Much Ado About Parsley

The garden is growing and I am able to harvest greens and herbs often. The rabbit LOVES hopping around the garden as do the chicks who are growing at an unbelievable rate. 

I've been letting them spend some time in their coop and although the run is not yet ready, I let them play inside and also free range my yard and garden with me nearby.

I have a feeling I may have two roosters. It's still too early to tell but if you look at this photo below you will see the exact same breed chicken, hatched the same day with a BIG difference in their comb size and body size.  I have another set that should look the same with the same obvious difference.  Time will tell - but the first cocka-doodle-doo and off they go.  

I want to be really careful not to waste anything we grow and that can be a challenge. The greens wilt very fast if they are not kept the right way. 

 We usually eat salad every day which helps keep the lettuce working for us but the herbs can be hard to use in such abundance. Tonight we worked to wash and preserve the herbs and lettuce together so it will last a little longer.

The basil, mint and parsley do best when they are treated like flowers and put in a glass of water.  The rosemary and thyme will go in the fridge wrapped loosely in plastic wrap. 

And the girls washed and paper towel dried all the lettuce we didn't eat tonight and then wrapped it loosely in paper towels inside plastic bags to keep.

Even with this... we need to eat this stuff up soon. I was trying to find something unique to make with these but nothing really appealed to me, so I think I'm going to try a pesto/mint/parsley pesto recipe I found online. I may also freeze some. 

 With all the cooking I do, I do not own a food processor!  I am getting one but because of that, we had to make our basil "pesto" more like chimichurri but we loved it anyway. 

If you have any new recipes to share, let me know. I saw a nice parsley ravioli that looked interesting. 

Brewing Up Kombucha

Found in many health food stores, as well as in the kitchens of hippies alike, Kombucha is a tea which is made by fermenting sweet tea and healthy bacteria.  The bacteria and yeast (aka scoby) is the good kind that can aid in health.  Much like the probiotics in some yogurts are known to improve health by aiding in digestion and fighting "bad" bacteria, Kombucha is claimed by many to strengthen the immune system.

I've bought a good over-the-counter kind called Synergy Raspberry Chia on and off for a few years.  It's pretty good but very expensive.  When my friend (who is health conscious like I try to be and also battling cancer) asked if I wanted to come and help her make a homemade batch of it I was intrigued, happy to help and of course thought it would make an excellent blog post ;)

There are many critics who indicate the health benefits cannot be proved and the dangers of brewing the tea at home outweigh the potential good stuff.  The tea must be brewed in very sterile conditions as to make sure that only good bacteria ferments and none of the bad stuff.  However, after doing some careful research of my own, I found that REALLY bad bacteria like E.Coli and and other scary crap does not survive in Kombucha.

Luckily my friend doesn't play around and knows what she is doing.  We sterilized every single bottle, cap and made sure to wear gloves when working directly with the tea.

The SUPER gross part is of course when you see the Kombucha "Mother".  This is the mushroom-like structure that the bacteria and yeast form.  My friend already had a batch of the tea brewing from a culture given to her from a nutritionist we know so we basically bottle up the fermented tea and put the mother in a new batch to ferment.

Yes it's THAT nasty!

Enough to make you run home?  Luckily I've seen worse in my life so I was in it for the long haul.

I'm not going to give you the instructions on how to make Kombucha as I don't want to be responsible for any contaminated blog followers but it was a fun experience and now I've been sucked into the Kombucha cycle.  

How many friends do you know who will share their Scoby with you?  

So now we are sharing the Kombucha mother and taking turns brewing.  Every 10-15 days you repeat the process to keep a constant demand of Kombucha in your fridge.  

The Traveling Scoby

Sadly, I think I'll be the only one in my family brave enough to consume it but I added organic chia seeds and pomegranate juice and it tastes even better than the stuff I get at the grocery store and I didn't pay a dime (thanks, friend) :) My family is used to me bringing weird shit home like this.  They didn't even flinch.

Bottom's up.

