Co-op update

OK, Kat has her own blog going now, and will have updates going soon. You can find it here. Check it out if you're interested in joining a food co-op where you'll have one place to go for fresh local produce, eggs, meats, and other products you've ordered.

You will be the pick-up person from time to time as well, but only occasionally-- as opposed to near-constantly (as the person who is not currently producing everything needed for sustainable living in their own backyard might be doing now).

I'm feeling great about a new way to feed our bellies with healthy, fresh, local foods, boost local economy, utilize the possible cost-savings of a co-op, and reduce my carbon footprint by not driving to five places to get the items I want for our family. Way to go, Kat! This project will assist many people in many, many ways.

Think global, eat local!

Kathleen Hickey, TD(DONA), mother of four and a birth doula, is presenting information about thinking globally and eating locally at our local Holisitic Moms Network meeting today. Kat's also the coordinator for a local farm-to-consumer food co-operative. The mission of the co-op is to help connect families with the resources to eat locally. I'm headed to the meeting in order to learn more about how to eat more healthfully, economically, and locally. It's better for our family, for local farmers, and for the environment.

Interested? I'll keep you posted here.

Egg hunt in June

We found a local source for eggs and not only went to pick them up with a friend-- we got to pick them out, too! Chickens, as it turns out, don't lay eggs in wholly expected places. It requires a careful collector to find all of them. Fortunately, our kids had a patient teacher to show them all the likely hidey holes.

They also got to see pear trees, plum trees, apple trees, two large vegetable gardens, and a shade garden, one renegade cat and two happy dogs along the way. It was quite a fun farm trip! We learned about the benefits of the color red for tomatoes, about "June drop" in fruit trees, and why some plants had netting over their tops. We also virtually watched sweet peas growing on the vine. They're fast!

Our garden has a long way to go, but it does give us an appreciation for the way things grow to visit such a large and thriving farm. Thanks! We're looking forward to visiting again!

3-2-1- compost!

Today's a day we've been working toward for quite some time-- we built our compost bin! The neighbors, who have been studying gardening topics with us for quite some time, helped us put it in. We're really excited and are looking forward to using our leftovers in a new way as much as we're eagerly anticipating the rich, black soil we'll get for our Garden Experiment.

Square foot gardening

Bought the wood for square foot garden beds this weekend, and posts and poultry wire for a compost heap today. Now we're looking for someone who has a sledgehammer so we can get those posts down into the dirt. Anybody?

Must Read

I must now, before I am even done with it because it is THAT GOOD, recommend Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. If Animal, Vegetable, Miracle spoke to you, this one will too, but louder. Oh my, will it ever.

Helpful Books

I read quite a bit on gardening, farming, and the like, but only some of the titles I read are truly, wonderfully helpful.

Gardener to Gardener: Seed Starting Primer and Almanac was so wonderful, I tried to buy it. Alas, could not get it through Baker & Taylor. You can, however, borrow a copy from the library!

The Gardener's A-Z Guide to Growing Organic Food is the other book I found that I actually used (as opposed to looking at the pictures and wishing my garden looked like that). This one I was able to buy, and I read it at night when I can't sleep. Amazing that I don't dream of strawberries and asparagus!