Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Monday, September 01, 2008
Labor Day
Happy Labor Day. I wish farming allowed us to take this holiday off, but sadly, there is harvesting to do, food to put up and other late summer activities to do. Farming means rarely having a day off during the season (for us that is April through November). We are slaves to the farm but that is what pays the bills, allows us to put new windows in the house and eat like royalty
If it would rain we could kick back (and we could really use a day or two of rain). But unless Hurricane Gustav comes up this way as a heavy rain event towards this weekend I don't see us getting rain for at least another 10 days. So we work; harvesting, putting food by, marketing, tilling, planting, seed saving and all the other fun and glamorous things we small farmers do.
The good news for us is the store is NOT open today so we actually can kick back more than normal. Mondays, after all, are our (ahem) day off, meaning we don't do any marketing and sometimes we go away from the farm to shop for necessary items, often in Richmond, IN (our version of "the big city").
Days off do not often mean no farm work. I know apples, pears and leeks need to be picked/pulled. There are also greens such as chard, parsley and basil that will need to be brought in this morning for market tomorrow. We would harvest these thing tomorrow morning but tomorrow morning we have to go to the bank, post office and run other errands before going to the farmers market because many of these places are closed today for the holiday. So we are switching up the harvest schedule a bit so we can get everything done.
Maybe we will go fishing this afternoon evening, we have not made time to fish the pond in months. We have not had time, it seems, to do anything but deal with farming and its' myriad of aspects since May. I will be glad when fall arrives and the work load goes way down for a couple of months.
If it would rain we could kick back (and we could really use a day or two of rain). But unless Hurricane Gustav comes up this way as a heavy rain event towards this weekend I don't see us getting rain for at least another 10 days. So we work; harvesting, putting food by, marketing, tilling, planting, seed saving and all the other fun and glamorous things we small farmers do.
The good news for us is the store is NOT open today so we actually can kick back more than normal. Mondays, after all, are our (ahem) day off, meaning we don't do any marketing and sometimes we go away from the farm to shop for necessary items, often in Richmond, IN (our version of "the big city").
Days off do not often mean no farm work. I know apples, pears and leeks need to be picked/pulled. There are also greens such as chard, parsley and basil that will need to be brought in this morning for market tomorrow. We would harvest these thing tomorrow morning but tomorrow morning we have to go to the bank, post office and run other errands before going to the farmers market because many of these places are closed today for the holiday. So we are switching up the harvest schedule a bit so we can get everything done.
Maybe we will go fishing this afternoon evening, we have not made time to fish the pond in months. We have not had time, it seems, to do anything but deal with farming and its' myriad of aspects since May. I will be glad when fall arrives and the work load goes way down for a couple of months.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Thanksgiving Brew
It's thanksgiving and we at Boulder Belt are not eating a turkey dinner (mainly because I did not hop to it and order a pastured turkey from the Filbruns a month ago and when I asked 2 weeks ago if they had any left they said no, they were sold out) this year. nor are we going to anyone's home to feast upon their turkey and trimmings.
No, we are staying in and the plan is to brew beer all afternoon. We shall consume the first of this beer on New Years Day. So truly a holiday brew.
Our friend Wyatt says he is coming over with home made bread and a wort chiller. Eugene made a green tomato chutney yesterday so I am thinking making a vegetarian curry for dinner. We have a lot of greens left over from last Saturday's Winter market that need using as well as peppers, onions, snow peas and leeks. I could also throw together a salad (we have a lot of salad greens too).
This is the first Thanksgiving I have not celebrated in my life. Usually I am cooking at least one meal. Some years when I was working in food service by Thanksgiving day I had cooked over 10 different Turkey day feasts. This year nothing and I gotta say it is nice not to be responsible for dinner for many.
My sister quit celebrating years ago (20 years?) when her infant daughter suddenly died of meningitis the day before Thanksgiving (nothing thankful about that!). Go forward about 16 years and the Owsleys are in Detroit dealing with our mother dying of a stroke. She died 2 days after Thanksgiving that year. The T-day dinner that year was leg of lamb, a big salad and lots of wine and beer. Not very joyous but we made the best of it. At least we were all together (except Mom who was dying in a hospital) for the first time in decades for a Thanksgiving.
So today will be about watching Parades on the TeeVee, drinking home brews and craft beers while making beer and curry.
Tomorrow will be all about Buy Nothing Day
No, we are staying in and the plan is to brew beer all afternoon. We shall consume the first of this beer on New Years Day. So truly a holiday brew.
Our friend Wyatt says he is coming over with home made bread and a wort chiller. Eugene made a green tomato chutney yesterday so I am thinking making a vegetarian curry for dinner. We have a lot of greens left over from last Saturday's Winter market that need using as well as peppers, onions, snow peas and leeks. I could also throw together a salad (we have a lot of salad greens too).
This is the first Thanksgiving I have not celebrated in my life. Usually I am cooking at least one meal. Some years when I was working in food service by Thanksgiving day I had cooked over 10 different Turkey day feasts. This year nothing and I gotta say it is nice not to be responsible for dinner for many.
My sister quit celebrating years ago (20 years?) when her infant daughter suddenly died of meningitis the day before Thanksgiving (nothing thankful about that!). Go forward about 16 years and the Owsleys are in Detroit dealing with our mother dying of a stroke. She died 2 days after Thanksgiving that year. The T-day dinner that year was leg of lamb, a big salad and lots of wine and beer. Not very joyous but we made the best of it. At least we were all together (except Mom who was dying in a hospital) for the first time in decades for a Thanksgiving.
