New Seed Saving Video is in the Works

I have begun taping my new video on saving heirloom seeds. Here is the introduction so far.

Painted Pony Beans

We are so busy harvesting food from the garden,
that I am getting very behind posting on my blog.

My intention is to keep a good journal here, so when I need to look back
from year to year I know what I did and when!

We were busy picking Painted Pony Beans this week. I have never grown this variety and I have to admit, I think they are mighty fine! The beans are very uniform, stringless and taste great!

I have a grand experiment going on in the freezer on these beans.

I took some of the beans straight from the garden and just wiped them clean.

Then I sealed them in an vacuum-sealed bag.

I took some other beans and soaked them in cold water for 5 minutes,
dried them, and then vacuum-sealed them.

Lastly, I took some beans and blanched them for 3 minutes in boiling water,
then cooled them in cold water, patted dried and vacuum-sealed them.

I want to see if the quality of the beans is the same or different
after they've been in the freezer for 6 months.
I would like to see if vacuum-sealing preserves the quality of the beans
without the extra blanching step that I normally do.
So I guess we'll see in Februrary!

Colonel Cluck

Colonel Cluck is our English Game Rooster, and is he a noisy little bugger! He sounds a lot like my friend's guinea hens....always making LOTS of racket. The old English Game birds are very small in stature (they are more bantam size), but what they lack in stature, they more than make up in sound. Colonel has a cute little Missus as well. We acquired these two birds this spring when we ordered our Barred Rock Chickens and Sweet Grass Turkeys from a hatchery in Iowa. At first I thought...."What next?" We already have sheep, pigs, turkeys, cats, and a dog.....well, we may as well have a Colonel and Missus Cluck. Just had to show off this nice little picture! Thanks Chelsea!

Harvesting Summer Squash

Yesterday we began harvesting our first tromboccini squash. Harvesting summer squash can sometimes be tricky because there always seems to be a few that get overlooked and grow to baseball bat size overnight. Harvesting Tromboccini is no exception. Yesterday I harvested 6 nice size tromboccini squash and today I noticed another one in the garden that was larger than any of the others I harvested yesterday. Tromboccini is a very long heirloom summer squash that grows in a curled shape and looks like a trombone. I thought my kids would get a kick out of the novelty of the squash. What I wasn't prepared for, however, was the sprawling vines of the plant. It truly grows more like a winter squash plant than a bushing zucchini or yellow squash. It's a good thing I left quite a bit of room for them, but they are invading everything around them!You can see that a few of the squash were growing through my fence along the garden. Again, I didn't know that the plant was vining, so this surprised me, but I have a pretty vertical garden already so it's no big deal!

My sister-in-law shared an incredible zucchini pickle recipe with me. I didn't think I would enjoy those pickles and was quite shocked by how delicious they were. I plan to make some of those pickles after I harvest more summer squash. I'll post the recipe separately.

I love this time of year.....the quandary of which produce to serve for each meal....such dilemmas!

How to Make a Chicken Coop

I found a nice easy pattern for how to build a chicken coop. It is fast and easy and allows you to move the structure around for fresh grass each day for your birds. Click on the picture to check it out.

While I have permanent structures for my birds on my property, a smaller portable coop plan would be great for when I have a few new layers that I raise with my meat birds. I don't like to raise them together for long, but the layers are generally too small to incorporate into my flock until they are older. A catawbacoop would be the nice solution for those birds for a few months.

I'm hoping my dad will build me one of these for my Christmas present.

CSA Workshare

I participate in a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Workshare program. It's not because I have a lot of free time or need any more vegetables than I already grow. I participate in the CSA workshare to learn. I have learned about vegetables I have never grown before. I have learned better succession planting management. I have learned how to better utilize the space in my garden to grow more veggies in a small space. I have learned SOOO MUCH!!!

Last week I helped harvest a beautiful bunch of heirloom carrots.....Atomic Reds, Whites, and Oranges. You can see the harvest here. If you are interested in gardening I can't think of a better place to start....learn from the pros by working for them and then put that knowledge to work for yourself. If you are not interested in gardening, then consider buying a membership in a CSA. You will get to taste foods that are fresh, usually grown using organic growing methods at the peak of ripeness, delicious and cannot compare to store purchased produce. You are also helping support a local farmer which helps the economy on a local level, as well as minimizing the "carbon footprint" that most food (shipped thousands of miles) requires.

Take a look at my CSA at Circle M Farms and then check out a CSA near you!

Acidophilus Milk

I have been making kefir from real Kefir grains that I bought from the Kefir Lady. I bought these grains because I wanted to add more probiotics and acidophilus products to my diet. Milk lends itself well to probiotic and acidophilus cultures.

I ordered my kefir grains and after they came in the mail, I put them into milk to get them working again. It only took a day to get them working. It was interesting to see how long they needed to work in a quart of milk and how often I would need to change the milk. Occassionally I eat a few of the grains because the kefir grains grow and then need more milk or a shorter time to sit in the milk to get a good probiotic product. Sometimes I end up with more kefir than I can use and then I put the grains in a frig for a week or two. I do use the kefir like buttermilk in baking so it is great in my rhubarb coffee cake recipe or in biscuits or pancakes.

I think it is interesting that so many of the things that Americans have given up in their diets in favor of highly refined and processed foods are simple natural items that really boost the immune system. Fermentation was largely used in food preservation up until electricity made it possible to store food in a refrigerated or frozen state very easily and conveniently. However, the loss of fermented food from our diet has really had detrimental effects on our health. Wild Fermentation is a website that has a lot of great information about fermation. Even though I haven't read the entire book, I did sneak a preview at the book, The Revolution will not be Microwaved. It looks like a very interesting read and it is reviewed by a number of well-known, well respected individuals.

Acidophilus Milk, Probiotic Milk, Fermented Milk......all natural healthy ways to boost your immune system!

Fresh Cabbage for Coleslaw

We just harvested our first fresh cabbage for coleslaw. It's fourth of July and we are going to a picnic. I can't think of a nicer way to celebrate than eating fresh coleslaw. I usually only use recipes as guides and I rarely measure so I will tell you how I make my most requested recipe. I use about 1 cup of miracle whip (mayonnaise works too, but you have to up the amounts of vinegar and sugar), 3/4 - 1 cup of milk, 1 T of vinegar, 2 T sugar (or to taste...I like it a little more sweet), 1 pound of shredded cabbage with a little grated carrot for color. When you use fresh cabbage for coleslaw, you may not need to add so much milk because the fresh cabbage has more juice in it. If you have a few hours before you serve, then add less milk initially and add more if you need it later. This variety is the Early Jersey Wakefield variety. I love growing this cabbage in the spring. I plan to grow the Brunswick and another variety for fall. I'd better get those seeds started!

Turnips with Beer Cheese Sauce

I was out weeding the garden today. You know how sometimes there are areas you just avoid and hope they'll just take care of themselves? Well, onions is one of those areas for me. I have three different onion areas and each one of them has been properly neglected up to now.



