Thank You

to my February Top Droppers from Entrecard. I have enjoyed visiting your sites as well. A happy and prosperous March to all...
Three Fates Design - Beaded Jewelry

From Huskies to Husbands

Dogmaw Glass

Thrifty Creativity

WendyLee

Lenox Knits

grapeinabottle

Traders' Hub

Horrorfest Reviews

Make Money Online Info Center

How Would it Bee?

If I had my own colony working tirelessly creating yummy, nutritious honey and candlemaking beeswax and medicinal propolis? I think it will be fabulous! Today I picked up this book called THE BACKYARD BEEKEEPER by Kim Flottum and I am soooo ready to get started!

I will not be undertaking this endeavor this season, since it is time now to purchase the box, hive, and all supplies in order to get started. We are moving into peak season, and it would be the perfect time to begin if I had read this book two months ago and purchased all the accoutrements while I was still gainfully employed. But I am going to read the book, and spend this season accumulating all the supplies I am able to accumulate through alternative means.

By this, I mean that I have found in the world of gardening that there is always the possibility for swapping tools of the trade. Often, those who keep bees also do their own gardening and other small (or Large) scale farming. At times, there are likely to be castoffs that are let go for various reasons. Beekeepers who are upgrading hives for whatever reason are likely to have some old supplies they are willing to part with, and possibly trade for other items. In this economy, this is a growing trend. So, this season, I will be on a trek for knowledge, networks, and supplies.

This book discusses the very basic basics of beginning to keep bees. In addition, it gives me step-by-step information on harvesting honey, the wax, and how to make candles and soap. It includes recipes for lip balm, skin care products, and tasty food and drinks. If we are hoping to achieve a modicum of sustainability, a hive is a must-have, in my opinion. I have not yet embarked upon candle and soap making, but they are definitely on the list!

Some suggested visits include:

American Bee Journal

Bee Culture, The Magazine of American Beekeeping

Canadian Honey Council

Brushy Mountain Bee Farm

Kelley's Bee Supply

Bzzzzzz...

Dryer and Drawer Sachets

Tonight's creation is a trio of lavender sachet bags

that will pull their weight around here

by working in my dryer, my

closet, and my

dresser.

The larger are filled with 1/2 cup and

the small is filled with 1/4 cup of

freshly dried lavender from

last summer's

lavender

harvest

I used fun stitches on my sewing

machine to give them some

extra panache

I am not selling my creations

at this time, but there are

marvelous sellers on

Etsy and Artfire

who sell these

fine items

I highly recommend them

as an alternative to

laundry chemicals

and moth balls

Wishing you lavender scented

Dreams...

Dear drivers who share the road with me,

Those lines on either side of your vehicle are not mere suggestions.

They are meant to remain on either side of your vehicle.

They are not placed solely for your weaving practice and there will not be an award for showmanship in driving trials.

They are strategically measured to offer enough room for you to remain on one side of the road while another car moves in the opposite direction between the lines on the other side.

I do not like to see you barreling down on me ON MY SIDE OF THE ROAD with your contraption of death.

There is a reason you are not to pass on blind curves when there is a double yellow line between us.

I do not like to have to wonder if you are going to push me off the road with your wide turn on the curvy two-lane rural highway.

Making it there 1.5 minutes later, but with all your limbs intact, is better than not making it at all.

I have children in my vehicle.

Sometimes a dog.

I am sometimes in a hurry as well.

I want to get there with all my limbs intact, even if I am late.

Your insurance carrier will not be happy if you join the ranks of Friday night flip-overs on the road into town.

Please remember me when you are pulling into traffic.

Sincerely,

Sinclair

Happy Safe Driving.

Word Wednesday : Dog

This is our beautiful, sweet, and loyal canine friend, Kate. We adopted her two years ago when she was 3 months old. She is the most quiet and calm dog I have ever known. She struggles with timidity, but has never even growled at a human being (unless it was before we knew her). I am a strong advocate of pet adoption, and think it gives endless returns!

Who knew there were so many definitions for the word "Dog" - and why must we slander the character of the most loyal of beasts with some awfully negative associations? I take the following from Dictionary.com:


dog [dawg,dog]
1. a domesticated canid, Canis familiaris, bred in many varieties.
2. any carnivore of the dogfamily Canidae, having prominent canine teeth and, in the wild state, a long and slender muzzle, a deep-chested muscular body, a bushy tail, and large, erect ears. Compare canid.
3. the male of such an animal.
4. any of various animals resembling a dog.
5. a despicable man or youth.
6. Informal. a fellow in general: a lucky dog.
7. dogs, Slang. feet.
8. Slang.
a. something worthless or of extremely poor quality: That used car you bought is a dog.
b. an utter failure; flop: Critics say his new play is a dog.
9. Slang. an ugly, boring, or crude person.
10. Slang. hot dog.
11. (initial capital letter) Astronomy. either of two constellations, Canis Major or Canis Minor.
12. Machinery.
a. any of various mechanical devices, as for gripping or holding something.
b. a projection on a moving part for moving steadily or for tripping another part with which it engages.
13. Also called gripper, nipper. Metalworking. a device on a drawbench for drawing the work through the die.
14. a cramp binding together two timbers.
15. an iron bar driven into a stone or timber to provide a means of lifting it.
16. an andiron; firedog.
17. Meteorology. a sundog or fogdog.
18. a word formerly used in communications to represent the letter D.
–verb (used with object)
19. to follow or track like a dog, esp. with hostile intent; hound.
20. to drive or chase with a dog or dogs.
21. Machinery. to fasten with dogs.—Idioms
22. dog it, Informal.
a. to shirk one's responsibility; loaf on the job.
b. to retreat, flee, renege, etc.: a sponsor who dogged it when needed most.
23. go to the dogs, Informal. to deteriorate; degenerate morally or physically: This neighborhood is going to the dogs.
24. lead a dog's life, to have an unhappy or harassed existence: He maintained that he led a dog's life in the army.
25. let sleeping dogs lie, to refrain from action that would alter an existing situation for fear of causing greater problems or complexities.
26. put on the dog, Informal. to assume an attitude of wealth or importance; put on airs.

Happy pet ownership!

Rustic Grilled Cheese...

Hold the chemicals, please.

I found an ad insert recipe today in a popular magazine. The recipe was for a rustic grilled cheese sandwich that looked REALLY YUMMY, but as is often the case, I have to play "Recipe Rescue" in order to turn it into something I am willing to feed my family.

Why, you ask?

