These are both 150px by 103px, perfect for your blog!
Photos were taken from the Burlap sacks in the potato post ;)
Enjoy!!
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010
A little potato here, a little potato there.
In my search to discover new things and ways to grow food I ran across this method! I thought “PERFECT!” I have issues with growing potatoes. I realize they are supposed to be easy, forgiving and most of all, bountiful but I have hang-ups. For one I worry about the kids eating them. I shouldn’t worry really because they know exactly what they can and can’t eat! They don’t go gobbling magnolias and whatnot – chives and nasturtium on the other hand never last long at my house. They know more today than I did a year ago.
My daughter can walk through a nursery and point out random leaves and tell you what it is. She pointed out asparagus root the other day! I’m awed by her.
SO – I’m growing potatoes. I ran across this method and am very excited to share!!
SUPPLIES
Firstly I called the local coffee roaster in town whom I know carries many many different organic beans, they surely would have sacks that did not have formaldehyde dripping from them as burlap often does. One good sniff says they are perfect. Cost: $0
{ Side note: I bring up the formaldehyde because when I first discovered this project I ran to a local nursery to pick up some burlap sacks. On the ride home I was overwhelmingly wrought with a headache the size of Mt. Vesuvius and couldn’t roll the windows down enough. The smell lingered in my car until the next day when I put them back in the car to return them to the nursery. The first thing my daughter said as she got in the car was, “What’s so stinky!!” Talk about bad news. I couldn’t possibly grow food I was going to ingest and pass on to my children in something so poisonous! And yet it made me wonder – what of all the other foods/purchases that I make that I’ve no idea the history?
The gal at the nursery was bewildered when I returned them and couldn’t figure out why they smelled so bad. She held up one bag, “Beans, it say’s beans! Could beans been in a bag soaked in formaldehyde?” Even burlap you buy at Joanne’s has formaldehyde on it. I explained that it held the fibers together for mulching and protecting root balls. She then told me she’d take them to the CLEANERS, she didn’t want them in her washer. I mentioned trying baking soda and vinegar (maybe for flowers??) but she didn’t hear me…
Jennifer was the miracle that mentioned the coffee bean bags – Thank you Jennifer!!
I mention this not at all to criticize the nursery gal, it’s a great place with wonderful choices, locally owned and the ladies are all super friendly. I mention this only to point out that just because something somewhere looks like a great idea, it’s not always picture perfect. You have to keep thinking, keep investigating, keep wondering and if the answer isn’t all that great you have to be open to going on to round two. People that you think should be informed aren’t always – I had the manager?owner? of the local feed store direct me first and foremost to purchase medicated chick feed for my chick that seemed weak. Sorry. I’d rather let it die. (Which it didn’t – it turned out just fine.) End side note}
BACK ON TRACK
I picked up a lunch sack sized bag of growing potatoes and cut these into 2 or 3 pieces each. Cost: $2.50
Finally I accidentally bought a bag of organic amendment instead of more soil so I added it to the soil I had. Cost: $9.00 (if I’d bought organic growing soil instead, it would have been $8.00)
INSTRUCTIONS
Roll down the bag sides. Put in some dirt. Put in 4-6 potato pieces. Bury them. Water. Add dirt as plant grows to give enough room. Harvest. Eat.
At least that’s my plan :)
I’m really encouraging of others that don’t have a ton of room, maybe even just an apartment balcony to grow what you can and this should work perfectly! All for the startup cost of $11.50. I’ll need to buy a couple more bags of soil if we don’t have bulk on hand at the time but still… not too shabby!! Much love, happy growing and do let me know if you try this!
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Superbug or Just Really Annoying Virus?
By our very own guest blogger Sarah!
Natural Cleaning Products are a must in my life. A few months ago, my husband, baby and I were diagnosed with MRSA, an antibiotic resistant strain of staph that can be fatal. “Where the heck did you get that”, you ask? Well, I don’t know exactly where we picked it up, but it’s a common virus that is found on shopping carts, public bathrooms and gyms. We were instructed by our Doctor to clean our home and our bodies, top to bottom with bleach. Yes, bleach was supposed to be added to our 9 month old’s bathwater. After a few days of chemical induced highs, I sought the help of an herbalist who helped us fight MRSA in our home the green way.
