The Dancing Butterfly

Seasonal Sleep

2011-01-14T04:36:00.001-08:00

I have been sleepy. Very sleepy. Even waking up tired. My children too, normally bounding out of bed at 6 am are still fast asleep at 7:20 this morning, even though they know there is banana bread for breakie.

They must be ill was my first thought. As I began to ponder this drowsiness I realized that each year it peaks just after Christmas and lasts through February. Obviously this is a response to the shortened days. I myself am very sensitive to the changing seasons. In October I become suddenly fatigued, achy, miserable. By February I have wilted like a cut flower; moody, drowsy and restless. By March I am outside gardening in a tank top as soon as the mercury climbs over 60 just to feel the warmth of the sun on my skin.

Okay, so this is natural I think. Its just our circadian rhythm (basically your bodies internal clock) telling us when to be awake and when to go asleep. After all, it is affected by things like light, it is natural that light changes in duration, so perhaps it too is natural that our sleep changes in duration in synchronicity with the available day light. I begin to research this some and discover that, circadian rhythm sleep disorders are, according to Wikipedia:

a family of sleep disorders affecting, among other things, the timing of sleep. People with circadian rhythm sleep disorders are unable to sleep and wake at the times required for normal work, school, and social needs. They are generally able to get enough sleep if allowed to sleep and wake at the times dictated by their body clocks.

What? Doing what your body does naturally is labeled a disorder? Really? Who determines these "normal" times that one must awaken for school, work and social needs? Even more compelling is that Czeisler et al. at Harvard found the range for normal, healthy adults of all ages to be quite narrow: 24 hours and 11 minutes ± 16 minutes. The "clock" resets itself daily to the 24-hour cycle of the Earth's rotation.[1] Yet we have determined it best to trim the time from each day and add an extra day every 4 years. The bigger question is this: what is it that makes us impose rigid schedules on our bodies that are in tuned to the clock of nature? What is it within us that causes us to crave unnatural "cookie cutter days"?

What exactly would happen if I indulged our disorder natural sleep patterns? Would this impact our health? Studies have shown already that a disruption in circadian rhythms impact our cardiovascular and renal health. [2]

What about behavior? Could following one's natural sleep patterns positively impact behavior? Perhaps there is merit to experimenting with this, in the name of homeschool science, of course.

[1] Charles A. Czeisler MD, PhD (1999). "Human Biological Clock Set Back an Hour"

[2] Martino, T.A.; Oudit, G.Y.; Herzenberg, A.M.; et al. (May 2008). "Circadian rhythm disorganization produces profound cardiovascular and renal disease in hamsters". American Journal of Physiology. Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology 294 (5): R1675–83.

Minimalist Snow Running

2011-01-01T08:21:00.000-08:00

Last week the weather has cooperated with my getting to try running in my vibrams in the snow.

The day of the storm, I ran 2.6 miles. The snow was whipping me in the face both there and back. It was easy on my feet though as I ran through 3+" of fresh powder. When I was off the trial and back on the street I learned that the road salt will burn your feet. The next time you run it will burn your feet a second time if you don't wash out your shoes. My feet weren't cold until I hit that slush puddle in the crosswalk on the way home.

It was the next few days that became challenging. Warmer days and cold nights made the trail a lumpy hardpack of ice and slush. This was difficult to run on and I have sustained a minor injury to my right ankle when I landed wrong on an uneven patch of ice. Yet something interesting happened. My foot, not bound and paralized by tight shoes, was able to self correct. I felt strange and isolated movement within my foot and went on running instead of winding out sprawled out on the trail. Bonus.

The absolute best thing about wearing vibrams in the snow is the sasquatchesque footprints you leave behind you. You just cannot top that.

Strange Dream

2011-01-01T05:23:00.000-08:00

I was walking by the the diving board near my mom's pool. I nearly turned my ankle in a hole. I hole I determined was a groundhog hole. My parents are plagued with groundhogs. I do what ever it was I was doing and on the way back I pass the hole again. This time I hear sounds coming from the hole so I am going to fill it with the bricks and rocks I see nearby and trap the nasty little sucker in his hole. As I approach the hole I think there is a cat in there. I peer over the edge ready for a wild cat to come bounding out of the hole and scratch my eyes out and see there is a newborn human baby in there. So I take the baby out of the hole. I am trying to convince Bill that we are to keep this baby because clearly the mom didn't want him and now he's here and see God gave him to us. I nursed the baby and the baby settled down. Bill wanted to call the police and report finding the baby but I would have no such thing. I was coming up with a plan to pass of this baby as my own. So next thing you know I am at the liquor store near the Clinton Rite Aid to pick up a bottle of wine bc we are having someone over for dinner. Only its not the liquor store. It is but it isn't. Its like a liquor store I have never been in before in my life, because they sell locally brewed stuff only and handcrafted items and most things are on round tables of old dark wood throughout the store. No refridgerator cases or anything else that you normally see in a liquor store. I see these bottles of strawberry wine atop a mahogany table. There are two brands. One bottle is 19.99 and the other is 39.99. I am wondering what the difference is that could make a bottle of wine twice as expensive, especially since they are both locally brewed from local strawberries and neither is labeled as organic. My brain starts to hurt and so I look at the handcrafted item in the basket under the table. Knitted gloves. There is another customer looking at them and her and I both reach for the same pair. She gets ugly. I tell her she can have the gloves. She gives me a major whooping. I call 911 from my cell. I have her by the sleeve and won't let her go before the police arrive. When they do the store is completely transformed. All the liquor tables are gone and the shop is mostly empty. The first aid responder that is checking me out says we will have you out of here in no time because I didn't say anything to anyone about the assault rifles in the basement.

Conclusion: this is apparently what happens when I eat boneless buffalo wings at 9:30 at night.

2011 Goals

2010-12-31T04:38:00.000-08:00

As 2010 comes to a close and I relfect on the year past and the year ahead I compose my goals for 2011:

I would like to live intentionally, in the moment. The two biggest things that prevent me from doing so are planning ahead and catching up. I want to be in the season at the time of the season and reap all the things that season has to offer. I want our life to be fully integrated and seemless with regards to work, play and education. I want a more natural ebb and flow to our day and I want to learn what that means and what that looks like for this family.

I would like to become a calmer, quieter and gentler mommy and wife. I find myself far too often speaking to my kids in an unkind and loud way (bc they listen then!!!) and I don't like the way it sounds. I would like to keep my focus on Jesus even when things are chaotic and especially when they are not.

I would like to continue to learn more about making herbal medicines and actually make several more things for personal use. I will educate myself with on the use of 5 more herbs, and grow five herbs I have never before grown. The ultimate long-term goal here is to set myself up to be somewhat of a local herbalist.

I would like to continue to increase our home food production by growing more intensively, adding meat chickens, and propagating berry producing plants. I would like to offset the cost of poultry by possibly growing mealy worms or sprouting. I would like to maximize this effort by documenting through journaling, labeling, and blogging. I would eventually like to compile my experience into a book on suburban farming.

I would like to do at least one randomly nice thing for someone each weekly. I would like to be quiet enough to be attentive to opportunities to help others and to give to others all the time, not just when things are going well for me but especially when they are not.

