BobbleHead Owl Suburban Homestead

This is Goodbye

2010-05-27T07:46:00.001-07:00

Didn't I just say I was going to come back to this space? Hm. Well. My heart just isn't into it, in part because all of my focus right now is going into getting things up and running for our homeschool in the fall. Thanks to those of you who read and commented during the duration of this blog.

If you'd like, you can come visit our homeschooling efforts at With the Wisdom of Owls.

Peace be.

Use What You Have: Maple Seeds

2010-04-29T18:08:00.000-07:00

(Sorry, no pics with this post, just to see how it feels.)

Now, I have mostly a lot of love for Mother Maple, she who graces our backyard and fair skin with copious amounts of dark, cool shade and provides us with feather soft autumn leaves in which to plunge our lazy bodies. But. BUT. In the springtime, I find it a bit difficult to appreciate the... blatant fecundity of Old Mama Maple. There isn't one spot on our property (I exaggerate not) that isn't blessed with the bearing of one of Mother Maple's progeny. In other words, I end up weeding a whole heckuva lot of maple seedlings from my garden.

Only now... Now I know. Now I know how to beat Mama Maple at her own game. Tonight found me hanging lazily from branches and scaling that rough, shaggy trunk of hers to gather those green little whirlybirds. And then? And then I ATE THEM. Yes I did.

I'll admit, this is one of those situations where, in caloric terms, I'm not sure the end justifies the means. It took a loooong time to split the husks off of each of those little seeds. This is very slow food we're talkin'! You get a big pile of green husks and a little itty bitty pile of food. Still, there're going to be fewer maple saplings to remove from the garden this year...

In regards to preparation:
-Break off the green outer husk (they're still edible if the hulls are brown, but I've read that they get bitter at that point)
-Snack on a couple to see if they're sweet enough or if you have to boil off the tannins
-If bitter, boil and dump the water. Repeat until bitter taste is gone.
-Otherwise, boil until tender (mine took ~15 minutes).
-Season with salt, pepper, and/or butter to your fancy.
-Ingest.

I have no experience with this, but you can also roast them or even dry the seeds and ground them into flour.

In regards to taste: I actually preferred them raw. The larger seeds seemed to be more bitter than the smaller ones. It's best to get 'em young, I guess. I boiled some, and they were good but quite bland. I salted them and smothered them in butter. All in all, for free food, it was good!

I'm Baaaaack!

2010-04-09T11:37:00.000-07:00

And you all thought this blog was going to be forgotten forever... SURPRISE! (The real surprise will be if anyone is still out there... LOL!)

The truth is that the "homesteading" bit got to be a bit too much for The Husband, so for the sake of marital harmony I kind of scaled back my efforts for the past year or so. It definitely helped my state of mind that I had a new baby last spring. That made it much easier to allow the garden to go, run to the grocery store for pre-packaged tripe rather than spend the summer canning the produce that was never grown, and generally let things run amock. I won't say it hasn't taken its toll on me, but I dealt with it. Now I feel that things are back to a somewhat more stable state of equilibrium. I have come to a better understanding of The Husband's needs, and he has come to a better understanding of mine. Oh, the difference a year makes...

Now is the time to get back into the swing of things. Most things will be shifting ever so slowly, with baby steps here and there, but there are some very big changes coming as well.

For one thing, we've finally come to an agreement on the matter of homeschooling. This is HUGE, people. Just huge, because The Husband was adamantly opposed to homeschooling for, well, always. I'll be writing more about this later for certain.

Also, I'm right at the beginning stages of some major house renovation. Can you believe that we've lived in our home for nearly five years now and have yet to hang a picture or paint a room? Yes, it's true! There have been changes to the house, but most of these were a matter of "we need something to function right now" rather than making this house our home. Again, upcoming posts will talk a bit more about these changes.

Anyway, I do indeed have some things to share, so stay tuned!

Use What You Have: Strawberry Leaves

2009-06-04T21:22:00.001-07:00

The strawberries here are done and gone. We did actually get a few this year, but the birds and rabbits got the majority. I think I want to pot them up next year, but that's a discussion for another time. What we're talking about today is not the yummy, juicy, ruby red berries of yesterday (can you tell I miss them just a little?). What we're talking about now is the LEAVES.

Once the plants have fruited, I move right on to harvesting the leaves. Most people say that the leaves are most flavorful when the plant is in bloom, but you can (and I do) harvest them all spring and summer. They get bunched and dried and, for the most part, made into tea. It does, surprisingly enough, taste quite a bit like the berries, which means it's y-u-m-m-y. It does, of course, have added health benefits (iron, vitamin C, calcium, and other minerals). I'm finding that it really helps to boost my milk production, very important in these early months of nursing.

As with any summer tea (lemon balm and mint are among other summer favorites), I like to drink it iced. I've also been using it to make popsicles for the kids.

Homesteading Legos

2009-06-01T14:26:00.000-07:00

We went to my in-laws' house this past weekend since we didn't get out there for their Memorial Day celebration. It rained, so we were stuck inside. The boys decided to dive into my brother-in-law's old Legos. Not to be outdone by their spaceships and boats filled to the brim with guns and lasers, I spotted a horse and inspiration struck!

There's a rain barrel, windmill, compost bin (actually a treasure chest) and garden (they had only one plant, so use your imaginations here, folks!). The work horse is there for manure, of course. ;)

I'm SO pitching this to the Legos people... :P

What's Blooming in My Garden-- June 1, 2009

2009-06-01T06:37:00.001-07:00

The buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) cover crop is coming into its own and beginning to pull in the beneficials.

Two species of Stellaria here. On the left is Stellaria graminea, otherwise known as Lesser Stitchwort. On the right is the much more common and far tastier chickweed (Stellaria media).

A second unidentified peony (Paeonia spp.).

Here you can see the lesser stitchwort growing under our front maple. That's Annie's hand in the background to give you some idea of just how teeny tiny the flowers of this particular herb are.

Still blooming from last week: raspberries, onions, chives, sage, unidentified yellow flower.

Rabbitnip

2009-05-29T06:59:00.000-07:00

My poor, poor catnip.

Apparently, cats aren't the only critters who love catnip. I walked out to the garden a few days ago and noticed that my catnip, which has flourished unscathed for the past three years, was nearly gone! My immediate thought was to heap the blame on the neighborhood felines who frequently climb our privacy fence to hunt in our yard, but later that day I was standing at the backdoor and noticed a little ball of fur by the devastated catnip patch. Long ears, twitching nose, cute little cottontail... It was a rabbit! I've rarely seen them in our garden, but we always find bunny prints in the backyard snow during our winter nature walks. They've never bothered the catnip before though. It must have been a particularly lovely crop this year.

Buns love catnip. Who knew.

Rain Romp

2009-05-28T06:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was far too rainy for gardening, so:

LOVE warm springtime rains...

Hot Peppers

2009-05-27T06:30:00.001-07:00

Last year, my pepper crop was a dismal failure. I think I got only one measly pepper from the few plants that actually germinated, so this year I decided to add a little something to my scheme and see how the plants reacted. Unfortunately, our gardening budget for this year has been maxed out. I had to think of something for less than cheap... something free.

My version of the cloche: repurposed baby food jars. Don't mind the wonky spacing. In real life, they are actually evenly spaced, but the camera was at a weird angle.

I was hoping that my improvised cloches would provide enough heat retention that I 'd get a higher germination rate and faster growth of pepper plants than I did last year with no added protection. So far, the germination has been quicker but not higher. I'm leaving the jars over top of the seedlings until they outgrow them. We'll see how it goes.

Not Alone

2009-05-26T08:24:00.000-07:00

I really didn't have any plans for Memorial Day yesterday beyond cleaning the house. (Can you believe I'm STILL decluttering this place!?) The Husband was working overtime, so the kids and I were on our own. Right away, though, I knew this day was going to be better than I'd planned...

About 8am, I walked onto our front porch and heard chickens clucking. I honestly thought I was going crazy, so I called the kids away from their play and asked them if they heard it too. Annie, my ever-attentive nature girl, heard what I heard. I suspected my neighbors on the other side of the street (I've long admired their garden) but didn't have the nerve to knock on their door at 8 in the morning. Callie spent the rest of the day clucking every song she sang. LOL!

Later on, I noticed the woman of the house I suspected of hiding the feathered friends planting some flowers out front, so I gathered the littles and headed her way. Apparently channeling Ned Flanders, I said something like "Excuse me, Neighbor" as my ice breaker. Yeah, I've been cooped up in this house alone for FAR too long. She was polite regardless as I awkwardly asked her if she was keeping chickens. I didn't want her to think I was going to be some nasty neighbor telling her that I was annoyed by their clucking or something.

Anyway, she confirmed that they had seven chickens and a duck in their backyard, Buff Orpingtons and Rhode Island Reds. I forgot to ask what type the duck was. I was astounded! I've been living here for nearly 4 years now and had never noticed this before! Neighbor invited us to go around the back and look at the chickens, so we did. Annie was especially thrilled with them, as I knew she'd be. We only stayed a minute or so, then headed back home because we were setting every dog in the neighborhood to barking.

I suddenly don't feel so alone.

What's Blooming in My Garden-- May 25, 2009

2009-05-25T06:10:00.001-07:00

Happy Memorial Day everyone. Be safe and keep our brave ones in your hearts.

If you thought I had it all figured out in my garden, you'd be wrong. I'm not actually sure what this flower is. It showed up right next to my lavender, and it's too pretty to pull.

The first flowers of sage (Salvia officinalis) in my garden. These blossoms are on a three-year-old plant that I started from seed. Yes, I'm a proud mama! :)

These lily-of-the-valley (Convallaria majalis) actually bloomed last week, but I forgot to photograph them because I'd cut them all and brought them indoors. They are one of the few flowers in my garden that I almost always cut because the scent reminds me of my grandmother.

Still blooming from last week: raspberries, onions, chives.

2 Months Just Flies By...

2009-05-20T16:30:00.000-07:00

I could not be more in love.

What's Blooming in My Garden-- May 18, 2009

2009-05-18T12:21:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's that time of year again. Time to start recording what's blooming when! Here we go...

One of the unidentified peonies (Paeonia spp.) planted by previous owners. I couldn't adore them more! The smell is divine and can permeate my house even after the blooms I've cut and placed in a vase have returned to the compost pile.

The blueberries (Vaccinium, sect. Cyanococcus) are in bloom! Now we just wait patiently...

The latest bloomer of all the random tulips (Tulipa spp.) previous owners scattered throughout the garden beds. This one is nestled right beside a blueberry bush because it had previously been so shaded by the overgrown bushes I removed to replace with the blueberries that I didn't even know it was there. This is its first year blooming since I've lived here.

Star of Bethlehem, Ornithogalum umbellatum, which is enormously prolific here in my garden, also planted by the previous owners. They now grow beneath the raspberry bushes.

Raspberry (Rubus spp.) blossom. A homely flower which begets a gorgeous berry.

Bloomin' onions (Allium cepa)! I left these onions, planted last spring from seed, in their bed overwinter to see what would happen. Here's the result.

The purple, globular flowers of the common chives (Allium schoenoprasum) always make me smile. Such a soft, delicate bloom for a robust smelling herb. These are third year chives which have bloomed for the first time this year because I commanded that Annie not eat them completely to the dirt this spring.

Okay, okay. I didn't grow these. These blooms were my Mother's Day gifts, one from my husband and children and one from my best friend. I'm not much of a cut flowers type of gal, but it's always good to know someone cares. :)

Free Labor! (or Dave, You'll Have to Suffer Through More Ugly!)

2009-05-15T19:07:00.000-07:00

Nothing I love more than something for nothing. Did that make any sense? :)

I'd been on the fence for a long while (like, over a year... you all know I'm a Virgo, right?) about what to do with the Spiraea fronting our bungalow. They were here when we moved in, but there was always this very awkward gap between the bush right next to the steps and the rest of the hedge. When we had our fence put in, I tried to transplant two of the Spiraea's that were in the back of the house into that gap, but they promptly died on me. I don't think I got enough of the root. Those suckers were HUGE and well established. So, the gap stayed. And stayed. And stayed. And drove me nuts.

But one day, one fine and glorious day when I realized that the rest of my yard and house were in shambles because of my indecisiveness, I made a decision. *enter the heavenly chorus* I posted my Spiraea to Freecycle. If they'd dig 'em up, they could have 'em.

Before:

After:

All the twiggy looking stuff you see there is mown English ivy, the bane of my garden. And yes, I'm still frantically trying to convince The Husband that ripping off that dreadful dun-colored aluminum siding would be a good thing.

I got an amazing number of willing volunteers and actually had to hold specific bushes for people. It was pretty crazy!

Do I have any regrets? No. Well, okay, maybe one. Nearly every house in the neighborhood has these same bushes somewhere on their property, so I kinda feel like I'm outta the club or am breaking some sacred neighborhood vow of unity. But then again, every house in the neighborhood has these same bushes. The truth is, these bushes were taller than me, which made it very difficult and dangerous for me to try to trim them. The Husband sure wasn't gonna do it. Oh, and those bushes collected garbage like you wouldn't believe. Never OUR garbage of course. Just whatever was tumblin' down the street on those fine blustery days here in good ole O-H. You wouldn't BELIEVE the amount of trash I found lurking under and behind them. They really look their best when they can run wild and free too which just made our house look sloppy. Their blossom laden boughs were always gorgeous, but I'd rather have something useful there (and there will be something useful there... someday).

I have big plans for the space, but they won't get done this year. I've bigger fish to fry, as always seems to be the case with old houses and young gardens. I'm okay with that though. I finally made a decision in under two years! It's a miracle!

And did I mention that I got people to dig out my pain-in-the-rear bushes FOR FREE!?

More Neighbor Troubles

2009-05-13T21:34:00.000-07:00

All winter I was researching and drooling at the prospects come this spring when the white mulberry tree on our property burst into all its fruited gloriousness. Alas! There shall be no white mulberries for me this year and probably not for several years to come.

Why, you ask?

Because the neighbors on the other side of me (not the neighbors with the foul kennel) decided to chop down half of the humongous white mulberry tree at the back of our property before mysteriously vanishing from their home. Here's what it looks like now:

Why they cut down only the top half of the tree is beyond me. It is already beginning to put out some new branchlets (no, I don't know the technical term), so it will need to be cut again someday. Um, over my dead body.

Goin' to the Dogs

2009-05-12T17:04:00.000-07:00

Last summer's garden

Believe it or not, I AM putting things in the ground this year. I didn't really know how much I'd actually get to with such a new babe around the homestead, but I decided to take it in slow, small increments and see how I fared. I'm trying to get one bed planted a day, and it's been going well (not counting the rain... oh! the rain!). I am truly the sort of dame that revels in having her hands (and feet and knees and face) dirty, so it's been blissful tying the baby to my back and setting about my work in the garden. Unfortunately, there's one thing ruining it all for me.

Dog poop.

And I don't even have a dog.

For whatever reason my neighbors, whose yard is actually smaller than my teeny yard (you can see their house in the picture above), decided to get not one, not two, not three, but FOUR dogs. Whaaa? They got a puppy last year shortly after they moved into the house, and the poor pup spent all his time outdoors in the kennel come rain, shine, snow, hail or whatever. No dog house. It was dreadful. Now they have all four of the dogs in the kennel! Everytime I go out to do my garden chores, I am beset by the foul fecal smell of those animals. Now, I love dogs. I may be a cat person, but I love dogs too. But come on! Four medium-sized dogs in a kennel meant for one? And no poo cleanup!?

In a neighborhood as closely packed as this one, there has to be a little consideration for your fellow human beings, don't you think? I mean, I asked them before I decided to bring bees onto the homestead, and I nixed the idea because my canine-lovin' neighbor is allergic. Where's the love?

On The Fence

2009-05-06T19:32:00.001-07:00

Annie climbing our privacy fence on the first warmish day of the year in February.

I'm on the fence about this blog. I love having a place to come to to talk about... whatever, but I also feel a little bit silly putting my stuff out there sometimes. There may be no reason for it, but it's the truth. Should I also mention that I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by life in general since the addition of baby #4? Oh yes, I am. The Husband was home for only one week before he had to return to work after the baby was born, so I've been flying quite solo with this one. Sure, I'm an old pro by this point. I swaddle without thought, breastfeed in marathon fashion, and know exactly how well I function on less sleep than you can imagine (the twins took care of that my first time around). Still, it's been quite an adjustment, this wee little babe. Did I mention here on the blog that I was diagnosed with Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction during the pregnancy? No. Fun. At. All. Unfortunately, it hasn't completely disappeared either. I still get a moderate amount of pain on a regular basis, and laundry day KILLS me.

All that said (and, sorry, but I needed to say it), there is a good reason for all of this pain and adjustment:

That's her! My beautiful new daughter, Bea (not her full name). And no, though I love the name Beatrice, that's not her name either. :) I didn't get the birth I wanted (still trying to come to terms with that too!), but she's here, and she's healthy. Oh, and I can't stop kissing her. And smelling her. And rubbing my cheek along hers. I'm totally in love.

Welcome to the world, baby girl. We're so glad you're here!

In Case You Haven't Noticed...

2009-02-14T16:06:00.001-08:00

I'm taking an extended blogging vacation. Maybe I'll be back, maybe I won't. The combination of being nine months pregnant and the month of March (always the most depressing month for me) has just got me... down. Nothing big, but I have absolutely nothing to write about. Time for me to hunker down, force myself to prepare those last bits for the baby, and just keep moving forward.

Thanks to all of you who have read this blog. I will miss you.

The Great Backyard Bird Count

2009-02-12T14:52:00.000-08:00

For those of you interested, don't forget that The Great Backyard Bird Count starts tomorrow!

The First Greening

2009-02-11T07:29:00.000-08:00

Here in Ohio, we know that the warm temperatures are probably a temporary thing. There's likely to be another big snow or a batch of freezing rain or some other weather phenomenon to send us slinking back into our warm homes. Still, I can smell spring in the air and am reveling in the little bits of green beginning to poke through. So much to look forward to...

Primula poking through the leaf mulch

Moss in the fairy garden

New leaves sprouting on the Quinault strawberries

Come back to me green! Oh, how I love thee!

Menu Plan Monday

2009-02-09T07:10:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I forgot to do my Menu Plan Monday post last week! I'll blame it on pregnancy brain and a sick 5-year-old. ;) We're getting ever closer to D-Day here, so I'm making extras with every meal and popping some into the freezer. Only 6 weeks to go!

Monday: Breakfast-- Cheesy Scrambled Eggs on Buttered Toast
Cinnamon Applesauce
Dinner-- Spaghetti with Meat Sauce, Mixed Greens Salad

Tuesday: Breakfast-- Banana Pancakes
Dinner-- The Husband's Choice

Wednesday: Breakfast-- Baked Oatmeal
Dinner-- One-Pan Chicken Dinner

Thursday: Breakfast-- Breakfast Burritos
Dinner-- More-Peas-if-You-Please Penne

Friday: Breakfast-- Chunky Monkey Oatmeal
Dinner-- Chili and Romaine Salad

Saturday: Breakfast-- Apple Cinnamon Muffins
Dinner-- Yummy Broccoli Soup and Homemade Bread

Sunday: Breakfast-- Baked Oatmeal
Dinner-- Homemade Pizza

You can check out what everyone else is eating over at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Those Elusive Snow Faeries!

