CSA Goods: Our First Crate Full!

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Hiya peeps!

Today was our first CSA pickup from Abundant Harvest Organics and were feeling so pumped about our decision to eat more local and in season.  We’ve been talking about it for over a year now after I did a write up for the local paper. We didn’t have the opportunity to make the leap until now.

Finally we’ve done so and now were committed each Saturday to pick up a large crate at 10AM.

We happened to be early birds today and from this we gained that “extras” were available for our taking.

Score!

We are not sure whether this will happen every week but it sure was a nice start!!

Here is the glorious bounty …

Doesn’t look like much but we did the tally and …

the contents contained…

1 bunch of  chard

1 bunch of spring onion

1 bunch of carrots

1 bunch of beets

3 cabbages (2 green + 1 red)

4 potatoes

5 baby artichokes

29 brussels sprouts

10 tangelos

9 lemons (eureka & meyer)

2 rutabagas

2 leeks

extras

2 green heads of cabbage

4 tangelos

4 potatoes

A pretty nice pickup of  organic fruits and veggies, don’t ya think?

We initially thought we’d be sharing a crate but we’ll easily eat up every ounce of healthy goodness a large crate contains.

Mmm!

If you have a CSA pickup in your area, check into it.

Support your local farmers- eat local, seasonal, organic foods..

all while helping to protect the planet for future generations to enjoy!

Yesterday, as I walked into the kitchen, I spotted our Italian herb sprouts popping up in their container.

They all sprouted but one and it took them exactly one week to say hello! 

Today, has been great the weather not so much! It’s windy and nasty out.

But, that didn’t stop us from taking a drive out to our local conservation district to check out what native plants, shrubs, trees and flowers we will be planting in our front yard.

We are hoping to dig out the lawn and plant edible flowers and pretty much have a water wise front  yard.

I did take some video footage but I don’t have much time to upload it…

to say the least, we came home with a California native elderberry bush!!!

super stoked.

Elderberry syrup and wine here we come!

yum. yum.

There are so many benefits to supporting local businesses and growing plants, trees and flowers  that thrive well in your area.

It puts a lot of things into perspective.

Were connecting ourselves with nature and community.

It’s magical.

I’m grateful for our CSA pickup and can’t wait for din-din because we also get to enjoy our homemade sauerkraut ( 6 days old)

YAY! 

Hope you’ve had a lovely Saturday!

Oh!  if you have a rutabaga recipe you’d like to share… feel free! 

{Meatless Monday} Curious About Kelp Noodles…

Hola, dear readers!! Hope you all had a marvelous weekend. 

We had a nice one but it went WAY TOO FAST. We added three more chicks to our brood and finally put them into the coop with the hens but separated them until they get bigger (more on that later).

It’s time to share another meatless meal with everyone …

On our last monthly trip to the Whole Foods market, I decided on buying some kelp noodles. I’ve been curious about kelp noodles after reading several posts throughout raw foodie blogosphere. I figured I’d give them a go, so in the basket they went.

At first, I wasn’t quite sure what to think of the translucent yet rubbery feeling noodles.. but once you rinse them off they feel just like pasta noodles. Really! If you have more time you can soak them in water and little lemon juice to bring more life into them and get rid of the packaged flavor.

They have a neutral taste so they take on whatever flavor you mesh them with just like with tofu. The noodles weren’t part of my menu plan so the purchase and the sauce we made for it was definitely on a whim…we ended up making a sauce from the uncook book “Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen” called Garlic Cashew Aioli.

It was really yummy and satisfying. The sauce was creamy like and alfredo and sooo flavorful. I definitely enjoyed the kelp noodle experience and think it’s a wonderful alternative to starchy pasta.  Since the noodles don’t require any heating and the sauce was a simple blend of under 10 ingredients… it was an easy peasy meal to put together.

We served it with cooked asparagus from the dehydrator (2 hrs),  and a yummy green salad  My husband whipped up a quick  vinaigrette dressing that consisted of EVOO, S&P, Balsamic & ACV mix, with Italian spice seasoning for the salad and it was good. Organic raw vegan goodness all around.

I’ve fallen in love with eating uncooked goods off the dehydrator… the asparagus was so perfectly enhanced I’ve been uncooking it that way ever since (including other veggies as well). Who would have thought that I’d be using my Mr. Foods dehydrator so often and lovin’ it.  It was only used twice before I took it out of the dungeon garage just last July.  Experimenting with it and making fun treats has been super fun.  Soon, I’d like to upgrade to one of these babies!

Kelp Garlic Aioli + dehydrated asparagus & yummy green salad = happy honey, tots  and mama!

The only downside to this lovely sea vegetable (kelp) is the fact, it’s packaged in plastic that cannot be recycled.

Other than that…my curiosity filled my starchy needs…AND I’d like to try these variations

Kelp Kraut Noodles

Kelp Noodles in Peanut Sauce

Thai Kelp Noodle Bowl

Creamy Miso Noodle Soup

Mmmm!

What are you cooking or uncooking the kitch this week?

Let the Liberating Begin: Plant Freedom Seeds!

Howdy! Happy Saturday Sunday!

Gotta luv the weekends, right? So much to look forward to and so much to accomplish. With Spring just around the corner it’s hard not to think about this year’s summer garden and greenhouse plans. All the daydreaming we do of having a xeriscaped front yard (no lawn, hopefully!) with wild edibles planted and where nourishing foods grow is quickly approaching it’s season. We couldn’t be more excited to make this our reality.

