A momentous day

 It was a busy day here at Troll Bridge Acres.  First, J16 and I worked at a pancake breakfast this morning, raising money for the Crisis Center.  Our committee brought in over $500 that will go to the Common Fund, which is specifically to help families with unexpected bills or ones they can't afford. There is a fairly rigorous criteria for those receiving help, but it is well worth it to keep someone's electricity on.
Plus, today is a name change day.  K10 is now K11.

The birthday boy was amused with his cake.

 Yes, it's a dead teddy bear.

From one of their favorite video games "Naughty Bear"

Fun but very twisted!

And last, not least, but definitely the most frightening:

J16 on her first solo drive.  She is off by herself to a concert at school this evening where one of her friends is performing.  She passed driver's ed with flying colors- a high enough driving score to not even be required to drive with the DOT.  So, last week when the children didn't have school due to the end of the trimester, she and V went off and she got her "for real" driver's license.  I think I'm more nervous about her drive than she is.....  oh... my phone....  Ok, she called- she got there just fine.  Hurrah for teenage drivers.  I see many more nervous trips ahead!
Update- she made it home safe and sound.  Whew!

An Urban Homestead?

Do we qualify as an Urban Homestead? (gosh, I just love saying that forbidden word... Urban homestead, urban homesteading, urban homestead... oooh, I'm gonna be in trouble now, LOL!)
Today is the Urban Homestead Day of Action. The day to take back possession of the term that defines so many of us. But, having moved from the city to a 5 acre plot of land, do we still qualify as urban homesteaders? I'm gonna go out on a limb and say, yes, we do- or at least we will. We may not currently be within city limits, but looking out across the highway in the winter when there are no leaves on the trees, you can see all the lights of the suburban subdivision that is so near. The farm just to the south and west of us has put 40 acres of land up for sale for another subdivision (sigh). There is the 'Moss green eco-village' office park planned for just down the road. It doesn't matter if we are urban at the moment... give it a few years and we will be again.
We started this journey while we were still living in town, it was a fabulous location and I still love the house. But, the postage stamp yard and the regulations of living in town weren't conducive to the type of life we wanted to live (restrictions on animals, compost bins, etc). Hence the move to our lovely acreage.
We are still building our dream. The progress is slow but sure. I ordered another red currant bush (to replace the one that died after V ran into it with the mower- oops!) and cranberries! We're planning to build the greenhouse this spring and I'm looking into possibly building a hoop house as well. I'm still working on V about chickens. He is adamantly opposed to them (bad chicken manure experiences in his past when we moved here). But, there is a local feed store that sells chicks in the spring. I wonder what he would do if I just came home with some.....
The orchard has been planted, the strawberries look lovely under their straw mulch (I peeked on Saturday) and things are taking shape. Will this area ever be truly urban? I sincerely hope not. But I will always consider myself to be an Urban Homesteader. We live on an urban homestead. We are urban homesteading. We are urban homesteaders.

Random acts of kindness

When the children and I returned home last night, J16 was anxious about pulling into the driveway because the path we had been able to clear was quite narrow- barely wide enough for the car- so there was little room for error.  Much to our surprise, we reached the drive to find that the massive piles of snow had been pushed well out of the way by someone with a snow plow.  V had no knowledge of this... a mystery.
So, this morning, V was out with the snowblower, clearing the drive again.  We had about an inch of snow overnight and of course the DOT had thrown snow back into the drive.  He was surprised when he turned around, to find a snowplow blade in front of him, attached to a big, red pickup truck.
The driver lives across the road in the subdivision. He apparently is a concrete contractor in warm months and does snow removal in the winter.  He said that he had seen us out working on Wednesday and the more he looked at our drive and thought of his own daughter trying to negotiate it.  That bothered him.  He said it just isn't right.  So, not only did he clear the end of the drive by the road, he plowed the entire thing- in a straight line- all the way past the garage.
If we need any concrete work done, I know where we're going.

A Fun Saturday

One nice thing about having a party- it is a reason to clean the house.  Not that we don't clean normally but sometimes you need something to motivate you to do things that tend to slack off- like dealing with the recycling of bottles, really cleaning the counters and sorting through that pile of papers/magazines/stuff that accumulates.  

We started the day with a good breakfast before getting to work straightening up.  Below is just one more reason I LOVE getting local, not factory farmed eggs:

I mean, really, what factory farmed operation would include this monster in its box?  It was HUGE!!!  The box barely closed over it.  V ate it for breakfast and it had a double yolk- and it was probably about the size of two 'regular' eggs.  Poor chicken.....

