The CHICKENS are coming!

The Chickens are coming!
I did it. Today I purchased six 7 week old Rhode Island Reds for our Urban Plot. Let the next phase of "grow your own" begin.

We now have until Tuesday to get the coop built and the run put up! You know, sometimes you just have to paint yourself into a corner to make the things happen that you want to have happen... otherwise it is easy to keep putting it off. It is the getting started that can be hard to get to! But when I give US a deadline... well, stuff starts happening!
I have been wanting to get chickens for a very long time. But just for your amusement... I am amused.. here is the "timeline" for painting myself (and David) into this corner we are now in!

• For many years: Reading about getting chickens, planning and dreaming and wondering where to put the coop in our yard. Looking at coop plans, will it be a tractor or a stationary coop? Etc...
• 4 months ago: Finally figured out where I want to put the coop and pen! In the shady bottom of the garden where nothing really grows well, but where chickens will be happy.
• 3 weeks ago: I took a "Getting Started with Chickens" class at Eagledove Greenhouse in our neighborhood. It rocked!
• 2 weeks ago: I ordered plans for the City Biddy Chicken Coop. 
• 1 weeks ago: I  purchased water and feeder units for my theoretical girls.
• Today I went in a paid for 6 chickens at Eagledove to pick up on Tuesday... The deadline is set!

Here is an image of the coop we are working towards... although ours will have a front porch for the girls...
Stay tuned for pictures of our progress and of our actual coop.

Why I garden/Why Everyone Should Garden

The garden is the perfect example of how we as humans can learn to occupy the planet in a more thoughtful way. The garden is what humans make to feed ourselves; it's like some reconciliation between what humans need to survive and what the planet needs to sustain that. Where we grow food, it's scary, industrial, there's chemicals and machinery - it's problematic. But when you eat out of your garden, you don't dump things in it that you don't want to eat. It's very direct: you understand the connection. And the more disconnected we become from the garden, the more reckless we become with the way we occupy the planet. ~Fritz Haeg

 I love this quote from an interview with Fritz Haeg, architect and project director for Edible Estates: Attack on the Front Lawn.

Local Food Rules!

Yes indeed local food is better for so many reasons and this morning I read about another at Natural News. Experts believe regional foodsheds would reverse obesity epidemic.

Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology collected data from a myriad of sources to help them analyze the obesity problem and its causes. They concluded that the large-scale food system of today has resulted in a glut of readily-available, highly-processed foods that are rich in refined flours, sugars, and fats, and devoid of necessary nutrients, vitamins, and minerals.

Well, I knew that! But what excited me the most is that the MIT researchers also concluded that Local Food is the answer.

Fresh produce, meats, and other whole foods often travel long distances from farm to market, often coming from other continents. When processing is involved, food travels even further as commodities are shipped in from around the globe, processed, shipped out to distribution centers, and distributed to local retailers. The total distance a single processed item's ingredients have traveled is mind-boggling.

The MIT team is advocating for integrated, regional foodsheds that they believe would make healthier fare more readily available. One idea includes encouraging the conversion of urban and suburban yards and lawns into small-scale farms. Lawn maintenance actually costs more than maintaining a small garden plot, making the idea highly plausible.

Local Food is the answer to so many of our food security issues and provides better nutrition, taste, and biodiversity as well as a smaller carbon footprint for you and the farmer/seller promising better air quality, less pollution, and minimal environmental impact.

My favorite local food, of course, is food grown in my own yard. How about you?

Getting Back to the Basics

I have been thinking lately about the importance of getting back to the basics for everyone. For me the "back to the basics" mentality has been a part of my life since childhood. It was just how I was raised. But when economic resources dip, this way of thinking bubbles up to the surface of the collective consciousness as a necessary mode of operation.  I invite you to consider the value of this way of thinking as an everyday way of life, no matter what your financial resources.

Recently Rebecca has become enamored with the idea of becoming a journalist. She is all about it! Pencil behind her ear, asking questions and taking notes, always looking for a scoop. And for Christmas do you know what she wanted the most? A real old-fashioned typewriter! Yep... we could not convince her that her computer could do more stuff and better, than an old typewriter. She had decided that in order to BE a journalist, she had to be able to smell the ink and feel the letters as they streamed from her mind onto the paper. Funny! But the more I thought about it, I realized that it was her need to get back to the basics.

