The Some Day Build... And Trip Log

Forgot to ask. How do you make your sourdough starter?

 

From the site I used as a reference.

Sourdough bread is bread made without added yeast. By making a "starter" in which wild yeast can grow, the sourdough baker can raise bread naturally, as mankind did for thousands and thousands of years before a packet of yeast was an available convenience at the local market. Not all sourdough is sour-tasting; Amish Friendship Bread and other types of live-yeast breads are also sourdough.

To become a sourdough baker, all you need are some basic ingredients (flour, water, salt, and sugar), some basic tools (a mixing bowl, an oven, and a baking sheet), and a basic interest. This page is for the novice sourdough baker, but assumes that the reader is familiar with regular yeast-based baking. If you can make bread, you can make sourdough bread.

There are only a few simple steps to becoming a sourdough baker. First, you must create a starter: This is a bubbly batter that you keep in your fridge. The starter is mixed into a dough, and it causes the bread to rise. Bake and serve. Yum!

Creating Your Starter

The novel thing about sourdough baking is that it requires that you keep something alive in your fridge. I think of my starter as a pet, kept and fed so that Sandra and I will have all the bread we need. Sourdough "starter" is a batter of flour and water, filled with living yeast and bacteria. The yeast and bacteria form a stable symbiotic relationship, and (as long as you keep the starter fed) can live for centuries, a thriving colony of microorganisms. To make sourdough bread, you blend the starter with some flour and make dough. The yeast propogates, and leavens your bread. This is how you make your starter:

• Select a container that your "pet" will live in. A wide-mouthed glass jar is best. I use a glass jar with a rubber and wireframe seal; you can find these for $2-$4 in any antique or junk shop. A small crock with a loose lid is also great; these can be bought in cheap sets for serving soup. You can also use a rubbermaid or tupperware container. I've begun starters using the plastic containers that take-out Chinese soup comes in, and then transferred them to jars later! A wide-mouthed mayonnaise or pickle jar will also do just fine. Metallic containers are a bad idea; some of them are reactive and can ruin your starter (for the same reason, avoid using metal utensils to stir your starter).
• Blend a cup of warm water and a cup of flour, and pour it into the jar. That's the whole recipe! I use plain, unbleached bread flour most of the time, but I've had good results with all-purpose and whole-wheat flour, too. If you want, you can add a little commercial yeast to a starter to "boost" it. If you do this, sourdough snobs will look down their nose at you - but who cares about snobs? I personally find that (at least here where I live) no yeast "boost" is necessary, and I can make "real" sourdough with no trouble. But if you are having trouble, go ahead and cheat. I won't tell. Note that starter made with commercial yeast often produces a bread with less distinctive sour flavor than the real thing.
• Every 24 Hours, Feed the Starter. You should keep the starter in a warm place; 70-80 degrees Farenheit is perfect. This allows the yeast already present in the flour (and in the air) to grow rapidly. Temperatures hotter than 100 degrees or so will kill it. You can take comfort from the fact that almost nothing else will do so. The way you feed the starter is to (A) throw away half of it and then (B) add a half-cup of flour and a half-cup of water. Do this every 24 hours. Within three or four days (it can take longer, a week or more, and it can happen more quickly) you should start getting lots of bubbles throughought, and a pleasant sour or beery smell. The starter may start to puff up, too. This is good. Here's the gist: When your starter develops a bubbly froth, it is done. You have succeeded. If this sounds brain-dead simple, that's because it is. People who didn't believe the Earth was round did this for millenia.
• Refrigerate the Starter. Keep the starter in your fridge, with a lid on it. Allow a little breathing space in the lid. If you're using a mayo or pickle jar, punch a hole in the lit with a nail, that kind of thing. Once the starter is chilled, it needs to be fed only once a week. Realistically, you can get away with less; it's important to remember that your starter is a colony of life-forms that are almost impossible to kill (except with extreme heat). Even starving them is difficult.

Care and Feeding: Hooch

Aside from weekly feeding, the only other thing you need to worry about is hooch. Hooch is a layer of watery liquid (often dark) that contains alchohol. It smells a bit like beer, because it is a bit like beer - but don't drink it! Hooch builds up in your starter, especially in the fridge. Just pour it off or stir it back in. It doesn't hurt anything. If your starter is looking dry, stir it back in. If your starter is plenty wet, pour it off. Just remember that hooch is nothing to worry about!