2009-02-05T06:46:00.000-08:00

I've been trying all morning, quite unsuccessfully, to get a picture of the dazzling snow effect taking place in front of our house this morning. There is no new snow falling, but the wind has taken to blowing about a very fine dusting of the snow that has until now been blanketing our roof. I think the sun was a bit jealous of the play taking place between wind and snow, and so he decided to add his own element, causing every single snowflake being blown about to sparkle in the most ethereal way. As soon as I opened the shades this morning, I gasped and ran to get the children thinking that this phenomenon might be short lived. It's been going on for hours, though, and we've all been pressing our faces unflatteringly against the windows to absorb the beauty of the day. When the bus comes to pick up Annie girl, the two of us will swirl about and pretend we're snowflakes too.

I apologize for the pause in posting here. As usual, life intercedes. Airius has contracted strep throat and an ear infection, so I've been busy playing nursemaid. This is the first ear ache any of my kids have ever had, and I'm glad that I caught it right away. I had chronic ear aches as an infant/child, as did my brother, and I remember the agony that such a thing can cause. One of my most comforting memories involves laying my aching ear against my aunt's very pregnant belly (at her bidding, of course) and just absorbing all that life-giving heat. I think I fell asleep there. Airius has been partaking in the same luxury here, but his unborn sister isn't quite as accomodating as my cousin was. She squirms and kicks all day long, so there are only very short windows of time where it's comfortable enough for him to rest on my belly. We have other warming, comforting things for his ear of course, but what could be better than skin-to-skin contact with Mama?

Into February

2009-02-02T06:51:00.000-08:00

(Photo taken last February)

Today is a holiday for us, but there will be more posting about that tomorrow (hopefully). I just wanted to send out a reminder to everyone that February is National Bird Feeding Month.

Birds are a vital part of the homestead, whether it be urban or way out in the country. These beautiful feathered creatures are the natural predators of many of the insects that gardeners consider pests, but they're also plant pollinators, though they leave the limelight of that subject to bees and bats. If you're a wildcrafter, birds are often responsible for the spread of wild plant species, especially berries. If all that isn't enough, birds are just plain mesmerizing and relaxing to watch. They are often the centerpiece of therapeutic gardens for those with Alzheimer's, Autism, and other diseases or disorders.

The children are already keeping their eyes open for that first robin of spring, though I'm sure it's still at least a month or two away. For now, we delight ourselves with the songs of the mourning doves, sparrows, and starlings. And oh! That dash of red as a male cardinal darts in to pick at the sunflower heads we've hung out for them... Gorgeous.

For more information on the proper way to feed birds and attract them to your yard or homestead:

The National Bird-Feeding Society
Audubon at Home
Wild Bird Feeding Industry

Stovetop Popcorn-- Frugal, Fast, and Fun

2009-01-30T12:59:00.001-08:00

We're still just buried in snow here, and we've been having fun with it. A kid gets thirsty? They open the back door and scoop some snow into their cup, take it to the table, watch it melt, then drink all that cold goodness down. Somehow, water always tastes more magical when it started as snow, don't you think?

Along with our free and fairydust-imbued drinks, we decided to pop some popcorn on the stovetop. The truth is, Mommy hasn't been out to the store in nearly two weeks now, so we were running low on "snack foods." We've been keeping popcorn in the pantry though, so out it came! Heather did a wonderful tutorial on stovetop popcorn over at The Simple, Green, Frugal Co-Op (the rest of that post is wonderful too!). I know that it sounds as if it takes a lot more time and effort than popping a bag of kernels in the microwave, but it really doesn't take much time at all. I use bacon grease to pop ours in and test to see if the oil is hot enough by dropping in just one kernel. When that single kernel pops, I pour in enough popcorn to cover the bottom of the pan with a single layer of kernels, usually about 1/2 cup. This 1/2 cup of unpopped kernels makes enough popcorn to split into two batches for my three littles.

Which saves me from having to head to the store for yet one more day. ;)

There are a million and one recipes for jazzing up your popcorn. Just type "popcorn recipes" into search engine and you should be able to find something to suit any occassion. I grew up in the land of bland popcorn though, so we don't add anything at all to ours. The bacon grease alone gives it enough flavor to suit us (well, except The Husband).

Can anyone guess what we'll be munching on while watching the Superbowl? :)

Snow Day

2009-01-27T18:21:00.000-08:00

The snow is piling up yet again. On top of the previous big drop we got, we are expected to have up to 11 more inches of accumulation by tomorrow. This is the perfect situation for spotting the tracks of wild (and not so wild) critters out of doors. They're all out there gathering the last bits of what they can scrounge from the cold, frozen earth. It's amazing how they always seem to sense the changes in weather, isn't it? We spotted the tracks of birds (probably sparrows), squirrels, and even a rabbit. I'm hoping we get very lucky with some raccoon tracks tomorrow, but we never seem to find them, even when I spots the raccoons in our neighbor's garbage the night before. Tricksy, tricksy beings they are!

Other snow day antics:

Playing round after round of One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Go Fish.

Drinking more hot chocolate than is probably good for us.

Keeping our hats on indoors to stay warm.

Cuddling Papa (aka The Furnace) to stay warm.

Making watercolor art for the kids' rooms, thanks to Amy's inspiring post. We didn't have any contact paper, so I just used clear tape to make the initials.

Menu Plan Monday

2009-01-25T20:08:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately, I didn't get to make most of the dinner dishes from last week's menu because two of my littles got sick, and when my kids are sick there's only one meal that they'll have: homemade chicken noodle soup. So that's what we had for dinner Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I did manage to sneak the Tortellini in Broth with Escarole into their bowls, but none of the kids would touch the escarole. I thought the dish was delicious though! If you can't find escarole or just want a substitute, spinach or nettles would be wonderful.

I'm sure Monday at least will be another chicken noodle soup day, but here's the plan for now:

Monday: Breakfast-- Cheesy Scrambled Eggs on Buttered Toast
Cinnamon Applesauce
Dinner-- Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Tuesday: Breakfast-- Walnut Pancakes
Dinner-- The Husband's Choice

Wednesday: Breakfast-- Baked Oatmeal
Dinner-- Pork and Green Bean Stir-Fry with Rice

Thursday: Breakfast-- Breakfast Burritos
Dinner-- Roasted Chicken Breasts with Carrots and Onions

Friday: Breakfast-- Chunky Monkey Oatmeal
Dinner-- Chili and Romaine Salad

Saturday: Breakfast-- Raisin Oatmeal Muffins
Dinner-- Spaghetti with Meat Sauce and Italian Salad

Sunday: Breakfast-- Baked Oatmeal
Dinner-- Homemade Pizza

Don't forget to join us for Menu Plan Monday!

Let It Snow (In My Garden)!

2009-01-20T19:57:00.000-08:00

Lavender sustaining itself through last year's snow.

It is still snowing a bit here, just a few scattered flurries to top of the inches already on the ground, and that's just fine by me. For the cold climate garden, snow really does have its benefits. We'll ignore the horror of collapsed greenhouses or blacked out cold frames for now, mainly because I don't have either (heh!), and concentrate on the good points. 'Kay?

As I see it, snow has two wonderful upsides. The first of these is its insulating properties. Snow isn't just a poetic, metaphorical blanket. It really does provide protection to the soil. While I do typically mulch my beds, snow is always welcome added insurance that the roots of my trees, shrubs, and other perennials will not freeze. Without snow, all that cold seeps right into the ground. Soil can freeze to amazing depths and cause plenty of damage to both flora and fauna, but just a couple of inches of snow cover is usually enough to prevent the most significant and damaging soil freezes. A couple inches of snow can also be especially beneficial to small compost piles, acting as an added layer to aid in the continuation of the thermal process happening within.

The second benefit to snow cover is the added moisture. This can be both a blessing and a curse, depending on just how much snow you get and the annual precipitation of your area overall. In my garden, it's best if the snowfall takes place in the earlier months of winter, specifically November, December, January, and early February. This provides more time for the inches and inches of moisture provided by the powdery white stuff to incorporate itself into the soil. Yes, we still have wet, mushy springtimes, but they generally don't last quite as long as they do when our snowfall happens after early February. This earlier moisture absorption allows me to work the soil just a bit earlier. When the snow comes in March and April, as it did last year, it can be as late as June before the soil is really workable. No fun at all.

In the compost pile, it's always important to control moisture. By the end of summer, my compost pile is usually getting pretty dry, so I'm eager for the snow to compensate later on. I deal with the possibility of a waterlogged pile by building all of mine with rounded tops, allowing the moisture the run down the sides. If topped off in the autumn with a "brown" layer (I prefer shredded paper), that will suck up the moisture that your pile needs. The rest of the melted snow will soak into the bottom layer of compost and the soil around it. If you don't build rounded piles, you'll need to ensure proper drainage in your setup so that the excess moisture from inches and inches of snow doesn't soak your pile.

Honestly, I can't imagine a winter without snow. Even if it wasn't beneficial to my garden, and that argument can certainly be made, there's just something magical and oh so gorgeous about it. For me, snow makes winter complete.

Frugal Babywearing: How to Carry a Baby in a Bed Sheet

2009-01-20T00:01:00.000-08:00

(Video from Magic City Slingers Blog)

Babywearing may be all the rage now, but it's hardly new and really, truly does not have to be expensive. A simple bedsheet will do in a pinch, as the video above shows you. It'll take some practice, but nothing more than the Moby Wrap or the Ultimate Baby-Wrap Carrier requires.

The "carrier" featured in the video does not require any sewing, but if you'd like to get a little more tailored with your bedsheet:

Sling Article and How-To
Karma Baby's Sling Pattern

And if you've already got mini-mamas at home, like me:

A DIY Child's Pouch Sling @ Chasing Cheerios

Oh how I'm looking forward to the days of having a baby snuggled against my chest... *sigh*

First Menu Plan Monday

2009-01-18T19:29:00.001-08:00

One of my goals for last year was to begin planning our menus to cut down on grocery costs, junk food purchases, and pantry nonsense overload. It's really transformed our grocery bill, and I love the stress relief that comes from not having to hunt for something to make each meal. This year, I thought it might be fun to participate in I'm an Organizing Junkie's weekly Menu Plan Monday event. Not only might I pick up a few new, yummy recipes or menu planning tips, but I hope to pick up a few new friends too!

So, welcome to everyone that is visiting from the Organizing Junkie's blog. Please feel free to comment! I can't wait to see your menus.

Just a note on my menu method: I will include breakfast and dinner items, but not lunch. We generally eat leftovers for lunch, so there's no need for me to plan for it. If there are no leftovers (happening a little too often with this pregnant mama around *ahem*), we have either harboiled eggs with whatever fruit/veggies are available or peanut butter sandwiches with aforementioned fruit/veggies.

Monday: Breakfast-- Cheesy Scrambled Eggs on Buttered Toast
Cinnamon Applesauce
Dinner-- Cheese Manicotti and Romaine Salad

Tuesday: Breakfast-- Banana Pancakes with Peanut Butter
Dinner-- The Husband's Choice

Wednesday: Breakfast-- Baked Oatmeal
Dinner-- Tortellini in Broth with Escarole

Thursday: Breakfast-- Cheesy Scrambled Eggs on Buttered Toast
Cinnamon Applesauce
Dinner-- Pork and Green Bean Stir-Fry with Rice

Friday: Breakfast-- Chunky Monkey Oatmeal
Dinner-- Roasted Chicken Breasts with Carrots and Onions

Saturday: Breakfast-- Apple Cinnamon Muffins
Dinner-- Chili and Romaine Salad

Sunday: Breakfast-- Baked Oatmeal
Dinner-- Homemade Pizza

Thrift Tip:

2009-01-16T08:38:00.000-08:00

Even thrift stores have sales!

The key to taking advantage of these sales here in Marion (and probably other small towns as well) is to make regular visits. I try to make a thrift store trip once a week during my regular grocery shopping excursion. Will I miss some sales this way? Certainly, but I'm okay with that because I'm shopping when I need something, not just for the sake of shopping. If you're an eBayer or just enjoy looking for deals, you'll want to stop by a couple more times in the week.

The sales for my local stores are posted inconspicuously on the interior entrance doors of the building, for example, "All purses 25% off." There are almost always sales right before the holidays as well, just like any other retail outfit. I've called all the thrift stores I know of here in Marion to ask if they had periodicals or newsletters or any other form of notifying customers of their promotionals, but I got a "no" from all of them. The lady I talked to at Goodwill, in fact, insisted that they do not run sales because of their "everyday low pricing," but I happen to know that isn't true. Instead, I'll keep stopping by and pay attention to the postings.

If you're in a large city, you may be able to find sales postings for your local thrift stores online because these stores have more sales competition, but even many of these large retailers have no outside promotional postings.

Keep your eyes open!

I Love...

2009-01-15T14:34:00.000-08:00

Neighborhood kids who will shovel a pregnant woman's walkway for free. A blessing indeed!

Out in the Cold

2009-01-14T13:32:00.000-08:00

Snow on Echinacea seed heads

There are only 69 days between now and my due date. I'm hard at work during the day feathering my nest and shouting out frustration at how slowly things are going. Why can't I decide on curtains for the bedroom? We need double doors on our closet for real efficiency! How am I ever going to fit two girls into one room, let alone three!?

My nights, on the other hand, are spent in fierce debate with The Husband over where, when, and how to have this baby. Not exactly what I'd planned to be doing at this point, but it needs to be done. I'm doing my best to keep a positive attitude and an open heart, knowing that regardless of the details, this baby will be born and will be loved. And I will recover. Slowly or quickly, I will recover.

Seed Catalogs

2009-01-13T08:40:00.000-08:00

Nothing excites a gardener's passions quite like seed catalogs. I think I've actually trembled a bit when pulling the first catalog of the season from the mailbox. This season, the first to arrive was Pinetree Garden Seeds, which arrived well before December. When I first started gardening, I requested every seed catalog I came across. That equates to... a hell of a lot of catalogs and a hell of a lot of waste. I quickly found that I needed to slim down my selection, not just to prevent the waste that comes from having stacks of glossy paper sitting around, but also in order to help keep my seed buying habit on budget and narrow my selection choices. Who can decide what to buy with 50 catalogs full of seeds, plants, and merchandise to choose from? Not me. The fruit and nut tree catalogs were apparently my attempt at masochism because I just don't have room for a large variety of trees. The flower catalogs were pretty to look at, but most of the flowers that I was interested in were edible, dye, or medicinal flowers that I could find in other catalogs, so they were a bit redundant.

After gardening for a couple of years and refining my garden plans, I now receive only four seed catalogs in the mail:

Pinetree Garden Seeds-- They often have choices for plants that I can't find elsewhere.

Seed Savers Exchange-- An amazing source of heirloom seeds for vegetables, herbs, and flowers. Their organization is on an incredibly important mission, and it's so vital for gardeners to support their work.

Bountiful Gardens-- Founded by John Jeavons who wrote the wonderful How to Grow More Vegetables book. Bountiful Gardens is a non-profit that helps to support Ecology Action, teaching people around the world how to feed themselves using sustainable (and often culturally important) methods. Their publications are extraordinary, and they have a pretty good selection of medicinal herbs.

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds-- Again, they are a rich source of heirloom seeds with a gorgeous catalog. I've been on the fence about this one for a couple years, debating whether or not to stop getting this catalog, but it's just so dang perdy!

In addition to these catalogs, I also frequent Horizon Herbs online catalog. I don't get their paper version because I usually know exactly what I want with herbs and it's usually the variety closest to the wild herb.

I'm still looking for a great local (non-Monsanto based) seed source, so if anyone has any suggestions I'm open to them! Don't forget that trading seeds with other local gardeners is always a fulfilling and informative way to vary your seed selection.

What is your favorite source of seeds and what made you choose them?

Yummy Broccoli Soup

2009-01-12T00:01:00.000-08:00

Yes, I'm the worst food photographer ever. I promise to work on it if I'm going to keep posting food pictures.

Anyway, I promised my lovely readers that I would post a good recipe from my ventures into Rachael Ray menu planning land, and here is my favorite so far: broccoli soup. I actually made this recipe in early December when the weather here was still mild and broccoli was still readily available. Some of you with greenhouses or in warmer climes may still be able to make this with fresh from the garden veggies, but I'll have to wait until the spring broccoli crop comes in. My mouth is watering just thinking about it! I didn't make many changes to the original recipe really, but I like a potatoier soup (how's that for making up new words?), and I didn't have any shredded Swiss on hand so I had to adjust things a bit.

Broccoli Soup (adapted from Every Day with Rachael Ray)-- 4 adult servings

2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 large onion chopped

salt and pepper

4 small yellow-fleshed potatoes, finely chopped (I didn't peel my potatoes, though the original recipe calls for it)

1 bunch broccoli, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup heavy cream

3 1/2 cups water

In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, season with salt and pepper and cook until softened and transluscent, stirring often. Add the chopped potatoes and 3 1/2 cups water and bring to a boil. Then lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Next, add the broccoli, cover, and cook just until the broccoli is tender, about 7 minutes. Remove half of the soup to a blender and puree; recombine with the other half. Stir in the shredded cheese and then the cream. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve warm.

All in all, it took me about an hour to prepare this soup. Not bad at all. I garnished the kids' bowls with extra shredded cheese and served it with crusty bread (not the "Ham-and-Swiss Toasts" included in the Every Day menu plan because I have an extreme dislike of mayonaisse). Next time, I may puree the portions for the 5-year-olds completely. They are a bit put off by broccoli. The 2-year-old was no problem though, and she happily dipped her bread in and chowed down. I had a much larger bowl than I should have for dinner and an equally large bowl the next day for lunch. The next time I prepare this soup, I think I'll double the recipe and see how well it freezes.

Message Beans

2009-01-09T11:47:00.000-08:00

Sometimes you come across something that is so... different that you just have to share it. Has anyone else seen the SMP Bloom in a Can Message Bean? I'm not really sure how I feel about this one. I certainly wouldn't spend $14 on a single bean plant or a greeting card, but it's still kinda cute. Maybe. Something about a laser carving into a seed makes me cry a little inside. Yep. I'm weird like that. At least it's organic. Not sure about the cans. It looks like the lids may be plastic?

What do all of you think?

Changin' Up the Menu

2009-01-08T17:32:00.000-08:00

One of my goals for awhile now has been to vary our lunch and dinner menus. The Husband is an extremely picky eater, not to mention the two 5-year-olds I have to cater to. Oh, did I forget the toddler? She's actually the easiest to please if that gives you any indication as to what I'm dealing with here. Seriously, my husband only eats pizza, plain cheese burgers (that's just meat and cheese), a touch of spaghetti with meat sauce, lasagna, or manicotti, and the occassional sub sandwich. It's not exactly bliss for my palate. I remember those days long, long ago where having pizza each Friday night with my mom and brother was awesome, and I never seemed to tire of it. Now, if I never see another pizza in my life, it'll be too soon. Par example, when my mom died, The Husband and I stayed with my step-dad and brother for about two weeks to get everything settled. Daniel ordered a pizza from Tiffany's every single day for lunch and dinner. (Best pizza in Monroe, Michigan BTW, if you're ever in town...) The first couple of days my step-dad and brother found it a bit odd but were game. After five days, they were wondering why I was with this guy. :-) They thought for sure he'd give up after one full week of pizza, but no...