Nonetheless, today I set my sites on one of my onion rows. This double row is tightly sandwiched in between one row of beets and a double row of turnips. As I was weeding I couldn't help but notice some nice size turnips. I pulled a few. Here is how my row looked when I finished (recipe follows)






Turnips with Beer Cheese Sauce

1 - 1/2 lbs. turnips, thickly sliced ( I washed these but did not peel)
2 T butter
2 T flour
1/2 t salt
1 C milk
1 C sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 C beer

Cook turnips in boiling salted water until tender, drain. Over medium heat, melt butter, blend in flour, salt and dash of pepper. Add milk all at once while stirring. Cook until thickened. Turn off heat and stir in cheese. I add the beer after the cheese is melted. Combine cooked, drained turnips and cheese sauce in 1 quart casserole. Cover and bake at 350 for 30 minutes (or until bubbly). Sprinkle with paprika and serve. Serves 4

Note: I needed this recipe to serve more, so I added extra turnips and it turned out great.

Summer Has Arrived in Wisconsin

It was almost spring when I last posted and now it is almost summer. I can't believe an entire season has flown by. I stopped posting when life became crazy with our first lambing experience. We added 15 lambs to our flock this year and we definitely learned a lot. We had just about every lambing disaster that a shepherd can experience, from nutritional deficiencies to prolapsed uteruses......sigh. But we know how to make things better for our second year.

The garden is now in full swing. I am now planting more seeds for succession planting in the near future. So much to do....so little time.....I'll try to get caught up on what's going on in the next few weeks.

Winter Squash

Spring has definitely made its way to Wisconsin and that's wonderful! A friend of mine planted many early spring garden vegetables last weekend, but my ground was still frozen solid. This week still took our evening temps downs into the 20s, so the ground still hasn't thawed too much, but I have many seeds underway in the house and even moved 8 flats of seeds outdoors into my little cold frames by the garden.

I will be starting my tomatoes very soon so that is very exciting....they are my favorite veggie. I also now have to decide what I will plant in terms of winter squash. I got a little carried away this year when I discovered the Bakers Creek Heirloom Seeds Company. They carry so many heirlooms I'd never heard of before that I had to get several varieties and I had already placed my order to Fedco and Seed Savers. I will list the varieties I have.

I had some Delicata seeds left from last year.

From Seed Savers:
American Tonda
Gutaemalan Blue

From Fedco:
Blue Hubbard
Burpee Butterbush Butternut
Squisito Spaghetti

From Baker's Creek:
Shishigatani (or Toonas Makino)
Sweet Dumpling
Kamo Kamo
Vegetable Spaghetti
Pomme D'or
Thelma Sanders Sweet Potato
Musquee de Provence
Australian Butter
Galeux d'Eysines

I know that in order to be able to save seeds from this year's planting that I will either have to only choose a few varieties and plant them far apart or else I will have to do some hand pollinating (that's what I will most likely do). Plus I have the added benefit of helping a few other gardeners and we can use one variety in their garden and then we will have pure seed to save.

Keep coming spring!!!

Chicken Delight

I lost my Cuckoo Maran Rooster as I mentioned in my last post. But yesterday as I was talking to a friend, I asked her if she was going to be ordering from the McMurray Hatchery anytime soon and coincidentally she was planning on placing an order today.

So she tacked four straight run (will contain an assortment of males and females) Cuckoo Marans onto her order for me. Yippee!!! I'll be getting a new rooster and a couple new hens, so I'm happy. They will be coming in April about the same time that my order of Barred Rock Chickens are coming so they will all be raised together....JOY!

I will have to make sure and tag the Cuckoo Maran's legs as they look VERY MUCH like the Barred Rock Chickens and I know I won't be able to tell them apart once they get bigger.

I am trying raising the Barred Rocks as my main meat bird this year as they are a heritage bird that is listed on Slow Food USA's Ark of Taste. What is Slow Food USA? Slow Food is an idea, a way of living and a way of eating. It is a global, grassroots movement with thousands of members around the world.

The Ark of Taste is a catalog of over 200 delicious foods in danger of extinction. By promoting and eating Ark products we help ensure they remain in production and on our plates. I am happy to report that I am currently raising several of the items on their list and will soon be adding even more!

Raising animals is a lot of joy and I am glad I have something to be happy about after such calamity in the chicken coop.

Calamity in the Chicken House

Last night we had our first real calamity raising chickens. Our son was in charge of closing up the coop at nightfall because I was not home. However, he forgot to do it and by the time he remembered he went out and discovered 5 possums in the coop and our Cuckoo Maran rooster, Coke, lying dead on the floor. He rushed in the house to call me. By the time he got back out to the coop the possums were gone. So we had our first loss due to predator issues. It's a good thing our son passed hunter safety a few weeks ago because he can definitely work on eliminating this large population of predators.

We still have our rooster, Cocky, who is an off-spring of our original rooster, LeRoy. But I am very disappointed about the loss of Coke. I was planning on isolating him with the five Cuckoo Maran hens we have and hatching out more purebred chicks. I love these chickens because they lay very dark brown eggs and it broadens the spectrum of colors of our chickens' eggs. A new Araucana rooster will be coming in early April that I plan to breed with our three Araucana hens for more purebred Araucana chicks, so I still have that to look forward to. Araucana eggs are also delightful as they can range in color from greenish to bluish to pinkish and they are so pretty along side the light brown and dark brown eggs from the other chickens.

I guess I'll have to take a picture of a typical dozen eggs we get so you can see the large color range.

Say a prayer that we get the possums before the possums get the chickens.

Fixing Heisman

Today is the day Heisman was fixed. My friend, Jodi, came over and showed me how to band his tail and his reproductive unit and we gave him his first dose of cd&t. This was all very helpful to me as I had never done it before and soon I will have about 30 lambs to do this for. We plan to keep Heisman as a whether and knew we would not be breeding him. We have a ram for our next year's breeding program and Heisman is not the breed we want in our offspring...although he is darling. So fixed now he is.

How to Start Seeds under Grow Lights

March is FINALLY here. In Wisconsin March is the beginning of starting seeds under grow lights. Today I moved all the stuff out of my storage area and set up my grow lights for my seed starting. For two months I have to find another place to put my extra stuff so I can set up the growing area (it's a good excuse to weed things out of storage as well).

So far I have started many new herbs, celeriac, celery, lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, and onions. By the time I am ready to start the peppers, tomatoes, gourds, and other crops this first batch will be going in the ground.

I have always used regular fluorescent lights in the inexpensive shop light fixtures you can get for about $5 at home improvement stores. I know experts recommend that you replace the bulbs every year, but I don't do this and I've never had a problem getting my plants off to a great start.

I always use Jiffy potting soil and cut expenses in the area of planting containers. Often I cut off milk jugs and use the bottom to start seedlings. Then I take the best seedlings to transplant into small containers (like yogurt cups or homemade paper pots). I also start seeds in the little starting packs that fit nicely inside a liner pan. If you are careful you can save these each year and reuse. Be sure to wash them well and it is a good idea to use a little bleach to disinfect them.

I water the seeds well, then cover with saran wrap. When the seeds begin to sprout I remove the wrap and make sure to water from the bottom (some plants will dampen off if the soil is wet at the base of the plant....yes....this has happened to me, so I know from experience....water from below).

Place the lights as close to the soil as you can and adjust slightly higher as needed when the plants grow. It is important to keep the lights close to the plants! That's really all there is to starting seeds inside. Sometimes I also start a few flats of seeds by a window. I haven't had any trouble doing that, but the plants do tend to get leggier than if they are under grow lights.

Yippee, spring is almost here!

I'm Crazy About Heirloom Tomatoes

Now I know I'm crazy. I went through my seeds this past weekend to start getting organized because it is time to get planting. I went to the garden center yesterday to get my jiffy potting mix and some trays for starting. I planted 3 kind of heirloom onions, celeriac, and cutting celery. In two more weeks I'll have lots more to sow and in a month my basement will be overflowing with seedlings.