(to give proper credit for this recipe, it is an ad insert for Kraft Sandwich Recipes, and I believe can be found at Kraft.com)
Here is the ingredient list as it appears in the magazine: (I DO NOT RECOMMEND THAT ANYBODY FOLLOW THIS RECIPE; READ ON FOR MY EXPLANATION)
♦ 2 slices multi-grain bread
♦ 1 tsp. Grey Poupon savory honey mustard
(Ingredients: MUSTARD SEED, WATER, APPLE CIDER VINEGAR, VINEGAR, BROWN SUGAR, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, HONEY, CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF SALT, FRUIT PECTIN, CITRIC ACID, SPICE, TURMERIC, SUGAR, CARAMEL COLOR, PAPRIKA.)
♦ 6 slices Oscar Mayer Deli Fresh Shaved Rotisserie Seasoned Chicken Breast (phew, that's a mouthful right there! Do people realize they are getting more than just meat in this meat? Why would you need to add chicken flavor to chicken?!)
(Ingredients: CHICKEN BREAST, WATER, MODIFIED CORN STARCH, CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF SODIUM LACTATE, SALT, SUGAR, CHICKEN FLAVOR (YEAST EXTRACT, SALT, FLAVOR), SODIUM PHOSPHATES, CARRAGEENAN, POTASSIUM CHLORIDE, SODIUM DIACETATE, SODIUM ASCORBATE, SODIUM NITRITE, CARAMEL COLOR.)
♦ 2 thin tomato slices
♦ 1 KRAFT singles (Kraft calls these Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product. Why can't they just call it "cheese"? Because it is not just cheese...
(Ingredients: MILK, WHEY, MILKFAT, MILK PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, SALT, CALCIUM PHOSPHATE, SODIUM CITRATE, WHEY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, SODIUM PHOSPHATE, SORBIC ACID AS A PRESERVATIVE, APOCAROTENAL (COLOR), ANNATTO (COLOR), ENZYMES, VITAMIN D3, CHEESE CULTURE.)
2 tsp. butter, softened

Directions:Spread 1 of the bread slices with mustard; top with chicken, tomatoes and Singles. Cover with remaining bread slice. Spread outside of sandwich with butter. Cook in skillet on medium heat 3 min. on each side or until golden brown on both sides.

Ironically, they say they... "scoured our favorite regions for locally grown produce and native tastes that got our mouths watering and creative juices flowing...What follows is a travel guide for the tastebuds."

This recipe was 'inspired' by the region of the Rocky Mountains. And yet, none of the ingredients listed above are 'local' ingredients, are they? Did I miss the name of the boutique farm who produces the mustard? Oh, no, it's Grey Poupon...hmmm.

My recommended recipe for this sandwich after RECIPE RESCUE:

♥ 2 slices of multi-grain or sprouted grain bread WITHOUT PRESERVATIVES OR HFCS (high fructose corn syrup)
♥ Annie's Naturals Organic honey mustard (Ingredients: *Mustard (*Apple Cider Vinegar, *Yellow Mustard Seed, Salt), *Sugar, *Honey, *Cinnamon. *=organic)
or Annie's Naturals Organic Dijon Mustard (Ingredients: *Distilled White Vinegar from corn, *Mustard Seed, Sea Salt, *Cloves. *=organic)
♥ NO MEAT. or if you are one who does eat meat, use REAL chicken, NOT prepared lunch meats. Make it clean meat chicken that has lived free range, veg fed, without antibiotics or hormones.
♥ 2 locally grown, organic heirloom tomato slices. If you cannot get local, organic or heirloom, try to at least find pesticide free tomatoes.
♥ sliced NATURAL cheddar cheese. Organic if possible, but at the very least, with ingredients free of antibiotics and hormones (look for rBGH/rBST free). The ingredients should be: Milk, salt, cheese cultures, enzymes. There should not be anything else. No annatto for color (your cheese should not be orange), and no preservatives!
♥ 2tsp. butter. That's REAL butter, organic or at least free of antibiotics and hormones.

Then, follow the directions for preparation above. Cook on IRON or STAINLESS STEEL cookware. Avoid aluminum and teflon, non-stick cookward at all costs! Aluminum is still on the official "safe to use" list, but so are a whole host of other things that I believe to be harmful. Teflon can kill birds and other small animals such as hamsters and causes flu-like symptoms in humans. Teflon flu? Can this be a good thing?

After Recipe Rescue, I can create a healthy sandwich without unnecessary and possibly harmful chemicals that I can feel good about eating and feeding to my family. Please follow this link to read more about chemicals in food processing.

Join the fight against Frankenfood.

Happy sandwich eating!

Fuel My Blog Day Award...

YAY! I am featured blog of the day on FuelMyBlog...

How 'bout that?

Thanks for reading!

Freshly stomped hummus, anyone?

I have crossed center and moved out to fringe, apparently. Funny that eliminating hazardous "modern conveniences" from my life places me in the rough, so to speak. I am simply choosing to travel backward in time a little to a simpler time when there were less assaults on our collective bodies of cells.

In this vein, my mom told me how she and my brother were funnin' at my expense the other night. I have mentioned that I am eliminating plastics from my kitchen so that I no longer have any in contact with my foods. I mentioned in passing that I wished my single serving blender were made of glass so I didn't have to make a choice to stop using it.

So, the other night, mom was invited to dinner at my brother's, and took some fresh hummus because my youngest niece wanted some. They all live 10 hours away from me, so I was not present for the shindig. My brother is more a meat and potatoes, barbecue 'n beer type than am I. (Mom is more in line with my food choices.) He has always accused us of eating "weird stuff." His remark to mom was "oh, great, that's that stuff my sister likes to eat - thanks."

Mom says, "Well, if your sister had made it, she would have been stomping these garbanzos with her bare feet to avoid the plastic blender." To which he mumbled something like "yeah, crazy naturalist..."

So, my post today is for my family whom I miss...

Thanks for the marvelous idea!

I do hope you like the little sketch of me stomping chickpeas.

If you're lucky, I will send some your way with a nice wine pairing.

Bon Appétit!

Farm to Fork

Today, I went again to the seed store to pick up some more of the seeds we will plant this season. I took with me for exchange two packets of seeds that I had picked up before because I had not gotten HEIRLOOM on those. I hadn't noticed it until I got them home.

They were a tomato variety and an okra. I traded the tomato for this Cherokee Purple. I can't wait to see these little guys hanging from the vine!

As for the okra, alas, there was no heirloom option. I will have to search the internet for organic heirloom okra seeds if I am to have a hope of okra this year. I was at the local co-op grange nursery, and if they don't have them, I'm pretty sure I am out of luck for a local source. Sadly, Ace, Lowe's, and Home Depot are not really interested in supplying heirloom seeds.


While I was there, I decided to pick up a few more items that were on my list for the garden.



More yummy lettuce to go with my arugula and butter lettuce.





Cilantro for that yummy salad, salsa, and quesadilla al fresco.

BUT LOOK WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PACKET!

Amilia and The Mr. were waiting in the car while I just ran in to quickly exchange my seeds. In my haste to make sure I got HEIRLOOM this time, I forgot to make sure they were also ORGANIC!!!

Uggg. Now, if I had to make a choice to plant one or the other, I would certainly forgo organic to have heirloom. But I really want both.

So, next town day, I will make another trip to the seed store to exchange these for ORGANIC AND HEIRLOOM.


DITTO the mint...




AND the Catnip....

