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Guides from the Ernterei app – freely available, hand-written and growing.

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🐝 Beekeeping (11)

Making Splits: How to Multiply Your Colonies

Splits are the simplest method for multiplying colonies. Explained step by step.

2 min read

Bee-Friendly Plants: The Best Forage Plants All Year Round

Which plants are especially valuable for bees? An overview of the best forage plants.

9 min read

Winterizing Your Bee Colonies

Fall is when it's decided whether your colonies make it through winter well. With the right preparation - feeding, varroa treatment, and winterizing - you lay the groundwork for a strong spring.

2 min read

Processing Beeswax: Candles, Cosmetics & More

Wax is left over after the harvest. Here's how to clean it and turn it into useful products.

7 min read

Your First Honey Harvest: Step by Step

When is the right time? How does the harvest work? Everything you need to know for your first honey harvest - from preparation to the filled jar.

2 min read

Feeding: Getting Your Bees Safely Through Winter

How much feed does a colony need for winter? When and how do you feed them?

9 min read

Spring Inspection: Taking the First Look Inside the Hive

When's the right time for the first inspection in spring - and what should you watch out for?

8 min read

Honey Harvest: The Right Timing and Technique

When is honey ripe? How is it harvested and processed? Everything important about extracting.

2 min read

Swarm Season: Recognize, Prevent, Use It

A swarm is a force of nature and an opportunity at once. How to recognize swarming mood and respond the right way.

10 min read

Varroa Treatment: The Cornerstone of Modern Beekeeping

The varroa mite is the biggest threat to bee colonies. Here's how to fight it effectively and safely.

2 min read

Winter Checks: What to Do When It Gets Cold

Winter isn't a problem for bees - if the beekeeper has prepared well. What to do, and what to leave alone.

8 min read

🐔 Chickens (6)

Building or Buying the Right Chicken Coop

What really matters for the coop, nesting box, and run

5 min read

Understanding, Collecting & Storing Fresh Eggs

Everything about the egg - from the nesting box to the kitchen

2 min read

Chicken Health & Common Diseases

Recognize, prevent, act

2 min read

Keeping Chickens - Your Start into Self-Sufficiency

What you really need to get started

5 min read

Feeding Chickens the Right Way

What hens really need - and what you can skip

2 min read

The Best Chicken Breeds for Beginners

Hardy, reliable and good layers – these breeds are a great way to start. And why your first decision isn't actually about the breed.

3 min read

🧄 Gardening (31)

Sowing Calendar: What to Sow and Plant When

Knowing the right timing for sowing and planting is half the battle. A practical overview of the gardening year - from starting seeds indoors in February to the last fall sowing.

1 min read

Berries in the Garden: Currants, Raspberries & More

Berry bushes are among the lowest-maintenance, most productive crops you can grow. Plant them once and harvest for years – often in abundance.

4 min read

Growing Beans: Bush and Pole Beans for the Kitchen & Pantry

Beans are among the most productive vegetables in the garden. Bush beans for a quick yield, pole beans for a long season – both are delicious fresh, frozen, or pickled.

2 min read

Blackberries: Foraging, Taming & Preserving

Whether wild in the hedgerow or thornless on a trellis: blackberries deliver weeks of sweet harvest – and the best jams of late summer.

2 min read

Winterizing the Garden: Fall Care for the Perfect Restart

What you do in the garden in fall determines next year's success. Prepare well and you'll start spring with no catching up to do - and your plants will get through winter healthier.

7 min read

Garden Design: Paths, Beds & Structure with Impact

A beautiful garden doesn't happen by accident. With a few basic design rules - paths, bed edging, sightlines - you can turn a patch of lawn into an inviting space.

1 min read

Greenhouse: Seed Starting, an Early Start & Year-Round Use

A greenhouse extends your growing season significantly and makes crops possible that would be difficult outdoors. Here's how to get the most out of it.

1 min read

Growing Cucumbers: Crisp & Fresh from Your Own Bed

Cucumbers grow fast and deliver a daily harvest from midsummer on. In the greenhouse or on a trellis outdoors – here's how to grow a trouble-free cucumber bed.