About the tomatoes however......I have been collecting seed from my favorite tomatoes, Rose, and Federle for several years. This year I wanted to try other varieties as well, so I ordered more seeds from Fedco, Baker's Creek, Seed Savers, and I got a lot of free seeds from Wintersown.org. Now that I have compiled everything I ordered I see I must have been nuts. Have you ever gone grocery shopping while you were hungry? You know what happens. You buy too much! That is what has happened to me.

I have 27 different heirloom tomato varieties. Now 27 plants is more than most even think to plant in their garden, so having that many varieties is pretty crazy. But we love tomatoes and I usually put in at least 40-60 plants in a normal year. Because we have 7 mouths to feed we need more than an average amount of food to get us through the winter, but this year I am trying to grow almost ALL our food. So with tomatoes that means enough for spaghetti sauce, tomato soup, chili, beef stew, ketchup, juice, and more for an entire year. I will probably plant 100 plants. I guess if I end up with too much the kids can sell the extras at the local farmer's market near us.

Here are the varieties besides the Rose and Federle that I am going to plant.
From Baker's Creek:

• Rev. Morrow's Long Keeper (plant in June and harvest later - keeps through December)
• Aunt Ruby's German Cherry
• Dad's Sunset
• Ananas Noire
• German Red Strawberry
• Millionaire
• Paul Robeson (very excited about this one)
• Hawaiian Pineapple
• Riesentraube
• Carbon (excited about this one too)
• Orange Fleshed Purple Smudge (can't wait to see and taste this!)

From Seed Savers Exchange:

• Black Sea Man (PL)
• Wisconsin 55

From Fedco:

• Cherokee Purple
• PineappleAunt Ruby's German Green

From Wintersown:

• Green Sausage
• Chocolate Cherry
• Speckled Siberian
• Black Cherry
• Tumbling Tom
• Tennessee Britches

From P and P Seed Co:

• Phil's Fantastic (supposed to be very large!!!)

Heirlooms from the local feed store:

• Red Cherry Large
• Red Oxheart
• Brandywine Pink (PL)

Out of all these seeds, the only plants I need to really worry about cross pollinating are the Brandywine Pink, Black Sea Man, and the Rose. Each of those plants is a potato leaf (PL) variety which means that the stigma sticks out of the anther cone. In regular leaf tomato plants the stigma does not stick out of the anther cone so cross pollinating does not readily happen. There is a lot of conflicting information regarding tomatoes and cross pollinating, but one article that I like can be found here.

Based on my own experience growing tomatoes for over 20 years I really haven't encountered any crossing between regular leaf varieties, only potato leaf varieties. So I will follow the seed saving idea of bagging with tulle that I have on hand for the seed I plan to save. I will probably bag the regular leaf varieties that I deem desirable enough to replant again next year just to make sure the seed is pure, but I don't really think it is necessary.

Okay, now you know I'm nuts about gardening, nuts about tomatoes, and just plain nuts. But I'm excited to try these tomatoes!

Heirloom Apple Trees

I plan to graft many different heirloom apple trees this spring. Grafting means that you take a dormant 1/4" diameter branch off a tree whose variety you wish to grow and graft it onto a rootstock. Growing apple trees from seed doesn't give you a very good tree, so people have been grafting fruit trees for a long long time. The cut from the piece off the tree (scion wood) has to match the cut on the root stock and then be sealed with putty and tape so oxygen can't penetrate the cut. I have found some cool videos on Youtube demonstrating this. You can view one here.

The varieties I will be grafting on M26 rootstock are:

Early Strawberry Origin: New York 1800 Ripens: Jun/July Zone: 3 - 6 It is very similar in appearance to another early apple, Early Red Margaret, with the two often mistaken. Fruit is medium sized and often has unequal sides. The smooth, thick skin is light greenish-yellow with fine stripes and splashes of bright red. The tender, crisp, juicy flesh is white and often stained with red when eating.

Oriole Origin: Minnesota 1949 Ripens: July/Aug Zone: 3 - 6 Yellow skin, striped red. Parentage: Yellow Transparent, Liveland Raspberry. An excellent quality dessert or cooking apple. Tree is extremely productive, and extremely to very hardy.

Yellow Transparent Origin: Russia (Europe 1870) Ripens: July/Aug Zone: 3 - 6 Medium to large fruit with transparent pale yellow skin. Crisp, sweet and juicy, but has a very short life after ripening on or off the tree. Often picked in a greener stage for cooking. Excellent for sauce, pie and drying. Bears very young and heavily. Thin for best size.

Sweet 16 Origin: Ripens: Sept Zone: 3 - 6 Uniquely flavored sweet, crisp apple with good storage qualities.

Pink Pearl Origin: California Ripens: Sept Zone: 3 - 6 A pink-fleshed, pearly-skinned apple that is not just a novelty, but a good tasting apple with firm flesh. Tart to sweet-tart, depending on time of harvest. Blooms very attractive. Makes pink applesauce and attractive fruit tarts. An Albert Etter introduction.

Golden Russet Origin: New York prior to 1845 Ripens: Oct Zone: 3 - 6 An old American cider apple, also good for eating and drying, and attractive for a russet. Tree medium to large, fruit medium to above. The sugary, dense flesh of this apple is the essence of the European reinettes.

Melrose Origin: Ohio 1944 (Jonathan x Delicious) Ripens: Oct Zone: 3 - 6 Large, homely fruit with yellowish-green skin streaked red with russet spots. The flesh is firm, coarse, sweet, juicy and creamy white. One of the best keepers of all time, whose flavor improves in storage (best after Christmas). Very good for pie and baking. Should be grown in full sun for best quality, susceptible to scab. Bears well every year.

Golden Noble Origin: England 1820 Ripens: Zone: 4 - 7 Very handsome pure yellow fruit with creamy white flesh and excellent texture. One of the best cooking apples with high acid and an extremely good fruity flavor. Trees are upright, spreading and moderately vigorous. A special garden tree because of the clear yellow glow of the apples in green foliage. Partial tip bearer.

Golden Russet Origin: New York prior to 1845 Ripens: Oct Zone: 3 - 6 An old American cider apple, also good for eating and drying, and attractive for a russet. Tree medium to large, fruit medium to above. The sugary, dense flesh of this apple is the essence of the European reinettes.

Sierra Beauty (This one I ordered the TREE)Origin: California Ripens: Oct Zone: 3 - 6 Large, handsome apple with thin green and yellow skin, striped or blushed red. A favorite apple from Boonville, CA. Juicy, very crisp and tart. A good seller in farm markets and an excellent keeper. The tree is compact.

Hudsons Golden Gem Origin: Oregon 1930 Ripens: Oct/Nov Zone: 3 - 6 Fruit conical, elongated, yellow russet. Perhaps the finest eating russet with crisp breaking sugary flesh and distinct pear flavor. Quite disease resistant to apple scab, powdery mildew and somewhat resistant to fire blight.

Trees I have already ESTABLISHED (had a couple fruits on them last year):

Honeycrisp Origin: Minnesota 1991 (Macoun x Honeygold) Patent #7917 Ripens: Sept/Oct Zone: 3 - 6 Skin is mottled red over yellow. The flesh is very crisp and is excellent for eating. Good keeper - up to 5 months. Topped with McIntosh and Delicious for fresh eating in taste tests.

