The $1.98 Hamburger

Natural Acres in Millersburg, Pennsylvania raises and sells organic, grass-fed, local Black Angus (although I think they are shifting away from meat to red raspberries). My husband balked at the prices the single time I bought it and I haven’t had it since. This past weekend, after sitting in my bike seat for nearly 4 hours, I divulged in bad food – a hamburger BBQ on a white roll, chips, pretzels, macaroni and cheese and cookies. It was all processed, non-organic, and likely factory-farmed beef. I hate to say it, but I didn’t feel guilty eating it – it was part of my too-high entrance fee for the race and I was getting my money’s worth! But I immediately got back on the wagon the next day, and decided to add a little more meat into my diet. I already took the plunge last week with some local organic chicken, so I headed to Natural Acres for some local organic beef. Most of it really was too expensive, so I settled for the 90/10 ground round at $6.48 a pound. Yup, that’s outrageous too, but I justified it like this: one pound made 4 burgers so that was $1.62 per burger, coupled with the whole wheat rolls at $3.00/12 totaling .36 each…. It’s a $1.98 burger! That’s affordable, AND it didn’t come in a Styrofoam carton, shipped from out west, raised on genetically modified/pesticide-laced grain. I can see the cows roaming in the fields behind the store. Go to a restaurant and ask for organic, locally-raised grass fed beef and it will likely cost upwards of $5.00, conservatively figuring. Even hubby's favored $1.00 McDonalds burgers aren’t that less in price to the grass-fed burger given you get a little more meat, nutrition, and a benefit to the environment. I hope hubby reads this. He’s still balking at $6.48 per pound, but it WAS good, and it IS affordable!

Attack of the Giant Dandelion,Onions, and Green Bean Plants

Snakes Alive!

The furthest compost pile was ready to turn (I have 5 going right now... I'm a glutton for punishment!) -- its been about a month since I started it which is WAY to long to wait to turn it. This pile borders the field with not a lot of activity going on. I'm doing my turning deed, and what do I find but a nest of eggs. ARGH!! What are they? Skunk? Turtle? Snake? Quick... run to the house and look them up. Damn... I don't have a reptile book, or any other kind of book to see what they are - I've just never been into mammals and reptiles. But ahh... the ever wondrous Internet. Rick, quick, look up box turtle eggs. We find a couple pics that maybe look a little like them, but its not a positive identification. Try black snake eggs. BINGO! They are identical for a black rat snake. So now what? Do I want about a dozen black snakes running around? I don't think so... even though black snakes ARE beneficial. Rick suggested scattering them in the field. I went back out and poked at them, and couldn't toss them. So I just pushed them a little closer to the pile so I don't roll over them with the lawn mower and will let mother nature do her thing. I have a sneaky suspicion now that they are exposed, a predator will eat them. What a night.

Replacing Appliances and a Fossil Fuel Furnace

Hubby and I got into a discussion this morning about the future, money, and appliances that are wearing out and will have to be replaced in the next couple years. It got the old brain waves thinking about where the future is headed and energy efficiency when replacing those things. The dishwasher is easy -- no replacement there. I can't say I'm ready to give up the frig, stove, microwave, washer/dryer, lawn tractor, water heater and water pump just yet; although I 've read where folks really do live without these things. They cook with solar stoves and ovens, use solar-powered units to generate battery-power for the refrigerators and other appliances - the Amish have it figured out! (I need to visit a couple of my neighbors!) Maybe I could try my luck without the dryer and a microwave, but definitely not the others. Then there's the furnace. This sparked a little more conversation with hubby. He said, "I'd replace it with another oil furnace." And that was the end of his conversation. I asked if hasn't thought about all the other possibilities out there? Being a little more energy-efficient and being less dependent on oil? What if oil goes up to $10 a gallon in a couple years? What will you do then? "Blankets." was his answer. Ain't he cute?? He said "go ahead... see what's out there." But he has no desire to look into further. He truly has it in his head, we're simply getting another oil furnace, end of story. I can see his point -- the gent who would install is fabulous. He's been cleaning our furnace for 20 years (in our other house too), and he replaces furnaces in a day or two at a very reasonable cost, and is on our doorstep within hours if there's a problem. He's extremely reliable and trustworthy. And I'm sure Rick is thinking of all these things getting another oil furnace (he doesn't say it, but I've learned to figure him out over the years -- he's usually right in the long run 'cause he's smart!). But is it reasonable if oil is $10 a gallon? Is it really reasonable in the long run as the world runs out of oil? So my thoughts are leaning toward an alternative energy-efficient source of heat. Much research is in order. Geothermal is definitely out -- it costs $40,000 to install! We live on top of a sunny hill so wind and solar are options, and I'd LOVE to get an old fashioned cook stove. No, I wouldn't heat a house with it, but I'd use it to cook year-round and it would certainly warm the room I'd be cooking in (a "patio" room adjacent to the kitchen.) I love to dream. How does one go off the grid? It seems unimaginable to me -- but its certainly not impossible. Folks are doing it! Here's my favorite -- Greenpa. And Adapting in Place gives a ton of other links of folks doing it.