Fighting the Good Fight
Like all superbugs, MRSA is a bear to eradicate in the body and at home. Thank goodness for local natural food stores and their knowledgeable staff who turned us on to lemongrass and tea tree oil. MRSA infected or not, it couldn’t be more simple and economical to make your own earth-friendly and cruelty-free cleaning products that disinfect too. Here is how I went from Chemical Ali to Essential Oils Sarah in one day.
Make Your Own Cleaning Wipes
1. Heavy Duty Paper Towels
2. Tea Tree or Lemongrass Oil
3. Airtight Container
Cut a few paper towels at a time, in half with scissors and place cut side down in airtight container. Pour water starting with 1/2C and keep adding until saturated. Add 8-10 drops of essential oil over paper towels. If towels begin to dry out over time add more water, and oils if desired.
Make Your Own Germ Fighting Organic Bath Soak
Treat minor cuts and scrapes, or a nasty virus with this home remedy. Fill Bathtub with warm water and add 2 green tea bags, which helps fight inflammation, 2 drops of germ fighting tea tree oil, and 4 drops of relaxing lavender oil. Wonderful smelling essential oil turns any bath into a relaxing and healthy spa treatment in your own home.
So, What did I Learn?
A glass of cheap wine and a cabinet of essential oils later, I’ve learned more from this experience than I am probably willing to admit. I believe in conventional medicine and taking advantage of the wealth of information available to inform you about ways to use more earth friendly, animal friendly and people friendly products. Most important, is that my family and I are doing well and our house smells like a lemon grove. In a world of instant gratification, truly important changes take time. Fighting viruses and going green may be a slow process, but the payoff is priceless.
~Sarah
THANK YOU Guest Blogger Sarah! Fantastic post!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
We Keep Chickens
Are the chicks OK???
My husband is tired of me asking. Our first experience as chicken farmers has brought with it an education and much anxiety (on my part.)
Why Chickens?
Craig was eager to build a coop last year, I was pregnant at the time and thought it too much to take on (in hindsight it WAS a good choice to put it off.) He boasted, "...fresh eggs, cheep eggs, free eggs!" While I grumbled, "...something else to worry about, more poop to clean up, more work for me..."
Craig also thought it would be a good experience for the kids-- caring for others...responsibility...circle of life...
I personally like the idea of fewer people touching my food, so eggs from home grown chickens to my hands is very appealing. Also, no transport costs or weird chemicals to contend with when harvesting eggs from my backyard.
Well, this Winter I became excited about the prospect of keeping chickens. New challenges are always easier when smart friends are along side. Gretchen and I collaborated--breeds...brooder...coop construction? Sooo many questions (neither of us had any chicken raisin' experience) we found some answers which fueled our determination to become chicken farmers. I expect we will learn much more, just watching these creatures...well...do what they do. The social aspect intrigues me, how and what will they learn from each other?, how will they interact with the kids?
As for the "circle of life" thing, we don't plan to eat the chickens (apparently it is not cost effective unless you have a large operation.) But if one is old or sick, what to do?
The conversation went something like this...
Me: I can't even think about doing it.
Craig: I'll do it... no, I don't want to do it. Who else would do it?
Me: Igor (Gretchen's DH) might do it.
Gretchen: Yes, Igor will do it.
Problem solved for now anyway.
Growing Up!
Our girls are almost 4 weeks old now, and resemble gawky 9 year olds rather than fuzzy chicks. The first week was the most stressful, fragile tiny chickies huddling to stay warm, stressed from their journey from McMurray Hatchery. I checked them frequently and shushed everyone like a mom with a newborn (familiar territory.) They made it through their first few weeks in the basement with blaring red heat lamp (DH reminded me of Seinfeld's Kenny Rodger's chicken episode, after I mentioned the light was making me crazy.)
Sprouting their big girl feathers, our 5 Red Stars and 2 Black Stars are beginning to appear less fragile and more like the layers I've been dreaming of. Their attempts at flying are more comical than productive, but their wings are magnificent already. Perfectly formed instruments of flight, already they stretch them, groom them and do a bit of parading as they drape them over the bunches of pine dust. Gigantic feet perching on the well used roost, they balance quit nicely.
I studied lists of breeds and selected a few that would suit our needs and conditions.
