Farm Friday

Now that we no longer have as many deliveries and aren't scheduled to be at the market, we're taking life a little slower and venturing out a bit.  Last Saturday we took a field trip to the Bedford/Sedalia area. First stop was a great little restaurant, Town Kitchen Provisions, that serves homemade sandwiches, salads, and soups and uses locally and regionally sourced ingredients whenever possible. They also stock wines and beers from the region. While we were disappointed in the limited vegetarian options, we were delighted with the falafal sandwiches we ordered. The next stop was The Well, a small health food store that has a large selection of bulk herbs, along with some other bulk items, plus they carry local meats and some produce. The main reason for our trip was to help some farm friends celebrate the grand opening of their new store. In addition to offering their own beef and select items, Mountain Run Farm opened their space to local artisans to display wares for holiday shoppers. We connected with some familiar faces and met some new ones. We also picked up some vintage copies of Mother Earth News and will be sharing the wealth once we've read them.

On Sunday we had our weekly farm meeting, then did our seed inventory in anticipation of ordering seeds for the 2015 growing year. We kept seeds from this year but eliminated older seed since, as market farmers, we cannot take the chance of the seed not being viable. However, no fear, nothing goes to waste in our home. We separated out seeds that could be cooked and used for our dog, such as black beans, green peas, and purple hull peas. Now that she's on a whole food diet, I'm always looking for creative ways to feed her. Seeds that can't be used will be broadcast in an unused field on the farm. You never know what might take root or feed wildlife.


We had a nice holiday surprise as our son and his family visited Thursday night. An added bonus is that we have our granddaughter for several days. She and I ran errands together and then went to my interfaith women's group annual holiday luncheon. We'll be spending some more quality time together before she goes back to her house to celebrate Christmas.

Have a good week!

Wellness Wednesday

Source

Wonder why you or someone close to you has high blood pressure? A recent study has linked the chemical bisphenol A (commonly referred to as BPA) to high blood pressure. Most drink bottles are made from this plastic and most cans are lined with it. (The EPA banned its use in baby bottles a couple of years ago). No surprise that the American Chemical Council deems it "safe." 

Reaching for products that say "BPA Free" may not be the answer either as they typically contain other bisphenol plastics that also leach endocrine disrupting chemicals. Unfortunately, plastic and plastic-lined cans are almost unavoidable when buying many prepared foods. However, when given a choice, drink from glass.

Liebster Award Nominee

Aimee over at EcoGrrl was kind enough to nominate me for the Liebster award. I suppose I haven't really won it as that entails nominating 11 other blogs to pay forward the award. Since I've been really bad about reading blogs lately, I don't have 11 to nominate - although I continue to be inspired by a number of blogs. Aimee is an especially big inspiration as she is so upbeat about the state of things and shares lots of good info. 

Here are the 11 questions Aimee asked nominees to answer: 

What is your favorite childhood memory of the holidays? This might sound strange coming from me, but I so looked forward to the Sear's Catalog "Wish Book" arriving in the mail. It had so many things a little girl could want - lots of pink, glittery stuff.

Who makes you laugh more than anyone else (personally or a celeb, either is fine!)?
Eddie Izzard is one of my favorite comedians. I never fail to laugh at his old monologues. especially the one in French that involves a monkey driving a bus.

What food do you hate that most folks like? Coffee. Wish I liked it - it would make my life easier sometimes - but I just cannot stand the taste.

If you had a new animal in your household tomorrow, what would it be and what’s its name? I'd pick my girl Dixie all over again. Best. Kitten. Ever.

What celebrity annoys you the most? Since I don't have cable/satellite and I don't read magazines, I'm not sure who the celebrities are anymore. However, having seen some comments on Facebook, I'd say any homophobic, misogynistic, self-absorbed celebrity; they know who they are. Actually, my husband pointed out that the Duck Dynasty family (and their followers) has set me off a few times and fits this definition - but I'm not sure if they're even around anymore.

What is one thing you really want to learn to do? Ever since I can remember, I've wanted to speak French. Despite having studied it in high school and taken private lessons as an adult, I'm a long way from where I want to be. And I'll never get there since I stopped the lessons quite a while ago.

What’s your favorite article of clothing? My black yoga pants. Since I work at home - and actually practice yoga when I'm not being lazy - these are my go-to pants. 

What is your favorite song to get up and dance to (even if you’re not a dancer)? It depends on what's been playing in shuffle mode on my ipod. Lately, I've been inspired to dance (in private, of course) to vintage Barry White - You're the First, the Last, My Everything. Don't judge. I came into adulthood during the disco era, then fell in love with Barry White all over again during Ally McBeal's reign.

What are you most proud of in your life? Besides my kids? Not sure if I can say I'm "proud" of it, but my decision - if it actually was a decision - to embrace Quakerism is one of the most important choices I've made. 

If you could pursue any other career besides what you do now, where money is no object, what would it be? For years I've said I'd like to be a professional organizer with a twist. I'd like to move beyond the containerizing mentality that makes people think it's okay to accumulate more stuff as long as they have appropriately labeled plastic containers to stash it all in. I'd counsel on keeping what is used and loved, ditching the rest, and then move on to making decisions that are good for health and the environment.

