Beautiful Winter Day

February 15th - I love clear, crisp, sunny winter days! We've had a few such days recently and a lot of the snow that's been on the ground for weeks is finally melting. Although I had a lot of things to do inside this afternoon, I couldn't miss this great weather, so Joe and I went out for a walk in the sunshine.

We walked down to the river, which is still frozen over.

I thought this looked pretty cool, the way the snow and ice is coming up on the beach -

Joe, of course, had to walk out onto the river - just far enough to make me nervous -

Back at the house this afternoon, I was working on my "Vegetable Growing Handbook." I've been going through a couple of my growing books and putting together planting and maintenance instructions for each vegetable we're going to grow. It was very annoying last year trying to flip through books to figure out how deep to plant seeds with my filthy dirty hands. So instead I will have this laminated binder that will contain all the basic info we need, AND can be out in the mud with us.

While I did that, Joe was building us a little greenhouse for starting some plants in the spring!

Might be a nice spot for some early sun bathing too, huh? :)

Winter Greens

February 8, 2009 - Good news - no matter where you live, you are never more than 3 days away from fresh, local greens. I don't know why we didn't start doing this earlier in the winter, but now that we are starting to crave crunchy fresh greens (and cringe at the grocery store prices for organic mixed greens), we have started sprouting again.



All you have to do is drop some mung beans, alfafa seeds, or any other sprouting beans into a mason jar. Soak them in water overnight, then rubberband some cheesecloth around the top of the jar, and drain. Lay the jar on your kitchen counter and let them go to work! Rinse and drain about twice a day, and after three or four days you'll have a special treat that tastes like spring time! Joe's the sprouter in our house, so I can't say I've got much experience in this, but I sure was grateful of his work at breakfast this morning when we ate them with our eggs.

Speaking of eggs, here are two of them that went into the pan this morning -

Notice anything unusual? The one on the left is normal sized and the one on the right is twins (a double-yolker)!

Oh, and my book of the moment is The New Organic Grower by Eliot Coleman - another celebrity in the organic growing world. This book is fantastic and gives excellent, easy to follow advice on creating an organic garden. I first opened it the other day looking for how to manage pests in the garden organically. Here's what I got - "The systems of the natural world are elegant and logical. The idea of striving to create life-giving foods while simultaneously dousing them with deadly poisons is inelegant and illogical."

Great, but then what DO you do about them? He argues that it is the 'stressed' plant that ends up diseased, and that if we give plants what they need, they will be less likely to get 'sick' - very much the case with humans as well, no? Pests are not the problem, but rather an indication of a problem. In short - grow healthy plants with nutrient rich soil and plenty of breathing room and you shouldn't even have to THINK about spraying nasty chemicals (even the 'organic' ones) on your food.

Makes sense to me...

Winter Break is Over!

February 1, 2009 - I seem to have found the cure for the winter blues! All you have to do is become a gardener! It turns out that there are only really two months (December and January), when being in the garden and/or planning for the garden doesn't occupy a significant block of your time. These two months are just the perfect amount of time to celebrate the winter holidays, take a vacation, and enjoy some relaxing snuggle time in your warm house. It is not, however, enough time to get the itch and that horrible feeling of "is spring EVER going to be here?" The reality is, for Joe and I anyway, spring is right around the corner, and it's already time to get to work. What that means for you, hopefully, is more regular blog posts, so get ready to check back often.

The best thing about this time of year is seed shopping! There is just nothing like flipping through seed catalogs and looking at all the pretty choices. I swear to God, even if you aren't a huge veggie fan like we are, these things will get you pretty excited.

We actually have a lot of seed leftover from last year to use up. But we did pick out and order a list of things that we need more of or that we didn't grow last year. If you want to start dreaming about your gardens this year (and stop being depressed about winter) go to http://www.seedsavers.org/ or http://www.highmowingseeds.com/ and order some seeds.

I've also begun putting a seed order together with John for the farm this year. We are going to be growing a whole vegetable garden to supply the stand, so there's a lot of work to do. I created a planting schedule, which will begin this month with starting tomatoes in the greenhouse. Did I mention we have a greenhouse to work in this year?!?!?! That's very exciting for us. We realize now how crazy last spring was, trying to grow seedlings in the basement with no real access to sunlight. This will be a whole different ball game.