7 min read

Building & Planting a Raised Bed: More Harvest in Less Space

Raised beds are one of the most productive growing systems for the home garden. Easy on the back, heat-retaining, high-yield - here's how to build your own.

8 min read

Growing, Harvesting & Storing Potatoes

From planting seed potatoes to your winter stock: here's how to succeed with the most important tuber in a self-sufficient garden – with storage tips for months of shelf life.

2 min read

Collecting & Preparing Chestnuts: Roasting & More

In fall, chestnuts drop in abundance. Sweet chestnuts can be roasted, boiled, frozen, or ground into flour – an underrated autumn treasure.

2 min read

Cherry Tomatoes: Colorful Variety for Bed, Balcony & Pot

Cherry tomatoes are probably the most rewarding tomatoes for home gardeners: they crop heavily, ripen fast, and taste intensely sweet. Red, yellow, black, or striped - the variety is huge.

6 min read

Climbing Plants: Green Walls, Trellises & Arbors

Climbing plants are the answer to ugly walls, bare fences, and plain facades. They grow fast, need little ground space, and turn any vertical surface into a green oasis.

2 min read

Building & Maintaining a Compost Pile

A working compost pile is the heart of the self-sufficient garden. With the right ratio of green and brown material, enough moisture, and occasional turning, you get the most valuable fertilizer in just a few months.

6 min read

Herbs in Pots: A Balcony Kitchen Garden for Everyone

Fresh herbs right outside your kitchen door - no garden needed. With the right pots, the right soil, and a few basic rules, your herb garden will thrive even on the smallest balcony.

2 min read

Growing Pumpkins: From Seedling to Bumper Harvest

Pumpkins are the stars of the autumn garden. With little effort, they grow into impressive fruit – and can be stored for months or used in countless ways.

2 min read

Corn in the Garden: Growing & Harvesting Sweet Corn Yourself

Freshly harvested sweet corn from your own bed is a real treat – its natural sweetness only lasts a few hours after picking. We'll show you what you need for a good corn harvest.

2 min read

Companion Planting: Which Plants Help Each Other

In nature, nothing grows alone - and in the garden, it doesn't have to either. The right plant combinations boost growth, keep pests away, and improve the soil.

11 min read

Growing Carrots: From Sowing to Carrot Cake

Crisp carrots from your own bed: sowing tricks against poor germination, protection from carrot fly, and ideas for using the harvest.

2 min read

Planting an Orchard: Apples, Pears, Cherries & More in Your Own Garden

An orchard is an investment for generations. With the right variety choices and pruning, you'll bring in a rich harvest for decades – with very little effort.

1 min read

Peppers & Chilies in the Greenhouse: Hot & Colorful

Bell peppers and chilies love warmth – in the greenhouse, they thrive beautifully. From mild to fiery hot: here's how to get a rich harvest.

7 min read

Propagating Plants: Cuttings, Sowing & Division

Propagating plants is one of the most satisfying gardening activities - and it saves real money. Whether cuttings, sowing, or root division: here are the most important methods.

7 min read

Rhubarb: The Herald of Spring in the Perennial Bed

Hardy, long-lived, and earlier than everything else every year: how to plant and harvest rhubarb, and turn it into compote, cake, and syrup.

2 min read

Lettuce All Year Round: Leaf Lettuce, Head Lettuce & Corn Salad

With staggered sowing and the right varieties, you can harvest fresh lettuce almost all year round – from the windowsill to the winter bed.

2 min read

Growing Sunflowers: Giants, Cut Flowers & Seed Harvest

Sunflowers are mood-lifters in the garden - they grow fast, bloom magnificently, and eventually yield edible seeds for people and birds alike.

6 min read

Asparagus in the Garden: Plant Once, Harvest for 15 Years

An asparagus bed is a promise to the future: after two years of patience, it delivers fresh spears every spring for over a decade.

2 min read

Growing Tomatoes: From Sowing to a Bountiful Harvest

Tomatoes are the classic vegetable-garden crop. With the right start and a few care tips, you'll get the biggest harvest out of your plants.

