Naturally Simple Blog

This is a simple spring soup recipe that is surprisingly good.  I modified the recipe by adding a little spice.  When you cook the greens it is nice to simmer the soup until it has reduced a bit.

1 pound ground pork

1 cup chives

1 tsp crushed red pepper (optional)
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth

2 cups potatoes

1 1/2 cup half-and-half  or substitute

3 cups chopped greens (spinach, kale, chard, lambsquarters, etc)

Brown pork in soup pot  and add chopped chives.  Saute until chives are tender. Add vegetable broth and potatoes.

Simmer until potatoes are tender.   Add half-and-half and greens.  Cook until greens are tender.

Sorry for the brief lapse in posting there.  My blog was obviously experiencing some technical difficulties.  I am still not sure that all is right with the world but at least it seems to be working.

I suppose I have spent most of it gardening, dancing and sewing.  Darian and I are new performers with the Habeas Corpus Early Dance Troup.  Consequently we both have to have costumes ready for our performance at a local Renaissance Faire and the Arts Fest.   As if this time of year wasn’t already busy enough around here.  We have had dance class and rehearsals 2-3 times a week and costumes to work on during my “free” time.    It is quite difficult to convince my rational brain that I must take time away from other projects to make an Elizabethean feather fan!  It has been such a fun educational experience though that I can’t say I regret it.
I thought the best way to update would be to start up with the Independence day challenge updates again.   It seems the best way to keep up with what we have going on around here.
1. Plant something -  My tomatoes are not in the ground still but I have been hardening off for a few days now and I am looking forward to getting them in later this week.   Other than that it has been a flurry of planting around here.   I looked at my list posted earlier this spring.    To that list I can add nanking cherries, Hansen bush cherries,  acorn squash, butternut squash, echinacea,  habenaro peppers,  cayenne peppers, and serrano peppers.  I transplanted the  zuchinni, yellow summer squash starts into the Earthboxes. 

2. Harvest something - Comfrey,  kale, lettuce,  dandelion greens,  radishes, chives, cilantro, parsley.

3. Preserve something -   I put up six pints of applesauce to use up the rest of a bunch of apples that I bought that were less than impressive eating apples but worked well for cooking and saucing.  The sauce will be good for use in oatmeal bread.

4. Reduce waste - I have been using up old scraps of fabric and things I have around the house for our costumes but I have had to make some new purchases.  The compost pile is growing although I am definitely not turning it as much as I should.

5. Preparation - built a second  portable fence for our peas to trellis up.  It fits perfectly across the front beds so I think we will be making more of these.

Storage - Stored away this months buying club order.  25 lbs of fair-trade organic sugar, 25 pounds of organic unbleached flour,  11 pounds of whole wheat spaghetti, and 5 pounds of organic fair-trade coffee.

I bought several patterns because JoAnns was having a sale.  It is hard to pass up $1.99 for something that is usually $15-$17 dollars.  I bought a couple of patterns that will be handy when I am looking for a quick gift as well as some clothing and costuming patterns.

6. Build Community Food Systems -  I worked my hortline shift for the month. The Master Gardeners are having a plant sale on the 24th which I am looking forward to.  I also started my volunteer work  for Local Foods Connection on Sunday morning.  We transplanted some chives and now I am working on a pamphlet to be distributed with the pots.  I have been e-mailing back-and-forth with the volunteer coordinator at the food bank to get the kids and I back on the schedule for the summer months. 

I have bought a few plants at the Farmer’s Market but I haven’t been buying much along the lines of produce because I have most of what is available growing in my yard.  I found a fantastic source of local roving and yarn.  I am in love with her colors.

7. Eat the Food!

From garden: I just brought in a big beautiful batch of lettuce for salads this evening.  We haven’t had a lot of anything ready until this week

From storage: We are still using up the tomato sauce from last year and I cleaned out the freezer and put a lot of soups in the fridge to be eaten up for lunches this week.  I have to make room for the kale and strawberries (my patch is out-of-control) which will soon be ready for preserving.  Things I am slacking on:

I still  haven’t managed to get  spigot on the rain barrel which really makes me cranky given all the rain we have had lately but it can’t be helped.  We had to clean the gutters this weekend instead as they were flowing over and wreaking havoc on my front greens bed.  I have that damage repaired. 

