Our little garden beds have been overflowing with kale for months now. It is pretty much no credit to myself. I have done nothing special or secret, but have simply planted my tiny little heirloom seeds in soil and watched them GROW!
I have preserved a bunch of kale by blanching, chopping and freezing it. This has been so simple and I know I'll thank myself this fall and winter when I'm dreaming about dinner plans and craving our favorite sausage, kale and potato soup (yes, with lots of cream and spices too!).
But today I took a different approach to putting by our kale... kale chips.
I used this recipe, but there are dozens out there, and it all came together so very easily.
Kale, coconut oil, sea salt and a hot oven. Pretty basic and I even got to use my hands to mix it all together (a true mark of a tasty meal!).
From the garden.
To the mixing bowl.
Drizzled with coconut oil. Sprinkled with sea salt.
To the baking sheet (I filled three large baking sheets this morning... for now!).
August. Typically sweltering and steamy. The last bit of summer enjoyed. Beach days. Lots of cold desserts.
At least at this point, August has come in quite mildly and unseasonably cool. Last night, after sitting at the ball field for a few hours, my skin felt cool to the touch and I was wishing I had tucked a sweater into my bag.
Today. Baking banana bread for dear friends who just brought a new baby home. Listening to the sounds of four (my three boys, plus a friend) contentedly playing Legos in the cellar. Sneaking out to the garage to work on a (secret) project in small bursts when I find a few minutes to step away. Hearing the laundry spin, spin, spin- the constant whirring of laundry is familiar background noise in this home.
Also thinking about sacred days. A name day for Elias tomorrow. A twelfth birthday for Sophia next week. Planning and plotting small secrets and sweets.
Our garden has been generous with its radishes, lettuce, kale and basil and somewhat stingy (as history has shown in our garden) with its carrots and peppers. Looking at the gorgeous tomatoes emerging and growing brings me joy though. Heirloom pinks, red and purples. I can hardly wait.
In the meantime, I've been looking at these photos for days, planning to post them. They can simply be summed up by saying garden 'squirting' before bedtime!!
My older pair are at a point where they are baking independently now. It is an excellent state to be in. When they get the idea and inspiration to bake something- whether to satisfy their own sweet tooth, or to produce something gift-worthy- they set to work, recipe in one hand and will in the other.
Today they baked up a superb Irish Soda Bread. It was tasty and perfect. Butter and jam were both coveted options for spreading on this warm slice of golden perfection.
We had baked several loafs a few weeks ago during our celebration of Saint Brigid. We also churned butter, wove crosses made of rushes and read a bit about the life of this saint from Kildaire, Ireland. It was a simple day for our family that spoke both to the oldest and the youngest children, each in their own way.
As the years go by, and my life experience adds up... along with a few simple homesteading skills, my list of items that are considered liquid gold continues to expand!
Tonight I will add beef stock to my already crowded list of breastmilk, maple syrup, coconut oil, cod liver oil and red wine.
After nearly two days of simmering, tonight I added four quarts of rich, velvety homemade beef stock to my freezer to use in the future for soups and stews. It felt a bit odd to be thinking about stock on a steamy August afternoon, but I knew that my efforts would not be in vain.
It seems that every so often I am encouraged to revisit our nutrition philosophies and recommit to looking at the big picture when it comes to feeding our family. Pondering the never-ending surplus of sugar and flour at literally every turn. Feeling guilt-ridden about the over-indulgence of desserts had by my children this summer. Thinking about nourishing meals that do not require ceaseless snacking in between.
These realizations have been the catalyst needed to stay the course and get back in to the rhythm of making good, deliberate choices about what, where and how we are eating together as a family. Being sure to tend my garden even when I don't feel like getting out in the heat, lining up my children once again for that spoonful of cod liver oil, saying no to the endless requests for sweets and treats even if it is met with tears and sulking!
What is going on in your kitchen these days? What do you consider to be liquid gold!?
