Raise your hand if you have “Cabin Fever”!! For those of us in Ohio we haven’t seen the sun in more days than we care to count and my obsession with it’s arrival is hedging on the verge of OCD! Ha! I know many of you would ask why with 2 ½ feet of snow on the ground that I would tempt the fates to start writing about putting in my garden, or anything having to do with gardening at all. Well, I guess it is the old fave “If you build it they will come…”
March is right around the corner and YES, here in NE Ohio that still means the possibility of more snow and the warmth of spring so far off that I dare not mention it for the possibility of jinxing myself. However I am busy planning my garden and learning so much about how to garden within the bounds of my landscaped yard. I’m also learning about gardening in “sessions”, starting with the cold loving veggies that can be placed in the ground as soon as the snow cover clears. The very idea of starting to see fresh lettuce and greens growing makes me dizzy with joy! Next would be the many veggies that I can grow together using the permaculture method of growing. Not to mention the wonderful compost that has been “brewing” since this last summer. The possibilities are endless and the prospect of getting my hands back into the dirt have me giddy with hope.
However I know that not everyone has the space or time to plant their own garden, so I wanted to address this by providing you with some wonderful alternatives. For those of you who do not have the space to grow your own garden, or live a schedule not conducive to growing your own food have I got the answer for you! Now is the time to start looking into getting together with your local food co-op’s, or community CSA’s (Community Supported Agriculture) which you would buy into and then reap the rewards of whatever is grown through out the season. These have become increasingly more popular in the past few years. CSA’s, unlike Co-op’s do not require you to participate in the working of the garden / farm in order to reap the rewards. You purchase a “Share” in the CSA and the cost varies by the CSA. Then you will find out where your local pick up location and time is, this is where you will go pick up your bag of fresh veggies and fruit through out the season. What a wonderful way to provide the freshest produce available for your family if you cannot take the time, or do not have the space to grow your own garden. To find local CSA’s nearest you please visit: http://www.localharvest.org/csa/ and simply enter your zip code to search for your local CSA’s. Co-op’s may be more difficult to find as they are a group of people looking to work equally in the endeavor of gardening. Many co-op’s can be found through you local garden clubs, or through word of mouth and sometimes even at your local garden centers (not the big box stores, just the local stores) with these options you can overcome special and time issues and still look forward to fresh produce from the garden!
If you have any problems finding a local CSA or Co-op please leave a post, as it is my wish that this season we all start eating the best of the best produce available. Like I’ve said before…there is nothing like the taste of a sun drenched tomato!!!
Monday, February 22, 2010
Friday, February 5, 2010
A "Mean Mom's" Valentine's Day
Love is like a red, red rose…..
Well, in today’s classrooms all across the nation this Valentines Day love will be like a diabetic comma! While doing a little research from store to store in search of “good” Valentine’s Day treats for my son to share with his classmates I did not have much success in finding treats that could give them anything more than another trip to the dentist and possibly one to weight watchers as well. I was not surprised to say the least, of course when you start a journey with low expectations you don’t end up disappointed in your results. I found the traditional paper-foil Valentine Cards and bags upon bags of chocolates, hard candies, suckers and gummies two aisle’s wide stocked full of enough sugar to send anyone of his classmates into a comma for a week, but nothing that satisfied my criteria. My criteria you ask? It was pretty simple….something that was not chalked full of processed sugars, MSG, and artificial everything that is so common in today’s food. Something hopefully that was being marketed as a Valentine Day treat, as so the children wouldn’t raise an eye to it’s possible “healthy” content (after all we sometimes have to use the same tricks even on Valentine’s Day that we’d use on Halloween...Haha!) I’d also love if the item was organic, sustainable and the children would like it enough to ask their parents to buy it again for them. I know…my criteria seemed simple to me, but what a list to ask for from corporate America right!
