CSA farm share, week 1

Ah, the bounty! Today we visited our CSA farm to pick up our first share of the season. We paid $575 over the winter to the farm, and I hope to document what we get for that here throughout the growing season. Note that our veggies are organically, sustainably and respectfully grown.

Today we received 3/4 of a plastic produce bag (the kind you'd put your veggies in at the grocery store) of mixed salad greens. These are young, tender lettuces and asian greens. We also received a half a produce bag of fresh spinach, a head of leaf lettuce, a half a bag of braising greens (tougher greens that should be cooked- baby bok choi was one of them!), a bunch of radishes, 2 green garlic stalks, and a bunch of white salad turnips (sweet and delicious, these are great raw on a salad or in soup).

Looks like lots of delicious soups and salads this week- we've been waiting all winter for this!

Community sharing is where it's at

I live in an amazing community. Recently, a local woman began a google group for gardeners who wanted to exchange plants. I think google groups are pretty easy- set up the group (google it for directions) and invite people to join. She passed around a signup sheet to collect names and email addresses at a gardening class.

Last weekend, I hit the list. I've been meaning to plant strawberries, but all of the local stores were sold out. I posted a request for strawberry plants, and within 2 hours had 3 offers of free plants. I called the first person, who even dug up the plants for me- I just went to his house and picked up a box of healthy strawberry plants. I was done with my strawberry bed in a few hours.

Feeling the love of the garden exchange google group, I posted the snow on the mountain I had taken out to put in the strawberries, as well as a few black raspberry canes that never really got any attention because their fruit is inferior to our raspberry patch. I set them on the curb, and within 15 minutes of the time I said they would be there, they were gone.

Sharing what we already have can make for a lot of savings. Not only did I not have to purchase the plants, I also didn't have to spend a lot of time in the car (or fuel) going from store to store, probably buying other things that I didn't need. It's also a great way to meet more members of the community, building the strength of your town.

Do you have a community sharing program, officially or casually?

Ms. Clean

A clean house can make me feel so calm. But most conventional cleaners, and even some non-toxic cleaners, have such a strong smell that they make me woozy. The conventional cleaners are not good for humans or the environment, and the non-toxic and natural cleaners can cost an arm and a leg.

What to do?

I've discovered an amazing cleaner that's safe and effective. White vinegar! It does a great job of disintegrating soap scum, and it's a very effective floor cleaner. It also apparently kills bacteria, mold and germs. I bought 2 spray bottles at my locally-owned downtown hardware store, and I keep one filled with straight vinegar and one with 1/2 vinegar, 1/2 tap water plus about 40 drops of each of tea tree essential oil, lemon essential oil, and pine essential oil.

The straight vinegar I use on the shower walls. I spray, shut the bathroom door, and come back in about 10 minutes. Then I spray again and use a green scrubby to wipe away the soap scum. I also use the straight vinegar on my countertops as a disinfectant, and as a window/mirror cleaner.

The vinegar mix is great on floors- I spray a small area, mop with a rag, spray the next area, mop, etc. until I'm through the house.

If you prefer something with a "prettier", less "vinegary" smell, I've got a killer all-purpose spray recipe that a friend of mine gave me. It takes more ingredients and a little more time to prepare, but makes quite a bit of spray and smells heavenly. (Note that I was given a recipe for 3x this much cleaner, so I've cut it by 1/3, but estimated the essential oils. Essentially, the recipe calls for a total of 5-6 tablespoons of oils for the 3x version, so I'm aiming for about 2 tablespoons for this 1/3 version. I think I've come out a little low, but you can play with the quantities as you like.)

Homemade All-Purpose Cleaner

1 c Neem leaves, cut and sifted. I buy these (and my essential oils) at Mountain Rose Herbs.
1/2 gallon of tap water

Put these in a pot, cover, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes, and then let the neem tea cool. Once completely cool, strain with a stainless steel fine mesh colander into a bowl. To the neem tea liquid, add:

1 cup white vinegar
1 to 1 1/2 good sized squirt of natural dish soap

and the following essential oils:
1/2 teaspoon fir
1/2 teaspoon rose geranium
1/2 teaspoon eucalyptus
1/4 teaspoon tea tree
1/4 teaspoon lemon
1/4 teaspoon orange
1/4 teaspoon grapefruit
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon pine

Stir. This is a concentrated cleaner, so mix it 1 part cleaner with 3 parts water in a spray bottle. I put the rest in a mason jar in the refrigerator so I can refill when I run out.

What we deserve

My family is on track to be completely out of credit card debt by December. I've had high credit card debt (over $10,000) for a long time now- ever since a previous temporary job that was low-paying and in a location where I knew no one.

We all have different reasons for going into debt. But the way out is the same for each of us: re-evaluating our relationship with stuff.

