PEACH HARVEST!

This is the harvest of peaches from our little peach tree.  And I do mean little!  We managed to get a bunch of them harvested after noticing that the birds were beginning to enjoy them, too.  So, peach and pecan pancakes with the real maple syrup for dinner was called for!  They were quite yummy, we all gobbled them right up.

Today, Maestro and I canned about 90 of them and got 6 1/2 pints of peaches put up for winter (did I mention they are little peaches?). The 1/2 pint we'll eat now, and one of them cracked during processing, which is a sad bummer.  It's never a nice site to see your hard earned, hard work processed peaches floating in the water bath canner when you take the lid off.  Ah well, we're 5 pints closer to cozy for the winter, so it's all good.  Next, I'll probably get some from the local orchard and do a few more quarts to keep us going.  Can't wait for apples and pears to come soon.  We have apple trees busting with apples this year, making me wonder if it's going to be a long, snowy winter. Often the trees know how to produce more food for the animals before we are even thinking about it.

All in all a fun day canning with my son, havesting with the family last night and eating some delicious pancakes. 

Wishing you sweet sunwarmed peaches on your tree, ~Peacemom

Moving Forward

This is the side view of the house we're wanting to buy...we're working out things with the current owners to make it ours.  It's a foreclosure, hence the totally overgrown landscaping.  It's a great house that needs a lot of work...the post & beam barn is the biggest hurdle right now.  It needs a new roof and a lot of interior flooring work, but otherwise, it's got great bones.  We're still hoping that it's going to be ours.  Financing is in place.  Meetings with contractors are beginning, the kitchen needs to be gutted and redone and lots of interior stuff, window framing, new flooring, walls moved.  It will be the project we've been wanting for a very long time.  And a place to raise our boys and a home to be our own.

Home, sweet home, ~Peacemom

Heirloom Salsa

Oh yah Baby!  This is the stuff!  Salsa from the garden, most delicious...just in case you wanted to try your own, here's my recipe:

3 large tomatoes (I used Gold Brandywine, Beefsteak, and a few Juliettes)
1/2 med onion
1 Jalapeno pepper, seeds and rib removed (if you prefer HOT salsa, leave them in, I'm a mild kind of girl myself)
Fresh Parsley (to taste, everyone's different, and it you like cilantro, well by all means throw that in too)
small amount of salt (to taste again, perhaps you don't need salt, but I like a little bit)
squeeze of lime juice from 1/2 lime

Chop, mix, enjoy!  We ate it with multigrain tortilla chips, then had the inspiration for chicken, cheddar, bean & salsa quesadillas.  I'm telling you, nothing oh nothing you can buy in a store tastes as good as this fresh from the vine salsa. 

Happy taste buds to you, ~Peacemom

Humbled

This is today's bounty from our modest garden.  Amazing.  This picture is not truly showing how gorgeous all the different colors of heirloom tomatoes are that are coming from that little plot.  I'm very thankful to my friend for starting these in her greenhouse many months ago and hosting a plant sale with them.  They taste utterly and completely amazing.  Even my sister, who is not a tomato fan, lavished praise on them and how good they are.  I'm feeling humbled by all the wonderful food that is coming out of a bit of effort and some sweat equity.

I went to the grocery store today.  I really don't enjoy this chore much anymore.  Since we've become mostly local foodies, it's a bit more then insanity to me that we have to have so many choices for everything.  I walked down the cracker aisle to find the whole wheat crackers I get for the boys for their snack. Today instead of just looking for the familiar plain brown box, grabbing and moving on to the next thing on my list, I actually stood there in stunned disbelief.  I felt like for the first time in a long time I had really noticed what goes on in those stores.  I was actually a bit flabbergasted by all the immense excess.  And felt wholly just how unnecessary I feel it is.  Do we really NEED 24 different types of wheat crackers?  There were 9 different brands of cheddar cheese, and may more varieties.  And multitudes of companies making yogurt...and types of yogurt.  I suddenly felt completely overwhelmed by it all. 

At the grocery store, especially this bountiful time of year, I buy mostly dry goods and staple items...rice, flour, sugar, Cheez Its.  You'll just have to trust me on this one, Cheez Its are considered a staple by my wonderful husband.  "Do you need anything at the grocery store?" posed to him is invariably followed by "Ummm...no, just Cheez Its".  They are their own food group for him.  But, my cart contained some watermelon that we can't get locally and a few bananas, which though not local are a treat from time to time.  That was it for fresh produce.  That's because I belong to 2 local food CSA's, NHCSA and Field to Fork Farm.  But, on top of that, I'm so happy to be harvesting my own food as well. 

I went to the garden with shears in hand to pick a few tomatoes.  Well, above is what I came out of the garden with!  I also have a lot more jalapenos ready, but I'm trying to stretch them out until the red bell peppers are ready so I can make some of my pepper jelly for my hubby and family.  My sister really enjoys that and has already requested a jar.  It makes colorful Christmas gifts.... But as I was digging in the soil to uncover the first of the year's red potatoes, I felt humbled.  One, that I'm able to grow food to sustain my family is an awesome feeling.  It is a real sense of accomplishment to know that we would not go hungry no matter what the circumstance.  If there is ground, and seeds, and water, I can grow food. 