Our garage has to be cleaned and organized to make room for all the empty canning jars that are accumulating in our kitchen. 

I haven’t used my solar oven as much as I would like.  This is in part due to poor planning and partly due to a bit of a rainy spell.  I will definitely need to keep a better eye on the future forecasts.

Weeding, weeding and more weeding…

I have been thinking deeply on my role in the world.   I  believe passionately in many causes.  I try to be an active participant in society  by voting, writing to my legislators, volunteering, buying local, handmade or fair-trade items and creating community.
I also believe that I am doing my share to be of service to the world community due to the  measures I take to reduce the impact my family has on this planet.   I hope that by sharing  these attempts with those who are interested in growing along this path, I am making myself useful as well.   I consider myself an activist.  So I was a bit taken aback when it was brought to my attention that some people feel I am shirking my civic duty by devoting my time to home and family.   In a passive aggressive manner, the charge was leveled at me that I engage in frivolous pursuits, such as dancing and socializing, when there is serious work to be done.  I suppose I am guilty of this but I will not apologize.   All human beings deserve joy  in their lives.   It is what makes the hard work worthwhile.
Furthermore, I am a mother.  I have children to nurture, a home to care for, a garden to tend and a husband who is often gone for weeks (sometimes months) at a time.   My current responsibility  is to raise children who grow to be peaceful, mindful world citizens.  This is the time for me to set an example for them to follow into adulthood. Would I be doing this if I weren’t  embracing life and doing things I enjoy?  I don’t think so.
I am savoring this wonderful chapter in my life.  I also know I will have many years when my children are older for other pursuits.   I am learning so much during my time as a mother that I will be of greater service at that time.   The best part is that I will be able to devote myself freely, devoid of the guilt I would have if I hadn’t lived all these years in a manner that was authentic to my beliefs.

I don’t know that I have ever been so tired in my entire life.  While I do appreciate the prompt customer service I received from the companies  I ordered my plants from, I wasn’t planning on the arrival of these items until my husband was back from his trip around the beginning of May. I can do it by myself but it is hard and I am feeling sorry for myself a bit, this evening.
The biggest problem is that all the areas I wanted to plant in weren’t ready.  I was planning on having this week to work on planting my veggies and next week to get those areas ready. Oh well, if I have learned anything over the years it is that few things go as planned.

I knew I was going to have to put up a second chicken wire fence  for the pumpkin and winter squash this week.  ( I am trellising many of my veggies to save space).  I had also planned to dig the vegetable beds in anticipation of planting today.
I wasn’t expecting to have the added work of prepping the fruit areas.    The back area where I put the berries, needed to be dug, leveled and weeded.   We had to dig giant holes for the grapes in order to make sure their roots had plenty of unhindered space to grow.  There is still a lot of the old tree’s root system under there and we had to cut a lot of roots out of the way.   I am thanking my lucky stars that the bush cherries seem to be arriving according to the original schedule they sent me.
Here is the breakdown of what we planted this week:
3 Concord Grape Vines (I still have to find a spot for one)

2 low-bush blueberry bushes

12 raspberry plants

2 hops vines

2 pots of ginger root

kentucky wonder pole beans

scarlet runner  pole beans

trionfo violetto  pole beans

small sugar pumpkins

straight eight cucumbers

double yield cucumbers

sweet snow peas

more radishes

mesclun greens

baby spinach

more simpson lettuce

romaine lettuce

carrots

curly parsley

basil

rhubarb chard

silver beet chard

morning glories

moon flower

more nasturtium

decorative gourds

transplanted hostas out of the front yard to shadier spot by the back retaining wall.