AND the Green Arrow shelling peas that were not flat enough to scan for this photo op.

See? It is tough to tend to the DETAILS that are so important, and we have to be so diligent to ensure that we are really choosing the best we can obtain.

No wonder The Mr. calls me Grandma all the time! (No offense to those grandmas who still have a memory left!)

So, I drift off tonight dreaming of the plants
that will come from the seeds

that will come from the seed store

to my little humble "farm"

to my summer fork!

A little fun today...

I found this on one of my fellow HOARDERS UNITE Etsy teammate blogs and thought it might be fun. I am ready to forget about the economy and Frankenfood for a day or two! Play along on your own blog, and bold the ones you've done:

♥ Started your own blog
♥ Slept under the stars
♥ Played in a band
♥ Visited Hawaii
♥ Watched a meteor shower
♥ Given more than you can afford to charity
♥ Been to Disneyland
♥ Hiked in Death Valley
♥ Held a praying mantis
♥ Sang a solo
♥ Bungee jumped
♥ Visited Europe
♥ Taught yourself an art from scratch
♥ Adopted a child
♥ Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty (no, but have seen it from Battery Park)
♥ Grown your own vegetables
♥ Seen the Mona Lisa in France
♥ Slept on an overnight train
♥ Had a pillow fight
♥ Hitch hiked
♥ Built a snow fort
♥ Held a lamb
♥ Gone skinny dipping
♥Run a Marathon
♥ Ridden a gondola in Venice
♥ Seen a total eclipse
♥ Watched a sunrise or sunset
♥ Been on a cruise
♥ Seen Niagara Falls in person
♥Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
♥Seen an Amish community
♥ Taught yourself a new language
♥ Had enough money to be truly satisfied
♥ Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
♥ Gone rock climbing
♥ Seen Michelangelo’s David
♥ Sung karaoke
♥ Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
♥ Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
♥ Visited Africa
♥ Walked on a beach by moonlight
♥ Been transported in an ambulance
♥ Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
♥ Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
♥ Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
♥ Kissed in the rain
♥ Played in the mud
♥ Gone to a drive-in theater
♥ Visited the Great Wall of China
♥ Started a business
♥ Taken a martial arts class
♥ Visited Russia
♥ Served at a soup kitchen
♥ Gone whale watching
♥ Got flowers for no reason
♥ Donated blood, platelets or plasma
♥ Gone sky diving
♥ Visited Karen Blixen's house
♥ Bounced a check (oops! math was not my forte)
♥ Flown in a helicopter
♥ Saved a favorite childhood toy
♥ Visited the Lincoln Memorial
♥ Eaten Caviar
♥ Stood in Times Square
♥ Toured the Everglades
♥ Been fired from a job (if being "downsized" = fired)
♥ Seen the Royal Guard in Copenhagen
♥ Broken a bone
♥ Been on a speeding motorcycle
♥ Seen the Grand Canyon in person
♥ Published a book (I've written a few children's books, but have yet to publish)
♥ Bought a brand new car
♥ Visited the White House
♥ Killed and prepared an animal for eating
♥ Had chickenpox
♥ Saved someone’s life
♥ Sat on a jury
♥ Met someone famous
♥ Joined a book club
♥ Lost a loved one
♥ Had a baby
♥ Been involved in a law suit
♥ Owned a cell phone
♥ Been stung by a bee

Featured Artist Friday

It is time now to introduce you to artist Sarah Dressler who reigns over the fairie ring called ToadstoolsNTreestump on Etsy. The following works are available in her Etsy shop: Sarah's artistic endeavors are many and varied. She holds a BFA in crafts, with a focus on metals and jewelry. In addition to her freelance work and her shop on Etsy, she is also an art teacher. A heavy interest in the Renaissance and the Middle Ages led her to become a member of The Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA). She showcases calligraphy and illumination work through the SCA. She has been creating these wonderfully fantastical art dolls for the past four years. Six of her dolls were featured in the Summer 2006 issue of Art Doll Quarterly. Get your conversation piece now!

Read on to learn a little more about this whimsical artist and the materials she uses in her work.

Do you draw specifically from history for your dolls, or is it just a feeling or period that you wish to convey?

My calligraphy and illumination work is carefully researched and pulls from specific aspects of medieval culture. My dolls are less about a moment in our human history and more about a journey into the world of the fae.

What tools and supplies to you most use in your work?

For my dolls, my favorite fabrics are quilter’s cottons; I am particularly fond of batik cottons. I love the sense of freedom in the colors those techniques produce. For doll wings I love playing with Angelina films and fibers, sometimes incorporating wires, sequins and beads as well. My dolls hair is usually either Yadeno Mohair or a combination of eyelash yarns. I use a technique called needle felting to attach the hair. Until sometime last year, all my dolls were completely hand sewn, but I have finally made peace with my sewing machine and most of the seams on the dolls bodies are machine sewn. I use John James long darning needles for the rest of the hand sewing.

My favorite materials in my jewelry making are pearls, every color and shape. I love the ethereal quality of the light they reflect. I also love moonstone, garnets and amethysts, among others. I generally use accuflex 49 strand beading wire, it’s as flexible as thread but is made of steel and so is very strong and it means I never have to thread a beading needle again.

When I paint, I use hot press watercolor paper and Winsor Newton gouaches. Gouache is an opaque watercolor. Depending on the piece I am working on, I sometimes use 23 carat gold leaf and sometimes use gold colored gouache.

How does one go about getting an appearance in a trade magazine or quarterly?

I got lucky. Art Doll Quarterly has a show and tell section that occupies 30 or so pages at the back of each issue. You just send in your submissions (or images of them) and cross your fingers, while you hope that they will fit into the editor’s plans. I got lucky the first time I submitted. I have submitted since then, but have not been selected since. But I will keep trying. I am now looking at other magazines submission guidelines to see if I can get published again. Most magazines have submission guidelines printed in them somewhere or they are posted on the publishers web page.

Are you a city mouse or a country mouse?

I have been a suburban mouse, and a city mouse (10 years in center city Philadelphia) and now that I have children we are country mice, being surrounded by developments. I live in a village that has never had door to door mail delivery in more than 200 years. There is something wonderful about the sense of connectedness you get bumping into your neighbors in the small local post office. Our fast paced, online world sometimes leaves us with no faces to connect with names, or we nod at our neighbors as we get in our cars and leave for our hectic lives. In small towns there is more of an opportunity to stay connected to the people around you. You just have to readjust your thinking. It was a rude awakening when we first moved here, and those opportunities were first seen as inconveniences, now I enjoy the chats I can have with the people I meet in my neighborhood while I walk to the post office.

Where are all the places we can find your work?

At the moment the only place on line that I am selling is Etsy.com. I occasionally participate in local craft shows and I am looking into what it would take to get into Fairie Con 2009. For 2010, I am hoping to get into Fairie Fest (in York, PA) as well as the Maryland Fairie Festival. Fairie Con may be possible in 2009. I am also planning a series of open studio days here in Delaware, and looking into local galleries.