Well, she got her typewriter and she is totally inspired to write now and absolutely loves the smell of ink on her fingertips after a good writing session. I have read about novelists who use old typewriters to create their work. It is funny to me that at the age of 8, Rebecca just knew on some level that it was important to be connected to the process.
Getting back to the basics can connect us with "stuff"  and  "process" in ways that we never knew possible. Think about it. Grow your own tomato and eating it becomes a spiritual experience that is unlike the experience of eating a tomato that grew in a field some 1500 miles from your plate, grown by a generic "taste doesn't matter" method! The experience extends beyond just the eating. It becomes about the sunlight and the earth in your yard. It is about the nutrition and the color and the vine ripening and your very own self-reliance. It is life itself and you grew it. You KNOW it. And that my friends is just the beginning of connecting to the process. When we connect to one life process, we awaken to other life processes that we never before thought about and the whole world begins to unfold in layers and layers of goodness. The depth of these layers is awesome. Welcome to the beauty of the basics.

Frequently,  we are drawn to a "back to the basics' way of thinking when our personal economics are stretched to the limit. Back to the basics can be thought of as FRUGALITY. The word, Frugal,  has so many negative connotations, but I invite you to think of it as being smart and resourceful. The dictionary defines FRUGAL as "sparing or  economical, as in the expenditure of money or the use of material resources." Frugality is really a return to the basics:

• Considering the true cost of "stuff" and "convenience".
• Do I really need this?
• What happens to it after I am done with it?
• Can I re-purpose it, recycle it? 
  
• How much waste is involved? Zero waste?

It is getting clear about what is really important to you and your family. It is about time, awareness,  and conserving resources. This way of thinking is not only good for your personal finances, but also good for the planet! Now think about how much you would have if you had been thinking this way all along! Yikes..

This way of living should not just be something to "fall back on" in hard times, but rather a lifelong philosophy of awareness and connection. For me the gist of "Getting Back to the Basics"  is to materially participate in as much of my life as possible.  Every year when I fill out my business taxes the IRS asks "Did you materially participate in this business?" For the IRS that means that an individual materially participates in business activities if he or she participates on a "regular, continuous and substantial basis." Think about it in terms of your life. Think about how you participate in a regular, continuous and substantial basis in your own life. For my LIFE that includes:

• growing as much of our food as possible 
• preparing meals from scratch
• buying local food
  
• practicing Jin Shin Jyutsu as self-help to heal and keep my body in balance 
• participating in do-it-yourself entertainment (Contra and Square dancing, playing music, hiking, gardening) 
• making and repairing clothes 
• shopping in thrift stores, yard sales, etc 
• using Freecycle to get "stuff"and to pass "stuff" on to others
  
• knowing where "stuff" is made
• considering the impact of a purchase
• borrowing books and movies from the library
  
• making responsible choices for the environment
• living light
  

 David recently read a great book by Studs Terkel called Hard Times. In this book Mr. Terkel interviews people who lived through the Great Depression and it is filled with valuable insights. I haven't gotten to read it yet myself, but have been enlightened through David's enlightenment.  The quote that most got David was from a woman who said "Security is knowing what I can do without." Now isn't that the truth! Amazing what you find you can do without...

Another favorite book of mine is Extreme Simplicity, by Christopher and Dolores Lynn Nyerges. In this book they offer some suggestions to improve your financial situation... they understand about getting back to the basics, frugality, and self-reliance!

MAGIC WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR FINANCIAL SITUATION
Once, during a period of homelessness before we were married, Christopher was engulfed in thoughts of "poor me" and "I'm destitute," and he could scarcely see a way out of the darkness. Dolores provided him with a simple set of practical tools that anyone can use if only they choose to do so. Here are four "magic" ways to improve your financial situation:
1. Never waste anything.
2. Continually improve your personal honesty.
3. Leave every situation or circumstance better than you found it.
4. Tithe to the church (or organization) of your choice.
We know that these are genuine practical solutions. We have heard people say that they cannot make these efforts - such as tithing, or improving the environment - because "we are poor." Our perspective is that they have their reasoning backwards. They are poor because they do not engage themselves in the world in these ways. Logical thinking leads to erroneous conclusions when the premise is false.

So how do you begin to connect to the basics, to find your own simplicity? Perhaps begin by making  a list of your daily or weekly activities. Then with awareness, figure out how you can start to materially participate in as many of those activities as possible. Take one step at a time and you'll be surprised. Get clear about what is really important to you. Access how you want to spend your time and your money. The gift you get when you participate materially in your life, is the gift of connection and awareness. It is the gift of security, a philosophy for life and your own personal path to freedom.  Enjoy the journey.

