Posts Tagged Family

Weekend Highlights – Noteworthy Articles by Fellow Bloggers – Apr 28, 2012

Posted by Granny in Food Prep & Dehydration, Homesteading, Lifestyle, Nutrition & Recipes, Weekend Highlights on 04/28/2012

Food canning equipment, tool carts, compost bins, growing kits, cider and fruit presses, the Squeezo Strainer, food dehydrators, juicers, smokers, cold frames, greenhouses and so many more innovations contribute to making our lives organized and healthier and to turning our homes and properties into an oasis where the living is good.

All of these things exist because we are creative and because we have a unique ability to adapt to our environment. In truth, foodies, homesteaders and gardeners who write about their experiences are telling the ongoing story of our inventive spirit. On their pages, every tool and appliance is like a paint brush; ready to express a new vision.

You can access the entire Weekend Highlights series to date by clicking on that category in the sidebar at left.

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We begin on a poetic note with Mabel June’s Oat Cakes, at Just a Smidgen. The author’s poetry combines the ebb and flow of water and wind and nature’s sounds… and subtle plumes of aroma from something warm and made with love. She writes…

…To shift to wake, to set adrift again
Near shore on water’s shallows
The steady swirl of smooth paddle…
…Lift windows wide, draw in and heed
This stirring morning’s lilting notes… [Read Full Article]

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In Fine Balance ponders Spiderman Bicycles and Parenting in a lovely and heartfelt post following an unfortunate incident.

“You will have to indulge me while I explore a few ~~confessions~~ thoughts about parenting,” begins mother, “My son had a significant accident on this bike yesterday. By significant, I mean he is fine, but battered, scrapped and bruised. No broken bones or stitches. Significantly hurt and embarrassed… He has been on two wheels for about 2 weeks. Sigh.”

I recall a very similar incident when I was a child, and the thoughts that accompanied me for a while afterward. I hid for several weeks and kept asking, “Will I be disfigured?” I thought of this little boy who, perhaps, also discovered a sense of self and a conscious need for privacy as a result of the incident. [Go To Article]

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Next, let me introduce you to The Soulsby Farm, but first I would like to draw your attention to “Project Garden Share,” founded by the authors in 2010.

“My wife Mindy and I live on a small farm in Hudson, Ohio with our little baby girl Zoey and our little dog Jake…” explains the author. “We believe in sustainable farming from organic heirloom seeds and are strongly against GMO’s. We grow everything organically and let our hens free range around the garden (and sometimes the neighbors yard)… Last year we started a non-profit organization called Project Garden Share that helps connect individuals in need of food with people who grow gardens…” [Read More About PGS]

A recent article titled, Chickens, Raccoons, Tractors, a Green House and Seed Giveaway will set the tone to complete the introductions. [Read Full Article]

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A recent article at The Tea Blog titled, Quiz: Are You a Smart Alecky Tea Drinker? begged for attention.

“A while back I wrote a quiz for serious tea drinkers,” begins the author. “Then, a smart alecky tea drinker I am ‘friends’ with on Facebook commented, ‘What about us unserious tea drinkers?”

Tee-hee! Or is that Tea-hee? Either way, a very enjoyable and creative post. I was certain the author had a great time writing it and she later confirmed that this was indeed the case. I send you to it without further ado. [Go to Smart Alecky Tea Quiz]

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“Pocket Farming is my way of describing the smallest possible act of sustainable living,” writes the author at the very top of her blog page. Well, dear readers, it appears the smallest possible act of sustainable living unfolds in surprising ways and I just had to share Special Delivery, by The Pocket Farmer, to prove it.

“Every once in a while you get a front seat to a special event. And when Nature is putting on the show, you can bet it is going have all the elements of a modern theatrical production. Oh, and an Encore! But we’ll talk more about that later…”

Two geese. 4 acts and an encore… but we’ll get to that later. [Read Full Article]

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Thank you for stopping by to read this Weekend’s Review. Please take a moment to leave a few words on the Blogs you enjoy, if you feel so inclined that is.