So today will be about watching Parades on the TeeVee, drinking home brews and craft beers while making beer and curry.
Tomorrow will be all about Buy Nothing Day
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Pastured Turkey Tips
Okay so you have decide this is gonna be your first locavore Thanksgiving. You have ordered your locally raised pastured heritage turkey. You will go to the farmers market this weekend to buy the trimmings such as butternut squash celery, parsnips, rutabagas, carrots, rosemary, sage, garlic, onions, taters, apples, leeks, peppers, salad greens, kale, etc.. You will spend much of next week cutting and chopping your local bounty in preparation for your feast.
Congratulations. You are getting closer and closer to having one of the best meals you have ever cooked. it is almost impossible to mess up a meal made from exquisite ingredients but it can be done so a few tips about using whole foods.
Storage- Things like squashes, garlic, onions do not need to go in your fridge (this will give you more room for things that do need cold storage). they do need a cool spot to rest but that can be on the floor of your kitchen or out in the garage. Greens, fruits, herbs do need to go into the fridge.
Give yourself time. Start a few days early. I have been watching Martha Stewart this week and she sez she has been working on Thanksgiving for the past 2 weeks. I think that is going too far but than I am not Ms Stewart and I am not cooking at all this year (which really bums me out. I love doing Thanksgiving). Still, starting this weekend would be a good thing.
The Turkey. If you did not get a fresh turkey, start thawing the frozen bird at least 3 days in advance of cooking. It takes a 20 pound bird over 56 to thaw in a fridge. It would be totally irresponsible of me to suggest taking that clean locally raised and butchered bird and thawing it out in warm water in a cooler the day before you need to cook it. But that is what I would do. I would never ever do this with a factory farmed bird. Do not attempt to cook a frozen or partially frozen bird at 450F. This was been done in my family back in the 1960's. The results, while inedible, were hilarious. One day I will write about the Black and Serve™ rolls and the blackened and raw turkey dinner.
Okay, you got the bird thawed and it is sitting on the kitchen table. Now What? I suggest putting it in a roasting pan. All the grocery stores have aluminum pans to roast a big bird, though I find these to be quite dangerous. They are floppy affairs and can drop hot grease on your legs/feet. OUCH!. But in a pinch they are better than nothing. A proper roasting pan is best. If you do not own one go get one. Now, not next Thursday.
once you have the proper equipment and you have ascertained the bird will fit in your oven (I have been known to buy birdzillas that only fit in my oven with some creative finagling. One year we got a 42 pounder (it was local, organic, pastured and cheap-1/2 off. I could not resist) you are ready to cook the thing. I have found brining the turkey is a great way to go. Simply fill a cooler (that you have sanitized) with 5+ gallons of water (enough to mostly cover the bird). A cup of sugar and a 1/2 cup Kosher or sea salt (if you you table salt cut to 1/4 cup). Place the raw and thawed turkey into the brine and let sit refrigerated for 5 to 8 hours. If it is below 45F outside use the great outdoors as your fridge. Otherwise, add some ice to the brine to keep things cold. I can guarantee you that you will not have fridge space for this unless you have some commercial fridges at your house. Once the bird is brined, remove from the solution, pat dry and let the turkey sit for about 2 hours before roasting. Brining will guarantee a moist tasty bird
If you do not want to brine than one thing you can do is simply rub the bird inside and out with a mix of kosher salt, rubbed sage, chopped rosemary and garlic powder than roast./
I preheat the oven to 450F and place the covered prepared bird in the hot oven. After 30 minutes I turn the oven down to 350F and let it cook. For cooking I time I use the general 15 minutes a pound rule (20 minutes for a stuffed bird). Around 2 hours into cooking I will remove the cover and start basting
Now here is the biggest tip I can give you, o' eater of pastured turkey. Pastured turkeys have been allowed to roam around and that means they are full of nutritious collagen, this is a good thing. But collagen tends to make meats tough if not cooked to a high enough temp. I find pastured poultry needs to be cooked to at least 180 (190 to 200 is even better) in order to cook that collagen down to tenderness. I use a cooking thermometer to check but you can also use a wing or drumstick. If the wing/drum stick falls off or nearly falls off when wiggled your pastured bird is ready to be taken out of the over, placed on the serving platter (remove the stuffing if you stuffed the bird) and allowed to rest for 20 minutes or so before it is carved.
Bon apitite
Congratulations. You are getting closer and closer to having one of the best meals you have ever cooked. it is almost impossible to mess up a meal made from exquisite ingredients but it can be done so a few tips about using whole foods.
Storage- Things like squashes, garlic, onions do not need to go in your fridge (this will give you more room for things that do need cold storage). they do need a cool spot to rest but that can be on the floor of your kitchen or out in the garage. Greens, fruits, herbs do need to go into the fridge.
Give yourself time. Start a few days early. I have been watching Martha Stewart this week and she sez she has been working on Thanksgiving for the past 2 weeks. I think that is going too far but than I am not Ms Stewart and I am not cooking at all this year (which really bums me out. I love doing Thanksgiving). Still, starting this weekend would be a good thing.