Still waiting to take some spring photos around these parts. Aside from an 'April Fool's Day' snowstorm we have the beginning signs of milder weather just starting to appear. A lawn of crocuses at my Nana's. Robins aplenty in our yard. Some vibrant green grass that I passed today in the center of town. And plenty of rain (that will hopefully bring those 'May flowers' following closely behind).
Just as one must be writing on a regular basis to classify themselves as a writer, so it also goes with reading. In my head I am an avid reader, when in reality much like many other things in life, my reading spells come and go in spurts.
Well I am currently in midst of a pretty heavy spell and am juggling three books currently. For some reason it is always three books at once for me.
So you can see where my mind is at these days. Again, pondering homeschooling and homesteading... my blog title has really captured the essence of the pursuits of my mind, body and soul once again!
What are you reading these days? Are you pondering a new domestic pursuit?
One of the best things about starting your own family are the old traditions that get the chance to be carried on and the new traditions that get to be started for the first time.
For our family, one of those new traditions is cutting down our own Christmas tree.
This splendid day just happen to coincide with our first snowfall of the season. And although it was just a dusting of snow, the ground was white and the world looked a bit softer and quieter when we woke up that morning.
I have to admit that one of my favorite parts of the entire experience is the part where we walk and walk in search of that perfect tree. At times it feels like aimless wandering, but in the end all five of us end up agreeing on the same tree.
This year we decided to make our own eggnog. It was a simple recipe that required nothing but patience on the part of both the children and Mike. After four hours of cooking and cooling we were able to sip on some of the tastiest and spiciest eggnog that I have ever tasted. Somehow, nutmeg just makes everything taste better.
Somehow I think that the eggnog tradition will continue to be carried on for years to come also.
We are currently enjoying the flowers we planted from seed back in the spring. Sophia had the idea to plant a flower garden. I was so fixated on vegetables, herbs and edibles- the practical and useful side of life- that I forgot about the beauty that could be experienced as well.
She chose to plant zinnia, forget-me-nots, amaranthus, four o'clocks and morning glory, all of the vintage heirloom variety.
They are all in full bloom. We have a beautiful, wild, garden filled with colorful flowers now. She even cut a handful of flowers to give as a gift to her ballet teacher yesterday.
It has been so satisfying to watch her see her idea through to it's completion: seed to flower to gift.
For those of you not living in New England, I'm sure you've heard by now that the weather has been a bit unseasonable around here for the last month or so. It's like a dark cloud of gloom filled with booming thunder and chilly rain has settled above us and get its kicks by floating right over our neighborhood, town and state right at about the time when our children are getting their sandals on to go play outside. The meaning of the phrase raining on your parade has been deeply understood around here lately.
It's been a bit dissapointing to realize that June, my all-time favorite month of the year, was literally and figuratively a wash this year. Even Nicolas, our newly-turned six year old, has expressed his thoughts on this bizarre stretch of cloudy, wet weather recently:
Nicolas: "Mom, why has it been raining so much lately?" All-Wise Mother (Me): "I don't know Nicolas, that's just the what we've been sent these days." Nicolas: "What? Does God think I'm a vampire or something (a statement made in regards to the dark, gloomy weather)!!
But I have moved on and am loving this new phase of sun and warmth that we have been given. It feels so good to have my face in the sun. So in honor of the sun's return, I wanted to post a little garden update. I think that our humble little raised beds have fared rather well despite the lack of sun and the overabundance of rain. Here is a little before-and-after look:
before: seeds planted, vegetables being mapped out and lots of fingers getting crossed
after: lots of green, healthy plants and an overwhelming sigh of relief
side note: so much more lettuce and baby greens than we ever expected which translates into daily salads and lots of lettuce for stuffing into summer sandwiches!
I'm happy with our little garden and so proud of all of the hard work and patience that went into our little edible backyard project. The fruit of our labor has been very tasty and satisfying.