Weaving Goodness, Community and Home

Today is Martinmas and also Veteran's Day in America.  I love the way that Waldorf schools celebrate this special day with lantern walks, songs, crafts and community.  I'm not sure I ever really got over the fact that my girls could not attend our local Waldorf school but one thing I have worked hard to do is to weave the beautiful things I love about Waldorf Education into our home life and our community the best way that I can.  

There are a lot of ways that I have tried to do this.  Filling our home with a lot of art, singing, baking and natural materials has always been important to me.  I also did my best to limit a ton of mainstream media, especially when the girls were very young.  I will admit this gets harder as they grow up into teens but we really do not watch much TV even still.  My hope was that by doing this, they would be free to develop into their own beings without all the crazy images of what they should wear, buy or talk like in order to be "cool".  I've tried to remember to celebrate the special festivals and seasons.  I've also put an emphasis on plenty of outdoor play, the importance of protecting our earth and being comfortable in nature.  

In my community, I've done things like hold a Forest Preschool program outdoors for little ones.  I had a Nature Club that met once per week for older children and I do my best to work with my Girl Scouts in a way that brings these values I hold dear further into the world.  My nature club actually came up in conversation with friends last night and I may consider doing it again in the Spring.  It took a lot of time to plan and organize but it was so awesome spending that time with the kids outdoors and helping them to pull them away from their IPhones for a few hours per week and be a part of the natural world.

As part of earning our Journey Award, my 5th grade Girl Scout troop has decided to put together a Community Coat Drive.  This is such perfect timing around Martinmas as many Waldorf schools do the same thing as a way to honor the old tale of St. Martin ripping his cloak in half to give to a beggar on the street.  

One area that I am really striving to improve is with our food at home.  We eat dinner together every evening and eat good meals but I want to focus on eliminating the processed stuff I sometimes turned to in a hurry and really get myself and the rest of the family to eat clean.  Not only the granola bars and things like that but even many of the condiments that I used to make gravies or add flavor to our dinners.  Have you ever read the ingredients of even things like English Muffins?  It's really crazy all the crap they put into things.

The good thing is that I truly love to cook and I have a nice vegetable garden during the summer that we can enjoy.  The hard thing is that cooking fresh each day is very time consuming. I assume that years and years ago while it was difficult, it was likely more attainable because many mothers were home and did not need to also provide an income.  For us modern moms, it's not easy.  I have to make sure I find time to still write, blog, process orders, package crayon holders, manage my daughter's school schedules, keep up with emails, do necessary work for my volunteer responsibilities, take care of our pets and SO much more.  

The truth of it is that if I want us to eat healthier, I need to make it a priority over some of the other things that are on my list.  If you look in my laundry room, it is always a mess and the house isn't ever ready for drop by company.  If I focus more on cooking, it will only be worse but in the grand scheme of things I think it will be worth it.  So that's what I've been trying my best to do and also to cook in larger quantities so I can freeze and use leftovers more often.  

We've also been trying to be more mindful of wasting.  Wasting electricity, food, leftovers, paper and so many other things.  Again, it's often a matter of time.  Feeling rushed and having to go quick.  It is sometimes easier to throw out the leftover food than to figure out a way to reuse it.  It's easier to turn the heat up higher than keep the fire going.  It's easier to throw the towel in the hamper then hang it up to dry.  But we are trying.

I made my first batch of Sweet Potato Chips this week and they were a HUGE hit with the girls.  But OMG do they take a long time to make and they disappear in a matter of seconds.

A few people asked for the recipe.  There really wasn't much of one but here you go:

Peel, wash and cut sweet potatoes into thin slices.  (thinner the better)

I actually ran out of olive oil so I used organic melted butter and coated them all in a bowl.  I think this really helped with the flavor and I'm not afraid of using butter.  I think it can be a healthy fat as long as it is whole and organic.