The Turkey. If you did not get a fresh turkey, start thawing the frozen bird at least 3 days in advance of cooking. It takes a 20 pound bird over 56 to thaw in a fridge. It would be totally irresponsible of me to suggest taking that clean locally raised and butchered bird and thawing it out in warm water in a cooler the day before you need to cook it. But that is what I would do. I would never ever do this with a factory farmed bird. Do not attempt to cook a frozen or partially frozen bird at 450F. This was been done in my family back in the 1960's. The results, while inedible, were hilarious. One day I will write about the Black and Serve™ rolls and the blackened and raw turkey dinner.
Okay, you got the bird thawed and it is sitting on the kitchen table. Now What? I suggest putting it in a roasting pan. All the grocery stores have aluminum pans to roast a big bird, though I find these to be quite dangerous. They are floppy affairs and can drop hot grease on your legs/feet. OUCH!. But in a pinch they are better than nothing. A proper roasting pan is best. If you do not own one go get one. Now, not next Thursday.
once you have the proper equipment and you have ascertained the bird will fit in your oven (I have been known to buy birdzillas that only fit in my oven with some creative finagling. One year we got a 42 pounder (it was local, organic, pastured and cheap-1/2 off. I could not resist) you are ready to cook the thing. I have found brining the turkey is a great way to go. Simply fill a cooler (that you have sanitized) with 5+ gallons of water (enough to mostly cover the bird). A cup of sugar and a 1/2 cup Kosher or sea salt (if you you table salt cut to 1/4 cup). Place the raw and thawed turkey into the brine and let sit refrigerated for 5 to 8 hours. If it is below 45F outside use the great outdoors as your fridge. Otherwise, add some ice to the brine to keep things cold. I can guarantee you that you will not have fridge space for this unless you have some commercial fridges at your house. Once the bird is brined, remove from the solution, pat dry and let the turkey sit for about 2 hours before roasting. Brining will guarantee a moist tasty bird
If you do not want to brine than one thing you can do is simply rub the bird inside and out with a mix of kosher salt, rubbed sage, chopped rosemary and garlic powder than roast./
I preheat the oven to 450F and place the covered prepared bird in the hot oven. After 30 minutes I turn the oven down to 350F and let it cook. For cooking I time I use the general 15 minutes a pound rule (20 minutes for a stuffed bird). Around 2 hours into cooking I will remove the cover and start basting
Now here is the biggest tip I can give you, o' eater of pastured turkey. Pastured turkeys have been allowed to roam around and that means they are full of nutritious collagen, this is a good thing. But collagen tends to make meats tough if not cooked to a high enough temp. I find pastured poultry needs to be cooked to at least 180 (190 to 200 is even better) in order to cook that collagen down to tenderness. I use a cooking thermometer to check but you can also use a wing or drumstick. If the wing/drum stick falls off or nearly falls off when wiggled your pastured bird is ready to be taken out of the over, placed on the serving platter (remove the stuffing if you stuffed the bird) and allowed to rest for 20 minutes or so before it is carved.
Bon apitite
Friday, February 02, 2007
Happy Groundhog Day
It's groundhog day and that means the whistlepigs around the united states will be prognosticating whether or not we will have a long or short winter. Okay Winter ends Mar 21st in the northern hemisphere no matter what as that is the equinox and no rodent will change that no matter how bright or dim the light when they appear from their lairs this morning.
Punxsutawany Phil is the whistle pig most people rely on for their winter forecast but it turns out most areas of the country have their own woodchuck forecasters. Here in Ohio it is Buckeye Chuck (awful similar to the wine-Two Buck Chuck...), The Dayton area has its' own whistle pig, Ivy, who will deliver her long term forecast at 10am this morning.
Since it is cloudy with a threat for snow I am guessing our local groundhogs will Not see their shadow and we will have an early spring (likely enhanced by both global warming and a persistent el Nino)
Punxsutawany Phil is the whistle pig most people rely on for their winter forecast but it turns out most areas of the country have their own woodchuck forecasters. Here in Ohio it is Buckeye Chuck (awful similar to the wine-Two Buck Chuck...), The Dayton area has its' own whistle pig, Ivy, who will deliver her long term forecast at 10am this morning.
Since it is cloudy with a threat for snow I am guessing our local groundhogs will Not see their shadow and we will have an early spring (likely enhanced by both global warming and a persistent el Nino)
Saturday, December 23, 2006
festivus time
While not making Christmas cookies I found myself surfing blogs and found a great festivus post over at Slowly She Turns..
I had forgotten all about Festivus despite several stories on NPR the past 2 weeks
My grievances are as follows:
But to those of you who will respect the entire ritual I bid you a Happy Festivus
I had forgotten all about Festivus despite several stories on NPR the past 2 weeks
My grievances are as follows:
Any and all news stories that involve puppies or kittens or small children or women riding mopeds who end up in wells or storm drains and are not from the area covered by local news should be banned from the airwaysNow I do not have an unadorned alumunim pole set up not any dinner planned. And I probably will not do feats of strength (unless with Nate the dog).
I am on the do not call list so telemarketers quit calling me
People who drive while talking need to have their vehicles taken away. either drive or talk but not both
The Ohio smoking ban is simply stupid and unenforceable. Not to mention it is prohibiting a legal substance from being used on private property.
Anything Bush has done in the past year pisses me off. Same with Cheney
I buy raw milk but why do I had to fill out a 14 page contract to buy it legally. Why do I have to do this for a pure product but milk that is factory farmed and pumped full of drugs is sold over the counter? Pisses me off!
This fear leading to hatred of Muslim Americans pisses me off. Hey we are all human beings here!