I would like to continue my work in localizing food systems by opening another community garden.

I would like to read through the Bible in one year with a great group of people brought togehter by the woman of the metamorphasing moniker. I also plan to read through Deitrich Bonhoffer's Cost of Discipleship.

I would like to declutter both the attic and the basement and set measures to prevent them from becomming akin to the great abyss again.

Resurrecting The Butterfly

2010-12-30T08:10:00.000-08:00

The last year since I've blogged has been a year of uprooting and growth. It is now time to resurrect The Dancing Butterfly and make retrospective sense of the past many months. As 2010 draws to a close, I begin setting goals for the coming year. One goal for 2011 (and more on these goals later) is to keep a garden journal. I have been gardening for greater than a decade and have yet to wrote anything own, including labels for my plants. I actually attempted this once in the past but the journal became unusable after being left outside in an April rain. This will be the year that I write things own so that I remember what I have learned from my experience and so that I don't kill off sprouts below the soil surface by plopping another plant on top of them, so that I take the time to slow down and contemplate my experiences and write about them here. So that I can look back, laugh, cry and revel in the resurrection of The Dancing Butterfly.

and they call it progress

2009-08-21T05:51:00.000-07:00

Every so often I peruse the headlines. Today I saw three, one after the other, that caught my eye. The first,

Hiring freeze could hurt park programs in Hunterdon

and the second:

Hunterdon's third Walmart opens soon on former Flemington Fairgrounds, will hire 300

and the third:

Foster Wheeler eliminates 50 engineering jobs at Hunterdon County location

So we have eliminated high paying jobs and replaced them with six times more low paying jobs and we think this is good? The Walmart article says that they are having trouble finding enough employees. Yet, the parks department reports that they will need to compromise their summer programming because they are understaffed. All this in light of the unemployment rate in NJ is 9.3%, and those are just the people receiving unemployment, not the people whose benefits have run out and still have not found work.

Is another Walmart really needed? Does the import of plastic crap from China really merit the creation of 300 jobs? Why on earth does this business seem to be thriving while children's education is being compromised and demand for the boiler systems used in American energy systems has gone down? Are we not consuming more and more energy each day? Well something here doesn't add up and as usual Walmart is in the middle, or the top of it.

Let the Garden Begin

2009-08-14T12:02:00.001-07:00

Seems like a funny thing to be saying mid-August. Most people are eating the harvest, enjoying their tomatoes if the late season blight didn't obscure them from the face of the earth, and beginning to wonder when this year's first frost will be. Not I and a few others here in Hunterdon County; we have finally gotten the borough's approval to break ground on the community gardening project we started in February.

We have been given a less than ideal garden location. There is much shade, a bit wet (though everything is this year), and its tucked out of the way, not accessible by most residents without a motor vehicle. Tomorrow we begin to address our challenges.

Craving...

2009-07-26T10:16:00.000-07:00

Okay, so its no surprise that every pregnant women gets cravings. This time around it has been black cherries. By early May I began stalking the produce manager, sure that cherry season was just around the corner. I was eating dried cherries to keep my craving in check till then but what I really wanted was the juicy red sweet cherry.

Last week I visited my midwife for the first time. The first time at 19 weeks along because I fired my doctor. She put me on 2000 mg of vitamin C daily to build collagen to strengthen my amniotic sac.

I am one to pay close attention to cravings as I always say that your body knows what it needs. Well today I had some time to look into the nutritional content of my beloved cherry. I discovered that cherries are high in vitamin C and a flavonoid called anthocyanin, which gives cherries their red pigment. Anthocyanin also builds collagen.

Piglet vs. Child

2009-04-26T17:17:00.000-07:00

The book I am currently reading, Omnivore's Dilemma, briefly discusses a proponent for vegetarianism. The author quotes the work of another author, Peter Singer's Animal Liberation: "Equal consideration of interests is not the same as equal treatment. Children have an interest in being educated, pigs in rooting around in the dirt". I considered this and later yesterday afternoon I gazed upon this scene in my very own backyard and realized no matter how compelling to some, Singer has lost his argument with me.

Clearly, Singer has never met children like my children. Actually I wonder if he has ever met ANY children. Ever. And yet my husband has been asking me, why do you let them do that? Why are the girls allowed to dig holes in the yard and fill them with mud? I wanted to respond with some witty homeschool mom comment ala Charlotte Mason about how they were learning their place in the world by interacting with their environment. Instead I told him the truth. They are quiet when they do this and they leave me alone so that I can actually think for several consecutive minutes before being asked to hose them off.

Unnatural Childhood

2009-03-28T05:32:00.000-07:00

The other day I was in the local grocery store and I saw two women with a group of 4 and 5 year olds, touring the grocery store with a store employee. I quickly realized that they were there on a daycare tour and that this was meant to educate them on the things they would have learned on trips to the supermarket with Mom. The store employee asked the children, "Do you know what this is?", as she held up various fruits and vegetables. The were able to recognize the apple. Beyond that, blank stares that were clearly indicative of the prepared food frenzy these children were likely served when their parents rush home to get them from daycare, feed them and send them off to bed. That thought haunted me as I continued shopping -- the majority of children don't recognize foods in their natural form. I caught up with them in the meat aisle as I unsuccessfully looked for ground turkey that did not have added natural flavoring. The store employee held up a package of beef. Do you know what this is? Its beef. Beef comes from a cow. Blank stares. Is beef healthy for you? "Probably not with all those antibiotics and hormones in it", I thought.

Just a Bit of Sibling Rivalry

2009-02-07T16:25:00.000-08:00

We have been dealing with a huge issue of sibling rivalry between my first and third born. Its been quite bad for a year. Ask if you might, how I know its been a year. My first born is turning ten next month. Last year her third born sibling REFUSED to wish her a happy birthday. Flat. Out. Refused. And thus started the feud that left me in tears Thursday afternoon. My first born, however, apparently left wonderful documentation for me. While cleaning her room today I found an innocent written book with, "This Book is About When Your Sister or Brother Gets on your Nerves and How to Stop it". So, I opened to find this:

Chapter One

If your a person putting up with crap from your sister or brother this is what I did.

1st Pour water on sheets
2nd Pour vinegar on pillow
3rd Put marbles in pillow case
4th Mess up drawers
6th Dirty room badly
7th Make faces at them until they get upset and tell on you then tell your mom you have no idea what he or she is talking about
8th If they have a curtains, tie a string or something to it so when they walk past it falls on them.
9th Get a glass of water and dump it on them and say you did it on accident
10th Put glue on pillow not so much but some
11 Put stink bugs on ceiling
12 Pour salt on bed
13 Lock door first go in it unless you can open it from outside of room
14 If at your siblings best friend's say something embarrassing
15 trip them while walking with water
16 tell the boy or girl they have a crush on that they have one
17 tips don't tell mom about book
18 if your sister harasses you DO WHAT THE BOOK SAYS! Thank you.
19 Don't get fooled by them if they are nice the next day. Its a trick. Trust me on this I have been doing this for a year. but she has improved a little. Well a lot from when we started.
20 if she's just mean start one at a time if a brat do it all every day for a month

Thank you for reading
I hope your sibling improves

P.S. This is so not a joke. I wish it were.