But I digress. I was talking about our current menu. Being in my third trimester now, the tomato-based diet was absolutely killing me. The heartburn... Ugh. So I decided to look around the web and see what other people were eating, how they planned their menus, etc. Eventually, I decided to take the super-duper-uber-easy way out and use the weekly menus put together at Every Day with Rachael Ray. Some of you will know her from her 30-minute Meals gig. Not all of the dishes in the offered menus can be prepared in 30 minutes, but I'd rather have slow food anyway. As I looked around at the menus, they did a fairly good job of keeping things seasonal, and most of the ingredients are already in my very limited pantry. If I have it, I bet you do too!

Unfortunately, as easy as the dishes have been to prepare, they haven't all been big hits around here. Not by a long shot. The first recipe we tried was the Pumpkin Ravioli with Toasted Pumpkin Seeds. I traded the wonton wrappers for homemade ravioli following Rhonda's tutorial, and as I was rolling out the pasta dough sans pasta machine (yikes!) I kept thinking how many of these ingredients could be homegrown and/or homemade. A few chickens would cover the eggs, pumpkin puree is simple enough, even I've done toasted pumpkin seeds before, cream and parmesan cheeses can be homemade even by folks without their own dairy animals, and the butter could at least be home churned, right?

And then I took a bite of my ravioli. The ravioli that took me hours to make. And it was DREADFUL. I barely choked down one entire ravioli and couldn't manage a second to save my life. It wasn't the pasta part. That was good and light, even being hand rolled. The filling though? Blech. It was like I cut open a pumpkin and started chowing down. I like pumpkin, but this was a bit too much for me. Perhaps I didn't cook the ravioli long enough, though they were all floating when I began spooning them out. Needless to say, the kids wouldn't eat it either. I think The Bean ate one or two raviolis, but that was it.

I'll admit that after all the time I spent on this dish, I almost gave up completely on the Every Day menu. Very luckily, though, the very next day produced a meal as fabulous as this one was horrid. But that'll have to wait for another post. ;-)

Toy Review 3: Melissa and Doug Wooden Bear Family Dress-Up Puzzle

2009-01-07T07:41:00.000-08:00

Ahhhh, the last toy review. A family member purchased this Melissa and Doug Wooden Bear Family Dress-Up Puzzle for Callie. Some of the Melissa and Doug stuff I really like, some not so much, but this one is pretty great. It doesn't have any of the plastic pegs in the pieces as some wooden puzzles do. All three of the kids like to play with it, claiming a bear for themselves and acting out imaginary scenarios. Each bear in the family has several facial pieces to choose from, each with its own expression. This adds a little something beyond the normal mix-and-match clothing puzzles that I see so often, and Callie really gets a kick out of it!

My favorite thing about this puzzle is that the pieces store in a sectioned box onto which slides the puzzle base as a lid. No more hard, wooden puzzle pieces to step on or lose! You can just pop this baby on a shelf and go about your day.

I'd recommend this for the toddler and pre-kindergarten set. The head pieces are choking size, so don't buy it for the toddler who is still prone to sticking things in their mouth.

Overall rating (out of 5 stars): *****
Affordability: *****
Educational value: ****
Durability: *****
Ease of use: *****
Versatility: ****
Environmental Friendliness: ****
Fun: *****

A (Nearly) Happy Ending

2009-01-05T15:52:00.000-08:00

Today was back-to-school day for the twins. At 2:30pm or so, I got a phone call from the school asking if I could come pick up Airius because he was running a temp of 102 degrees Farenheit.

I pulled into the parking lot and waddled my way through (yeah, that's part of being firmly planted in the third trimester of pregnancy) only to be greeted at the sidewalk by an eager little kitten. In the busy Head Start parking lot. You know, where the buses that couldn't possibly see a kitten drive and park. Yikes. But I was on a mission to retrieve my ailing son, so I sidestepped the kitty with an apology and headed into the building.

A few moments later, I was towing two children by their hands towards the front door and was contemplating whether or not to mention my feline run-in with them when, both at the same time, Annie and Airius began the tale of their morning entrance into the school... complete with how their was a "cute little kitty" (Annie) or "scary, poisonous cat" (Airius) running around the parking lot that their teachers warned them not to approach because it might bite or scratch. Just as I lay my hand on the knob to enter once again the sea of asphalt, a Head Start administrator poked her head around the corner and said that if I like cats, I could do them a favor and take the parking lot kitten home. Apparently, she'd called the Humane Society but was told that they do not do pickups. I smiled and told her I probably wasn't her woman, but, well...

Back out to the parking lot we went, and the scary, poisonous, cute, little kitty trotted up to us once more. It was then that I noticed he wasn't walking perfectly on his hind legs. He looked a little shaky all over, in fact. Oy. If I wasn't in love with the little guy before, I certainly was once I knew that he really needed help. I'd noticed him sniffing at the rainbow pools scattered about the pavement. Maybe he drank some antifreeze? Perhaps someone hit him but not hard enough to kill him? I got the kids into the car, all the while trailed by our little buddy. I couldn't help it. I had to call The Husband and do a little groveling. He was so friendly that he must belong to someone. I'll just put out a found ad for him, I assured The Husband. No go. We can keep him just a few days in a comfy bed out of doors until I find someone willing and worthy to take him. Still an emphatic no from my other half. I could at least transport him to the Humane Society. No no no. "There are hundreds of stray cats out there. If you bring one home, you'll want to bring them all home. NO!"

Sigh. By this time, the kitten had taken a couple of tries at crawling into my minivan, despite its shaky, uncooperative limbs. On its third try it succeeded, at which point Airius let out a pealing scream and begged me not to take it home. That smart little cat scrambled from the van at the racket but waited just outside, staring woefully at me. Sorry kitty. Not today.

Kitty and I weren't the only ones upset. Annie was rather peeved that Daddy hadn't given into my pleas and was very worried that the kitten would be hit in the parking lot, or would freeze to death, or would starve because he hadn't had any food. I promised that none of those things would happen. I would find someone to go pick the cat up. And if I couldn't manage that, I'd use all my womanly nagging powers to whittle down The Husband's resolve. Muahahahaha!

Back at the homestead, I tucked Airius onto the couch with a new book to read, and Annie and I headed next door to our neighbor's house. It was probably a long shot, but E. and J. had brought home a couple of kittens right around Halloween, so I thought it might not be too late to add another. And, hell, what's one little kitten to a woman who cares for herself, a boyfriend, six kids, a dog, two kittens, a few hermit crabs and an unknown number of fish, right? I was in luck! They were looking for another kitten for J's oldest son, and J's as much of a sucker for a sob story as I am. She was without transportation though, so I straightened my spine and told The Husband I'd be driving J. and two of her kids back to the Head Start building to pick up the cat. J. had a carrier and some canned food as a bribe, but I assured her there would be no trouble from the little guy. He was eager for a human (or 8) to call his own, I knew.

And so unfolded the easiest cat catch ever (uh, approach cat, pick up cat, point cat towards carrier and watch as he walked in of his own accord and greedily gobbled the canned food). All that was left was to name the little fellow, and J. gave the honor to Annie. "Sunny" it was to be. And off to the vet he will go, it was promised, on Wednesday. Let's hope for a promising prognosis and that he gets along with the other kitties already in residence next door.

I love a happy ending.

A Photo Mosaic to Ring in the New Year (Meme)

2008-12-31T17:02:00.000-08:00

1. Growing Pains, 2. Julia Ormond (of whom there was no photo, apparently), 3. Pregnancy, 4. Feeling at Home, 5. Auld Lange Syne, 6. Homebirth, 7. Columnar Apple Trees, 8. Inner Peace, 9. Blissful, 10. A Greek Olive Grove, 11. Domestic Bliss, 12. Family of six

The answers to these questions are above:
1. 1. Looking back on 2008, what might the theme have been?
2. If 2008 was a movie, who would play you?
3. What was your greatest gift of 2008?
4. What is your New Year Resolution, or, what are you committing to this year?
5. If January could be represented by one song, what would it be?
6. What do you wish for your body in 2009?
7. Name one new thing you would love to try in the New Year.
8. What do you long for 2009 to bring?
9. If that happened, how would you feel?
10. Where would you love to vacation in 2009 if money were no object?
11. What would you like the theme of 2009 to be?
12. If 2009 was a book, and the title was 5 words or less, what might the title be?

To create your own New Year's mosaic, type the answer to each of the 12 questions in the Flickr search page, choose a photo from the first page of search results only, then copy and paste the URL of the photo into the mosaic maker. Don't forget to adjust the number of rows and columns in your mosaic to accomodate all 12 photos. Et voila!

Thanks to Suzie for sharing this with her readers and inviting them to join in!

Most of all, have a wonderful, wonderful New Year, readers. :-)

Toy Review 2: Disney Princess Super Playhouse Tent with Lights

2008-12-31T08:27:00.000-08:00

Picture from toysrus.com

Next up comes the toy with the absolute worst rating from us. This is a toy that will be returned for sure. I'm not sure where this was purchased because it was bought by a family member for Annie. Let's first put aside the whole Disney princess character debate, okay? Okay. Thanks. The real problems with this toy have nothing to do with its nourishment for the young girl's soul.

All right, all right. In the interest of staying positive, I will say that Annie was thrilled when she got this. Though we already have a playhouse type thing, she is much more into castles than she is into cottages, so we acquiesced and opened it despite my distaste for duplicate gifts. The thing is humongous and can fit all three of my kids comfortably for a little tea party or refuge from attacking skeleton armies (I'll let you guess which scenario belongs to which child's imagination).

Now onto the cons. My first and biggest complaint is that the tent just doesn't work. The poles (plastic, of course) are meant to be inserted into channels in the fabric shell, but almost all of the poles are about an inch too long to fit into the channels! This means that they cannot be secured by the velcro flaps and slide out with just a bit of jostling by the children, forcing the roof to collapse. I looked online at various sites to see if others had this problem, and they had. In fact, this product got only 2 stars on the Toys 'R' Us website. There were also poles to expand the turret rooms, but the channels for these were actually sewn shut on our particular playhut.

The problems mentioned above are easily and cheaply solved (wood dowels cut to size, paring down the plastic poles, etc.), but when you pay $50 for an item, there shouldn't be any immediate need to fix things, right?

Did I mention that the playhouse actually requires batteries!? There are LED lights around the doorway of the castle, apparently "for safe nighttime play" (toysrus.com again). So... polyester shell, plastic skeleton, battery-powered LED lights, foreign made... not the most eco-conscious toy on the market.

I would absolutely not recommend this product to anyone.

Overall rating (out of 5 stars): *
Affordability: ***
Educational value: **
Durability: *
Ease of use: *
Versatility: ****
Environmental Friendliness: *
Fun: ***

Toy Review 1: Quadrilla Marble Railway Basic Set

2008-12-30T13:38:00.000-08:00

So, the gift-giving holidays of 2008 are over. Phew! As usual, between us, their grandparents, aunts, and uncles, the kids got more than they asked for and more than they needed. Some of it was wonderful and some of it was... well, returnable. I thought that over the next week I'd give reviews of some of the best and worst gifts given to our children, not to brag about what they got, but as a guide to my fellow parents out there.

First up is one of the best toys: the Quadrilla Marble Railway Basic Set. This was actually purchased by me for Airius (on sale through Oompa Toys) after reading every review I could find online. Airius loves to work with his hands but still lacks the fine motor skills needed for writing, drawing, and many other creative endeavors, so I thought this might be a nice step up from the typical building blocks that he's been playing with for years.

My favorite thing about this product is the endless learning opportunities it provides. Each block has its own specific function, so it requires some problem solving skills and a basic grasp of gravity/physics to form an effective marble run. The manufacturer provides a guide with building instructions for several fun configurations, but my kids almost immediately wanted to go into uncharted territory and make their own setups. Awesome!

My biggest complaint about the Quadrilla is that it is touted as being a wooden toy, but there are actually plastic parts to it. Each of the wooden blocks has a small plastic ring at its junction point, and some of the blocks have other plastic bits to guide the marbles. The wooden pieces are beautiful, though, and the blocks are dyed in water-based stains. A lesser complaint is that the structures are a bit delicate once they're set up. It's relatively easy to knock things out of whack while sending down a deluge of marbles, which of course makes the marbles go everywhere, but as long as things don't get too rambunctious it usually stays intact. There are plastic sets that lock together more securely if you don't mind the tradeoff of plastic versus wood. The occassional diversions are great learning opportunities, if you ask me, requiring the kids to slow down and troubleshoot their structure to figure out just where things are going awry.

There are many add-ons for the basic set that can be purchased to keep your child's imagination growing. We haven't yet tried any of these or shown them to the kids because I'm trying to discourage "collector mentality," but we will be keeping them in mind for later gifts if the kids seem interested.

Overall, this is a product I would highly recommend to other parents. Even today, nearly a week after it was opened, all of the kids are enjoying this toy. The Quadrilla is much, much more expensive than its fully plastic counterparts, as is to be expected, but I think the extra price is worth it.

Overall rating (out of 5 stars): ****
Affordability: ***
Educational value: ****
Durability: ****
Ease of use: **** (recommended for the 5 and up crowd especially)
Versatility: *****
Environmental Friendliness: ** (they get docked extra for misleading advertising)
Fun: *****

Almost Post-Holiday

2008-12-27T09:00:00.000-08:00

Two holiday visits down, one more to go.

This is the first holiday when we haven't had some huge catastrophe putting a pall over everything. No deaths, no huge family feuds, no major problems with the house or cars. Phew! I managed to get myself well in time for Yule, but my Annie girl got very, very sick a couple days before Christmas. She had to stay home from the revelries that took place with The Husband's dad's side of the family, and she was actually happy about it. That should give you some idea of just how miserable the poor kid was. I'm hoping she's well enough to go the The Husband's mom's side tomorrow.

We even managed to get the ornaments on the tree!

I've had a billion and one posts lined up but haven't managed to get to actually putting them together and publishing them between my own illness and Annie's and the general chaos that surrounds this time of year. Hopefully, I'll get back on track soon.

I Can Almost Breathe Again

2008-12-12T16:22:00.000-08:00

I have been ill since November 1st. It's getting old. It hasn't been the same illness continually, but one thing right after the other. Has it really been weeks since I've posted here!? Yikes.

As much as I've tried just muddling through, getting things done, it hasn't really happened. For example, our Yule/Christmas tree has been up for a week, sans ornaments. All of the decorations are still in the attic. I could go on an on about the frustrations that have come up and the number of things of my to-do list that haven't been done, but today is the first day that I can actually move without feeling like I'm pulling taffy, so I'm just going to keep moving forward. One step at a time. Things will get done or they won't. I may be kicking myself later, but right now, through bouts of hacking and shivering, I'm just doing what I can.

At this moment I can do laundry, so I'm going to. Joy!

Product Review: Knifty Knitter Long Loom

2008-11-24T19:11:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks before her birthday, Annie had a sudden interest in knitting. I have no idea where it came from, since she hasn't seen me knitting anything, but she was very insistent that I go to the attic and find my supplies. I only have one circular needle, however, and it's a rather small gauge. I was afraid it'd be difficult for her, so The Husband and I went on a search for a beginner's knitting kit. Instead, we came across the Knifty Knitter by Provo Craft. Annie said she wanted to knit a scarf, so I bought the 19" long loom. I also bought some pink, fuzzy clearance yarn.

She wanted to get started right away after opening the loom on her birthday, so we opened it, and I quickly went over the instructions with her. It was immediately apparent that the yarn winding was a bit confusing for her, but she really loved doing the hooking. The real surprise was that Airius loved it more! We ended up knitting as a team of three with me weaving the yarn on the loom, Annie hooking one row and Airius hooking the second. Before we knew it, we had half a scarf done!

I felt the biggest negative of the product was the amount of plastic it involved. The loom itself is plastic, as well as the hook handle, needle, and all packaging. If you're trying to avoid plastic in your life, it's best just to skip the Knifty Knitter and try your hand at regular needle knitting.

Another negative is that for even a mediocre knitter like myself, the loom is soooo much slower than needles. I'm sure I could have whipped the scarf up in an hour or two with needles, but even without helpers it took much longer on the loom. It does do away with having to count stitches though, definitely a plus. Provocraft.com has plenty of Knifty Knitter projects to expand upon the very simple knit project given with the loom, so at least there's a certain amount of versatility. Unfortunately, there are several different looms in various shapes and sizes that may be needed for any given project. You can't just buy one and complete every project on their site.

I don't think it'll be long before Annie and Airius both can do the entire process by themselves, so the product is probably appropriate for most children 5 and up.

Overall rating (out of 5 stars): ***
Durability: *****
Ease of use: ****
Versatility: ***
Environmental friendliness: *
Usefulness: **

Church of the Old Mermaids is on Amazon.com!!

2008-11-20T19:17:00.000-08:00

Just when I was feeling uninspired, unamazed, and ready to hibernate through the winter, my favorite author, Kim Antieau (whom I know I've posted about before on here), has self-published her book Church of the Old Mermaids. I mentioned the Old Mermaids back here when I talked about our garden "seashells", but I've been following the stories for some time through the blog. These stories are... beauty in words. Beautiful words. I don't know, but I know what I like when I read it.

I feel my tail sprouting. Must. Go. Splash into this book. I hope that some of you will join me because I know the journey will be well worth it.

Homemade Gift (Kinda Sorta)

2008-11-19T09:57:00.001-08:00

Annie absolutely cannot stop drawing and crafting. She wants to do it all day long, every day, and she brings at least 5 drawings or projects home each day from school. For her birthday, then, I decided that she might appreciate her very own art box. This way she doesn't have to ask me to get the crayons for her (which are put up because a certain 2-year-old has covered every single downstairs wall with doodles), and I got to introduce some new craft items to her that have been stored in my cache.

In total, this gift cost about $20 because there were a few items that we don't generally keep on hand in the house that I wanted to add especially for her. The box itself is actually my old Caboodle that I kept my makeup and accessories in as a teen. In the box we have:

3 craft punches (dog, cat, and paw print for my little animal lover)-- From my scrapbooking stash

Mini stapler-- Bought new for use in making her own booklets

Large eraser-- Gathered from the kids' art supplies

Pencil sharpener-- Gathered from the kids' art supplies

Two pencils-- Gathered from the kids' art supplies

Glue stick-- Gathered from the kids' art supplies

Safety scissors-- Bought new since we only had one pair in the house

Heart shaped paperclips-- Bought new (and grudgingly)

8 Glitter glue pens-- Bought new; the most expensive new item, but I knew she'd love them!

Crayons-- Gathered from the kids' art supplies

White sketching paper-- I looked all over for a mini sketchbook that would fit, but couldn't find one. Instead, I cut up some larger sheets we already had at home.

Construction paper-- Again, small sheets cut from larger sheets we already had

Pipe cleaners-- Gathered from the kids' art supplies

Beads-- Bought new

Elastic thread for beading-- Bought new

Cinderella stamp and pad of stamping paper-- Received in a party gift bag earlier in the year

Phew! I think that's it. As her skills improve, we'll add things gradually. For now, this keeps her plenty occupied. She makes magic wands from the pipe cleaners, bracelets and necklaces from the beads and elastic thread, and has covered every sheet of paper in glittery doodles. Fun stuff!

How I SHOULD Have Prepared My Garden For Winter

2008-11-18T07:22:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we were a little surprised to get quite the snow flurry. It was wet, packing snow too. Mondays are errand days for me, so I was out and about and thinking of all the things I still haven't done to prepare my garden for winter. Between the kids being ill, me being ill, and the rain we've had for the last week or so, I am sorely behind. Still on the to-do list:

-Rake all leaves (which only ceased falling a couple of days ago) onto garden beds
-Cover compost piles
-Find something to do with the billion and a half pebbles filling the children's sled and every single plastic pot I own
-Wash all outdoor toys and bring to basement for duration of winter
-Clean patio area
-Move large rocks from backyard to frontyard for border
-Remove hose from spigot and store
-Clean all garden tools
-Mulch blueberry bushes with pine needles

We're supposed to get more snow Sunday, but I hope that this slight bit we have now will melt before then so that I can get my behind in gear! How is everyone else doing on winter prep?