Sourdough Baking Step One: Proofing the Sponge

Several hours before you plan to make your dough (recipe below), you need to make a sponge. A "sponge" is just another word for a bowl of warm, fermented batter. This is how you make your sponge.

• Take your starter out of the fridge. Pour it into a large glass or plastic bowl. Meanwhile, wash the jar and dry it. You may also wish to pour boiling water over it, since you don't want other things growing in there with your pet!
• Add a cup of warm water and a cup of flour to the bowl. Stir well, and set it in a warm place for several hours. This is called "proofing," another word for fermenting. Sourdough bakers have their own language; use it to impress your friends
• Watch for Froth and and Sniff. When your sponge is bubbly and has a white froth, and it smells a little sour, it is ready. The longer you let the sponge sit, the more sour flavor you will get.

The proofing-time varies. Some starters can proof up to frothiness in an hour or two. Some take 6-8 hours, or even longer. Just experiment and see how long yours takes. If you're going to bake in the morning, set your sponge out to proof overnight.

Sourdough Baking Step Two: The Actual Recipe

Of course, there are a lot of recipes for sourdough bread. There are also recipes for sourdough rolls, sourdough pancakes, sourdough pretzels, sourdough bagels, and probably sourdough saltines for all I know. This is the basic recipe I use, though, and it's simple and makes a fine bread. You'll need the following:

• 2 Cups of sponge (proofed starter)
• 3 Cups of unbleached flour
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil or softened margarine
• 4 teaspoons of sugar
• 2 teaspoons of salt

First, let's talk about leftover sponge. You should have some. The leftover sponge is your starter for next time: Put it into the jar, and give it a fresh feed of a half-cup each of flour and warm water. Keep it in the fridge as above; you'll have starter again next time.

Now, for the recipe: To the sponge, add the sugar, salt, and oil (the oil is optional - you can use softened butter instead, or no oil at all). Mix well, then knead in the flour a half-cup at a time. Knead in enough flour to make a good, flexible bread dough. You can do this with an electric mixer, a bread machine on "dough cycle," or a food processor. You can also do it with a big bowl and your bare hands.

Keep in mind that flour amounts are approximate; flour varies in absorbency, and your sponge can vary in wetness. Use your judgement; treat it like ordinary white or french bread dough.

Let the dough rise in a warm place, in a bowl covered loosely with a towel (if you're using a bread machine's dough cycle, let it rise in the machine). Note that sourdough rises more slowly than yeast bread; my starter takes about an hour or so, but some starters take much longer. Let the dough double in bulk, just like yeast-bread dough. When a finger poked into the top of the dough creates a pit that doesn't "heal" (spring back), you've got a risen dough.

Punch the dough down and knead it a little more. Make a loaf and place it on a baking sheet (lightly greased or sprinkled with cornmeal). Slit the top if you like, and cover the loaf with a paper towel and place it in a warm place to rise again, until doubled in bulk.

Place the pan with the loaf in your oven, and then turn your oven to 350o Farenheit and bake the bread for 30-45 minutes. Do not preheat the oven. The loaf is done when the crust is brown and the bottom sounds hollow when thumped with a wooden spoon. Turn the loaf out onto a cooling rack or a towel and let it cool for an hour before slicing.

And that's that. If you double the recipe for two big two-pound loaves of bread, the total price tag will be less than a dollar.

Comments and Notes and Ramblings

For good rising, I use my oven. Turn the oven on for a minute or so, then turn it off again. This will warm the oven and make it a great environment to raise bread. If you can't comfortably press your hand against the inside of the oven door, the oven is too hot. Let it stand open to cool a bit.

I'm continually amazed at the elegance of sourdough baking . . . Bread is simple and yet it's one of the most satisfying foods there is, and the most fundamental.



I am sensitive/allergic to yeast and wheat. Can your sourdough help?

No. My sourdough has plenty of yeast and wheat in it, it's just that the yeast isn't purchased separately. If you have those kinds of food sensitivities, consult a physician or dietician for advice on what you can eat safely. One reader has reported that the method works well for Spelt-based sourdough (and another uses rice flour), but while that would help with the wheat it wouldn't remove any yeast. My personal experiences with sourdough baking are limited to ordinary white, whole-wheat and rye flours.

Your article mentions covering the starter in the fridge but doesn't mention covering it before that. Do you?