Gala

NORTHWEST GREENING Nice older tree in my orchard. Similar to Granny Smith in color & flavor. Excellent cooking & pie apple ripening in LATE September - EARLY OCTOBER. Large green apples are crisp, sweet-tart and Excellent keeper. Trees are resistant to blight & rust. STORES ABOUT 2-3 MONTHS. ANNUAL BEARING

Apples Trees and Thinking of Spring

Just two weeks ago we had a false sense that spring was approaching as our temperatures were in the 50s and our snow melted. But.....winter is still here as we now are in the midst of accumulating 7 more inches of snow. One of things I love about winter is dreaming about spring budding forth, summer crops growing and the bounty that follows.

Yesterday I made progress with the apple orchard in a practical way. This summer will be our 8th summer on our 15 acre homestead. Until this past year we really didn't realize the full potential of having a homestead -- primarily because I had 3 more children and there is only so much time. Now with the youngest 3 1/2 it's time to ramp things up. Our apple and pear orchard in the back yard has definitely seen better days. I evaluated that three apple trees must be cut down, another one still has a nice enough base to graft onto, and the rest we'll wait and see another year.

So I ordered 18 sticks of scion wood, 30 rootstocks, and one tree ready for planting. I ordered from Maple Valley Orchard because they specialize in heirloom varieties that are no longer widely grown and also because they are located in a colder zone than I am (hopefully the trees will survive our frigid winters). Tony, the owner, was Sooooo helpful helping me pick varieties and also giving me an education over the phone on successful grafting. I plan to demonstrate grafting with our local homeschool group in April, so hopefully I'll get enough practice on water sprouts and new lilac shoots to get good at it.

The plan will be to get many new trees planted and established. I would also like to set an area aside just for future apple tree propagation . Many of the varieties I selected are for storage (to help with food through the winter) and the rest are for fresh eating, baking, and cooking through out the entire season (June/July through November). I can't wait to get started!

I will list the different varieties I am starting in another post. But for now I'm going to enjoy watching the snow by the fireplace.

Heisman is here!

The past week was a little crazy adjusting to a new little baby around. But he is growing and doing well enough that he will be going out to the barn to stay very soon. He goes out with us to do the chores and I think he is eager to be outside.

Heisman is a southdown ram lamb. Another sheep person didn't have time to care for this little fella, so we took him in. We aren't planning to use him in any part of our breeding program so he will become a whether soon. I didn't really need the extra work right now, but I really wanted the experience of caring for him as we have 17 ewes that have been bred and this is our very first time having lambs. So I figured it would be easier getting experience with just one little guy than when I have 30+ lambs in the barn very soon.

I am learning homestead life as I go. I am fortunate that I have an adventurous spirit and some good friends who are learning as they go too. But sometimes I think it would have been nice to learn these things as I grew up (like my grandma did). You can only learn so much from reading a book. I do better with real hands-on training.

I will certainly be more prepared for my own lambs that I would have been if Heisman hadn't come along. I need to get a few more supplies like stuff for tube feeding and colostrum powder and extra nipples for bottle feeding. SOOO glad I did this!

Raising a Bottle Lamb

It looks like we are going to raising a bottle lamb. I am thinking we will be picking him up tomorrow so that is exciting. My friend knows a friend who doesn't want to keep him, so we will be the lucky recipiants. I'll post pictures tomorrow!

Lamb Leg Red Wine Recipe

We just ate lamb leg for the first time. It was unanimous. We all loved it. In fact I should have taken a picture of it....it looked sooooo good.

I grew up living in the country on a couple acres, but my family never raised any animals other than a pet dog and rabbit. When I think about it I kind of wonder why we didn't.

This lamb leg was small from one of the whether lambs we had processed this fall. When we told our families we were raising sheep, they all said yuck about the meat, but I doubt very much that they ever even tasted any kind of lamb meat. The leg of lamb roast we ate tonight would be considered real gourmet fare. Here is the recipe:

1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1 cup red wine
4 cloves minced garlic
1 t thyme
3 T minced fresh rosemary
a pinch of freshly ground black pepper
1 T extra virgin olive oil

Put all the ingredients into a ziplock plastic bag along with the lamb leg and marinate. I put the lamb in the refrigerator and marinated all day. Before I baked the leg I rubbed it liberally with plenty of sea salt and fresh ground black pepper. I baked it on a small rack in my roasting pan and because I couldn't find anything on-line that was consistent with how long you should cook your roast I cooked mine until a thermometer read 140 degrees in the center. I wanted the meat done a little more than medium rare and I have to say it was perfect. I had a bone-in leg so that usually needs a little more time than a boneless leg. One of the directions I read said to start with a hot 425 degree oven for 20 minutes and then turn down to 300 degrees so that is what I did and I have to say for my very first time I was delighted it turned out so delicious!

Garden Fresh Nutrition in Winter

Want some fresh grown garden nutrition in the middle of winter? How you ask? Simply by sprouting some seeds in a glass container. In the past I have sprouted beans. I love beans. This time I bought a bag of alfalfa seeds to sprout. Alfalfa sprouts are high in antioxidants. It only takes a couple of days for them to really get going, so I think I'll start another batch today and then by the time I'm finished eating these guys the next ones will be ready. If you would like some nutrition information on sprouts you can check out the Good Sprout News.

It's All Too Much on Ground Hog Day

It's All Too Much by Peter Walsh, the professional organizer from TLC's hit series "Clean Sweep, is the current library book I'm perusing. I'm definitely not the packrat that I see in the homes on television, but I do have my own short comings.....namely lots of good books, educational toys, clothing (all from garage sales and on sale), and craft supplies. I guess when you add it all up......it stinks. It doesn't matter how much space I have, I fill it up. I guess I picked up this book so that I don't have to be the army sergeant any more when we have company coming over. And yes.....we do like to have company over. In fact I love to have company over....I just hate the hassel of the last minute hide it routine.

So.....big sigh.....I guess I am like most evey other American I know......we have too much stuff! It's time to purge. I mean really purge. You know, it's not like I can't pick something up at a garage sale if I find I miss it or really want one again. So even though Punxsutawney Phil said we have 6 more weeks of winter left, my spring cleaning has to start today. I will be too busy this spring to do it then.

So on to work! Happy Ground Hog Day!

It's Time to Wake up America!

I accidentally (or maybe it wasn't a coincidence) ran across this web page while I was checking into the safety and reputation of Seventh Generation Cleaners. I clicked on this link that advertised Five Food Films that Deserve an Oscar. Now I have already watched one of these films and ordered one other, but three of these films were totally new to me. I can't wait to order them from the library, or net flix, or I'll purchase them.

When I was first married, over twenty years ago, I gave a donation to a door to door person who was fund-raising for Green Peace. When my husband came home he was horrified that I would give a contribution to such an extreme organization. I mean this organization supports saving the whales and owls. They are tree huggers. They picket and protest. They try to save the planet. Really.....they are doing what we have the right to do in America. But most Americans don't exercise their right to stand up for what is just and what is right. We fear our government and big businesses and as a result big agri-business has taken over our entire food industry with the help of our federal government. They are in the process of taking over the entire world food supply too.

I do tend to have a tree hugging instinct. The basic difference between me and many other tree huggers, however, is that I worship the Creator, and not the "created." I marvel at the diversity and beauty of this incredible world our Lord God created -- every single day. It could be the reflection of the sun off the shining snow, or the incredible palette of colors in a sunset. There are so many marvels each and everyday! But I also feel this deep need to protect and preserve this beautiful world the good Lord has made.