The First Snow

2008-11-13T21:27:00.000-08:00

Okay, I admit it. I've lost my will to blog. There are things that I could be posting about, like the fact that the twins have turned 5, the few "thrifty" things I got/made for their birthday, my foray into making apple cider vinegar, my insane journey into trying to really connect with my home and redoing our master bedroom, or the battle that is waged every year around this time between me and... everyone else.

But I just. Can't. Make. Myself. Do it.

Yesterday, however, the first snow of the year fell, and it felt like the kind of thing that needed to be put down somewhere. You know, recorded for posterity or some such thing. It started as rain, but by the afternoon, it had turned into a very wet, light snowfall. None of it stuck, and it wasn't the sort of white fluff that makes pretty pictures. But, well, now you know that it's snowed here. :)

I hope you're all doing well out there in the ether...

Now back to hibernating.

Our Ohio

2008-11-08T11:25:00.000-08:00

I'm not a magazine person. In fact, I don't have a single magazine subscription in my name (The Husband and the kids are a different story). "Our Ohio" is sent to us as a benefit of membership in the Ohio Farm Bureau, however, and I thoroughly enjoy its bi-monthly editions. It's a great way to learn about various local farms, vineyards, businesses, and events. It also has a recipe feature with each edition, where one ingredient (usually seasonal) is featured.

The reason I'm sharing this little treasure of information with you now, though, is because the November/December issue featured a couple of "alternative cooking" methods that is right up the alley of any homesteader. The recipe theme was campfire recipes (which you can find online at Our Ohio), which was preceded with a short, sweet article entitled "Fun With Campfire Cooking." There's also another article called "Fire it Up" about hearthside cooking lessons in Lucas County.

Unfortunately, I won't be doing any hearthside cooking anytime soon. That loverly picture to the left is my "hearth," a non-functioning, capped gas fireplace which we haven't even come close to restoring yet. After a dreadful Yuletide ice storm in our apartment years with 1-year-old twins in which our electricity (including our electric heat) was knocked out for days, we purposely looked for a home with a fireplace... just in case. Once we had it, however, The Husband was so worried that the twins would be burned that he had his step-dad cap the gasline going to the fireplace and remove the fixture. Then the worry was that the twins would climb the chimney, so our fireplace was turned ever so stylish with the addition of a lovely baby gate to the front. That was a long way of telling you that I don't have the proper equipment for hearthside cooking. ;)

Annnnnnyway, check out "Our Ohio" if you have the chance, especially if you happen to, uh, be in Ohio. If you don't have access to the mag but the idea of hearthside/campfire cooking has intrigued you, check out The Magic of Fire by William Rubel for another jumping off point. Happy cooking!

Civic Duty--Done!

2008-11-04T10:43:00.000-08:00

I've purposely kept this blog free of my political leanings as much as possible, which I hope you all appreciate. I'm not at all afraid of entering into political discourse, but this election has been so LONG and drawn out that I figure we all need a place where we can take a break. So, never fear, today's post is not about who I voted for or why, simply that I voted at all.

We voted quickly and easily today. Oh, how I love small towns! I had to wait about 5 minutes (maybe less) for a machine to open up, but that was it. The machine gave me no problems, and I checked the paper print to make sure that everything was cast correctly. Airius voted with me because he liked my candidate best, but Annie and Callie voted with their Daddy. We're all proudly sporting out stickers. I'd love to show you some adorable pictures of the kids taking part in democracy, but my camera battery died just as we were done voting. *sigh* I definitely need to pay closer attention to that.

The kids are both home from school today because their bellies aren't feeling completely well yet. I had to pick Annie up from school yesterday because she spent all but 15 minutes out of an hour and a half in the bathroom, so they won't let her come back until she's symptom free for at least 24 hours. The Husband's home too because, well, he has a flexible schedule and really wants to watch every. second. of. political. coverage.

Soooooo... that's what I'll be doing for the rest of the day. Cleaning up bodily explosions from my children and listening to non-stop, blaringly loud election coverage. Did I mention that The Husband is an old man? :)

Belated Beggar's Night Post

2008-11-02T12:45:00.000-08:00

I didn't know if we were going to make the trick-or-treating rounds this year. The girls, The Husband, and I had all finally stopped vomiting, but now the girls were making explosions from the other end. Oy. I could easily envision the mess that would happen in front of some poor neighbor's house when we couldn't get back to the house in time...

But we decided to go when the girls seemed to be taking a break from illness. The Husband always insists that we make the hour drive out to his mother's house to trick-or-treat there, where he feels most at home and comfortable. At least this way his mom gets to see the kids all dressed up. This year we walked for about an hour. Normally, it's a much shorter jaunt, but the kids are getting older and are much more capable of convincing Daddy to keep going--er, I mean-- they're much more capable of making the walk.

As you can see, Annie was a witch, Airius was The Incredible Hulk (he's never even seen the movie or cartoon), and Callie was Tinkerbell. Traditionally, our costumes are homemade, but this year was different. The Husband, my great eco-saboteur, decided to buy costumes for Annie and Airius without asking me first. We already had the Tinkerbell costume, given to Callie by Daniel's mom for Christmas, I think. I'm not bitter, I swear. ;)

Finally, bags bulging with sugary goodness, we headed back to my mother-in-law's home for a quick dinner and then... THE CANDY GORGE. Yes, I'm a bad mother. I don't often give my kids candy, and we're not a "dessert" type of family simply because I haven't perfected my cooking/baking skills yet. So, the holidays are a sweet time for my kids. Beggar's Night especially, I let them eat their fill of candy (after dinner, of course) with no intervention from Mom. Airius is always the first to stop and Annie is always the last. After the initial gorge, though, Mommy confiscates all candy and, with a wave of my magic wand, it all disappears. :)

What do I do with all the candy? I snitch a few of my childhood favorites, and the Husband, who has a huge sweet tooth, eats his fill. I sort through for things that will last awhile and stash that in a secret place (secret from The Husband AND the kids) to stuff stockings at Yule where the gorge will be repeated.

Back Soon

2008-10-23T00:10:00.000-07:00

I promise. While I'd like to say that I've been hard at work on some incredible homesteading project, the truth is much less glamorous. We've all been hit with a deplorable stomach bug, and I just haven't had time to post between moments of cleaning up the various bodily explosions of one husband, two children (Airius somehow managed to escape this completely so far...), and my pregnant self. Did you know that pregnant women are insanely sensitive to pungent odors? Pity me, people. :)

And happy Samhain, Halloween, or whatever it is you're celebrating today!

The Children Are Nestled All Snug in Their Beds... Part 2

2008-10-22T11:31:00.000-07:00

Just goes to show that daddies are good co-sleepers too.

Word to the wise: don't type your blog posts in too much of a hurry. It's inevitable that you will forget something. I rushed a bit through my previous post on how to keep infants and children warm at night in the chill of a 55 degree home, thus I neglected to add the last tip.

Sticking with our Victorian Night Before Christmas theme, imagine how the beds of the poem's subjects would have looked. A stand alone metal bed frame with a mattress perched on top? Guess again. Canopy and four poster beds were very common back then and with good reason. The drapery surrounding the bed is just one more layer of insulation, keeping out the cold and keeping in the body heat. So, if after layers of pajamas, socks, and blankets your child is still cold, or if they absolutely must sleep by themselves, consider adding some drapery around the bed. We've all seen the cutesy mosquito netting kits for sale in department stores that promise to make your daughter feel like a princess, but you don't even have to buy anything to make this idea work. Grab some extra sheets, blankets, curtains, or yards of fabric that you have laying around the house and nail/staple it right to your child's ceiling if you must. It may not be pretty or ultra-convenient, but it will work.

The method I prefer, if your child doesn't have a canopy bed, is to attach curtain rods to the ceiling and hang the drapery fabric from that, very similar to this. If the bed is against a wall or in a corner, you can simply install the rods at the open sides of the bed. The wall won't provide as much insulation as the canopy will, but it'll save you money and/or time this way and still give much the same effect of keeping warmth in. Make simple tiebacks from your ribbon stash (what?? you don't have one!?), fabric cords, or strips of fabric. You can get as fancy or as simple as you'd like with this. Let your imagination and the supplies you already have guide you.

A canopy is probably not the best idea for an infant who is old enough to pull to a standing position by themselves or for toddlers who still live in close connection to our genetic relatives, the apes. Those curtain rods will not hold up to a lot of pulling or swinging, and you don't want to add anything that might become a choking hazard. For your newborn or very small infant who is not yet doing much moving in their bed, install the curtain rods far enough out from the edges of the crib that they won't be able to grab them, even accidentally, through the bars of their crib.

One very last thing. Do your best not to put your child's bed/crib near a window. It's inevitable, regardless of how new or good your windows are, that there will be a draft. I know that sometimes it's just impossible not to use a window wall because of a room's configuration, but do your best. If the bed must be by a window, get some thermal insulating drapes to keep out the drafts.

If anyone has any pictures or other do-it-yourself canopy ideas, please share!

A Step-Saving Kitchen

2008-10-21T14:31:00.000-07:00

It's not bungalow restoration, being from a couple decades later, but there are some brilliant ideas on this video nevertheless. Enjoy!

Blogging Break

2008-10-17T11:50:00.000-07:00

It seems like I just took one, I know, but I'm going out of town this weekend to attend my best friend's wedding so I will not be blogging for a spell. West Virginia, here I come!

Have a good weekend, y'all (how's my drawl? :-)

Annie Asks...

2008-10-15T17:38:00.001-07:00

"Mom, why is toilet paper made of paper?" (Picture is a self-portrait of Annie.)

I love these moments when the children start to catch on to the changes we're making, and it prompts them to ask questions and probe into why things are the way they are and why we're making a change. We haven't completely phased out toilet paper at BobbleHead yet, mainly because my husband is adamantly refusing to give it up, but I have the kids using old baby washcloths to wipe themselves when they urinate. I was extremely tense that they might forget and flush the cloth down the toilet causing who knows what amount of plumbing havoc, but they've not forgotten yet, and it's been many months.

Annie and I had quite the discussion (with Airius and The Bean listening on, of course) about how toilet paper disintegrates in water, which she immediately had to try in the sink. Then she wanted to know why we would want to use cloth when the toilet paper just disappears. I have to wash the cloth. Why would I want to do that? This led to a conversation of where paper comes from, how long it takes trees to grow, why trees are so important to our planet, how much toilet paper costs, etc. My girl is amazing, I tell ya. She knew more than I thought she would, and I'm sure she absorbed the new stuff.

Luckily, she didn't ask why we don't use the cloth wipes for fecal cleanup, but I wouldn't put it past her to do it once just to see how I react. ;)

How do your kids handle all the changes you've been making during your journey to simplicity?

The Children Are Nestled All Snug in Their Beds...

2008-10-13T13:55:00.000-07:00

The twins at 5 months old, all cuddled up together.

Crunchy Chicken's Freeze Yer Buns Challenge is getting close, so despite outdoor temperatures of nearly 80 degrees (!), I've been thinking warm thoughts. One of the questions that seems to be asked every year for the Freeze Yer Buns Challenge is how to keep infants and children warm when you've decided to turn the thermostat down to 55 degrees at night. The twins, my first children, were born in November when we lived in a drafty apartment. I quickly began to look backwards, into history, to see how babies were kept warm in the days before we could set our digital thermostats at whatever temperature made us most comfortable. Here are just a few of the strategies I used (and still use) to keep our little ones nice and snug:

The best source of heat in cold weather is body heat, in my opinion. It works quickly, doesn't require artifical and possibly dangerous energy sources, and creates family unity. That said, my first recommendation for keeping any infant or child warm is to welcome them into your bed. This is called co-sleeping nowadays, and there is plenty of information available about how to do so safely. This can be very scary for someone who has been conditioned to think that co-sleeping is dangerous, and I understand. But remember: "According to the National SIDS Alliance, approximately 2,700 babies die each year from SIDS; the vast majority of those sleeping alone in a crib. In the CPSC study, 515 died between 1990 to 1997 directly as a result of poor safety in co-sleeping." Both mom and dad, but especially a breast-feeding mother, are specially designed to help their infants regulate their body temperatures. That's something a blanket just can't do.

Co-sleeping is also often the most frugal sleeping option for baby. The purchase of a crib, bassinet, or cradle can be delayed or put off altogether. I purchased cribs and was given bassinets for the twins, but I rarely used them at night. (There are those times when you just need some time in bed with your partner to... bond ;-) If your child(ren) has a separate room, you can shut off the register to their room at night and funnel all the heat to the room you're sleeping in together.

As an offshoot of parental co-sleeping, there's also sibling co-sleeping. All those renditions of The Night Before Christmas with a bedful of sleeping children are more than quaint, they're practical. Again, body heat is best for keeping everyone snug. It is not wise to keep an infant or very young child in bed with older siblings. The Bean has only started sleeping with Annie this winter, and The Bean is now more than two years old. Annie and Airius did sometimes sleep together as infants, but as toddlers they preferred separation from each other, even when they were in Mommy's and Daddy's bed. There may be squabbling between children who share a bed, but there's a lot of bonding and closeness too. When the girls are just getting under each other's skin, the threat of having to go to their own beds is usually enough to quiet them. Airius's main reason for wanting a baby brother was because he wants someone to share a room with. Since the twins are only 4 (soon to be 5... boo hoo!), we do not discourage him from sleeping with his sisters if he wants. It just seems to be that they segregate themselves from sleeping together.

Get out your knitting needles because suggestion #3 is to wear a hat to bed. Are we seeing a theme emerge here? "And Mama in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap, had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap..." Okay, you don't have to knit your own. Just grab a stocking hat from your winter stash and keep it on all day and night. Be sure both your infants and children have them too. Though the exact percentage is debated, most scientists agree that a high percentage of your body heat is lost through your head. The head of an infant is large in proportion to the rest of its body, so this is especially true for them. Keep those baby beanies on your little one! Most children I know absolutely love hats of all types, so I've never had one balk at wearing a nightcap. Make sure they fit snugly on those little heads so that they don't pose a choking hazard. There are so many cute hat patterns for kids and babies that you may have a whole slew of them by the end of winter! Try to stay away from hats with strings around the neck. These could be a choking hazard for children while they sleep.

After your littles have donned their night caps, make sure their feet are covered. Have you ever put your feet in warm or cold water and felt a temperature shift in your whole body? Exactly. I'd recommend a thinner, daily wear sock go on the feet first. Cover these with a thick woolen sock. It's best if both pairs of socks go to at least mid-calf. This will prevent kids from kicking their socks off in their sleep and add a little warmth to the legs where pajama pants or nightgowns can hike up and leave skin bare. For infants and small children, footed sleepers are a blessing. You can put socks either underneath or over top of the footies. I've had better luck putting the socks over top. Somehow, my kids always manage to kick the socks off if they're inside the footies. Then they just have big, lumpy socks rolling around in their jammies all night. Not comfortable. My kids have never seemed to need more than two pairs of socks, but use your best judgement.

Layering pajamas and blankets is an easy enough solution. This doesn't have to be layering pajama on top of pajama. Simply adding a t-shirt under a nightshirt or a pair of body hugging thermal underwear underneath can be enough. With infants, I recommend a long-sleeved onesie underneath their pajamas. If they're sleeping with you, this should be more than sufficient (it may even be too much). If your baby is on its own at night, I'd suggest adding a sleep sack over the pajamas. It is both more dangerous and more likely for your baby to be too hot than too cold. Don't feel extremities to test for warmth. Touch their bare chest instead or their bare head. For children over a year old, layering blankets is a no-brainer. Do not put loose blankets atop your infant. We used to tuck flannel receiving blankets into the sides of the crib when the babes were napping during the day, but at night they only used sleep sacks when they weren't sleeping with me. In bed with me, I'd layer tight-fitting clothing over my chest and simply keep the blankets tucked around my waist, legs, and feet. This way, the baby was in no danger of suffocation from our bulky blankets.

Flannel sheets don't create warmth, but they seem to retain it better than the cotton sheets of summer. If you compare climbing into a winter bed dressed with flannel sheets to one dressed with cotton sheets, well, there really is no comparison. It's just not as cold. In my area, flannel sheets are difficult to find in thrift stores, freecycle, or garage/yard sales, but you can often get them at the various discount stores in all kinds of cute prints. My goal (yet to be reached) is to have two sets of flannel sheets for each bed in the house.

If you've got a rice pouch for easing tummy aches and breast woes, heat your rice pouch to a safe temperature and stick it in your infant's or child's bed before they go to sleep. With older children, you can leave the pouch in bed for them to tuck their feet against. With small children and infants, remove the pouch before they climb under their covers. Those flannel sheets will stay warm for quite awhile after baby is laid down, making it easier for them to keep that body temperature. You can also add various herbs to your pouch to soothe baby. Warming herbs, like cinnamon, ginger, or cloves can be nice as well but may keep baby awake. Have fun experimenting.

This is how I manage to keep my children (and myself!) dreaming of sugar plums each winter. So snuggle up those babies in their cute little nightcaps and hibernate for awhile. You will not want to get out of bed, I swear. :) What are your suggestions for keeping infants and children warm in cold weather?

Today's Harvest

2008-10-11T13:33:00.000-07:00

The past 24 hours have been a little hectic, so we spent today digging potatoes in the garden, ripping up our sunflowers, corn, and tomato plants, and wondering what in the world to do with the bed still overflowing with prickly borage.

Last night wasn't nearly so much fun. I spent a couple of hours in the ER after not feeling the baby move for 48 hours and waking up at 7am with mild cramping. I'm not the type to run to a doctor, but The Husband was worried enough to come home early from work, so off I went. Before I left, The Husband pressed his cheek to my tummy and told the baby that he loved it and he knew it'd be all right. "Behave for your Mommy, okay?" One last kiss to my stomach. "I'd feel better if the baby had a name," I said without knowing why.

It took the nurse nearly 20 minutes to find the baby's heartbeat. I was sweating bullets, even though I know that ER nurses aren't nearly as adept at this sort of thing as a nurse or doc at an OB/GYN office. Finally, we heard the heartbeat, and at that exact moment, my little one let out an enormous kick and bounced that doppler right off of my stomach. I know, little one. I should never have disturbed you.

I was ready to go home at that point, but the doctor had different ideas, of course. I had a full battery of blood work drawn, gave a urine sample, and was wheeled in for an ultrasound, grumbling all the way. Once I heard baby's heart beating, I knew things were fine. It was glorious to see that baby moving on the ultrasound screen though! The first question from the woman doing the ultrasound was whether or not I wanted to know the sex. Daniel had made a point of telling me before I left for the hospital that I'd better find out the sex of the baby if given the chance. He knows all too well that I'd rather be surprised, but this pregnancy has been all about compromise, so I agreed. As soon as the image shifted to that secret spot between the baby's legs, I knew it was a girl. Though I'd been getting boy vibes for the whole pregnancy, I wasn't surprised. The one name we had agreed on had been for a girl. The baby had had her name all along.