Not always. Sometimes I do; sometimes I just lay a clean dish towel or paper towel over the container. Loose covering won't hurt it, to be sure, but it isn't necessary unless your starter appears to be drying out. I recommend covering it in the refrigerator mainly to help protect it from absorbing smells and/or encountering drips from other items, which isn't usually a hazard on the counter.

Is it okay if the starter gets runny? What if it smells bad? What if the color changes?

Runny is just fine; you can always adjust the ratio of water to flour if you need to in order to get a nice workable batter. Starter should smell good,in a strongly yeasty, beery kind of way. Not necessarily yummy-good, but never unpleasant. If there's a rancid or bitter smell, discard the starter and make a new one. The same thing goes for dramatic color changes.

I've read that hooch is a bad sign; what do you think?

I've personally never had problems I could attribute to it. If you don't like it, just pour it off.

What should the froth look like?

As frothy as can be! It should also be frothy all the way through … a healthy starter will also have lots of visible bubbles along the side of the glass (an excellent reason to use a clear container instead of, for example, opaque pottery). A starter with bubbles only at the top isn't doing so well and may require an Old Yellering.

Can I use potato flakes in my starter?

Lots of folks do. Potato flakes are a nice, easily soluble starch, so they're popular in many starters. I've personally never experimented with them (and now that I'm diabetic, I probably won't, since potato is murder on the blood sugar - ouch). Potato flakes are also a great last-minute rescue if you make a gravy or stew that's a little too thin!

Can I keep my starter as a lump of dough instead of as a batter?

Yeah. Lots of bakers prefer that. I find the batter pretty easy to manage and easy to adjust the amount of, so that's why I recommend keeping it as batter.

My starter became frothy and beery MUCH faster than your article predicted. Is something wrong?

No; you're in luck, is all. Sometimes they just zoom to life. Sometimes they take their sweet time. They're fey and unpredictable.

When you feed the starter later in its life do you still discard part of it?

Sometimes I do. As long as the ratio of flour to water is constant (or approximately so) just adjust the amount you're keeping to fit your container and your needs. If you know you'll need a lot of starter soon, bulk it up with extra flour and water a couple of days in advance to give it a chance to "catch up" with its new increased volume.

Does it hurt the starter if I stir it a lot?

Not at all.

Do I have to do X or Y before doing X or Y? Do I have to do X or Y after doing X or Y? Do I have to do X or Y during X or Y? The recipe doesn't mention it it at all! Help!

The original article includes all the steps I consider necessary. If I didn't mention something, it's because I don't do it. Feel free to add any steps or techniques from other sourdough methods, if you think they'll help.

Can I make sourdough in my bread machine?

Probably not, since most bread machines depend on the more predictable rising schedule of commercial yeast. However, your bread machine is an excellent way to mix and knead the dough.

The starter works just great, but my bread is coming out too [moist/dry/chewy/soft/hard/is infested by purple insects from Pluto]; what should I do differently? Also, how can I give it a more golden crust?

These are general baking issues rather than issues with sourdough, specifically; consult your favorite book on bread-bakery (or consult a baker friend who can visit your kitchen and see what you're doing and recommend changes). Keep in mind, especially, that you must always adjust your dough's moisture level by feel; flour varies in absorbency and your sponge can vary in wetness. All the usual principles of good bread-bakery apply.

My starter made some beautiful loaves at first, but it seems to have weakened. Did I get it too hot? Did some bacteria harm it? What did I do wrong?

There are lots of factors that can lead to a starter sort of "petering out," including heat damage, changes in the flour used (some brands of flour seem "hostile" to sourdough due to chemical treatments in their processing), etc. Many causes are just environmental, though, and beyond your reasonable control. The best remedy is to keep two or three going at one time, discarding the weakest, splitting the strongest into multiple batches, and so on until you end up with a kind of Super-Starter. Then you can preserve flakes of that by spreading some on wax paper with a rubber spatula, letting it dry, flaking it into a baggie, and then freezing it. If your other starters ever wimp out, you can restart your super-starter with those flakes. Handy!

What's your recipe for sourdough pancakes/pretzels/biscuits/waffles etc.?

I only use my starter for bread loaves, so I don't have other recipes that I can recommend from experience. Give Google a whirl, though, and it should be easy to find some that others have enjoyed. Several readers have let me know that their "pet" works excellently in their favorite recipes of that sort.

https://web.archive.org/web/20060107020025/http://www.io.com/~sjohn/sour.htm

 

Thanks will start reading up it.