An Old-timey Christmas at our House

Christmas morning dawned and our excited 8 year old could barely contain herself.  What did Santa bring and where do we start? Stockings, always the place to begin while Mom and Dad drink their coffee! 3 years ago, I made us all matching stockings from an old knitting pattern. I kept some of the graphics but created new designs to suit each of us. The stockings each had an orange and Rebecca got a pomegranate, which she SO wanted. There were other little goodies in the stockings too. What a festive bunch of paper tearing and ohs and ahs.. Even before the stockings were done, Rebecca declared this "The Best Christmas Ever!"
This year most of the presents I gave were hand-crafted.  I made Rebecca a pair of knitted fingerless mittens, knitted and felted wool and mohair slipper boots and a kitchen apron made of muslin and printed fabric trim with a pocket. I made David a new pair of wool socks and fingerless mittens designed to keep his hands warm while playing the fiddle in cold weather at outdoor festivals. There is something really special about making a gift for someone. The energy that is knitted in with every stitch, the love that is incorporated in the  design and the good wishes that are wrapped in for eternity make the gift a lasting reminder of your feelings. I like that.
It was a morning spent opening presents and playing with our new treasures and enjoying each other's company.

Once the meal preparations were well underway, David made us a Christmas Day Bonfire in the yard. It served as a gathering place as our guests arrived for dinner, bits of snow remaining after our big storm last week..and Rebecca's snowman slowly disappearing....

Our Christmas meal was most amazing. It took all day to prepare.. well, the preparations began the day before,  got the turkey in brine and assembled the ingredients for our feast, planning and all that...
We had a beautiful, moist and tender turkey complete with all the trimmings: stuffing, candied sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, divine gravy, spinach salad, cranberry relish, cranberry sauce, wild rice with shitake mushrooms, pumpkin soup, homemade sourdough bread...YUM! Not as many of the ingredients were from the garden as I would have liked.. but we used onions, garlic, potatoes, sweet potatoes, sage, and apples from the garden.
For Christmas Dessert, I made the Sweet Potato Pie again and it was fabulous. I forgot to put the sugar in the filling.. so it was not as sweet as last time.. but really nice. The sweet potatoes have plenty of sweetness in them and the recipe does not call for very much sugar, so it all worked out. We also made some homemade whipped cream for the top. WOW.  As you can see from the photo, I decorated the pie with dried apple rings and raisins. It was a lovely and impressive presentation.
All in all it was a fabulous day, simple and joyful, filled with love and laughter and friends, and a minimal amount of commercialism.

Snowy Weekend in the Mountains

We've had a big snow event over the weekend. More snow than I have sen around here for a long time! We were lucky enough to keep power the entire time and we were happy to have a good excuse to be still for a few days. David got out and took some photos of the garden blanketed in snow. Then he stitched several photos together to make this panoramic view of the main garden from the front porch. Pretty cool.

It looks like the snow will be around for a while, which is unusual around here. Usually after a day or two it is all gone and just a chilly memory.
I am wondering how my covered rows of salad are doing.. but the row cover material is pretty delicate in the snow so I don't want to mess with them at all... time will tell.
Happy Solstice. 

Connecting to the Life Cycle

It has been three years now that I was having lunch with an activist friend who's current fight was the battle over the proposed path of I-26 through our town. I had told him all about my garden project but after listening to his activist stories, I said that I wished that I had time to be more active like he was. His response pushed me into new ways of thinking about my garden. He said, "You are growing food in the city. You are already doing a radical and activist thing."

Up until that day, I hadn't thought that was I was up to could be considered "activism". But that day opened my mind to the bigger picture of the world and where I fit into it. And so began my Urban Plot to set an example for my neighbors and community on just what can be done with a city lot.

When I bought my house I was overwhelmed by the size of the front lawn. This photo, a great before shot, shows the lawn as it was when we first moved here. The lot is the better part of a half acre and the house is set back on the back third of the lot. It is in a little neighborhood just 4 miles from the middle of downtown. This neighborhood was farmland until the 1920's when the land started to be broken into lots with little houses.

The front of the house faces West, so I have great South and West sunlight all day long. I started small four years ago with a 20' X 20' area... it has grown! The areas planted in edibles now exceed 4000 square feet.... more than 4 times the size of the house.

I work with "Low Work" methods so that I still have time for other things in my life. No tilling, lots of mulch, minimal watering. It works for me and we are eating well.

Here is a photo that show the bones of the garden in early Spring this year. I love photos of the verdant, abundant summer growth, but in the winter and spring it is easier to see the skeletal structure of the garden.

 

I talk with lots of people who think that they cannot possibly grow food. I have the advantage of having grown up with parents who always had a garden and canned and put up food. I grew up thinking that this was the norm. But you too can grow food. Do you have houseplants? Add a vegetable plant to your menagerie of house plants, maybe a tomato plant or pepper plant, and some herbs. Start somewhere and see where it will take you. Every little bit helps and will help you see the big picture. I think that anything that connects us to the life cycle and adds a degree of self-reliance, affords us a fuller life experience.