8 min read

Tulips & Bulbs: Spring Splendor Step by Step

Bulbs are the easiest way to turn your garden into a sea of blooms come spring. Plant them once and they come back year after year.

6 min read

Collecting, Drying & Storing Walnuts

In October, gold lies under the tree: how to properly collect, wash, and dry walnuts – so they last a whole year instead of going moldy.

2 min read

🧄

Winter Vegetables: Kale & Brussels Sprouts

When the garden is dormant, these two still deliver fresh vegetables: why frost makes them sweeter, and how to keep harvesting into February.

2 min read

Onions & Garlic: Planting, Harvesting, Braiding

The two most important flavor bulbs in the garden: onion sets in spring, garlic in fall – plus the braiding trick for months of storage.

5 min read

🍄 Mushroom foraging (8)

The 10 Most Common Edible Mushrooms in Profile

Porcini, chanterelle, field mushroom and more – features, where they grow, and what to watch for with each one.

3 min read

Morels & Rare Edible Mushrooms: Delicacies Right Outside Your Door

Morels are among the most prized edible mushrooms of all. If you know where to look, you can even find them in your own garden. Everything about where they grow, their features, and how to prepare them.

2 min read

Canning & Pickling Mushrooms

In vinegar, in oil, or canned - here's how to preserve your mushroom harvest the traditional way.

7 min read

Foraging Mushrooms the Right Way: Rules, Technique & Etiquette

Knife or twist? How much can you take? Everything about sustainable mushroom foraging in the forest.

2 min read

Foraging Mushrooms: What Is Allowed in Germany

Where you may forage, which species are protected, and why there is no legal weight limit. German mushroom foraging law, explained clearly.

4 min read

Drying & Preserving Mushrooms

Dehydrator, oven, or string - here's how to dry mushrooms perfectly so they keep for months.

6 min read

Season Calendar: Which Mushrooms Grow When

From morels in March to oyster mushrooms in December – the year-round calendar for mushroom foragers.

2 min read

Look-Alike Dangers & Poisonous Mushrooms: What You Need to Know

Death cap, panther cap & co. - the most dangerous poisonous mushrooms and what they get confused with.

2 min read

🌿 Herbs & wild plants (25)

Wild Garlic – Herald of Spring with a Deadly Look-Alike

Wild garlic is one of the most popular wild herbs of spring – aromatic, healthy, and free. But it has dangerous look-alikes. Read this article before you forage it for the first time.

4 min read

Basil – Growing and Harvesting the King of Kitchen Herbs the Right Way

Basil is the most popular kitchen herb of all – but most people buy it at the store and it's dead within a week. Once you know the simple tricks, you'll have fresh basil all summer long.

1 min read

Mugwort – Roadside Herb, Goose Seasoning, and Plant of Thresholds

An unassuming roadside weed with a rich history: a seasoning for fatty roasts, an ancient midsummer incense herb, and namesake of the Greek goddess Artemis.

3 min read

Stinging Nettle – Wild Vegetable, Medicinal Plant and Garden Fertiliser

Wild plant, medicinal herb, and fertilizer all in one – the nettle is one of the most versatile plants there is. We'll show you how to harvest and use it safely.

2 min read

Rosehips – Picking, Deseeding, Processing

The red fruit of the wild rose is one of the last harvests of the year – and traditionally one of the most popular for tea and purée. Picking, deseeding, drying: here's how to get the most out of them.

2 min read

Drying & Storing Medicinal Herbs Properly

Dried herbs only develop their full aroma and active compounds when harvesting, drying, and storage are done right. Here's how to keep chamomile, peppermint, lavender, and more in good condition all year.

6 min read

Elder – Processing Flowers and Berries Properly

For centuries, the elder was one of the most important plants in European folk medicine – flowers in early summer, berries in fall, both used in many ways. Learn how to harvest and process both.

3 min read

St John's Wort – Harvesting, Processing and What to Watch For

St John's wort blooms around St John's Day and is one of Europe's best-known medicinal plants. What to look for, when and how to harvest, how the red oil is made – and which interactions you need to know about.