Arcadia Broccoli

Impressive. I had to call hubby and tell him to bring the camera when I saw the size of this head of broccoli. Pictures do it no justice -- it's a full 1.5 pounds! Alice Waters would pay me $10 bucks for this head of broccoli, for sure! For folks wondering who the hell Alice Waters is, she's an activist/local food chef for the local/organic food movement for many, many years. She owns an up-scale restaurant in California, Chez Panisse, since 1971 that sells only local food for which you'll pay $95.00 a plate to eat there! We saw her on 60 minutes, and she left the impression money is no object -- so what if people pay $4.00 a pound for grapes... or $10.00 a pound for chicken which left a very sour taste in hubby's mouth about organic food pricing.) Back to the broccoli... my harvest is huge this year - every head is this big and I have 36 plants. That's a mere 54 pounds of broccoli I'll be harvesting. We'll be eating broccoli every way imaginable. Yes, I'll freeze some, but as little as possible 'cause it gets bitter in the freezer. Anyway, its much better fresh. Here's the blurb from Fedco on the variety. Broccoli is one of the few plants that you have few choices of varieites - I'm aware of only 15 or so varieties (compared to 1200 tomatoes!) which is very unusual in the plant world. For many years, I grew the "packman" which is very common. I read Arcadia needs highly fertile soil to form nice sized heads - I guess it likes my dad's horse manure! And the flavor is incredible -- absolutely delicious, not bitter. I will always grow Arcadia broccoli -- there will be more in the fall! I'm hopeful my new fall garden will produce these babies for Christmas dinner.

Rachel, Isaac and Toby

Our valley -- Lykens Valley, Central Pennsylvania -- is blessed with a plethora of Amish Farms who have been hanging out more and more signs of goods for sale: baked goods, produce, and my favorite - free-range brown eggs. My newest shopping experience took me to the home of Rachel, Isaac, and Toby. Isaac is about 8, and was weed eating with his barn mucking boots on and when I asked if they have eggs, he said, "they're in the milk house... she'll get 'em for you." She, was Rachel. A gal of about 10 with glasses. She got the eggs, and I didn't have change, so I gave her $3.00 and told her to keep the change (they were $1.25 a dozen). She said thank you, and something I never had happen before with the Amish was this, she asked my name! They are usually pretty quiet and take the money and go. I was pleasantly surprised. So I returned the honor and ask her name, and her brother's, and of course, the always-present in every Amish household, the family dog, Toby. It was a pleasant experience and when pulled out of the drive way, I thought how absolutely beautiful it is to get fresh food directly from the source -- seeing the animals running freely and grazing in the pastures. If only everyone could experience it, and more importantly, appreciate and understand it. I guess I'm just a farmer/country girl at heart. Although I DO know some city people that truly appreciate old-fashion, natural farming too.

Food, Inc.- A Movie

Compelling... extremely compelling. And that's only the trailer and the website! I doubt I'll see the movie until it comes out on DVD. Food, Inc, is a documentary being run in metropolitan areas (that excludes Harrisburg). I've read Michael Pollan's books (featured in the film) and Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation (co-producer) and the film is about everything they write about -- agribusiness, sugar, corn, food processing, packaged foods and how our food industry dramatically changed in the past 50 years; and we need to get back good, wholesome eating! Incredible. You can sign a petition on the Food Inc. website to get schools to change what they feed the kids.