Parting advice to the aspiring artist?

Have faith in yourself, have patience with yourself, and work hard. Many people scoff at artists as being lazy dilettantes who do nothing but sit around and play with paint (or the materials of choice). It’s not an easy life, it’s not an easy path; there are no more Renaissance patrons out there offering financial support. You have to learn how to be a good business person as well as a creative one. Apply some portion of your creative energies into strategizing how to get your work seen. Play by the rules, read the terms of service on networking sites and anywhere you want to post your work and take the time to understand your copyrights. But most of all, make what you like; if you don’t enjoy what you are creating why would you expect someone else to? If you create with joy your work will show it.

I love that she walks to the post office to pick up her mail!

I love her positive attitude and beautiful work!

Now, go create with J O Y!!

Simplicity

Meet Mr. Circle, Mr. Rectangle, and Mr. Triangle. Mr. Square had another engagement, so is not featured here today. Originally, I had planned to create learning sets to sell on Etsy, but the CPSIA law put an end to several of my product aspirations. These were my prototypes, and became fast faves here at Deer Palace.

Mr. Circle and Mr. Triangle were first, and are made of polyester felt with button eyes. I really don't like using polyester felt, but since it was already in the craft supply, of course it is better to use than waste. Mr. Rectangle is our favorite, and sometimes even sleeps with us! He is cut from a felted, shrunk, thrift store find, 100% wool sweater. He is stuffed with scraps of wool. He has embroidered features so he would be much more teeny tot friendly. He is soft and cuddly and loves to ride in my purse when we go on outings. At any given time, I have several toys hitching a ride in my purse!

Since I am no longer planning to market these little cuties, I thought I could at least share the idea with others. I would be happy to create them to trade, if ever there were a request. But if you are a sewer, upcycler, or handcrafter of things, you might want to make a set for the child in your life. They have been great to teach shapes in a very fun and memorable way. If you had a friend named Mr. Rectangle who happened to BE a rectangle, you would much more readily remember that he IS a rectangle, after all.

I love the items that are educational

without screaming out
"PICK ME, I'M EDUCATIONAL!!"

In the end, it's all about the textures in life...

Layoffs, Paycuts, and Eliminated School Days, Oh My!

The train wreck called Our Economy continues to derail and heap carnage across the landscape...
On the homefront, we certainly feel the effects. Since the downsizing, we are left without medical insurance. Cobra, you say? HA! No way can people shell out $1,300.00/month to Cobra to continue benefits when unemployment pays 1/2 to 2/3 of prior income. So, today, we paid almost $300.00 for a doctor visit for 2 of us with earaches. Is there a discount for private pay? NO.

The doctor made more from us for the visit than would have been approved and paid by my prior insurance company. How is it that uninsured individuals have to pay MORE than an insurance company would pay?

How about REALLY taking things back to basics? The next time I need to be seen by a doctor, I think I will call up a local practitioner and see if they are willing to barter for services. Perhaps I could offer edibles from my garden, or instruction in homesteading practices? In addition, I do not like being exposed to whoknowswhatscaryailment in the waiting room of a doctor office, so I want a home visit. The way it used to be. The way it ought to be.

What can people in this situation REALLY do? Well, we tried the home remedies for over a week prior to visiting the doctor, so if home remedies don't work, there may be no option but to seek professional medical help for an illness.

But we all can remember to cook at home instead of eating out, purchase nothing that is not absolutely necessary, grow our own vegetables and fruits (even if it is in containers or by hydroponic methods), give others moral support and inspiration whenever possible, and STAY POSITIVE!

Here is what I remember in these times of adversity and trial:

The Bible, Matthew 17:20: I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, "Move from here to there" and it will move.

James Buckham: Every trial endured and weathered in the right spirit makes a soul nobler and stronger than it was before.

As my mother always says, "Move That Mountain!"

That, and I made cupcakes. Organic white cupcakes. YUM!

Snackalicious!

What snacks do many people keep in their households? Growing up, I had many snacks at my disposal that were not necessarily healthy. Filling, yes. Good tasting, usually. Healthy? Sometimes yes, and sometimes NO. I grew up in a house of 5 children and 2 adults, so choices were often made to fill us up within budget. In addition, much of the information available today about the ill-health effects of certain foods was not readily available when I was a child.

These days, we try to ensure that we are eating the most healthful foods in our every day lives, and have been on a journey toward that goal for the better part of 10 years. It is a long process to complete the metamorphosis. We are always researching, and adjusting as new information is available to us. Some snacks we have available in our house are:

To avoid typing the word ORGANIC in every sentence, note that we purchase all items organic:
☻ raw fruits: right now we have citrus, apples, and bananas (bananas and citrus are not local, but we make exception for citrus since we are native to California, and for bananas since they are nutritious anyway)

☻ raw vegetables: right now we have broccoli, cauliflower, and celery. these are good when cut into julienne pieces and eaten alone, or dipped in hummus or yogurt or plain sour cream.
•Amilia does not eat raw carrots, as she has an allergy to these. I mention it because I never knew people had CARROT allergies! She gets an itchy mouth/tongue and painful hives on her legs. Cooked carrots are fine...I have read that allergies to raw veggies are typically due to the proteins in the raw vegetable that are diffused in the cooking process...

☻raisins

☻nuts, such as almonds and cashews (and peanuts if they are from New Mexico)

☻ hummus made at home from dried or canned garbanzo beans (recipes abound online)

☻ plain sour cream (sometimes we mix in a medley of dried, crushed herbs for flavor)

☻ plain, UNFLAVORED, nonfat or lowfat yogurt: we use this for vegetable dipping, or sometimes we mix with blueberries or other fruits or berries to make flavored yogurt- sometimes we freeze to make our own yogurtsicles.

☻ Annie's Organic Cheddar Bunnies

☻Cascadian Farm Organic Purely O's cereal (these have too much iron to be allowed in excess, but a measured serving a day is okay)

☻Lundberg Organic Brown Rice cakes (unflavored)

For the most part, these can be allowed at anytime

because they are healthy and will not contribute to

a weight problem unless WAY too many

servings are ingested.

Toss them into your cloth snack sack with velcro closure,

and you are ready to travel!

Happy Snacking! What are your healthy snack suggestions?

Featured on My Small Homestead!

Please visit THIS LINK to My Small Homestead.com where my article, Sowing the Seeds has been featured on the First Edition of Carnival of Homesteading!! Yay!

Compost, anyone?

We are currently composting on a larger scale than I have attempted previous, and I find that composting is a continual learning experience. We do not have trash service pick-up. We compost every possible thing that can be composted. I upcycle and repurpose packaging, bags, plastic, and any other items that can be used again for any reason. We also Freecycle and donate to Goodwill. Two times a year, we make a trip to the local landfill to drop items that we could not compost or otherwise dispose of in any other manner. This five-gallon bucket has been equipped with a lovely knob on the lid for ease of use, and lives on the dryer in the laundry room near the back door. All food items that can be composted are put into this bucket daily, and then taken to the compost area in the yard. What can be composted?