3 min read

Chamomile – Europe's Best-Known Medicinal Plant

Chamomile is one of Europe's oldest and best-known medicinal plants – and it's easy to grow or forage yourself. Learn when and how to harvest it to get the very best from it.

3 min read

Making Herb Oil & Herb Vinegar Yourself

Aromatic herb oils and vinegars are easy to make, versatile, and make a great gift. Includes basic recipes for rosemary olive oil and tarragon vinegar.

2 min read

Kitchen Herb Classics: Chives, Parsley & Oregano

The three workhorses of the herb kitchen: how to harvest, overwinter, and preserve them – from the windowsill to the herb bed.

2 min read

Lavender – Scent of Provence for Garden, Kitchen, and Nerves

Lavender smells incomparable and is traditionally used for sleep problems, stress, and skin complaints. With the right spot, it thrives beautifully even in cooler climates.

3 min read

Dandelion – Wild Greens, Salad and Root Coffee

Dandelion grows everywhere and is usually treated as a weed to get rid of – yet it's a nutrient-rich wild plant. Leaves, flowers, and roots are all edible and have long been used in folk medicine.

3 min read

Peppermint – Growing, Harvesting, and Enjoying It All Year

Peppermint is one of the most popular culinary and medicinal herbs there is – and once in your garden, almost impossible to stop. Learn how to care for, harvest, and preserve it properly.

2 min read

Rosemary – A Mediterranean Kitchen Herb for Bed and Pot

Rosemary is much more than a kitchen spice – it has a long tradition in folk medicine. The catch: in cooler climates, it needs extra care to survive the winter.

3 min read

Sage – A Kitchen Herb with a Long Healing Tradition

An old medicinal herb and a robust kitchen herb in one – traditionally used for sore throats. Harvest it right, and you'll have some on hand all year round.

3 min read

Yarrow – Medicinal Plant and Bee Forage

Yarrow is one of Europe's oldest medicinal plants – used in folk medicine for wounds and digestive complaints, and valued by beekeepers as a bee pasture plant. Once you know it, you'll spot it everywhere.

4 min read

Ribwort Plantain – The Cough Herb from the Roadside

Ribwort plantain grows everywhere and is traditionally used for coughs and irritated coughs. Setting up a cough syrup from its leaves takes only a few minutes.

3 min read

Thyme: Medicinal Herb, Spice, and Bee Pasture in One

Thyme is one of the most versatile herbs there is – it seasons, has a long tradition as a medicinal herb, and attracts bees. Here's how to grow it and use it right.

3 min read

Hemp Agrimony & Tansy – Know Them, Don't Eat Them

Not every wild plant belongs in the pot: two roadside classics valued as a butterfly magnet and a natural moth repellent.

2 min read

Chicory, Burdock & Wood Avens – Underrated Root Herbs by the Roadside

Three wild plants whose treasure is usually hidden underground: a coffee substitute, a root vegetable, and a natural clove substitute.

2 min read

Hawthorn – Harvesting and Processing

White clouds of blossom in May, red berries in autumn – hawthorn is a familiar hedgerow shrub whose flowers, leaves and berries are traditionally used as tea.

2 min read

Spring Wild Herbs: Wild Garlic, Nettle, Ground Elder

Wild garlic, nettle, ground elder – get to know, correctly harvest, and use the most common spring wild herbs in the kitchen. Including notes on possible look-alikes.

2 min read

Wild Herbs All Year Round: Chickweed, Daisy & Ground Ivy

Three foraging classics that are available almost year-round: chickweed and daisy even brave the winter, while ground ivy adds flavor from spring on.

2 min read

Lemon Balm – Growing, Harvesting and Using

Lemon balm is an undemanding garden herb, traditionally used for nervousness and restlessness – and in the garden, it's nearly unstoppable. Fresh from the garden, it's incomparably better than any tea bag from the store.

4 min read

🎣 Fishing & smoking (18)

Fishing Gear for Beginners: What You Really Need

Rod, reel, hooks - an honest overview of the basic gear, without expensive extras.

