Some baking and the latest Independence Days Challenge Update

I came home from the farm on Saturday loaded down with fresh eggs and greens and a nice big bunch of rhubarb. We only got a small yield from our plants this year since they are still young. So, I thought I'd take advantage of the local bounty to get a little more of this delicious tangy vegetable. (Treated as a fruit in this household).

Armed with a great recipe from Farmer's Almanac for rhubarb cake, I undertook some afternoon baking. I healthied it up with a few substitutions, organic whole wheat flour, sucanat and honey instead of sugar and made a double batch to get four mini loaves (one pictured above) as well as a dozen muffins. Really tasty!

Since the oven was on, I took advantage of the heat and energy and threw in a couple of loaves of honey banana bread, to use up our seven smooshiest bananas. Now the freezer is backed with goodies and we're set for a little while.




So far, we've only gotten a few ripe strawberries, but any day now there'll be a nice big harvest so I'm getting my shortcake mojo on for sometime in the next week. Can't wait!!!



Meanwhile here's our update for the IDC for this week:

Plant Something:
Planted eggplant, squash, and cucumber seedlings and direct seeded some sunflowers and nasturtiums

Harvest Something:
Picked the first few strawberries and a little lettuce and oregano.

Preserve Something:
Put up some oregano for drying, froze some rhubarb from the local farm.


Reduce Waste:
Attended a lecture regarding the local watershed, water conservation and restoration of the local river. Attended a river blessing for the Concord River.


Preparation and Storage:
Purchased some bulk dehydrated black beans and whole wheat biscuit mix both organic from maryjanesfarm.com for food storage.


Build Community Food Systems:
Shared four bean salad and home baked banana bread at a luncheon before the River blessing. Bought fresh eggs, greens and rhubarb from the local farm.

Eat the Food:
Baked rhubarb coffee cake and muffins, some to eat now, some to share and some to freeze for a rainy day, baked banana bread with whole wheat flower, local honey and lots of old bananas to share at a luncheon and freeze for later. Made from storage, more four bean salad and some delicious spaghetti sauce with dried mushrooms and fresh herbs from the garden.

Hope you're having a good week!

A chilly week, a few blooms and an update

It's been chilly few days here, cool and rainy. I'm finding it hard to come up with the perfect work wardrobe for cool spring days. But, the plants seem to be loving it. I'm happy to see that the Wee Willie heirloom pinks I seeded last year are coming back. And we added a few more perennials to the bed, some indigo and mauve columbine, some coreopsis and more sea pinks. It should add some nice color and attract lots of beneficial insects to the garden.

Kind of a quiet week here with finger recuperation still going on. We did get a chance to visit with a few family members last night over a nice dinner in town. A rare occasion and one that we were glad to be part of!

And once again, thanks to my dear husband, we still managed to get a few things done by way of the Independence Days Challenge (IDC). So, here's our update for the week...

Plant Something:
Planted pole beans, squash, luffas and perennials

Harvest Something:
herbs and a little lettuce

Preserve Something:
not this week

Reduce Waste:
Created a list of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle tips for the office green page. Harvested a load of used printer paper to cut down and use instead of post-its in the office

Preparation and Storage:
Stored a water-proof supply of candles and matches in the basement storage area

Build Community Food Systems:
Working on a "raised bed" team at work to create and maintain an organic garden at work

Eat the Food:
Made a big bowl of 4-bean salad, a great way to use food storage!

Hope you're having a good week!

A few pictures and an update

The last of this year's rhubarb harvest. Just a tease of years to come.


I'm saving it to partner with the first succulent crop of strawberries coming soon!




The first of the crisp mint lettuce is up and beckoning to be included in a spring salad.


The sea pinks by the drive are our first real color besides the luscious bits of green popping up all over.


And the dratted finger. Feeling a bit better than a week ago when I got home from the surgery. Looking forward to a week from now when the bandage comes off. For now, I'm a little limited in the hand-use department, and looking a bit like I'm carrying around a chicken drumstick...but on the mend!



And thanks to my wonderful husband, we still managed to accomplish quite a lot. So, here's our Independence Days Challenge update for the week...

Plant Something:
Planted carrots, onion sets, beets and beans. Transplanted more tomatoes and butternut squash, as well a pepper, eggplant and luffa seedlings to bigger pots.

Harvest Something:
rhubarb

Preserve Something:
not this week.

Reduce Waste:
Repaired a reusable shopping bag.

Preparation and Storage:
Did our big once-a-month shop, Added some additional oatmeal, beans, broth, honey, tomatoes, applesauce and seasonings to the long-term food storage.

Build Community Food Systems:
Talked to a co-worker and sent her some links about food storage for small spaces.

Eat the Food:
Sourdough apricot/pecan bread, liver and onions from the spring lamb we bought, more delicious local farm-fresh eggs.

A little hand-work and the IDC challenge update

So, about my middle finger...lots of joking aside (over-use injury, flipped it too many times...etc), I've got a bit of a cyst and some bone growth on the top joint of my middle finger and tomorrow I'm having it taken care of. Sounds like such a small thing really, but this requires some "getting down in there" kind of work so I'll be operated on in the hospital and needing some time to heal afterwards. This all stems from osteoarthritis. Not a term I was hoping to hear for some years yet. But not a surprise with my family traits and my constant use of my hands.