♥ raw foods such as fruits, vegetables, and their peelings (spoiled fruits and veggies included)

♥ egg shells (crunch them up so they will break down faster)

♥ paper products (if they are unbleached with no inks or dyes in them) such as paper towels, non-glossy paper plates, white tissue, cardboard, and paper towel and bathroom tissue rolls

☼ Some people also compost mail and junkmail that they have shredded in a home shredder, as well as newspaper. I do not compost these items because of the inks and dyes that are on these papers. I do not want that chemical content going back into my soil. ☼

♥ coffee grounds and unbleached coffee filters

♥ loose tea, tea bags (if unbleached, and all staples are removed)

♥ natural fibers such as wool and cotton, as long as they are not blended with synthetic fibers

♥ dryer lint (it is just fiber fuzz, after all!)

♥ yard waste such as raked leaves, grass clippings, tree trimmings if they are very small or have been sent through a wood chipper (we do not compost large twigs/branches, rose bush trimmings, or any plants that are poisonous to humans)

NOT to compost: any yard waste that has been treated with any chemicals, cat litter, pet waste, meat, bones, oil, grease, cooked foods, or glossy paper. Also, as stated above, we do not include anything that has inks, dyes, or is poisonous.

We have 9 compost "stations" that are in various stages of decomposition. The key ingredient is water. The piles have to be kept moist at all times. This allows the whole thing to do its natural heating and breakdown process. There are commercial composting systems that one can purchase that say you will have completed, ready-t0-use compost in 30 days. We follow an open air process that takes more like 3-6 months to complete. In the winter, we don't really do any watering of the piles, either, since there is so much moisture and precipitation already.

We have two "active" piles that we are putting content into daily. The others are all in various stages of breakdown, and a couple are ready to be emptied and shoveled onto the spring garden beds. We use square wire "cages" that are open on the top and bottom. They have lids that can be closed to keep out any critters, and because they lack bottoms, are easy to lift off the completed compost once it is finished. Shovel the compost away, replace the cage to its former position, and the rotation can begin again.

We have a lot of room in which to complete this process, and our compost system is out of the way of any direct line of vision. If you have less space, composting can easily be done on a much smaller scale. It is really very easy, and is very good for yor soil and plants!

Happy Composting!

St. Valentine and The Park

Well, I have brought back the third column - things looked SO BARE here without it! And I have simplified to a Minima Blogger template so that the three column contents do not appear too cluttery. What do you think?

Today was St. Valentine's Day, but we did not get caught up in the commercialism of this day. We exchanged tokens and sentiments, and spent a family day together. Although we were minus our oldest, Nature Boy, we enjoyed our day by having lunch in town and heading to the park.

Amilia loves swinging and practicing her technique for going higher and higher. She prefers to have help in that department! I used the Sport setting on my camera to catch her in mid-swing

Next, we walked across the bridge to the outdoor skating rink to watch the skaters. We did not have our skates with us today, and were feeling a little cold after the swinging, so we just watched for a bit. There were kids out there with just gloves and a light cotton shirt with 1/2 sleeves! (Well, they did have on pants, of course!) As you can see, there was still some snow on the ground from last night. BRRRRR!!
These three photos were also edited with the Dry Brush element in Adobe Photoshop Elements.

The walkers lined up there by the wall are very handy tools used by young children to hold while learning to skate. They have two wheels, and two sleigh shaped stoppers so they slide easily, but don't run away from the skater. The last two photos are a little dark because the sport setting did not work at the rink due to the bright white of the ice. I adjusted to the snow setting, and that makes the surroundings darker.

I absolutely love a visit to an outdoor skating rink, whether I am skating or not. Before we moved, we lived in a city that had an indoor rink, but it was in the absolute worst part of town, and it was filing bankruptcy due to lack of funds/income. It was a dismal place to skate.

At an outdoor rink, it is invigorating to watch the skaters,

hear the laughter, and breathe in the crisp, fresh air all at the same time.

How did you spend your St. Valentine's Day?

Pardon my dust...

Well, I am working on transferring my blog to WordPress on my actual domain, www.naturewithme.com.

That said, I did not realize that the Import function from WordPress was going to demolish my third column over here at Blogger...

So, as you can easily see, my page is a bit out of whack, and all my widgets and gadgets have been playing musical chairs.

As I grow my blog, I really needed to point all my promo efforts to the true domain, but I really like Blogger's ease of use and the SOOOOO cool and esy way I can move elements around at will.

WordPress, I am not so impressed with. So, I am going to update both for a time as I (hopefully) grow the .com into the blog I really want it to be. For now, this remains the primary source for a quality blog experience at Nature With Me.

Wish me luck!

And if you know anybody who can fix my

WordPress theme

(I want 3 columns, and all the functional gizmos I have here)

for no money

but lots of recognition

and tell me all there is to know, send him/her my way...

Featured Artist Friday

I recently came across two artists on Etsy whose work I really find interesting. In an effort to give others the opportunity to find them as well, I am showcasing them here on my blog.

The first is Silja of 5erg.etsy. This artist hails from Estonia. In this lovely Etsy shop, you will find art cards, ACEO/Tiny paintings, bracelets, earrings, felted animals and dolls, greeting cards, magnets, and necklaces. I collected some of my favorites from the Etsy shop into a Treasury Poster Sketch (below). To learn what an ACEO is, follow this link.

Let's meet the artist!

1. The first question I asked was how the shop name originated and what it means.
♥ "It's my signature, I sign my paintings with S.Erg, it comes from my real name. The number 5 is for S because it was available and the letter wasn't."

2. When did you start breathing?
♥ "I did my first oil painting in the 6th grade when our art teacher told us to paint some flowers, the next one in 9th grade and then after that painting got more frequent. But still, my productivity blows! More people ASK me to paint them something these days, it means more working on my hobby. I am very thankful for the requests, because I don't know if I would push myself to buy canvases and oils just to make pictures for my own wall. Well I would certainly do some, but not so many. I think I have like 2 of my paintings, rest of them are all given away or ****. Crafting Etsy style begun about 2 years ago. I got hooked with bead crafts and then got into needle felting and then the rest of it just followed. You know how it goes! If you start reading craft blogs, you can't get out of the circle anymore."

3. Are you a trained-by-education artist/crafter, or steaming ahead on completely natural ability?
♥ "There have always been people encouraging me, so I can not say I am a self taught artist, but I don't have the art education. I have attended kid's art school for 2 years (out of 5. I got right into 4th grade and skipped the first 3) and from 2nd grade of primary school I have always been connected to the schools' art clubs. But that is about it. I don't have the guts to go to a real art school yet, but it would be cool to go. If I ever get to studying oil painting or stop-motion animation, I will buy myself a bottle [of] Champagne and celebrate. :D Well, actually all my money has probably gone to the tuition fee..soo maybe some water? With bubbles of course!"

