Springtime frenzy

The Master Gardener classes have begun! I'll be very busy over the next few months as I have signed up for 50 hours of training plus 50 hours of volunteer work with the Crawford County Master Gardeners. Saturday's class was on soils, and this week we are meeting at the OSU farm in Bucyrus on Tuesday and were told to bring our pruners.

I've been busy filling my greenhouse with shelves and trays of seeds. Of course I mixed up my seed-starting mixture on Friday from a bag of commercial organic potting soil, a bag of perlite, a bag of composted manure, and a bag of play sand, then on Saturday we learned that sand isn't the best addition to a seed-starting mix. Oh, well, we'll see how it works.

The greenhouse came on Thursday last week, I put it up the same evening, then we took off for the farm on Friday with oldest grandson, so I didn't even get to do anything with it until Monday night. I put some shelving up on Monday night, but put it too close to the back wall. Murphy's law struck, the disaster happened. The tomato and eggplant seeds I had so carefully started a week ago under lights in the garage were on the shelf when the gust of wind hit the wall and knocked the shelf over, so all my little inch-high seedlings fell into the grass. Just like a piece of buttered toast, the "good" side fell on the floor first. I spent the next several hours searching for seedlings and carefully putting them back into the seed tray. I probably was able to save half of them..... Oh, well, it could have been worse. I had only started two trays (of 72 plugs each....waaaaaahhhhh!).

I got home from work tonight and found the latest Mary Jane's farm magazine in my mailbox! I had my grandson with me, we had planned to go to the library but too late, I found that Story Hour is over for the season. So I brought him home with me to see the greenhouse. I reluctantly put the magazine aside, and we went outdoors. We planted some zinnia seeds in a pot, and I let him water several of the trays. Being four years old, he is impatient for things to grow, and loses interest quickly when they don't come up right away when he waters them. I spent the next half hour chasing him through the backyards in the neighborhood; then got smart and took him to the park across the street. He was less impressed than I was with the bald eagle flying over the water - he was far more impressed with the 8-inch long crappies that the fishermen were pulling out of the water, and the minnows swimming around in the bait cans. I spent another hour chasing him around the park, then took him home. He didn't want to go, but I promised him a fishing rod of his own for the next trip.

Then I opened up MJF magazine. Once again, beautiful, beautiful pictures, and the articles just remind me so much of the traditional things that a "farmgirl at heart" holds dear. Each magazine is better than the one before, I can't imagine how much love and heart is poured into each issue. I was REALLY SURPRISED when I got to page 32 and found that one of my posts from the Farmgirl connection forum made it to hard copy of the magazine! See my original post at http://www.maryjanesfarm.org/snitz/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4681 - or better yet, RUN to Barnes and Noble and pick up your own copy of the magazine (or order it directly from Mary Jane!) Here's a photo of a new generation of Maybelline lovers - my grandson said "This is way fun" when we rode around the farm picking up brush with Maybelline - and when we left the farm, he said "I love Maybelline!" although he found her a little rusty. I reminded him she and Tow-Mater from his favorite movie Cars look a lot alike...

Greenhouse dreams

After a heart-to-heart with DH, we agreed to scale down my greenhouse expectations to a less significant investment. I'll be going with the Flowerhouse Farmhouse, which is less than $350 at Meijers.

It doesn't have any automatic venting options, but it is better than no greenhouse at all.

Garden started

Finally! The snow has melted, we had a 50-degree day yesterday. DH brought over the neighbor's Ford Golden Jubilee tractor and tiller and he tilled in the leaves and wood ashes we've been spreading over the garden all winter.

I used the Troy-built tiller to till a few inches deep on the other side of the rhubarb and asparagus, the strip is too narrow for the big tractor.

A few weeks ago I went through all the seeds I had stored up over the years. I still have seeds from 1998!!! I sorted them into packs by year. I am trying to use up the older seeds first - well, at least those from 2004 or later. I have many from Burpee that don't have a year on them. Note to self: Check all seed packs when received and if no year on the label, write it on upon receipt.

Yesterday I planted peas - Oregon pioneer and Alaska, Sparkler radishes, Detroit Dark Red beets, and turnips. I also started some Quali-T-23 and Old German varieties of tomatoes, and a tray of Black Beauty eggplant, in flats under lights. Checked in on the lettuce and greens I started last week in flats - Winter Provencal mix, Drunken Frizzy-Headed woman, and London Springs lettuces. I set them out in the sunshine for several hours and gave them a sprinkle of water from the garden hose.

I am thinking of planting potatoes today, although I haven't planted them for several years and wasn't successful the few times I did plant them. Hope springs eternal, and all that! If I keep planting the early spring stuff, though, I'm not going to have room left for the warmer-season crops when the time comes to plant them. I'm not very good and drawing up a garden plan and sticking to it. I seem to always not have enough garden for everything I want to grow.

I've been looking at greenhouses online. DH gave me permission to put up a 10'x10' greenhouse. I think I may have narrowed it down to Cross Country or Sunshine brands. I need to hurry up and make a decision or he may change his mind.. Not going to let that happen!

A bulletin from the church yesterday challenged us to come up with additional ministries. I wonder if taking leftovers from the "country" farmer's market on Saturdays into the downtown of the larger city and distributing fruits and vegetables somehow to people who need them would qualify as a ministry? Perhaps use the church parking lot as a site? Maybe let other members bring excess vegetables from their gardens and contribute them? What kind of liabilities would we run in to?

In those days there was no king in Israel....

...and the people did what was right in their own eyes...

Is that still true today?

I have heard so many stories lately about people taking justice into their own hands; or people in power simply ignoring the checks and balances that were put into place to assure the rule of law; or going off and starting a war based on half-truths and personal motivations.

It is simply too bad that the last chapters of the book of Judges, 19-21 are not part of the common lectionary. I never hear them in church. It seems that we could benefit from hearing these stories again.

Old trees

We went to the farm near Grand Rapids this weekend. There is still some snow there. It is nice to see the snow on the two-track, because it lets us know if there have been trespassers or not!

I spent the weekend taking pictures of the trees in one of the orchards. Some are still in healthy condition but others are really in bad shape.

I took 359 pictures, all are of individual trees except for a few at the end of the rows. It is overwhelming how much work we have to do. I did the biggest orchard, but I suspect there are nearly as many trees remaining, if not more, in the other sections. The corner of this orchard has really old, standard-size trees. The blackberries and raspberries grow really densely in this part of the orchard. There are quite a few limbs down and we can't get in and get the mower to mow down the berries until we remove the fallen limbs. Since we're not able to get there every weekend, and have a limited amount of time when we are there, I'm not sure we'll ever get done.

I originally had an idea to catalog each tree and document the process of bringing it back into production. I am wondering now if maybe I should just heed DH's advice and bulldoze them all.

If we have 1000 trees, and we saved 10 percent, I would have to identify the 100 best trees. That still seems like a lot of trees to take care of.

random paragraphs

I've been having a lot of back/hip pain recently. Got X-rays and an MRI and it seems that I have stenosis of the spine and a bulging disk that is pressing on my nerve leading to my hip. Definitely not bad enough for surgery but enough to keep me awake some nights.

My chiropractor is "stretching" me twice a week. The theory being if he stretches me out, the part of the disk that is bulging out will be pulled back into position. He's also got me on a supplement made from beef and sheep liver, spleen and kidneys.... and ground up bones. I told him I stopped eating liver many years ago because of the potential for heavy metal contamination. Evidently this supplement is produced and processed on an organic farm, so, theoretically, it doesn't have heavy metals in it.

I asked if yoga lessons would be helpful, since the yoga movements are also stretching movements. I didn't realize how hard it would be to find a convenient yoga class in a town this size. I bought a beginner's video at Target, but I think even it is way too far advanced for me.

Of course, as with any doctor I've been to in the last twenty years, he told me that losing weight would help. More exercise and fewer calories. Ever since he said that I've been gaining weight. I don't think I'm eating any more! I'm certainly not exercising any less!

On Saturday I walked across the street to the park, where, for the second year in a row, a bald eagle is making a nest. The nest is huge. I can't believe the tree is about 50 feet from the highway. Didn't see any eagles, but a group of senior citizens with a leader from the local bird sanctuary was just leaving as I arrived. Maybe the birds were disturbed by the commotion? As I was leaving a young Amish man came up the trail behind me. Talk about anachronisms, he had a camera with a telephoto lens the size of a Pringle's can. I never thought about Amish people taking pictures before. At least I don't think he had graduated to a digital camera... What will happen to Amish picture-takers when the film-processing companies like Kodak and Fuji stop making film?