My own Urban Plot has become a journey of awakening. A growing awareness of the food security issues that our country and the world are facing including the invasion of pesticide and drug residue in so much of our food supply, not to mention the consequences of modifying the genetics of seed and animals. The beginning impetus of my garden project was simply to find a way to feed my daughter healthy food that I could not afford at the grocery store and to teach her about where food comes from. It has become SO much more. 

Using My Bounty of Homegrown Pumpkins

For our Thanksgiving Feast, I made a most wonderful Pumpkin Pie using my homegrown pumpkins. It was a big hit at both of our dinners! These pumpkins were volunteers this year. After removing the seeds and other "waste" from the pumpkins, I spread it on the garden bed destined for next year's Volunteer pumpkin patch. The seeds are covered with a layer of soil and mulched with straw. When the weather is right in the Spring, the process will begin again. I love the circular pattern of nature. When we allow it to, Nature provides all we need...
Here are the recipes for both the Coconut Almond Crust and the Coconut Pumpkin Pie Filling. Enjoy!

Coconut Almond Pie Crust

Makes 1 pie crust

3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut
3/4 cup almond meal

~Dry mix coconut and almond meal together.

3 tablespoons butter

~Cut in the butter with a pastry blender.
~Press mixture into an 8 or 9-inch pie plate.
~Bake at 325*F (160*C) for 15 minutes or until golden.
~Allow to cool before adding filling.

Coconut Pumpkin Pie Filling

~Preheat oven to 425°F.


~Makes 1 pie. 

1 1/2-2 cups pumpkin puree
1 can  Coconut Milk

2 eggs beaten
1/4 cup sugar


1/2 tsp. salt


1 tsp. cinnamon


1/2 tsp. ground ginger


1/4 tsp. ground cloves

~In a large bowl, mix pumpkin puree, Coconut Milk 
and eggs.
~Add salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves and mix well.

~Pour mixture into unbaked regular pie shell or use Coconut Almond Pie Crust. YUM!
~Bake pie at 425°F for 15 minutes then reduce heat to 350°F and continue to bake for 30-40 minutes. Serve at room temperature.

Revisiting the Pearson Community Garden

This summer I checkout the the Pearson Community Garden. I had heard about it for years, but did not even know where it was.. knew it was on Pearson Drive.. but never found it... well I took a workshop there in August and was pleased and delighted to see what they were up to there!
Meander down Pearson Drive farther than you thought that it could possibly go until you are near the end of it.. and there on your left is the garden. It is like a well kept secret and the end of the road!

Rows and rows of all sorts of goodies. Tomatoes, pumpkins, herbs, greens and more. Interesting trellises and supports for plants, a hoop house, a lean-to greenhouse on the tool shed, and cob structures: a composting toilet and a bread oven.

The Pearson Community Garden is one of the gardens in the Bountiful Cities Project. Bountiful Cities Project is an amazing organization. Here is an excerpt from their website:

Our Mission

To create, on urban land, beautiful community spaces that produce food in abundance and foster a learning environment for social justice and sustainability.

Our Vision

The vision of Bountiful Cities Project is to enliven and empower self-reliance, cooperation, and a stronger sense of community through providing an opportunity
to grow, harvest and eat fresh, local produce. We envision community spaces that serve as models for sustainability through organic food production, water conservation, ecological building, community celebration, and cooperative economics.

This vision is becoming a reality at our two flagship gardens: a permaculture-based vegetable garden on Pearson Drive in Montford and the Dr. George Washington Carver Edible Park at Stevens Lee Community Center which is home to over 30 varieties of fruit trees and an under story of berries and medicinal herbs.

408 Pearson Drive, Asheville, NC

The Pearson Drive Garden is the Bountiful Cities Project's model garden. It is over an acre of land that produces edibles for the community. We grow a diverse selection of vegetables, including a wide range of greens and peas in the spring, tomatoes, squash, potatoes, and pumpkins in the summer. There is some vegetable production throughout the year, as we grow cold tolerant vegetables under row covers.In addition to the traditional garden vegetables, we grow wild greens, culinary and medicinal herbs, and some perennial vegetables, like the Jerusalem artichoke. Fruits grown at the Pearson Drive Garden include strawberries, raspberries, and apples.

When the Garden was first conceived, the garden beds were arranged in pie-shaped wedges around a central area devoted to medicinal herbs. In 2005, this circular layout was converted to a square layout with linear beds. The linear beds allow for a higher level of food production, and also make it easier for volunteer gardeners to move through the garden.