Then I just added salt, pepper and rosemary and laid all slices on a cooking tray to bake.  I think I had the oven on around 350.  It did take a long time and I flipped them all individually every 20 minutes or so.  Like I said, it was time consuming.  Maybe about an hour in a half of baking time before they were ready.  But they were yummy.

I'd love to hear time saving tips any of you have come across while trying to eat clean and healthy.  Having a big family also makes it a challenge because we need LOTS of food on a daily basis.  My older girls have began helping to prepare things which helps but it's still a lot of work.

Tales from My Garden

This year's vegetable garden has been our best yet.  With a busy family and full time daycare, I could never seem to keep up with my garden and it showed.  Now that daycare is closed and my focus can be put more on my family and home, the garden has done pretty well.  But not without some challenges...

These little stinkers really did a number on my cabbage and brussel sprouts.  I am determined to keep an organic garden so tried many different things.  I tried picking them off by hand.  I tried hot soapy water.  I tried a chili pepper spray.  Lastly, I tried a mixture of flour and baking soda.

As you can see, the last mixture cause even more damage to the plants.  While I no longer found the cabbage worms and caterpillars... the leaves of my plants were just torn apart by the holes and then the harshness of the last mixture.  We finally agreed it really was more stressful than it was worth (we don't even like cabbage this much!) and pulled the plants out to make room for fall crops.  I now have a new appreciation for organic farmers and fully understand why organic costs so much.  It sure ain't easy!  I have no idea how a farmer would be able to manage a field of cabbage without pesticides but it is nothing short of a miracle.  

We've had many more joys than sorrows though... this was our very first year planting potatoes and watching my daughters dig them out one by one by hand was such an amazing experience.  It really helped us to fully appreciate our food more as well.

When we made the potatoes for dinner time, each girl was very mindful of not wasting and being sure to save any leftovers.  It amazes me how simply knowing what is involved in growing the food can change our attitude.  I hope these lessons stay with my girls as they get older.

My blueberry bush is also doing well this year, although it doesn't produce very much.  I learned my lesson from years past and now have put netting over the top to keep the birds from eating all the berries.  I am going to plant a few more of these bushes so we can get more yield and make some jams, pies, etc.

We have a lot of oregano and mint.  I did not plant basil this year and I'm regretting it so I'm going to make sure I remember next year.  The oregano has been a staple in our kitchen this summer and we're very thankful to be able to take a simple walk out of our backdoor to get herbs and vegetables whenever we need them.

Our first zucchini came in and it was a big one!  We cooked it this evening with dinner and the taste was so fresh compared to the ones we buy in the grocery store.  It truly was from garden to table under an hour and its that type of thing that really fills me with gratitude and joy.

We have one cucumber getting pretty big but have not yet had any from the garden to eat.  This one vine decided to climb its way up a tomato plant stake on its own so the cucumber is hanging downward as it grows.  The girls thought it was pretty cool that the plant "made a decision" to climb a certain way.
  

Lettuce has been plenty.  We can get as many salads as we want each night and have a bit too much.  Tomorrow I am going to drop some off at our local food pantry now that I know they accept fresh garden food.  

We are still waiting for many things:  carrots, corn, squash, pumpkins, raspberries, eggplant, okra, cauliflower (which isn't looking too great), cantaloupe and cucumbers.  We've enjoyed green beans, onions, potatoes, lettuce, wineberries, blueberries and zucchini.

This was our harvest for today.  

The wineberries are obviously wild and not from our garden but they are so plenty we consider them a big part of our produce.  We enjoy them all summer long and they have been spreading in the woods behind our house.  The girls love going and picking them in little bowls and running back into the house to show me how many they found.  This is what they brought to me today!

They have become quite the little chefs in the kitchen.  The other day they made their very own fruit salad with them.  

 And tonight, Keira found a recipe online for Wineberry Coffee Cake and they all worked together (without  me!) to make it.

It blew me away... they even cleaned up their mess (mostly)!  While we've been eating A LOT and my diet has been blown this summer, I am very thankful we are enjoying fresh, whole foods together.

How is your summer garden doing?