So maybe not everyone would be as excited as I am to say that I have made my own deodorant. It's been on my mind for months now every since I read this post over at Angry Chicken. I knew that I just had to try my hand at melting shea and cocoa butters and mixing in some amazing essential oils to create my very own, aluminum-free, perfume-free underarm cream.
I took Amy's advice and held a I'm Not a Dirty Hippie Party and split the supplies with a friend. It has to be a good friend. You can't just invite anyone over to make jars of cream that you know full well will be used on your underarms. Plus, since the jars apparently last for months, you will be smelling exactly like your friend well into the Fall.
We had a lovely afternoon mixing and measuring while our five children ran around enjoying the cool breeze of yet another cloudy June day. The process was simple and involved lots of melting, stirring and sniffing (a highly scientific process that is used to gauge the perfect ratio of essential oils to butters). In the end, it was a perfect mixture of grapefruit, lavender and peppermint that gave our deodorant it's signature quality (this is my favorite blend of essential oils and I have been using it since last year to make my own room spray).
Today was day one of using my homemade deodorant and so far, so good. I will be sure to keep you all posted as to how it is holding up in a few weeks. That is for those of you who care enough to read about my thrilling experience with my homemade deodorant.
Every since I can remember I have always had a secret longing for living the simple life. A life that is pretty well self-sustaining, home-centered and focused on the ideals and values that are really important to me and my family. A simple life lived together as a family without being cluttered by dependency on unnecessary things and filling the void with busyness.
Over the last few years we have spent many days and nights dreaming of a homestead life- turning our little home and yard into a mini farm where we could depend upon ourselves, our little plot of land and lots of hard work for some of the basics that a family of five needs to survive.
This is a process. And we are no where close to fulfilling our dream. And although we cannot allow chickens to roam free in our backyard, own a cow or sheep or plant an orchard of fruit trees, we have found a few attainable projects that we have been able to complete for now.
Our woodpile is also looking pretty plentiful. Neatly stacked and making me feel content.
There is still quite a bit to be cut and stacked!
We are starting small. And although in reality we are limited in what we can do with our small space, there are so, so many changes that can be made. And the good news is that although we are not zoned for raising chickens, we will always have plenty of children free-ranging in and around our home each and every day.
It is Earth Day today. And our family celebrated the day by getting dirty.
My darling husband took the initiative to construct the beginnings of a very modest raised-bed, square-foot garden. What we are unable to grow out back, we will be heading to the farmer's markets for (this, like tag-saling, is one of my most-favorite Saturday morning trips to make).
If eating dirt counts as both recycling and reusing, then Elias is the ultimate environmentalist. He ate his fair share of dirt both at home and at the park this afternoon.
I first remember hearing about Earth Day during my freshman year of college at the University of New Hampshire. My first experience observing this day consisted mostly of sitting in a grassy field with my friends, listening to various advocates speak about the dangers facing the environment, recycling and how we each should to our part to "save the earth".
There was a huge disconnect back then between all that Earth Day was meant to motivate people towards and what I felt my part in taking "care of the earth" was. Until college, I don't even think I recycled or for that matter, thought about being a good steward of God's good earth.
So, fast forward more than a decade and here I am- a wife, a mother of three children, a homeschooler, a lover of nature/the ocean/human body, a beginner at bird watching, a nutritionist and birth doula, a woman drawn to sewing, nurturing and preparing my family's meals from fresh and healthful foods, and an amazing (after ten years!) recycler.
This woman is surely a different person than the girl sitting in the field feeling clueless.
Whether or not you are someone who strongly believes in or conversely, one who debates, the issues of global warming and environmentalism and "going green", one thing is certain... we are to be good stewards of what we have been given.
Whether it be our bodies, our children or our small patch of backyard land (surrounded by dozens of other small patches of land), we are to do our best to care for and work at maintaining (if not improving) the quality of what we have been entrusted with.