I have a real problem with Industrial organics. More so if they are being sold by Wal-Mart
Ads in movie theaters. I do not go to many movies (maybe 1 a year) and this trend of commercials in the previews is sick and wrong. I pay good money to see a movie ad free.
But to those of you who will respect the entire ritual I bid you a Happy Festivus
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Solistice
On the last day of autumn I saw a family of bluebirds cavorting about some hoophouse supports and a ringed necked pheasant that for some reason was hanging out in the south lawn by the chain linked fence. Upon seeing Us humans and the dogs, it flew over to the tall grass and weeds and disappeared from sight. I did not realise they are as big as a chicken and sound a lot like one too
Happy Solstice Everyone
May the Gods and Goddesses grant you a swell new year.
May the Gods and Goddesses grant you a swell new year.
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Holiday Winter market
Did the December edition of the Oxford Farmers' Market Winter market and it was a fine one indeed!
Unlike last year, we had a lot of leafy green things to sell along with things that store well like winter squash, garlic, carrots. Plus the fact we are having a much warmer than normal late fall has meant we have lots of cold loving crops.
I wanted to take some pictures of the market to post but we were simply too busy selling for the two hours the market is open. We sold out of many items we brought and most everything else sold well. We opted to not open the store today because we don't have a whole lot of most things except garlic, dried herbs and some winter squash. It was an intense market.
And a fun market too, as we are now into Chanukah and it is of course the Christian Holiday season. So everyone was festive and happy. It did not hurt one bit that the weather was beautiful-sunny and around 50˚F. Unreasonably warm but a welcome thing if you are selling freezable produce outside in December. We got to see a lot of people got many hugs and even got some Solstice presents (I'd say Christmas presents but not everyone who gave us presents at market is Christian but we all celebrate the solstice and return of the sun). One woman who has been a long time customer told me my comments about Heifer International in the email newsletter I send out to anyone who signs up (this is more for local people) inspired her to donate to them. Need more people like her and that can be you by simply clicking on the box in the sidebar.
So we came home happy-we sold lots of food, meaning two things:1) we have some cash on hand and 2) we are not faced with what to do with too much kale, cabbage, broccoli, spring mix, etc., for a few days. What we have been doing with the bounty is eating a lot of greens every day which has got to be good for our bodies. I remember this time last year craving kale and chard and having to buy chard at the grocery. BTW Kroger has far and away higher quality produce than Wal-Mart, especially when it comes to kale. But if you have the choice of buying kale grown by Boulder Belt that is the far better choice. Kroger kale is edible but nothing to write home about the 2 times I bought Wal-Mart kale I ended up throwing out most of it as it was horrid. This year we have kale and Lucy is a happy camper.
I see my dough for snickerdoodles should chilled and so I end this entry on that note
Unlike last year, we had a lot of leafy green things to sell along with things that store well like winter squash, garlic, carrots. Plus the fact we are having a much warmer than normal late fall has meant we have lots of cold loving crops.
I wanted to take some pictures of the market to post but we were simply too busy selling for the two hours the market is open. We sold out of many items we brought and most everything else sold well. We opted to not open the store today because we don't have a whole lot of most things except garlic, dried herbs and some winter squash. It was an intense market.
And a fun market too, as we are now into Chanukah and it is of course the Christian Holiday season. So everyone was festive and happy. It did not hurt one bit that the weather was beautiful-sunny and around 50˚F. Unreasonably warm but a welcome thing if you are selling freezable produce outside in December. We got to see a lot of people got many hugs and even got some Solstice presents (I'd say Christmas presents but not everyone who gave us presents at market is Christian but we all celebrate the solstice and return of the sun). One woman who has been a long time customer told me my comments about Heifer International in the email newsletter I send out to anyone who signs up (this is more for local people) inspired her to donate to them. Need more people like her and that can be you by simply clicking on the box in the sidebar.
So we came home happy-we sold lots of food, meaning two things:1) we have some cash on hand and 2) we are not faced with what to do with too much kale, cabbage, broccoli, spring mix, etc., for a few days. What we have been doing with the bounty is eating a lot of greens every day which has got to be good for our bodies. I remember this time last year craving kale and chard and having to buy chard at the grocery. BTW Kroger has far and away higher quality produce than Wal-Mart, especially when it comes to kale. But if you have the choice of buying kale grown by Boulder Belt that is the far better choice. Kroger kale is edible but nothing to write home about the 2 times I bought Wal-Mart kale I ended up throwing out most of it as it was horrid. This year we have kale and Lucy is a happy camper.
I see my dough for snickerdoodles should chilled and so I end this entry on that note
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Have a Heifer Christmas
I have finished most of my Christmas shopping simply by giving money to Heifer international, an NGO that gives livestock and training on how to husband the animals to the poor people of the world so that families can feed themselves and eventually feed their villages when their animals reproduce and add more animals to the area.
For the past 5 years my family (me, my 2 siblings and my dad and Step-mom) has pooled money to donate to heifer. In the past, we have bought bees, geese, goats, llamas.
This year we bought a water buffalo for a family in SE Asia. That Buffalo, if it is a cow, will provide milk for the family, plow fields and pull a cart and will eventually have offspring the family can give to other villagers (which is a part of the agreement with heifer, when your animals start to reproduce you are to give the extras away to others in need in your area until everyone has enough and there is surplus to sell on the open market).