Wyandottes (Emily's favorite)
Rhode Island Red
Barred Rock (My fav)
Red Stars
Orphingtons
All are good layers, and hearty for our snowy Winters. These are also Dual purpose birds, but we will not be eating them--only eggs please. The McMurray Hatchery's minimum order is 25 chicks. Luckily, a friend shared her order with me. Next time I will plan ahead with some others and get a few of our favorites. The Red Stars from trusted farmer friend Gayle are quite a bit bigger than the two Black stars donated by Craig's dad (bought at a local farm store.) The Blacks are only 3 days younger, I wonder if the Blacks tend to be smaller or if the differing hatcheries are at play. I know mixing chicks is sticky business with the possibility of disease wiping out the flock, but we took our chances in order to achieve a good number.
*7*
hopefully will produce enough eggs for our family, at ~4 a week per bird, we should be scrambling to our stomach's content. They should start laying at 20 weeks old if not before, sunshine and warmth can speed the process. Come on Summer!!! Can't wait til our tomatoes are red,the kids are picking carrots, and the chickens are squawking and laying!
Jennifer
My husband is tired of me asking. Our first experience as chicken farmers has brought with it an education and much anxiety (on my part.)
Why Chickens?
Craig was eager to build a coop last year, I was pregnant at the time and thought it too much to take on (in hindsight it WAS a good choice to put it off.) He boasted, "...fresh eggs, cheep eggs, free eggs!" While I grumbled, "...something else to worry about, more poop to clean up, more work for me..."
Craig also thought it would be a good experience for the kids-- caring for others...responsibility...circle of life...
I personally like the idea of fewer people touching my food, so eggs from home grown chickens to my hands is very appealing. Also, no transport costs or weird chemicals to contend with when harvesting eggs from my backyard.
Well, this Winter I became excited about the prospect of keeping chickens. New challenges are always easier when smart friends are along side. Gretchen and I collaborated--breeds...brooder...coop construction? Sooo many questions (neither of us had any chicken raisin' experience) we found some answers which fueled our determination to become chicken farmers. I expect we will learn much more, just watching these creatures...well...do what they do. The social aspect intrigues me, how and what will they learn from each other?, how will they interact with the kids?
As for the "circle of life" thing, we don't plan to eat the chickens (apparently it is not cost effective unless you have a large operation.) But if one is old or sick, what to do?
The conversation went something like this...
Me: I can't even think about doing it.
Craig: I'll do it... no, I don't want to do it. Who else would do it?
Me: Igor (Gretchen's DH) might do it.
Gretchen: Yes, Igor will do it.
Problem solved for now anyway.
Growing Up!
Our girls are almost 4 weeks old now, and resemble gawky 9 year olds rather than fuzzy chicks. The first week was the most stressful, fragile tiny chickies huddling to stay warm, stressed from their journey from McMurray Hatchery. I checked them frequently and shushed everyone like a mom with a newborn (familiar territory.) They made it through their first few weeks in the basement with blaring red heat lamp (DH reminded me of Seinfeld's Kenny Rodger's chicken episode, after I mentioned the light was making me crazy.)
Sprouting their big girl feathers, our 5 Red Stars and 2 Black Stars are beginning to appear less fragile and more like the layers I've been dreaming of. Their attempts at flying are more comical than productive, but their wings are magnificent already. Perfectly formed instruments of flight, already they stretch them, groom them and do a bit of parading as they drape them over the bunches of pine dust. Gigantic feet perching on the well used roost, they balance quit nicely.
I studied lists of breeds and selected a few that would suit our needs and conditions.
Wyandottes (Emily's favorite)
Rhode Island Red
Barred Rock (My fav)
Red Stars
Orphingtons
All are good layers, and hearty for our snowy Winters. These are also Dual purpose birds, but we will not be eating them--only eggs please. The McMurray Hatchery's minimum order is 25 chicks. Luckily, a friend shared her order with me. Next time I will plan ahead with some others and get a few of our favorites. The Red Stars from trusted farmer friend Gayle are quite a bit bigger than the two Black stars donated by Craig's dad (bought at a local farm store.) The Blacks are only 3 days younger, I wonder if the Blacks tend to be smaller or if the differing hatcheries are at play. I know mixing chicks is sticky business with the possibility of disease wiping out the flock, but we took our chances in order to achieve a good number.
*7*
hopefully will produce enough eggs for our family, at ~4 a week per bird, we should be scrambling to our stomach's content. They should start laying at 20 weeks old if not before, sunshine and warmth can speed the process. Come on Summer!!! Can't wait til our tomatoes are red,the kids are picking carrots, and the chickens are squawking and laying!