Fall Garden Planning -- Yes It's Time to think About it!

We're barely into the growing season and already busy, busy, busy with harvesting/cooking/dehydrating/freezing/storing our bounty, but its time to start thinking about what to grow for the fall. Every year since I've been gardening, I looked forward to fall and the first frost as a time to finally take it easy and slow down -- take a break from a long, hard-working summer and relax a little. This year? It ain't happening! For many years, I've read about gardening into the fall and winter and I've even purchased the Four-Season Harvest many years ago and never put it to use, although I think about it and read about it every year. This year, I'm doing it! Sharon Astyk, author of Abundance and Depletion, is holding an on-line class for Fall Gardening and I signed up (I think she has some spot remaining if you are interested). That started the ball rolling and in one week, I bought Eliot Coleman's latest book, Winter Harvest Handbook, have been perusing Eliot's website for ideas for fall and winter growing (worth the visit, by the way, they grow vegetables YEAR-ROUND in Maine! Incredible), and placed an order for fall/winter seeds/plants. I plan to have leeks, several kinds of greens, beets, carrots, radishes, spinach, turnips and maybe some asian greens and broccoli into winter. The cool part about the Fall Garden class is it is real-time and she'll have us starting seeds some weeks, prepping a bed another week, maybe working on the fall/winter cold frames or greenhouses, etc. Boy I'd love a greenhouse -- an Eliot Coleman movable greenhouse would be awesome, wouldn't it!? I've been wanting a greenhouse for 17 years. Maybe this will be the year I finally invest in one. I told hubby it would make a wonderful 50th birthday present! :)

The Garden - June 16, 2009

It was mentioned before but is SO worth repeating -- I have the best boss in the world. She was ok with me staying home today to work in the garden and boy oh boy did I work -- a solid 10 hours straight. I was feeling overwhelmed and needed an entire day dedicated to anything and everything in the garden; weeding, staking tomatoes, transplanting some volunteer cantaloupe, seeding greens, compost turning, feeding the plants compost, composting spent and rotted turnips, harvesting peas, freezing peas, and picking some broccoli, romaine lettuce and peas for my mom. My dear mother came and helped today too -- she pulled some weeds. She's awesome. So here are the latest pics:

Hubby - the Caged Chicken Eater

When your beliefs, opinions, and practices day in and day out, are part of a marriage, sometimes (and ONLY sometimes), the couple become one -- you have the same thoughts, ideas, and activities. After 20 years of blissful togetherness, hubby and I do in fact have many likenesses -- but not when it comes to food and prices of organic food. I love my hubby dearly and for the most part, we do the same things, but he continues to buy "cheap" chicken. There, I said it. I can't hide it any more and I'm sort of embarrassed with my preaching about saving the caged birds from a life of misery. One half of our union doesn't care too much about the environment, nor the bird itself. Last week, I brought home some beautiful organic, free range chicken breasts mainly for him, but I was thinking about eating some of it myself (I haven't eaten chicken in probably about two years and this is the first time I found semi-affordable organic/free range/local birds). And what's worse, being the good wife I sometimes am, I bagged up and froze the meat this morning for him - which is what prompted this post. It really hurt putting those birds in a bag. Visions of beakless cacklers crammed in a too-small cages ran through my head. Then after that miserable short life (I think I read broilers are raised for 9 months which is a blessing after being injected with antiobiotics and not being able to move), they are literally thrown in crate and hauled off for slaughter in an industrial complex somewhere. Maybe in China. Or maybe in Oklahoma somewhere, then flown to China to be cut up and packaged, then shipped back to the states to land on the Giant shelves prepackaged for $1.79 a pound. Yes, its that $1.79 that is the driving force to hubby buying this chicken - as is the average American and why the organic movement can't break into the average buyer. I can't convince in him no how, no way, that organic chicken is worth the price. I found local, organic, free-range whole birds for $2.50/lb, but what did he do? He bought the packaged, high-cost-to-the-environment $1.79 meat. I really do love him, but this hurts -- and I don't think he minds too much. Geeeeezzzz. It's all a practice in tolerance and patience -- it's all a test!