Community Gardens and organizations like the Bountiful Cities Project  are great ways for would-be gardeners to get started and learn from others in a safe and supportive manner. These gardens also offer gardeners a chance to see ideas at work. I am always inspired to see what other people are doing.
Winter is a great time to be thinking about what you want to do in your home garden, how you might re-organize beds to make them more efficient, what to plant, what seeds to get started, etc. Check out a community garden where you live and support organizations like Bountiful Cities Project, they are there to provide both a model for you and inspiration.

Dreaming of Fresh Tomatoes Already!

The seed catalogs are beginning to show up in the mailbox. When David brings them in, he calls them  my "garden porn".  Funny man! For me, I am reminded of the arrival of the "Christmas Wish Book" when I was a kid.. think about it.. the photos are bright and colorful and sunny and oh so tempting.. I spend time dreaming and planning and dog-earing the pages. I make lists, lots of lists. I do love the planning and dream-time of the winter months.

I canned and dried lots of tomatoes this summer so this winter we are enjoying our pasta with yummy homegrown, home-made tomato sauce and soups made with a handful of dried cherry tomatoes dropped in and bursting with concentrated goodness, yet I find myself dreaming of those fresh tomatoes straight off the vine, warm from the sun, popping them into my mouth.. like a burst of sunshine! WOW.. dreaming of good things to look forward to in the summer.

WE eat in season NOW, so no grocery store tomatoes for our family. During our first winter together, David and I would disagree about buying tomatoes from the store.. he'd WANT them.. and I would argue that they were simply "tomato shaped objects" with no real food value or taste... by the following winter he "got it" and now.. we just spend the winter dreaming of the real thing and making plans! When you eat in-season, you develop a different kind of relationship with your food, a healthy relationship! Eating in-season also supports your local food growers because eating in-season and eating local go hand-in-hand with each other!

This summer I planted lots of varieties of tomatoes... what to plant for next year?? I adore the many shapes and sizes and colors of the heirloom varieties.

My favorite tomato is an old Italian Heirloom. The seed for this variety came to me 17 years ago from an Italian friend in WV. Jimmy got the seed from Joe Bova who was 90 back then.  The story is that Joe came to WV as a young man from Italy. When he left Italy for his new life in America, he brought the seed for this tomato with him. I have no idea what the variety is called... but I call it the Bova. It is a large paste-like tomato that makes great sauce but also make a great salad and eating tomato... SO much flavor! If I could only grow one tomato variety.. it would be this one!

Then there is the Purple Cherokee, and the orange cherry tomato and the weird green tomato that stays green, the Old German that is both yellow and red at the same time... dreaming... and planning... Yum!

Planning for a healthy garden

The ancient Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, is credited with saying "Nothing endures but change."  Nowhere is this concept more evident than in the garden where change is constant. Growth implies change and movement. My garden is in a constant state of flux. This season the peas are in the southeastern quadrant of the garden and next time they will grace the northwestern quadrant... always changing where your crops are planted ensures better growth and less pest and disease issues.

This winter take some time while you peruse the seed catalogs and make your lists... take time to plan where you will locate your plantings this year.. graph paper and a map of last year's plan will help to get organized. Consider ideal companions for your beds and what was there last year.. for instance, nightshade plants do not like to be where nightshades were last year.. think it through and make a plan!

And consider the following garden quote....

A garden should be in a constant state of fluid change, expansion, experiment, adventure;
above all it should be an inquisitive, loving, but self-critical journey on the part of its owner.
-   H. E. Bates

You Can Use The Land You Have!

The destiny of countries depends on the way they feed themselves.
~Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, 18th century French gastronome-philosopher

Last year, USDA Chief Economist Joseph Glauber forecast that "overall retail food prices for 2008 to 2010 are expected to rise faster than the general inflation rate."

We continue to see both food and gas prices rise and the quality and safety of the food we are offered by the "Food Industry"  decline. 

It is these very trends that intensify for me the importance of my garden project. If we all produced some of our own foods in our own yards for our own families, the impact from rising gas prices and food prices would not affect us in the same ways that they do when we are totally dependent on someone else to grow all of the food for our families! Growing our own along with choosing to buy locally produced meat, vegetables, and staples will minimize the impact we will each feel and support our local economies and be better for our environment and our health!

"Everyone loves a home-cooked meal, but who has the time?"

To be honest.. I think we all have the time.. but the media and the makers of processed foods want us to believe that we don't have the time and that there are more important things for us to do with our time than to cook nutritious foods for our families made from scratch with real ingredients..