Yesterday I challenged my dear husband to go walking with me. We picked up cans and bottles along the roadside and put them in bags and brought them home. It was great exercise. I think we walked about four miles total. Plus all the bending and stretching was good. My next-door neighbor saw me and was amazed that we would do that, couldn't believe it. I was thinking I should petition the state to get a sign put in our front yard "This two-mile section of road maintained by Bright Meadow Farms". That would shake her up, too!

Yesterday morning in church our pastor talked about Jeremiah Wright. I am a UCC (United Church of Christ) member - all this coverage in the news seems to be putting our church in the spotlight once again. But the news coverage doesn't seem fair or balanced, or even well-researched.

My pastor has personally met Jeremiah Wright and visited the Chicago church Barak Obama attends, and he said it is a pity that the life and work of a man get reduced to a 10-second sound bite that is not typical of the body of work that he has produced over the years. Some of the news reports I have heard have made it seem that the UCC is a mostly black denomination. This is far from true, although the local congregation there in Chicago may be a black church. Does this mean the reporter has done little but pick up a story someone else researched? Remember playing telephone when you were kids? Remember how the message got twisted by the end?

The truth is that the UCC is an inclusive church. Our motto is "that they may all be one", words of Jesus. The church was born in 1956, the same as me, from the merger of the German Evangelical and Reformed Church with the New England Congregational churches. Some of the individual congregations in those churches elected to not join the merged church, but many did, and since that time many other churches have joined. This is the church of the Pilgrims! This is the church of the wave of German immigrants that came to Ohio in the 1840s! More recently, this is the church that welcomed African American congregations and also Hispanic congregations. We are a mainstream, main-line Protestant denomination that is "in communion" with Lutheran and Disciples of Christ and Presbyterian denominations, among others. When I was young, in the idealistic 1960's, this church was always in the mainstream of the ecumenical movement.

Our motto is probably more representative of Barak Obama's oft-repeated political position "if we can put an end to partisan politics, bring people together, and recognize that what unites us is greater than what divides us – then we can make fundamental change possible in this country"
than the words I have recently heard from excerpts of speeches from Jeremiah Wright, but according to my pastor, those words aren't typical of Jeremiah Wright, either. I am sure that 20 years in the UCC has had an indelible affect on Obama and shaped him. I am proud of the UCC, don't know Rev. Wright personally but I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that the words I am hearing were taken out of context.

I'm not sure what effect the news coverage of Reverand Wright will have on Obama's campaign, just as I'm not sure what effect the news coverage of Obama's campaign will have on my church. In the long run I am sure we will, all of us, weather the storm.

For comments concerning the news coverage on this subject from the general minister of the UCC, see the UCC web site

Level 2 Snow Emergency

I think it is time to start planting - but it definitely won't be in the garden. We are under a level 2 snow emergency, here are the views from my front and back doors:

They are threatening to turn it into a Level 3, meaning law enforcement wants people to stay off the streets except for emergencies.

The snow is still coming down. Hard to believe that Easter is only a few weeks away, and the peas and potatoes should be planted next week!

Quandary

I'm in a bind. Here it is Tuesday, voting day, and I still don't know who I'm voting for. I have to get serious about doing some research! The candidates' goals are so close, so far the only difference I am seeing is their management style - Hillary seems to be a doer and Obama seems to be a delegater - but that is just an impression.

What are the candidates' positions on the National Animal Identification system (NAIS)? Do they even have a position? A quick Google search doesn't turn up much.

What will they do about the FCC? Do they have a plan or will they just let the current administration remain in place?

Neither of these questions gets much coverage on TV news. The candidates haven't addressed them in commercials. I will have to actually go to their campaign web sites to find out, I guess!

http://hillaryclinton.com/issues/rural/

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/rural/

Both candidates promote greater broadband access for rural areas. Neither page mentions NAIS. Hillary mentions strengthening access to farmer's markets. Obama talks about micro-enterprises.

Farmgirl - Esther Klahn Ritter

My grandma Esther is a farmgirl in the truest sense of the word. She was the child of German immigrants and was born on November 13, 1910. She grew up on Klahn Road near Crestline, Ohio, between Vernon Junction and West Liberty.

Child labor laws were non-existant, but people watched out for their neighbors. She was one of 11 children, and the neighboring farmers, who had recently lost their own child to pneumonia, asked for her to come work at their house. They thought she was a scrawny little thing and wanted to fatten her up. Funny because Grandma is the last living child of that family. It must be true that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

Grandma herself is suffering from pneumonia right now, she is in the hospital. When I was visiting earlier this week, she told me about some of her childhood memories. She remembered that the father of that family where she stayed was a mailman. Later on, she went to live with another family of dairy farmers. She mostly helped in the kitchen and watched their little children while the adults in the family were out milking the cows morning and night.

The German families of that era tried to hide that they were German, it was during the World War I era when the US was at war with Germany. Even though they spoke German at home, it was discouraged to speak in public, and as an adult, Grandma did not remember any of the German they spoke at home. The church they attended was the "German Reformed" church though, and some of the services were given in German. To this day some special holiday services have German versions of the songs sung.

As a child she attended a one-room school up until eighth grade. When she was given a fancy handkerchief by her older sister, she was proud of it. It was so different from the torn sheets or dresses she usually used for a hanky. So proud that her teacher was also aware of it, and afraid she was trying to attract attention to herself, when Grandma had it stretched across her forehead while she was reading. The teacher, who she remembered was also the preacher, strode over to her desk and grabbed her by the neck and sent her to stand in the corner. Unfortunately, the air was dry in the schoolhouse - a consequence of a wood-burning stove of which I am well aware this cold winter. Grandma's nose started bleeding, but as she was being punished for drawing attention to herself, she was afraid to speak up. Finally another student noticed the blood, got the teacher's attention, and oh, my! didn't that teacher feel sorry then! He got some cool, wet, cloths and bathed her head and hose until the bleeding stopped.

During this period Grandma helped her parents and sisters with the 80-acre farm that was worked with horses and with the family business, a sawmill that was powered by a water wheel. They also got frozen fish delivered by the crate from Sandusky and sold the fish to the neighbors. Grandma mentioned that she also sold seeds from the American Seed company to the neighbors to earn some spending money. She broke her arm putting the horses away during a lightning storm when a horse reared up in its stall as the thunder cracked. They had to get the horses out and travel to the doctor's by buggy in the storm in order to splint her arm.

When Grandma was older, she moved in with her older sister in Bucyrus. She worked in a garment factory and her job was to carry fabrics and partially completed garments from one sewing room to the other. Later she worked in a lunchroom, where she met my grandfather. He worked at Gledhill-Keim Lumber in Bucyrus. At a very young age, he had already lost a thumb and a finger to the unguarded saw blades. After their courtship, when he would walk her home through the dark streets of Bucyrus, he asked her to marry him, and she accepted.

They lived in Crestline for most of their married life, and raised four children, two boys and two girls. One story I heard over and over about this time was that Grandpa was tearing down a barn, and my uncle was playing King-of-the-Hill on the pile of boards. Unfortunately he found a nail still in a board. He was afraid to mention it because he didn't want to get in trouble for playing on the boards, but after day or two he was in so much pain he started crying in the night. They took him to the doctor, who diagnosed lockjaw (tetanus). A new treatment was just available at that time, penicillin, and they gave it to him. Luckily he lived to tell the story.

Grandma and Grandpa bought property in the country between Ontario, Galion, and Crestline. My father bought an adjoining parcel and built our house there. Grandma raised her vegetable garden in the country and had a beautiful flower garden in her lot in town. People would drive by just to get a look at her roses. She grew everything from mint to sweet peas to lilies to grapes to impatiens to Christmas cactus to fill in the spaces between the roses. There was a large apple tree at the side of the house. She had the greenest thumb of anyone I know. She taught me at a very early age the difference between weeds and flowers and vegetable plants, and had me out pulling weeds by her side. Even after I grew into an adult and had a house of my own, Grandma couldn't bear visiting without pulling a weed or two by my front sidewalk - shaming me into spending more time in my flower beds.

She always had cookies in her cookie jar when we were children, and she baked breads and cakes. She insists she baked at least one cake a week when she was home, although that's a little hard for me to believe. She did bake cakes for each of her children and grandchildren, and we had a party for everyone's birthday. She made each of us feel special.

Grandma always said "Hard work never killed anyone" and she has been repeating this over and over to me this week when I visit her. I guess it's true because she is still very strong for a 97-year old. I hope I am in as good shape when I am in my seventies!

Seeds are coming!

It's so exciting to go to the mailbox and find seeds! Some are like old friends, Burpee for example, hasn't changed the packaging (or at least not much) for its mail order seeds for years.