We hosted our second annual sledding party this afternoon.  We didn't have quite as many people as last year- I think a consequence of having it on Saturday afternoon rather than Sunday. (I think there were more conflicts for people on Saturday afternoon)  But still, we had 5 families show up.  I13's friend Nikki came over as well.  It was fun- apart from our children and Nikki- all the children here were 6 and under with the youngest about 2.

 Getting ready to go.  A friendly push is always welcome...

 Toasting marshmallows in January and having s'mores.  Mmmmm.....

Checking out the slopes!

Everyone who came asked if we would be hosting again next year.  Most likely, we will.  This is fun for us as well and pretty easy to host.  Starting the fire and setting up the seating around it was probably the most labor intensive.  Otherwise, apart from cleaning up (which needed done regardless) I baked some cookies, warmed some apple cider in the crock pot and supplied hot chocolate mix, hot water and s'mores ingredients.  Pretty low key.  And J16 thinks she may have scored a babysitting job.  The littlest girl (Annie) was getting too cold (It was low 20's) so she stayed inside with J16 for a while and her mom was impressed with how well Justine interacted with her so got her phone number.

I am sad to say that we did have an injury on the slopes today, though.  Two dads were sled racing down the hill and crashed into each other.  One ended up with a snow burn on his chin.  Nothing too major but we used it as a teaching point for the children to be careful.  Leave it to the dads to get injured!  LOL!!

I hope you all had as great a Saturday as I did.

Still plugging along

Whew!  Where has the week gone! It has sure been busy here.  We've finalized the kitchen designs and will go tomorrow to order our cabinets. EEK!  I'm hoping it will look as good in real life as it does in my imagination!  After we order, we will have about 4 weeks wait for the cabinets.  That should give us plenty of time since we plan installation in mid March.  I'm not sure what is happening with the counters yet- that isn't my assignment! LOL!  Those may end up being the most expensive part of the kitchen- possibly even more than the cabinets- we'll see.  We will be getting three separate custom counters: one for the main L of the kitchen, one for the island and we are building a separate small bar area on the North wall. It should look great when we're finished.  But, we have to get there first.
I've got tomorrow off since I worked last weekend.  But it won't be a day of rest.  In addition to getting the cabinets squared away, I've got to straighten up the place a bit for the sledding party that we will be hosting on Saturday afternoon.  I've got to make sure I've got enough apple cider and hot cocoa and probably will bake some cookies.  It's supposed to be COLD here tomorrow through the weekend.  Hopefully it won't be too windy so we can build a bonfire outside to warm little sledders (and bigger parents).
If you're in the area- stop by on Saturday afternoon (1-4) for some good sledding, good food and warm drinks.  I might even let you sit on my new couch.

I have to submit a recipe??!!

I'm participating in a chili cook-off on the 30th.  It's a fundraiser sponsored by our church.  I've taken chili to church functions before- although my chili has been deemed by some "not suitable to be served to Lutherans".  I make my chili spicy!
I picked up the rules yesterday.  And they say that I have to submit a recipe!!  I don't use a recipe.  It is never the same twice.  But, I can give them an approximation. So, today I'm making a batch of chili and measuring what I put into it.  Of course, I'll have to specify that these are home grown, home canned tomatoes: one quart of sauce, one quart of diced tomatoes;  frozen diced hot peppers, a home-smoked dried chipotle, locally raised grass fed beef, red and black beans, onion, garlic and spices.
I have to submit at least 4 quarts of "competition chili" that will be judged on flavor, texture, consistency, spice/taste and aroma.  There will be prizes for Best Overall, Most Original, Hottest, , Best Tasting, and Best Vegetarian.  I was thinking about submitting a vegetarian chili but V wants me to add beef.  The scoring is 50% from the judges, 50% popular vote.  There will be up to 20 competitors.  As of yesterday, we were up to 16.
Wish me luck.

Cookies and a full day

It has been a busy, busy weekend here. Saturday afternoon J16 and I finally made a trip to Kalona to the Stringtown Grocery and the Twin County Dairy cheese house. Mmmmm.....

Now I've got whole wheat flour and oatmeal. Yeah!!

I spent the evening baking. First, one of V's favorites:

Biscotti. Yummy- and no added fat except the almonds.

Then peppermint kisses.

Last year, after the holidays, I stocked up on the peppermint kisses when they were on deep discount and tucked them in the fridge drawer. Popped on top of chocolate drop cookies they are an upscale version of peanutbutter blossoms. The recipe made LOTS- probably 5 dozen. So I took a few dozen to church this morning for the soup luncheon that capped the day's festivities.