This year my brother bowed out of Christmas altogether and is not participating. I guess he feels he is in worse shape than someone who lived through the Banda Ache tsunami or a person who lives about anywhere in Africa. Not. But the rest of us pitched in to make lives of some people we will never meet a bit better.
The best part of this is I did not have to step foot in a Mall, something I try to avoid at all costs. I did not buy plastic crap no one really wants or needs made by child labor in Cambodia, China, Sri Lanka or some other place that has zero laws to protect workers (and ironically, these are places that might have the family that gets the Buffalo we donated). Crap made from non renewable resources that will be landfilled eventually (the packaging will be landfilled right away). I did not buy crap that will only take money and resources AWAY from the local economy.
Unfortunately I have not finished my Christmas shopping. I still have to buy for my brother and sister in law and a nephew. I will shop for them at the Oxford Farmers' Market Uptown Winter Market next weekend and buy an assortment of handmade soaps and candles and who knows what else. I will be keeping the money and resources in the local economy as well as buying things made from natural materials with little to no packaging that will NOT be tossed in the landfill.
If you do not have a winter farmers' market if you area try out Local harvest. True, you might not be buying from a local person but you will be buying from small independent farmers and artisans and not from a huge multinational corporation who only cares about profits and not people. And you will be buying something that was not made by slave labor and that is comprised of natural, non toxic pure materials. it's a win win situation when we think before we buy and try to buy either local or at the very least from the small guys.
Remember there are only 21 shopping daze left and not one has to be spent in a mall or box store.
For the past 5 years my family (me, my 2 siblings and my dad and Step-mom) has pooled money to donate to heifer. In the past, we have bought bees, geese, goats, llamas.
This year we bought a water buffalo for a family in SE Asia. That Buffalo, if it is a cow, will provide milk for the family, plow fields and pull a cart and will eventually have offspring the family can give to other villagers (which is a part of the agreement with heifer, when your animals start to reproduce you are to give the extras away to others in need in your area until everyone has enough and there is surplus to sell on the open market).
This year my brother bowed out of Christmas altogether and is not participating. I guess he feels he is in worse shape than someone who lived through the Banda Ache tsunami or a person who lives about anywhere in Africa. Not. But the rest of us pitched in to make lives of some people we will never meet a bit better.
The best part of this is I did not have to step foot in a Mall, something I try to avoid at all costs. I did not buy plastic crap no one really wants or needs made by child labor in Cambodia, China, Sri Lanka or some other place that has zero laws to protect workers (and ironically, these are places that might have the family that gets the Buffalo we donated). Crap made from non renewable resources that will be landfilled eventually (the packaging will be landfilled right away). I did not buy crap that will only take money and resources AWAY from the local economy.
Unfortunately I have not finished my Christmas shopping. I still have to buy for my brother and sister in law and a nephew. I will shop for them at the Oxford Farmers' Market Uptown Winter Market next weekend and buy an assortment of handmade soaps and candles and who knows what else. I will be keeping the money and resources in the local economy as well as buying things made from natural materials with little to no packaging that will NOT be tossed in the landfill.
If you do not have a winter farmers' market if you area try out Local harvest. True, you might not be buying from a local person but you will be buying from small independent farmers and artisans and not from a huge multinational corporation who only cares about profits and not people. And you will be buying something that was not made by slave labor and that is comprised of natural, non toxic pure materials. it's a win win situation when we think before we buy and try to buy either local or at the very least from the small guys.
Remember there are only 21 shopping daze left and not one has to be spent in a mall or box store.
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
New Mower
Happy Independence day!
I say this even as we Americans lose more and more of our independence. But I still love my country even if I do not particularly like or trust my government.
For the 4th of July we are taking the day off. It is Tuesday and normally this time of year that means we do an afternoon farmers' market in Oxford. But since we are having a national holiday we have opted to miss the market. The major threat of thunderstorms all afternoon down in oxford has also helped us to make the decision to no go to market today. Instead we will go to a 4th of July party just north of Oxford, weather permitting.
it's been a hot miserable 4th of July weekend. We spend Saturday at the farmers' market which was surprisingly good for us than afterwards we went to our friends the McKinstry's for lunch and some hanging out time since we do not see these guys nearly enough (I have been friends with them for over 20 years). We had so much fun that we did not get back home until around 5pm saturday.
Sunday we went to Yellow Springs, OH and hung out with Eugene's family and ate red meat and sweated. I think it got up to 95˚F-yuck. But it was nice to see everyone. While we were there I found the classified ads and looked at the mower possibilities (about a week ago I wrote about our mower dying and we did take the part to a mower fix-it guy and he called last week and said it would cost $315 to fix the part or we could pay $340 for a new part or we could find a working mower). I showed the mower ads to Eugene who called a guy near Miamisburg who had a John Deer for $675 and set up an appointment to go look at the thing for monday.
Monday came and we did some light farm work picking green beans, French filet beans, strawberries and sugar snap peas in the morning before the heat and humidity became unbearable. Came in and took showers (this is something we rarely do-take a cool shower mid day but we were hot and sweaty and it felt soooo good) and than ran some errands in New Paris and Richmond such as finally closing out our old checking account. Than we came back home and made arrangements to go look at the mower in Miamisburg and at 4pm got in the van and drove to look at the thing and by 6pm we were the new owners of a 1993 JD riding mower. Now we will no longer have to worry about our grass getting too long and our neighbors will know we have high moral standards because our lawn will look good.