So I would encourage you to watch these Five Food Films that Deserve an Oscar. Not only will you be awakened to what is being hidden from the American people, but I guarantee you will feel the moral outrage that I do that we are being subjected to poisoned food and a one world agenda for total control.

It's time to wake up America!

You're Eating What?

You're eating What? is a lecture by Jeffrey Smith, author of Seeds of Deception, describing why you should NOT eat Genetically Modified Food.

If you eat anything that comes out of a box from a grocery store, chances are likely that you ARE eating Genetically Modified Food. This stuff isn't safe......

Listen here....

You're eating What?

Don't Put That into Your Mouth

Jeffrey Smith, author of several books including Seeds of Deception, and Genetic Roulette has a great hour long audio that tells you how you can live healthier by not putting any GMO foods in your mouth.

Take your health back into your own hands and listen to this audio!

Don't Put That into Your Mouth!

You won't believe how poisoned the American food supply is!!!! LISTEN NOW!!!!

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

If you are looking for an awesome resource for organic, non-treated, GMO-free heirloom seeds look no further than Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. This company has been around for 11 years and what's amazing is the vision of the owner, Jere Gettle. He is a 28 year old young man who sees the need in preserving our world's diversity in foods. Over the course of 11 years he has grown the number of rare seeds his company is helping to preserve to a very impressive amount. I have also ordered seeds from Fedco Seeds and Seed Savers Exchange this year, but I am very excited about the seeds coming from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. They carry many varieties I have never ever seen before (and I check out heirloom seeds all the time).

You may ask yourself why you should consider buying heirloom seeds. After all....seeds at the rack in Walmart are a lot cheaper. Yes, that may be true, but actually when you stop to think... You can save heirloom seeds from year to year, and your only investment is your initial purchase. Which seed is more cost effective? The heirloom seed of course. Plus you get the honor of preserving our diverse food heritage. The cheap seed racks at Walmart really only offer the same old seeds that Mansanto wants you to buy. They don't really want you to know how delicious an heirloom tomato is. Or how flavorful an heirloom bean may taste. If you know this, you might demand that farmers start growing these crops and sell these in the grocery store instead of all the bland veggies that taste like cardboard.

Another reason to grow heirloom crops is for the community it creates. Farmers used to pass their seeds down to the next generation. They would also share with neighbors. Farmers were quite proud of the great qualities they bred into their seeds by careful seed selection year after year. Many communities proudly served their heirloom goods to visitors, and each region was known by the crops they propagated.

Hybrid seeds can only be grown once. The seeds are a result of the cross pollination of two different parent crops. Generally, the off-spring seeds will not run true to type but will rather have traits that are more dominant of one of the parents. Heirloom seeds do not do this. You will get the same off-spring each year. But even more amazing is the fact that careful seed saving year after year can get you a seed that has characteristics you are looking for. For instance if you want a huge tomato....then save the seeds each year from the very biggest tomatoes and after a few seasons your tomatoes will be bigger. If you want an earlier harvest, then save the seeds from the earliest ripening fruit and after a few years your plants will be producing crops a little earlier. Isn't that amazing that God gave us the ability to adapt his seeds by careful gardening without gene altering science?

Why would you want to avoid Genetically Modified Seeds? Well, the only test done in the US for the FDA to make the claim that gene altered food is safe was done by the very company who wants to sell these gene altered seeds and the chemicals that must get sprayed on them for them to work, Monsanto. All other independent companies research has deemed these foods unsafe to eat. Why would the FDA allow this company to sell these seeds then? It's called $$$$$$. The very heads making the legislation in the EPA, FDA, and USDA come from (drumroll please.......) Monsanto. Mansanto and the gov. regulating agencies have had quite the revolving door. Now isn't that a interesting fact?

OK, enough of the rant here. What I really want you to know is that God gave us the ability to enjoy diverse, nutrient dense food through growing and eating heirloom foods and saving our own seeds. Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds is a great place to start.

P.S. Jere was a homeschooler and started this business as a teenager! Gotta love that!

Are Organic Foods Really Organic?

You still need to read the labels on food even when they are labelled organic. The government has tried to allow big agri-business to cash in the ever growing organic food market by lessening the organic food requirements. So even though a package may say organic is may only be made with one organic ingredient. Sometimes it is 70% organic. If you want everything inside the package to be organic you have to find 100% organic. nice....huh? I read the label on everything because I want to know if there are any soy, corn, cotton, or canola ingredients in my item and I want those to be organic. Those four items are the highest risk of probably being genetically modified ingredients. The summer of 2008 was the first planting of GM beets as well, so you can except to find sugar as a GM ingredient in most processed food too. The only way to be guaranteed to get non GM sugar is to look for 100% cane sugar or evaporated sugar cane.

Isn't it nice of our government to not think it is wise to at least give a consumer of choice of knowing exactly what is in our food? (heavy dose of sarcasm here!!!)

So, while there are many very good companies out there trying their hardest to provide you and me with alternatives to the big agri-businesses toxic food products, those big businesses are trying to mislead the consumer with very lax labelling laws. The only reason we still have the 100% organic label is due to consumer DEMAND. I wish there was as much consumer demand for labelling GMO foods. I truly believe you are what you eat.

Food Security In America

Are you concerned about the food security in America?

It's pretty scary.....Almost all of America's cropland is in production with inedible food crops (and it's genetically modified). We are facing serious economic crisis. People are becoming unhealthier and unhealthier every day. What's going on?

As Americans we are eating almost all processed food and have all but forgotten how to prepare our meals from REAL whole grains and fresh produce. Not a box or package that says whole grains, but real wheat kernels that need to be ground fresh. Real oat groats that need to be rolled or chopped. These are REAL foods.

After reading Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver I realized that even though I grind my own wheat and flake my own groats, I have still played my roll in not supporting the very farmers who eek out a living growing REAL food. How many times have I driven right past the vegetable stand or avoided the farmer's market for the convenience of one stop shopping at the grocery store?

One might argue that they are supporting farmers by purchasing produce at the grocery store, but most often that produce has traveled over 1100 miles. What we need to do to build food security and avoid possible food shortages in this country is support our local farmers. We need to go back to eating food that is in season and appreciate it during the season. We need to support the local food producing farmer. In times of need, they, will be the ones to help. Where will they be if we don't support them and they go out of business? Yes, sometimes the food is a bit more expensive, but it is also FRESH, and usually grown without toxins. I believe most disease in this country is caused by the foods we eat. Most of our food supply is toxic and devoid of any nutrition.

If you are concerned about the economy there are several things you can do to help build food security.

• First, plant some food for yourself. Even urbanites can have a small garden and fruit trees. I have been known to plant a garden in almost every dwelling I have lived in--even if it was in a few containers.
• You can keep a couple of laying hens. In most areas of the country people are allowed at least 2 or 3 hens. With very little effort you will have eggs.
• Make friends with country folks who provide fresh food (if not year round with a greenhouse) at least seasonally. Support their farming efforts.
• Eat foods that are in season. I don't think people even know or remember that is what we have done for thousands of years!

I would also recommend that you stop buying as much processed food as you can. This month figure out one convenience food that you can make yourself and do that. Make a lot of it and freeze it so you have it on hand when you want it. Then next month pick another item you can either do without or can make yourself. OR you can find an organic equivalent. By doing this you are not supporting the big agri-buisnesses that have taken over in America. The organics are the little guys...support them instead. The more you learn to do without or do for yourself or purchase locally or purchase organically, the faster we will have food security in America.