Family, Farming, Sustainability, Tea

6 Comments

Weekend Highlights – Noteworthy Articles by Fellow Bloggers – Apr 14, 2012

Posted by Granny in Kitchen Products, Lawn, Garden & Composting, Lifestyle, Weekend Highlights on 04/14/2012

The weekend is a good time for grazing. This is a summary of some of the delightful Blog articles I have been reading during the week. I invite you to graze through these, and also through the archives of the creative writers who wrote them.
Food canning equipment, tool carts, compost bins, growing kits, cider and fruit presses, the Squeezo Strainer, food dehydrators, juicers, smokers, cold frames, greenhouses and so many more innovations contribute to making our lives organized and healthier and to turning our homes and properties into an oasis where the living is good.

You can access the entire Weekend Highlights series to date by clicking on that category in the sidebar at left.

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Stick to the Plan: Part I – There is usually one project or another in process at Emerson’s Acre, but just as our bodies eventually feel the weight of hard work, so do our tools feel the wear of usage. Sometimes, the repair shop is the only logical next step. Sometimes, a contingency plan is the only logical next step, but when on top of this you face questionable business practices, the logical next step involves the tough decision to take the high road.

“This weekend is not what I would call my best. The weather was perfect… But as I look back on it I realize that it was just a little off from the beginning and the fault for all of it lies squarely at my feet… It all comes, you see, from not sticking to the plan… Two weeks ago I couldn’t get my push mower to start. The weed-eater wouldn’t cooperate either… That Monday I got a recommendation for a mower repair shop… They said they would call me if either repair ran over $50…” [Read Full Article]

Yes, there is a Part II and yes, again, not quite in line with the original plan. However, what matters most is how we ride the waves.

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What Should I Do If I Can’t Grow a Garden? We may come to the realization that we do not have the time or space to grow a garden, but sometimes that is as far as the thought goes. There is always the grocery store. This, at least, is a reliable source and a practical solution. One must eat.

“Let’s be honest — with the high level of urbanization in our world, growing seasonal fruits and vegetables just isn’t feasible for everyone,” observes the author of Frugally Sustainable, “But the good news is…during the peak of harvest there are multiple ways to acquire fresh, home-grown produce without having to set foot in a grocery store or break the bank!”

Among other creative ways to find a trusted food source, for indeed this is the goal, the author suggests a different take on landscaping, making friends with an avid gardener and gearing your fresh produce purchases to the season. There is a solution for every circumstance and every wallet. [Read Full Article]

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Storage Jars. 6" x 6" Gouache on paper.

Sharyn Dimmick, of The Kale Chronicles, recently suggested she might feel tempted to indulge in a rant about plastic and I looked forward to reading her article. As you might imagine, this sort of commentary can be risky. She handled it with great tact, not that I had any doubts about that.

I must highlight one particular statement she made in “A word About Plastic (Food Shopping and Storage.” It sets the tone to perfection: “I believe that people want to do the right thing and that the right thing varies according to person and situation.” This could be summed up in one word: Acceptance. And as Sharyn points out in the end, we also learn from each other, thus “the right thing” evolves as we change our perspective.

But one must first set the stage. “I had just stopped at Trader Joe’s for a couple of things…” explains Sharyn, “and had had to make the unfortunate choice between limes coated with ‘edible wax’ without packaging and organic limes in plastic netting…” [Read Full Article]

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We close with something for the whole family. We first visited this Blog several months ago. It offers unique a truly abundant resources for art and activities for children and the family. Upon landing on the front page of the recently re-designed and re-named site, you will discover clearly identified “departments,” each one more inviting than the other for anyone in search of creative ideas. It is like opening a door that reveals a world of utterly carefree playfulness, like a giant room filled with toys for children and for the adults who share their universe. Thus the new site name, Inner Child Fun, fits its mission perfectly.

Explore “10 Simple Pleasures for Cherished Childhood Memories.”

I dare you to resist to such suggestions as: Create an outdoor Mud Pie Kitchen, Grab a roll of pennies, and visit a local water fountain to Make Lots of Wishes or my personal favorite, Go shopping for sunglasses. Take several Glamour Photos. There is much more… [Read Full Article]

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Thank you for stopping by to read this Weekend’s Review. Please take a moment to leave a few words on the Blogs you enjoy, if you feel so inclined that is.