Armed with new ultrasound photos to show the kids, a handful of Vicodin (what? Doesn't your doctor prescribe Vicodin for adominal pain that you've described as mild and a 2 on a scale of 1-10?), and a "diagnosis" connecting my normally low blood pressure with a lethargic but undistressed baby (yeah, right), I finally got in the car and rambled on home. The Husband was relieved, as was I. I still couldn't get her to move today until I decided to put some pressure on my uterus. Then she poked delicately at my hand.

Airius had some trouble adjusting to the idea of a baby sister this morning. After all, the boy had flipped a coin and been told our baby was a boy! He's coming around though. I told him we may still keep the baby in his room for awhile, which is what he really wants. He's jealous that his sisters always have each other for company. Maybe we'll move the twins back in together and let The Bean share a room with the baby. I don't know. Anyone have any suggestions?

Today's harvest, artfully arranged by garden girl Annie in a basket received from a Freecycle offer. I'll talk more about the results of the garden in another post, but for now I'm resting with my children, those in the here and now and those whose faces I have yet to see. Love, love, love.

Sanitizing Your Gardening Pots

2008-10-10T00:01:00.000-07:00

As I sat in the optometrist's waiting room a week or so ago, I thumbed distractedly through the pages of an Organic Gardening magazine. I came across a very short article on container gardens and began to read through their provided checklist. Imagine my surprise when it was stressed that sanitizing your pots with bleach was a necessary way to prevent diseases from year to year. I should have taken down the issue number, but I didn't. A search on their website quickly yielded up another article recommending the same diluted bleach to clean your pots. Ugh.

Not only is bleach bad for your plants, bad for you, and bad for the environment, it's corrosive and will break down your pots over time. Now, to be fair, household bleach does not contribute to the greenhouse effect or harm the ozone layer. There are all kinds of arguments about how household bleach begins and ends as salt water, and that may be true (though watch carefully in these arguments for things like "90-95% of household bleach breaks down into salt and water." What happens to that other 5-10%?). HOWEVER, this is a chemical I don't even keep in my home for three reasons: Airius, Annie, and The Bean. Whether it begins and ends harmlessly, it is most definitely not harmless while it's sitting in that plastic bottle in your house.

While I'd like to say that it's not necessary to disinfect your pots, that just isn't true. But I'll take my container veggies and herbs without the bleach residue, thank you very much. If you're like me, consider the following disinfecting/sanitizing options sans bleach:

1. When faced with anything calling for bleach, I first try that handy dandy standby: distilled white vinegar. Use a solution of half water, half white vinegar in your sink or other container and soak pots for an hour. This is what I use for all of my pots, especially plastic, but you can use it for glazed and terra cotta pots too. This is a good all purpose solution.

2. I have disinfected my terra cotta pots in the oven set on 220 degrees Farenheit for one hour. This will kill just about everything that might affect your plants. Obviously, this method is not best for large pots or plastic. It takes up a lot of time and oven space, and it uses precious energy too. I wonder if this can be done in a solar oven? Hmmmm... Please remember that, like any other crockery, the pots will be blazing hot when they come out of the oven!

Both of the above methods are effective and, in my view, safer than the use of bleach. Does anyone else have a garden pot sanitizing/disinfecting tip they'd like to share?

A Break From the Seriousness

2008-10-08T22:37:00.000-07:00

My first handmade preschool gift, from my sweet Annie. Be still my heart...

Annie hadn't even made it all the way down the aisle of the bus before she was excitedly saying that she had a gift for me. When she put the sparkly plastic beaded bracelet in my hand, I admit that I choked up just a bit. How I love this child. So considerate. So thoughtful. So very loving.

Thank you, my sweetheart. I won't take it off. Promise.

EFFAK-- Emergency Financial First Aid Kit

2008-10-08T00:01:00.000-07:00

I know, I know. I've been posting around the issue of the economic crisis lately rather than addressing it directly. The truth is, though, that I honestly believe I'll be raising my children during the next Great Depression. I could outline my thought process for you, but there are a million other bloggers out there who are already doing a much better job at it than I could. Let it just suffice to say that my thoughts of late have been almost exclusively bent towards emergency preparedness, be it immediate things that we need (warm pajamas for the kids) or more longterm items (a year's supply of food). Maybe it's the blogs I read, but I haven't seen many posts at all geared towards financial preparedness. Everyone seems to simply be in lockdown mode.

So here I am to share a wonderful tool with you all. It's called the Emergency Financial First Aid Kit, or EFFAK. Basically, the EFFAK helps the user to identify key financial documents and organize them effectively so that financial stability can be maintained during an emergency. Think of it as a quick reference when you need to have things at hand right now.

One kit per household should be sufficient, but be sure that all of your various accounts and assets are included. If you and your partner(s) or child(ren) have separate bank accounts, for example, make sure they all make their way into your file, not just your joint accounts. It may take you awhile to complete the kit, but believe me, it is well worth it. I recommend that you do this together with anyone who will be sharing your kit. Not only will you both be aware of what is included and what the importance of each item is, but it will give anyone who isn't always the most involved party in the finances a chance to get an overview of things.

One more piece of advice. It's always best to have a backup of your backup, so please consider making a copy of your EFFAK and storing it in a safety deposit box at your bank, credit union, or other institution. Though I didn't think of it myself, I've seen it recommended that you mail a copy of your EFFAK, in a sealed envelope, to your attorney to be opened in the case of personal incapacitation. Don't forget that your personal home EFFAK copy should be stored in a fireproof safe or other reliable storage container.

To print your free EFFAK, visit OperationHope.org. Not only do they provide you with the kit, they also provide you with more advice and helpful information than I provided in this post. The linked page will also give you access to their Personal Disaster Preparedness Guide in case you need a jumping off point for general emergency preparedness as well.

Here's hoping you never have to use this kit, friends. Good luck.

Anyone else with tips on preparing your finances or financial documents to weather any storm?

Craigslist vs. eBay-- When to Use One or the Other

2008-10-05T08:09:00.000-07:00

When I decided earlier this year to begin The Great Declutter, my immediate thought was to sell on eBay. I'd both sold and bought items there before without any problems, and I didn't really know anything about craigslist. I should have done my research, but I was eager to get started and jumped right into an eBay selling bonanza!

Things went well until I started to sell larger items that I wasn't willing to ship because of the cost to the buyer and the inconvenience to me for having to haul a humongous box to the post office while also ensuring the safety of three small children across a busy parking lot. It was here, with the "Local Pickup Only" option, that I ran into a wall. Again and again I would sell an item, only to be sent a message, sometimes days or even weeks after the auction had ended, stating that the buyer hadn't noticed that the item was for local pickup only and that they couldn't drive from Florida or Oregon or Maryland or Wherever to pick it up. Oops! So sorry. Oh, and can I have a refund of my money? I put "Local Pickup Only" in bold, red letters on these listings. I threatened that money would not be refunded if buyer reneged on pickup. I sent messages to people before auctions ended if it looked like they were going to win and their address was listed outside of Ohio. All to no avail.

*sigh* This may seem like no big deal, but consider this: each time this happens, I have to relist the item, incurring double the eBay fees. It may be only $0.15, but I'm trying to make money, not lose it. Besides, with someone as inherenty frugal as I am, any fee makes my heart race a little faster. Double fees make me violently ill.

Enter craigslist. At this wonderful site, there are no fees (unless you're posting a job ad, I think). The buyer must contact you for information on pickup or shipping. You know you're getting someone local. Another feature is that you get to set your price. There is no bidding, so you don't have to wonder what you're going to get at the end of a sale.

Woah. Back up! Did you say there were no fees!? Then why don't you just sell everything on craigslist and tell eBay where to go? The answer is this, my friends: $$$$. I know, it sounds horrible, but it's true! When you have an item that is collectible or where you're really unsure of how much you should list it for, eBay is usually the better bet, especially if it's something that is easily shipped. Remember, with eBay, you can sell both nationally and internationally. You're catering to a much broader customer base. Maybe your town doesn't have a huge Star Trek fanbase (yeah, I don't know how that's possible either), but there is a fanbase out there. With eBay, they'll come to you. With craigslist, your customer base is much more focused and limited. If your item is large or you have a definite price in mind, craigslist is probably your best bet. So, to summarize:

--If your item is small, easily shipped, collectible, and/or you are unsure of its value, eBay is probably the wisest choice.

--If your item is large, expensive or unwieldy to ship or transport, or is worth a definitive amount of money, try craigslist first.

It took me a few painful run-ins with the wall before I learned this lesson, but thus far things seem to be working out much better now that I'm utilizing both of the above mentioned options. The attic is clearing out a little more every day, and our emergency fund is growing once more. With the economic downturn our country is in, I'm sure someone out there will benefit from this simple formula.

My Not So Big Reveal

2008-10-02T21:12:00.000-07:00

I'll admit that it hurt a little, temporarily giving up on the idea of a metal roof. We've been contemplating this decision for awhile now, and we really thought we could make it work. The man who came to give us our estimate was extremely cooperative on the pricing in return for having our blossoming homestead as a tour opportunity for eco-minded potential customers. Still, with the economy in the condition it's in, we were just sick at the thought of making such a big ticket purchase. We don't immediately need a roof (famous last words, right?), so it seemed most reasonable to postpone this project.

I'm a little disappointed, but there is plenty to keep me occupied. The gaps in our cold weather preparations are becoming glaring as our thermostat sits firmly at 65 degrees Farenheit. Time to channel the Spirit of Squirrel!

Blogging Break

2008-10-02T14:27:00.001-07:00

I've come down with a dreadful sore throat and congestion, so I'm going to take some time off of blogging to heal. Hope you're all spinning through the change of seasons with health and happiness.

Lazy Day

2008-10-01T13:22:00.001-07:00

This picture of my grandmother's shawl haphazardly thrown on a dining chair in the shadowy, barely there light of an autumn afternoon is the perfect image for this day. Raspberry leaf infusion warmed my child-bearing belly first thing this nippy morning and was replaced with hot chocolate in the afternoon as I filed away bit of paperwork after bit of paperwork. If you could see our bedroom floor... But that's exactly why you haven't. :)

Because my attention is shifting more and more to the home part of the homestead as colder weather comes on, I decided to try my hand at researching previous owners of our house. Though I'm extremely interested in the people who lived here before us simply because they shared this bit of life with me, I'll admit that I'd almost rather not know anything about them beyond their names. My imagination is full of romantic notions about things that might have taken place in this cozy little house, and I'd rather like to keep it that way! I know, it's silly. But it's true.

I'm researching these past owners anyway in the hopes that I'll be able to track down a living descendant and perhaps convince them to find a couple old pictures taken in this house that they may have tucked away somewhere. I'm still not sure how I'll approach them if I ever do manage to track them down, but the worst thing they could do is say no, right? And if my endeavor gets me a little closer to actual restoration instead of random estimations of what might have been, then I'm willing to risk an odd look or two. I'm a sucker for history.

I won't mention the name of the woman who owned this house just before us because, as far as I can ascertain, she's still living. However, I did manage to find another owner just by looking through the details of our title. We have a shared drive with our neighbors (well, we did, but that's a whole other story), so the deed detailed the implementation of the drive, agreed upon by both the previous owners of our home and the previous owners of the home next door. It was 1976 that the drive was put in, and at that time, the owners of our little bungalow were William K. Hamor and Lucile H. Hamor. A quick internet search didn't turn up anything for either of them, but I checked Tributes.com for obituaries and found that both of them had passed.

Lucile died first at the age of 83 in 1992, and William didn't follow until 2003 when he was 94. Interestingly, they both had June 1909 birthdays. It seems they were still living somewhere in Marion when they died. I may have located William in the 1910 census in Northumberland, PA, but I'll need other information to verify that this is in fact my William K. Hamor. I also need to track down a marriage certificate so that I can discern Lucile's maiden name and get more information on her. I'll be looking up Hamors in the phonebook before you know it! ;)

Realization

2008-09-30T15:17:00.000-07:00

One of the things that has always stuck with me throughout life: the night my mom told me that, if everyone was like me, nothing revolutionary would ever happen in this world. I've always played it safe. Followed the rules. Compromised.

I really felt that homesteading fell into that category. You know, don't depend on others, take care of yourself. Do what's right for the earth. Isn't it trendy to be "green"? And then yesterday, as I showed a complete stranger around our "homestead" and told him my hopes and dreams for what it one day will be, a strange thing happened. "Wow!" he exclaimed. "This is really rather revolutionary."

Really?

Yeah, it is.

We don't have much. Our path to sustainability or evironmentally-friendly living or the simple life or whatever you want to call it has only just begun. It was apparent though, in my conversation with this gentleman, that he hadn't seen a vegetable garden in somebody's backyard since he was a little boy (and he was much older than I am, I might add!). I mentioned our rain barrel project for next year, and his eyes grew wide. "Rain barrels!? I haven't seen anyone set up rain barrels in... well, more than 20 years! What made you think of doing that? Why would you need to in Ohio?" And so, the meeting that should have lasted no more than 40 minutes took about 3 hours, and I realized that maybe-- just maybe-- I have a little of mom's revolutionary spirit in me after all.

Wish Me Luck...

2008-09-28T14:04:00.001-07:00

I've been dealing with a feverish toddler all weekend, but she's showing marked improvement today. That's excellent, not just for the health of The Bean, but because tomorrow's a big day here. Tomorrow I have to sell the homestead.

No, not sell it as in the real estate market, but sell the idea of it to someone who may be able to contribute in small part to it. I don't want to spill the details just yet because it's quite possible that nothing at all will come from it. I am possibly the worst saleswoman in the world, and I'll be going it alone for this venture. I'm suddenly beset by the idea that we haven't done enough yet. We aren't really a homestead. We have so far to go! This is just the beginning of thing. We're not even close to sustainability, and we may never be...

You know how it goes. Do any of you ever have these doubts?

Send me some good vibes when you get the chance. I'll need them.

What's Blooming in My Garden-- September 26, 2008

2008-09-26T10:08:00.000-07:00

The elusive Holy Grail of my garden, a blooming Corno di Toro pepper (Capsicum annuum). This picture was taken in late August, so we do actually have just a few peppers ripening in the garden now. It's a miracle!

A volunteer globe amaranth (Gomphrena globosa). I'm not at all fond of the fuschia color of the bracts, but my Scorpio Sun daughter loves it. It was she who picked out the amaranth at the nursery last year. I was lazy last year and did not collect seeds, but this year I will because Annie really loves this plant.

My unidentified wild aster, which I pretty much let have the run of the yard. The beneficials love this plant come September when most other blooms are spent. The bush, and this does get huge enough to call a bush, just thrums with the humming and activity of various insects. Wherever I've lived (excluding California), this plant has followed. I lean towards Heath aster (Symphyotricum ericoides) as the species, but I'm just not certain. Anyone wanna weigh in?

Night-blooming and very fragrant moonflower vine (Ipomoea alba). I have yet to build a trellis structure that can adequately maintain this vine's vigorous growth. Still, I love nothing more than sitting on my porch in the moonlight, surrounded by the luminescent glow and the intoxicating scent of these beauties.

'Dark Opal' basil's (Ociumum basilicum) delicate flowers.

The sky blue cousin of the moonflower vine, morning glories (Ipomoea spp.) are as cheerful as moonflowers are mysterious. In our garden, this is their first year, and I can already tell that I'm going to have to keep a close eye on these stranglers.

One of my equinox gifts, a delicately shaded purple aster which shall ever after be known as Equinox Aster at our homestead. It is possibly New England aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae), but that is as yet unconfirmed.

When More Vinyl Windows Go Bad

2008-09-25T12:28:00.000-07:00

After yesterday's post on my condensating windows, I sat back and thought long and hard about the issue. I was willing to start looking for salvaged wood windows to replace ours with, but pickings here are slim, and I have to face the reality that most of my energy is focused on pregnancy and the kids right now. I wasn't sure I'd have the push to actually get anything done. I'd take my time, I thought. Things didn't need to happen NOW.

Then today I was cleaning our bedroom (don't get me started), and I realized that the ginormous pile of papers sitting under one of our bedroom windows was water damaged. How did that happen? I looked around to see if there was something that could have spilled on them. Nothing. Then I inadvertently placed my hand on the window sill to pull my big, pregnant butt up and felt moisture. Oh no. I haven't found the actual leak yet, but I know it's there.

Thank you, Universe, for giving me the motivation to get off my ass and get these windows done. :)

When Vinyl Windows Go Bad

2008-09-23T19:08:00.000-07:00

No, that condensation on our window is not on the outer pane of glass. It's between the two panes. This happens in vinyl windows when the moisture seal fails, and though it's touted as a repairable problem, I'm trying to use it as a way to convince my husband to start replacing our windows with *ahem* salvaged wood windows. I have no idea how old these vinyl windows are, and the one in the picture already had this problem when we moved in. Why am I harping about it now? Because it's officially autumn when the thought of heat bills to come give me goosebumps, I'm pregnant and nesting, and so the house must be completely redone from top to bottom! NOW.

I hated our windows when we bought this place. My husband loves them. Nearly every window in the house has frosted glass on the bottom pane. I'm assuming this is for privacy, since we can nearly touch our neighbors if we stick our hands out the window, but it blocks light in an already dark old house and, well, it just looks tacky to me.

Shall I go into the possible dangers to our health that are posed by vinyl windows? PVC contains pthalates, lead, cadmium, light stabilizers, heat stabilizers, anti-oxidants, barium, and other chemical compounds.

High levels of lead are also found in PVC. Studies have shown that vinyl windows can deteriorate from the effects of the heat and sun. This deterioration releases lead dust at dangerous levels. Vinyl window shades containing lead have been banned in the U.S.

But vinyl windows are sitting in nearly every wall of my house. And we were worried about lead paint when we moved in. Hmmm...

I tried for several years to put our windows out of my mind because there's nothing I hate more than sending something that is working to a landfill. I'm not sure what the "right" answer is. Do I get the window repaired, knowing that the rest are soon to come but avoiding the addition to the landfill, or do I hope that someone will be able to reuse these and start finding salvaged wooden windows, which may have lead paint covering them that I have to either have removed by a professional (pregnant women DO NOT do lead paint removal. Period.) or otherwise encapsulated.

If you're in the mood for a funny but informative video about the dangers of PVC, check out Sam Suds and the Case of PVC, the Poison Plastic.

Equinox Gifts

2008-09-23T13:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was just a lovely, peaceful day with several unexpected gifts. Here at the homestead we consider the Autumnal Equinox to be our version of Thanksgiving, so it is important that I take the time to day to actually give gratitude to the wonderful things and people who made this year's equinox special.

Most important of all has been the deepening connection between me and The Bean. Though we both miss the twins everyday that they go to Head Start, I am so thankful for the opportunity to devote this block of time each day just to my littlest. Soon there will be another baby, one who needs near constant attention and affection, but I hope that I can continue to give this time to The Bean. We cuddle while reading And the Good Brown Earth, and I beam with pride as she hones her balancing skills on the bricks around the (seriously weedy) wildflower patch out front. I'm so thankful for this time and these memories.

The next bit of gratitude goes to my mother-in-law for sending along this set of gifts:

It's not actually an equinox gift but a belated birthday present. Unfortunately, with my in-laws living an hour away and gas prices being what they are, we rarely get out to see them. Regardless of our absence, I know they're always thinking of us, and we're certainly always thinking of them. Though I wouldn't buy Pampered Chef items myself, my kitchen is sorely understocked with tools, so I am very grateful for these gifts. The spoons are bamboo, and the whisks (can you believe I've gone this long without even owning a whisk??) are stainless steel. She also sent a digital kitchen timer, citrus peeler, and corn butterer. Thank you! And thank you for the wrapping paper too. It will be reused.