5 min read

Fishing Bait at a Glance: Lures, Natural Bait & Flies

Choosing the right bait often decides success or failure. Spinners, crankbaits, soft plastics, or natural bait - every bait has its place. Here's the overview.

2 min read

Fishing from a Boat: Fish Finders, Technique & Safety

Fishing from a boat opens up completely new possibilities - deeper spots, more water, more fish. With the right gear and basic safety rules, boat fishing becomes an experience.

4 min read

Fishing License in Germany: Everything You Need to Know

Angling exam, permit, waters - the complete overview of the legal basics.

5 min read

🎣

Bream & Catfish: The Coarse-Fishing Classic and the Giant of the River

Bream is the bread-and-butter fish of many waters, catfish their biggest neighbor: where they hold, how to catch them – and what they really become in the kitchen.

2 min read

Catch & Release: Handling, Weighing & Releasing Fish Properly

For many anglers, catch and release is both a core principle and conservation in one. With the right technique, the fish survives unharmed - and can be caught again next year.

2 min read

Gutting & Filleting Fish: Step by Step

From the catch to the finished fillet - clean, hygienic, and without fear for your first attempt.

1 min read

Hot-Smoking Fish

From the brine to the finished trout: step by step through the hot-smoking process - with cooking times, temperature curve, and the right signs of doneness.

5 min read

Cold-Smoking Fish

Cold-smoking produces salmon and trout at smoked-salmon quality. What's different from hot-smoking, and what matters for temperature and hygiene - explained clearly.

4 min read

Cooking Fish: Pan-Frying, Grilling & Baking Whole

Freshly caught fish is a real treat - when prepared right. Whether in the pan, on the grill, or from the oven: the best methods for the most common catches.

7 min read

Catching & Cooking Crayfish: The Underrated River Dweller

Crayfish are a delicacy – and in some waters so abundant that catching them even helps manage the population. Everything about catching technique, preparation, and recipes.

2 min read

Trout Fishing: Fly Fishing & Spin Fishing in the Stream

Trout is the dream fish of many anglers: shy, fast, and beautiful. Whether with a fly or a spinner – here's everything about technique, gear, and the best spots.

2 min read

Pike Fishing: Tactics, Lures & Tips for This Predator

Pike are the king of native predatory fish – aggressive, powerful, and over a meter long. Know how they think, and you can outsmart them.

8 min read

Sea Fishing in Norway: Cod, Redfish & Salmon

Norway is the mecca for sea anglers. Crystal-clear fjord water, stunning mountain scenery, and fish in abundance – here's everything you need for the perfect fishing trip to Scandinavia.

3 min read

Smoking Wood & Flavors

Beech, alder, apple, or cherry? The smoking wood determines the flavor. An overview of wood types, forms, and what to absolutely avoid.

6 min read

Smoking - Getting Started & Basic Equipment

Which smoker suits you? An honest overview of types, accessories, and the most important decision: hot or cold smoking.

3 min read

Season Calendar: Which Fish Bites When

Pike in autumn, carp in July, grayling in late summer - the month-by-month calendar for successful fishing.

1 min read

Identifying Freshwater Fish: The Most Common Species at a Glance

Perch, pike, trout & co. – how to identify the most important native fish species.

1 min read

🍷 Winemaking (12)

Apple Wine & Apple Mead: From Orchard to Glass

Apple wine (cider) and apple mead are among the oldest homemade drinks. With a few kilos of apples from the garden and a bit of patience, you get lightly sparkling or still delights.

2 min read

Yeast, Sugar & Gravity: The Science Behind Fermentation

Reading a hydrometer correctly, calculating sugar, determining alcohol content - the most important basics.

8 min read

Raspberry Wine: Fruity, Aromatic & Homemade

Raspberries make one of the most aromatic fruit wines there is. Learn how to turn fresh or frozen raspberries into a deep red, easy-drinking wine.

7 min read

Currant Wine: Red & White Berries from Your Own Garden

Currants naturally bring plenty of acidity and color - perfect conditions for a characterful fruit wine. Red and white currants make quite different wines.