Children, Family, Gardening, Gardening alternatives, Grocery shopping, Lawn care, Lawn mowning

8 Comments

Lawn Care in a 1960′s Suburb

Posted by Granny in Homesteading, Lawn, Garden & Composting, Lifestyle, Trends & Innovations on 02/14/2012

1960′s in a Canadian suburban town. Nearly every house sports a huge, square, 4-door sedan. On the weekend, the sound of children playing in the street, and lawnmowers, overshadow the sounds of birds. It smells like fresh-cut grass. Families work around the yard on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, like clockwork, every weekend, in unison.

Lawn care is one activity that children seem to enjoy. Depending on their age, they may help or simply imitate mom or dad. Give little Timmy a plastic rake and he will rake for hours. He does not need to understand the purpose of this activity, or the reasons why humans work so hard at preserving a perfectly neat yard; he is happy merely because he was allowed to take part in a gown-up activity. What an honor!

On weekends, in the 1960′s suburb, little boys and little girls ignored their toys and sometimes even ignored their friends in order to work in the yard. This was important stuff. It had to be, otherwise mom and dad would not have put so much energy into it. They helped without question. At that time, without question, we applied yard maintenance practices that would make most of us frown today, and many of us downright mad.

Garage walls were lined with yard tools. If you went on a bicycle ride on weekends, you could see every single tool collection beyond open garage doors and men, mostly, going in and out to fetch or return equipment. They filled wheelbarrows with garden tools of all sorts. Few had a garden and none had a tool cart. These tools were used to remove weeds from around the driveway and remove from sight leaves and anything that was not grass, especially those beautifully cheerful dandelions. For your information, in French dandelions are called “pee-in-bed.” I guess we did not have much respect for this flower or those who named it knew something about consuming it that we did not know.

Once a chore began, the wheelbarrow had little use, other than to serve as a wagon for children to play with if dad let them. Most did. Every house had a wheelbarrow, but we did not have garden seats because there were very few gardens and it did not occur to anyone to sit. What was popular then were flowers. You could find more varieties of flowers at the lawn and garden store than anything else. Flowers and trees. Landscaping plants. A garden supply store for a town with less than .0005 gardens per inhabitant. Someone probably thought, “If I build it, they will come.”

By dawn, stacks of huge lawn garbage bags piled up at the end of driveways along the street. You could almost measure who had accomplished the most work by the number and size of the bags. They sat there, like big, puffy exclamation marks saying, “There. The chores are done. This is proof.”

As children, we sought to carry the largest bags to the curb and hoped there would be plenty of witnesses amongst our friends and neighbors to see with their own eyes clear evidence of our strength and accomplishments. In reality, and everyone knew this but it was fun to imagine otherwise, the bags were filled with grass or leaves, depending on the season.

When I think about this today, I wonder how this practice could have been so matter of fact even back then. We spent entire days raking grass, making piles and then filling one garbage bag after another; bags that were then picked up by the municipal garbage disposal trucks and brought to landfills. Was this strictly a suburban practice, I wonder? It had to be.

Perhaps there was no reason to use cut grass and leaves. No garden. No compost bin. Just a yard with some flowers and trees and an image to keep up. Today, working in the garden or even just planting flowers around the house is not so much about keeping a neat yard as it is about connecting with the land. Ha! I’ve got it! Once you connect with the land, once that sort of relationship takes root, it is not possible to throw any of it in the garbage, is it?

Those 1960′s yard chores were mostly that; chores. I am certain it was enjoyable, but it was akin to a sort of moral obligation as a homeowner more so than a moral obligation to the land (or to self). The yard was a fixture, nothing more. At least this is how it was in my neighborhood and the very thought of this is most awkward today.

On the other hand, I believe it is this very fixture that gradually brought us back to our senses. I suspect it was a natural progression. We left the hard work of the land for the city or suburban life where property was reduced to a manageable size and it seems we did just that; we approached it as something to manage. Proximity of neighbors played a role. Everyone could see who was not living up to “proper” yard maintenance standards. Inevitably, our natural affinity with the land tugged at our heartstrings and we began to see in the lone flower-pot and few tomato vines the abundance and beauty of nature.

This is my theory anyway. The rest is history and here we are today. We collect grass clippings and leaves in cleverly designed re-usable totes and lug them over to the garden or compost bin. And we do not feel as though we are accomplishing chores; instead, we are fulfilling dreams.