I got my first ever order from Seeds of Change, and found that their seed packaging is in plastic! The package clearly has the recycling triangle #1 marked on it. I find this comment on their web site:

"Did you know Seeds of Change is switching out its seed packs to new reusable, recyclable envelopes? This state-of-the-art packaging requires less energy to manufacture, has a longer shelf life, can be resealed to store unplanted seed, reused for other purposes, or recycled as #1 plastic... "

DH received an order from another seed company for 5 pounds of sweet corn seed - he plans to plant a few acres this year. He is not happy. They substituted varieties - he is very particular about the variety of sweet corn he plants. He will be contacting customer service.

Weather Radio

I have been trying to talk to my daughter on the phone, and every time I start talking, the weather radio goes off - warning for high winds, freezing rain, and thunderstorms. In the middle of January in the Midwest! Not our typical weather. I hope they get all the warnings out of the way before I go to sleep tonight! Nothing worse than being waken up by a screaming alarm - I could turn off the weather radio, but then, what's the point of having it?

Puts me in mind of the Robert Frost poem.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know,
His house is in the village though.
He will not see me stopping here,
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer,
To stop without a farmhouse near,
Between the woods and frozen lake,
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake,
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep,
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

I have to go to work early tomorrow to get off early, to take #1 grandson to the eye doctor in Columbus. I really do need to turn in early tonight. But I have "miles to go before I sleep", too.

scarborough fair

Simon and Garfunkel's Scarborough Fair came on the radio yesterday... I realized there were a few lyrics I have NEVER been able to understand.

Duh. No reason to delay any longer - Magic of the internet and all that....

Are you goin to scarborough fair? parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Remember me to one who lives there, she once was a true love of mine

Tell her to make me a cambric shirt, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Without no seams nor needlework, then shell be a true love of mine

Tell her to find me an acre of land, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Between the salt water and the sea strand, then shell be a true love of mine

Tell her to reap it in a sickle of leather, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
And to gather it all in a bunch of heather, then shell be a true love of mine

Are you goin to scarborough fair? parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Remember me to one who lives there, she once was a true love of mine

I planted parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme last year - I had NO LUCK getting the rosemary to sprout. I've ordered three different kinds of rosemary seeds this year. I'll look up germination instructions on the magical internet, too.

My indoor basil plant is suffering from something, maybe spider mites? It has little puffy white things on the leaves. Once again, the internet to the rescue?

"tagged, I'm it"

My blog has been tagged by Willow Tree Creek, one of the gals who post regularly on Mary Jane's Farmgirl connection.

The rules of the game are this:Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you.Post the rules on your blog.Post 7 random or weird facts about yourself on your blog.Tag 7 people and link to them.Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.

7 Weird/Random Things About ME!


1. I'm a girly-girl, love sewing, knitting, embroidery and cooking, but also a tomboy, like technical stuff like computers and cameras and radio, and the outdoors.

2. I have an amateur radio license but haven't used it recently.

3. I drive an 2002 Aztek, and I love it, never thought it was ugly, just a very practical, economical and comfortable vehicle. Who decides whether cars are ugly or "sweet"? And why do they get to be the ones who decide?

4. I'm a Protestant but attend Mass every other Sunday with my husband, who is Catholic

5. Politcally, I'm a liberal libertarian - and a registered Democrat

6. I'm an organic gardener. No compromises there.

7. I want to lose weight but love food and hate to exercise...



So there you go! I am tagging these farmgirls, whose blogs I haven't visited before:

amyartgirl http://www.farmgirltales.blogspot.com/

cherry pie http://www.nostalgichomemaking.blogspot.com/

georgiaberry mobley http://www.sunshinefordinner.com/

Kansas Girl www.kansasalpacacompany.com/

Kim www.thistledewmercantileblog.wordpress.com/

miraclewelsh http://www.foxhillphoto.blogspot.com/

Stoverlane http://www.stoverlane.blogspot.com/

So there you have it! Pass it on!

Seed company mergers

Since I had my "identity theft" incident a few years ago, I am scrupulous about watching my credit report and credit card statements.

Yesterday, after placing my seed orders, I was surprised to see that Jung Seeds had FOUR entries on my credit card statement! I only placed one order with them, so I called the company to make sure the nightmare wasn't happening again.

As it turns out, Totally Tomatoes, RH Shumway, and Vermont Bean and all "sister companies" (or acquisitions?) of the Jung Seed company. I've always been happy with the seed I get from Jung, so I'm not upset -- but I wondered why I get four different catalogs from the same company.

The customer service representative I spoke with said that the different catalogs typically appeal to different audiences, Shumway is more of a Southern focus, while Vermont Bean usually has more Northern customers.

Sustainability

I've been reading about sustainability, it started at work with some reading I was doing on energy conservation. One link led to another, and pretty soon I was looking at the Wikipedia article on the "triple bottom line".

One way to remember the triple bottom line elements is the three P's - People, Profit, and Planet - or to spell it out more fully, Social Responsibility, economic sustainability, and environmental sustainability.

Aha! Business in the US is waking up! From the "greening" of the North American Auto Show in Detroit to the new web site for the International Institute for Sustainable development to the Gartner Group declaring that this is the year of "Green IT" to new educational programs like the one at Aquinas College, finally, FINALLY, it seems that environmentalists have the ear of business. Is it because of Al Gore winning the Nobel Peace Prize?

It will be interesting to watch to see how many companies really "get it" and how many just give lip service to sustainability.

Of course, we organic gardeners have "gotten it" for a long time. We deserve a pat on the back. But no time to gloat! We have lots of work to do!

Seeds are ordered

Since yesterday was Martin Luther King Day, and I didn't have to work, I spent a good part of the day perusing seed catalogs, and placing my order. I am trying some new, unusual varieties this year. White tomatoes, purple beans, striped beets, and mini-cucumbers, among others. I ordered a quart of Neem concentrate (it really seems to repel those bean beetles). I can't wait until the freezing weather goes away and we get a good melt.

Unusual weather

We've had quite a warm spell this January. I've been thinking about going out and planting lettuce seeds as temperatures have been in the high 30's, but expect snow again tomorrow.

Among other projects, I've been cleaning out my craft rooms in the basement and the guest bedroom. Not making a lot of progress as I keep finding interesting things that I get wrapped up in.

Today I sorted magazines that were spilled all over the extra guest room. Bought an under-bed storage plastic tub, but found out today it didn't really fit under any of our beds. Bummer.
I went ahead and lifted up the edge of the closest one and put in underneath anyway. Hopefully the guests won't complain!

I also have discovered the International Aztek Fan Club. The wild thing is, the annual rally has been held 20 miles from my home for the last two years (in Loudonville, Ohio) and I never knew anything about it! I love my Aztek, it is a perfect vehicle for transporting crates of whatever to the local farmer's market, or antiques home from an auction, or just getting me back and forth to work with the 4-wheel drive in the snow. I'll probably attend the rally this year if they hold it in Loudonville again.

Holiday baking

I've made six kinds of Christmas cookies so far. The biggest success at work was "Blind Dates" from the Farm Journal Country Cookbook. I'd post a photo but they are all gone!

I also made chocolate macaroons, coconut/cherry drops, Spritz cookies (with Irish creme flavoring) chocolate walnut balls, gingersnaps. I made some peanut brittle. I still need to make the 7-layer cookies, lemon bars, peanut blossoms, and maybe some rock candy. If I get really ambitious I'll make some fudge. I don't think I'll be doing iced cookies this year, I need to cut back a little bit!

One thing I have been doing over the years is recording the recipes that everyone likes and are traditional for our family Christmas in a special "blank" book I keep with my cookbooks. So far I've only put the cookie recipes in, but I really should put in the recipes for turkey and stuffing, green bean casserole, and the corn casseroles. Who knows if my grandkids will want to share my recipes with their wives some day?

I'm working on the menu for Christmas day. We're having my kids, the grandkids, and Ed's brother over. Since Ed and his brother grew up making sauerkraut pieroghies on Christmas day, it's kind of a tradition, and we might do that. Along with the pieroghies we'll have:

pieroghies
ham
corn casserole
green bean casserole
mashed potatoes
cranberry jello salad
deviled eggs
relish tray
pecan pie
apple or cherry pie?
mixed nuts

Pieroghie recipe as I was given it:

2X2 lb bags
Boil the sauerkaurt 30 min, bag only
3 cups plus 6 heaping tablespoons flour
1.25 cup of water
2 tablespoons milk
2 eggs

Onions dice and brown with 1 stick of butter

I think what this means is:

Prepare sauerkraut filling: rinse, drain, and saute 2 bags of sauerkraut (do not use kind in cans or glass jars)

While the sauerkraut is heating, put a stock pot on the stove with water (for boiling the pieroghies later) and turn up the heat, then prepare the dough:
mix 1 1/4 cups of water, 2 tablespoons of milk, and 2 eggs into 3 cups of flour. Add flour by heaping tablespoon (about 6) until dough ball is slightly shiny and stretchy. Roll out 1/2 of dough at a time on pastry cloth (my mother-in-law uses a Tupperware plastic sheet) until it is very thin, should be about 14 x 18 inch rectangle. Cut the dough in squares approximately 3-4" with a floured knife. Put about a teaspoon of sauerkraut into the center of each square, (try not to dampen the edges with the juice as it will make the pieroghie difficult to seal), and fold up the squares diagonally into a triangle. Pinch the edges shut. If they don't seal, use a little plain water to dampen the edge.

