noticed by more of those would-be bakers. Maybe more of them would have stuck with the baking they began.

[skeptic7]

The would be bakers have an opportunity to try again this fall. Its easier to cook when the days are cooler.
A lot of people don't realize that mistakes are part of life. They have a couple of failures and then they decide to give up.

[chocomouse]

I am an experienced gardener, a certified Master Gardener. In the northeast, this has been a tough summer for every gardener. It's been the worst gardening season I've ever had. And I'm being generous with my ratings, since it's been a transitional garden season as I'm moving from a huge in-ground garden to growing things in planters and pots on the deck. Cold and rainy spring. Summer's been hot, hot, hot -- we've had more than 15 days of over 90* heat (85* is warm here). We're officially in a drought, and had less than an inch of rain per week, .03 inches so far in September. Watering with an underground system, a hose, or a can, helps, but not enough. And now,a short season, we've had some freezing or near freezing temps, depending on your altitude. We've been over-run by chipmunks, a relatively minor problem. All my vegetables were behind and very slow to ripen. Not one cauliflower on the plants; a pretty good crop of broccoli, the biggest cabbages I've ever had. Tons of tomatoes, more than ever, but late, and very small. Lettuces and other greens went to seed early. Very few summer squash, decent zucchini, plants died early. Cucumbers poor and plants died early. Few peppers, flowers just didn't set into fruit. Winter squash crop questionable so far, some, some big, not as many as usual. Very, very poor berry crops. Three apples, on 4 trees. No comment on the beans or beets, issues may be just related to growing in a planter not in the ground. Zukes and cukes did worse in pots. If I were a first-time gardener, had spent hours weeding in the sun, hauling buckets of water in the heat, not enjoying the fruits of my labor -- I'd be tempted to never garden again. It's really too bad that in a summer when so many folks were trying it for the first time, there were so many more challenges than usual. I'm in several gardening forums, and certainly will encourage all the newbies to try again next year!

[aaronatthedoublef]

Baking, even simple baking can be a little complex and takes patience. And just because someone is stuck in the house doesn't mean more time. I stopped traveling each week but I'm spending more time working and that does not include the extra time my kids required before school started back up.

And think about how much BA and I have conferred on her relatively simple, relatively straight forward cracker recipe - and yes, I am giving BA credit because it's more hers than KAF's now.

FB and Instagram and the like are more about showing off what you've done and gaining likes and followers. There is a community element to it but it's not the cooperative, collaborative place we have here.

BTW, thanks Mike for creating this and thank each and everyone who has contributed and helped me be better.

[skeptic7]

I'm impressed at the variety of recipes that people are willing to try. I stick to a few trusted recipes and variations there of and only occasionally do something new. I'm very impressed by Mike's Rye adventure and Baker Aunt's sourdough.

[Mike Nolan]

Sometimes I think my wife would prefer I stick to a few proven recipes, but what's the fun in that??

[RiversideLen]

Over the years I have known a few people who got a bread machine, used it once or twice, then never again. Usually because the bread didn't turn out as expected. I suspect it's because of incorrect measuring of the flour as they don't understand flour compacts easily and then they end up with a dense loaf.

While many people give up on it, there are those who stay with it. I started my bread making with a bread machine and the manual was very informative and helped me correct my mistakes. At the start of the pandemic, the guy across the street, a family of four, bought a bread machine, 50 pound bag of flour and 2 pounds of yeast. He had to buy 2 pounds because that's the way it came. He told me he loves the bread machine and he's going through the flour pretty fast.

Hopefully flour and other baking supplies won't be in such short supply going forward because of those who have lost interest.

[BakerAunt]

Why we garden:

https://www.gocomics.com/luann/2020/09/30

[skeptic7]

Once upon a time I had two Amaryllis, then one of them produced seeds, and one little seedling came up in its parents pot but eventually died. The next year I collected the seeds and planted them in their own flat and watered them. And they lived. and I moved them to pots. Then I planted the seeds from the other Amaryllis and moved the surviving seedlings to pots. Then I started moving the parent plants into bigger pots so they wouldn't fall over in the wind and the bulbs would have room to grow a bit. Then the Amaryllis started producing little bulblets; and some of the seedlings started to produce little side shoots even though the seedlings were still smallish bulbs. Now I have big pots full of multiple big amaryllis, and medium pots with medium size plants and medium pots with lots of small plants. Its not warm enough for them to live outside all year, so I have to bring all the pots inside in the winter and set them in front of the south windows. I have given some away but its hard finding responsible people who will care for Amaryllis properly.

[skeptic7]

Once upon a time I had two Amaryllis, then one of them produced seeds, and one little seedling came up in its parents pot but eventually died. The next year I collected the seeds and planted them in their own flat and watered them. And they lived. and I moved them to pots. Then I planted the seeds from the other Amaryllis and moved the surviving seedlings to pots. Then I started moving the parent plants into bigger pots so they wouldn't fall over in the wind and the bulbs would have room to grow a bit. Then the Amaryllis started producing little bulblets; and some of the seedlings started to produce little side shoots even though the seedlings were still smallish bulbs. Now I have big pots full of multiple big amaryllis, and medium pots with medium size plants and medium pots with lots of small plants. Its not warm enough for them to live outside all year, so I have to bring all the pots inside in the winter and set them in front of the south windows. I have given some away but its hard finding responsible people who will care for Amaryllis properly.

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