Happy &$%#^% Groundhog Day

2009-02-02T16:53:00.000-08:00

Let the truth be known. I hate groundhogs. Absolutely loathe them. They are destructive little theives, the terrorist of summer, the fat ugly ogres of the harvest.

Here are some facts about groundhogs:

- lethal gas to the groundhog hole has proven to be an effective means of control, only some municipalities do not allow such a measure to be employed.

- groundhogs are carriers of tick-borne illnesses.

- groundhogs are carriers of rabies.

- groundhogs prolifically produce a litter 5 to 9 of equally as dispicable offspring.

Pay it Forward

2009-02-02T15:42:00.000-08:00

I decided to participate in a Pay it Forward …

here's the deal:

the first 4 people to leave a comment on this post will receive, at some point during the year, a handmade gift your truly. What it will be and when it will arrive is a total surprise!The catch is that you must participate as well: before you leave your comment here, write up a pay it forward post on your blog to keep the fun going. Then come back, let me know you’re going to play, and sit back and anticipate the arrival of your gift! Remember that only the first 4 comments will receive a gift from me, so be quick!I love that this is a crafty, hand made gift and that it encourages others to participate, so it is open to everyone, no matter the country as long as you Pay it Forward in your own way.

The Entirely Unofficial Hunterdon Free^y^cle A List

2009-01-17T10:48:00.000-08:00

I started this list because I became fed up with free^y^lers that didn't show up for their stuff.

caheerjeavons@yahoo.com

Colene@jhadoption.org

dmclark21@comcast.net

gerryc1916@aol.com

Kahluhagirl@hotmail.com

khuff4242@yahoo.com

kircaldy007@comcast.net

loiseileen@embarqmail.com

minimama73@yahoo.com

redsjohn@yahoo.com

shadden2@earthlink.net

tamarajpark@yahoo.com

If you are a Hunterdon county free^y^ler drop me an email making_footprints@yahoo.com and I will put their names up here. Hope this works as a good reference for you guys!

Only in America

2008-11-28T18:14:00.000-08:00

Only in America do we support a system that kills its supporters. No, I'm not talking about Big Tobacco, though it would be yet another glimmering example. I talking about Corporate America and Consumers. Most of you have already heard about the Wal Mart worker trampled to death. How did this happen? The people who had been allowed by Wal Mart to start gathering at the door 7 hours earlier, through the wee hours of the morning, clearly were not making good decisions. After standing on line for SEVEN HOURS who does make good decisions. (Why did Wal Mart knowingly allow this, by the way?) Add that the media hype over Black Friday. Someone had to brainwash people into thinking it was a good idea to line up outside any store in freezing temperatures, with no access to bathrooms and food, overnight. Nobody would come up with that on their own. Sorry. Yet the advertising geniuses (who, trust me, were tucked in soundly in their beds while this young man lost his life for what was a close to minimum wage job) managed to whip up the masses with too good to be true offers. And after 7 hours of standing in the freezing cold, the people waiting at the door see a man and get taken up in mob mentality, rush the doors and end that poor guy's life. Take the Wal Mart challenge -- I urge anyone who has made a purchase at Wal Mart today to RETURN YOUR MERCHANDISE ASAP and do not shop there the rest of the holiday season! Send Wal Mart, the Media and the rest of Corporate America the message that we will not be manipulated. 'Tis the season to see corporate giants fall and return our economy to the little guy.

Freaky Moon

2008-11-12T16:47:00.000-08:00

Last night as we were leaving the grocery store the windshield of the truck was filled with a bright full moon, blurred by swirling clouds. My 5 year old remarks to my three year old, “Look at that freaky moon, and mom is driving RIGHT INTO IT!!!” Well, would you know that freaky moon followed us home? Cries of, "that freaky moon is chasing us" drowned out the radio. And when they got inside they let dad know that the freaky moon was waiting. RIGHT. OUT. SIDE.
Here's the Freaky Moon lying in wait in our back yard.

A Nature Hike

2008-11-11T16:52:00.000-08:00

Today we took a nature hike up the columbia trail and then we headed down the trail that leads to the waterfall over the Lake Solitude dam.

There has been much to do lately about turning this into a hydro-electric plant. I hope this will decrease the tax burden for this small town. We pay nearly tripple in property tax as the neighboring towns. We continued to follow the trail, which was marked, down to its end, which ended behind some old buildings behind the steel mill. There were some old buildings. Then we stopped by the park and the dizzy dog had fun:

A Thoughful Friend

2008-11-10T22:00:00.000-08:00

A sweet friend of mine cheered my day (Hi Cheryl!) by giving me these this evening. I just love the colors. They remind me that no matter how cold the winter gets, spring is just around the corner.

Bunny Lactation Consulting

2008-11-08T04:14:00.000-08:00

When we had our baby bunnies, only one of four survived. The mom had stopped nursing them and was running from them and nipping at them every time she tried to nurse. I thought to put lansinoh on her but she nipped at me as soon as I touched her there so I abandoned the idea and let nature take its course. I could feel that momma was engourged and I searched the internet for what to do and discoverd that bottle feeding is almost impossible with bunnies. At the recommendation of few sites I got some goats milk and tried anyway. The one bunny that was strong enough to persue her momma relentlessly in search of milk is the only one that survived. A friend of mine's bunnies also had bunnies (hi Kim!!!) and the mom was doing the same thing. One poor bunny persued her around the enclosure only to have mom hop away as soon as she latched on. Well this poor momma was well on her way to being engourged too, so we did what any rational people would do let, ~~nature take its course~~ hold the momma down and let the bunnies nurse.

Apparently there is a favorite nipple worth fighting over.

Fiber Friends!

2008-11-03T13:05:00.001-08:00

We now have two new fiber friends, Sage and Rowland. It took more than 2 hours to groom them today. This was the result of their grooming --

-- 2 bags of fiber and a whole lot of matted and felted fur.

They are quite possibly the kindest and gentlest bunnies I have ever met. Though it was tedious removing the matted fur around their faces, at some parts matted to the skin, they did not nip, even once. I just need to work on my stylist skills a bit before the next shearing.

This is Rowland:

and this is Sage:

I have learned some things about angora bunnies today.

-- Don't groom them indoors.

-- Keep a close eye on the scissors.

-- Do not wear black velvet pants while near these bunnies.

-- Angora fiber is lighter than air.

Lily of the Valley Fairy

2008-10-31T08:40:00.000-07:00

Fairy maybe but that kid still has a face only her momma could love.

The Power of Information

2008-10-30T12:13:00.000-07:00

I believe in disclosure. I believe that people have the right to make choices based on the information they receive. I believe that people should be given all the information. Recently a law was passed requiring supermarkets to disclose the country of origin on all their produce. Two weeks ago, I passed up the garlic noting that it had been grown in China. I did not ~~need~~ trust Chinese garlic, particularly since some of it was going to be eaten raw in hummus. So I did not buy the Chinese garlic. Yesterday I noticed the garlic had a new sign next to the price. Product of the USA. Granted that's just a small change, however it proves that consumer pressure can cause even large supermarkets to yield.