With Thanksgiving coming up, we have been watching the Food Channel thinking that we may get some new ideas for our feast. What has surprised us is how much of the dishes prepared on these food shows are made up of processed foods mixed together.... like everyone's classic favorite that has been around for quite a while.. the Green bean casserole... (can of cream of mushroom soup, can of green beans, can of fried onions... mix together.. bake). But so many of these dishes are made with store bought, processed foods filled with preservatives, HFCS, artificial flavor, pesticide residue, etc.

One night we were watching a Thanksgiving Cooking Special on TV... it was already underway when we tuned in.. IT seemed to be even more a show about using processed food to make a gourmet Thanksgiving meal for your family... The message really was.. Open these cans and add some other processed stuff to them and turn them into something new and exciting..... At the end of the show the woman said something like.. "now you can cook a fabulous semi-homemade Thanksgiving Feast."

Semi-Homemade... have you ever heard such a thing?? It made my mouth drop open and stay that way for a long while! When did homemade become something that could be done in a "semi" sort of way? 


Before I started writing today, I googled "semi-homemade" and was amazed to find that Google returned 719,000 instances of "semi-homemade" on the internet... guess I am adding to the numbers by posting this.... 

Semi-homemade is a movement for sure... designed to make us think that we don't have the time.. and to get us to buy products, and ready made food. I could go off on a big rant here against this movement but I really want to focus on the answer, another way. 

Just how much time does it take to make real food for your family?? 

Our friend Sara celebrated her 23rd Birthday this weekend and yesterday morning we had her over for a Birthday Brunch. I spent about an hour cooking this special meal and I want to take you through the process to illustrate just what can be done in an hour in the kitchen. 

~I started off with Ginger Pecan Scones. Gluten-free so that David could enjoy them too... I started with the scones because scones are best warm, not hot out of the oven.. so I wanted them to have time to cook and cool just a bit before the meal. Measured and mixed dry ingredients, cut in butter, added chopped crystalized ginger and pecans.. added egg and milk, mix together, shape and cut.. bake for 15 minutes... 
~While the scones were in the oven, I went out the the garden and picked some fresh arugula and celery for the fritatta, and some calendula flowers for the table. I also began cutting the veggies...sweet potatoes, fingerling potatoes, onions and garlic from this summer's garden along with the celery and arugula fresh picked. I cut up some mushrooms and grated the cheese from the store. 

~ Scones out of the oven, I got the potatoes, onions, garlic and mushrooms going in the skillet. Added the celery after a while and put a lid on the skillet to soften the potatoes. 

~Meanwhile I cracked the eggs, added some milk and beat them together with the chopped arugula to add to the skillet. Poured in the egg mixture and stirred it around, sprinkled the grated cheese on top and popped the skillet into the already heated oven from the scones, 350 degrees.

~ While the fritatta was cooking in the oven, I got some bacon going on the stove-top. By the time the bacon was done, the fritatta was ready to come out and be served.

~ Between steps, I did the dishes  and cleaned up the kitchen so that at the end of the meal, there was very little clean-up left.

This meal was more of a production than usual as it was a Special Celebratory Meal. But in the end it was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone. Filling and satisfying and healthy. I take great pride in serving food that has history, a story. These stories shared around the table help to remind us where food comes from and how much our health depends on this wholesome food made with love. 
Because I take the time to care where our food comes from and to share that story, it is especially important to me to share these meals sitting around the dining table. Too much of our food is eaten in a hurry, at our desks, or in the car.. running.. when food is simply eaten to relieve hunger, we are left wanting. Food is life and our food should have a story and a life that does not include a factory or assembly line. FAST food is the fast path to dis-ease and dis-comfort in our physical bodies as well as a detriment to our spirit.

I know I am preaching to the choir here.. but REALLY... In my experience, cooking from scratch does not take that much more time.. maybe more thinking ahead... not that much more time!

Been Bitten by the Cob Building Bug!

I had the opportunity to take an Earthen Plaster Workshop yesterday at the Pearson Community Garden in Montford taught by Doug Sharkey. The object of the workshop was a repair job on the Cob Oven at the site. The surface was cracking and some pieces were falling off. We mixed a batch of sand and clay to fill in the cracks and repair the lost chunks. Then mixed another formula of earthen plaster to resurface the whole thing.. clay, sand, straw and wheat paste. While we worked, we talked about the process of building and using a cob oven as well as cob construction in general.

The Pearson Community Garden has several examples of Cob Building. The Oven is surrounded by a structure made of cob. It is a beautiful curving shelter with a tin roof. Here are some photos...The "window" included a glass bottle worked into the opening. The possibilities are endless for incorporating interesting objects! I am so intrigued by the curves that are not only possible, but easy in this building form.

