My Family's Views on My Views

Blogs are all about being permitted to be opinionated, right? Well, it appears this here blog may be the BEST place to share my opinions and definitely not with my family. I fell into a conversation this weekend with my brother, my mom, my sister-in-law and her mother on organic food and the environment. It started innocently enough talking about grocery store chains and they liked PUBLIX and I mentioned I found organic chicken from home in a Florida Publix. The next question started the chain reaction, "why don't they sell it around it here?" And my answer was because the people around here (central PA, more specifically -- Northern Dauphin County) won't pay $8.00 a pound for chicken. "Why is it that expensive... and what difference does it make - I ate non-organic my whole life and seemed to be ok from it." MY TURN: "but organic isn't just about organic food.. its about the environment, and factory farms, and animal abuse in too-small containers and conditions, and the manure from factory farms, AND the agribusiness and over-farming of corn and soybeans to feed those factory farmed animals, and the huge diesel tractors polluting the air and" and so on and so on. The diesel part struck a nerve with my truck-driving brother. He blew all kinds of comments back at me... "so you think electric cars would make it around here? You think everyone should be self-sufficient (no, that's impossible I agree -- but look at the example Phila is setting... http://www.farmtophilly.com/ ), why do YOU drive a diesel car.?! HAHA. It's ok to pay $75.00 for free range turkey? " HA! " One thing led to another and yes, I was getting mad, but I stopped myself and just shut up. But they thought I stopped because THEY thought they put me in my place about my diesel car (they all laughed at me being a hypocrite). But the reason I stopped is because they have absolutely no idea what they are doing to the environment nor do they car much about it, and my views aren't going to change their minds. My sister-in-law's last sentence was "Its impossible to live like that (we were talking about self-sufficiency and getting a cow) with all our modern conveniences." WHAT!!??? She too could make changes that would make a difference, but there's absolutely no telling her or my brother that. What immediately went through my head after I shut up is how I could prove them all wrong - how can I become a better steward to the environment, but I'd do it quietly and not tell anyone. How can I live like Greenpa, how can I go off the grid, how can I become totally self-contained, how I can prove it can be done. I'm not mad at my family, just hurt that they simply don't think much about it, nor care - and think I'm an idiot for thinking the way I do. You should have saw the pile of raw prime rib meat on my brother's plate at dinner. I have to get back on MY horse and stick to my guns. Now, more than ever, I'm dedicated to being vegetarian, organic, and vow to continue doing my tiny part. Take THAT brother!

How Does Your Garden Challenge You

The garden, for many, is therapeutic - stress relieving. For others, its a plethora of challenges. Is that the case for you? Do you walk in the garden and say "look at those weeds -- oh the work." Or do you face the garden and its difficulties with that casual attitude and take it as it comes. I believe we all have unique situations, and your attitude, believe it or not, creates either a challenge, or we'll call it a "learning experience". I'm writing this because some days I look at the garden and say what the heck did I do to myself. And other days, I revel in the excitement of picking dinner, or taking my homegrown, organic vege's/fruit from the freezer in the dead of winter and say ahhhhh, this is SO good. Several folks I know are starting a garden for the first time this year (congrats!). That, in itself, is the challenge. What's my soil like? What should I PUT in the soil for a raised bed? Do I get enough sun? How big should I make it? What do it do first? Kill the grass? Rototill it under? What should I use for mulch? What do we want to plant -- there's so much - it can be overwhelming. But, hang in there - it will all come together in due time. Then there's the what to grow department - what a challenge THAT can be. I read there are over 7,500 (yes, that's THOUSAND) varieties of tomatoes. How the heck do you pick just one or two? Here's a link to help you understand the tomato family. You get the same thing on nearly all plants -- a plethora of varieties to choose from. I like herbs and have grown many over the years -- did you know there are over 30 varieties of thyme? The plant world is fascinating, and yes, quite the challenge. I've had my share of challenges over the years in all of the above and trial and error will overcome many of the challenges and you'll be an old hat in no time. This year I'm discovering new challenges every time I step foot outside - and that's another point I'm trying to make -- the challenge will always change and never stop. As you learn the tricks of the trade, new ones will crop up. For me, today? Rabbits seem to be in abundance. What's up with that? Maybe it's because my rabbit-killing cat died last year. Hopefully MoMo will take his place and start finding the baby rabbit nests like he did. (I'm sorry -- as much as I love animals and try not to eat them, nature has to take its course in killing off rabbits so they don't eat MY food!) Eliminating weeds without round-up is another big one -- the vinegar isn't working as well as I'd like. Digging out plants that serve no purpose, i.e., roses? Yup - they are being replaced with edibles - there's another challenge - converting an antique rose garden into an edible landscape. Gasp...I never thought my beloved antique roses would someday truly be "history." Yes, I'm ditching the not-doing-so-well roses and replacing them with food. Rhubarb is now in the rose garden, along with onions, broccoli, and I think the peppers are going in there also. The challenge of this? Making it look decent so the remaining roses are still attractive and fit-in with the vegetables. Part of me doesn't really care what it looks like - but the other part still has that formal rose garden mentality and it needs to be picture perfect. My food garden challenges this year are growing strawberries, potatoes, celery, and quonia for the first time. The strawberries, I can tell, will not be a problem because they are very, very happy in their new home and are already growing and spreading. The potatoes are quite happy too and up and smiling, but I think the summer challenge for taters is just beginning -- raking dirt around them, when? Why? And the quinoa will be a story all in itself. I've never known anyone (ANYONE!) that grew quinoa, nor celery. Did you?? So tell me your challenges.