This was the big day for the children at church.

K10 was a shepherd. See him adoring the baby?!

LOL! They passed the baby Jesus down the line so everyone could see him.

Even the sheep! They have these great sheep costumes that consist of a white stocking hat with ears sewn on. The preschoolers are all the sheep and get herded in to sing. It's too cute.

I10 was a reader for the program but mostly played in the band.

He had to be there at 7:30 this morning and played at both services. My parents came up for the Christmas program and stayed for the second service and lunch. Dad actually had tears in his eyes following the band playing the postlude. I did shoot some video but the file is too big for Blogger to upload. Sorry, you'll just have to imagine how good they sounded.

J16 sang in the high school choir- a version of the Magnificat. They sounded great- and again the file was too large. Ugh. Too bad Blogger has such a small file size for video.

Then was the soup luncheon. This is one of the high school fundraisers. They are working for the next trip to the national youth convention in 2012.

Now here's something you don't see everyday:

A whole bunch of high school students willingly washing dishes!

We ended up not going caroling- that we usually do. Partly because it had already been a long day and partly because my parents were in town. We did our gift exchange with them this afternoon so that's done if the weather turns bad later in the week. Mom got me another over the sink strainer. She was a bit worried because I already have one. But I can think of times when I would have loved to have another.

I've got three days of work this week. The children have 2 more days of school and then are off for two weeks for winter break.

We've got menus planned for the week. Solstice in on Tuesday and Christmas coming up quickly. I found out that our church is serving lunch at the Free Lunch program on Friday the 24th. We didn't make it on the day after Thanksgiving. I'll have to ask the children if they want to go. They actually have enjoyed it when we have done it in the past and it is a good eye opener for them. We'll see.

Have a great week everyone.

Disheartening...

While the children were in rehearsals for tomorrow I helped wrap gifts at our church. Every year we have an Angel Tree for families in need. I have been involved with this, in some form, for years. This year, our congregation provided gifts for 52 individuals in, I think, 10 family groups. For these gifts, the parent, or head of the family, gives suggestions for gifts (ideas, sizes, etc). I was wrapping the gifts for the largest family group we had which was a grandmother, her daughter and the daughter's 6 children (ages 16 to 2). While this event usually brings good thoughts and warm feelings, this year it left me quite disheartened. Definitely a sign of the times, parents asked for many more practical gifts for their children this year. Where I usually wrap toys and games, this year there were requests for socks, a new coat, flannel pajamas and children's clothes. All the wrappers this year commented on this and it seemed to make all of us a bit sad.

How sad that the economy is so bad that parents who can't afford gifts for their children are desperate enough to ask for socks and underwear.

How disheartening for a four year old to get only one toy and the rest clothes.

How disappointing for 16 year old twin boys to get socks and pajamas for Christmas.

How sad that a mother, instead of asking for something for herself, requests a gift card to the local grocery store.

These are, indeed, the dark days of winter....

Is it Monday already?

And November?! Where did the year go?

I actually stayed home sick from work today. I came down with a nasty cold and have been coughing and coughing... Sometimes hard enough that I'm worried I'm going to throw up. Ick! Fortunately (or unfortunately, however you look at it) the chest congestion has started to break up, but I'm still coughing. But, it will be back to work tomorrow. Today, we got the children out the door to school and I fell asleep on the couch, propped up on pillows, and slept until 11. I think that was more sleep than I got all last night.

Being Monday, I guess I should do an Independence Days update, as usual.

1. Plant something- not a thing. And it will remain this way for a few months unless I decide to try planter box lettuce again.

2. Harvest something- the last few tomatoes and peppers out of the garden and... wait for it... Brussels sprouts! Yup. Last spring, I planted one plant that I got from the local grocery store. Honestly, I kind of forgot about it. It didn't really do very well and most of the little sprouts were only about the size of my finger tip. But they were tasty.

3. Preserve something- Not a thing here either.

4. Waste not- hmm, we've been giving away pumpkins so they don't go to waste, I hope that counts. Plus, the usual composting, recycling, using cloth bags, etc.

5. Want not- stocked up on some more coffee. They have been having a coffee sale at the local grocery store. We've picked up a few packs of decaf hazelnut coffee. We like to make half and half coffee, especially on the weekends where we're likely to drink more coffee than usual. Since coffee prices are predicted to go up we've been picking up coffee to store when it's on sale. There are many things I'm willing to go without to be frugal- coffee isn't one of them at this point in my life.

6. Community food systems- the only thing I can think of is the pumpkin trade that's going on here. I'm getting a copy of a cookbook in trade for three pumpkins- not a bad deal.