Funny that, we Americans gauge the morality of our neighbors based on how their lawns look not really on their actions. I mean a person could be brutal to his wife and kids but if his lawn is manicured no one will suspect anything for a long time. But if that lawn is unkempt (I am not talking about the classic Redneck yard complete with cars up on blocks and a burned out trailer) than the person is suspected of being a very immoral person, possibly a drug dealer or at the very least a drunk when in fact they could just be too poor to afford a mower and gas or (as in our case) the mower broke and we took our time dealing with all our options. And I am glad we did weigh all our options and found a good quality mower for not a great deal of money.
Have a happy 4th my fellow 'Murkins
I say this even as we Americans lose more and more of our independence. But I still love my country even if I do not particularly like or trust my government.
For the 4th of July we are taking the day off. It is Tuesday and normally this time of year that means we do an afternoon farmers' market in Oxford. But since we are having a national holiday we have opted to miss the market. The major threat of thunderstorms all afternoon down in oxford has also helped us to make the decision to no go to market today. Instead we will go to a 4th of July party just north of Oxford, weather permitting.
it's been a hot miserable 4th of July weekend. We spend Saturday at the farmers' market which was surprisingly good for us than afterwards we went to our friends the McKinstry's for lunch and some hanging out time since we do not see these guys nearly enough (I have been friends with them for over 20 years). We had so much fun that we did not get back home until around 5pm saturday.
Sunday we went to Yellow Springs, OH and hung out with Eugene's family and ate red meat and sweated. I think it got up to 95˚F-yuck. But it was nice to see everyone. While we were there I found the classified ads and looked at the mower possibilities (about a week ago I wrote about our mower dying and we did take the part to a mower fix-it guy and he called last week and said it would cost $315 to fix the part or we could pay $340 for a new part or we could find a working mower). I showed the mower ads to Eugene who called a guy near Miamisburg who had a John Deer for $675 and set up an appointment to go look at the thing for monday.
Monday came and we did some light farm work picking green beans, French filet beans, strawberries and sugar snap peas in the morning before the heat and humidity became unbearable. Came in and took showers (this is something we rarely do-take a cool shower mid day but we were hot and sweaty and it felt soooo good) and than ran some errands in New Paris and Richmond such as finally closing out our old checking account. Than we came back home and made arrangements to go look at the mower in Miamisburg and at 4pm got in the van and drove to look at the thing and by 6pm we were the new owners of a 1993 JD riding mower. Now we will no longer have to worry about our grass getting too long and our neighbors will know we have high moral standards because our lawn will look good.
Funny that, we Americans gauge the morality of our neighbors based on how their lawns look not really on their actions. I mean a person could be brutal to his wife and kids but if his lawn is manicured no one will suspect anything for a long time. But if that lawn is unkempt (I am not talking about the classic Redneck yard complete with cars up on blocks and a burned out trailer) than the person is suspected of being a very immoral person, possibly a drug dealer or at the very least a drunk when in fact they could just be too poor to afford a mower and gas or (as in our case) the mower broke and we took our time dealing with all our options. And I am glad we did weigh all our options and found a good quality mower for not a great deal of money.
Have a happy 4th my fellow 'Murkins
Friday, June 30, 2006
Eaton Bicentennial
It is 4th of July weekend and Eaton Ohio is celebrating their Bicentennial this weekend with all sorts of activities such as the unveiling of a statue of the founder of Eaton, William Bruce. A beer tent, lots of musical groups, contests and fireworks on Tuesday. And we will likely miss the whole shootin' match. I guess because neither Eugene or I are from Eaton and we have other things to do such as going to the Saturday farmers' market and a couple of get togethers between now and Tuesday. We may also do the Tuesday farmers' market if it is not raining. Or we may not, have not decided yet.
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
What I gave for Xmas
Not much actually....
I gave $30 to heifer International to help buy bees and a llama for some family I suppose in S. America. My sister wanted to buy chcickens and ducks for a family in SE Asia but I was worried that avian flu would kill off the small flock leaving the people with more problems. This will not happen with a llama and bees. Though I suppose the bees could get virora mites or hive beetles. It seems little is safe any more. My other family members kicked in enuff cash so we gave $200 total.
I gave Eugene good winter socks and an organic cotton jersey that looks really good on him (but he looks good in rags, he's just one of those people who can wear about anything well) and he bought a cordless drill a few weeks ago, gave it to me and said that it was his present from me. So I wrapped the thing up and presented it to him on xmas morn. he was delighted with his toy. Oh yeah, I got Eugene a lot of chocolate. Dove chocolate, bonbons filled with yummy things, wafers, bars. Lots of chocolate. He has been in a cocoa orgy ever since.
I bough tubs of Shea Butter for the in-laws. I get this stuff from The Wildberry in Oxford, OH. they get it from 2 brothers from Ghana. It is really wonderful skin cream and 100% natural, nothing added because nothing needs to be added.
I was able to stay away from the malls and Wal-mart. It was either local merchants or on-line purchases this year.
I gave $30 to heifer International to help buy bees and a llama for some family I suppose in S. America. My sister wanted to buy chcickens and ducks for a family in SE Asia but I was worried that avian flu would kill off the small flock leaving the people with more problems. This will not happen with a llama and bees. Though I suppose the bees could get virora mites or hive beetles. It seems little is safe any more. My other family members kicked in enuff cash so we gave $200 total.