Fooling With Felt

2008-10-29T17:16:00.001-07:00

I have found a new ~~hobby~~ obsession -- needle felting. Now my first attempts were laughed at by my family and called zombie, mummie and soft sculptures of Van Gogh's The Scream. I had never held a felting needle before but after they all went home I vastly improved my technique. So first here are the gnomes:

And then, coming soon for Christmas are the Wise Old Woods Queen and her husband the Woods King with unicorn. I will also be making a prince and princess and of course the little sister princess.

Now I am glad to have some things to populate the wood castle that I found at a yard sale for $15. The exact same one is here for much more. I just love being able to give my kids things I never would have been able to buy for a gift!

Now, those of you who read my blog know I like to recycle and that I never, ever pay full price for stuff, and this too affects my needle felting. Most people use expensive wool roving. However, I use recycled wool. Some of it I have found in thrift shops as balls of wool and some I have found in thrift shops as wool sweaters, ugly and ready to be un-knitted.

Yoghurt and Cheese and Bread...OH MY!

2008-10-22T17:00:00.000-07:00

With rising grocery costs we've been getting creative with food. A friend of mine was kind enough to give me some of her yoghurt start (thanks Kim!!!). She got it from a friend in California (we're in NJ) and her friend in CA's family took it with them when they escaped Lebanon in the 80s.

So first step make 1 gallon milk into yoghurt. This is easy (again thanks to Kim!!!). Bring one gallon of milk just to a boil. Do this carefully as it will boil quickly and wildly foam out of control all over the stove and take hours to clean, but I digress. Once to a boil, remove from heat. Stir in a package of non fat dry milk. This is optional. It makes it creamier. Then let it sit until it is cool enough to put your pinky finger in for 10 seconds. Stir in 3 T start (or you can use plain commercial yoghurt). Pour into two quart size jars, and pour the remainder into a glass pitcher. Put someplace warm for 6 hours.

Sweeten the two quart size jars with vanilla extract and honey. Add some sea salt to the pitcher. Line a collander with cheese cloth (doubled) or unbleached muslin (single layer). Put the collander within a bowl to catch the whey. Pour pitcher into lined collander. Top collander with a plate and put the whole shebang, bowl, collander and plate into the fridge for about 12 hours. The liquid that collects in the bottom is whey. Pour off the whey into a jars and seal tightly. You will need this for your bread.

I have discovered how to make 100 % whole wheat bread in my breadmaker that myhusband will eat (he likes the texture of store bought bread). It is light andfluffy and yummy. The secret is whey. Here's the how to:

Put the following in breadmaker and use whole wheat setting, light crust is best:

3/4 cup whey
1/4 cup + 2T water (hot water if your whey is cold from the fridge, otherwiseroom temp)
2T canola oil
2T molasses or honey
2T vital wheat gluten
3 c whole wheat flour
1t sea salt
2t yeast

So for the cost of 1 gallon milk, I have 2 quarts yoghurt, a crock full of cream cheese, and the ability to make whole grain bread that is not dense.

Come On and Take a Free Ride!

2008-10-19T13:31:00.000-07:00

Anyone who has read my blog knows I love free stuff. Even more than getting something free, which is always a thrill, I love GIVING something away for free. (Just ask my local freecycle moderators!) Well, if you are in the Hunterdon County NJ area on November 1, 2008, come on and take a free ride on South Branch Community Chapel. Our good friends at The Inflation Station have donated their wild inflatables for us to give free rides to the community. Its totally free, we're all volunteers, and don't worry about it being a church thing -- nobody is going to preach at you. Hope to see you there!

Pax Exitus

2008-10-18T07:26:00.000-07:00

That's my version of the Latin *Peace Out*. Today I experienced this literally. My husband is on his way back from bringing Pax, my golden retriever, best friend for thirteen years, my loyal companion who lay at my feet all those times I was unfit for human companionship, to go to the place where all good dogs go. I am unconsolable. I cannot believe this dog, less than a week a go, walked two miles with me. He outlived all his littermates, and for a golden, lived a nice long life. But I miss him terribly. My husband is back now, $262 and one dog less. He said he perked up when they got there, jumped out of the truck and wagged his tail and wanted to play.

Energetic Ideas…

2008-10-10T17:12:00.001-07:00

One reader asked me with what ideas I came away from the Energy Festival. That can be summed up in one word: community. I felt an overwhelming urgency to work together with my community to obtain alternative energy, to produce our own food, to support each other, to help each other, to grow together. Now honestly, I have a few neighbors with whom I could see this working, a few with whom we are already living like this, a few that could care less, and a few that would likely reject such ideas outright. In reaction to this, I have been more active in seeking out opportunities to help out my neighbors, to get to know them, to talk to them less and listen to them more. An amazing thing has happened in my trying to be a blessing to them – they are going out of their way to be kind to me! One has dropped off firewood, another a few bags of clothing she came across for my girls, another bringing some garden scraps for our momma bunny. Hmmm….could this be catching on?

Fall Fiber Festival

2008-10-04T16:07:00.000-07:00

I thought of my two friends, Jilly and Rachel at today's fall fiber festival.

The girls had fun. I learned how to knit. Well sort of. I hope I can remember it. Now I just need to figure out how to start something. Well maybe. I resisted the urge to buy wool as I know my mom is buying me some and some felting needles for my birthday. However, I did get myself some heavy duty hand lotion.

There was a petting zoo though the turkey was quite grumpy. Guess someone's a little too keeping track of the calendar these days...

The girls got to try their hand at what Salamander calls "balding the sheep".

Another Good Day at the Curb Shop...

2008-10-03T18:23:00.000-07:00

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Those boots are merrells and the birds are happy to see another feeder go up since they are nearly done with our sunflower heads.

Bonus Bunnies

2008-10-01T18:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning my daughter came in from feeding the bunnies screaming and jumping. Why all the fuss? It seems that the bunny we got Tabitha as an early birthday present came with bonus bunnies.

Feelin' Some Good Energy!

2008-09-22T18:05:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I attended the PA Energy Festival for the first time.

The first thing that I noticed was the feeling of unity and peace that was about possibly the most diverse crowd I have ever found myself within. There were Muslims seated next to Mennonites. I saw people of ethnicities I recognized and those of ethinicities I did not know, nor had I seen before. There were newborn babies worn by their moms up to elderly couples that walked hand in hand. The Vegan Society co-existed in the sight of the 4H organically raised sheep for auction.

Most people attending shared a common goal: to tread lightly on the earth. Topics ranged from making your own biodiesel to protecting children from consumerism. Throughout each seminar and speaker common threads of real relationships, community, respect, and changed lives dominated this beautiful tapestry.

Kicking the Paper Habit - Part II

2008-07-23T04:21:00.000-07:00

Back by popular demand in my inbox, more advice on kicking the paper (and plastic) habit: get your own shopping bags. Many grocery stores, including my local Shop-rite, give you a nickel off every time you use a cloth bag. Several stores make bags available for purchase, but buyer beware. I noticed that a certain chain grocer sells bags that are “manufactured with 100% post-consumer recycled content” and are made in China. Umm….huh? Apparently these things are here for my congreenience(tm). Notice they say manufactured with not from 100% post-consumer recycled content. That means they contain SOME recycled content. More alarming, however, is that we are importing MORE PLASTIC from China in the name of being green. I wonder what executive made that decision? Hello big grocery corporation with your name so neatly stamped on the bottom of your bag, I am paying attention!