What are you willing to do for yourself today?

Feeding Lard to Birds

Feeding lard to birds in the winter can mean the difference between a bird that makes it through the winter and one that doesn't--at least in Wisconsin. I make my own bird food by buying inexpensive all purpose bird seed at the store and mixing it into some melted lard. I then pour the melted lard into a freezer paper lined box. I always save the netted bags from fruits/vegetables to use for bird hangers. Once the lard has cooled and solidified I take it out of the mold and place it into a mesh bag, tie shut the bag and hang it in a tree. The fat from the lard helps the birds in cold weather. Sometimes I add some peanut butter to the lard when it is melted. I also sometimes add broken up pieces of peanuts or dried fruit. You can find lard at the grocery store, but you can also inquire about getting some from a meat processing facility.

What are the Pros and Cons of high frutose corn syrup?

The movie, King Corn, does a good job laying out the pros and cons of high fructose corn syrup. Basically our country is using up all of it's good agricultural land to produce a non-edible genetically modified corn. Over 50% of this corn is used to sweeten soft-drinks in the form of high fructose corn syrup. Have you ever wondered why we have an obesity and type II diabetes epidemic in this country? Could it be because more and more Americans choose soda as their drink of choice? This choice is loading piles of empty calories into our bodies in the form of high fructose corn syrup.

Another large portion is going to feed the cattle who are penned up in huge feed lots. Cattle are not meant to eat grain. They get very sick if they are confined more than 4 months in these pens because corn is all they are fed. Cattle are meant to eat grass and hay. So why are we doing this to cows? Because Americans want cheap food and this is the fastest way to fatten cows for slaughter. Most of this meat goes directly to our fast food market sector (can you say McDonald's?).

Now I wonder.....what would happen to our country's food supply if we had a disaster strike? Farmers are not in the business to produce locally grown food any longer. What would we do? I pray that we Americans wake up to what is happening to our food security and diversity in our country. We could end up with a tragic food shortage. We need to change what and how we eat in this country.

So I would summarize.....there are many more negative points than positive points in supporting a diet high in high fructose. If you doubt me.....just watch the DVD, King Corn, and see for yourself.

I challenge you to do what our family is doing.....boycotting high fructose corn syrup!

Making Chicken Soup with Cooked Chicken

Tonight I will be making chicken soup with cooked chicken. I cooked a roasting chicken last night in the crock pot. I took all the bones after the meal and put them in a pot of water and started boiling them. I let them boil until the liquid was reduced by half (so I probably started with about a gallon of water and cooked it down to about a half gallon). I then added the juice that was left from the crock pot and poured all the broth into Mason Jars and put them into the refrigerator. Today I will skim off most of the fat (I leave some for flavor) and use this in my soup.

To the broth I will add:

• cut up cooked chicken
• diced carrots
• diced parsnips
• diced rutabaga
• minced onions
• cut up celery
• dehydrated parsley
• noodles or cooked rice

and anything else I have laying around that sounds good. You can add pretty much whatever you have on hand (veggies from the freezer are fine too.....like green beans, peas, corn, etc.).

These are just the items that I have on-hand at the moment that I want to use up.

You really don't need a recipe for making chicken soup with cooked chicken. Really all you do is dice the cooked chicken meat, add broth, add vegetables and noodles. Simple!

I always plan 3 meals from a roasting chicken. First I serve the whole chicken. Then I make a broth and serve a soup. If I don't use all the broth for this I save the broth and make a different soup later in the week using the broth....like potato soup. Then I make a casserole type of dish or chicken stroganoff. I love that one chicken (usually 6-8 pounds) will feed my family of 7 over and over.

If you are not feeding so many people you get get even more meals than this. Just put your leftovers into meal size portions and put them in the freezer for real slow-food convenience foods. There really is no reason to resort to bad tasting frozen food from the grocery store when you can easily create your own from scratch with good organic ingredients.

How Long Does Chicken Need to Cook

How long does chicken need to cook? I usually cook my chicken like I cook my turkey.....15 minutes per pound. But I do like to cook at a very low temperature (300 degrees or less) so I usually add a little extra time to my cooking. I generally add a little moisture to my chicken and seal the pot up good with tinfoil so the bird basically steams.

Tonight I served up a whole chicken roasted in the crock pot. I love to serve chicken this way as then I don't need to worry about how long the chicken needs to cook. I usually defrost the bird a day or two ahead of time and it is ready to go in the crock pot in the morning. By evening the meat is ready to fall off the bone and it is moist and delicious.

A few tips in crock pot cooking. I usually put 1/4 - 1/2 inch of water in the pot. Then I put a small grate on the bottom of the pot followed by some tinfoil on which I place the chicken. Sometimes I put celery/apples/garlic/onions etc. inside the bird's cavity. Today I didn't. But instead I crushed some cloves of garlic and mashed them into some butter with a little fresh rosemary and sea salt. I then rubbed this under the skin of the breast of the chicken. I applied a few more sprigs of rosemary and salt and pepper on top and that was it. I turned the crock pot on LOW and let it cook all day. Boy did the breast meat taste great!

I cooked a roasting chicken we raised ourselves this year. The big thing I noticed about how it was different from a conventional chicken was that there wasn't a ton of extra fat on that chicken. After eating dinner I cooked all the bones in a pot of water for stock. I added the juice left from the crock pot to the boiled down stock so I didn't waste a drip of that delicious chicken broth. Chicken broth has great immune building properties so be sure to get all the mileage from your chicken that you can. I noticed that there was very little fat from the broth....a great incentive to raise birds again next year for sure.

Remember, add extra time for cooking if you cook on low temps. The benefit of low temperature cooking is that your meat will be soft and fall of the bone. So that's the long winded answer for how long does chicken need to cook.

Lamb Meatballs

Tonight I am cooking Lamb Meatballs with buttered Spaghetti Squash and salad. This is the first recipe that I am using all lamb meat rather than a lamb/beef combo. It is the second to last spaghetti squash I have left from the autumn harvest. We got to eat several squash, but many of them froze in my breezeway. That was disappointing, but I am hoping that next year they will be stored in my new root cellar. I am forgoing any vacation this year for a new root cellar where I can successfully store all my root crops and apples I grow this year.

Lamb Meatball Recipe

1 lb. ground lamb
2 eggs, beaten
2 T cornmeal
1/4 C oat bran
2 T cream
2 T parsley flakes
1 T paprika
1/4 t black pepper

Combine all ingredients and shape into golf-ball size meatballs.
Coat with olive oil and bake in an uncovered casserole dish at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.
Serve with hot buttered spaghetti squash with freshly grated nutmeg.

What's For Dinner?

Well I've made it through the first real week of conscientiously not eating anything other than what we grew ourselves or organic foods. The only exception is in the vegetable/fruit department. The differing co-ops I visit are rather a distance away, so I have resorted to purchasing a few non-organics in the veg/fruit department. But I sadly see that this must be changed as well. We love potatoes. Now I read that potatoes are one of the most poisoned vegetables on the store shelf....who knew? So I'll be off to buy some organics this week for sure. I am planning on growing those this year.

I also bought some oranges from the store. This is the in-season for oranges, so I'm going to see if I can locate an organic growing and buy some direct. I know this goes against the idea of eating locally, but citrus in the winter is a real treat and a treat can be had once in a while.