The Antique Garden Rake

When my 90-year old mother-in-law moved to her new home in assisted living, my husband and I had the pleasure of cleaning out her old home. I may have mentioned she was ultra frugal and saved and patched everything, seldom buying new unless the item was broke beyond repair. Some of the items dated back to the 1930s, not only historical, but a bit interesting to say the least. Last week, I used her not-sure-how-old garden rake and immediately noticed something different about it -- the handle was a full 9 inches longer than most garden tools today. You can stretch further under a bush, and get more out of single sweep - very noticeable in a days worth of work. A google search for long-handled antique garden rakes didn't turn up much, but it's certainly worth noting if you can find an antique garden rake, grab it -- it'll make your gardening more pleasant.

Ready to Plant - Is it Time Yet?

I know most of you already have your seeds and tender annuals in the ground, but I traditionally wait until I'm sure mom nature isn't going to surprise me with a late spring frost that could wipe out my hard work of the past couple months. That happened several years ago -- I started a bunch of seeds, grew them under lights for a couple weeks, set them out and planted on a warm spring day, and on Memorial day, a frost wiped everything out overnight. Both my mom and I were devastated, not to mention the cost to replace everything. We live on the border of zones 5 and 6 and I've learned over the years to plant according to zone 5 because we near always get the weather for zone 5. The Harrisburg area (about 40 miles south of me) is a solid zone 6 and is about two weeks ahead of us in the seasons -- you can see it in the trees each year. They get the leaves before we do, but we get the color in the fall before they do. It's usually about a 5 degree temperature difference every day too. The kids are ready to play in the playyard, but I'm still going to wait until May 18 to plant. By that time I can rely on weather predictions of cold nights until Memorial Day. And what's going in the ground on May 18? Plenty:

Amish Paste Tomatoes

Early Girl Tomatoes

Nardello Sweet Peppers

Jalapeno Peppers

Cayenne Peppers

Another Sweet Pepper that I can't recall the name

Celery

Purple and green basil

Eggplant

and ALL the seeds:

Corn

Beans (yellow and green)

Dry beans (black, white, and kidney) (first time planting drying beans)

Quinoa (new this year -- it'll be interesting to see how this turns out)

Heirloom tomatoes

Zucchini (what's a garden without zucchini?)

And a couple flowers for the bugs and bees: snapdragons, marigolds, dill, zinnias, sunflowers.

I think I'm planting more, but I can't remember without getting the seed box.

I might be busy this summer!

Some Fun Stuff -- Crazy MoMo

Taking a break from gardening and biking, here's a couple shots of the Crazy MoMo. Her new entertainment is the Hummingbirds. The Pin Oak tree which is adjacent to the patio has always been the favored perch for the Hummers to stand guard over the feeder. It's now also the favored play toy for MoMo to try to catch a hummer. Have no fear though -- I really doubt she'll ever catch one. It's quite entertaining watching her when two or three hummers start buzzing her on opposite sides of the tree. Hummingbirds are notorious for being aggressive -- boy do they show it with a cat!