6 min read

Brewing Mead Yourself: Honey Wine Step by Step

Mead is one of humanity's oldest alcoholic drinks - a wine made from honey and water. With good honey and a bit of patience, you get an extraordinary drink.

2 min read

Fruit & Berry Wine: Strawberry, Elderberry, Apple & More

No vineyard needed - here's how to make delicious fruit and berry wines from homegrown produce.

2 min read

Season Calendar: Winemaking All Year Round

What to do and when - from elderflowers in June to grape must in October.

6 min read

Sour Cherry Wine: Intense, Characterful & Deep Red

Sour cherries make one of the best fruit wines there is. The intense color, natural acidity, and fruity flavor combine into a wine that also works well as a digestif.

7 min read

Making Your Own Grape Wine: From Harvest to Bottle

Picking, pressing, fermenting, racking – the classic winemaking process explained step by step.

9 min read

Clearing, Filtering & Bottling Wine: The Last Step to a Finished Wine

Fining agents, filtration, bottle choice, and corks - here's how to make your wine clear and shelf-stable.

8 min read

Storing, Labeling & Gifting Wine

The wine is bottled - now what? Proper storage, homemade labels, and nice presentation turn homemade wine into the perfect gift.

6 min read

Winemaking for Beginners: Equipment & Basic Principles

Demijohn, airlock, yeast - what you really need, and how fermentation works.

7 min read

🫙 Preserving & pantry (19)

Apple Harvest & Storage: Keeping Fresh, Canning, Drying

A good apple year brings more fruit than you can eat fresh. With the right storage and preservation methods, your apple harvest will last well into winter.

2 min read

Canning & Freezing Beans: A Pantry for the Whole Winter

Beans from your own garden can be canned and frozen beautifully. That way your full harvest stays on hand through winter - as a quick side, in stews, and in soups.

7 min read

Making Chutneys & Relishes: Spicy Companions from the Garden

Chutneys are the best way to use up surplus vegetables and fruit. These spicy sidekicks go with cheese, grilled food, and bread - and make a great gift.

7 min read

Dehydrating for Beginners: Oven or Dehydrator?

The world's oldest preservation method, rediscovered: which method suits you, what temperatures to use, and how to make your dried goods last for months.

5 min read

Canning Basics: Methods, Jars & Safety

Canning is one of the oldest preservation methods - and one of the safest, once you know the basic rules. Here's everything about methods, equipment, and the most important safety rules.

3 min read

Fermenting Vegetables: Sauerkraut, Kimchi & More

Fermentation is one of the world's oldest preservation methods - and it's having a real comeback. It's simple, cheap, and the result is shelf-stable, tangy and full of flavor.

1 min read

Canning a Big Tomato Harvest: Passata, Sugo & Tomato Sauce

When tomatoes ripen in abundance in late summer, canning is the best solution. Homemade passata and sugo are unbeatable in flavor - and will last well into winter.

3 min read

Pickling Cucumbers: Cornichons, Dill Pickles & Spiced Pickles

Pickled cucumbers are a pantry classic. Whether crisp cornichons, mild dill pickles, or spicy chili slices - here are all the recipes.

5 min read

Preserving Raspberries: Jam, Syrup & Juice

Raspberries are the most delicious summer berries – but they only keep fresh for a few days. Turn them quickly into jam, syrup, or juice for your pantry.

7 min read

Currant Jelly & Juice: Preserving Black & Red Berries

Currants are packed with vitamin C and pectin – perfect for preserving. Black currant jelly and homemade juice are pantry-shelf classics.

4 min read

Preserving Cherry Tomatoes: Oven-Dried, Pickled & Canned

When cherry tomatoes ripen in abundance in summer, preserving them is worth the effort. Oven-dried tomatoes in oil, colorful tomato sauce, and pickled cherry tomatoes - three methods at a glance.

3 min read

Preserving Herbs: Drying, Freezing, Oil & Herb Vinegar

Fresh herbs in summer - but what about winter? With the right preservation methods, you'll have herb flavor on hand all year round.