The other cob structure at the Pearson Community Gardens is the home for the composting toilet. A most beautiful building incorporating all sorts of cool elements. It also has a living roof and the curving walls that just really capture my imagination! It was a fabulous first taste for me and I am totally bitten by the cob bug! I look forward to learing more and building my own oven... Fresh bread anyone?

Still here... just SO busy!

IT has been way too long since I posted! But as you know summer is the busy time. We were away for nearly 2 weeks and playing catch-up with the jungle that my garden has become. Rainy days while I was gone made it easy on the garden sitter.. and encouraged lots of growth. Everything is doing well but I have been battling Harlequin Bugs... yuck.. they do some serious damage! It has been hard to throw the affected plants in the trash.. I just want to compost everything.. but I don't want to invite those dastardly bugs back for a free feast next year... the affected plants are covered with eggs! SO to the dump they go. I know they will compost there and be far away from my garden!
Tomato plants are gargantuan this year.. 6 feet plus. Giant tomatoes... but mostly still green... I have been liking the cool temperatures this year... but a little heat would do all of my heat-loving crops some good!
I am dreaming of getting some chickens for eggs and compost! WE are looking at plans for a manageable chicken tractor and learning about different breeds and other chicken stuff before we take the leap!
So much happening here that it will take weeks to catch you up.. but I wanted to at least make a stab at getting back to regular posts.. Wish me luck!

Garden Thoughts While on the Road

I traveled last weekend to Portland OR to call for a dance festival there, The Portland Raindance Weekend. It was fun, a really fabulous time, but kept me from the garden at a time of year that I hate to miss a minute. When I am away, I carry my garden journal along, a sort of portable garden, and I write of growing things. It helps pass the time... and chronicle thoughts and ideas that crop up as I wait for airplanes!
Yesterday, I left Portland on time homeward bound, but got waylaid at my next stop.. Dallas/Ft Worth. Here is something I wrote while waiting 9 hours to get on a plane to complete my trip...

Stuck in Texas and longing to be in my little piece of North Carolina, longing to see my garden, to touch the earth of home, to drink in the changes that are surely waiting for me. To revel in the magic of growth and the accomplishment of my plot while my back is turned..
I know... it has only been since Friday that I was there among the spirits of my ground and today is just Monday.. only a few days, but away I have been, though never far, for in my mind I am ever diggin' in the dirt. Away but ever connected.
I have imagined my homecoming, rushing into the kitchen-first stop, hugging my family, my loves, then a trip out to the front garden to see what those plants have been up to while I have been gone.. I'll be in by 6:30 tonight, still plenty of light, the perfect prelude to dinner, a walk in the waiting garden.....

LATER....
But the weather had other plans for me, hours now sitting, walking, waiting in the airport, plastic, impersonal, I am alone in a sea of humanity stopped by the weather and eating food that smells more like a chemical copy of food than the real thing. I am so grateful for the care package of food that my hosts sent me off with this morning as I am not forced to eat airport food to survive.
Now I will not get in until well past midnight.... We have just celebrated the new moon, there will not be much light.. so I imagine myself, flashlight in hand creeping out to the dew-damp, midnight garden to check in with nature, to touch the ground after this long, long day of waiting... will I dare, right now, waiting until morning seems an impossible task.......

Earth Day

Thinking about Earth Day and knowing that EVERY DAY is Earth Day... according to my very wise nearly 8 year old!, I thought that it would be good to make a list of what we do everyday to Celebrate and care for our earth... it's the only one we really have!

So here is my list in no particular order of importance:
~Growing a large percentage of our own food.
~Planting primarily heirloom and open pollinated seeds.
~Choosing Local Food first.
~Choosing organically grown products.
~Eating meat that is humanely raised, grass-fed, free-range, etc.
~Avoiding Bovine Growth Hormone, Antibiotics and Genetically Modified Foods.
~Choosing not to eat foods that contain high fructose corn syrup.
~Shopping at the Farmers Market.
~Focusing on Local products and services whenever possible.
~Using the Better World Shopper Guide to choose products and stores.
~Turning our yard into a sanctuary for birds and bees and other wildlife who appreciate our organic ways.
~Composting our kitchen, office and yard waste.
~Teaching our daughter fabulous ways to take care of the planet.
~Sending our daughter to an amazing public charter school, that focuses on Environmental Education and Green Living.
~Harvesting rainwater for use in the garden.
~Using mulch to minimize water usage.
~Reclaiming found objects and giving them new functions.
~Reducing the amount of things that we NEED to buy.
~Making as many meals as possible at home and from scratch.
~Repairing things that break instead of replacing.
~Finding new uses for throwaways.
~Recycling things that we can not compost, reuse, repair or reassign.
~Freecycling. Both to get stuff and get rid of stuff.
~Use compact fluorescent light bulbs.
~Filter our own tap water and do not buy bottled water.
~Minimize the use of credit cards.
~Sharing rides and minimizing car trips.
~Always looking for ways to lessen our Carbon Footprint.