Joe and I are also making plans for cold frames so that we can start greens in the backyard as soon as the ground thaws. We can't wait for arugala with our breakfast! But just because it's winter doesn't mean we're not eating garden-fresh produce at our house. Just this morning, Joe and I had the perfect backyard farm breakfast. I thawed out some broccoli that I had in the freezer from our garden this past summer and served it with our fresh eggs. The broccoli was bright green and tasty like it was freshly picked. Delicious.

The more food we eat out of the freezer, the more grateful I am for those hours and hours I spent preserving late last summer. I promise you - it's worth it. I've been eating my canned peaches in oatmeal with walnuts, or in grape nut cereal. Our pesto is almost gone, and went excellently well with whole wheat pasta and shrimp. The frozen corn has been a HUGE hit at family gatherings all winter. Not only are we saving money at the grocery store, but we are eating really GOOD food.

Today I also made applesauce from all the apples I had left in my refrigerator (gotta love how long they can last when kept cold). I take my applesauce making method from Selma Hardeman. Just apples. Nothin' else. If you use a mixture of apple varieties, the sweet and tart mix together perfectly and there's no need for sugar or cinnamon. I just peel, cut, and throw in a pot. Add some water, boil and smash.

All I have to say is - yum, yum. :) Thank you John Hardeman for growing these delicious apples!

We're having a beautiful day here - lots of sun which is beginning to slowly melt the snow and ice from the past few weeks. Joe's been outside chopping wood and working in the yard. The chickens must also know that it's time to get busy again, because they are venturing out for the first time in a while -

The longer days of sunshine are hopefully getting them geared up for more egg production. Currently, we're still getting about one or two eggs per day. But these chickens are also soon to have a lot more friends running around. We haven't placed any orders yet, but there will definitely be a pile of baby chicks in this family's near future. Joe is hoping to start them a bit earlier this year. It takes roughly 5 months for a new chicken to begin laying, so the sooner we get them, the sooner we have more eggs to sell.

We've also been doing a whole lot of reading lately. Our current favorite is the Omnivore's Dilemma -

This is a seriously great book, which I would recommend to everyone who is interested in knowing a bit more about the food we eat - which you all ought to be. It blows my mind when I think about all the people who don't give a seconds thought to what they put in their mouths and what effect it could be having on their body - especially with all the heart disease, obesity, and other health problems that are plaguing our society. But that's enough out of me -

In his book, Michael Pollan explores the industrial food system, the new 'organic' industrial food system, sustainable agriculture, and also personal gardening and hunting. I haven't finished the book yet, but so far he makes a pretty strong case for eating locally, eating grass-fed beef, and staying away from processed foods.

The main philosophy in our house is that whole foods (unprocessed) are always a first choice. We eat tons of fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, nuts, meat, and fish and we try to stay away from packaged foods. Actually, in order to help us stay inspired, Joe created this awesome shelf for our jars of beans, oats, barley, and tea -

Doesn't that make you want to eat healthy?

Why Russia?

January 10 - My mother and I have returned from a very unique winter vacation... in St. Petersburg, Russia. Everyone asks - 'why Russia!?!' and especially - 'why Russia in the winter!?!?!?!?!'

Why Russia? Because St. Petersburg has been called one of the most beautiful cities in the world, they have a unique and interesting culture, and I love to do things that other people normally wouldn't do.

Why in winter? Why not? For starters, we love Christmas and traveling at the beginning of January meant we would get to celebrate two of them (they celebrate Orthodox Christmas on Jan 7th). Plus, Russia's latitude is what makes it so interesting, right? I wanted to wear my furry hooded coat, experience 18 hours of darkness, and understand what these people's lives are like during the more difficult months. Plus - do I have to remind you? I'm an aspiring farmer. I'm no longer going to be able to do anything like this in the summer. Or spring. Or fall. That leaves winter. :)

So St. Petersburg, it turns out, is in fact an incredibly beautiful city. My mother and I walked ourselves all around it, taking it all in. Of course, there were lots of impressive buildings and statues -

We spent a lot of time near the many waterways that make up the city - the Neva being the main river which was almost completely frozen over, and all the smaller canals.
We ate a fair share of Russian food (sometimes regretting it), and I had my one token shot of vodka at a restaurant called the Idiot -

We went to the Hermitage, a world class art museum - and we really did try our hardest to appreciate all the beautiful things we saw there -

And we went to a few other historical museums, including the Russian Vodka Museum, where we learned all about how this group of people became so obsessed with the stuff.