Growing Sweet Cicely

This herb is a bit uncommon and not often grown, but since my first seedling, I've been grateful for its uniqueness. Most of the herbs in my gardens were planted years ago for aesthetics and I've learned through the years - many by accident - what their uses are; opposite of why most folks plant herbs (to cook!). In my opinion, herbs are eye-appealing plants with varied leaf color, texture, and sizes, and are attractive landscape plants to add variety to your garden (think lavender). Sweet Cicely is one of them. It's fern like foliage grows to about 3 feet tall and gets beautiful white flowers with attractive seed pods following the bloom period. The scent is licorice-like. Given the right conditions, the seeds will reseed nicely and spread.. and spread... and spread. There are few plants/herbs that thrive in shade. Mint is quite common for damp shady areas, but Sweet Cicely is also an option, which is why I planted it in the first place. It actually took the place of the mint that was way too overpowering and consumed the entire space within a year. These shady plants are grown on the north side of my house in very moist mushroom soil and the sun never shines there. The plants thrives. So much so, it's starting to slowly creep along the back of the house and fill in the entire area. If anyone would like some seeds - I'd be happy to share. The plant also has numerous medical uses and yes, it can be eaten, although I've never eaten or used it medicinally. Its all about looks and ground cover for me, and Sweet Cicely fits the bill perfectly.

Update on the White House Organic Garden

The Obamas are our heros in more ways than one. For me, its the White House Organic Garden. How cool could that possibly be? A Pres, his wife, the kids, his staff -- all eating from the backyard - organically to boot. Last week was their first harvest of lettuce greens and that, my dear friends, is just the beginning of a season of very-local, sustainable food for them. You may find it interesting that a chemical company wrote Michelle asking her to consider using "conventional" methods of managing the garden and later in the letter they state: "don't encourage Americans to grow their own food, because it's not practical, and don't encourage them to think that organic food is somehow superior to "conventional" agricultural products" What?!? Michele is a very intelligent woman, and knows the meaning and value of "organic." Kudos to her and her staff. This has to be one of the best possible examples to be set for Americans and the next generation.

Milkweed and Broccoli?

Here's an odd combo -- but I'm letting it be. Milkweed, to many folks, is a weed. My view on Milkweed is its a beneficial native plant to feed the Monarch butterlies. It comes up late in the spring when it gets warm and often pops up in the most unexpected places. This year, its coming up smack dab in the middle of the broccoli patch. But I decided I'm sacrificing a broccoli plant or two, to be sure I have monarch breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Actually, I may not be sacrificing anything because the two may be quite compatiable. It turns out, Milkweed shoots (the way they look here) are quite edible, along with many other parts of the plant including the flower heads just before they open. Be sure to read the article in the link -- its an interesting tidbit about eating milkweed that I never knew. So let the milkweed grow in your garden. It truly is a whole lot more than a "weed."

And I have this crazy cat that can't sit still for a second. Her name is MoMo, and this is typical of her actions -- climbing whatever she can to get "high." She loves sitting in the arbovitae waiting for birds.

Freezing Produce - Recommended Reuseable Container

If you are looking for an alternative to Freezer Bags, may I recommend the new Freezer containers by BALL. They come in 1 cup and 2 cup sizes and are ideal for delicate fruits like raspberries and strawberries AND stack nicely in the freezer. Last year was the first I tried them, and the raspberries got few-to-no ice crystals on them. They thawed SO nicely, it was hard to tell they were frozen in the first place. These are choice freezer containers. This year, I’m stocking up ‘cause the freezer will be full! (Yes, we’re buying a small energy efficient freezer too).

Time Crunching - To Can or To Freeze

Depletion and Abundance, one of the most influential books I've read in a long time, talked about energy savings, being more resourceful, saving the environment and remembering how our grandparents lived. Remember how they used scraps of old clothes to make rugs, rags, and aprons? They had HUGE gardens -- and they canned EVERYTHING? That's the part I really wanted to get into this year - canning. But, I've already experienced the time crunch -- there simply isn't enough of it when you work a full-time job out of the home, unlike our grandmothers who spent most of their time at home. Right now the asparagus is coming in hot and heavy and there's nothing I'd like to do more than buy a couple pounds and can a couple quarts of it for this winter. (My patch doesn't produce enough to use my own). Time to can? It would take at least 3 hours from start to finish which includes cleaning it, cutting it to size, heating up, digging out the jars and sterilizing them, sterilizing the lids/rings, packing produce in the jars, and then hot water bath the jars. Oh, and cleaning everything up and putting it away again. And now the part that prompted this post - freezing that same bunch of asparagus. Time to freeze? About 1/2 hr. BUT, then there's the freezer part of which I wanted to try and get away from AND the plastic freezer bags which also are not exactly environmentally friendly, but super-duper convenient. Energy conservation makes more sense by NOT using a freezer, but when it comes down to time saved vs energy used, the time saved seems more valuable to us working stiffs. Maybe I can ditch the freezer after retirement? Maybe I can find a solar-powered freezer? (the Amish do it!). All in all, I love to can, and there's no doubt I'll do the tomatoes later this year (but they too can be frozen! hmm....), but time is of the essence.