I am sure there are more things.. but for now.. this is what comes to mind.

All of this is not only good for the planet but really good for the pocketbook and serves to bring our family and our neighbors and community closer together. Working for the greater good!

Make everyday EARTH DAY!

Busy times in the garden

What a bountifully busy time of the year. There don't seem to be enough hours in the day to get it all done. I feel like I am choreographing a complicated ballet....getting seeds started ahead of planting time, prepping the garden beds, direct sowing, weeding, rearranging plants from previous plantings, re-designing certain areas of the established garden, creating new beds and doing away with more lawn! There is SO much happening... and even with my best of intentions to keep up with blogging about all of this, it seems to be the blogging that falls by the wayside. Can't eat the blog... spend time on the food.

This is the first garden year.. (year number 4) that I have been working without a bunch of help from friends and co-conspirators.. As much as I liked having the help and company, I am certainly enjoying the solitude that I find out there by myself. My daughter, Rebecca, now nearly 8, helps out when she gets a mind to and my fiancée, David, helps when I need him... but mostly it is me out there keeping up with the ballet which is Spring planting time. I am a busy farmer!

This year I have added a new batch of Asparagus, so I now have 3 plantings of Asparagus. We have been getting a few spears here and there.. generally not enough to have a big asparagus feed.. but rather tastes of asparagus in other things.. YUM! Last night, however, we had asparagus sautéed with garlic and mushrooms as a side dish.. the closest we've come to getting to really eat asparagus.. wow... what a treat! I am looking forward to MORE!

I have also added Jerusalem Artichokes this year.. this is a first for my garden but my parents grew them when I was growing up and I remember really enjoying them. They have a new bed outside the garden fence.

I rearranged the herb bed on Saturday. It was time to give the sage plants more space and to break up the chives. Everything got a little cultivation and mulch. Then Sunday was a day of light rain. What perfect timing. Everything looks fabulous!

There is lots of salad greens for fresh salads and kale that wintered over and is now producing well. Spinach that made it through the winter and snow peas are up and coming soon. Arugula is doing well.. but now that it is warming up.. it is bolting.. but I keep cutting it back to prolong the going to seed process.

Life is good, Full and bountiful and BUSY!

Garden to Remind Ourselves of Hope

My Family gave me a bounty of new garden books for Christmas. I am a lucky woman!
Right now I am reading one called GRASSROOTS GARDENING: Rituals for Sustaining Activism by Donna Schaper. I am still in the Preface but here is a great quote.

As a gardener, I have a front-row seat on global warming and the many other idiocies of capitalism untamed. Humanity is headed for a brick wall of inequality and injustice that breeds war and destroys the air. I believe we can change; that is what makes me an activist. I garden to remind myself of my hope.

WooHoo...Catalogs are coming! Make way for the lists!

Oh what fun to open the mailbox these days... everyday brings at least one new seed catalog if not more... I get so excited... planning, making lists, and more lists, wanting everything heirloom and colorful and exotic and, and, and....
Yesterday I got this full color absolutely fabulous heirloom catalog.... I fell into it with such a feverish enthusiasm... David laughed... said that a good seed catalog must be like "porn for a gardener". That man has a way with words... Me, I usually liken it to going through the Sears Big Wish Book at the start of the Christmas Season when I was a kid... circling wishes and filling the book with dog-eared pages!
I go through each seed catalog with a pen and circle the likely candidates... then make a list with page numbers and prices..
This makes it easier to compare from one catalog to the next...
Of course, the very first step is to go through any seed that is left over from this year or has been saved from the crop this year...... more lists.... A list of what I must order from where, based on what worked well this year or in years past... After all there is my never fail variety of eggplant... and the Sweet Italian Peppers I love so much.. right... more lists of the things I just can't live without...
And now lists of the produce that is much loved by my "Fresh Start" families who I also grow food for now.
The list of lists goes on and on... as the seed catalogs and lists become a mountainous pile by my chair ready to cascade to the floor... a slippery slope of lists, possibilities, the ultimate in local food, color, nutrition and lists and more lists.......
Soon time to make a list of seeds to start....