Note: I did not buy this bag from A&P. I did purchase it at the thrift shop for a mere quarter.
I have made my own bags from, that’s right FROM, 100% recycled post-consumer waste, that is, other people’s discarded drapes.

These bags are easy to make. Find some old fabric -- old drapes, blankets, and upholstery are very sturdy choices. Now, cut two rectangles of your desired size. This will be the front and back of your bag. I have used lined drapes which make for an extra strong bag and look nicely finished too. Next cut two rectangles, one with the height being the same as the height of your front/back pieces and the width being about 6 or 8 inches. These are your sides. Cut a final rectangle for the bottom that is the width of your front/back and the height being the same as the width of your sides. Now, sew the front and back to the bottom, then sew the sides to the bottom, and sew the sides to the front and backs. Fold down the top, turn it under and sew a hem around it. Then you can attach your handles, just cut a length of fabric, sew it in a tube, turn it inside out and turn under the edges and sew onto your bag however you would like your handles. There you go, a funky shopping bag in 30 minutes or less.

Now if you are not inclined to sew, you can still get good shopping bags at yard sales in thrift shops for less than 50 cents:

For those of you not in the know (and I am counted among you – I looked it up) Wine Spectator is a magazine for exclusive wine connoisseurs. Don’ t you just love the irony! And the little Lands’ End tote pictured here is amazing – it is quite sturdy and holds more cans than any plastic or paper grocery bag ever could. In fact, it can hold four 29 ounce cans of tomato sauce AND six 16 ounce cans of beans.

Lesson Learned? Read the fine print people. Green might be the new black but some shades of green are blacker than they seem.

Hope you are inspired to kick the paper habit one product at a time!

Congreenience (TM)

2008-07-22T18:14:00.000-07:00

Congreenience: Con ∙ green ∙ ience (kuhn-green-yuhns) noun 1. Having the quality of seeming environmentally correct and being readily available to the mass population 2. Thinly veiled attempts by Corporate America to appear green in order to lure customers into buying other things they do not need.

The term congreenience is a trademark and the intellectual property of Sandy Westermann and may not be used without prior written permission and due credit to its owner. Not trying to get all weird about it but the last thing I want is some corporation getting hold of this and making money off my word. Coin your own words, Corporate America.

Kickin' the Paper Habit

2008-07-16T12:06:00.000-07:00

We are a nation with at least two destructive habits, and I am not even talking about drugs, alcohol or cigarettes. We are a nation with an insatiable appetite for oil and paper, however oil is a topic for another day. The typical American household uses many paper products: paper cups, paper napkins, paper tissues, taper towels, toilet paper, paper grocery bags, paper lunch bags, disposable diapers, disposable feminine hygiene items, and the list goes on. Now there are disposable cleaning pads for your disposable floor cleaner, disposable wash cloths, disposable toilet paper liners.

We are not a paper using family with two exceptions: toilet paper and feminine hygiene products. My husband objects to the letting go of the former, though there truly are some viable solutions. I have simply not had the time to experiment with the latter, though I plan to one day. Gross, you might be thinking, but here's the alternative: the bulk of feminine hygiene products wind up in landfills, perhaps the very landfill upon which your house is built. We do not know how long these items take to decompose in a landfill as one has yet to do so.

That said, I am not expecting anyone to make that drastic of a change... not yet anyway. An easy way one can reduce their paper consumption and landfill contribution is to start using cloth napkins. Besides being an environmentally responsible choice, cloth napkins are pretty. We use only cotton or linen napkins. They are very absorbent and can be used to quickly wipe up anything your kids can spill before it hits the floor. No more running for wads of paper towels. No more ruining everyone else's napkins when a spill occurs. (I happen to know this first hand.) Cloth napkins are easy to launder and fold. I just toss them in with our daily laundry, give them a stiff shake, and hang them on the line to dry. I have started halving them over the clothesline like this:

This method causes me to do one less fold and makes a nice crease. When folded I store them in a basket next to our dishes.

Hope you are inspired to kick the paper habit, one paper product at a time.

Somtimes Half Can be Bad...

2008-07-15T04:35:00.000-07:00

There was a TV commercial to that effect several years ago. I don't remember what they were selling, only that the words returned to my head the minute I heard my daughter ask, "Can I keep her?", as she picked up a tattered, fluttering mess from the road.

Oh yes. Half can be bad. Especially when you are a butterfly. From what we can surmise, she was hit by a car, half her wings remained in tatters on the gravel of the unpaved road. After a steady diet of sugar water administered by qtip she managed to hang on for several days.

Children in the Garden - Part I

2008-06-08T18:33:00.000-07:00

So its been a month since I posted -- I have been gardening. Deal with it. I am simply unavailable for several weeks once the frost date passes. One morning two weeks ago I noticed how beautiful my blooming clematis was and went to photograph it.

I'm sure glad I did bc next thing you know, in walks my 4 year old thinking she's all that with a pretty flower tucked in her hair.

Sheesh.

International Guerrilla Sunflower Day!

2008-05-02T17:25:00.000-07:00

We kicked off our venture in Guerrilla Gardening by breaking ground on International Guerrilla Sunflower Day. Several weeks ago we selected this spot to begin:

Now I didn't have seeds but I do have hundreds of seedlings sprouting up everywhere so we dug them up and transplanted them in that fresh poison-ivy-free dirt right near the utility pole.

Since the morning glories seeded themselves too, we brought some of those along as well an put them in right near the sunflowers. I was a bit nervous as we don't go anywhere unnoticed. Right next to this spot is a historic hotel turned apartment building -- George Washinton is said to have slept there. We were not there five minute when the first tenant appeared, a young Phillipino family whom we had met them several weeks earlier while on a walk. I felt I needed to explain what we were doing so I told them we were planting flowers. They were thrilled. Then a few moments later another tennant appears and asks, "No dogs today?" See we do NOT travel incognito with this many people. So he comes over and introduces himself as I stand there, shovel in hand, again feeling compelled to explain what we are doing. I tell him too that we plan to put pots of plants up on the cement landing once we get the decayed leaves, poison ivy and garbage cleared off. I inquire about a barrel lying on the side of his builing (thinking some squash or tomatoes would grow great in there) and he pull it out of the weeds for me AND cuts it! Who would have thought -- the first day and already people are getting involved. I am encouraged and excited and I am thinking how many people could I really feed if I were to obtain enough pots to really fill this area? Could this be the start of a community garden? There is a lot to be said for loving your neighbor.

Today's Garden Department Specials

2008-04-29T07:01:00.000-07:00

That's right, more curb shopping. Apparently today the Garden Department of the Curb Shop was just GIVING stuff away!

Now see that big bin on the bottom? I can expand my red wigglers. Who knows where the top two bins will end up being used. Probably to hold books. And the stars? Oh somewhere on the patio wall will be great. Now, I have saved the best for last and without any further ado...the rustic bench.

Is this thing cool or what? Perfect for the garden.

Rainy Day Visitor

2008-04-29T06:45:00.000-07:00

When returning from our morning walk we found this handsome guy on the side of our road.