What makes you awesome? (No being humble allowed!) My ability to be open to new ideas.

Thanks for the questions, Aimee!

Monday Morning Amazement

The clear ice on this lake in Slovakia is incredible:

Quote for the Day

Source

“The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction.” 

~Rachel Carson

Farm Update

Time for New Year planning (Source)

Whenever I sit down to do a farm update, I seem to have forgotten what happened the previous week - or weeks as it often is.  I tend to consult my journal and calendar to help jog my memory. Here are a few bullet points to cover farm happenings (and thoughts) over the last couple of weeks:

• The holiday bazaar I participated in was very disappointing. If it had been me, my feelings would have been hurt. But, for the most part, none of the vendors were making sales. The day was not entirely a waste as I networked with other farms, met some new people, and learned a few things. Always good to find that silver lining!
• We had several visitors to the farm these last few weeks:  the garden manager and one of the student assistants from Liberty University's garden and the director and a staff member from the Dan River Basin Association. We love to share what we're doing and connect with people from organizations that share our ethic.
• We made some deliveries this week and will next week, as well. In keeping with our decision to reduce our energy footprint, we always combine errands with our deliveries. This week we needed more chicken feed and you can't run to the local feed store for the soy-free, GMO-free feed that we use. So on the way back from one of our deliveries, we picked up some feed at our friends' farm. Saves our time, saves energy. Win-win.
• I've simplified our gift giving so that we're down to a handful of gifts. One way to reduce your gift-giving burden is to tell people to not give you anything; that tends to get you of the gift-buying treadmill, although some people think it's strange. I don't understand the mentality of expecting gifts; they are almost always unwanted and unneeded. I also tended to get stressed out by getting gift that I didn't want. While I'm grateful for the time, care, and expense put into the gift, I feel disingenuous when expressing my thanks for something I know I won't use. However, I'm thinking I can do some great shopping (for things we need) at the thrift stores come mid-January as people shed those unwanted gifts they can't return or donate perfectly-good items that are duplicates of things they received as presents.
• Speaking of presents, I found a great way to give during the holiday season. If you're able, give the gift of life by donating blood. Due to my trips to Haiti, I haven't been able to donate blood for many years (due to the malaria threat). But since I haven't visited since 2013, I was able to donate blood last week. Blood is a gift of your time, your self, and of life, and it is helping the sick and giving to a stranger - the ways we should be giving. Please consider donating blood if you're able, not just during the holidays but any time of the year.
• I'm jumping the gun on getting some organizing done. I don't understand the need to wait until January. Instead of all the busy-ness we create around the holidays, I prefer to simplify and reflect. Some of what I've done:  deleted rubbish from my computer and organized what remained, set up my calendar for 2015, partially cleaned out my closet, starting thinking about routinizing my menu planning, began a new journal/list keeping system, and worked on our financials for our New Year review. Which leads me to the last bullet.
• Going over our personal finances revealed that, with the exception of taxes and insurance, we actually live on very little. Do we deprive ourselves? No. We eat home-cooked organic meals, take walks in the country, play with our pets, read a wide variety of books, attend cultural and educational events, watch documentaries, entertain friends, and enjoy life in general. What we don't do is give into what mass media tells us we *need.* When we find we're lacking in an area, we try to be creative. Right now, my laptop screen is dead (and our son told me it would be almost as much to repair as to buy new). While I do intend to purchase a new computer, I'm not rushing into it. Instead, I've plugged in a flat screen monitor that works fine for now. That's one thing we've learned on this journey - if you tell yourself that you're postponing a purchase rather than outright prohibiting it, you not only don't feel deprived, you usually make better decisions. Often we've found that the thing we thought we must absolutely have turned out to be not needed at all. By postponing we save money and resources.

Have a great week!

Wellness Wednesday

Wellness Wednesday almost always focuses on individual health. Today I want to share one way to increase the health of a community. With the holiday season upon us, most of us overindulge both physically and fiscally. Instead of buying gifts and treats for people who neither need nor want anything, consider to pass on the gift of health by donating to a local food bank and spreading the word for others to do the same.

This article from Foodlets has a list of items that most food banks want. I've edited the list to help fit with my own ethic of healthy eating, animal welfare, and environmental concerns:

1. Canned vegetables
2. Canned fruit without added sugar 
3. Dried fruit
4. Boxes of rice
5. Boxes of pasta
6. Peanut butter
7. Quick oatmeal
8. Quick grits
9. Canned beans
10. Canned pasta sauce
11. Commonly used spices and dried herbs
12. Sliced bread
13. Bags of applies (organic)
14. Bags of potatoes (organic)
15. Diapers, toiletries, and feminine hygiene products

While my list is far from perfect, I tried to edit items I thought were the worst offenders as far as foods that involve inhumane treatment of animals, contain an over-abundance of chemicals, or have bad-for-the-planet packaging. While I don't like disposable diapers, I also know that many low-income parents have neither the facilities nor the time to wash and dry cloth diapers and, if they have to send their child to daycare, they usually require disposable diapers. 

If you're interested in donating to a local food bank, you might want to just give them a call to see if they have specific needs.