Jennifer
Monday, April 26, 2010
Dinner Di$as$ter
My husband is a total meat & potatoes kinda guy. I’m a chips and dip kinda gal. And we raise our kids eating tons of fresh veggies and fruit. When we made our switch to organic eating, farming & living we realized how costly all of this was – pretty overwhelming. And although I’m sure we were meant to win the lottery, so far we haven’t and eating healthy isn’t always the least expensive (in the short term).
Some Major Changes
Some Major Changes
- We slowly learned how to shop differently. And sometimes accepted the costs of things by NOT even looking at the other products anymore. (I can’t tell you the last time I was down the regular cereal isle.)
- We started eating a lot less meat. We have limited our meat intake to 2-3 nights a week not including gifts such as Elk sausage (thanks Jason) or lunch meat.
- We returned to menu planning. We fell out of this practice a while ago … can’t remember why. This means that shopping is tightened up: we don’t spend $ on things that we “might” need in general but are clearer on what we do need.
So all of this said, when we have a big roast or something, it’s kind of a big deal!
Yesterday I crock-potted a big Pork Butt (Insert foreshadowing). I’d never cooked a Pork Butt and really didn’t know what to do with it anyway. But this was one of the two things my Love picked out for this weeks menu. So I threw it in with a bunch of great ingredients – all of it organic – all of it pricey. It simmered there for a few hours till the sliced yams, carrots, celery etc etc were cooked perfectly. I called my family in from yard- work to share in this perfectly cooked hunk of butt only to find out it literally smelled like dung. It was awful! I had my Love check our son’s diaper! But alas it was dinner.
Can you imagine!?!
Problem Solved
Little Caesar's.
Seriously!? After all of the work, the planning, the preparation and consciousness, it boils down to crappy pizza!?
Lesson Learned
Eating differently also means that one absolutely has to have quick backup plans in case the roast goes to the outhouse. Next time I shop I’ll definitely be picking up something easy, even if it isn’t necessarily the best. I realize I’m going backwards in these cases but not as far back as Rome’s pepperoni. I can choose some Pacific soups (often on sale for 4 for $5 – beat that Campbell’s!) or Amy’s burritos (yummy), or some other quick meal but either way they have to be handy & easy. If we don’t plan for the unplanned we end up feeding our children pizza that I wouldn’t serve my dog… literally…
The kind of Pizza I DO like - a la me ;)
Cheers! ✿Gretchen
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Pretty Poison Plastic.
Here we go!
I HATE PLASTIC!
Plastic is all over my house, and I can't stand it. I've made attempts to reduce my use of plastic, but it keeps coming back. My fear is that in 10 years we will realize that ALL plastic is toxic and cancer causing, even the "BPA free" and "good" numbered plastics freak me out. I don't want me or my children playing with it, eating off of it or sitting on it. I also battle with my husband over this issue, HE LOVES PLASTIC!
Let's get REAL
I know, plastic is everywhere so what is a mom to do? So far I have reduced my plastic food containers and replaced them with glass Pyrex (which still have plastic lids.) I never heat up food in the microwave on plastic. I buy glassware to drink from knowing that the kids or I will probably break them and I'll have to buy more (often from garage sales.) And my husband has agreed to buy numbers 2,4,5. We also use Kleen Kanteens, and other stainless water containers.
After reviewing information on plastics, I have gathered that even the good numbered plastics leach after time or heat exposure. So the "better" plastic containers are labeled 2,4, and 5. The ones to avoid are 3,6, and especially 7.
The best choice is to avoid when possible and use glass and stainless steel.
I have barely touched the surface on this issue. I have a lot more questions. Which plastics can be recycled and where? Did the ingestion of BPA contribute to my mother's breast cancer. Are these products in places I have yet to consider?
Today
The most important question remains....what did I do today in my home that made me feel better about reducing plastic in our lives?
Well, I finally threw out those cute, colorful little melamine snacky bowls that the kids love. They are stamped "made in China dishwasher and microwave safe" with a "12" on the bottom---go figure. What did I not change?? Lots....my plastic high chair, my BPA free Nuby sippy cups, my black plastic spatulas to name a few.
Tomorrow, I will investigate glass or metal feed containers for the chicks. Also,
I need a replacement for my plastic cover for the picnic table.
✿Jennifer
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