I gave Eugene good winter socks and an organic cotton jersey that looks really good on him (but he looks good in rags, he's just one of those people who can wear about anything well) and he bought a cordless drill a few weeks ago, gave it to me and said that it was his present from me. So I wrapped the thing up and presented it to him on xmas morn. he was delighted with his toy. Oh yeah, I got Eugene a lot of chocolate. Dove chocolate, bonbons filled with yummy things, wafers, bars. Lots of chocolate. He has been in a cocoa orgy ever since.
I bough tubs of Shea Butter for the in-laws. I get this stuff from The Wildberry in Oxford, OH. they get it from 2 brothers from Ghana. It is really wonderful skin cream and 100% natural, nothing added because nothing needs to be added.
I was able to stay away from the malls and Wal-mart. It was either local merchants or on-line purchases this year.
What I got Fer Xmas
My Husband, Eugene, gave me a memory Foam pillow for Xmas.
It is the best thing ever!
Okay that is an exaggeration, it is not the best thing ever but it is the best pillow I have ever used and I have gone from a restless 5 to 6 hours of sleep per night to a sound 7 to 8 hours per night. And this happened literally overnight. It's like sleeping on some sort of synthetic breast, very nice.
I also got other stuff from my husband including a chocolate orange (but with no orange flavor which I find strange). A flotation device to lie upon on the pond this summer. A generic play dough set with blue and yellow fake play dough (that is becoming a nice emerald green BTW), a copper mixing bowl (never again will the egg whites refuse to whip!).
I also go a calendar of cats in Tuscany, a $50 GC to LL Bean (I don't know what I will get yet), a subscription to Cooks Illustrated (a great cooking periodical).
That's the loot from Xmas 2005. From a capitalist POA pretty pitiful but from my POA not bad and not too much.
It is the best thing ever!
Okay that is an exaggeration, it is not the best thing ever but it is the best pillow I have ever used and I have gone from a restless 5 to 6 hours of sleep per night to a sound 7 to 8 hours per night. And this happened literally overnight. It's like sleeping on some sort of synthetic breast, very nice.
I also got other stuff from my husband including a chocolate orange (but with no orange flavor which I find strange). A flotation device to lie upon on the pond this summer. A generic play dough set with blue and yellow fake play dough (that is becoming a nice emerald green BTW), a copper mixing bowl (never again will the egg whites refuse to whip!).
I also go a calendar of cats in Tuscany, a $50 GC to LL Bean (I don't know what I will get yet), a subscription to Cooks Illustrated (a great cooking periodical).
That's the loot from Xmas 2005. From a capitalist POA pretty pitiful but from my POA not bad and not too much.
Saturday, December 24, 2005
A Noncommital PC Seasonal Wish
THE END-OF-THE-YEAR SMALL PRINT
Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral celebration of them winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or the secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious or secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.
May you have a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and
medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2006, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped to make our country the uniquely wonderful place that it is (not to imply that our country is necessarily greater than any
other country, including yours, should yours be different from mine,
but nonetheless including and recognizing the distinctiveness of our country) and without regard to the race, creed, colour, age,
physical ability, religious faith, political belief, choice of
computer platform or sexual preference of the wishee.
By accepting this greeting you are accepting these terms. This
greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal.
It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for herself or himself or others, is void where prohibited by law and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within
the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year, or
until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and the warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or
issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.
Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral celebration of them winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or the secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious or secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.
May you have a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and
medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2006, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped to make our country the uniquely wonderful place that it is (not to imply that our country is necessarily greater than any
other country, including yours, should yours be different from mine,
but nonetheless including and recognizing the distinctiveness of our country) and without regard to the race, creed, colour, age,
physical ability, religious faith, political belief, choice of
computer platform or sexual preference of the wishee.
By accepting this greeting you are accepting these terms. This
greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal.
It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for herself or himself or others, is void where prohibited by law and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within
the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year, or
until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and the warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or
issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.
Monday, December 12, 2005
The annual Holiday letter
...and no it is not reproduced in this blog. You gotta know me fer real-like to get the missive
I got the annual (non religion specific) holiday letter done. Now just have to print it out, stuff envelopes, address and stamp and get them in the mail. For my more electronically inclined friends (i.e. the folks on my email address lists) they will get an e-copy (pdf). I have noticed when I do not send these things out I get few (non religion specific) holiday cards. So far this year I have gotten zero cards but that could be due to the fact I have moved and few folks know my new address and have sent their cards to my old address so there is a sack of (non religion specific) Holiday mail somewhere between New Paris and Eaton Ohio (about 11 miles separates the two metropolises) with my cards. Or perhaps my friends and acquaintances are just lame this year and have not sent anything out. Or perhaps my PO Box is at this very moment crammed full of (non religion specific) Holiday cheer.
I dunno, but I do know I got this damned letter done and ready to print and it is full of news information and photos.
I got the annual (non religion specific) holiday letter done. Now just have to print it out, stuff envelopes, address and stamp and get them in the mail. For my more electronically inclined friends (i.e. the folks on my email address lists) they will get an e-copy (pdf). I have noticed when I do not send these things out I get few (non religion specific) holiday cards. So far this year I have gotten zero cards but that could be due to the fact I have moved and few folks know my new address and have sent their cards to my old address so there is a sack of (non religion specific) Holiday mail somewhere between New Paris and Eaton Ohio (about 11 miles separates the two metropolises) with my cards. Or perhaps my friends and acquaintances are just lame this year and have not sent anything out. Or perhaps my PO Box is at this very moment crammed full of (non religion specific) Holiday cheer.