The snow is softly falling and I find myself dreaming about what the garden will look like once the snow is gone. The ring, "What's for dinner?" is the common question around here. Happily I can report that we have an abundance of crops and pastured meat tucked safely in the freezer, so dinner is just a few steps away. Tonight I'll serve some organic chopped broccoli and turkey with rice. No I didn't grow the rice, but do purchase this in bulk so as to minimize packaging.

Organics....that's what's for dinner in this house!

Pumpkin -- mmmmm...it's so good!

We just cooked our last pumpkin we had for winter storage today. Chelsea made a pumpkin sheet cake with cream cheese frosting. Wow...was it ever good. No canned pumpkin can hold a candle to the fresh taste of fresh baked pumpkin.

This past year's garden had its share of trouble in the squash and pumpkin department. One of my heirloom squash varieties didn't even grow fruit and many of the vines were spindly. I believe this was true because of the massive amounts of rains we had early in the summer.

It's seed time right now though. Time to focus on the promise of the next harvest to come. Pumpkin is definitely on the list for next year. I love baking fresh pumpkin through out the winter when so many other veggies and fruits come out of the freezer or canning jar. Thank God for His handiwork that gives us such good nutritious fresh food through out the bleak winter months.

Now back to eating......gotta go get another piece!

The More with Less Cookbook

The More with Less Cookbook is my All-time favorite cookbook. It was written by Doris Janzen Longacre who was a prominent Mennonite Woman. There are several reasons why no other cookbook has ever beaten out this cookbook as my all-time favorite. First, the book is written in 1976, and yet, it is as though it was written just today. The condition of the American diet and lifestyle has improved very little over the course of 30+ plus years. In fact it has taken a backslide in epidemic levels. There are relatively few nutritious convenience foods available and convenience is today's key ingredient. No one know how to cook anymore.

Second, the recipes are truly from scratch recipes. You will not find casseroles where you dump in a can of cream of soup here and a packet of seasoning mix there. You find true meals based on whole grains, vegetables, basic meats and healthier snack and dessert recipes.

Third, there is a lot of very informational thoughts on why we need to reduce our consumption and modify our eating habits. Now remember....this was written over thirty years ago. I think Doris would roll over in her grave if she saw where America is today.

Also, there are a lot of tips included through out the book, There are ideas on how to modify or improve certain recipes.....now this is my kind of cooking! I rarely measure, frequently improvise and most often totally reinvent recipes. I think it is the exception rather than the rule when I follow a recipe exactly....I'm not even sure I remember how to do that anymore.

So these are a few of the top reasons this book is my all-time favorite. Check the More with Less Cookbook out of the public library....or better yet....just buy a copy and see for yourself!

Homemade Cracker Recipe

I am looking for a tasty and nutritious homemade cracker recipe. For far too long have I relied on convenience snack crackers. I want to make my own homemade snack crackers for a couple of reasons. First, I can control what ingredients go into these snacks. I will not put ingredients I cannot pronounce into the crackers. I will also not used hydrogenated oils, high-fructose corn syrup or any other potentially hazardous materials....just wholesome fresh ingredients.

Second, this will save me money. The money I save on making my own snacks using a homemade cracker recipe can be turned back into purchasing organic ingredients. This is a double bonus. I get healthier snacks and no possible hazards from those wholesome ingredients.

The first recipe I am going to try is from the cookbook Hopkins' Healthy Home Cooking published by Diane Hopkins. This is my second all-time favorite cookbook when looking for healthy tasty food. The recipe, Graham Crackers, is on page 39. It seems easy enough. If the kids love them I will probably bake dozens and dozens and then put them in the freezer for my own slow food "fast/convenience food."

Snack food is my greatest hurdle to cross in moving to an organic diet primarily because snack foods are expensive and organic snack foods are doubly so. So if I can get an array of snack foods my kids love and I have them in abundance, I will not need the crutch of convenience foods.

Okay.....off to cook!

How to Keep Chickens Warm in the Winter

This is my second winter raising chickens. We have had very cold sub-zero weather here in Wisconsin, but my chickens seem to be happy in their coop. I wasn't sure how to keep chickens warm in the winter when I first started. The coop is fairly large and we have over 30 birds, so we hung two heat lamps above their roosting areas. They seem to prefer to roost up above these lamps in the rafters. The coop is not insulated, but I believe that their body heat and the heat generated by the thick bedding that is increasingly building up in the coop helps keep the coop at a comfortable temperature.

I thought perhaps we would need to add some insulation to the outside of the building as the cold weather approached. Last year we did this, but they pecked at the insulation that they could reach. So I determined we would only add it if it seemed necessary. I don't think we'll be needing it...they seem pretty snug.

I had a friend from church ask me how we set things up. He wanted to know how to keep the chickens warm and if we were getting eggs. I told him about our heat lamps and the double benefit they provided. The light from the lamp gives the chickens' bodies the daylight hours required to continue laying eggs through the winter (we are getting about 2 dozen/day). The heat from the lamps seems to be doing a decent job of keeping the chickens warm enough.

We tend to not clean out the bedding over the winter. We just keep adding more layers. The bedding in the bottom starts to decompose like compost and generates heat. This helps heat the coop and definitely helps insulate the coop.

There are two windows in our coop and I really thought that they'd create too much draft, but I truly think if anything......the building could use extra ventilation for the birds. It's kind of a catch 22 for these critters. They love fresh air and being outside, but it is just too cold when it is just above or below zero.

Training for How to Grow a Vegetable Garden

I am in serious training for how to grow a vegetable garden. It's not just any vegetable garden. This is the type of garden that will provide almost all food for an entire year for a family of seven. So....I'm in training. Training to figure out exactly how much of each vegetable to grow, how will each crop be stored for future use, what kind of heirloom varieties to grow, and so on. There is a lot to sort out and decide upon. Then planning the schedule for starting seeds, transplanting, direct sowing, rotating crops, companion planting, and so on.....

I get tired just thinking about it all.

But there is something inspiring about planning the next years' garden in the dead of winter. The thoughts of delicious tastes one can only experience by planting a garden at home. The joy of propagating seeds that the big agri-businesses want to see vanish. The joy of being self-sufficient in a time where corn is King.

I started my training for how to grow a vegetable garden by reading several good books. One book I can highly recommend, Animal Vegetable Miracle, by Barbara Kingsolver gives you a good idea on why you should grow vegetables of your own or buy them from a local farmer's market. I have a book on growing vegetables in Wisconsin. I'm sure you can find a book specific to your area. I use Suzanne Ashworth's book, Seed to Seed, for information on how to save seeds for my plants. I have several books on how to put foods into storage (dehydrating, freezing and canning). I read seed catalogues galore for growing tips and general information.

Most of my seeds have now been ordered. I ordered seeds from Fedco and from Seed Savers Exchange. I am only growing heirlooms this year and many of them are becoming quite rare, so I plan to save seeds from everything I grow this year and offer them next year to others through Seed Savers. Of course this means keeping good records, so I need to add that piece to my experience.

I don't know if I'll ever be done training for how to grow a vegetable garden. I do think there are new things to learn every year. I suppose I'll always be in training. But I do know that I am a lot further ahead today than I was when I was younger.....so practice does make perfect (not that perfection is the goal). I'm more of a journey or experience oriented individual rather than an end-product kind of person. But it is exceedingly joyful to delight in the fruits of your labor.