5 min read

Making Jam: The Basic Recipe

This universal basic recipe works for any fruit jam - from classic strawberry to aromatic elderberry. Includes tips on the set test and proper storage.

7 min read

Drying Fruit: Apple Rings, Pear Chips & Fruit Leather

From apple rings to fruit leather: here's how to turn your fruit harvest into shelf-stable snacks - with no additives at all.

3 min read

Pickling & Roasting Peppers: Sweet-and-Sour, in Oil, or as Ajvar

Peppers can be preserved in many ways - canned in vinegar, pickled in olive oil, or turned into spicy ajvar. Here's how to enjoy your pepper harvest well into winter.

3 min read

Safe Canning: Avoiding Botulism with Vegetables, Meat and Mushrooms

Why beans never become safely preserved in a water bath, which foods are unproblematic, and what the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment recommends. The rules for canning safely.

6 min read

Preserving Tomatoes: 5 Methods Compared

Canning, freezing, drying, fermenting, or preserving in oil - each method has its strengths. Here's how to use your summer harvest all year round.

2 min read

Making Dried Meat: Beef Jerky & Biltong

Savory, protein-rich, long-lasting: step by step to homemade jerky - with everything you need to know about choosing meat and staying safe.

5 min read

Preserving Zucchini: Canning, Freezing & More

Zucchini produce in abundance all summer – what to do with the harvest? From freezing to pickled antipasti to zucchini jam: here are the best methods.

2 min read

🍞 Bread & sourdough (10)

Shaping & Scoring Bread

Building tension, shaping round or oblong, flouring the proofing basket correctly - and why a single score makes the difference between good and great bread.

4 min read

Storing Bread & Keeping It Fresh

Bread box, linen cloth, or paper bag - what actually works, why plastic hurts, and how to freeze sourdough bread and re-bake it as good as fresh.

4 min read

No-Knead Bread

The no-knead method: why a long, cold rise in the fridge does all the kneading work for you - and how busy people fit sourdough bread into their routine.

1 min read

Your First Sourdough Bread

A tried-and-true basic recipe for a 70/30 rye-wheat bread - with exact amounts, rise times, the right baking temperature, and the steam trick for a great crust.

4 min read

Spelt & Wheat Sourdough Bread

How spelt and wheat sourdough breads differ from rye, which water amounts and rise times fit - and why the crumb turns out so much airier with wheat.

1 min read

Flour Basics for Bread Bakers

What the type number on the flour bag means, which flours suit which breads - and why the difference between type 550 and 1050 is more than just a number.

2 min read

Baking Sourdough Rolls

Smaller pieces, different rules: how to get sourdough rolls properly light and crispy - with adjusted amounts, rise times, and the trick for the perfect crust.

7 min read

Maintaining & Storing Sourdough Starter

How to keep your starter healthy, store it in the fridge, and reactivate it easily after a break - with clear signs to tell whether it's still alive.

2 min read

Starting a Sourdough Starter from Scratch

From zero to active starter - how to build a bake-ready sourdough in 7 days, what to see and smell along the way, and how to tell it's really alive.

2 min read

Common Bread-Baking Mistakes

Bread too dense, taste too sour, no oven spring, raw center - the most common problems with sourdough bread and what's behind them.

2 min read

🔧 Projects (5)

Balcony Solar with Battery Storage: Power from Your Own Balcony

How to maximize your self-consumption with a plug-in solar panel and a home battery - from planning to registration.

3 min read

Building Your Own Irrigation System: From Drip Line to Timer

Automatic irrigation saves time, conserves water, and keeps your vegetables alive even while you're on vacation - here's how to plan and build your system.

7 min read

Digging a Well: Water from Your Own Garden

With a driven well or a borehole, you can tap groundwater for garden irrigation - an affordable water source with no water bills.

10 min read

Building Your Own Greenhouse: Planning, Foundation & Construction

From choosing the site to the right foundation to the finished structure - here's how to build a greenhouse that lasts for years.

10 min read

Building a Firewood Shed: Storing Firewood the Right Way

A sturdy woodshed protects your firewood from moisture, speeds up drying, and ensures a proper wood supply for winter.

3 min read