I spent a lot of time looking for something worthwhile to do today and then the Universe answered the question for me when many of my fruit plants were delivered Tuesday afternoon.   What better way to spend our day than outside working on making our own little corner of the world more sustainable?
We planted grapes around the arbor and potted blueberries and ginger root.   You can see the rain barrel in the corner waiting to be decorated and put together.  We still have one more grape vine along with raspberries and hops vines to plant.  I think Friday will be our next grand planting day as it is the day to get the bean seeds and cucumber seeds in the ground, as well.

We also took some time to water and tend what we have already planted.  The kale and lettuce I planted in mid-March are coming in nicely.  I recently planted chard in front of those greens.  The theory being that by the time we have eaten up the kale and lettuce,  the new greens will be producing and I can plant some hardier greens (Malabar Spinach and Mustard) along with some pretty tomato or pepper plants in their place.

I am  happy with my early peas.  I think they look pretty good despite the snow and cold they weathered.

We did take some time out for fun though at a potluck held in honor of one of our favorite little girl’s fourth birthday.  Isn’t the magnolia tree fantastic.  I am jealous of all her beautiful flowers.

My seedlings just don’t seem to be growing as quickly as other people’s seem to be.   I have been fertilizing them with all sorts of natural amendments and I mixed compost into the soil mixture when I transplanted.  While they are growing, I feel like they are coming along slowly.   They were planted around March 11th.

So I decided to break out the pump and start up some compost tea.  It is bubbling away and should be ready in a couple of days.

I can’t help but wonder what other factors lead to slow growth.  I really don’t feel that it can be a nutrient deficiency at this point.

Tansy’s post on dandelions reminded me that I intended on sharing my favorite recipe for the greens.   I love to roast the really tender young leaves in my roasted root vegetables.   It is very simple.   Chop up some of your favorite root vegetables.  I used sweet potatoes, white potatoes and carrots this time.   Then I stirred in a few cups of cleaned dandelion greens, some rosemary, garlic and olive oil.   Then just bake in the oven until the vegetables are tender.   It is so good!

Clothing

Didn’t do too much in this area.  I am lucky just to keep up with the laundry this time of year.  ETA:  Darian and I did pick up a couple of things at Goodwill.  I got a fun new shirt for going out.
Food and Garden

I think we are doing a fairly good job of sticking to the menu given the fact that it is week one of husband’s stinky ole’ business trip.  I tend to lose energy right around dinner time.  I haven’t made anything fancy but we are eating at home.

The seedlings have all been transplanted into larger pots and are now just hanging out and waiting until I feel safe planting them.   We actually had sleety/slushy/snow type stuff on Monday so I am going to wait a good long time, I think.

I planted the greens’ bed and continued work making room for more raspberries in back.
I started work on digging up the front corner of the yard around the grape arbor.  I am trying very hard NOT to resort to the tiller for this task but double digging the area with my pitchfork may be more than I can take.  On the upside, we had a lot of dandelion greens to enjoy in a baked root vegetable dish for Tuesday’s dinner.
I scored some windows on Freecycle and a friend graciously found a water barrel for me so it looks like I will have some building projects to work on soon.
Household

The shampoo bars are cut and curing along with a batch of gardener’s soap.

I started some oil infusing for my healing salve.  I forgot how hard gardening is on your hand.

Utilities

I brought the drying rack up from the basement so that I can dry the laundry on the deck.I got some power strips and have everything in the family room set up so it can be turned off at night.  I still have to do the upstairs but it is a start.

Gifts
Exercise/self improvement

English Country Dancing lessons again this week although with my husband gone that is about all the time I had for self improvement.

I am trying to make arrangements for a sitter so the girls and I can take a basketmaking class but that is not looking promising right now.

Education

I put together a short story unit using Internet resources for the girls.

Purging
Weaknesses

I spent a bit of money this week on new stuff but in my defense, it was for the greater good.  I bought  power strips, a paper shredder (for composting efforts) and another shop light for my seedlings.