4. Do you have a muse?
♥ "Do you mean like someone who gives me the feeling I can become something and there is a reason to paint? Or do you mean just someone that I want to paint? Both ways - yes, always. So far. She or he is always there, but some days I just forgot about it and then I have these "F this, what is the point" moments. But when I remember them, it is a really good feeling. I am a total reflection junky. If noone says anything about my doings or art then I just forget what I do and watch TV."

5. How many hats do you wear? (Do you have a "day job"?)
♥ "I got to school here in Estonia. It is a pretty old and a pretty theoretical university. I try to study biology and chemistry 50:50. It is not easy for me to keep up there, but I will be there until they kick me out or take me off the government budget. School is kind of a job, right? Sometimes it is just weeks of learning stuff by heart, then I just have to throw my brushes and needles on the shelf for 10 days, sometimes a month. That makes it hard."

6. Are you a city mouse or a country mouse?
♥ "I am the mouse who got stuck in a parcel-post package and doesn't know where the heck she is. I am not a city person, for sure, but I don't want total solitude either. So I don't know."

7. What are your favorite items to create?
♥ "These little eye art cards I do(ACEO, ATC). I can take the best part of the portrait - paint only eyes on those little 2.5x3.5" carton pieces. And people buy those too, because they are affordable and a lots of people collect art cards. I guess it helps that they are not prints, but the price is still pretty low and almost like a print price."

8. How do you manage the exchange rate?
♥ "This is kind of stupid, but I don't calculate too much. Not the exchange rate, fees or any of those. I just put money in the shop and take it out. I don't know if there is even any profit :D Yeah, I will go far on business!"

9. Where are all the places we can find your work?
♥ "My artwork...My etsy shop is http://5erg.etsy.com/ (Here is the main traffic)My blog, which I sometimes update even too often: http://www.5erg.com/You can buy prints, mugs, coaster, puzzles and cards with my work through DeviantArt http://doodlewithgluegun.deviantart.com/galleryPrints and such on Redbubble: http://www.redbubble.com/people/5erg."

10. Parting advice to the aspiring artist?
♥ "Do not over analyze. Do what you do and do your creations in the moment. Work hard, but take it easy. (Work on your art all the time, but don't worry about if your style doesn't fit with the world yet.) Does it make any sense? Maybe it does. Like if I stopped painting tomorrow and will be working in an office for the rest of my life, those good painting days still count! And it is great to sit back and look around you and just be happy. Like, oh I am so lucky to have this brush and this minute to paint and I just can be in the moment and do whatever and listen to music and feel free."

I think this last sentence sums up one of the most important things in life - a thought which should always be at the forefront of our minds.

Be thankful for what you have at any given moment, every moment of your life.

Be in the moment and feel free.

Thank you, Silja for your art,

the beauty you bring to the world,

your exuberance, and your time for

this interview.

Bye Bye Plastic Sandwich Bags!

Hello SAFEr SACK!

This sweet little sack is the size of a standard ziploc sandwich bag, with an added inch at the top for the velcro closure. Carry snacks, or even small toys like Mr. Duck, who was very loathe to leave his cozy enclosure! I have been saying for some time that I was going to do away with all plastic that touches food, but I had not yet found a portable solution for take away snacking.

Here it is! Created from 100% cotton Waverly fabric. Now, to make about 11 or 12 more (do I want a dozen, or a baker's dozen?). That should give a sufficient number that we always have some in the drawer to use, even when some are in the wash. For messy items like PB&J, you can wrap the sandwich in wax paper or baker's parchment, or even butcher paper, then place it in the secure cloth sandwich sack.

Alas, I cannot use the word Safe Sack, because it is taken by this other company.

And I cannot take credit for being the first one to think of the idea,

since I was inspired by this Etsy seller.

Do your snacks and sandwiches travel in style?

Knitting in the round

I have finally done it! I have used my Vogue Knitting book, picked up my Brittany DPNs (double-pointed needles) and cast on, wading slowly into knitting in the round. I made a sample swatch first in green acrylic, using a triangle of three needles, with the fourth to work the yarn. I did this with yarn that is not my "good yarn" first, just to make sure I could get the technique correct.

Since that gauging project came out alright, I ventured in further, and cast on this Rowan Cocoon yarn, in [color] Alpine, with a set of five needles. I used bamboo needles for this project, as I find them much less slippery, and much more environmentally friendly than aluminum or plastic needles. I do also have aluminum needles, as they are usually what I find to rescue at thrift stores.

I used a long-tail cast on of 28 stitches, using size 11 needles. I used only knit stitch for this project in an effort to keep it simple. I ended up with my intended finished project, a coffee cozy. I did not have the proper lighting to add a photograph of the finished project yet, but I will add it here later. It is also the right size to use as a wrist warmer, if I chose that purpose.

Here is an earlier wrist warmer that I made with button closure:

Finally, after 1.5 years of knitting, I have overcome my fear of knitting in the round!

I can now continue my journey to knit

socks, sweaters, seamless hats, more coffee cozies, and more!

YAY!

What is the Voice of Bragg?

Voice of Bragg is a website created by Randy Bragg in the Blogosphere that offers some informative blogging tips and useful blogging tools. If you are a blogger who simply blogs for friends and family and you do not wish to grow your readership, then you may not want to explore expansion options. However, if you are a blogger with a message who wishes to reach a wider audience, you will soon find that there are so many bits of "insider knowledge" to uncover that it really helps to consult those who have already achieved some level of success.

I have recently been exploring what it takes to get that elusive Google Page Ranking (currently I am down at the bottom of the heap at ZERO). For a time, that was okay with me because I really hadn't decided what direction my blog would ultimately follow, and I wasn't ready to put it out there for hundreds, thousands, millions to see. As I have progressed through a period of determining just what my blog is ABOUT, I have come out the other end ready to expand.

So, I have added Entrecard to my blog. I have submitted myself to some bloglists. I have gotten noticed by some more successful blogs who have agreed to give me linkbacks in exchange for my display of banners on my blog. And I have begun the tedium of dissecting what Technorati and Google page rank and RSS feed (I already have this feed, thanks to Feedburner and Blogger's widget ease) and sitemap mean.

In doing so, I have found VOICE OF BRAGG (and others). You will find tips such as:
☼ Make your RSS feed easy to find (mine is up top on the right, so check!)
☼ Don't put a lot of ads on (so far, I have none, so check!)
☼ Keep in touch with your readers (19 readers=pretty easy to keep in touch, so check!)
☼Customize the look and feel
(still working on that one, but templates are only so changeable)
☼add Ping and trackback functionality
(WHAT? well Feedburner offers ping, but this requires more research)

He also offers a handy clickable list of tools that might be essential to your blogging success. I already have and use some of these, but others are on my list for further exploration. If you are on this same path of exploration, I would suggest a look-see at Voice of Bragg. Couldn't hurt!