 

you can cheat a bit, by adding a a sprinkle of various store bought yeasts. not much and different strains will help help the flavor. one thing to watch out for is mold spores. it will take over quick in the starter.

and just because I was curious...

a google search of "Wild Yeast Texas"

 

My oldest niece is getting married in August, So I have been planning a little road trip to make the most of using my vacation time.

 

That’s a heck of a road trip but will be fun

 

looking forward to it, will be traveling through 4 new states, and along with the 4 national parks on the visit list. the trip is very condensed. however, the idea is to get the wife excited about future trips back to some of the areas for a more extended visit. and to get us both out on a much needed vacation.

I need to get up one of the national park passes, looks like it will pay for itself on this trip.

 

Good Morning Chris

 

Took the truck In For its 20,000 mile service. And also to have a few issues looked at

1. Routine service of course...

2. Replacement key made under 1 year replacement policy. Put the spare up in a super safe spot and no idea where it is now.

3. Stumble / miss at idle

4. Missing rubber bumper for hood on the left side fender, also to have the debonding of the inner hood panel and outer skin addressed. Noticed it oil canning during the drive to and from work.

5. Weird Entune issue where the bluetooth freezes and will not release back to radio, along with random fast forwarding of the radio cache.

#3 and #5 are intermittent and will probably hear back nothing wrong.. it goal is t ol nget it documented and on record before the bumper to bumper warranty expires

#2 has been approved, and I am hoping it will also solve the crappy range of the current key fob that I have complained to the dealer about since its first service.

 

As expected #3 and #5 could not be duplicated... intermittent issues are hard to catch..

#4 Part is on order 4b.. the debonding of the hood skin service manager is saying it is normal, and "claims" the toyote filed rep told him the same. Not buying that at all.... So I open a case on that issue see if I get the same story. very least make sure it is document in case becomes worse after the warranty is up.

Sadly the new key fob has not improved the range more than a few feet. guess I am going to need the 4G module for the remote start from @N2DesignsInc after all.

 

Back when I first met my wife, an I asked her if she liked camping... She told me only if she could have a hot shower. She was puzzled when I said if that is your only requirement, that is easy to solve.

So over the years we tried a few variations, The Zodi, was a breakthrough. and when we saw it in use, we quickly bought one. Of course it has it flaws. but it still lives with the camping gear, and used a few times in the house when the power went out for extend time.

later on, a group of friends picked up the Ecotemp L5. now this was a step better, electric start, so you don't burn the heat exchanger out like the Zodi will with out water flow. and with a on/off shower head, and a 12v demand pump. about as close to turn key as you can get once it is setup

So the on demand water system 2.0 was born. A trip to tractor supply resulted in a 12v demand pump and some misc parts comming home me.


The data plate is starting to wear a bit, but you can still read it 60psi @2.1GPM

Now this kinda rode around as a bare pump for years hooked up as needed, kinda a pain actually.

Then When I came to TW, and saw the thread by @ProForce on his onboard water system thought yep a nice solution to the problem, but with the 2019 no drivers side cubby to make it a simple install. THEN... I saw his post on his Portable unit. it was then I knew that the solution to the problem was at hand. Ya know they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery... So in order to prep for the upcoming Semi-Epic road trip, and to appease the wife on the multiple nights of camping. the new an improved water system was built, using the ground work done by @ProForce as a guide.

So, it was time to double check, and see if the case he used would work for the pump I already had. The new Pelican knockoff sold by Harbor Freight did indeed fit.






I did a dual washer under the homebrew Bulk head fittings, a large fender washer inside, and standard washer outside of the case.


Stainless hardware was used as well, with Nylocks since getting everything really tight is hard with out compressing the rubber isolator mount on the pump.



Because of how I placed the pump, I ended up grinding down one of the ribs on the bottom so the fender washers would lay flush.


Switch is in place, but currently not wired up. the SAE cord has a switch built in so it is a bit redundant, but since it was in the spare box, left over from a light harness. and to to prevent it from getting lost later. I went ahead and installed it



The cap on this

$17 BatteryMINDer EZC-01 Universal Flush-Mountable EZ Connector - with 4 Mounting Screws

Panel mount SAE 12v power inlet is a tight fit, pliers help to get it pulled free. but it appears to be durable rubber, and the leads are 12 gauge.

