She’s gone fermental
Humans are actually only about 43% human.
More than half of each and every one of us is, in fact, made up of bacteria.
So when it comes to what we eat, we really need to think about catering for our guests.
Although I have discovered the benefits of carnivorous and ketogenic eating for my fitness and health…
This does very little for my bug tenants.
And so to keep them happy and paying the microbiome rent, I have recently ventured into the world of fermentation.
In fact, if you sit still long enough in my house right now, chances are you will be salted, massaged and squashed into a Kilner jar.
And watched closely to see how much you bubble.
Already this adventure is reaping rewards for me.
I’ve shed some timber and feel really well despite a challenging few months.
My job as a reporter at ITV’s Good Morning Britain means I currently work overnights from 10pm to 10am.
For someone concerned about their health that disruption to my sleep is obviously bonkers, but I do bloody love it.
It does mean, however, that it is even more important to stay as healthy as possible in all other ways.
My and my family’s gut health is of even more importance at the moment because we have also had something of a health scare.
Turns out Oli’s intermittently cold hands and slight fatigue were actually symptoms of 40% heart failure.
Cue a stint in the Brompton Hospital for open heart surgery.
And a lengthy recovery at home.
It’s been one of the most serious challenges we have faced in our life together.
But positive mindset, movement and good nutrition have seen him defying doctors’ expectations about his recovery.
Having been pumped so full of drugs and antibiotics, his microbes, mind and body didn’t know which way was up in the immediate aftermath.
So like a woman possessed, I set about making even more kefir, sourdough and sauerkraut to help nurture his microbiome back to health.
Click here for my recipe for an entry level simple sauerkraut if you’re interested:
People talk about your gut being your second brain.
I honestly think eating well has helped us mentally weather all the storms that we’ve faced.
And smile into the headwinds.
Even if my children don’t appreciate my artistic efforts at breakfast to entice them to feed the fauna in their tummies…
Philistines that they are…
I know that feeding their microbiomes will reap rewards for their current and future health.
Oli’s brush with mortality was rather more fortuitous though than that faced by our newest chicks.
These little smashers were just coming of age when overnight every single one of them disappeared.
It’s the fourth time our coop has been decimated and is so frustrating.
A lot of furious googling of llamas as effective poultry guard dogs, encouraging the boys to do wild wees around the coop and other chick safeguarding policies will hopefully mean our next batch survive a smidge longer.
Our bees also perished after a wasp invasion massively reduced their numbers ahead of a bitter winter.
We’re starting again, but this time with a much less civil bunch.
Rory’s already been stung to bits and we’re all a little more nervy when tending to our newest charges.
I won’t feel so bad when nicking half of this lot’s honey at the end of the season.
Our inexperience with this farming lark meant when one of our young heifers was getting rather rotund, we wondered aloud if she should have her grass further rationed.
Little did we know the poor immature girl had actually arrived at Rowan Farm knocked up by a bull she shouldn’t have been anywhere near at her last farm.
Our anger at such a catastrophic mistake had to be quelled as we got on with the job of helping her calve.
The calf was dead.
And getting it out was such a hell of a job, it left her lame.
We spent a week tending to her, milking and cleaning her udders to prevent mastitis and heaving her around to avoid sores.
Eventually we got her back on her feet.
But we will never be able to breed from her again.
I think she’s earned a quiet life now as a companion cow to the others.
And maybe the odd bit of sugar beet as a treat.
Planting and foraging also continues a pace as we try to follow Tim Spector’s advice to eat at least 30 different plants a week.
While it’s perhaps not been our best year so far…
We’re chalking the first half of 2023 up as a challenging learning experience.
And are charging on with our good life experiment.