7. Eat the food- I can't pinpoint a specific meal this last week but we've been eating the last of the ripening tomatoes and the last of the peppers plus some salads from the yard lettuce.

And just a reminder to all folks here in the US - although I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here- Whether you are a Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Green, Socialist, Independent, or are holding your own little Tea Party- GET OUT THERE AND VOTE. Our voices count. Let's be heard.

And there is no complaining allowed if you don't vote.

Mixed emotions

V and I just returned from a lecture by writer and environmentalist Bill McKibben. I must say that I'm having mixed emotions at the moment.

First, I was feeling amazement. The lecture started at 7. The doors of the theater where it was held opened at 6:30. We arrived at about 6:32 to find the line to get in stretched almost 2 blocks. AMAZING!! There was some fun with others standing in line, wondering if we would make the cut- being a block and a half into the line. We made it. We were sitting in the nose-bleed section of the balcony, but we made it.

Then came the lecture. First, it was quite depressing, he gave facts and figures about climate change that hit too close to home. Then, things became a bit more hopeful as he talked about the global effort to raise awareness and combat climate change. He showed pictures from all over the world of the 350.org rallies that had taken place on Sunday- 10/10/10- the climate work party. It was inspiring.

Then things got a bit depressing again. He was driving home the point that we can do everything right- we can change every light bulb in our house, cut our carbon emissions, eat locally- all those things that we've been working to do- and it still won't matter if changes aren't made on a larger scale (think national or better yet global). And even worse, even if we can make enough changes to bring down the CO2 level in the atmosphere, it may be too late and the earth we know may be a thing of the past and we will need to learn how to live and survive in the brave, new world we are creating.

He did a lot to push political activism, hoping that if enough voices are heard, that maybe some of the powers that be may take notice. I'm off to check out the organization he started. 350.org. Why don't you come along... we can all get depressed and inspired and amazed and maybe even hopeful together.

They got talent!

This afternoon was the 7th annual talent and art show at our church. It was fun, as usual, with children and adults sharing their gifts. I took along an unfinished quilt top, just for show and tell. Maybe I'll be lucky enough to finish it soon.

I13 played a piece on his euphonium

J16 on the violin.

K10 decided this afternoon that he had no talent and just wanted to watch. That's OK.

My friend Deb played the dulcimer.

In addition to the talent show, there was also an art show with everything from fingerpainting to water colors and bead work to cake decorating. The art show was a silent auction with all the proceeds going to the local homeless shelter.

J16 won the bid on a giant cupcake decorated by another friend, Tammy.

The girls with her are the children of my friend Debbie (different one from the dulcimer player). Their older sister, Cassie, was one of J16's best friends when she was small but was killed in an accident at age 8. It was a tough time for all but J16 has stayed close to the little sisters. I've posted before about the annual mitten drive held in Cassie's honor.

I also won a bid on earrings made by Deb (dulcimer player)

They are from one of her first forays into polymer clay.

I have a thing for trees ;)

And no one else had bid on them and they looked so lonely.

All in all, it was a great afternoon. I didn't get down to the sustainability rally- the talent show took longer than I anticipated.

But, we did get the final big wall (11 ft section) framed and up in the basement this afternoon/evening. There is only one short section and two sections of decorative half wall to go and the framing is all complete!! It's coming along!! Maybe we will have that room done by the time the couch arrives at the end of the month.

Busy Weekend

It was a busy weekend here at Troll Bridge Farm. Tomatoes were picked and canned, squash were sauteed and devoured, lumber and decking materials were ordered....

K10 and I went to the farmer's market on Saturday morning- unfortunately, no dill- I asked several vendors- they don't have dill this year either. It is evidently just an off year in this area.

The Iowa City Farmer's Market

It's ranking near the top for the best market in the nation!!

About 130 vendors- on the lower level of the parking ramp so rain is no problem.

Mmm... herbed goat cheese

In a compostable container!

I13 selected his recipe... I love this cookbook.

And explored the joys of crockpot cooking.

He made Chicken Cacciatore in the crock pot. Got it started at lunch time so he could go swimming in the afternoon. Cooking in swim trunks, what fun!

I even tried out my new pie plate and made a cherry pie with some of last year's cherries from the freezer. Yum!

Tomorrow afternoon, the rest of the lumber to finish the basement and the deck will be delivered. Oh, what fun we will have....

Goth Garden- phase 1

Oh, my, what a busy day! J15 and I spent all morning at church. She was playing her violin at both services today and I was working at the plant sale. The plant sale was a HUGE success! We made $388 in proceeds for the Common Fund for our local Crisis Center. The common fund is supported by local religious communities and is used to help residents with financial needs such as utility bills they can't pay, etc.