He is the Eastern Box Turtle (Terrepene carolina carolina). These poor fellows are suffering greatly from lack of appropriate habitat. Too much of their woodlands no longer exist and they are killed off in large numbers by cars, pets, and, unfortunately, people who take them in with no idea of how to care for a turtle. We took him away from the road (increasing his chances of survival) and set him down near our little pond. He did not seem to like it here as we saw him heading out of our yard a few hours later. Perhaps we will see him again next year.

UPDATE: Our neighbor (she's just not the type of girl to touch a turtle) just came to the door so we could rescue this guy from the road again. We put him back in our yard. I have thought of relocating him but I have read that they like to stay in the same territory from the time they are born. Looks like we'll have to be extra careful on the road.

Girls and Boys...its All the Same

2008-04-22T05:56:00.000-07:00

This picture and little post is for my dear friend on the West Coast (you know who you are). Little girls climb trees too. Even little 4 year old girls.

The Pupa

2008-04-12T17:51:00.000-07:00

Here's an intesting find of yesterday's strawberry planting project -- the pupa, and what a large pupa he...or she...is.

Okay, that *is* a six-year-old hand, but still. After several minutes were spent tickling the poor pupa and making it sqirm, came the inevitable chorus of, "can we keep him"? So we made a nice home for him, burried him back in some nice loose, black garden dirt, like were we found him, and placed a stick in his cage so that when hatched he may crawl up and dry his wings.

My experience with these things (yes, I am crazy, I do have experience in these things) tells me this is the pupa of a moth, a large moth. We actually found one quite a bit larger than this a few weeks ago but a certain child "forgot"where she put it. Note to self: keep mouth shut when sleeping.

Now we must remember to keep our dear moth-to-be well watered and moist. Drying out is a grave danger to pupae in captivity.

Stupor Mundi...

2008-04-11T04:05:00.000-07:00

...Wonder of the World, goes the Latin saying. Sunday evening my life changed drastically. Meet Cooper Mundi, 80-something pounds of fur and muscle, the latest addition to our family.

Getting this pooch to be still long enough to take his picture was no small feat. This dog honestly touches more things he's not supposed to than my 2 year old, and he is much bigger than her. He can swipe things off my kitchen countertops with all 4 paws on the ground...and he is still growing. He came to us with the name Cooper and my 9 year old Latin student decided Cooper Mundi was a good fit -- he does wander about in all the wonder of a toddler. One of us was less than happy to welcome Cooper into the family. Pax is a little old (11) to tollerate 24-7 of His Puppiness.

Honey, Did you Let the Worms Out?

2008-04-06T16:35:00.000-07:00

No that is not a typo. The dogs are in, the worms are out. Today we removed the worms from their winter lair, the hall closet.

Many people have come through our hallway since we brought them in from the cold in late October, completely unsuspecting that they were passing a writhing mass of red wigglers (eisenia fetida). There is of course one child who likes to “see people’s faces” when she tells them that “worms live in her closet”, so the winterized worms have not been completely covert. We started our vermicomposting bin last September. This is what I have learned:

It is not easy to find the happy medium between fruit flies/smell and hungry worms. I would much rather err on the side of hungry worms.
The cool, damp air space between the bottoms of the bins is preferred by the occasional cave centipede. Truth be told these things are just plain creepy and I only saw one but still I have heard they can give a nasty sting so I thought it worth mentioning.
Apparently our worms reproduced in captivity, though I was unable to determine if any of the pieces of matter were eggs. Little baby worms are very small.

Now it is obvious we did not feed them enough. There was not nearly as much castings as I had hoped for. So today we made more bedding of torn cardboard and leaf litter and gave them a fresh meal. I am thinking they need to have food thrice weekly.

Preparing a worm farm is easy. We use two large containers, one which fits inside the other. We put bricks as spacers between the two containers and drill the inside container with small drainage holes. Within the small container we put shredded cardboard, old dry leaves, and a handful of sand (though gritty dirt will work as well). Mix it all through and wet it till its is quite moist but not dripping and there you have it.

If your worms are happy they will not attempt to escape. We have never had an escapee. Note, worms do not like oak leaves and they do not like citrus and tomatoes. These create an environment too acidic for worms and they will try to get out. Feed your worms small amounts as your colony builds. We cover the inside container with a piece of cloth which has eliminated fruit flies. If you start to notice an odor, you are feeding them too much. If you chop your vegetable matter into smaller pieces the worms will eat it faster.

The Randomness of it All...

2008-04-05T18:27:00.000-07:00

I have been tagged by my friend Jilly. These are the rules:

1. Link to the person’s blog who tagged you.
2. Post these rules on your blog.
3. List seven random and/or weird facts about yourself
4. Tag seven random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
5. Let each person know that they have been tagged by posting a comment on their blog.

Seven random things about me.

1. I hate plastic and I have even before they determined it to be bad for you and before children made it a safety issue I used to remove medication from their plastic bottles and put it in pretty glass or tin containers.

2. I don't watch tv.

3. My life seems sureal at times -- I never thought I'd have 4 children.

4. I am crazy enough to want more children.

5. I always root for the underdog. Always.

6. It is very difficult for me to wear synthetic fabrics. I kinda think they are like plastic.

7. I like wearing wool sweaters.

Okay now send this on to what 5 no 7 more people? Huh? But Jilly aready sent it to all the people that I know that have blogs. Looks like the buck stops here.

Save NJ Parks

2008-04-05T10:25:00.000-07:00

Today we exercised our right to assemble peacfully in protest of Govenor Corzine's proposal to close 9 of New Jersey's parks. There were hundreds of people, old and young gathered outside of Round Valley State Park. Here's the youngest and possibly cutest protester (and no she's not mine -- thanks JW!):

We were addressed by Senator Lance and Assemblywoman Karrow (gotta love her) who gave us their support and vowed to fight against Corzine's plan to close state parks.

If you are a NJ resident I strongly urge you to sign the petition to recall Corzine. He showed disregard for the safety of NJ when he travelled 90 on the Parkway and continues to disregard our well being by taking away our parks where we go to enjoy fresh air and nature. Just go to http://www.recallcorzinenow.com/ and download and print a petition. Don't forget to have your neighbors sign.

Hushing the Household Buzz

2008-04-02T16:34:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest contributors to household stress is noise. Our homes have just become too noisy. Several years ago our dishwasher broke down. Fatally. We did not have money to replace it and I told my husband I would see how I could get on without instead of worrying about how to replace it. The first thing I noticed was how quiet it was after supper without the noise of that contraption. Secondly I noticed that it didn’t take me any longer to wash the dishes by hand than it did to scrape them, rinse them, load them into the washer, fill the soap dispenser, unload the dishwasher and wash by hand the one or two items that just didn’t come clean. Over the next several years I discovered many noise making, stress causing, energy suckers that we could and do live without. Ironically, many of these items are marketed by the masterminds in advertising as time saving, cannot LIVE without items:

Dishwasher – getting rid of this item can lower your electric bill, lower your water consumption (especially if you use the gray water from your dishes to water your garden), and contribute to the peace of your home.
Clothes dryer – getting rid of your dryer will lower your electric bill drastically. Clothes can be line dried in the summer and dried on racks within the home in the winter. You will also save water as you will be more discriminating in washing only things that are truly dirty if you KNOW you will have to take the care to dry the items. Having your children help hang the clothes to dry drastically reduces the amount of clean clothes that wind up on the floor or in the laundry. Forget the fabric softener too, its mostly chemicals that the water supply can do without. Instead fill your softener dispenser with vinegar. That’s right, plain old cheap white vinegar. This deodorizes clothing, and reduces the “stiffness” of line dried clothes.
Video games and toys with batteries. If it can play by itself then we don’t need it. Interaction and creativity are superior toys.
Microwave oven – the safety of these things are debatable in many ways. And it hums. And bings. Those are contenders for the most annoying noises in the world.