When all the pieroghies have been made, carefully lower them into the boiling water. They will float when they are ready. Don't overload the pot with too many at a time, or they will stick together and be a mess.

Prepare the onions: Melt 1 stick of butter (1/4 pound) in a frying pan and slice in a couple of yellow onions in 1/2 inch slices. Brown the onions until they are just past translucent and starting to carmelize.

Remove the pieroghies from boiling water to serving platter. Toss with browned onions. Serve with sour cream.

(Hope I got this right!)

Counting down to Christmas

There are only a few days left and we are busy trying to get those last-minute presents in the mail or FEDEX before the deadline. Also trying to get the baking done. Here's a recipe for no-fail pie crust - easy as pie! for your holiday pleasure:

Easy as Pie Pie crust recipe

1 c. butter (room temperature)
1/2 c. lard (room temperature)
3 c. flour
1 egg
1 t. vinegar
5 T. ice cold water
1 t. salt

Using pastry blender cut shortening, flour and salt together until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal (I don't know what coarse cornmeal looks like but that's what all the rest of the recipes say!!!LOL) Do NOT use food processor as this will result in too much blending. Mix liquids together and add a little at a time. Use a fork to mix but do not overmix, just enough so that crust starts to hold together. Let crust rest while you prepare pie fillings, or give the baby a bottle.or wrap a present.. this lets the liquids disperse into the crust. Roll out just enough dough at one time to fit in the palm of your hands - about the size of a baseball. Roll out on pastry cloth dusted with flour (Don't use plastic sheet, crust will stick) when it is just large enough to cover the bottom and sides of your pie plate (turn the plate over, and cut out an inch or so around the outside) then gently bring the far side of the crust toward you, folding it in half, then in half again. Lift into pie plate and unfold (don't worry if it cracks, you can pinch the broken places together. Roll out the top crust in the same manner, just slightly smaller than the first, fill the pie, then pinch the edges together. Cut slits for steam vents. I like to brush the top with a little milk and sprinkle some granulated sugar on it before baking.... Or sometimes I add a little sugar to the crust, and sometimes I substitute part whole wheat flour or bread flour, whatever I have on hand - it is fun to experiment.

Not a diabetic cake

If anyone ever comes up with a recipe for a diabetic birthday cake, I think it would sell. The only ones that can eat cake, and still enjoy it, knowing what all the sugar does to our bodies, are under 18!

We had a birthday party last night at Chuck E. Cheese's pizza palace for my 4-year-old grandson. He's the one in front. The little one to the left is my other grandson. He was a little overwhelmed by all the noise and confusion. So was I. Everytime the car next to our table went beep-beep-beep, I thought it was my pager and jumped a mile.

Goodbye convenience foods?

I realized yesterday (after stepmom pointed it out) that frozen chicken breasts are very high in sodium due to being injected in a broth/salt solution. This does not work for either my dad or my stepmom. They will need to eat fresh chicken, not packaged frozen chicken breasts. It is a little overwhelming for stepmom because she is not so steady on her feet anymore.

Tonight I went to the grocery and saw that fresh chicken breasts were approximately $2.00 per breast - a package of 5 averaged between $9 and $10, depending on weight.

I elected to purchase two whole chickens for total of about $7.00. I get 4 breasts (small though they be) as well as 4 legs and thighs for another meal or two, plus two whole carcasses for soup and broth making.

Health Foods and diet

I've been learning a lot about dietary guidelines for elderly people in the last week. My stepmom is on a renal (pre-dialysis) diabetic diet, and dad will have to follow a Coumadin-sensitive diabetic diet.

I have always thought that fresh fruits and vegetables were healthy for everyone, but evidently that's not always true.

The list of fruits and vegetables and other foods they have in common that they are both allowed to eat is short.

He needs whole-grains, she needs refined flours. She can't have tomatoes, he can't have lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, mustard greens, turnips, spinach, etc. (going to make it hard to make a salad)

At least they can both eat green beans.

Interruption

I've been away from the blog world for a little while.

A few weeks ago my father started having a lot of back pain and required a lot of extra help, so I didn't have much time to get on the computer and check my email or even update my blogs.

I thought a few hours a week was a lot of time, little did I know. Monday my sister called 911 because my dad wouldn't let my stepmom call, but in my sister's judgement, he needed to go.
Turns out she was right. The paramedics said he almost died in the ambulance. He was transferred from our local hospital to Columbus. We've been at the hospital all week. He had blockages in 3 of his arteries, one 99% blocked. His lungs were filled with fluid. He was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. The doctors inserted three stents, and did another test to see if he needed a defibrillator. It turns out he doesn't need it. (whew!) Yesterday they moved him out of intensive care and into the regular hospital, so I'm stealing a few minutes to get my laptop out of the car and hook up to the hospital's wireless internet connection.

My stepmom is 83 and this has been pretty hard on her. She's diabetic, she didn't want to eat at first at all and we had to coax her to take care of herself. She can't walk more than a few feet at a time, so we've had to have at least two additional family members at the hospital at all times to manage her and her wheelchair and still communicate with the nursing and medical staff - stepmom is also hard of hearing so we have to repeat and explain everything to her. I don't know how smaller families handle a situation like this. I know at times I've been stretched to the breaking point, and I've got support from sisters and brother.

It's all been a blur. Tomorrow morning it will be a week but it feels like we've been here much longer than that. I was planning to have Tuesday and Wednesday off anyway due to the holiday, so I only missed 1/2 day of work, although I'll be off Monday and Tuesday at least until he is released and settled in at home. We ate Thanksgiving dinner in the hospital cafeteria. We all figured we have a lot to be thankful for. The hospital has been just great at providing help for the family members as well as excellent care for my dad.

So, if anyone was expecting something from me or looking for me, that's where I've been. I have 390 emails I just downloaded and haven't had a chance to look at yet, please be patient with me, I will get to them eventually.

Killing frosts

We've had a few killing frosts this week, all the impatiens in the flower bed are dead, and the lettuce in the garden is ruined, although the beets are still alive. Today I will be taking up the last of the mulch blanket out of the garden and putting it away in the garage. I have a few tulip bulbs to plant, have to get them in the ground before it freezes.

There are several stables around here that have signs "Free Horse Manure" - I'd love to get a load of it to put in my compost pile, but don't have a way to haul it except to put it in a big garbage can and load in the back of my Aztek. hmmmmm......

Hayride

There is nothing more delightful than taking an almost four-year-old grandchild on his first hayride, especially when it has a slightly scary stop in the cemetary just after twilight, and lots of kids from 4 to 18 riding along, singing songs, and tossing straw off the side of the wagon. After the first 10 minutes he leaned back, looked at the sky, and said, "This is way fun!"

My thoughts exactly.

Barns falling down

I drove to Columbus today for a dental appointment with a specialist. I went the back roads for about half the trip, and for some reason today I noticed so many of the barns that are falling down along the roadside. Roofs are caved in, rusty, or blown off, paint faded or entirely gone, siding is missing, walls leaning crazily. Some appeared to be empty but others had "stuff" in them.

By comparison I noticed a number of the Amish barns, which were either new contstruction, or well-maintained and painted white with green roofs. You can tell the Amish farms a few different ways - by the buggies parked in front; by the lack of TV antennas or satellite dishes or electrical lines running to the house, or by the typical clothing hung on the wash line.

I also noticed there aren't many new "bank" style barns, many of the newer barns were metal with peaked roof construction, not the old-fashioned gambrel style roof.

It would be an interesting project to photograph the old barns and find out some of their history, if the owners were willing.

While in Columbus I stopped an visited a bit with my sister. Always love to see her and my brother-in-law, and their two beautiful bouncing baby boys!

Farmer's Market

I stopped at the post office in Bellville this morning to send a package, and noticed the farmer's market was still going! There were only about 6 vendors today, but I managed to buy something from everyone except the coffee roasters (I have so much coffee on hand already, or I probably would have.) I got homemade organic whole wheat bread, Amish-made doughnuts, green beans, red and green peppers, sweet corn, and a pumpkin.