 

Another "subbed" thread I am not getting notices on. Nice work bud.

 

Now that the water pump portion of the water system is done, it is time for the "Hot water" portion of the project. awhile back I had pick up an

$152 Eccotemp L5 1.5 GPM Portable Outdoor Tankless Water Heater

Ecotemp L5 to add Hot water to the camp kitchen setup. I had the chance to use one on a camping trip several years back and I was much more impressed with this, than I was the Zodi units.



I added another female Quick Disconnect to the output side of the heater, and the matching male end to the shower wand hose, this is so I can take the shower wand and use it with just the pump later on.

Next I needed a way to hang the water heater, And not cause damage to truck while it was in use





So, I picked up some.1/2" all-thread some misc nuts and washers, a piece of EMT. Along with a left over scrap piece of steel from making the tool mounts for the bed rails



I added the EMT over the threaded rod to help add some strength and prevent deflection under the weight of the water heater.



Bolt one end to the hole at the top of the bed stiffeners...







The Gas hose is long enough to reach the tank on the ground.

 

The water Will be supplied using a couple of Scepter Military Water Cans (MWC) that I was able to pick up recently.

 

Good Morning Chris

 

RoadTrippin 8/2019
Highways and Byways
Part 1​

Ok, so you know what they say about making plans...

After we made it to Iowa, we had a last minute change, that would have made our trip much tighter schedule wise than originally planned for. Something that had little wiggle room built in. So instead of risking it. Plan B went into effect, and the decision was made to head to the Ouachita National Forest.


Not much to talk about for the first leg of the trip, all highway, and we was trying to drive as much as possible each day so we could spent as much time with my brother and nieces as possible. it has been way to long since I seen most of them, and the two youngest, I have never met.

A nice little storm brewing in Kansas on the 7th of August



However I did Avoided a trip to see the wizard...

Once we arrived at my brother place in Iowa, and got mobbed by the nieces, the youngest two decided they wanted to play "get thrown in the pool" after I got tired from that, I decided that they needed to earn some extra loose change by fishing it off the bottom of the pool. So the @MESO customs Change holder that was full, became pool toys for the girls. once it was all recovered, if they had guessed closer to the amount they recovered, they got to keep it, I had the closer guess... the change got tossed back into the pool. this happen about 3 times before they guessed closer than I did.

Thursday, after my brother got home from work, he decided that taking his boat out onto the Mississippi was more important than sleep. so we headed out, and spent the day on the river trolling around, caught a few fish. nothing that met the keeper guidelines.

While in Iowa, we where only 90 minutes from one of the best Deep Fried Chicken places in the area. RIPS tavern in Ladd Illinois, they have been in business since 1936. While on the way we passed through Princeton Illinois, the home of the Red Covered Bridge. With all my old pictures of the bridge taken with an much older digital camera, they where not the best quality. So while in the area...



I decided it was time to get some better quality pictures.



Something about Timber frame construction. LOVE it.






Not Madison County, but still a nice little bridge that is still in service...

 

RoadTrippin 8/2019
Highways and Byways
Part 2 -The "Duke"
​

Speaking of Madison County, a quick side trip once we hit Madison County. The original idea was to see some of the covered bridges. But again you know what they say about plans, this time My wife noticed some place she wanted to stop and get some pictures for her dad who is a big John Wayne fan...

 

RoadTrippin 8/2019
Highways and Byways
Part 3
​

The Slight change in schedule had us change up plans so ended going to an area closer to home, and one a lot more familiar with, as I have spend many nights camping here with some old friends.







First order of business was Water... From Previous trips to the area I knew that there was several spots to get Potable water. Cedar lake has a tap for domestic water at there RV dump station. Or the one that we always use... Pipe Spring


The pipe spring dates back to the 1920's and was first "developed" by rail workers building a new spur. When We stopped at the ranger station on the way end they where uncertain if the spring was flowing since it had been a bit dry, but it still at a flow rate of just about 1GPM



After filling the Scepter MWCs it was time to head south to the campsite.



This camp site area, is much bigger than it first looks, this spot was the community area for our group when we had our semi-annual campouts.


The Fire pit was full of ash and needed a quick clean out,



While in the sun in the morning, it will be shade during the heat of the day. so I also took advantage of that and set up the Goalzero panels.