Before the sale.

We had donations of veggie plants, hostas, perennials, herbs and some houseplants. I took 54 veggie and flower seedlings and at a "suggested donation" of $2 each, we sold all but 6 pepper plants and one eggplant. All the heirloom tomatoes I took went quickly, even the unusual varieties. The remaining veggie plants will be donated directly to the crisis center either for use in their community garden or for patrons to pick up to plant at home.

A happy customer!

I even was able to show some restraint and only came home with a few plants. I ended up with two types of oregano, a lonely brussels sprout plant, some wild phlox, a sedum that J15 really wanted and mint with a story. The mint was brought in by one of the other committee members. It is a start from one that she "obtained" while visiting a plantation in Louisiana (the one they used in Mint Juleps!)

The day was beautiful, after our morning frost, and I was able to get all of my little plants planted out. The extended forecast looks good so I'm thinking that this is the last frost of the year. Our usual last frost date is around May 10, and since there isn't going to be anyone home to water little seedlings later this week, they needed to find a home. This included J15's Goth Garden that we are constructing as part of our Kinder Garden challenge.

We got a good start on it!

Semi-dead grass from under shed panels.

We did sheet mulching over the grass to help speed up the process. Unfortunately, we were limited by the area we could cover by the number of newspapers we had on hand.

J15 (soon to be 16!!!) spreads topsoil.

We got all the little plants we had started planted in the garden. There are still a few that will be started in place from seed but those will wait until we have more newspaper to extend the beds and until we get back from Colorado.

Oh, this looks much more black in person!

The pansies and one purchased columbine are the only things blooming at the moment. We needed to go get more topsoil mid project and J15 also selected a Black Knight butterfly bush to go on the corner of the garage.

Phase 1 complete!!!

I also took a rocky part of the vegetable garden space and created a flower/herb garden. I hope to have the herb garden closer to the house eventually but we are still waiting to hear bids from the contractors who will install the new septic.

The herb garden.

This particular section of the garden has lots of gravel in it. We have seen from old aerial photos that they had a round bale feeder here so evidently they, at some point, dumped a load of gravel to keep the hay dry. It isn't really conducive to planting veggies in it- although I did last year- so I decided to turn it into a bed with all kinds of yummy plants to attract beneficial insects into the garden. It also has my kitchen herbs at the moment until I can construct my herb spiral.

We also got all the tomatoes and peppers planted in the garden as well as some zinnia's and my new brussels sprout plant.

I'm tired! But it a good tired, borne of a day of fulfilling work. I got hugs and kisses from my children for Mother's Day and I spoke to my Mom on the phone. I was disappointed that I couldn't go down to see her but she understood how busy we were today and I'll see her later this week at the wedding.

Now, it's time to get the boys to bed, set up coffee for the morning and crawl into bed,

A weary update

I'm weary... It was a full and wonderful weekend. I learned LOTS and am, now rethinking how I garden. But... It's going to be hard to break old habits. I also made the unfortunate realization that I have approximately a week and a half to get all my little seedlings into the ground before we leave for my niece's wedding in Colorado. I've got so much to accomplish in a short amount of time. And I work again this weekend! So, after a weekend that wasn't really a weekend, I now work 6 days straight then have only a few days to get everything done. Ugh.

But it's Monday, time for a quick IDC check-in.

1. Plant something- no, but I did spend lots of time applying mulch around little fruit bushes and in the garden. I did get starts of garlic chives and chocolate mint from classmates this weekend.

2. Harvest something- a bit of chard. I was sorely tempted to pull a very tiny radish but it wasn't quite big enough to make a good taste so I let it grow for another day.

3. Preserve something- no.

4. Waste not- nothing much to report here apart from the usual.

5. Want not- Nothing stored or prepped- Ooo, I take that back! V ordered a little 6x8 foot greenhouse for me for a Mother's Day present. It's not a hoop house but an actual rigid greenhouse with a sliding door and roof vents. Oh what fun I'm going to have this fall and winter! Now I just need to figure out where I will put it. Hmmm-- on goes the thinking cap!

6. Build community- JACKPOT!!! I made some fabulous new friends this weekend. One who drives by my house every day on her way to and from work who said she would bring me some rhubarb and would check on the house and garden while we are gone. We are planning a series of monthly potluck dinners to keep getting together and we plan to see each other at the remainder of the classes. There were only 7 students this weekend which means that we all had plenty of opportunity to get to know each other.