I was raised with the following values regarding stuff: 1. buy the best quality of everything so it will last, and 2. buy what you want when you want it, because you deserve it. I think number 1 is valid when making purchases, but number 2 simply has to go, for at least 2 reasons.

First, "what you want" is hard to quantify, because in many cases what you want is actually what has been sold to you. Someone told you that you want it, and if you watch television, they have told you over and over and over again. Do you really want it, or did the advertisers convince you it would make your life better? How many things do we buy that get used only a couple of times and then just take up space?

Second, why do we "deserve it?" This is where our major mind-shift needs to happen. We deserve freedom, access to healthcare, safety. We do not deserve plastic doodads or one more pair of jeans made by baby hands (or underpaid adult hands) in China (or anywhere else for that matter). We've done nothing to deserve that. I think if we can save money above and beyond our expenses, we deserve to spend that on whatever we like. But if not, we don't deserve anything.

How much stuff do we really need? Why would we possibly want more? Again, I blame the advertisers. And I'm just not going to let them tell me what I "want" anymore.

How did you make the shift to stop buying so much? What do you struggle with?

The Transition Handbook, and my next steps

Have you heard of "The Transition Handbook"? It's by Rob Hopkins, and it is sort of a roadmap to get from our current culture of oil dependency and extreme independence from one another to a neighborhood/community resiliency. I haven't read the whole thing, but every time I pick it up I'm inspired.

Today's reading inspired two actions.

First, I'm breaking up with my hair dryer. Now, my hair is not high maintenance. At all. But I do use a hair dryer every day. If I don't, it looks weird. Today I decided that it isn't worth the energy it uses, when my hair will dry on its own, without the use of a hair dryer.

Second, I'm planting more food. We have a CSA share, so I don't need to grow any vegetables. But fruit and nuts are hard to get locally in my area, so this year we're adding to our plums, cherry, apples, and raspberries with hazelnut bushes and strawberries. The hazelnuts are going between our house and our neighbors, where we were planning to plant arbor vitae to act as a privacy fence. Why not get food from our divider? We ordered them today through Badgersett . We've also got a little area of soil between our house and our driveway- you probably have one too. We've got some hostas and various random plants in there now, but I've fantasized about planting something more uniform. My original thought was little evergreen bushes, but then I realized that is the perfect spot for strawberries. They can't take over the yard, because they are blocked on either side, and they will get direct, hot sun for half of the day (not having full sun all day might lower their productivity, but they will still be more productive than evergreen bushes!).

I encourage you to pick up the book from your public library, and tell me, what are you doing to transition away from oil dependence and toward community resilience?

In praise of turnips

Our natural food co-op still has locally-grown veggies- even in the dead of winter in Minnesota. My favorites this winter are turnips and rutabagas. These two delicious root vegetables cook up like potatoes but are more flavorful. I've also really enjoyed the black radishes- they add a nice spice to soups. Easy soups like the one below take about a half hour of prep, and a half hour of simmering (you really don't even need to pay attention to the soup while simmering, just stir about 2/3 of the way through so that you don't have grains sticking to the bottom). It takes little more time than preparing mac and cheese from a box, and you're getting nutrient-rich veggies and healthy grains too!

Favorite (Local) Winter Soup (gluten-free!)

serves 2

2 medium sized root veggies (I recommend turnips, rutabagas, potatoes, or a combination of any of those)
1 medium onion
1 Tbs butter
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs curry
3 cups water
1/4 cup quinoa or amaranth

Put butter and oil into an uncovered skillet on low. Dice onion and add it along with the curry to the skillet, stirring. While onion is cooking, wash veggies and chopped into 1 inch pieces. Cook onion until translucent, then add chopped veggies and stir, cooking for another 2-3 minutes. Add water*, stir and cover. Bring to a boil, then lower heat til soup is simmering. Simmer for 20-30 minutes until potatoes are thoroughly cooked or veggies are easily cut in half with a spoon.

*If using amaranth, stir in when you add the water as it takes 25 minutes to cook. If using quinoa, simmer soup for 20 minutes, then add quinoa and cover again for another 10-15 minutes. These grains are both very high in protein and will make a wonderful addition to your diet.

The heat's not on

We put in a woodstove two years ago. We got a great deal on a gently used, newer Jotul stove, and paid what seemed like a fortune to have a chimney put in. After a minor flue issue last winter (in which it simply wasn't working and we went through two cords of wood in no time), we made sure everything was in proper working order this year.

The result was that we haven't had to turn on our furnace yet. Not once. Wow! Today it will be a high of 19 degrees outside. We buy some of our wood, but get much of it for free by offering to cut down trees that people need to have removed. This year we spent $75 on an old cord of wood, and will probably spend $100 on a better cord (and I bet we'll have lots left over).

This works for us for two reasons. First, we have a very small house. The footprint of our main floor (on which we live exclusively in the winter) is only about 650 square feet. The whole house heats up quite nicely, and the stove stays warm through the work day and through the night (the fire is usually gone, but there's a nice bed of coals).