The red peppers were quite a bargain - they were 10 for a dollar! They add so much to a meal to just slice even half a pepper into the vegetable, or to use it for seasoning, or even just for color.

The bread lady told me they are planning to be open for two more weeks as long as the weather holds. I am so excited!

Apples

We finally made it to the farm this weekend. 20 acres of apple trees and we harvested less than a bushel.

Most of the Golden Delicious had already dropped off the trees. There were a few Jonathons but they were so small and wormy they weren't worth picking. We totally missed the pears. Most of the ones we did pick were Northern Spies, and they were a little past their prime.

Oh well the deer will eat well this winter.

And a cold rain's gonna fall

It's raining, cold, and the weather matches my mood. I've had an ear infection for several days now and it is quite painful. I went to the doctor today and got some antibiotic drops. I feel like huddling under the covers - "make the world go away". Definitely not a day for going out and planting tulip bulbs, which needs to be done, along with cleaning up the final debris in the garden and pulling up the trellis, stakes and mulch.

On the bright side, the rain should help my fall lettuce crop along. I'm still getting the occasional zucchini and a few lingering tomatoes out of the garden. The deer have been invading and have munched the tops of the asparagus plants. I picked some rhubarb yesterday, and was chastised by DH, who said you can't pick rhubarb after July. Who says? I can if I want to!

Contest Winner

Country in the burbs wins the wallpaper border! All the comments were so relevant, and so right on, that I couldn't pick by the merits of the comment. So I printed the comments, cut up the paper, folded them up, put them in a bowl, and had DH draw one out.

Thanks everyone for participating. My own secret to apple pie? DH says it is the lard in the crust, I say it is the vanilla, cinnamon, butter and nutmeg in the filling. And I have to agree with those who say it is the care and the love with which it is made that makes it go over the top!

Contest: Apple pie border!

We have had a string of several weeks of near-perfect weather here - crisp, warm, sunny, dry days, and cooler evenings. The apples are going to be ripe soon and I am looking forward to a weekend trip to our farm to collect bushels and bushels of apples.

I am feeling generous, and to celebrate the beginning of apple pie season, I am hosting a contest, the prize being two strips of wallpaper border, totalling 10 yards, in Chesapeake pattern FAM24501B. I had originally ordered it for my kitchen but since I have a very "busy" kitchen with 6 spice racks and lots of canisters, we finally elected NOT to put it up. It is still in the original package.

What do you think is the most important ingredient in apple pie? You might identify the variety of apples used, the special way you make the crust, or the proportion of spices, or anything else that makes your pie "special".

I will select from the comments attached to this post to award the winner on September 30.

End of the garden chicken soup

One day a few summers ago, I went outside to tell DH that dinner was ready, and that he should wash the grease and oil off his hands from playing in the garage and come in to dinner. He wasn't there! The neighbor lady's mother-in-law was standing outside, and I started chatting with her. She said "He'll come home when he gets hungry," and sure enough, he did! Since then it has been a standing joke at our house.

Today he's working on another neighbor's truck. I hope he gets hungry soon, as the chicken soup has been cooking in the crock pot and it smells really, really good.

End of the garden chicken soup

1 quart chicken stock
1 chicken breast, cubed
1 onion, diced, or 1/3 cup sliced green onions
1/2 to 1 tomato, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
2 carrots, scraped and chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped fine
1 small red pepper, chopped fine
1/2 zucchini, chopped into small pieces
1/2 tsp garlic granules or 1 clove garlic, smashed
pinch saffron threads (may substitute 1/2 tsp. turmeric)
1 cup cooked noodles (may substitute rice)
Salt and pepper to taste

put all ingredients except cooked noodles in crock pot - on high for 4 hours or low for 6-8 hours. 1/2 hour before serving (if your husband is home, and you know where he is!) add the noodles and stir.

If you have green beans or peas or potatoes, they all make a good addition to this soup.

Serve with homemade bread or sandwiches on sourdough.

Back to School

Tina from Gardengoose.blogspot.com asked the question, "what do you like most about the fall season?" so I answered, fall is a time for new beginnings. The mental picture that symbolizes this for me is the rosy-cheeked little children waiting for the school bus, carrying lunch pails and wearing new hand-knit sweaters, under the green and gold leaves on the trees. Or something like that. Wouldn't you know that by leaving that comment, I jinxed myself? I had to wait for four different school buses to pick up children on my way to work yesterday!

Nothing gold can stay

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
- Robert Frost

For some reason Robert Frost's poem has been echoing through my mind today. A couple of people at work are moving on to more exciting career opportunities, and a few have decided to take the ERO. So my workplace will not be the same, even if I decide to stay. The poem really captures that cosmic truth - nothing ever stays the same, or as some less eloquent souls have put it, "when you stop growing, you die."

If this is such a universal truth, how come people are so resistant to change, and cling to the known and experienced so tightly?

Choices

I've been in a state of confusion for the last few days. My company has offered me (and 12,000 other people) an early retirement offer.

Taking the offer would mean more time to garden, to go to the farmer's market, to knit, to make knitting patterns, to take the Master Gardener's program, to learn more about apple orchards, possibly to raise the Angora goats and rabbits and chickens that have always been lurking back in the back of my mind.....

But it would definitely mean a significantly reduced income. They've offered a lot of choices, from taking payouts of my pension fund immediately, to deferring it until age 65. If I took it immediately, it would probably run out way before my Social Security kicks in, if it ever does.

I really hadn't planned on retiring before age 55 at the earliest. So this has really thrown me a loop. So tantalizing!

Farm Subsidies

I just visited the Environmental Working Group farm subsidy database (linking from the NO NAIS link, below right, and clicking my way through various links). Out of curiosity, I clicked Ohio, to see which farmers got the highest subsidies from 1995-2005. I was a little surprised to see a local farm family high on the list. They received over $4 million in subsidies over the 10-year period.

I pulled up a map to see where their farm is, exactly. That gave me QUITE a shock, as it is just around the corner, less than a mile away, from the farm where my grandmother grew up.

For all I know they are currently farming that acreage!

...and his lovely wife

I've been reading Connie Schultz's book about her campaign adventures with her husband, Sherrod Brown. I felt a kinship with Connie. Like her, I was a divorced single mother for many years, who remarried in her mid-forties to the love of her life. I'm a member of the United Church of Christ. She's close to my age. She's a feminist who believes that women ought to have choices, even a choice to stay at home. So am I. I'm a Democrat, and I voted for Senator Brown. We're both Ohioans.

There are a few differences between us, though. I will never be a Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist. I will never be a politician's wife, although I sympathize with the anonymity she discovered once they hit the campaign trail.

I found her book very enlightening, entertaining, and touching. Stories about her mother and father and how they shaped her life were sprinkled throughout the book, and she talked about the values they helped develop and that she shares with Senator Brown.

I took exception to one paragraph in the book, though. She was discussing her childhood in Ashtabula, Ohio. She said "Small towns seem to grow two kinds of kids: those who can't imagine leaving, and those who can't imagine staying. I was the latter...It was the land of limitations to me, the place where the big dreams of childhood were crushed under the weight of grow-up life. As in most small towns, many of the kids in my high school were afraid to leave. I was afraid not to. "

Ms. Shultz missed a third kind of kid - kids like me. Kids like Dorothy Gale, who dreamed of travelling over the rainbow, and actually did it. They went to Oz, had a lot of adventures, and made new friends along the way. The whole time though, they knew: There's no place like home. That's what happened to me - I've lived in Manhattan, I've lived in Spain, I've lived in Detroit. I was successful in those places, and made lots of friends. One thing I learned, people are pretty much the same all over, and it's the people you meet and the people you seek out that make a big difference in your life. But there's no place like home. Home is where my family is, and home is where my traditions are.

(It might help to sing a few bars now of Buffy St. Marie's I'm gonna be a country girl again...)

I've wandered in the hearts of men looking for the sign
But here I might learn happiness, I might learn peace of mind
The one who taught my lessons was the soft winds through the pine
And I'm gonna be a country girl again

Oh yes I'm gonna be a country girl again
With an old brown dog and a big front porch
And rabbits in a pen
I tell you, all the lights on Broadway
Don't amount to an acre of green,
And I'm gonna be a country girl again


I know people like Ms. Schultz - most of my friends from high school are now all over the globe. They're scattered to Kentucky, Maine, Texas, California, Venezuela, and Japan. I have a close relative in Florida who took off for Puerto Rico while in her twenties and won't come back, even though it might be to her advantage. My own sister has travelled from Texas to California to Detroit to Pennsylvania to New Mexico. At least she's come back to Ohio, albeit it's Columbus.