It was cold and dark, and it did snow, but that's what made it interesting, and we loved every minute of it -

Vacations are always great and I, for one, need them every now and again to clear my head and take a break from the daily grind. But if you're lucky, returning home is the best part. And since I had left my husband at home, this was certainly the case for me...

A White Christmas

December 29, 2008 - The snow is upon us!! Well we didn't have too much time to fret about the coming wintry weather this year. No, no - we were forced to jump right in, with several snow storms in the weeks before Christmas. Fortunately, we have flexible schedules and the luxury of being able to just stay put during snow storms. You can be sure that we thoroughly enjoy these forced days off, no matter how it may inconvenience our life. Yes, there was shoveling and snow blowing:But there were also beautiful walks in the quiet snow. We went walking in the huge open fields right out our door, where you couldn't hear a thing and the untouched snow in every direction was unlike anything I've ever seen. I think most of us have days where snow is nothing but an annoyance. But it can also be so incredibly peaceful and magical, and there's nothing like a cup of hot cocoa at the kitchen table while you watch the snow fall out your window.

Here's the chicken coop all covered in snow:

The chickens are surviving the weather relatively well so far. The snow is more of a problem for them than the cold - they see this layer of white fluff and they simply won't leave the coop. It is their first winter though, so maybe they'll get used to it...

And then it was Christmas! This was one of the most low key, relaxed Christmases that I can remember. Our gift giving theme was food - some people got locally made jams, honey, or wine, while others got wrapped bags of organic groceries. Given the economy and our values, it seemed like the perfect gift. Plus... it kept us out of the malls! What Joe and I discovered this year is that Christmas can be any kind of celebration you want it to be. If you don't like shopping, be creative with gift giving. If you don't subscribe to the religious aspects of the holiday - celebrate something else - like the Winter Solstice! The 21st was the shortest day of the year. Whether that makes you happy because it signals a time of rest and rejuvenation or because it means the days are now getting longer - it's a reason to celebrate!

For decorations, we didn't go too crazy. The smell of fresh greens form outside always makes me feel celebratory, so since we have limited space, that's what I focused on. Here you can see our winter wreath and small potted Christmas tree (which was only in the house for less than 24 hours, since the heat would have killed it - can't have that).

Christmas Eve was exciting for us, because Natalie got to play baby Jesus at Church! Elizabeth was Mary and - get this! - Joe was Joseph! Here's the Holy Family getting ready for their big performance:

During the scripture reading they walked up to the front of the church and stood in the front by the manger.

Joseph kept baby Jesus happy with goldfish under his robes, and everything went quite smoothly.

On Christmas, Joe and I spent the day at home (our first Christmas at home!). We exchanged simple stockings filled with things like nuts, teas, spices, beans, toothpaste, and chapstick. We had a very relaxing day, reading books we had received the night before, taking a holiday walk along our icy road, and making phone calls to all our loved ones who we weren't able to be with.

We hope that you all had a fantastic day as well and are enjoying this holiday season! In case you were wondering, planting season is only about 3 months away!!!!

Merry Christmas!

The Mighty Nimrod - (Written by Joe)

"Wabbit season,duck season,wabbit season,duck season....." No, It's deer season!

As autumn changes our gardens to bare patches of earth it also transforms the forests around us from green impenetrable jungles to colorful,crunchy brown places of mystery and then to soft,quiet glens lit by the graying fall skies and defined by bare trunks and branches standing tall and still, awaiting spring. Into this new land stalks the hunter.

The deer hunters 12 step program for success......

Step 1. Think like a deer.......

Step 2. Go where a deer would go.....

Step 3. Be there when they are there also....

Step 4. Don't let em see ya!

Step 5. Be vewwy quiet!

Step 6. Don't forget to breathe.....

Step 7. Ask the deer to come along quietly so that nobody needs to get hurt.

Step 8. When the deer laughs at you.....start shooting.

Step 9. Don't be surprised if the deer sticks it's tongue out at you when you're not looking.

Step 10. Simmer in a large pan with onions,garlic and butter! Yummmmm!

Step 11. Not everyone can eat a whole deer at one sitting, so you should be prepared to divide it into smaller portions and have a little extra freezer space available.

Step 12. Repeat.....
Good luck!