My March/April issue of The New Harvest Homestead newsletter focused on what "going green" looks like for the homesteading family. Author, Lisa Vitello, says
"homestead women have always been green"
Being eco-friendly is not the novel idea that many people think it is
My Nana was born in 1920 and had to leave school in eighth grade to work in a dress shop in order to help supplement her family's income.
Evidence of her survival during the Great Depression is evident to this day.Nana doesn't call it "recycling". She simply instinctively reuses and saves mostly everything...
an old ricotta cheese container makes a perfect crayon bin for the children's visits. That velcro strip that holds her head of romaine together in the market makes a darling little tieback for her curtains. And although she is currently reusing that yellow styrofoam tray that her chicken thighs were packaged in for a new purpose that I'd rather not mention on the blog (let's just say that she is probably immune to E.Coli at this point in her life) she is still finding a way to reuse and cutdown on her trash output!!!!
This is a foreign concept to our throw-away generation. I am the first to admit that I do not have that same sense that Nana has to do whatever it takes to salvage, save, trim the budget and make new again, but I am learning.
Having children has spurred me on towards a desire to be a better caretaker of my possessions and resources. I just think of the world that their children will be growing up in and feel a tug at my conscience to do what it takes to live a more frugal, waste-less and able-to-do-without life.
I recently entered a blog poll about the most practical way that my family was "going green". I write a quick blurb about our water consumption. This is what I submitted...
All three children share a bath or at least the bathwater (just like in Little House on the Prairie).
We adults take QUICK showers to save on water- I like to pretend that I am showering in an outdoor beach house-type shower with cold running water (what in incentive to hurry things along!).
An advocate, I am not. An extremist, out of the question. For me, it's a matter of ethics and faith and my responsibility to the Creator of the universe. Afterall, we will have to give an account someday of every aspect of our life lived her on earth.
Another quote from my latest New Harvest Homestead newsletter that has hit a moral chord in me was hearing a new definition of good stewardship-
"good stewardship is returning something in better condition than when it was given to you"
To me, this is inspiration for finding creative ways to reuse items, for being motivated to not take the "easy road" of just tossing the empty jar of mayonnaise into the garbage (who in their right mind actually has a desire to rinse the insides of this jar?) or to carve time out of my day to sew and make gifts, cards or household items by hand (how expensive are store-bought cards??).
I am a work-in-progress, but my desire to tread more lightly on the earth is growing stronger day by day.
What are you doing to be a good steward of all that God has entrusted you with?
I go through this every Spring. Should I or shouldn't I (attempt to) plant a garden? If you've ever read my profile, you know that my ideal backyard contains two experiences: a clothesline and a garden. Now, a clothesline I've never had. I just love the idea of hanging my sheets, clothing and other cloth items out to be blown and sun-shined dry by the natural elements. I grew up with a clothesline in my backyard, and although I often protested the stiffness of air-dried sheets, the overall aroma of sunshine in my bed at night won me over. The garden. Now that I have had before. I think it was the second summer in our old house. I remember being hesitant because I really didn't know how to plant, what to plant or how to care for these luscious fruits and vegetables that I imagined growing in my backyard. Overall, it was a success. I'll admit, a few vegetables were burnt up by the sun due to my lack of watering and delay in picking them at just-the-right time. So when I had the idea to plant another garden the next spring, my husband was supportive, yet realistic. Would I have the time? Do I have to energy to put into this bed of greenery? I didn't think I could do it, so I gave up. Now here we are, six years later, in a new house with a postage stamp-sized backyard and I am still dreaming of that garden. The homesteader in me imagines my backyard to be a place where the needs of my family can be met by what we grow/raise/do on our land. I'll admit that I've often fantasized about living in that "Little House on the Prairie", chickens and all! But it's always the same debate: realism versus idealism. A dear friend of mine just gave me several packets of seeds: Sugar Snap peas, Butterhead lettuce, carrots and watermelon. Should I take this as a sign to "go for it"? For now they are tacked to my bulletin board awaiting their fate. I think they just might be in for a wild ride!