I also know people like the other ones she described - those who never left home, maybe because of fear. I remember one friend from an even smaller town telling me - "at least you got out. I'll never get out." She was referring to the fact that I had moved 7 miles away! I can't imagine what she thought was trapping her in her small town. Money? The rents aren't all that different. Family? I don't know all the circumstances, but I can't imagine that her family was keeping her from moving to the next town.

I have lamented the "brain drain" out of this part of Ohio for a long time - since I realized my friends weren't coming back. There aren't enough career-enhancing jobs here to keep our best and brightest here. Even now, when we look for potential employees at work, we have to advertise in Cleveland, Columbus, and Toledo and further afield to get candidates. The available qualified people have left town. The ones who are working here are afraid to take big risky career moves, just because of the lack of other opportunities here. We have great quality of life here, and the cost of living is one of the lowest in the US. We have no traffic jams, and we're just a smidge over an hour away from cultural opportunities in Columbus and Cleveland. (I spent an hour and a half commuting every single day when I lived in Manhattan...) So it's mostly the career opportunities.

So, Sherrod, I hope you are working on improving the employment opportunities here in North Central Ohio for our best and brightest kids! I hope you are working on improving the education of those kids so they can succeed here when we do get those jobs back. I know you're working on it - I googled this quote from the American Chronicle:

Even Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said that in his state, which struggles with high unemployment, business owners have told him "they just could not find the engineers or computer scientists they needed to run their business." Of course their answer appears to be: "Just put a Want Ad in the New Delhi Times"and we'll get plenty of response."

Slow rise

My peach leaf starter is not bubbling. I suspected it might not, since both the leaves and the potatoes were "sterilized" by heating before fermentation was to begin.

I went ahead and used the starter in a loaf of bread, but with a cup of the starter, I included commercial yeast. I used a cup of warm water, about 3 cups of flour, about 1 1/2 teaspoons of the yeast, and a teaspoon of salt. I'll probably get the taste, anyway! I started the bread last night. I punched it down this morning, and again when I got home from work. I put it in the pan, and let it rise a final time. Sprayed it with some "shine", sprinkled on some sesame seeds, put it into the oven at 400, for 1/2 hour. I just took it out of the oven. I wish I could somehow share the heavenly peachy aroma with you!

I ordered some books on bread from Barnes and Noble last night. One is supposed to have recipes for homemade starter using peach leaves. It will be interesting to see the difference.

Farm Sustainability Checklist

I found the Vermont Agriculture newsletter Agriview from 2004 while searching for something else. I was about to dismiss it as "not pertinent to Ohio" when I spied this checklist - definitely relevant and still timely:

Farm Sustainability Checklist
(From Scout Proft, Someday Farm, Dorset)

As the year winds down it’s worth another look at the sustainability management list on
this farm; modify it to fit your own situation as you look to next year and beyond.

• set personal goals: family time, something to pass on, commitment to educating others.
• set economic goals: what we can live on, what we can do without, how much we can save.
• develop a variety of products and a plan to generate income throughout the year.
• identify “what ifs?” and plan how to shift gears with little economic loss.
• develop many markets: sell to as many different kinds of people, close to home as possible.
• develop unique products:“our own”, easily grown, dear to our hearts, not part of a fad.
• pace the projects: balance tedious and interesting work, schedule off hours and vacations.
• have realistic outside commitments: to boards, fairs, trade shows, tours, presentations, etc.
• allow quality time: set limits to work so you can be available to your partner and children

The starter is started

I stripped the peach tree of some of its leaves this morning, and made the starter according to the recipe I posted the other day. As advertised, the color of the infusion was not appetizing, but it had the most lovely almond aroma. If my kitchen gets hot and steamy, it might be bubbling in 24 hours...

OK, it has been 24 hours, and I don't see any evidence at all of bubbling or any yeast-like activity. But it was a little cool last night, so I'll give it another six hours.

What? You still can?

After church this morning we stopped at the nursing home to visit my Grandma. Grandma will be 97 this year and she has Alzheimer's. She recently had a bout of pneumonia and gave us a scare, she was moved from nursing home to hospital to another hospital and back to the nursing home. As a result of all the moves and probably due to medication changes, she is quite a bit shaken up. She didn't recognize me this morning, but I think her eyesight is failing too.

I gave her a brief rundown on what I've been doing besides working - and she said "What? You still can?" and shook her head. I reminded her of the times I worked with my mother and her to can tomatoes and pickles and pickled beets and pears and apples and freeze corn, and she smiled. I think she does remember those times too.

She said "You've got to change along with the times, I guess." That's a profound statement, coming from her. She was born before women had the right to vote, and before the automobile was commonplace. It was a huge life change for her to move from her large home and garden into assisted living, and from there to the nursing home. She has accepted each step with grace, never complaining, but only praising the people who take care of her now.

So, why do I can? There's lots of practical reasons, such as knowing that the food I am eating was raised without chemicals and didn't travel far from its origin. I'm not too sure about how environmentally sound the practice of home canning is - while the jars are re-used and don't go to a landfill, heating up the water takes a lot of energy. Since I usually only do one canner-ful at a time, I am guessing that a more production-oriented process would probably be more energy efficient. It does take a lot of time. But on the other hand, when I have food in the pantry, I don't spend my time shopping, or travelling to the store, either. It's very satisfying to see all those full jars lined up on the shelf, knowing that even if we have a snowstorm or a power outage, we're not going to starve. And, designing the labels for the jars gives me a mild ego trip, when I see the pleasing graphics and the quotations I add to every label.

But the real reason I continue to can is probably my mother and my grandmother. When I have that big blue granite-ware kettle on the stove, I am transported back to my mother's kitchen. I realized this after a conversation with DH yesterday - a mutual friend of ours is fixing up his late father's old van. There isn't a real reason to do it - the parts are expensive, it's not a collector car, and his mother isn't driving much any more and has another, newer car anyway. I told DH that our friend must miss his father, and working on the car reminds him of his dad. He said, "Is that why I work on my uncle's old tractor?" And of course it is. He misses his uncle. Same with canning. It reminds me of my mother, and my grandmother, and brings me close to them.

Peach tree leaf sourdough starter

Thanks to Rebecca, who saw my plea to the reference librarian and forwarded the article. I am flummoxed, because all it says was that there would be an argument between those old "sourdough" cowboys who insist that yeast is needed for the starter, and those who would insist that peach tree leaves be used.

I am going to have to find that other cookbook with the instructions for the peach-tree-leaf sourdough. The more I thought about it, the more I remember that it was a library book and not one of my own cookbooks which mentioned it. I think it was a recipe book that concentrated on breads.

Canning tomatoes

I complain "I've got all these tomatoes to can" and DH reminds me "you don't HAVE to do this, you know", "Yes, I do", "No, you really, really don't".

It reminds me of a conversation I had 20 years ago with a former supervisor who had moved here from Detroit. She found our town a little provincial. In an effort to find some friends and make professional acquaintances here, she joined the local Business and Professional Women's Club. She was frustrated. She mentioned to me that all the ladies there did was complain about how now that they were working, they didn't have enough time to get all their canning done. She said, "Oh, my gosh! Buy your canned vegetables at the grocery store!" I told her then that she was missing the point - that I also canned MY vegetables from MY garden! She just shook her head. She didn't get it. She probably still buys her vegetables.

I have been canning for 2 days. I put up 7 quarts of tomatoes, and made 6 quarts of tomato sauce. There are more tomatoes in the garden. Lots more. I have to go pick...

Dear Research Librarian,

I am looking for a copy of a 2-page article that mentions using peach tree leaves as an ingredient in sourdough bread starter. I have one cookbook that also mentions this, which says to use crushed leaves, but found only -1- recipe online, so I am curious. The recipe online says to boil the peach leaves but it seem like that would kill any enzymes or yeasts, so I am very curious as to what this article says.

The Sourdough Biscuit Rose P. WhiteWestern Folklore, Vol. 15, No. 2, New Mexico Number (Apr., 1956), pp. 93-94doi:10.2307/1497483This article consists of 2 page(s).

It is evidently available on line in Jstor, http://www.jstor.org , but this database is not available through OPLIN, at least I couldn't get there.

I looked online at the Western Folklore society web site but didn't see any option for ordering reprints.

Here is a list of participating libraries http://www.jstor.org/about/participants_na.html#Ohio , I see Ashland University is listed, is there any way I could get a copy of this article even though I am not a student there, without having to drive to Ashland?

I am willing to pay for the cost of copying the article, and mailing it, if it cannot be emailed.