7. Eat the food- we finally had some of the hamburger from the new beef- yowza it is lean!!! I actually had to add oil to the pan to keep it from sticking. And, if possible, it tastes even better than last year. Of course, I had the opportunity to eat local and vegetarian/vegan for lunches this weekend. They had a local chef come in and do demonstration cooking lunches with fresh ingredients she picked up at the farmer's market or ingredients that she had preserved herself last year. o, We had a fabulous salad of raw asparagus, baby greens green onions and organic greenhouse tomatoes and cucumbers. We had feta cheese and olives (not local) to top it off. YUM! Sunday she made a pot of black bean chili from home canned tomatoes and beans. Mmmmm....good eating to keep our brains and our imaginations fired while we learned and designed edible/sustainable landscaping for a local private school's new building (a gold LEED certified building) where we were meeting. Too much fun.

Now, I'm tired. I was so hyped last night after I got home that I didn't fall asleep until late and then my alarm went off as usual at 5:20 this morning. I didn't get a chance to sleep in (6:30 or 7!) this weekend, nor will I next. So, it's too dark outside to work so I'm off to bed. Good night.

Sunny IDC

It was a busy weekend. I was busy all weekend but I don't really feel like I accomplished anything. My talk at church was fine. I was one of three people who shared "what we do to care for the earth". I talked (with V chiming in) about how we are trying to rehab the house and land. About insulating and planting. I only had about 10 minutes so it went quickly. The other people who spoke were also interesting. One is a well known architect who designs LEED certified buildings and the other is into prairie restoration and brought packets of seeds that he has saved from his prairie. So now- I have another project! LOL! Like I don't have enough already. But he wants to come out and help me identify things we have growing out here (and he wants a start of the horsetails if I have enough)

I moved most of my seedlings out onto the porch.

We've selected a spot for the prairie patch but it is on a slope so I don't really want to till it up before I plant. I'm wondering how it would be if I started my little plants and grasses inside and then transplanted them. We can burn the area next spring to reduce the competition. Anybody have experience with this?

The wild plums are blooming and smell heavenly!

And our big apple is blooming.

But now, it's time for my usual Monday Independence Days update. Here goes:

1. Plant something- hmm, not as busy a week planting-wise. My seedlings are growing nicely but it's still too early to put them out. And all my herbs need to wait until after the septic (we're waiting for bids). But, my peas and radishes are coming up.

2. Harvest something- chives, some chard and some lambsquarters. We had a few chard plants that overwintered and the new growth is OH, so tasty!

3. Preserve something- not directly, no, but somehow I think I can count our beef purchase.

4. Waste not- We are repurposing old fence rails for bins for wood chips and probably compost as well (although I'm worried about toxins leaching out into my compost- but then, I figure that those posts are probably 30+ years old and hopefully everything has leached out already). I've been trying to take leftovers for lunch- I was so disorganized the week before that I actually ended up buying lunch at work!

5. Want not- Put a side of beef into the freezer! Stocked up on frozen peas (to use until ours start producing)

6. Community food systems- did my little talk at church yesterday- we did talk some gardening and people were amazed that my garden is 25x80 feet. I also promoted our plant sale and encouraged a few people to plant tomatoes.

7. Eat the food- Yesterday we had been burning some brush so since we had coals, we decided to use the dutch oven to cook outside. We had a small but wonderful beef roast with loads of potatoes, carrots and onions. I also double wrapped some bread and heated it up on the coals to sop up the broth from the bottom of the pan- yum!

It should be an interesting week at work. One of my co-workers (who only works 3 days a week) evidently injured herself putting up a deer fence at her son's organic garden over the weekend and is now non-weightbearing on her right leg. So, she most likely won't be in to work this week. Unfortunate since there is at least one of the remaining three of us scheduled off every remaining day this week. sigh..... Wish me luck.

********

Oh, and an addition- I almost forgot to mention that Mama Robin has two more eggs in her nest. Yup, three beautiful blue eggs right by the pump handle. We've been trying to avoid bothering her too much but I'm going to need water. The only other outside faucet is on the South side of the house- not too bad for carrying water to the apple trees but a bit far for the garden.

Help! What do I talk about???

Ok, I got more clarification about tomorrow morning. The session is on "caring for the earth" and I'm supposed to talk about what we do. I spoke to the organizer. And he said he wanted us to talk because "you are (pause...) more connected to the environmental movement than others". WTF??? Okay, I interpret that as "you guys are a bit farther out there than anyone else I know". But, really, do I mind? Not really.