Two of the Nomad20's, they are a foldable 20w panel, daisy chained to create a 40w array. I was able to go from 5% to 50% charge before the area became to shaded to be used for solar.

Now that camp is set up, it is time for breakfast.



Bacon, egg and cheese breakfast tacos. heavy on the Bacon...


earlier when we had stopped at teh ranger station, I picked copies of the MVUM (Motor Vehicle Use Map) and I noticed a nearby road that was open to all vehicles.





Le Flore 6023, a 15 mile trail that if you start off the highway 63 side, is pretty tame for several miles. before it turns into a bit more of challange
















The road conditions are starting to turn..



It was this spot that had me stop and walk down and check to see how deep the washouts where. I had to be a a bit careful through here.




The washouts cut from side to side of the road


There was a couple of nice mudholes at the top.











Small rock ledges on the way back down





Nothing to bad, but I was still happy to have the sliders just in case.






This spot was a tight squeeze, steep drop to the left, then the rotted shell of an oak tree, and a fallen tree to the right along with a steep hill. Missed the rotted tree with my left rear tire by about 1/4"





The last water crossing, still had a deep(ish) spot, but if the there has been a recent rainfall, this would be impassable for most. Something to keep in mind, and there is not alot of room to turn around either.












We ended up on exiting 6023 onto hwy 259 just North of the road to our campsite, other than mud and some very minor pin stripping, no damage was done. the entire trip took about 3 hours to complete


Back at camp, it was time to start Dinner. and Cheeseburgers where on the menu.. It was to hot yet for a fire so it was time to fire up the stove and get the cast iron hot.


Colby Jack cheeseburger on a Sesame seed bun topped with A1 sauce and sweet and spicy pickles



After Dinner the camp shower was set up so it was ready later when it got dark. I want to take a moment an again acknowledge @ProForce for this idea, and yes this is my own version, but I "borrowed" his version of the box and brass QD fitting to make the system I already have more portable. I would highly recommend buying his kit, it is a very fair price compared to DIY.

The shower head is from the Ecotemp L5 heater, and I had set it up so I could use the sprayer with the just the pump or the pump and heater.

The water in the water in Scepter MWC, was plenty warm, and 5 gallons was just about right for 2 people for a quick shower.



Inside the box is one of the 30ah AGM batteries, bit crude since I did not get around to building a proper portable battery system yet.



A campfire was needed more to keep bugs away...






Pull up a seat and grab your favorite beverage adult or otherwise... and join us around the campfire.

 

RoadTrippin 8/2019
Highways and Byways
Part 4 - Outlaws and diamonds
​

After we woke we headed down to the Pashubbe creek trailhead before breakfast.

​

​

Breakfast of Bacon and Pancake was todays menu.



Before the heat set in we headed off to Robbers Cave State Park. to check it out.



The Mural at Talihina






The sign at the entrance of Robbers Cave Nature Trail reads: “Robbers Cave, located on this trail, is a legendary outlaw hideout. No gunfighters or any historic incidents are documented as having occurred at this cave. Yet it is a fact that local travelers during the 1865-90 period were often victimized by bands of robbers. Because of the cave’s secluded location it is thus likely that it served as an outlaw hideout.”







Previous Visitors leaving there mark for eternity, something we all know is no longer acceptable.










The entrance to the cave



Remember No Fires!



It was a bit cooler back inside the cave











Pull up a seat and grab your favorite beverage adult or otherwise... and once again join us around the campfire.



The Next morning we packed up camp and headed off to the Crater of Diamonds in Arkansas. The park has a 37 acre plowed field that used to be part of a volcanic crater. You can mine for diamonds and other gemstones, anything you find you get to keep, you can also take home 5 gallons of sifted gravel for each day you visit the crater, the park rangers say a lot of diamonds are later found in this gravel.

The park rangers also stated that the majority of the large diamonds are found on the surface after hard rain. by visitors walking by them, and seeing there distinct metallic shine. He also stated that since they hold no static charge, dirt will not stick to them so they are always clean and shiny and very very noticeable when the sun strikes them.



One of the old ore carts from the days of commercial diamond mining








The mine was played an important role during World War II.





No Diamonds where found during our visit, by us or anyone... but here are a sample of diamonds that have been found on site.



Uncut Yellow Diamonds



Uncut Brown Diamonds



Uncut White Diamonds

 

Reserved for SIG and JIC