Second, we don't mind the work. During the summer and fall we work with another family for probably a total of 4-6 Saturdays to cut, haul and split wood. We've got a woodpile out back, and hauling wood in each night is my daily weightlifting. We sweep around the stove once or twice a day. It is so very worth it for the radiant warmth that the woodstove provides (so much better than forced air, which never really seems to warm me up unless its set way too high).

And the best part is that we're saving a lot of money on our gas bill too!

Vote, every day

The presidential election is over, the ballots have been counted, and we've done our civic duty for the next four years. But is that it? Is voting at the polls the most participation that we get in our democracy?

We actually vote every single day in the US.... with our dollar. Every time we choose to purchase something (or choose not to), we are voting for the kind of world we want to live in. Whether you're buying food, clothing, holiday decorations, furniture, music, whatever, you are speaking up for the type of system that will dominate our future.

So if human rights and fair labor conditions are important to you, think about where those shoes you're planning to buy are made and who is making them. Then decide if those shoes are worth it to you to register your vote for a continuation of sweatshop and child labor.

If sustainable, small family farms are important to you, ask where your frozen veggies are being grown, and find an alternative that is grown locally.

If protecting the environment is important to you, be aware that those new towels or sheets you're getting a great deal on are almost certainly made from conventional cotton- which is one of the worst users of pesticides.

If keeping money in the local community (and not lining the pockets of overpaid CEOs) is important to you, explore your locally-owned stores and see if one of them might be selling whatever item you've traveled to a big-box store to purchase.

Fair trade items, union-made items, organic items, locally-grown food, and shopping in your downtown businesses usually are a bit more expensive, and there is a reason for that. You are paying the people involved a livable wage. You are paying for skills, and risks, and quality. You can feel good about where your dollar is going- to pay someone what it costs for them to make your product. And if more people were paid enough to get by, there would be less poverty and welfare and inequality in this country. If you're not voting for that, you're voting for poor working conditions, wages that keep workers in poverty, pollution, corporate greed, pesticides, and the death of your downtown community. And even though you might be voting with less dollars, that vote has just as much impact.

So buy a little less (not buying that cheap plastic doodad is a vote too), and when you do buy, pay a little more for local, or organic, or fair trade, or handmade, because your dollar is your vote, every day, whether you like it or not.

Eating Less, Getting More

Many folks feel that they can't afford healthy, local, organic, whole foods. True, it is often more expensive than its conventional counterparts. But there are two things to keep in mind when making this choice: What are you paying for, and what are you getting?

When you buy local whole foods, you're paying more because you are paying for labor. It takes more knowledge and skill to figure out farming systems that are safer for the environment and, in the case of meat, the animals involved. It takes more labor to take care of bug infestations by hand than it would to simply spray the plants with toxic chemicals. And most small local farmers do a better job of paying their help a livable wage. How much do you think the farm workers get for cheap food?

Perhaps a more convincing argument for buying local, organic foods is that whole foods generally contain more nutrients than processed foods. You get fiber, protein, vitamins and often times antioxidants. Much more filling than processed foods. You'll find over time that you actually need to purchase less food, and you'll get more out of it. Of course, that means that you'll need to cut back or eliminate potato chips, soda, candy, and other unhealthy snacks. But if you do that you'll have more room in your budget for delicious and healthy whole foods, and that's an investment in your long-term health.

And don't forget to shop at your local food co-op instead of a chain store!

The Farm

Have you ever wanted to own a farm? Not a huge farm with acres of corn or soybeans, but a little piece of land to call your own, with enough room to live, garden, romp and maybe even raise a sheep or two? I always wanted a little house in the forest, but the idea of a hobby farm has overtaken me.

The security in having tillable land is very appealing. Who knows where this country will be in a few years. Food prices have skyrocketed, mostly due to transportation costs. If they continue to go up, many of us will have to grow some of our own food just to get by. This can be done on a city lot, but I think would be much easier on a larger piece of land.

Then there is fiber. I'm talking about the ingredients used to make our clothing. The local food movement has exploded in recent years. Once we have our local food systems in place, I hope our attention turns to fiber. Imagine knowing whose farm your wool sweater came from? If we could localize the animals raised for fiber, fiber processing, and creation of finished, wearable products, imagine the local economic impact that would have. Each step of the way, money would be exchanging hands locally, not leaving the community to make some far-away stockholder rich. And I'm sure we would all feel better if our clothes were made fairly, not by underpaid workers in unsafe environments overseas.

A small farm could be a part of that process. The question is, is it worth the investment, especially as we watch property prices plummet? I believe that the answer is that it depends on what is valuable to you. Is it the most physical dollars you can have, so you can retire early and travel the world? Or is it established community systems (or social capital), so that you can afford the things you need, and that neighbors take care of one another?