Can you help me? Thanks in advance,

Brenda

Not this time

I received a call from the Extension office late last night. Unfortunately, the master gardener's program which is offered in Ashland county this fall is going to be offered during the daytime, on Tuesdays. That is impossible for me.

The agent said that since many of the people who have expressed an interest have also requested an evening class, there may yet be another class scheduled.

Wait and see.

Seasons

Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste teh fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each. – Henry David Thoreau

1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: 2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted - Ecclesiastes 3:1-2

I am afraid the summer is passing away quickly here. It's still hot, but the foods that are ripe in my garden are passing their prime. I have a peach tree. I remember exactly how old it is - my next-door neighbor found it sprouted in her compost pile the year I got married. She gave it to me as a housewarming gift for our new home. I planted it in a pot, and finally put it in the ground. It is now about 15 or 20 feet tall, five years later, and if not for the late frost last spring, now might be the exact season for the peaches. The year before, I had 5 blossoms, which turned into one fruit, which fell off the tree when it was about an inch in diameter - DH says it was a casualty of the June drop. This year, nothing! Not a blossom. I am hoping for peaches next year.

Waiting for the season to arrive, expectation of that first peach, the first tomato, the first melon, the first pea, the first leaf of lettuce - anticipation adds to the pleasure of the taste, and to the pride in the harvest. And when the season passes, there is a kind of sadness; that specific taste will be gone until next year, when the cycle begins again.

Peach Leaf Sourdough Starter:

1 quart fresh peach leaves, unpacked

3 cups water

3 baked potatoes, medium size

1/2 cup yellow corn meal

3 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons salt

Bring water to rolling boil and steep peach leaves in it for 15 minutes. Drain liquid and add enough water to make 3 full cups again. This will have a rather unappetizing green color but don't worry! It will disappear during the fermentation process. Peel hot baked potatoes and put through food mill or sieve. Scald 1/2 cup corn meal in 1 cup of the liquid until it reaches boiling point and thickens. Stir constantly so that it will not become lumpy. Now combine all ingredients in large mixing bowl (do not use metal or plastic). Cover with cheesecloth and set in warm place (about 30 to 85 degrees F.) until well fermented. In warm humid weather this will take about 24 hours. In cool dry weather a few more hours may be required for mixture to become active throughout. Stir every few hours during the process. When it is ready, pour into a large glass jar (2-quart glass pickle jar with porcelain-lined zinc lid will do). Store in refrigerator at about 38 degrees. If necessary stir down a time or two until it stops foaming. It is ready for use when about 1/2 inch of clear liquid has risen to the top. This will take about 2 days. Stir well each time before using. When this starter has been used down to about 1 cupful, add 3 cups water, 3 medium-size baked potatoes, 1/2 cup corn meal scalded in 1 cup of the water, 3 tablespoons sugar and 2 teaspoons salt prepared as for the first time (peach leaves are not needed after the first time). Set in warm place until it becomes very active in about 6 to 8 hours. Store in refrigerator and it will be ready for use the next day. A properly renewed starter improves with age and, once one becomes accustomed to taking care of it, it all becomes automatic. When, for some reason, it cannot be used about twice a week stir it thoroughly every few days and add 1 teaspoon sugar. Each time it is renewed, empty the jar, wash and scald jar and lid before filling with the new mixture. - Recipe by Olga Drozd on recipelink.com

Letting go

We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us." -Joseph Campbell

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen...By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. - Hebrews 11:1,8

People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar” --Thich Nhat Hanh.

I don't want to pull plants out of my garden. After all the time and effort I have invested in these plants, I hope that they will still produce more, even though there is evidence to the contrary. My cucumbers are stricken with some kind of disease, and many of the tomato plants have totally lost their leaves. The corn is overripe.

There really isn't going to be any benefit in keeping these plants in the garden, and in fact, getting rid of them might help next year's garden by reducing infection with viral disease. If I pull them, I could possibly still plant and harvest peas, radishes, lettuce, and maybe spinach before winter in the space that's left.

hmmm. I wonder if this is a metaphor for other things in life that I hold on to? Resentments, fears, habits, routines?

Master Gardener Program

I'm looking into the master gardener program. This is a program that combines training and volunteering to create "expert" resources in the community to assist with public gardening education. I'll post more information when I receive the application package.

Farmer's Market Day

Yesterday I went to three different farmer's markets. I got to our small, local Bellville market just before closing time and I was lucky enough to catch Joan of Meadow Rise Farms just as she was packing up. She gave me a bagful of organic peppers for only $5. Unfortunately I was too late to catch the bread lady, who grinds her own flour and makes wonderful bread, she had sold her last loaf at 10:00. I also had a fried pie from an Amish girl, and bought a bag of buckwheat pancake mix.

I am really feeling like a failure since I haven't even taken one day this summer to load up my little Aztek with produce to sell at this market, but I'm in a quandary. Too much produce for my own use, not quite enough to make it worth the extra effort of going to market.

The second market I attended yesterday was a little farther away, the festival at Mohican Gardens that I mentioned a few days ago. It took me a while to get there on the highway, especially since I took the wrong exit at first, but the return trip was a little shorter as I took the back roads. There was a wonderful demonstration on herbs while I was there, I talked to a summer intern from the Ohio Proud program (he said to watch for a totally revamped program and website in November.) I also bought a carful of mums for planting around my patio. There were a few farm market stalls and I bought a loaf of bread. I picked up flyers for Turk Brothers custom meats in Ashland.

The third market wasn't intentional at all, but since I was driving by I had to stop. It was the Malabar farms produce stand. There was a great article in Ohio magazine about the farm produce stand and restaurant on Pleasant Valley Road. I bought three luscious, shiny eggplants. I will have to see how I will sneak them into DH's dinner..

Less is more

Perfection is reached not when there is nothing left to add, but when nothing more can be taken away.” -- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

When I made my French bread entry for the county fair this year, I learned something. I made it with flour, yeast, water, salt, and a very little amount of honey.

No milk, no eggs, no shortening, no oil, no "bread dough enhancer", or gluten. No seeds or flakes or herbs or spices. Just plain flour, water, yeast, salt, and a tiny bit of honey. That is all.

It tasted great. It won first prize, a blue ribbon.

This morning I got out a loaf I made a week ago, following this philosophy, and it was not spoiled or moldy as I half expected it to be. It was fine. A little on the dry side, but that was OK because I was making toast anyway.

Is this an epiphany or a revelation?

No flood damage

Thanks to all those who have called and sent emails expressing concern over the flash flooding here. We were very lucky not to suffer any damage, although the surrounding communities will be cleaning up for weeks/months/years to come. There are picture galleries on the Mansfield News Journal web site of the damage, and you can look for related articles if you would like to help some of the people who did suffer damage in the storm and floods.

A gift from my sister

I mentioned to my father last night that I had gone to TSC in search of canning jars and baskets, and struck out in both cases. He asked why I didn't use the baskets my sister got for me? And I had to reply, "what baskets?" Evidently when the grocery store where she worked closed, my thoughtful sister asked for permission to take these lovely half-bushel baskets home instead of throwing them in the dumpster. Dad has been storing them in his barn for a few years. He said "I told your husband." Now, DH does not like clutter, so I am sure he just "forgot" to mention it to me. But see what good use I have put these baskets to! These tomatoes are the Quali-T 23 variety from Territorial. They are nearly perfect, except where the hornworms took a few bites. I still have several more to pick on the Mortgage lifter and Bloody Butcher varieties, but ran out of time and energy tonight.

The sweet corn in my garden is mostly past its prime. I will have to pick it tomorrow and freeze for soups and chowders this winter. Next year, I will have to revert back to the Burpee Super-sweet varieties that did so well last year. The old Golden Bantam variety just doesn't last very long once it is ripe. We probably had a window of only a few days when it was at its peak, and we can't eat that much corn that fast.

Tonight I picked all the zucchini, since I pulled out half my plants it is retaliating by refusing to grow.

I picked all the cucumbers I could find in the garden except for the ones that were an inch long. I am not sure if the heavy rains here affected the cukes, or if it was the hot, humid weather, but suddenly, all the vines shrivelled up and turned brown and the leaves have a yellow patching - is it cucumber mosaic? I will look it up.

Festival schedule

Since Julia said they would welcome all publicity, I have taken the liberty of copying the text from the email she sent me to give you the information about the festival: Granted, it is the next county over from here, but it is only 20 minutes away!


She also mentioned that due to the floods, rains, tornadoes, and general high water here, there is significant mud at Arbor Hill Heirloom Organics, so therefore no parking available. Activities scheduled there will take place at the Mohican Gardens farm.