A gift from Nature herself:

Just like the burdock that took me by suprise last week, I was both startled and excited to see this new aster peeking up through my lawn near Sister Maple. I don't know if it comes through in the picture, but the new aster is purple. I really hope that this one comes back next year with a few buddies. Our other asters, though abundant, are white and as yet unidentified.

And lastly, a warm thank you to C, the Freecycler who passed on a bag and a half of her daughter's clothes to my daughters. It makes this pregnant, autumn-feelin' squirrel rest a little easier that Annie has clothes to grow into, regardless of how difficult the economy may get.

Merry Autumnal Equinox

2008-09-22T12:40:00.000-07:00

A little equinox magic.

It may be just the slime trail of one of our resident spotted leopard slugs, but I was mesmerized by this bit of iridescent beauty on Mama Maple. It reminds me of something out the landscape of The Labyrinth. Even during these very rough times, there's magic all around us, things to enjoy, glimpses of bliss and beauty, moments without anxiety, fear, or depression.

The additional magic this year is that today is also the last day of my first trimester of pregnancy. Now I can take a deep breath, relax a little, and feel a little more energetic. I've already felt just a few little kicks, though they're still few and far between, and nothing is quite as blissful as that!

The equinox is a bittersweet time for me. In my faith, it is a day of celebration, a holiday, but it feels far too much like a farewell to me. Though I love the cooling days, the upcoming splendour of the maples' autumnal color, cuddling with all three of my babes under one huge blanket, the equinox is a reminder of the coming winter and much darker days ahead. There are many ways that I try to combat my winter blues, but those are best saved for posts to come. For now, I'll revel in the day of this annual event and be thankful for the familiar rhythm of the dance of our planet around the sun.

Time to bask in the waning sun...

Book Review: McGee & Stuckey's The Bountiful Container by Rose Marie Nichols McGee and Maggie Stuckey

2008-09-20T08:29:00.000-07:00

I have avoided this book for a long time. I'm not really sure why, since my long term gardening plan has always involved expansion through potted edibles, but things got accelerated a bit when I sat down to plan next year's gardening expansion budget. So, I clenched my teeth and checked this book out.

The book is broken down into three parts: "You and Your Garden," "Down-to-Earth Basics," and "Plants for the Bountiful Container."

In Part One, the authors discuss both the basics of gardening, like climatic considerations, and those special issues which come up with containers, like vandalism. They even give the reader three schemes for succession planning in containers. I'll admit that I bristled a bit at the "Reality Check for Container Gardens," but overall it was a simple and effective primer on gardening within the limitations of containers.

Part Two gets down to the nitty gritty, covering all the hardware neccessities, storage possibilites, trellises, potting soil, when to plant, how to plant, seed saving, etc. I was particularly impressed by their consistent recommendation to repurpose or recycle various items that a gardener may already have, such as a toy box turned on its back used as a supply cabinet. I was unimpressed, however, with the authors' neutral stance on fertilization techniques. For hardcore organic gardeners like me, the discussion of anything besides organic options can be a bit frustrating. Still, I'm sure it's better for the popularity of the book overall.

The majority of the book it taken up by Part Three, wherein the various fruits, vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers recommended for containers are discussed. The section also includes various garden plans and recipes. Gardening books always get huge bonus points from me if they include recipes! Those included in this book range from the standard "Pasta With Summer Vegetables" (pg. 104) to the more unique "Green Garlic Soup" (pg. 122). The garden plans left something to be desired, in my opinion. I found most of them to be a little hoaky or lacking in usefulness, but there were a few unique and inspiring ideas smattered throughout. I loved the idea to use a child's dump truck as a planter in "A Kid's Garden" (pp. 86-89) and I have the perfect place for "A Hummingbird Garden" (pp. 232-234), though why the authors didn't think to include dimensions for the box and trellis in that plan is beyond me. The entries for the individual plants themselves were pretty informative. Even if you have a traditional in-ground garden, there are specifics for growing each specimen in the containers that should be read.

Overall, I think the book is a valuable resource for information and ideas, especially if you garden exclusively in containers. It's a little disconcerting that no photographs are included, since garden sketches always portray things through rose-colored glasses. I really wish there was more discussion of growing organically, but I'm biased in that area. I don't plan to buy the book, though I may change my mind once I get further into my garden expansion. For now, I've made notes of the specific information I need and will check the book out from the library again if neccessary.

Treasures of My Garden: September 19, 2008

2008-09-18T13:48:00.001-07:00

A special critter edition of Treasures of My Garden comes your way today, courtesy of a morning spent cleaning up the yard in preparation for autumn.

One of about, oh, a billion diadem garden spiders we saw today. They've all been staking their territories on our fence and the females are huge this late in the year. The kids were fascinated, though not nearly as much as arachnophile Mommy. ;) I could have spent all day watching her.

Earlier in the summer, we got a special gift from our neighbor. Though I couldn't manage to get a picture of them then, it seems that at least one of them may have stuck around. I found this guy in the middle of a huge pile of rocks that I was trying to move (don't ask). Both Annie and Airius were eager to catch him, but neither one has my mad toad-catching skills. I took pity on the guy and let him be when the kids chased him into the borage. Fortunately, I didn't move the rock pile far. He may stay yet.

A spotted leopard slug, one of several, also found in the rock pile inhabited by the toad above. These bad boys are very common in our garden and especially love the stump of the redbud tree we lost in a lightening storm last year. They get enormous and are my least favorite garden critters.

Just At Eye Level

2008-09-17T15:25:00.001-07:00

I had only just laid down on the cool grass in the shade of Sister Maple, arm draped across my pregnant belly, when a chestnut colored treasure caught my eye. There in the midst of my jungle of English ivy, something had gone to seed. Something I hadn't seen in my yard before. Something closely resembling a dock (Rumex spp.) species... But which one?

Skipping into the house, I grabbed one of the many baby food jars I have carefully stored away in my cupboard and headed out to collect the seeds. Normally I wouldn't collect seeds from a plant that is the lone specimen in an area, but, well, this is my lawn and an area that gets mowed, which might explain the extremely small size of this plant. That and the enormous amount of shade from Sister Maple. Oh, and the stranglehold of English ivy. The dock species that I'm familiar with from Ohio and Michigan are all large plants, at least a couple of feet tall. Some are 5 feet or more. What amazes me is that this plant managed to gather enough energy to produce seed, even at its tiny size!

Most of the dock species are edible in moderation, though there's a fair amount of oxalic acid in them. They are best cooked. There are, of course, medicinal uses as well, but I'll wait until I have a positive identification to go into those.

I know this is a dreadful leaf photo, but the plant is angled in such a way that it's difficult to get a good one. You can kinda get a sense of size if you compare the leaf to that of the English ivy in the background. If anyone thinks they know which plant I have here, please feel free to comment! I'm guessing that it's a dwarfed Yellow Dock (R. crispus). Regardless, I've saved the seeds from this little miracle. Next spring I'll sow them in good sun and see exactly what it is I have here...

Hurricane Ike Backlash in Ohio

2008-09-15T16:58:00.000-07:00

Cleanup Continues Across County

Sunday brought our little homestead in Marion the backlash winds of Hurricane Ike. The Husband was home, and it was Football Sunday of course, so our whole family was snuggled up nice and warm in our little nest. We didn't realize how much damage had happened around the county until we went outside the next morning. Our neighborhood, thankfully, did not get the worst of it. The picture above was taken from my front yard, and you can see a front end loader and dump truck in the background moving fallen tree limbs and debris from yards and the road.

BobbleHead Owl Homestead sustained nothing worse than a few twigs and very small branches scattered around the yard. The sunflowers have all been doubled over, along with the corn stalks, but for the most part we got off free of damage. The backyard privacy fence seemed to act as a windbreak. We would look out the front window and see the world swirling wildly. In the backyard, it just looked like a breezy autumn day.

On Monday morning, the kids and I headed outside to gather some sun and fun before the bus came for Head Start, and I saw one of my elderly neighbors down the road cleaning up her yard. We went down to help. The kids thought it was great fun having someone else's yard to explore, and our neighbor was grateful for the help. She's capable, but it's good for everyone to know that there are neighbors who care, no?

I hope all of my Marion friends came through the storm with as much luck as we had, and we're sending our well wishes to those who have been hit by the brunt of Hurricane Ike.

Activating Compost With Yarrow

2008-09-13T00:00:00.000-07:00

“Yarrow is always the greatest boon, wherever it grows wild in the country — at the edges of the fields or roads, where cereals or potatoes or any other crops are growing. It should on no account be weeded out... In a word, like sympathetic people in human society, who have a favourable influence by their mere presence and not by anything they say, so yarrow, in a district where it is plentiful, works beneficially by its mere presence.”
- Rudolf Steiner.

Fall is one of the easiest seasons during which to start a compost pile because of the abundance of organic material likes fallen leaves and spent plant stalks. One of the plants you'll hear about often in connection with compost is comfrey (Symphytum spp.). There's been much ado in the blogosphere and gardening/homesteading community in general about the benefits of comfrey to the garden, both as a fertilizer and as a compost activator. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten around to adding comfrey to my herb garden. There is, however, a wonderful herb that can be used in the same manner as comfrey and that I have in abundance: Yarrow (Achillea millefolium). At this time of year, her (and by "her" I mean yarrow's) beautiful heads are heavy with seed, and her time to aid in the stocking of my medicine cabinet is pretty much over. She's an herb for all seasons, though, and autumn finds her the unfailing companion of Madame TrashHeap (as The Husband affectionately refers to our compost pile).

Just like good ole comfrey, yarrow acts a wonderful compost activator to speed up the decomposition of the green and brown materials you've added to your pile. It's been said that a single yarrow leaf, finely chopped, will give you marked results in as much as a wheelbarrow full of compost materials. This activation ability is connected to yarrow's ability to concentrate both sulphur and potassium, along with other micronutrients such as copper and phosphates. This year, knowing that I'd have an abundance of stubborn sod and crabgrass to break down in my pile, I added a couple chopped leaves of yarrow along with a handful of soil between my green and brown layers. In the biodynamic community, it is recommended that the yarrow be enclosed in the bladder of a male deer because of the herb's relationship in treating that organ (in a nutshell), hung in the sun throughout the summer and buried shallowly in the soil throughout the winter, before being added to the compost in the spring.

You can also use yarrow as a fertilizing tea, in much the same preparation as comfrey. Fill a bucket, or whatever empty container you have on hand, with yarrow leaves and then fill again with water. Let this concoction sit for two weeks or so. I recommend that you cover it because the smell is not pleasant. Once you've let your tea brew for a couple of weeks, gather some of the liquid into a watering can and dilute it with water. I just eyeball it, but a 10:1 ratio is recommended. Yarrow fertilizing tea is good for potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, and fruit trees. Each plant has their individual preference in so far as fertilization goes, so be sure to consult your favorite veggie growing guide for this information.

Stay tuned for Spring when you'll hear me touting Yarrow's medicinal abilities, her amazing attraction to beneficial insects and pollinators, and her helpfulness in repelling various pests.

Popcorn Isn't Just for Popping

2008-09-12T08:54:00.001-07:00

Sharon over at Casaubon's Book is adding a wonderful new weekly segment to her blog called "Food Storage Quickie" that will concentrate on one aspect of food storage and one non-food item. This is great for me because I have trouble breaking emergency preparedness down into smaller goals, get overwhelmed, and do nothing. 'Tis my way.

This week, Sharon writes about pasta, popcorn, and matches. Pasta and matches are obvious choices for me, but I hadn't really thought about the popcorn. My thoughts quickly drifted to my Depression-raised grandma who always had popcorn in her pantry because it was a cheap source of calories. Hmmm... not a bad idea. Then I remembered a recipe for Popcorn Pie I'd seen in Mother Earth News. After reading it, I'd desperately wanted to grow popcorn but ended up opting for sweet corn instead. There's always next year, right?

Anyway, in case there are others out there not so sure that popcorn deserves a place in your food stores, I thought I'd dig up a few more recipes for you:

Thai Peanut and Popcorn Crusted Chicken
Popcorn Salad
Popcorn Soup
Popcorn Stuffing-- An actual recipe, not the joke
Popcorn Stuffed Peppers

A quick Google search will net you hundreds of links to dessert-type recipes, gourmet popcorn recipes, and more popcorn ball variations than one cook could possibly use. Now I'm off to add to my food stores!

I Can Finally Breathe...

2008-09-12T08:21:00.001-07:00

The first week of preschool is done. I have three days of lovin' with all of my children. Annie said that she'd cried a bit at school yesterday because she missed me. It's okay to miss me, kid. I missed you too. I was looking forward to spending the day outside with my babies, cleaning up the yard and garden (it desperately needs it!), but that is not to be. It began storming last night and is expected to continue throughout the weekend, and Annie is coughing, Airius has a runny nose, and my throat is sore. We're getting used to all those billions of new germs courtesy of classmates and teachers. Hopefully it'll blow over by Monday in time for school, but who knows. Chicken noodle soup and orange juice are on the menu today.

All in all, preschool hasn't been that bad. I've seen some good things. It's been wondrous to see just how confident my kids are and to see that, yes, they CAN behave. lol I got to witness the beginnings of a meal at Head Start, and there was a surprising amount of good. The plates and silverware were all reusable rather than styrofoam or paper disposables. The only disposable I saw for that meal was the milk cartons. They also have "family style" meals, which means that the teachers eat with the kids at one long table, pass around bowls or platters of food, let each child serve themselves providing help only if needed, and there's a fair amount of interaction and conversation. That day, they served cheeseburgers with lettuce and tomatoes, french fries, and white milk. Not great, not horrible.

I'm also encouraged by their security measures. The yellow buses actually have harness style belts, which the bus aides help the children into. When I went to school, there wasn't a seatbelt to be found on a bus. Each child has to be signed into the bus and/or school. I have to sign them onto the bus, and I have to sign them off. They even asked for my ID the first day and will ask for the ID of anyone else that tries to sign them off of the bus to make sure they're on the list of permitted people. If I take them to school or pick them up, it's the same thing. I have to sign 'em in and out.

Each class gets 30 min. of time outdoors on the playground every single day, which I'm thankful for. Annie and Airius are used to being outside all day, so I wasn't sure how they'd handle being cooped up for 3 hours a day.

The BEST thing, though, is that I get to spend time alone with Callie for the first time in her life. She's having a hard time adjusting to being without her Booboo and Sissy, but I am really enjoying our closeness. It's apparent that I haven't missed anything about her, I always knew who she was, but just being able to cuddle her and focus on her without any competition is a huge bonus. Yesterday, we spent our entire hour before lunch and naptime "painting" on the walkway out front with water. A couple old paintbrushes and sponges and a bowl of water kept her occupied with no trouble at all. Towards the end, she started adding leaves, rocks, flowers, and twigs to the water and stirring it with the paintbrush. Her own witch's brew. I'm so proud! ;)

Still, my mind keeps drifting to homeschooling. I suspected that one of the women who lives at the end of my road homeschools, so when I saw her yesterday evening, I asked if that was the case and told her that I was considering it as an option. She pointed down our road and said, "I homeschool. The house next door to me homeschools, and the house next door to that homeschools. You certainly wouldn't be alone and would have plenty of people to go to for advice or encouragement." Bless her. I think, ultimately, I'm going to let the kids decide. I know that it's my emotions, both maternal and pregnant, that are driving my thoughts toward this.

Take a deep breath, Mama. You're in this until May...

Grandma Dorothy's Fried Squash

2008-09-11T17:20:00.000-07:00

I promised that I'd post the recipe for my grandma's fried squash while I was showing off the mystery squash, and I finally got around to making it tonight. This was absolutely the only way I'd ever eat squash as a child. It may not be the healthiest method, but I don't mind making it for a treat once in awhile. You'll have to forgive the dreadful food photography. That is something I have yet to master. The recipe is as follows:

2-3 small summer squash, sliced into 1/4in. rounds (you can substitute zucchini if you'd like)
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup milk
1/2 cup flour (plus more, just in case)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon (or your favorite seasoning/herb)
enough oil to cover the bottom of your pan thickly

First, slice your squash. 1/4in. is an approximation, of course. Just use your best judgement. You're frying these in a batter that will cook much faster than the squash itself, so they need to be thin enough that they'll be softened during the frying process but not so thin that they're difficult to handle or they get mushy from overcooking. Uniformity is the key.

Combine the eggs (slightly beaten beforehand), milk, flour, salt, and cinnamon in a small bowl. I use a fork to beat mine together because my kitchen is woefully devoid of "tools", but you can use whatever works for you. This batter is your only chance to add flavor, so feel free to experiment with your favorite spices. I am completely in love with cinnamon for those crisp autumn days where you want something to warm you up, but during the summer, I often omit it and use anise or something that feels a bit more cooling to me. While you're doing the mixing, you can put your oil on to heat up. Test the oil for readiness by letting a drop of batter fall into the oil. If the batter sizzles a bit, your oil is ready.

Next, dip each slice of squash into the batter and drop it into the pan. I always do one test slice first to make sure that the batter has sufficient flour to adhere to the squash. If it's too runny, I add flour a tablespoon at a time until the consistency seems right. I've seen some people who make this dish let the excess batter drip off of each piece of squash, but that's not how Grandma did it, and it's not how I do it! I dunk and cook immediately. Be sure to add only enough squash to the pan that you have a single layer. If they're all crammed into the pan, they'll stick together and make flipping difficult.

Fry the squash until brown on one side, then flip and let the other side brown. You don't want these to be a nice golden color. You want BROWN. Otherwise, your squash will still be crunchy. I don't like mine floppy and mushy, but I want them to be just soft enough to chew without trouble. When they're done, they should look like this:

Serve immediately. In fact, the babies you see in the picture were devoured right out of the pan, despite my scalding mouth. Mmmmmm...

Enjoy!

What's In YOUR Maple Syrup?

2008-09-10T18:32:00.000-07:00

Photo of me coveting one of Mama Maple's leaves last fall.

Here's what's in my Log Cabin Original Syrup:

~Corn syrup
~High fructose corn syrup
~Water
~Contains 2% or Less of: Salt, Natural and Artificial Maple Flavor, Cellulose Gum, Preservatives (Sorbic Acid, Sodium Benzoate), Sodium Hexametaphosphate, Caramel Color, Mono and Diglycerides.

Yum. I love that the brand website shares this little factoid: "There is a good chance our grandfather’s grandfather grew up using Log Cabin syrup." Not THIS Log Cabin syrup, pal!

So now, of course, my mind has turned once again to tapping our two maple trees. Last winter, I verified that Mama Maple and Sister Maple were indeed tap-worthy species (shhhh... don't tell them I didn't know!), but as is my way, I hmmed and hawed about actually doing the tapping. I didn't have the equipment, I wasn't sure what I was doing, I'd really rather see a demonstration before I go tearing into my two beautiful tree companions, we don't use maple syrup all that often anyway, the neighbor spawn--er, kids-- will wreak havoc on my little operation, etc. The excuses are neverending. Will I take the plunge this year and go a-tappin'? Only time will tell.

Now I'm off to do some more research. ;)

All This Affluence

2008-09-08T19:40:00.000-07:00

This is my submission for the APLS Carnival on Affluence.

"Affluent Persons Living Sustainably." APLS. That's how Green Bean and friends have chosen to describe themselves, and somehow I added myself to that list. WHAT??