With the "impressive dressing" I've been promised by my surgeon and limitations at least until the stitches come out. I'm looking at some serious down time for any and all kinds of hand work. Now, while this sounds pretty good when it comes to litter box duty and dish washing, it is a serious bummer for my knitting, sewing, cooking and gardening. So, I've been on a bit of a push over the weekend to catch us up and get us a little ahead.

I've been trying to finish up another little sweater for the Goober and started a batch of bread to last us a week or two.

And here's our list for another week of the Independence Days Challenge:

Plant Something:
Planted potatoes and chard. Weeded, planted MANY shasta daisy divides along our fence line. Planted the annual flowers by the front steps. Transplanted tomato, luffa, butternut squash seedlings to bigger pots.

Harvest Something:
Harvested herbs for drying.

Preserve Something:
Made a batch of power bars and packaged for the freezer.

Reduce Waste:
Made a tote bag out of some fabric scraps and remnants.

Preparation and Storage:
Purchased a few medical supplies to add to our emergency supplies.

Build Community Food Systems:
Bought eggs and meat from a local farmer. Making this a weekly habit.

Eat the Food:
Baked some sour dough flat breads. Very good. They've been added to the regular baking list. Made a few batches of cabbage slaw, one with home-made mayo, yogurt and cider vinegar and the other with dried fruit, olive oil and cider vinegar (no mayo). Both delicious warm weather sides.

Time to get out in the garden!

The garden has been beckoning me. It begins. I don't hesitate to grab my beat up jeans and a sweatshirt, throw on boots and head out to the garden every morning and evening. Sometimes there's time for a little weeding or putting in a few things (like a bunch of shasta daisy divides from a friend). Sometimes it's just about looking, seeing what is emerging, what needs doing. At this time of year, my days in a beige office, cube-land, facing a computer for long hours, are intolerable without these morning and evening forays into the green growing, living world.

Here are a few pictures of what I saw last evening and this morning.

The view of the big garden from our upstairs hall window.



A ground level view of the garlic coming up in one of the wedge beds in the big garden.



New canes in the raspberry beds and our first time growing potatoes in bags. They'll fill out as we top of the vines and eventually be brimming with red-skinned caribe potatoes. Yum!



Growing food not lawn in front of our house. We've put in asparagus and rhubarb in a border along the fence and four raised beds across the front of the house for a rotation of vegetables. These two are waiting for beans, tomatoes, peppers, basil and the like.



A look at our second year rhubarb with a few long leggy asparagus going to seed. Since we're only in year two for both of these crops, we can only "pick a few" to let the root systems have most of the energy.



Our raised strawberries overwintered really well and are showing off their new blooms.



Berries won't be far behind!



The golden peas are reaching for their trellises and the lettuce is beginning to show true leaves. There'll soon be fragrant blooms and lots of fresh spring greens here.



Our newest addition, four cranberry bushes in their own raised bed. They should be productive this year and add some lovely color in the fall.



One last look from the window before getting ready for work.



Thanks for stopping by the garden. Come again!

Some sadness and Week 2 of the Independence Days Challenge

We had some sad news last week of a friend's sudden and very premature death. So Saturday morning was spent at a beautiful and sorrowful memorial service for Paul. We had a chance for sweet recollections, a few laughs and some comfort with our music friends. Paul was a loving and generous guy and he will surely be missed.

I find it interesting and very sobering how each death conjures memories from all the other experiences I've had of losing friends or loved ones. This news of Paul's passing was no exception and we found ourselves feeling a little bruised and tender for much of the weekend. Some solace, peace and energy were waiting for us in the garden and I spent a good part of Sunday and this morning there.


Things are beginning to take off in our garden. The raspberries overwintered well. And we've got lots of new growth and clusters of buds all over. We saw the first blooms in the strawberry patch so we're beginning to anticipate all the lovely bounty to come from there. The garlic has been shooting up and looks a bit like a gangly bunch of teen-age boys out there. I'm looking forward to the scapes that we'll be harvesting to make some nice early summer pesto. The peas are reaching for the trellises and the lettuce is showing true leaves so it won't be long before we have some nice fresh greens for the table.

So, here's our list for week two of the Independence Days Challenge:

Plant Something:
Weeded and cleared in the garden. Turned over a few beds. Planted chard, marigolds and more lettuce outside and seeded a large array of seeds in the basement...tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, eggplant, kale, broccoli, basil, flowers, etc.

Harvest Something:
Harvested our last asparagus - year two, pick a few. Also harvested our first rhubarb, more chives, some overwintered sage, thyme and oregano.

Preserve Something:
Picked some herbs for drying. Must set up some drying lines on the front porch or in the pantry.

Reduce Waste:
Used egg cartons and toilet paper tubes cut in half for seeding cells in trays. Much better than spending money on peat pots.

Preparation and Storage:
Uploaded Open Office to my home computer to put our food storage, shopping and inventory lists on a database for easy sorting, creation of shopping lists and storage.

Build Community Food Systems:
Talked with the green team at work about building some raised beds at the office.

Eat the Food:
Baked a honey rhubarb coffee cake with the first of the rhubarb, used some of the freshly picked herbs in a big pot of beef stock I made from beef bones frozen after a meal last week. Used the last of the asparagus with home-made sourdough and cheese for a delicious pizza.

What could you do this week?