The end result was that I could find nothing to satisfy my requirements in the traditional Valentine’s Day aisle, but rather I was able to find something that would work in it’s place. I bought fruit leather strips from the Stretch Island Fruit Co. in several flavors. Each fruit strip contains ½ serving of fruit and contains no processed sugar; all sugars are found naturally in the fruit! What a concept, fat free and only 45 calories per strip, and best of all peanut free for classrooms like the one my son is in with children with nut allergies! My son will use some recycled materials to create his own Valentine Cards and we will be all set! Now why did that have to be so complicated? I think these treats would have been a huge hit if they were available in the traditional Valentine’s aisle and have written a letter to the Stretch Island Fruit Company to suggest the idea in hope that they will being to market to these holidays for those “Mean Mom’s” like me out there who believe that what we feed our children should be a matter of love all year long!
Well, in today’s classrooms all across the nation this Valentines Day love will be like a diabetic comma! While doing a little research from store to store in search of “good” Valentine’s Day treats for my son to share with his classmates I did not have much success in finding treats that could give them anything more than another trip to the dentist and possibly one to weight watchers as well. I was not surprised to say the least, of course when you start a journey with low expectations you don’t end up disappointed in your results. I found the traditional paper-foil Valentine Cards and bags upon bags of chocolates, hard candies, suckers and gummies two aisle’s wide stocked full of enough sugar to send anyone of his classmates into a comma for a week, but nothing that satisfied my criteria. My criteria you ask? It was pretty simple….something that was not chalked full of processed sugars, MSG, and artificial everything that is so common in today’s food. Something hopefully that was being marketed as a Valentine Day treat, as so the children wouldn’t raise an eye to it’s possible “healthy” content (after all we sometimes have to use the same tricks even on Valentine’s Day that we’d use on Halloween...Haha!) I’d also love if the item was organic, sustainable and the children would like it enough to ask their parents to buy it again for them. I know…my criteria seemed simple to me, but what a list to ask for from corporate America right!
The end result was that I could find nothing to satisfy my requirements in the traditional Valentine’s Day aisle, but rather I was able to find something that would work in it’s place. I bought fruit leather strips from the Stretch Island Fruit Co. in several flavors. Each fruit strip contains ½ serving of fruit and contains no processed sugar; all sugars are found naturally in the fruit! What a concept, fat free and only 45 calories per strip, and best of all peanut free for classrooms like the one my son is in with children with nut allergies! My son will use some recycled materials to create his own Valentine Cards and we will be all set! Now why did that have to be so complicated? I think these treats would have been a huge hit if they were available in the traditional Valentine’s aisle and have written a letter to the Stretch Island Fruit Company to suggest the idea in hope that they will being to market to these holidays for those “Mean Mom’s” like me out there who believe that what we feed our children should be a matter of love all year long!
Life at the Old Cracker Barrel
So my husband thinks I need a job…and QUICK! The reasons are many and piling up by the minute, but the latest reason he states is because of my new endeavor of Cheese making. Yes, you read that correctly. I am going to attempt to try my hand at making some homemade cheeses. Of course in my typical fashion I am not content to just make the mozzarella and ricotta that are touted as “easy to make in your own kitchen, using your standard utensils”…nope…not me. I am going to aim high and try to score the big cheese….the whole cheddar! Yup, the good stuff, cheddar cheese. I have requested my cheese books from my local library and taken myself down to my local Homebrew store who also happens to stock cheese making materials and I now sit in patience awaiting my turn at learning to make one of my favorite foods! Since I’ve always been the rat of which society has to experiment on I figure the craving for good cheese must go hand in hand! I look forward to getting into the glorious soft cheese’s that I so love, from stinky cheeses to the wonderful brie’s that used to grace my table when I lived overseas. I’m almost too excited to contain myself, so in the meantime I am trying to keep myself busy with creating the various garden plans that I need to get together for this up coming spring! I can just feel that it’s right around the corner…I don’t care what that little beast groundhog says!
If anyone has any suggestions for my new cheese making hobby please feel free to write to me and give my any advice, suggestions or recipes that you care to share. I look forward to carving my own niche in the cheese world just as soon as I can get some experience under my belt.
If anyone has any suggestions for my new cheese making hobby please feel free to write to me and give my any advice, suggestions or recipes that you care to share. I look forward to carving my own niche in the cheese world just as soon as I can get some experience under my belt.
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