I've blogged about the fact that my kids attend Head Start. That's an income based, government funded program provided to low-income families, my friends. According to wikipedia, "...Head Start is the longest-running program to address systemic poverty in the United States>." Systemic poverty.

The frugality, the repurposing, the recycling, and even the garden I blog about aren't just hobbies for me, they're necessities. It isn't always clear whether I've chosen this simple life or whether it's chosen me. But you know what? No matter how often the line between choice and requirement are blurred, the fact is that I really did opt for this. And that is exactly what makes me affluent.

Now, I know some of you will question why I would choose to "live off of the government" by sending my children to Head Start if I'm so very affluent. Isn't that, um, cheating? Let me explain.

The reason that we qualify for a program like Head Start is because we live on one income. Before the twins came along, I was working as a microbiology tech at an international laboratory. Our income was about double what it is now because we were both working, and we had plenty of money to spare. We were debt free and had a reasonable amount of savings. When our two sweet babies came along, though, our priorities shifted. We looked at the price of daycare for two infants, and it was certainly outrageous. We could have handled it, but at what cost? Our children would have been cared for by someone other than their parents, breastfeeding two babies would have been complicated further than it already was, we would have added to our commutes (I was, at that time, driving at least an hour each way), and the emotional toll on The Husband, me, and the babies was just the final nail in the coffin. I chose to stay home.

How many countries are there in the world where a woman can choose to stay home with their children or continue to pursue her career? How many countries are there in the world where a woman could do BOTH? How many countries even offer a program like Head Start?

And staying home is just one choice among hundreds that I've made in my life to live a little more sustainably, despite my affluence. According to this site, I'm in the top 5.99% richest people in the world. Remembering the long days of summer when my daughter languished in the garden to eat all the baby carrots she could or looking back on how I told my neighbor that it was okay if the squirrels ate my sunflowers because I didn't need them all or knowing that the fact that my garden is just starting and not providing me with all the food my growing family will need this winter does not mean that we will go hungry reminds me that I am affluent indeed. Affluent, rich, blessed, prosperous, plentiful, fruitful (my growing belly says so)...

I'll bet you are too. Think about it.

Change is Afoot

2008-09-08T17:50:00.000-07:00

Dear Airius and Annie,

Today, for the first time in your lives, I left you in the care of complete strangers for 3 1/2 hours. You were both thrilled. Though Daddy and I managed to make it through without tears, it was a bittersweet moment for us. On one hand, I'm amazed that I've managed to raise two children who feel self-assured enough that they weren't the least bit concerned with their parents leaving them. I'm in awe of the fact that you've both been classified as "outgoing" and "talkative," despite being raised in a situation where your social expression has been minimized and your father is content to go weeks without seeing another living being. I feel proud, with a sense of parental accomplishment, that both of you approached this change with unfettered optimism and excitement.

On the other hand... I'm so sad to see you go. Sitting just beyond the reach of that maternal pride is a lump of guilt and a huge feeling of failure for having sent you off to be taught by others rather than having kept you home to learn as a family. I'm so very hesitant to let you go, my two first little hatchlings that really made this nest. It's so very strange to know that some other woman will be teaching you, guiding you, shaping you, and even feeding you! Maybe I'm even just a bit jealous that someone else will wheedle their way into your affections. Maybe.

But, oh! The confidence that you both have! Annie, you didn't hesitate for a moment. I asked you three times if you wanted me to stay until all the other kids came into the classroom. You were having none of it, waving cheerily and sending me on my way, pigtails bouncing as you skipped towards the dolls laid in a mini cradle. I was strong then and walked out with my head held high after giving you a hug and kiss and snapping a photo, but I'm fighting back tears now as I remember that moment.

Airius, you stomped your foot impatiently as you waited for the morning class to file out before you could enter. One glance around the room, and you were off exploring, as is your way. A door opened here, a toy fondled there, your tiny hands (so much bigger than the day you were born, I remind myself) running over the covers of books as you decided which one to pull out. You snarled at me as I tried to catch you in my camera's viewfinder. When the teacher asked everyone to gather on the rug, you were the first there and remained rapt as she read you a puppet-accompanied story. You shouted out the answers to each question your teacher asked. Daddy told me it was time to go. When I arrived to pick you up later in the afternoon, the aide told me you'd been asking for me for the last half hour. Be still my heart!

As much as Daddy and I missed you though, there was one person who missed you more. Your little sister wouldn't show us any affection or speak to us for quite some time when she realized that we were leaving without you. Even a jaunt to a ne'er before visited park with both of her parents all to herself did little to placate her. When we pulled into the garage without her Booboo and Sissy in their respective places, she broke down. The look on her face when she saw the two of you had returned while she was napping... Well, I hope you both remember that. Pure adoration and love.

Yes, you have a wonderful family. A loving family. A close family. An imperfect family. You are blessed.

With all my forever love,
Mommy

~About the photo: The kids were all too cooperative for those kinds of heart-tugging photo ops that I dreamed of for this day, holding hands on the way into the building, heads held high and not looking back towards me even once... But I just couldn't do it without choking up. So, in the interest of Mommy staying strong, I let those opportunities pass and opted instead for the obligatory pic in front of the school sign.~

Independence Days Challenge-- Week Something or Other

2008-09-07T12:27:00.001-07:00

I've been very lax on getting these updates put together, so I'm trying to get back on track. Here we go...

1. Planted: Nothing.

2. Harvest something: Golden Bantam sweet corn, Kentucky Wonder beans, Scarlett Runner beans, carrots, mystery squash, calendulas.

3. Preserve something: Dried calendulas.

4. Prep something: Set up my gardening expansion budget and researched the plants I'd chosen. Talked to a neighbor about collecting seeds from her goldenrod "weeds" in October when they ripen. Most of our prep here has actually related to getting the kids ready for their first day of Head Start. Lots of thrifting for clothes and shoes.

5. Cook something: Despite the fact that we checked out several cookbooks from the library, we made nothing from the books. The only new thing I cooked was maple syrup chicken, which, uh, I made up on the spot.

6. Manage your reserves: Found some old "maple syrup" in the fridge and used as much as I could get away with by pouring it on and in some chicken while it baked. It was delicious and made the house smell wonderful, but have you seen the ingredients listed for store-bought maple syrup?? Let's just say there isn't much maple anything in it. Maybe I'll post about that later...

7. Work on local food systems: Nope.

8. Reduce waste: Nothing beyond the ordinary composting, eBaying, and Freecycling.

9. Learn a new skill: Nothing.

Mystery Squash

2008-09-05T09:02:00.001-07:00

When this squash vine came up in the exact spot that I'd planted our Jack-o-Lantern pumpkins last year, I assumed that it was a volutary reseeding of said pumpkin. After all, I didn't grow any other squash last year, hadn't planted any squash anywhere near that spot this year, and none of my neighbors grow squash. Then the fruit in the picture began to form, and I was a bit surprised by its skinny, elongated form. The vine succumbed to powdery mildew along with the rest of my planted squash vines, but this fruit survived. It was dark green with some striation, so then I thought that perhaps some zucchini had been tossed that way (my yard also happens to be my neighbor's personal landfill, apparently). But lo and behold! After the vine had perished, the squash began to ripen... to orange.

I'm not sure if it's a Jack-o-Lantern pumpkin that just happens to be very oddly shaped, or if it's something else entirely, but we won't be letting it go to waste. I brought it inside finally, and when it ripens further, I'll slice it up and try my grandma's fried squash recipe on it.

Organizing a Garden Expansion

2008-09-02T21:25:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's right. The gardening season hasn't even ended, and I'm already dreaming up next year's garden. The truth is, I'll change my mind weekly from now until next January or February when my seed orders must be in. With all this indecisiveness, I could end up spending far more than I can afford on plants and seeds as they strike my fancy. That just wouldn't do! I'm on a strict gardening budget, just as I am for everything else, so I have a system to help keep myself on the straight and narrow, budget-friendly garden path.

I've split my budget into three categories: the Edible Garden, the Other Garden, and the Annual Garden Project. Just for clarity's sake, there may be crossover between the two plant sections.

For the Edible Garden, I allow myself to purchase a set of plants or seeds for each of four sections:

~Annual Food Crop-- You could further divide this category into warm season and cold season crops if you like, but my budget this year is likely to be particularly small with a new baby on the way, so I'll be adding only one new annual veggie to my garden.

~Perennial Food Crop-- This could be anything from fruit and nut trees to grapevines to berry bushes or asparagus. Whatever it is, it's likely to be much more costly than the other edible garden purchases because most of these aren't purchased as seed. You can purchase seeds for most of them, but these usually take at least a few years to start producing. In the case of trees, it could be a decade or more. Keep that in mind and budget accordingly. Also keep in mind that many of the plants in this category need several plants or varieties for proper pollination. This can hit your budget especially hard.

~Herb-- These are useful little buggers, attracting pollinators to your yard, providing protection to your veggies when used as companions, providing flavor to your homegrown meals, as well as providing medicine more often than not. This is always my weak budget area. I see herbs or herb seeds, and I. Want. To. Buy. It's very important for me to stay on track here because even a few extra seed packets or plants can really add up.

~Edible Flower-- This is where the edible garden and "other" garden sometimes crossover. Edible flowers are a must in my garden. I use most of them in a manner very similar to herbs.

The Other Garden is also split into four sections, based on the time of the year in which they bloom or provide the most interest. This allows me to maximize the food and shelter for pollinators and other garden beneficials, like birds, throughout the year. The categories are:

~Spring Bloomer-- Um, obviously, plants that bloom in spring. Again, if your budget is larger than mine, you can further break this section down into early, mid, and late spring bloomers. I just try to alternate years, buying early one year, mid the next, and late after that. These plants are so very important since they provide the earliest food sources for beneficials just coming out of hibernation. The earlier your garden is in bloom, the earlier you'll see those happy buggies humming through it and the more likely they are to stick around for your summer veggies that need their pollinating powers. Spring bloomers are also a quick fix to my SAD.

~Summer Bloomer-- Plants that are at their height of bloom or interest in the summer months. Because this is also the apex of my vegetable garden, I usually end up picking an herb or edible flower for this category.

~Autum Bloomer-- It's important to keep those beneficials well-fed all the way up until hibernation, so fall blooming plants are a must. They're also the most difficult for me to choose because the selection at this point tends to shift from a plethora of flowers to a majority of shrubs and trees. In my small garden, there are only so many shrubs I can fit.

~Winter Bloomer-- These plants are more likely to provide winter interest than blooms, but the important thing is that they fill a niche. They could provide shelter, protection, or even food for beneficials, structure to the sleeping garden, a windbreak or snowbreak, or even decoration for my Winter Solstice celebration. Just as with the autumn bloomers, the focus here usually shifts to shrubs and trees, limiting the choices for very small gardens like mine. Of course, if you have a greenhouse (I don't), this broadens your selection. This section is often the first to go if I really need to pare the budget down.

So altogether, I have the potential for adding eight new plant varieties to my garden each year. This doesn't usually happen. I often make sure my herb and edible flower choices bloom at different times, enabling me to subtract the budget for spring, summer, or autumn bloomers or add that money to another category. Some years I simply have to make choices about what I want most because, especially with the perennial edibles, one category is maxing out my budget. The point is that I know I can only get ONE variety of plant for each category. If I buy, for example, a packet of borage seeds on sale in September, my edible flowers category is maxed out already. Period. This ensures that I wait until I'm certain about what I want before buying as well as keeping my money where it belongs.

Happy Labor Day!

2008-09-01T09:19:00.001-07:00

Today is not just an American national holiday, it also happens to be the birthday of my baby brother. That's him in the picture having been karate chopped on his sunburned shoulders by Annie. When Uncle Philip's around, there are no holds barred. The children wrestle with him, beat him, beg him to toss them in the air or swing them in all manner of dangerous ways, etc. He's the only adult I know that has enough energy to keep up with all three of my kids! We miss him everyday and wish that he lived much, much closer. Happy birthday, little brother. Exactly two years and two days after I was born, you entered the world to torture me for the next 18 years, but we all still love you!

My birthday just passed, but the celebration has yet to take place. Even today, on Labor Day, The Husband is working. He won't have a day off until Wednesday, at which point he will have worked eight days and countless hours in a row. Tuesday he's doing 16 hours, so I plan to let him sleep in a little on Wednesday before I head off to my first ultrasound for this baby! The whole family is excited about seeing this little one for the very first time. Then we have the open house for Head Start that evening, so maybe Thursday. Of course, there are dentist appointments for all of us (excluding The Bean) that day, and we have to drive an hour each way for those, so... If I can just get my chicken paprikas in on one of those days, I'll be happy! The recipe is forthcoming, I promise. Now, I'm off to do some more laundry.

I hope all of you are having a joyful and restful day.

What's Blooming in My Garden-- August 31, 2008

2008-08-31T19:24:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I've posted what's blooming in my garden. It's not that nothing new has been blooming, it's just that I've been... off. Today, though, I'm catching up!

The surprisingly lovely violet blossoms of black turtle beans (Phaseolus vulgaris). The pods are purple too! Love it.

My current favorite plant, marshmallow (Althaea officinalis). Marshmallow is mostly considered a biennial, but this blossom appears on a first-year plant. I'll leave some of these "early" bloomers and see if they come back next year, but I'm digging up the roots of some this year for various sorts of medicine.

Another squash blossom, this time Early Prolific Yellow Straightneck (Cucurbita pepo). Not so prolific in my garden. This blossom, captured in the camera a couple of weeks ago, is long since gone. Its parent plant has fallen almost completely to powdery mildew (my fault, I know).

Store-bought potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) setting flowers. These have since been followed by fruit typical of all the Nightshade family plants.

Tasty and cheerful nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus). Last year, plants from this same seed were enormous! This year, they're limping along. Of course, it could be my insistence on not watering this year... or the fact that they weren't planted until, like, June... or the fact that they're being shaded by the corn, buckwheat, and asparagus ferns... or...

The marigolds (Tagetes spp.) are doing their very best to keep non-existant pests from the non-existant peppers. *sigh*

Helping along those workhorse marigolds is a lonely little sweet basil plant (Ocimum basilicum). I think my seed was old. Then again, they are in the failure of a pepper bed. Hmmmm... I think a little more water would have been appreciated. Since this basil was hardy enough to make it, despite the odds against it, I'm letting it go to seed. A plant that tenacious should have its lineage continued, right?

There are more flower pictures to come, but I think this is enough for this week. Hope all your gardens are blooming prolifically!

Sweet Corn Dilemmas

2008-08-28T12:00:00.000-07:00

Ahhhh... sweet corn. It's definitely one of my favorite fresh-from-the-garden vegetables. A few minutes of boiling, a small pat of butter, and I'm in absolute heaven. Maybe it comes from being born at the height of corn season, maybe not. This is my first year growing my own sweet corn, and I've finally run into my first real problem (excluding the squirrels): bitter corn.

The kids and I had the three ears in the picture for dinner last week. Two of the ears were tasty and near perfect, but one tasted sour. It was the first ear to ripen and had large, plump, well formed kernels. The variety is Golden Bantam. Anyone have any ideas?

As I was googling every variation of "sweet corn tastes bitter", my neighbor called me over to his house. He was holding an entire stalk of corn, roots dangling and pole beans still rambling up its height. The ear of corn was very small and not near to being ripe. "There's something looking at me from inside this ear of corn!"

Oh, great.

So I gingerly peel back the layers. Nothing's moving, but there's a large, soft white mass inside. Beneath the somewhat translucent white exterior, I could see a muddy, granular, black interior. "Looks like a fungus to me. I've never seen it before though, so I'll look it up on the laptop later."

The result:

Corn smut, or Ustilago maydis

Hopefully, they'll follow the instructions I printed out for them and destroy the ears. Now I'm wondering if I'll find any galls on my corn. I hope not because I'm planning to serve some to my two best girlfriends who are coming for my birthday! I can't wait to see them...

Back to School Thrifting for Clothes

2008-08-23T09:55:00.001-07:00

Two dresses, three shirts, and two Wiggles puzzles for good measure. Total: $13.76. Annie was in heaven trying on garment after garment, though it was frustrating for me because there was so very little available in her size. Of course, we only hit the Goodwill store. The Salvation Army store usually has a much wider variety of clothing, so we'll try that one next. Airius is set for this year, and probably the next, because The Husband's aunt passed down all the clothes of her TWO older boys to us. Love that!

The puzzles were only $0.50 a piece for 25-piece puzzles, one Captain Feathersword and one Wags the Dog. That's just enough pieces to keep a preschooler busy but not so many that they get frustrated and give up. And I love the Wiggles, probably more than the kids do. We haven't seen an episode in years, but the kids remember them. I love to see the twins helping each other to put them together, and it sure beats sitting in front of the tv on a rainy day. Anyone who has a boy knows that, at the age of 4, they are much more appreciative of more mechanical, tactile activities like puzzles.

After our trip to Goodwill, we headed home. I dug a bit around the potato plants but felt nothing. Annie was begging me to dig up a carrot for her, even though I knew they weren't ready. The one I pulled up was maybe the size of my thumb, but she chowed it down right there in the garden, dirt and all! Airius asked for one too but wasn't nearly as delighted with his. I ate half of his. Mmmmm...

What I Really Need...

2008-08-22T17:04:00.000-07:00

Is an awesome article on picture railing in 1920's bungalows. Anyone have one they'd like to share?

Though the weather has warmed once more from what was feeling very autumnal, my cold weather nesting is in full force. The garden is not really winding down yet (pictures to come if I can get myself to upload them). In fact, many things are just beginning, like tomatoes and peppers. Still, I feel the gardening season winding down, and my focus is slowly shifting back to the house. The attic is almost completely cleaned out, and once preschool starts for the twins, I plan to get working on decluttering and reorganizing their rooms. Something's gotta give if we're going to fit a 4th baby in this 3 bedroom house! Cross your fingers for a boy, y'all...

Oh. Yeah, so the picture rail thingy... Since I'm planning to start work on the bedrooms, part of that work is restoration. Picture rails were standard at this time, so I'm assuming our house had them originally. The problem is, I've been in several neighborhood houses very similar to ours and not a one of 'em has the picture rail. Hmph. Most of our walls (I think all the bedroom walls) are now drywall rather than plaster, so the rail isn't necessary, but well... It's authentic! I tend to get really picky about these things though, so I'm freaking out over the fact that I don't know what the original picture rails looked like. How could I possibly choose one without having something to go on!? Um, right? Well, so far I'm loving the 2 1/4" Stain Grade Hemlock Picture Rail Molding from House of Antique Hardware the best, but I'm having trouble actually picturing it in the room. I need a sample, I think, to see how well it goes with the rest of the trim in the house.

Of course, since the picture rail needs to be stained, that means the rest of the wood in the room is probably going to need to be redone. Oy. Just to be clear, most of it doesn't "match" now, simply from age fading, and the previous owner did the most lovely splattery paint job with apparently not a bit of painter's tape in sight, so the trim really needs to be redone anyway. I'll have to get a picture of all the horrifying paint details up sometime.

Man, I'm tired just writing about redoing all that wood.

Literature Inspired Food

2008-08-21T15:38:00.000-07:00

If you haven't noticed before (perhaps in this post or that one), raspberries and I are an inseparable pair, especially during pregnancy when they both nourish me and inspire great feelings of nostalgia. It's my way of connecting with the woman who birthed me and who never got to see me give birth myself. One of the things that both my mother and I loved when I was growing up was Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery. We raced each other to get through the books and watched the movies together at least once a year. I used to make fun of my mom for crying during the movies, but I'm sure she'd be chuckling now to see how misty-eyed I get just at the first notes of the movie's theme song. Yes, Mom. Now I understand. I really do.