But now for the hard part- what do I talk about??? There is so much! We are supposed to have a 15 minute presentation ready and then there will be time for question and answer. Now, I definitely DON'T to come across as 'holier than thou' so how do I approach this?

I thought about talking about some of the energy efficiency steps we have taken (insulation, planning on new windows) line drying clothes, reusing/repurposing/recycling. People seem to be impressed by the fact that for a family of 5, we only set out one garbage can per week and it's not even full (maybe half usually). Michael (the guy organizing) also wanted me to talk about raising our own food- but this is Iowa! Many people here have gardens. Maybe not on our scale, but still... I did think about including something on eating seasonally and locally.

What do you think? How can I come across with enough information to be challenging but not overwhelming and not give the impression that we're so much "better" at this than anyone else?

Any and all suggestions will be appreciated!

Engineering

We met with the engineer this afternoon about the new septic system. We have the plan in hand and can now contact the guys who will install it. Woo Hoo, it is finally underway! It can't happen soon enough for my liking. Not only is the old system slowly failing (I'm hoping we get it replaced prior to catastrophic failure) but I have plans for the yard that I can't start until we are finished with heavy earth moving equipment. I found out that we can plant anything but shrubs on top of the sand filter and when I told her I was thinking native wildflowers and herbs she said that was perfect because it wouldn't be something we would be driving the tractor over to mow. I also found out that the "wetland" won't necessarily be a wetland. I can plant anything I want there (again, except shrubs or things with invasive roots- or edibles!) It will essentially just be a very consistently moist area of the property. She suggested iris, which is great since I desperately need to find a home for the iris that are by the house where we want to relocate the deck. So, good news on that front.

I also got my little shrubs today. Another reason we need to get the septic done. I have 3 bush cherries and 2 manchurian apricots that will be planted near the old fence line to provide a screen between the highway view and the outdoor living area we are planning. I figured that if I wanted a screen of bushes, I may as well make them edible! J15 helped me plant them into big pots that we have- left overs from patio gardening in town. But, they won't be able to live in those pots forever.

J15 and I also had a meeting this evening at church since we are both on the social justice committee. We are planning a plant sale for Mother's day as a fundraiser for our local Crisis Center. Hurrah, an outlet for all my extra plants! Otherwise I'll be planting 50 tomato plants again this year since I can't stand to just get rid of them. I hope that heirloom tomatoes and peppers will sell well as well as a few eggplant (I don't need 10 plants). I may also donate some of my wildflowers and herb plants. I'm not sure how many anise hyssop plants I need but I think I've got about 7 or 8! And as many bee balm and echinacea. And that's not even starting on the flowers for J15's goth garden.

But, I didn't get any work done on the raised bed- but I think I'm about ready to try to set the blocks to see how much more I need to dig to get it level. It is a real pain trying to set it partially into a hillside and still keep it straight. Maybe tomorrow night. But I'm definitely progressing toward some of the goals for the year. Some have even been met!

Mangled tree Monday IDC and a new challenge!

The tree manglers arrived today. The tree trimmers for the power company made their way along the road. Eeek. I almost wish they had taken the entire line of poplars out. They look really pathetic:

But, I guess they did to us a favor. They cut out all of the wild cherry trees that were in there. We wanted them removed because they have a fungus called Black Cherry Knot that can spread to other cherry trees. We do want to eventually plant cherry trees so these needed to go. The majority of the limbs they cut they shredded (we'll get a delivery of wood chips later) but they left the cherry for us so we can burn it to stop the spread of the fungus. They were loathe to shred it along with everything else because whoever gets this load of wood chips would have gotten fungus spores along with it. Not good. So we're going to have quite the series of bonfires when it dries out.

Before I get to my usual Independence Days update, I've got to report on a new challenge that I've joined. I know, I know, like I've got enough time to do something else!! But, this one is right up my alley. Kim at The Inadvertent Farmer is hosting a challenge about gardening with children. I figure that I'm already doing this so I may as well play along. Those of you with children, come play along (you know who you are!) There are even prizes!!

And now on to my usual Monday update.

1. Plant something- Oh, Yeah, Baby!!! Let's see...onions, carrots, beets, chard, peas (shell and sugar snap) lettuce, broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower plants in the garden. K10 thinks the "pea hut" will be fun to hide in. I still need to make a bean teepee- we've got these huge, long poles from the apple tree pruning that I want to use for that. Other than garden, I planted out my apple trees, raspberry plants and the rhubarb. I really need to finish the raised bed. I've got strawberries on the way soon and they will need a home.

2. Harvest something- alas, again only chives.

3. Preserve something- not yet but I have a few sad little apples in the bottom of the fridge that I think will be dried in the near future. I'm the only one who has been eating them and I can't eat them as fast as they are going bad.