The other night I heard the spring peepers down by the river calling for their mates. Years ago this would have been drowned out by the dryer, the dishwasher, and *hum-bing* of my tea water being heated in the microwave.

Never Mind the Milk...Got Green?

2008-03-26T17:37:00.000-07:00

The BEST Green Smoothie Recipe Ever.... even your 2 year old will love it!

5-6 oz spinach
2 apples, cored not pealed
1 or 2 bananas
1/2 cantelope
1 cup raspberries
1 cup blueberries
1 cup strawberries
1/4 cup pure cherry juice

Make my recipe, link people to my recipe, but please DON'T steal my recipe and take credit for it yourself -- that would be mean!

And Finally...

2008-03-26T17:25:00.000-07:00

The Borough has finally made efforts to remove MOST of the material from the leaf dump. After speaking with Councilwoman Hughes, I returned to the dump to ensure this was done. Some of the material remained, which was disappointing. While there I caught a local landscaper dumping materials.

These people should not be there -- they are not residents of High Bridge. The dump is for residential, not commercial use. Not only that, but they appear to have dumped prohibited materials that will cost the High Bridge taxpayers moneyto dispose of properly.

Disappointing Follow-up

2008-03-19T05:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I returned to the borough leaf dump to see if the marials were removed as promised. The borough administrator told me he would have them removed from the dump. He shook my hand. He looked me in the eye. I asked him if I had his word and he said yes. I was disappointed to see that the materials were not removed, but rather bulldozed into the piles of good organic materials .

You can see the fresh bulldozer tracks in the mud and their attempt to conceal their illegal dumping they uncovered the old bourough commons sign, lying upsidedown in on the right side of the above picture. However, our much beloved Season's Greatings from High Bridge sign was burried but still visible:

It seems that someone thinks that if you bury something deep enough it will go away. You can see in the left side of this photo that the poisnous lead paint is chipping off to be included in the mulch that people put on the gardens from which they feed their children. Ironically we live in a world where foreign toy manufacturers are forced to recall millions of toys and small town officials can knowingly poison their residents.

I went to borough hall again and was assured that the offending items would be sorted out prior to mulching. I was not informed of any intent to remove chips of lead paint from the mulch. About an hour later I returned to the dump to take some more photos and I passed the department of public work's bulldozer leaving the commons. I tried to snap his picture but I was driving. This time they managed to deeply bury the poisons they illegally dumped.

There is honestly no need for this. There is a transfer station less than 5 miles away where such materials could be disposed of properly. It seems the borough did a whole lot of unnecessary work to bury these materials when it would have been easier to remove them AS THEY PROMISED.

Illegal Dumping by Borough Administration

2008-03-18T04:48:00.000-07:00

Last week I visited our town's leaf dump and was appalled to discover the borough itself is illegally dumping here. For more than a year now I have been photo-documenting the illegal dumping problem. The organic matter of the leaf dump is ground into mulch for the residents. This is the sign posted on the only enterence to the leaf dump:

This is a wondeful thing my town does, however, if there is no control over the toxic materials being dumped there, this becomes environmentally devistating. As the residents apply this toxic material to their gardens, certainly it winds up on their dinner plates. Not only that, this dump site is uphill from the South Branch of the Raritan River, a stocked trout stream. Rain run-off from the dumpsite is further poluting the river as well as the fish that are deemed safe to eat by the state. Now, when we drove into the dump last Friday, this is what I saw:

Clearly, this is prohibited by the the borough's own ordinances. It is a sad day indeed when the borough does not care about the imact its collective actions have on the community. Not only that, the violator of this ordinance should be subject to fines, jail time and community service. Now upon discovering this I spoke with an emloyee of Public Works and he confirmed to me that they were ordered to empty the contents of the borough garage and deposit them in the dump. He referred me to the borough adminstrator, who I visited with four muddy kids in tow after leaving the dump. At first the borough did not seem to take my complaint seriously. I brought up that this huge sign was painted in 1962 and contained lead paint.

This is when the administrator promised to have the offending material removed from the dump site. I am certain that the borough does not have the appropriate permits to be dumping toxic materials there.

I will be checking back soon to see if this has been remedied. I am organizing a citizen's action group to police the leaf dump and promote public awareness of the illegal dumping here and other places in town. Please email me making_footprints@yahoo.com if you are a resident and you would like to be part of the citizen's action group to address illegal dumping. Just because it is what it is, doesn't mean we have to put up with it!

The Water Brigade

2008-03-14T06:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we planted three trees: 2 apple and one almond. We watered them in using rainwater we collected from our gutter downspout. Right now our system primative. We remove the water using a pitcher from the rain barrels and the girls dump the pitcher into buckets on the wagon an drag the wagon to where ever needs water. Our rainbarrels, btw, are recycled water softener tanks. My husband (the plumber and source of the used water softener tanks) wanted to rig up some fancy pumping system and even scavenged up a pump for me. Nice, but my objection to it is that it would use electricity. So I asked the plumber if he could kindly install a valve at the bottom of the container to which I could attach a hose and allow gravity to pump the water. He promises to do this as soon as I have one of the barrels empty.

Trash to Treasure

2008-03-11T03:44:00.001-07:00

Last week I pulled this from the trash. It looked nice and sturdy.

A little paint, and here you go: Okay this look a bit blurry but I am messing up my pictures bc I am not used to this new software. Ah...the new computer blues.

The Garden Cheat

2008-03-10T18:18:00.000-07:00

My frost free date is May 1 but I cannot wait so long to garden and we need to be outside, feeling the sun and the wind, and on some days, the rain, on our skin. So our first little cheat was March 2, a full 2 months before these seeds were supposed to hit the earth. We created a little bed of lettuce surrounded by bricks and covered in a salvaged piece of plexiglass. I checked today and the seeds have germinated even though our nights are in the teens and 20s and daytime temperatures in the 40s.

Our second cheat was on March 3. We chopped the bottoms from milk containers and used them to make bean houses. We planed 4 seeds in a 2" square at the base of each pole and then pushed the container into the soil and mounded soil around the sides. Today I noticed the first beans breaking through the soil.