So, my blog is homespun, and intends to stay that way as regards its content. It is, after all, about gardening, arts, crafts, and one family's attempt to relearn what our grandparents knew, and to achieve self-sustainability. However, I am on the path to make it LOOK less homespun, and to have it inlcude all the techie bells and whistles required to reach that wider audience. One of the leaps to be made by my blog is to its real home at naturewithme.com. Another day!

What techie blogging secrets are you willing to divulge?

Monday, Monday

or Mixed Bag Monday. Winter has reasserted itself around here yesterday and today. We had some snow dusting down last night, and some very large flakes in a flurry this afternoon and evening. And, of course, the temperature has dropped - BRRR!

In other news, I have agreed to feature two artists from Etsy, so I will be doing "Featured Artist Friday" this Friday, the 13th and next Friday, the 20th. I think it is important to support fellow artists and craftspeople, and I think it will be fun to explore their background and inspiration.

Regarding grocery stores and shopping, I was thinking about some advice I was giving to a dieter about food choices yesterday. What I fell asleep thinking about last night was the layout of a typical grocery store, and how I almost never visit many of the internal aisles. Some people are not cognitively aware that grocery stores arrange the basic necessities around the outside perimeter all the way around the store.

When you eliminate packaged foods and unhealthy drinks from your diet, you rarely need to visit any of the aisles. We visit produce first. It is located in one corner of the store (either right or left, almost always toward the front). Next, we visit the bulk area where we get our organically grown dried beans, flour, sugar, nuts, rice, other grains like spelt and millet, raisins, spices, and teas. Coffee beans are in the bulk area. Our next stop is sometimes beer and wine toward the back corner.

Then around the back of the store (still on the outside perimeter) to the other corner is the dairy department for organic butter, eggs (we don't have chickens yet), milk, yogurt, sour cream, and 1/2 & 1/2 for my coffee. Next to that is meat, but we do not purchase meat. On very rare occasion, we will pick up some wild salmon, but as a general rule we are vegetarian.

The only reason we visit any internal aisle is for organic O's cereal, organic cereal fruit bars, organic crackers, and organic 100% apple juice (unfiltered) in the glass gallon container, and organic corn chips. These last items are not necessities, and could also be eliminated from our diet, but they follow my rule of pure, organic ingredients with no preservatives or any indredients we cannot pronounce. So, for now, these are our little indulgences. The necessary items on internal aisles are paper goods such as bathroom tissue, and laundry detergent. Try soapnuts! As for cleaning supplies, we purchase only biodegradable, natural ingredient cleaners, baking soda, vinegar, 20 Mule Team Borax, and fresh lemon.

By avoiding the internal aisles and avoiding all frozen foods, we avoid a whole host of beasties like HFCS, transfats, and MSG that are sure to elevate weight, cause disease, and damage our health. We don't even see things that would cause us to make an unhealthy impulse purchase.

How do you grocery shop?

How often do you visit the internal aisles?

More Garden Delights

I am continuing our tour through my soon-to-be-planted seed packets tonight because I am dreaming of all these succulent, delicious foods I will soon be eating AND I just want to share!

Who could resist the sweet, crunchy goodness of one of these peppers? I love to Julienne these and eat them as a snack or thrown into a mixed green salad. They are also good dipped into sour cream based vegetable dip (or yogurt based dip). They are good sauteed and put inside a veggie taco or burrito.

Raw is my favorite. Veggie taco is also a nice choice. Dip or no dip, these are one good crunch!

My veggie taco recipe varies, but standards are whole pinto beans (from dried beans cooked at home), shredded cheese, diced tomatoes, diced onion or sliced scallions, a dollop of sour cream or yogurt, wrapped in an organic corn tortilla that has been just warmed on an iron griddle skillet. Sometimes a sprinkling of lettuce. Sometimes fresh cilantro (coriander) sprinkled on top. Add spice of your choice.

Note: all my seeds are organic and HEIRLOOM seeds.

How about a cold, crisp cucumber on a hot summer afternoon? These are wonderful to make afternoon tea the favorite time of day. Spread a thin layer of organic cream cheese onto sprouted grain bread (trimmed clean of crust), layer on a few slices of cucumber, sprinkle some fresh-cut dill weed from your herb garden, and cut the sandwich into quarters. Sometimes, watercress is used. If having guests, plan 4-6 tea sandwiches each. Traditional Tea includes more than one type of sandwich. Yum!

Slice them into thin rounds, and munch away! These are tasty by themselves plain, or lightly sprinkled with a pinch of unprocessed sea salt. Marvelous when tucked into that mixed green salad.

They make a tasty companion on the vegetable and dip platter next to our friend above, the sweet red pepper.


Last on today's list, but certainly NOT least, is my compadre, the Early Jalapeno. First to the party, last to leave, he is always a treat. There are SO MANY uses for a Jalapeno, I find it hard to narrow them down.

First, Mr. Pepper is great in pico de gallo, in my veggie taco, and in one of my signature dishes, spicy potato salad.

The trick with using these in creating culinary masterpieces is knowing how hot each pepper is before you dump a truckload into the dish.

First, put on latex (or non-latex if you are allergic) gloves and grab your trusty knife. Cut a taste-test slice and touch it to your tongue. This should be enough to give you an idea. Removing the seeds before placing the pepper in your dish will reduce the heat of the finished entree.

I have made myself hungry, and am happily anticipating my future garden bounty.

I will have to wait, however, because a light dusting

of snow is coming down as I finish this post.

Happy munching on fresh, organically produced fruits and vegetables!

Garden Treasury to come...

Well, since it is Saturday night, I am taking an almost break ---to watch a movie and sip my glass of organic, sulfite-free Cabernet. I leave you with a sampling of seed yet to be sown in my seed flats:

Note that these are organic HEIRLOOM seeds produced in Colorado. And, they won't break the bank!

You can find out more by visiting Botanical Interests
on the web. (sadly, only taking U.S. orders at this time)

If you are not certain of the significance of organic and HEIRLOOM, see my earlier blog post.

If you have never tried butter lettuce, I highly recommend picking some up at your local CSA, farmers market or co-operative [or, if you have NONE of the above, your neighborhood grocery].

This lettuce has a soft quality that other lettuces do not have, and it mixes well with other spring mix lettuces and greens.

Again, note organic and HEIRLOOM.

Last for tonight, and in my opinion, least, is Arugula. (My husband's favorite, however.)

Also organic and HEIRLOOM.

This is described on the back of the packet as "hot with a hint of nut flavor, tart, and spicy." I personally think they need to throw in bitter.

That said, bitter is an important part of our diet that we [at least in the American diet] tend to avoid. Bitter often supplies important vitamins and nutrients that you will not get elsewhere (B17 for example). Now, I have not determined whether Arugula contains B17, but it is on the list of foods that will help move your body toward an alkaline state. It is also listed as a food that my help prevent certain cancers.

I suppose that is worth tossing it into my salad!

I leave you with dreams of spring and summer days,

vibrant greens and cool melons,

warm breezes and icy refreshing beverages...