Troutman Vineyards
Deanna and Andy Troutman opened the winery at Troutman Vineyards in June, 2001. The property was owned for many years by Russell Stauffer, who raised chickens and sold produce in a roadside stand located near the house. Andy and Deanna moved to the property in the fall of 1997 with plans to start a small, high-quality winery. Deanna, a marketing executive, and Andy, vineyard manager at Wolf Creek Vineyards, began planting vineyards in Wayne County in the spring of 1998. Tours of the vineyards and winery will be available both days. If you have questions on growing grapes or making wine, Andy and their staff will be on hand to answer questions. There’s also a petting zoo for the kids. Visit with the goats and chickens. Enjoy their beautiful farm setting and a taste of one of Ohio’s resurging farm enterprises; Ohio Wines.

Arbor Hill Heirloom Organics ( Saturday Only)
Visit the farm of Scott Savage and family. At this farm you will have an opportunity to learn about vegetable crop production and the specialty of this operation, fingerling potatoes. The Savage family produces and market gourmet potatoes through farm markets locations in the Columbus Area. Ohio Ecological Food & Farm Assoc. representatives will be on hand to discuss Certified Organic Crop Production. Scott Savage will be available to share his experience and recommendations on growing for Farmers Markets.

Tea Hill Organic Farm
This family farm operation is engaged in the production, processing and marketing of free range poultry and other organics farm products. The farm business includes operation of ODA inspected, custom slaughter poultry processing facility . Workshops and tours of their Free Range Poultry operation and Poultry Processing Facility will be held both days. Tea Hill Organics is open April through November, and its products are available from the farm, at North Union Farmers Markets in Montose and Cleveland, Ohio.

Mohican Gardens More than a place to purchase plants, our goal at Mohican Gardens is to enhance your enjoyment of gardening by providing quality plant materials, practical advise for your gardening projects, and an opportunity for you to build an appreciation for the beauty of nature. Beautiful designs and gardening ideas abound from the conservatory and many display gardens. Themes include water gardens, herb gardens, shade gardens, cutting and fragrance gardens.

Activities at Mohican Gardens will include: Kids Cane Pole Fishing Grab a pole and we’ll meet you at the pond. Kid’s Cane Pole Fishing Derby. Cane poles and adult supervision provided. Saturday 10:00 – 12:00 and Sunday 4:00 – 6:00

Getting the Good Bugs Saturday, 11:00 : Ron Becker OSU Extension Learn about “IPM” Integrated Pest Management Effective management of pest in your garden or vegetable crops through monitor crop conditions and pest activity to minimize the use of chemical application.

Cook It Up Fresh and Local Saturday,12:00 : Julie Ann Spreng Cooking with Herbs, Ready for some aroma therapy! Cooking with herbs, it smells and tastes so good!

Greenfield Farms Cooperative Saturday, visit their display and check out the produce! At 2:00 learn about this local farm cooperative’s involvement in organic food production, how the cooperative operates and where to find their products.

Perennial Garden Designs by Lorie Ambrose, Walk through the Perennial Gardens Saturday 3:00 – 4:00

Cook it Up Fresh & Local Cory Barrett, Executive Chef with Lola Bistro in Cleveland, Ohio will provide a cooking demonstration. Great ideas for that “fresh” summer cuisine. Sunday 1:00

Forestry Management by Jeff Wilkinson, Forestry Consultant, Jeff will provide insight on Best Forestry Management Practices. Sunday 2:00

Herb Gardens by Lorie Ambrose, Learn about growing and preserving Herbs Sunday 3:00

Country Line and Square Dance! Grab your partner and kick up your heels or just sit back and enjoy the fun! Saturday evening 6:30 – 8:30

Through out the day: Saturday Farmers Market Fresh Produce, Herbs, Floral Baskets, Mums and Baked Goods, 10:00 – 3:00

OSU Master Gardening Program by Ashland County Extension Master Gardeners. The Master Gardeners will be on hand during the day to answer gardening questions and provide information on the Master Gardening Program. (Saturday)

Maplewood Farms, Tom Baumbrger will be demonstrating his portable band sawmill. Tom will be available to answer questions on various types of wood, their uses and forestry questions. (Saturday and Sunday)

Aqua Doc, Pond Management Have questions on controlling pond vegetation, proper aeration and other management problems? Visit with John Wilson for information on pond management and their management services. (Saturday and Sunday)

Those Great Old Barns Ashland Co. Barns and Rural Heritage Society Barn Display of Mohican Township Barns. (Saturday and Sunday)

Ashland County Organic Festival

I turned on the radio at work this morning to listen for weather reports, and couldn't believe my ears. My first reaction was that I had stayed up too late last night blogging, and my subconscious mind was now taking over my conscious mind. But I turned up the volume, and listened --

2nd Annual Mohican Valley Farm Festival - Free workshops and tours for those who just want a taste of country life or are interested in starting farm production. August 25 and 26.

The participating/sponsoring vendors are Arbor Hill Heirloom Organics, Mohican Gardens, Troutman Vineyards, and Tea Hill Organic Farm.

They are having cooking demonstrations "Cook It Up, Fresh and Local", gardening workshops, a vineyard tour, and a number of other workshops and demonstrations..

Split tomatoes

The problem with using the camera in my cell phone to send to the blog is as you see here - you can never see the quality of the photo until it's online.... and everyone else sees it too! Anyway, here are some of my cracked tomatoes.

Too much rain

I drove through a tornado yesterday on the way back from Parma from a meeting. A monsoon on the way there, and a tornado on the way back. Overnight, it must have rained all night, because when I got up this morning there was a river running through my back yard. My next-door neighbor's lawn became a lake.

According to the local paper Mansfield News Journal, there might have been a tornado about a mile from my house, and several roofs were damaged in the immediate area.

Just went out and checked, and all my lovely salad tomatoes have cracks in them from too much rain. I'll have to process them SOON or they will go bad. Like, tonight?

Aiden on the farm

We are starting them young! Aiden loves the tractor. My oldest grandson, almost 4 years old. He thought it was hilarious that we don't have any animals on the farm. He kept saying "You have 4 cows." I said, no. He said "You have 3 cows" I said no, zero cows. "Two cows." "Zero cows." "One cow." "Zero cows." "HEEEEE HEEE HEEEE HEEE." When we arrived and opened the barn, he looked in, and said "Where are the cows?"

This way to the elderberries!

Aiden spent the weekend with us on the farm. He is proudly pointing to the elderberries he helped pick. Funny, the elderberries that are growing in the shade are ripe, and the ones in the sun are still green. Anyway, Grandma got tired of cleaning elderberries before she had enough for a pie, even though Aiden was helping. She mixed in a pint of frozen black raspberries to finish the pie.

Aiden was eagerly anticipating the pie, but when he tasted it, he didn't like it.

Former farmhand William remarked that I should save the elderberries to make elderberry wine, he thinks it makes very good wine.

Love and Bees

"I hadn't been out to the hives before, so to start off she gave me a lesson in what she called "bee yard etiquette". She reminded me that the world was really one big bee yard, and the same rules worked fine in both places: Don't be afraid, as no life-loving bee wants to sting you. Still, don't be an idiot; wear long sleeves and long pants. Don't swat. Don't even think about swatting. If you feel angry, whistle. Anger agitates, while whistling melts a bee's temper. Act like you know what you're doing, even if you don't. Above all, send the bees love. Every little thing wants to be loved."
- Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees

I read this book several years ago, and this paragraph really stuck with me. I was pondering it today while at work, walking through an area fill with people who are relative strangers to me. Does it seem that some people are defensive, and they swat, or strike out, as soon as they see you? And I think I need to learn to whistle.

Good Neighbors

We have a very good neighbor. He goes fishing at Lake Erie as often as he can get away during the summer and brings home the limit of walleye. I'm grilling some of the filets tonight - the recipe I'm using couldn't be simpler. Place the walleye filets in a glass or ceramic container. Skewer zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes, and onions and place them over the top of the ceramic container. Sprinkle about 1 tsp of Old Bay seasoning over the veggie skewers, and then squeeze one lemon and souse them all. Put the vegetables on the grill first, as they will take about 30-35 minutes, and brush with a little olive oil and another sprinkle of Old Bay. Let the fish marinate for about 20 minutes, then grill 10 minutes on each side. (Our grill thermometer says the temp is about 350 to 375 when we grill.) Baste with remaining marinade after turning. Plate and serve with yellow rice or sweet corn fresh from the garden!

We froze these fillets last Saturday as I knew that DH would not be home. I thawed them under cool running water. My neighbor's wife says to be sure, when freezing them, to fill the bag or freezer container with water to keep the filets from freezer burn.