Gardening Today aka Mud Bath

2008-03-08T16:25:00.000-08:00

I could not hold out one minute longer. After being cooped up indoors all week with complicated projects like painting ceilings and doing the taxes, I had to plant. I had many things that needed to go in already. I realized a few things about how I garden:

rules don't apply to me
seed pack instructions are mere suggestions
tidy little rows of anything offend me (which perhaps is another reason why I homeschool, thinking of school children in their tidy little rows of desks)

So we started out with 6 packs of seed: radhish, parsnip, broccoli, beets, peas and spinach and it started to drizzle. It has been raining here for almost a week but it was misty and hardly raining so we gave it a shot. We took a wire frame that I had covered in mesh for pest control and covered it in plastic and stattered the entire packet of broccoli seed under it -- ta da...instant greenhouse! I figure that once they grow a bit I can tease apart the seedlings and transplant them. Then the drizzle became a steady rain. I hoed out a line along 30 feet of trellis and we planted an entire pack of peas. By this time it was raining so hard that my attempt to nicely space my parsnip seeds was thwarted by them sticking to my hands, so I poured out half the pack and pushed them into the dirt next to the little broccoli house. Then it was POURING. So I scattered the spinach seeds next to that and raked them in a bit. So we will see what will grow where but at least I got SOME veggies in. And once the girls had a hot shower everyone was cleaner and feeling much better. Okay, Monday will have to do for the beets and radishes.

Green Smoothie

2008-03-07T18:05:00.000-08:00

For a while I've flirted with the idea of the green smoothie. So yesterday I purchased a blender. Now I own another appliance that requires electricity but oh well, until something catastrophic happens I'll be making green smoothies. So today I decided to have my very first green smoothie for lunch and into my new blender went 3 cups spinach, 1 cored apple, 1 ripe banana, 5 strawberries, 1 TBS cocoa powder (you didn't expect me to go through with this without chocolate, did you?) and a quarter cup almond milk. My daughter said it tastes like the banana bread I make on Sunday (note to self, look for new banana bread recipe). So I consoled myself with the thought that at least this was going to be filling. A friend of mine, and smoothie regular, asked me how hungry I could be after eating 5 servings of fruit. The answer simply is: VERY. Hungry enough to eat my chair. Okay, new tactic. I am going to make this closer to supper time, say 4 pm in the hope that I will not eat so much for supper and snack afterwards.

What Else Did you Bring Home from the Grocery Store?

2008-02-15T05:52:00.000-08:00

With headlines touting BOTULISM and ECOLI does one even know what they are bringing home from the grocery store? In the several weeks I have found:

a twig within a loaf of bread, the only affordable brand of bread my grocer carries that does not contain high fructose corn syrup
an inidentifiable foreign object in a package of raisins
and finally this morning, my daughter comes to me with a 2" long piece of what appears to be nylon fiber found in the national brand of jam that claims its got to be good.

I will tell you this -- its so not good.

The Great Wall of Tomatoes - Part I

2008-02-13T17:23:00.000-08:00

The great wall of tomatoes is a wonderful thing. I had my husband erect a trellis for me several years ago that borders the broadside of my neighbors silver-blue garage. The great wall of tomatoes is 30' long. For years I have successfully grown my tomatoes here, spaced about a food apart. While reading as much as I can on permaculture, I discovered that this IS permaculture -- I just didn't know it at the time I created it. The silver-blue garage on the north side of the Great Wall of Tomatoes creates a microclimate by reflecting the sunlight, so I am able to sneak in my tomatoes in April and sometime grow them well into November (we are a zone 6, expecting frost till April 30). To the south, my tomatoes are protected by a windbreak comprised of the shed and our parking area. I have grown my tomatoes with basil between them and this year I plan to also grow them with carrots, basil and the occasional naturtium tucked between the plants. Okay...only another 5 months before I can post a picture of The Great Wall of Tomatoes bursting forth with beautiful red fruit.

Today's Post-Consumer Blow-Out Sale

2008-02-12T06:23:00.000-08:00

also known as...CURB SHOPPING. Now there was a time where I wouldn't have been caught DEAD picking through someone else's discards but that time was long ago. Way back then I wouldn't buy generic groceries or buy anything second hand. Now I will only buy what I cannot get free (via curb shopping, freecycle, etc.) and I will buy new only as a last resort. This morning we pulled a coffee table and a piece of styrofoam insulation that I have already installed in the north wall of the attic. The coffee table has a whoopsie spot on the top but no problem I think I will paint it off white and antique it with stain and ta da!!!! We also got an underthebed plastic storage container with a broken lid that we will use to start seedlings in. Now I tried to get a love seat. It was beautiful, colors that matched our living room, no stains, no rips, just perfect, but I could not jam it in the back of my truck. We tried. It amazes me what people throw out.

The Dancing Butterfly Takes Flight

2008-02-07T17:58:00.000-08:00

With the heat wave here in NJ (okay we're talking 60s but STILL its February, usually our coldest month) I could not help but wallow in the mud. Yup, it is wet and deep. As Sunflower rattled off her favorite poem (Mud by Polly Chase Boyden)...

Mud is very nice to feel
All squishy squash between the toes
I'd rather wade in wiggly mud
Than smell a yellow rose
Nobody else but the rose bush knows
How nice mud feels between the toes

I began my first intentional ventures in permaculture. First I relocated three shrubs that I think are a honeysuckles or perhaps euonymus under the maple tree. The maple is actually in my neighbor's yard but space here in NJ is tight. The birds love this plant. Well they don't care much for the plant but they love the berries. The more I look at this plant, given to me by a friend, the less I am sure what it is. The spot where I have put them in on a steep slope and I am hoping they will help control our yard eroding onto my neighbor's fence.

Then I moved three lilacs, one of which is white but I cannot remember which one, to screen my front porch.

Finally I dug up 6 spiraea japonica 'neon flash' and used them to create a hedgerow between my front yard and that of my neighbors. Again, hoping to control erosion with this more than anything else. Until I determine the usefulness of this plant, if any, they will remain until I scavange something with which to replace them.

The Birth of the Dancing Butterfly

2008-02-06T17:56:00.000-08:00

Ten years ago when I bought this house I was by myself and I had never even owned a shovel. I had a dirt and a dream so I mail ordered a bunch of flowers I liked, and knowing nothing planted them in the front yard which I had managed to entirely flip over the sod and created a mucky mess. My dear plants were not growing fastenough so I bought a lot of things marked invasive and agressive because I thought they'd fill in quickly. I spent the next 6 years experimenting and propagating and soon discovered that I could grown not only flowers, but my own food! I began experimenting with veggies as well and even started to do some intensive raised beds. Since we are homeschoolerd my 4 kids do a lot of garden centered projects to keep us out doors as soon as the weather is over 50. So last summer I stared to take out and freecycle anything that was strickly ornamental and did not benefit us or some creature we like in some way and began making plans to replace them with usable plants. My lack of trust in the food supply, the growing grocery bill, and that I just plain love to be outside compelled me to plant more food plants. Besides, I just couldn't understand for the life of me why the cost of apples from New Zealand were less in my local grocery than apples grown here in the US. My garden style has never been to line up my plants like little soldiers all in a row. While working in my garden to tear out some overgrown coreopteris, I watched a tiger swallowtail seem to dance with the other butterflies in the garden. It was the male butterfly aggresively defending his territory but didn't they look beutiful engaged in this wild flurry of color? Then I received this vision: TheDancing Butterfly. My garden would become The Dancing Butterfly, that is, I would aggresively defend my territory, my little spot on this planet, with a look of beauty and grace, just like the dancing butterfly.