I dunno, but I do know I got this damned letter done and ready to print and it is full of news information and photos.
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Eggplant-Head Wishes Christians a Merry Christmas
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
First Snow
This week we were able to get pretty much the last of the crap from the old farm. Eugene seems to think there is more stuff to get but I say that is just the pack rat coming out in him. From what I can see all that is left is trash. Ah he can deal with that sort of thing-if he wants to take a day and load trash into the van and move it somewhere let him.
Monday he got the perennial herbs, the rest of the peonies, the rest of the parsnips (which, I believe, means the garden is empty of food except for a few kale plants that are on their own) and a pine tree Doug Ross gave me two years ago for my 40th birthday (which is now in front of the house, where it should grow into a majestic tree). he also dug up many buckets of day lilies in all sorts of colors. I have been propagating day lilies for about 5 years now and had a pretty good sized bed (maybe 15' x 15') going at the old farm. Now it looks like I have enough to do a 30' x 30' bed
Yesterday Eugene planted the perennial herbs-thyme, oregano, tarragon, lovage and some chives (chives are a poor seller for us but a garden just ain't complete without them and the are sooo easy to grow). This morning he planned on mowing the field where the garden beds are going but an early snow dissolved those plans quickly. By early I mean in the day-snow was predicted by the prognosticators we call the weather people. they had predicted a dusting of snow to fall sometime this afternoon but the snow decided to come early and drop a couple of inches. Makes it pretty outside.
So instead of farming we are cooking. I am doing the stuffing/dressing today and if I get motivated will also do the rolls today (at least get them proofed and par baked). Eugene is making an apple pie that smells Fantastic. he is a very good pie maker. he is not much of a cook otherwise, serviceable but not great. But his pies are to die for, he could make a living selling these things, I think. But pie making would bore him and farming fascinates him so I don't see the pie sales happening.
Friday is Buy Nothing Day
and buying nothing is my plan on Friday
Monday, November 21, 2005
Almost Turkey Day
The plan for this morning is to go to a nearby organic farm and buy a turkey for the Thanksgiving feast I am hosting this year. It will be a small affair of 6 people-Eugene's Mom, Fran, his sister, Doreen, his brother , Dave and Doreen's son, Chris (if he doesn't have to work). This will be the first time any of these folks, except Dave (who helped us move), have seen the place.
So I am planning on a feast of mainly locally raised foods. Turkey, Potatoes, salad will all be local and organic. I noticed I can get organic cranberries at the local Kroger's (organics in Eaton, OH who would've thunk?). I will bake bread for the stuffing/dressing and I believe all the other ingredients except butter are either raised by us or locally. I wish I could find a reliable local butter/dairy source. But I digress. the stuffing will have onions, garlic, carrots, pears, celery, sage, rosemary, parsley salt and pepper . Oh and maybe some walnuts.
I plan on baking rolls since I have found that yeast rolls are nearly as easy to make as biscuits and I can proof and par bake these a day ahead.
I might do pearl onions since we have several pounds of onions the right size. But I may not as I don't particularly enjoy peeling tiny onions. But they are good and quite traditional.
Eugene plans on making an apple pie (he makes the best pie) using apples we grew at the old farm. Doreen always brings a sweet yam dish and macaroni and cheese and Fran will be bringing some pies she buys at Young's Jersey Dairy. We will probably have way too much food.
We get to put leaves into the dining room table which I don't believe I have gotten to do since I got ownership of the piece. And I get to figure out where the table cloths are for the table. there are some really swank linen coverings for the table that will be fun to use. Shame I don't have a silver candelabra. But I do have some silver table items I recently got at an auction for almost nothing and some nice formal silver flat ware. I have a really nice set of china but it seems to be at my Dad's so that will have to wait. may have to us paper plates since I don't believe I have enough regular plates for 8 people. I may, though there will be nothing resembling a matching set. Call it Holiday Feast Eclectic.
So I am planning on a feast of mainly locally raised foods. Turkey, Potatoes, salad will all be local and organic. I noticed I can get organic cranberries at the local Kroger's (organics in Eaton, OH who would've thunk?). I will bake bread for the stuffing/dressing and I believe all the other ingredients except butter are either raised by us or locally. I wish I could find a reliable local butter/dairy source. But I digress. the stuffing will have onions, garlic, carrots, pears, celery, sage, rosemary, parsley salt and pepper . Oh and maybe some walnuts.
I plan on baking rolls since I have found that yeast rolls are nearly as easy to make as biscuits and I can proof and par bake these a day ahead.
I might do pearl onions since we have several pounds of onions the right size. But I may not as I don't particularly enjoy peeling tiny onions. But they are good and quite traditional.
Eugene plans on making an apple pie (he makes the best pie) using apples we grew at the old farm. Doreen always brings a sweet yam dish and macaroni and cheese and Fran will be bringing some pies she buys at Young's Jersey Dairy. We will probably have way too much food.
We get to put leaves into the dining room table which I don't believe I have gotten to do since I got ownership of the piece. And I get to figure out where the table cloths are for the table. there are some really swank linen coverings for the table that will be fun to use. Shame I don't have a silver candelabra. But I do have some silver table items I recently got at an auction for almost nothing and some nice formal silver flat ware. I have a really nice set of china but it seems to be at my Dad's so that will have to wait. may have to us paper plates since I don't believe I have enough regular plates for 8 people. I may, though there will be nothing resembling a matching set. Call it Holiday Feast Eclectic.
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