Time For Change

It's time for a few changes in our home and lifestyle. To date....I have always been very much interested in good nutrition and health. From the time I was young I loved to cook and read cookbooks for fun, knowledge and adventure in good eating. I was the first person in the family to eat or make whole wheat bread. Whole wheat pizza dough was a foreign concept, but was relished with delight. In deed, pizza dough was the only beneficial use for whole wheat flour. How was it that I could have been raised on white Sunbeam bread? So I sojourned through life filtering out the education I received in cooking and nutrition and have since adopted new politically incorrect information. The results?

Everything I once believed to be true about nutrition and our government regulating agencies that are "supposed to look out for the welfare of the American people" is untrue. The regulating agencies: EPA, USDA, FDA have revolving doors with the big agri-businesses and the policies that are supposed to be made for the benefit of the health of our country and its people are only policies that benefit big agri-business. So great is the corruption in our government that our country is face with illness in epidemic proportions.

So what kind of changes do I intend to make immediately. For starters.....I will not buy anything that contains high-fructose corn syrup. Almost all the corn produced in this country is Genetically Engineered. That means that the very corn itself is considered a pesticide/herbicide. Why would I want to eat that? All studies performed outside of Monsanto have been discredited and only the Monsanto studies are used by our government regulating GE crops. Since when do we allow a company with a financial gain to do the studies? Outside peer reviews on these studies show that the studies were lax and were not searching for anything negative. Why would they want to prove that GE crops are unsafe? It wouldn't benefit their company. Indeed, most countries now believe that these crops are very unsafe to eat and are watching the people in our country get sicker and sicker like researchers watching rats in a laboratory experiment.

What is a replacement for high-fructose corn syrup? Sugar. But buyer beware......Genetically Engineered beets hit the market this year and since most of the sugar used in processed foods and candies comes from beets you aren't safe there either. Now you have to look for cane sugar....frustrating isn't it. Perhaps the time will come when the entire food supply is contaminated. It will be if people don't do something about it. At least if Genetically Modified foods were labelled we could make a choice, but since our government won't give us that choice, we have to make the only choice we can....go organic.

Soy is the other big no-no. Most of the soy produced in our country is also Genetically Engineered. I wonder how many Americans know that 70% of our food supply is contaminated with Genetically Modified foods. I know I didn't until recently and I just happened to stumble upon this information with a lot of digging......it's not in the mainstream media....that's for sure.

Third.....no rBGH. That means reading labels labels labels and calling companies. I will only buy milk if I know the company can tell me no growth hormones are used. That means all dairy.


So what is a person to do? Well, for me it means taking advantage of buying clubs, co-ops, and other health food stores. I wasn't as fanatical about organics before even though I grew a lot of my own organic food and organics are important to me. But......now I will only buy organic dairy, soy, cottonseed, corn, canola (don't like canola anyway which is another story, but if something is fried in it, it has be organic). That means no more shopping at the local grocery for the most part as most of those do not have any organics (or very little).

The inspiration to each more local fresh foods is increasing with each page I read in Kingsolver's Animal Vegetable Miracle book. Investing in good nutrition and good health is much easier than forking out money to doctors and insurance companies for illnesses that probably could have been avoided in the first place. I have always thought "you are what you eat." I totally embrace that statement even more now.

The government is not going to take of you. The only person that is going to take care of you is you. You.....that is the place to begin change. This does change my thinking.....so what do I feed my kids? That means no more go-gurts, animal crackers, happy meals....wow, this is extreme.

I'll be sharing recipes that I build over the course of the next year that will become the nutritional counterpart to these fast convenient unhealthy snacks. I have always loved to cook and I love to cook from scratch (the more extreme sort of "from scratch" that most people can't relate to), but I have relied on quick conveniences like crackers, sweetned yogurt cups, sweetened canned fruits, and such. Now....to find replacements....and fast....the kids are starving!

Stayed tuned.....recipes to follow.

Animal Vegetable Miracle

I'm currently reading Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. I love this book! It is a one year journey of one family resolving to only eat food that is grown within a 100 mile radius from their home. I am enjoying watching as they eat the bounty of food grown in season and food grown by organic farmers/gardeners. They also dehydrate, freeze or can foods for the winter season when fresh food is less available.

This is such a radical concept. No more driving through the fast food lanes for meals. It requires thought and a certain amount of planning. This may seem like "work" to some, but it seems like a fun challenge to me. I don't think I will pass a farmer's market or vegetable stand again without thinking about the effort that individual went forth to bring those fresh goodies to market.

How about it? Can you eat local? Try it for a day. If it didn't kill you....then try for a week. You never know.....it could become a new healthy habit.

PS Read the book! It's a great story!

Ways to Simplify Life

Are there ways to simplify life? I find, especially now, right after the holidays that I am inundated with more stuff than I know what to do with. Yes....there are ways to simplify life. It's called getting rid of stuff.

My mother thinks that my housecleaning standards are way beneath hers. She feels that she has failed me as a parent as I was not properly trained to keep a "neat as a pin" house. I do not recall, however, growing up with all the stuff that my children have. We have boatloads of books, toys, disks for computers, DVDs, clothes.....you name it, we have it. I know I am not in this predicament alone. Every mother I know is faced with this same predicament. The scary thing...I know we have less stuff than most of the people we know. So what's a person to do? Simplify.

There are ways to simplify life. One way is to get rid of stuff. Get rid of the stuff that is stuffed in the back of your drawers, closets, basements, garages, etc. Just get rid of it. I recently read an article that talks about the hidden costs of too much stuff. It's worth the read....you can read it here.

Another way to simplify life.....just don't buy stuff. You don't really need more stuff do you? Stay away from the mall, throw out the sales fliers, don't read magazines that contain ads, turn off the t.v. These are just a few practical ideas of ways to simplify life. I'm sure you have a few more. Please leave your ideas in a comment.

Victory Homestead

Victory Homestead.......

This new term transcends the old fashioned Victory Garden. A Victory Homestead provides more self-sufficiency to each individual who develops one. A Victory Homestead does not need to be limited to growing only a garden. You may find a few chickens laying colorful eggs, a milking goat providing rich, nourishing milk, a compost pile used for replenishing the garden soil, a beehive providing abundant pollination, fruit and nut trees, or a host of other items that contribute to a diverse environmentally friendly ecology.

Today's fast paced, fast food culture is only a few generations removed from where knowing where our own food comes from and how it is produced. Providing for one's own dietary needs is a completely foreign concept. But we can take back the power we have given to big business by turning back the time of hand and providing for our own needs once again. This can be accomplished when individuals create their own Victory Homesteads.

While a Victory Homestead may be a homestead with a few acres in the country side, successful Victory Homesteads may also be situated right in the midst of urban sprawl. These urban homesteads make the most of the space available to them. An excellent example of an urban Victory Homestead can be found here. This is living proof that you do not need a farm or acreage to be self-sufficient.

In fact, sometimes I find myself even thinking....if only I had more land.... More land? What am I thinking? I need to utilize what I do have. Only until I do that would I possibly need more land. And trust me....it's going to take a long time to fully utilize the land on my little homestead.

Victory Homesteads have the ability to not only feed the owner, but also produce enough for others. If many individuals adopted the concept of Victory Homesteads, we would revolutionize our country, we would empower individuals and take the power away from big business, we would feed the hungry, we would be healthier, we would use less of our limited resources.

So what's preventing you from beginning your Victory Homestead today? Take a few small steps to begin the process today for a brighter tomorrow. You can't eat an elephant in one bite. Start with one bite at a time.