I also felt humbled to be able to share those skills with my boys.  Maestro was in the garden with me, asking lots of questions and harvesting tomatoes (which he promptly ate 5 of immediately, that's the kind of snack I love giving him!).  I explained why we don't want the sunlight to reach the potatoes, why we need to pull the half eaten tomato a hornworm found off the vine so as not to sap the strength from the plant for no reason, and that the zucchini that went from blossom to 4 inches long in the span of 2 days is not quite ready to be picked.  He asked some great and thoughtful questions.  Ah, homeschooling at it's best.  I'm not sure what better way I can prepare them for life that learning how to grow and cook their own food.  The pure joy that comes from that experience and sense of satisfaction they accomplish is immeasurable.

We talked about making salsa today.  I had to explain to him I don't have any cilantro (REALLY dislike the flavor if that particular herb), but do have some parsley, so we'll make it with that.  It won't taste like store bought, but to be perfectly honest with you, that's more then okay with me.  Maestro's idea for the first new potatoes was some homemade clam chowder.  I am so happy to be able to tell him, that's a great idea!  And just about all the ingredients for that are going to be local for us.  Music Man just went to pick up our two gallons of raw milk from the CSA and they supply us with the world's best bacon to go in it as well.  I'll use the potatoes harvested right from our ground and shallots from my friend's garden and corn from a local farm stand I picked up on my way home from the grocery store.  Sounds like an amazing idea, Maestro! 

Sure glad you thought of it.

Wishing you a basket full of your own hard work, ~Peacemom

Oh, The Times, They Are A Changin'

All I'm gonna say about this -for fear of jinxing it- is this...our family may finally have a place to call our own home.  Negotiations are being made, financing figured out, inspections done...we're in love with this place, and it's not just the amazing front wrap around porch, either.  More to come in another post if there's more to tell.  For now, we're hopeful it's the place to make our dreams, combined and individual, come true.  We'll see what happens.  Please send prayers our way. 

Hoping beyond hope, ~Peacemom

We have EGG!

My sister-in-law arrived about 10:15 with my niece and her cousin.  They were here for a visit and to see the chickens, which they've not met yet.  As we approached the coop, Pete Rose and Betty were no where to be found.  This is unusual, as Pete is usually crowing the second he sees me.  I am his mother after all.  But today they were not there.  I was mildly alarmed and wondered aloud , "Where's my rooster?".  I opened the coop door and there he was and Betty was inside the nesting box panting an in obvious distress.  Expecting that perhaps she might be ready to lay an egg, she is 20 weeks old after all, I shut the door to give her her privacy.  I checked her a couple of times quickly, no change and she wasn't moving.  We stood around the pen chatting over chickens and suddenly, my sister-in-law and Maestro both said, "I heard a knock sound in the coop!".  I opened the door and sure enough, there was Betty proudly standing over her very first egg.  To say I was excited was an understatement.  And Betty let out a very proud cackle of her own.

The picture above is a normal large egg, on the right is Betty's first pullet egg.  Small, but perfectly formed.  We cracked it open last night to see if it was the way it should be on the inside.  It was miniature, but perfectly formed, all parts there, color right. 

Our little farmstead is making food.  That's the most awesome thing I can think of.

Wishing you miniature eggs in your nest, ~Peacemom

Ben Hewitt

On Friday night, I went up to Concord to listen to Ben Hewitt read the first chapter in his new book "Making Supper Safe", One Man's Quest For Food Safety.  He was entertaining and very good natured during the exchange of ideas and thoughts and answering people's questions after the reading.  It sure gives me a whole new view on dumpster diving.  And made me think twice about the "I Love Bacon" cookbook he was standing near while speaking!

I was struck by many things as I sat there, wishing I had brought my camera. It was a small crowd of folks, perhaps 20-25 that came out on the night of a massive street festival to hear him speak.  We were serenaded by a Rod Stewart cover band the entire time we were listening to the reading as they performed mere feet from the front door.  They had shut down Main Street and there were hundreds of folks wandering around our Capital City.  I did not have prior knowledge that the festival was taking place, and enjoyed the fact that as I was walking to listen to a farmer speaking, I was struck by the scente of the petting zoo and horsedrawn hay ride .  In a pretty large city.  It gave me pause and a smile, a great beginning to an enjoyable hour and a half listening to Ben. 

When I entered, I was late (see above street fair for explanation...parking was a nightmare) and he had already started reading. I tried inconspicuously to locate an empty seat and, being alone, I was able to find one in the front row.  I always enjoy listening to an author read their own work because they give it the inflection and tone they meant for it to have, not the one we hear in our own heads.  The chapter was a funny and telling tale of Ben's friend Edward, who has been dumpster diving for 10 years.  He even found 50 pounds of brie once which he promptly baked up for his family for a holiday gathering.  The moral to the chapter seemed to me to be the waste that happens in our country because something is a day or two past a date code and how his friend basically eats like a king dumpster diving on this stuff.  Though I'm not sure I'll be rifling through any Waste Management containers anytime soon, it sure gave me pause to think about just how much we do waste in our country and how avoidable it would be on many levels.  There are people all over the world starving to death, and we're throwing away gourmet cheese because it's past the date code.  And if you think about how absurd that really is because cheese is made with MOLD after all, so what exactly would be the harm of it developing visible mold past the date code?  Kind of silly. 