Hoarders Unite Treasury

A break today will we take from gardening and all manner of gravitous food issues. Today, we celebrate the artisans of Etsy once again. I created a Treasury recently, but have not had the timing and patience to wait to "get" a Treasury spot on Etsy, so I am posting it here.This treasury is a collection of works from my fellow Hoarders Unite Etsy team members.

Row 1, Column 1: Hoarding Resolution bracelet by alterdesigns
Row 1, Column 2: Kitchen Sink mixed media pack by beckandcallgirl
Row 1, Column 3: Lucina pendant by BeachTreasure
Row 1, Column 4: Purple Semistriped Recycled Yarn Scarf by santacruz

Row 2, Column 1: Original Handpainted Postcard Art APC by faeorain
Row 2, Column 2: Coffee Mug Adornments by 1337art
Row 2, Column 3: The Path of Falling Flowers ACEO by DancingWisp
Row 2, Column 4: Octopus (amigurumi) by itsthelittlethings4u

Row 3, Column 1: Fairy Pendant Necklace (stained glass) by GoTo
Row 3, Column 2: Sunny Hearts and Buttons Felt messenger bag by suchandsort
Row 3, Column 3: Emerald Sparkle by RockingRetro
Row 3, Column 4: Pink Jesus and Me quilt by sisterthreads

Row 4, Column 1: Art to Fill the Soul: limited edition print by lisabartlett
NOTE: this item sold today, but follow the link to her shop and choose another wonderful find!
Row 4, Column 2: Upcycled Flower Brooch by girlindustries
Row 4, Column 3: Handmade Greeting Card by nanalee (nanalee is currently on vacation)
Row 4, Column 4: Bottle Green Bumpy Shank Buttons by TheSilkRoad

Visit today and find your loved one a heartfelt handmade gift.

Happy shopping!

A Proper Peanut

Food recall after food recall after food recall. I say, again, read my post on CSAs and EAT LOCAL! But, I don't live where peanuts are grown, and I do like a good peanut now and then, and Amilia likes PB&J (that's peanut butter and jelly if you live under a rock). So, we buy peanut butter and, occasionally, bulk peanuts.

Due to our diligence in reading labels, and avoiding most packaged foods, and NEVER purchasing anything with HFCS, artificial colors or flavors, preservatives, or anything we cannot pronounce, we have avoided most recall scares. The closest to home these have hit were the tomato, jalapeno, and spinach scares of the last two years. Luckily, we usually attempt to purchase local produce, so we were safe there as well.

I use MaraNatha ORGANIC peanut butter. The peanuts are not local, but the MaraNatha plant is local, and I can visit anytime I wish. I still needed to clarify that my PEANUTS (and peanut butter) were safe, so I called up MaraNatha to ask the origin of the nuts they use for processing peanut butter. I was told that they use nuts from New Mexico for their Organic varieties of peanut butter, and their other peanut butters use peanuts from West Texas.

The only negative points I give this company are given because the customer service department did not know WHICH grower in New Mexico actually grew the peanuts MaraNatha purchases. I was told that such information is almost never available to consumers. (- 5 points)

What a shame that I cannot, as a consumer, know exactly from whence my food originates. I then did a little poking around the internet, and I deduce (always the possiblity of incorrect information there!) that my peanuts are Valencia peanuts, and the grower was one of the 101ish farms in Curry, Lea and Roosevelt Counties of New Mexico. (Read about them here.) I read (here) why New Mexico is a superior place to grow a proper peanut. A hot, dry climate ensures that the peanuts are free of fungus and aflatoxins that are released by fungus. And I read (here) about the Organic Production of peanuts and the history of the peanut.

I found in my internet travels and research that MaraNatha Organic peanut butter is the best (most healthy and pure) peanut butter I can purchase, short of grinding my own choice peanuts. I know from the label in my refrigerator that my jar of MaraNatha contains: organic dry roasted peanuts, organic palm oil, organic unrefined cane sugar, and sea salt. I also know that MaraNatha is packaged in GLASS jars, so I don't have to worry about the plastic container leeching chemicals into my peanut butter.

So, it appears that we are safe with our MaraNatha peanut butter. At least, as safe as we can be in purchasing food that is not grown locally, and is processed in a factory after travelling through the supply chain.

Do you know where your peanuts originated?

Do you know in what factory your peanut butter was processed?

What number is the plastic in which your peanut butter is contained?

(upcoming blog post: What number is your plastic?)

Happy Peanut Butter and Pickles! (or maybe bananas...)

Cozy Up

Do yourself a favor. Sip a cup of Sleepytime tea and cuddle your loved ones close. (To my knowledge, sleepytime tea is not organic, so you could substitute your favorite brand of chamomile if you choose---I hope they soon make organic Sleepytime!) Tonight, I don't have Sleepytime tea in the house, so I am actually drinking Organic Nighty Night tea (for kids) by Traditional Medicinals.

Sleepytime tea is on the list for me of Things That I Remember.

My memories are sweet.

Start now and make your own sweet memories.

Grapevine Tango

or maybe TaNgLe! Today was grapevine pruning day. We have some old growth grapevines (well, I'm not sure what constitutes old growth in the grape industry, but these are about 15) that have not been pruned in about 7 or so years. They were beautifully green this summer:

But they were so overgrown and crowded that we couldn't get to most of the fruit. You can also see that there are many dead shoots clogging the works. What this meant for us this last season was that we did not get to harvest or eat any of the fruit because the raccoons had marauded in the night and eaten them all before we could get to them.

So, today I began hard pruning the vines to get rid of all that old, dead growth and to thin the number of shoots that will remain and grow in the spring. I had not consulted my Pruning and Training guide prior to beginning my work today, but I did look at the grape pruning section this evening after I came into the house. I pruned by instinct and memory from past grapevines, and found that by default, I have chosen what AHS (American Horticulture Society) calls the Curtain Method. (see Pruning and Training, pp. 294.) I have found an informative article about grape pruning here, but it is a bit long and cumbersome with no photos. I also found an even better article about home grape production with clear diagrams from the University of Missouri Extension.

The best time for winter pruning is after the danger of most severe weather is over. I may be a little optimistic, but we have had clear, sunny days with highs in the mid to high 50s. Our overnight lows are still around 29-33 or so, but there is no snow anywhere on the horizon. Though there are still another 6 to 8 weeks of cold, the Almanac for this month does not point to anything that I found really alarming. So, a'pruning we will go, a'pruning we will go, da da da da da da, a'pruning we will go!

Basically, the curtain method keeps the central stem free of shoots, and the fruiting shoots are trained on the highest of the training wires. Our topmost wire is about 5.5' high. I have not completed the entire project, as I was running out of daylight and it was getting cold! My thought process in choosing this method is that the fruiting shoots are up high, and the fruit will hang down, but will be easily accessible to me, and less accessible to raccoons. They will also be easier to net from critters.

There is still more to do, and I am somewhat limited by the form and shape of these central stems, but I think this will work nicely and am looking forward to new growth to come! I can almost taste those juicy fruits now!

Happy Pruning!