4. Waste not- Hmm... the usual: composting, repurposing and trying to reduce food waste. I've been repurposing old fencing to make cages for around little trees and bushes to keep out the bunnies.

5. Want not- stocked up on coffee and tea that was in the discount basket at the store. Also purchased a tiller and a dump cart to use for hauling stuff around the acreage.

6. Build community food systems- Utilized the local orchard to obtain apple trees. Registered for my next permaculture class.

7. Eat the food- I've been trying to use stuff out of the freezer but life has been crazy and I really need to get myself more organized again. I didn't get meals planned this weekend and we ended up stopping at the grocery store on the way home this evening because there wasn't anything thawed. We should have more beef arriving next week so I need to get that freezer cleaned out!!

I'm starting this week already tired and it looks to be another busy one. But, then, it's SPRING!!

So much

There is so much going on right now. Work has been busy and I've been busier than usual at home and taking children places since V has been sick. He is still not doing very well. Oh, he has stretches of an hour or two where he is fairly pain free but those are few and far between. He finally has an appointment with the sinus specialist on Friday morning. He is to the point where he is also having intermittent changes in his vision in his left eye due to the pressure on his optic nerve. I hope we get some answers/results on Friday morning. He's no fun to live with! And I KNOW he is more than tired of all of this.

Friday afternoon we have the closing for our house in town. Woo Hoo!!! Paying off two loans and getting things moving on a few other projects around here will be a great feeling.

And, K9 will have a name change to K10 on Saturday. Gotta get moving on gifts and cake baking!

I desperately need to get my seed starting set up going. I'm LATE! And now I find out that I'm going to need to start a few extra seedlings. The committee I serve on at our church (social justice/social ministry) is planning a plant sale for spring as a fund raiser for the community Common Fund. This is the fund that is administered by the crisis center to provide assistance for rent/heat/emergencies/etc for county residents. I figured that, since I'm going to be starting seeds anyway, I may as well start a few extras for a good cause. (that and it will give me an outlet for my extras- I have such a hard time 'thinning') Maybe tomorrow night I can work on it. We actually don't have ANYTHING on the schedule for tomorrow evening.

Sorry to be such a whiner but I'm tired and feeling a bit stressed.

Pruning workshop

It was a chilly but quite informative morning! There were 10 people in the class this morning. I learned a tremendous amount and am SO glad I went. We spent a little over an hour in the barn (kind of heated- it was maybe 40 degrees in there) with a lecture on pruning basics.

My take home information.

Then, it was out into the orchard for some hands-on practice. We first watched as the pros pruned a tree, then we did another as a group with the class members making decisions that were okayed by the instructors. Finally, we divided into pairs and had a tree of our own, with the three instructors wandering through with suggestions or to answer questions. All in all, we spent about 2 hours out in the orchard.

Looking into the orchard.

Here we are, checking out one team's tree.

The instructor for the class is the owner of the orchard. He has only had it for about two years, taking it over from the original owner who was retiring. A lot of the trees in the orchard haven't been pruned in years so it was a great opportunity to get some practice. After tramping about for a while, we returned to the barn to continue the classroom part, this time talking about the differences in root stock, disease resistance and planting information. He had each of us tell our 'story' and why we were there and what our goals were. I did get some good advice. He advised me to cancel my order for the Granny Smith apple. I knew we were getting pretty far north for it since it has a really long growing season. He told me that it probably won't ever ripen to the point where it would taste good here. Good information to have. He did offer some suggestions for varieties and offered to order trees for the class from his supplier. So, I have two more trees on order. I'll have to call about my tree order that I placed and see if I can cancel my granny smith tree. I never got my blueberries ordered so maybe I'll apply that money to blueberries.

After I got home (not till 1:45) I put my knowledge to use. I did have an opportunity to ask the instructor about our apple 'bush' and got some suggestions. It will be a multi-year project to rehab this tree. I was told to never cut more than 1/3 of the wood mass of the tree per year. We got our the chainsaw and got to work.

We cut out a few trunks to open up the tree.

and generated a lot of brush.

Hmmm, don't you use apple wood for smoking?

I also strung some chicken wire around the base to keep the rabbits away. With the extended snow cover that we've had, they have really been going after the tree trunk. Since we exposed some new areas, we didn't want to give them the opportunity to completely girdle the tree.

All in all, it was a fabulous day. I made some good connections with people in the class and feel like maybe, just maybe, I can make more community connections still. And I definitely feel better about getting into fruit production mode.