I noticed some things that perhaps others may not have noticed about Ben. His style was very conversational and welcoming. He was intent on a friendly and non combative discussion after his reading, and my feeling, as he was a little cautious in his tone at times and how he spoke about topics like USDA rules and incorrect use of antibiotics for livestock, was that he had been met perhaps a time or two with resistance from people to his well thought out and well researched ideas and facts.

I also noticed that his hands were calloused and he had a grease smudge on his arm.  Both of these things endeared him to me as I thought, "This is a man who's on the front line of farming.  He's not sitting in an office building, never smelling manure or feeling sun warmed soil, he's in the trenches doing it.  This is the man who's book I want to read, this is the man who lives what he's writing about, not just a corporate 'farmer' spewing the company line".   He brought water to drink during his reading in a quart Mason jar.  Yep, I was gonna like this guy.   I also noticed the enthusiasm he has for his topic, he's not bored with the subject matter, it inspires him and he's passionate about it.  Just like I am.  One of those kindred spirits I've talked about here before.  I really love connecting to a kindred spirit, something a little magical happens in the world when we find one. 

As I listened to the question and answer period, there were lots of great questions about food, antibiotics use and dumpster diving.  One man seemed really intent on learning more about that topic, which I found interesting.  I wondered to myself if he was going to go behind the natural food market across the street and see what was what back there in their dumpster?  Ben had also brought up the great topic (and one I've tried to explain to others around me when they ask how we afford to eat like we do) that food is about priorities. Our country has the cheapest food in the world based on our income. 

We spend a very small amount on food in our country, certainly a whole lot less then it costs to raise that food.  Ever wonder why that is?  How is it that we can pay less for food then it costs to fertilize, plant, apply copious pesticides, harvest, package and ship food?  Because the vast majority of corporate "farms" are subsidized.  Yes, it costs less in the store, but believe me, you are paying for it in your tax dollars each and every minute you work.  And a large number of the businesses that are receiving your tax dollars are not paying taxes themselves.  They even get to receive subsidies for the fuel to ship all that food to your Hannaford's (or Shaw's or Publix, where ever it's sold in grocery stores).  And in some cases, they are paid millions of your tax dollars NOT to grow food.  That's right, not to grow.  Yes, you will pay more for local food at a farm stand because they are not subsidized.  The farmers that grow the food to nourish you in your own town have worked the many hours it takes to do this, pick, harvest, get that food to market all without the subsidy that conglomerate food producers are given.  They toil long hard hours, yet, they have to compete with those same conglomerate's subsidized prices for food.  Uh, oh...I'm off on a tangent, sorry about that, just a deeply held passion of mine.  Paying for food what it actually costs to raise is not cheap, ever. 

I'll get back to the topic of Ben's I was nodding in agreement to the whole time he spoke about it.  Lots of people wondered how we could, in the face of almost 14 months of unemployment, afford what was most definitely healthier but also more expensive local and organic food during that time?  Well, the answer is this.  We prioritize what's most important to us in our spending, then spend there.  Yes, you have to have heat, and electricity and fuel for the car to get back and forth to those job interviews, but we didn't need to go out to eat 3 times a week, or have the expensive cable, or the latest and greatest clothes for our kids.  We basically just stopped spending money on anything that wasn't absolutely necessary in our lives.  If you take that down to a basic level, just spend on what is absolutely necessary, well, you can get by on so much less then you imagine. 

And the other way we managed this is that when you have a relationship with farmers in your own community like we do, it's a give and take situation.  One of our local CSA's requires deposit and payment in full long before the food actually starts rolling in.  That's inherent in the CSA model, you pay up front so that the farmer has the funds to buy the seeds, equipment and fertilizer beforehand.  Well, over the course of time that we've been members, we've also become dear friends.  And they allowed me to pay in installments when I needed to as more important to them then the money was that we were able to keep feeding our family the most nutritious food possible.  This is the type of relationship you can achieve with local farmers.  I can guarantee you that if you went to your local grocery store and told them that you either wanted to work off some of the cost of the food or delay paying the full bill they would laugh you off and show you the door.  And I, in turn, help my friends out with their CSA when I can manage it.  It's a lovely give and take relationship that I treasure in my life.  It's a definition of community that has become quite dear to me and one I hope I never lose.

As the evening with Ben wound to an end, he signed books.  I brought his first book with me, which I'm in the process of reading and finding very enjoyable as well.  It's "The Town That Food Saved" which is about his home town and the amazing growth of local businesses there.  Very enjoyable read I highly recommend.  I spoke to him of local eating, and how cost prohibitive it is for us to purchase land here in our town.  Upwards of $70,000 per acre in most cases.  He agreed that is a deep concern for many wish-to-be farmers (like us!).  A nice evening, an interesting man and time to enjoy both.  Purely delightful.

Literary evenings to you, ~Peacemom