Back to the raspberries. I was drinking my raspberry leaf tea this morning and my mind began to drift to the scene in Anne of Green Gables where Anne mistakenly gives Diana red currant wine instead of the permitted, non-alcoholic raspberry cordial. Oh, the mayhem that ensues! Bosom buddies ripped apart! Again, I'm being diverted. The point is, I kept wondering just what raspberry cordial was and how wonderful it must taste and how transported I would feel to roll the bright pink liquid over my tongue. I googled recipes, and lo and behold! Apparently, I too can learn how to make P.E.I.'s traditional raspberry cordial. W00T!

It was about this time that I remembered another literary favorite that's inspired food traditions in my family: Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series. There's a chapter in Little House in the Big Woods where Ma and Pa bring in some fresh snow from the first snow of the season and allow the girls to make maple syrup candy, 'cause "maple sugar never hurt anybody." I had poured through boxes and boxes of books in the attic (before the big declutter, of course) in order to find my worn copy of Little House in the Big Woods on a whim, and after that chapter I waited desperately for the first powdery drifts of the winter to come. When it did, I surprised the kids with the making of this little treat. Thus was born a brand new (to us) first snow family tradition. You can bet that we'll be doing it again this year, and I'll be blogging about it too!

Raspberry cordial and maple syrup candy are just bits and pieces of the culinary traditions held within these favorite books of mine. Tomorrow we head to the library to pick up the two cookbooks featured above (thank goodness for the home internet accessible Marion Public Library catalog), and hopefully my morning sickness will give me enough of a break to whip up some delicious, literature inspired eats. Not only will my body and unborn baby be nourished, but so will my spirit and my inner child.

Do you have any favorite foods or family traditions inspired by literature? Please share if you do!

The Big School Decision

2008-08-15T13:44:00.001-07:00

Yesterday the kids and I met with two "family advocates" from the Head Start program. Both women were very kind and LOVED the children, but I can't say I'm convinced yet that we're doing the right thing. The decision to send my kids to public school or to homeschool has been weighing on my mind for years, and there just hasn't seemed to be one of those moments yet where I feel that yes-THIS-is-the-way-things-are-supposed-to-be feeling. There were a lot of factors that went into me finally signing the kids up for the Head Start program:

1. This isn't really school yet. It's preschool. It'll give me a chance to feel out how the kids develop with other kids around, other authority figures, and more structure than they'd get at home (well, maybe not. I'm a diehard fan of the schedule.). Are they really learning more than they do at home?

2. My kids (and I) are very socially isolated. Our closest family members are at least an hour away, and the only friends we have in the neighborhood are our next door neighbors whom we love, but... In fact, the only little boy Airius knows that is his own age is his cousin whom we see only at family functions. I've looked at the homeschool groups in our area, and all of them are, well, Christian. I have a deep respect for Christianity, but our religion doesn't fall into that category. I'd feel like a bit of a fraud.

3. Annie has shown a keen interest in going to school. I've told her that she could stay at home and learn as a family, but the idea kind of bums her out. That bums me out, but this isn't about me. I won't even hope for her to change her mind, promise. Yesterday after our meeting, Annie grabbed the hands of one of the women and said, "can I go to school with you now?" lol Airius was asking the same thing but wasn't quite bold enough to grab their hands. He serenaded them for awhile though. ;)

4. I'm not convinced that a child's success in school or life is dependent upon how or where they were schooled. Maybe I've read Freakonomics one too many times, but I think that if we encourage and support our children through their education, the returns will be great regardless of their schooling.

5. I'm really not at all confident that I could do homeschooling successfully. There I said it. Happy?

Anyway, the book isn't closed on this topic yet, and I plan to do a lot more research throughout this school year, but I wholeheartedly welcome respectful opinions on this subject. Do you homeschool your kids? Why or why not? Any book/website recommendations on the subject?

Book Review: Four-Season Harvest by Eliot Coleman

2008-08-13T07:30:00.000-07:00

Four-Season Harvest by Eliot Coleman is one of those books that I just couldn't wait to open. As a zone 5b gardener, it's a constant frustration of mine to have those few months where nothing at all is growing. Even if you are an avid food preserver (I'm still learning), there's a definite allure to having FRESH food in the darkest of winter months, no? So as soon as I got this book home from the library, I devoured it page by page. The gist of the book can be summed up with this quote from page 6: "Whereas the growing season may be chiefly limited to the warmer months, the harvest season has no such limits." Succession planting and crop protection are key.

The beginning of the book was sort of a rehashing of facts that I already had stored away in my brain. If you've grown any organic vegetables before, you probably already have what you need from the first few chapters. The locavores out there will grin at Coleman's Chapter 1 discussion of the merits of variety and seaonality. Chapter 2 gives the author's best tips on creating rich compost and the use of organic soil amendments, though he saves green manures, or cover crops, for Chapter 3. I did think his Chapter 4 tip for using the edge of a board to make furrows was helpful, but the rest was your basic organic gardening.

Chapter 5 is where things got interesting to me. It opens with this:

It is the middle of January on the coast of Maine, and I'm harvesting crops for dinner. Despite the typically frigid New England weather, I can choose from 18 garden-fresh vegetables. I begin by harvesting a salad of mache, curly endive, and claytonia... I will serve the salad with a mustard vinaigrette and raw carrot and kohlrabi slices on the side. Then I gather spinach for a duck-egg souffle, dig some leeks to prepare sauteed with butter, and pick some parsley to garnish the potatoes from the cellar. Planning ahead, I decide to have some sorrel soup; an arugula, radicchio, and sugarloaf salad with fresh scallions; and steamed brussels sprouts in a mornay sauce for tomorrow night. The menu could also include au gratin Swiss chard, braised escarole, a cream of kale and potato soup, or dandelion-hearts tempura. Not bad for fresh garden harvesting in Zone 5. (pg. 63)

Not bad at all, Mr. Coleman! My mouth was absolutely watering after that description, and you can believe that I was googling recipes for awhile after that.

The author makes a clear, concise explanation of how a cold frame works, by limiting plant stress through lessening the effects of fluctuating winter temperatures, the added moisture of cold weather months, and windchill. I can't really comment on the clarity of instructions for building a cold frame since I haven't yet actually attempted it. I'm probably bound to start with something a little less elaborate than Coleman's suggestion and work my way up, but that's just lazy old me. The tables included in Chapter 5 were extremely enlightening and helpful for me. They included not only fall, winter, and spring crop suggestions, but also planting dates (I still have time!) and harvest dates. I'm fully aware that some of these will require some trial and error to perfect in my specific garden, but I'm okay with that.

Next up comes a chapter devoted to tunnels. At first I was a little disappointed in this chapter because the tunnel suggested takes up a heckuva lot of space (14' x 20' is wider than most parts of my irregularly shaped garden and nearly as long), and Coleman suggest moving the tunnel, keeping it in one spot for the benefit of summer heat-loving crops then moving it to another spot for the crops to be harvested in winter but which are sown in summer while the thermophiles are still thriving. But the author does devote some time to the discussion of modifications for smaller gardens and warmer climates. Here he suggests a permanent, "instant" greenhouse. The illustration in the book is promising, with latticed entryways at either end and plants growing up the arbor-like supports. And, of course, Coleman makes sure to give ideas for dealing with snow accumulation. "I don't mean normal snowfalls of 8 to 10 inches..." (pg. 108). :) Yes, he gets it.

Chapter 7 continues the harvest possibilities with root cellars and other "indoor harvesting" techniques. I found the suggestion of walling off a corner of my basement with concrete blocks, complete with a cement-board ceiling and insulation, a little daunting. I suppose it will come to that eventually, though. Thankfully, several simpler options are also discussed. My heart rate can return to normal. There is also a discussion of forcing root crops to sprout. Yes, yes, the obligatory Belgian endive is included. Oh, and drying foods makes an appearance as well.

Chapter 8 is an exploration of garden pests. Again, if you've already done some organic vegetable gardening, this probably won't be anything new to you.

The book ends with the "Cast of Characters," as Coleman refers to his list of crop descriptions. He includes planting distances, crop rotation, growing tips, storage tips, and a list of his favorite varieties for each different plant. I was especially appreciative of the fact that he often gives a reason for his variety selection: "for dependability," "early," "all-around use," "winter storage."

Overall, I thought the book was pretty darn good. My biggest complaint would have to be the lack of actual photographs from the author's garden, partly because I'm nosy, partly because I'm excited by eye-catching images, and partly because I want to see how this all works together in real life. The pencil drawings were well down, though. I had immediate respect for the author because of his shared love for keeping things simple, though I did find the book a bit preachy at times, and I reveled in the use of old-fashioned technologies that are often overlooked nowadays. I'm not sure how helpful the book would be for those of you in Zones 8 and higher, but I would highly recommend this book for any northern zone gardener. It's going to take me quite some time (like, years) to implement all the ideas in this book, so I suppose I'll just have to buy a copy. Oh darn. ;)

A Little Wowed...

2008-08-09T08:36:00.000-07:00

First let me give a very warm welcome to all of the readers who have been popping over from Wasted Food. I'm amazed at the number of hits our little homestead got on the 8th! I'd never read Jonathan's blog before, but it started coming across as a referring URL, and I was a bit shocked. He may not completely agree with my post about wasting food for kids crafts, but I'll forgive him. This once. ;) His blog looks quite interesting, so please surf on over and check out his project. And by all means, I hope some of you who are new to this site stick around. Community, community, community. That's what it's all about.

Second, I have to share with y'all my most *ahem* interesting blog referral, just for the fun of it. Apparently someone found BobbleHead Owl by googling... "golden showers." Of course, they came across my Golden Showers Garden Party results. Leave it to Crunchy to bring in the hits...

Third, the picture has nothing to do with anything. I took it on our recent trip to the zoo (wow... you guys got away without seeing a billion zoo pictures? I HAVE been slacking!) and just find it very soothing. So you're stuck with it.

And last, I apologize for the lull in posting here. I won't bog you down with more whining, but I hope to get things started up again soon. I at least have a few book reviews waiting in the wings, promise. I have a birthday coming up soon too (gasp!), so I'll be sharing my first childhood recipe.

I can already feel summer coming to a close. It was only 72 degrees in the house when we woke this morning. The air conditioning hadn't been on all night. The corn is coming in here at the homestead, which means I'm glutting myself on it. God, it's good! Here's hoping everyone has a fun, refreshing weekend.

Independence Days Challenge-- Week 9

2008-08-04T22:05:00.000-07:00

It's been a rough week emotionally. The pregnancy hormones are kickin' my ass, especially with some of the changes coming up around here and rabid eBayer's and their ridiculousness. If I'm not having a panic attack, I'm wanting to bawl or put my fist through a wall. Fun times.

1. Planted: Nothing.

2. Harvest something: Raspberry leaves, borage, Kentucky Wonder beans, Scarlett Runner Beans.

3. Preserve something: Dried raspberry leaves for later use.

4. Prep something: Dried the raspberry leaves to use during my pregnancy. Began reading Eliot Coleman's Four-Season Harvest in the hopes that I can still get a little more out of the garden this year.

5. Cook something: Sweet and sour fresh green beans. I wasn't thrilled with it, but pregnancy is doing weird things to my taste buds. I'm having a difficult time getting any veggie down.

6. Manage your reserves: Using up veggies in storage that were beginning to be past their prime.

7. Work on local food systems: Nope.

8. Reduce waste: Nothing beyond the ordinary composting, eBaying, and Freecycling.

9. Learn a new skill: Nothing.

A Good Evening

2008-08-01T16:37:00.000-07:00

It's been a long and stressful week, culminating in a trip (an hour each way) to the pediatrician for a 5min. checkup on The Bean this morning. Much earlier than I wanted to wake up too. I was exhausted all day and had no hope of catching a nap.

I've been following the advice of the Shakers and not watering my well established veggies. They've been on their own all summer, and I was about to break down and water the tomatoes at least today because our first green little orb has shown up. Mother Nature is good, though, and we got a nice shower tonight. I don't know if it was enough to even really soak the ground, but we'll see in the morning. Craving some solitude and communion with my plants, I stepped out into the soft shower and started to look around. Lo and behold! Our first Kentucky Wonder beans have come in. I was absolutely shocked for some reason, but I got so excited that I picked the ones in sight and ran in the house hoopin' and hollerin'. That drew Annie from her play, and she joined me in the dank evening to harvest. She tucked a glittering calendula bloom behind her ear and clutched our bean collection in both hands. A proud moment for sure!

Things got even more satisfying when I noticed this bulge amongst our Golden Bantam sweet corn. I was really beginning to doubt that we'd have any corn between the various storms that toppled our stalks early on and the odd spacing (thank you, squirrels!). Here's hoping I can get to this when it's nice and ripe before the city critters move in on it. I may need to do some hand pollination on this crop, but if we get just a few ears of sweet corn this year, it'll all be worth it. So many people don't grow corn because of the space it takes and its notoriety for not pollinating, but I just can't imagine a year without corn.

It wasn't all good news though. This picture shows the remains of a sunflower head in the yard. Someone's been getting to them other than me. Really, I don't mind all that much. Part of the reason I'm growing sunflowers is because they provide such good, rich food for the wildlife, and I'm all about sharing my bounty. But man this was a massacre! I'm not sure what did it or why because it doesn't seem that much was eaten. Maybe the culprit realized that the seeds weren't quite ripe. I don't really know, but hopefully we won't find this waste again. I'll leave you with a wider picture of the garden, showing the buckwheat cover crop in Bed 1 and the Three Sisters bed. You can also see some of the sunflower border that runs along one part of the fence. That's my neighbor's house in the background, not mine.

Don't Play with Your Food!

2008-07-31T11:16:00.000-07:00

Have you ever noticed how many crafts for children involve food? I'm not talking about making food. I'm talking about using food for something other than its intended purpose of being eaten. For example, if you went to public school, you probably made "moroccas" filled with rice or dried beans. Did you ever do sugar drawing, where a bunch of white sugar is poured onto a cookie sheet so that kids can drag their fingers or toys through it to make designs? I'm sure most of us have done the obligatory macaroni necklaces or glued macaroni to a piece of construction paper to make a design.

What does this have to do with anything?

Well, it drives me a little batty. On the one hand, I'm all for encouraging the creativity of children and looking at items from a different perspective. After all, the ability to see something for what it could be rather than what it was intended to be is at the heart of the "reduce, reuse, recycle" motto. However, it drives me crazy to think of all the food wasted in these activities. When you're trying to grow your own food and/or live a frugal life, wasting a pound of white sugar so that your kids will be quiet while you try to whip up a batch of soap or hang the clothes on the line just doesn't seem quite right. Many of the food items used are staples as well: dried beans, rice, pasta, sugar and salt. These are items that most of us cannot grow on our own because of space or climate limitations as well, which means we're wasting things which have used lots of dollars and gallons of oil to reach us. Frustrating! Some of the things might be reuseable after our kiddies are done with them, like the dried beans or rice in a toilet paper roll morocca, but many of them are not salvageable. Who wants to eat macaroni with bits of glue stuck to it? And you can bet that sugar from the sugar drawing is filled with snot, slobber, and plenty of unappetizing bacteria.

Therefore, today I offer up just a few alternatives to these ideas in the hopes that one of our most precious resources, our food, will stay on our plates and in our pantries rather than making its way uneaten to the garbage can.

First, we'll tackle the issue of the homemade shakers/moroccas. Rather than using rice or dried beans or another food item, consider loaning your children use of your stash of buttons. (Doesn't every homesteading mom have a jar filled with buttons, you know, just in case?) After the kids are done gettin' their groove on, you can simply reclaim your buttons by pouring them back into the jar. Some other alternatives are beads, washers or nuts of the home repair variety (though I suppose unshelled nuts would be okay because you could still eat them afterwards), bottle caps, shells, or any myriad of small toys. I'm particularly fond of using all those wonderful little plastic Barbie shoes that no child ever seems to keep on their doll's feet.

Up next is the macaroni necklace. Really these aren't all that bad. Because you're really just sticking them on a string, the pasta is reuseable. If, however, you're dying the pasta with food coloring or your kids are like most kids and stick everything in their mouths, all those macaroni elbows will most certainly go to waste. Again, you could replace the macaroni with buttons, beads, washers or nuts (which usually have nice, big holes to make it easy on young children). OR you could use your favorite rolled oats cereal and let your kids snack on it throughout the day. I've done this with my kids before, and they could barely get the cereal strung before they started eating because it was just so cool to them. If your child doesn't eat all of the cereal, you can hang the necklace up on a tree branch and let the birds and squirrels have a go at it as well.

As far as the macaroni paste pictures go, I recommend replacing the macaroni with something non-edible and non-recyclable, like styrofoam peanuts or those little tabs that come on bread products bought from the supermarket. If you're smart enough not to have any of that laying around your house, you can probably find some on your local Freecycle.

The sugar drawing is easy to remedy if you have access to play sand. Pick a bag of it up at your local hardware store and store it in a bucket with a lid. You can scoop out some sand for playing with on your cookie sheet whenever the mood strikes, and it's reuseable for that purpose. Just pour it back in your bucket, and you're good to go. In fact, if you don't do this activity very often (and if you have even a little bit of neat freak in you, you won't) you can use that bucket full of sand to store store carrots over winter. You can't wash sugar, but you can wash sand for this purpose just to be extra sure you're not getting any nasty kid germs in there with your veggies. Just put your sand in a pillowcase and rinse it.

While certainly not an exhaustive list of childrens crafts that include edible components, hopefully this will give my fellow homesteading and frugal parents a few alternatives to these wasteful projects.

What's Blooming in My Garden-- July 28, 2008

2008-07-28T20:01:00.000-07:00

Today is my 6th wedding anniversary, so though I had a long, informative post planned, I'm saving it for tomorrow. Nyah nyah! Instead you get...

The sweet blossoms of Rouge Vif D'Etampes squash. What girl can garden without THE Cinderella pumpkin?

A lone Johnny Jump-Up (Viola cornuta) that managed to survive one of my urban homesteader idiotic moments.

Pokeweed (Phytolacca spp.) flowers. When the inky berries form, I'll use them for dye.

Ohhhhhh! *rubs her hands greedily* The (directly seeded, late planted) Brandywine tomatoes (Lycopersicon lycopersicum) are finally setting blossoms. I can't wait to taste those first tomatoes, warmed by the sun...

My poor butterfly bush (Buddleja davidii), which was planted last year and transplanted this year. I have a terrible track record when it comes to transplanting bushes, so I'm uber glad this one managed to stick around.

My Achilles heel, the California poppy (Eschscholzia californica), finally abloom. Sweet, sweet success.

Independence Days Challenge--Week 8

2008-07-27T19:51:00.001-07:00

1. Planted: Nothing.

2. Harvest something: Raspberries, blueberries (just about done now), raspberry leaves, borage.

3. Preserve something: Dried raspberry leaves for later use.

4. Prep something: Dried the raspberry leaves to use during my pregnancy.

5. Cook something: Technically, I didn't cook it, but I finally was brave enough to add some borage to a salad for the first time. They really were VERY cucumbery.

6. Manage your reserves: Using up veggies in storage that were beginning to be past their prime.

7. Work on local food systems: Nope.

8. Reduce waste: Nothing beyond the ordinary composting, eBaying, and Freecycling.

9. Learn a new skill: Nothing.