You know, become an urban gardener. A freedom gardener, if you will. Liberating yourself from all the corporate muck and dirty chemicals. Why not get down right dirty in your own backyard and produce the foods you need to live on with untainted seeds. The idea of growing your own food to feed your family and possibly community may sound like a lot of work but it also sounds so enticing. Especially, after learning about the true freedom gardeners; the Little Homestead in the City, the Dervaes family in Pasadena, Ca aka “The Urban Gardener’s”. Their little homestead yields almost 6,000 lbs. of  food yearly. It takes a lot of serious motivation and determination to get to where the Dervaes family is but the possibility of getting an urban garden started is far greater.

The hub and I have always had a passion for gardening it’s something that we naturally felt compelled to do since we bought our home almost 10 yrs. ago. Our house sits on a little less than a quarter of an acre and to us that instantly meant we would have room for a garden. It’s funny, because as we live in an area where a good majority of the people sit on more than acre of land – this town is also known for agriculture and farming, yet, not many people, take advantage of their land by growing their own fruits and vegetables. I know gardening isn’t for everyone but for us it just seems like common sense to have a garden and reap whatever benefits you can on your own property. It was just our observation this morning over breakfast. We all have the opportunity basically. Not to mention, it allows us tobe in control of what’s going into our bodies. With all the chemical use within the food and agriculture industry it’s hard to say whether our food is really safe anymore.

So, to say the least… this year we’re committed to green up our yard in more ways in than one.

We’ve been talking about digging up the front lawn to make it more drought tolerant for quite some time now. We believe, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be taking advantage of the local conservation nursery in our town which sells native and drought tolerant plants. Since we live in the desert having drought tolerant landscape seems more appropriate than lilies and orchids which would require lot’s of watering. Were looking forward to creating a sanctuary with native plants, shrubs and trees etc. that will bring in natural wildlife to enjoy also.

The nursery is having their open house in April and has announced a sale on plants, shrubs, wildflower seeds etc. I’m pretty excited about it. Were pumped to learn more about the native plants and wildlife in our area and start being smart gardener’s. We recently resurrected the wriggley wranch worm bin and replenished it with some mighty fine earthworms (stay tuned for an upcoming post)

Raised Beds

This is our first year attempting  the raised beds, square inch gardening theory. Well, we kinda took a stab at it last year but this is our first “real” attempt.  The hubby built a raised bed about a month ago using reclaimed materials as a tester and so far so good. It appears all of the seeds we planted have sprouted. Yahoo! For the past five years we always turned over the soil and planted directly in ground. It will be neat to see the differences.

I’m happy to say, that we’re ditching the plastic soil bags this year! I did some research and found a quarry in town that carries local ORGANIC humus soil. Score! I was so thrilled to bring home a truckload home the day Ty built the box. Tyler’s parents used the quarry’s soil last year and had such a glorious garden yield. Their garden had a different glow to it then ours that’s for sure. As far as  plastic goes we did use some for wrapping around the box to trap the heat inside which creates a greenhouse effect. I know there’s gotta be an alternative and it’s definitely on the green up the garden list.

After building a bed from wood he built a raised bed from bricks (given to us by a customer who no longer had use for them). He lined the brick bed with cardboard and viola’ it became a new home for some lettuce! My husband REALLY enjoys doing this so I have to admit he does get carried away. It’s his passion so I try not to step in the way. He bought the lettuce from Lowe’s so it could be Monsanto laden… but hopefully living in organic humus it will balance out the negative. Nevertheless, it too is doing well and will hopefully has fresh lettuce in just a couple weeks maybe even sooner.

He also planted some old veggie seeds just for kicks and on a whim one sunny afternoon alongside our driveway (next to a Raspberry bush he bought the same day).  Honestly, I don’t know how great the Raspberry bush will do (let’s hope for the best). As of right now, it’s doing surprisingly well ( all of the rain has been a major benefit). Some of the seeds in the patch alongside the drive away are also beginning to sprout. Yippee!

Speaking of seeds, we planted our first batch of freedom seeds this afternoon! Yes, that’s right, you can get heirloom and organic seeds directly from the Dervaes family…

“Seeds for the people!”

and to save on shipping costs and carbonemissions the hub was able to pick them up. Sweeeet!

Reused seed starter!

What we planted

- Red Russian Kale

- Cayenne Peppers

- Anaheim Peppers

- Red Bell Peppers

- Peace Vine  Red Cherry Tomato

- Valencia Tomato

- Brandywine Tomato

- Cherokee Purple Tomato

-  Aunt Ruby’s German Green (real green tomato’s *squee*)

We still have more tomato seeds to plant and a few other varietys of seeds that don’t need to be started indoors. I’m really, really, excited about 2010’s gardening adventure. Planting pure seeds, free of chemicals; makes me grin from ear to ear.

“The seeds from the Little Homestead in the City are carefully screened for genetic manipulation.…they possess the nutritive properties of old and locally developed strains, based on eatability instead of portability.”

If you have not yet seen the Dervaes family documentary Homegrown Revolution-you can view it here!   Their honest commitment to live sustainably makes me realize how important it is to support their cause and continue to fight the good fight.

I encourage you to “break new ground” and start your own victory garden.

Liberate your yard & get down and dirty doing it. 

Have you started planning your garden?

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{Meatless Monday} Feeding “Baby, C”

Happy Meatless Monday!

Okay, so the last time I did a post on {Meatless Monday} I mentioned Baby C’s diet.  Clark was exclusively breastfed up until 6 1/2 months when we introduced solids. My plan was to wait it out an entire year; but he began to show signs early on. I firmly believe it has a lot to do with having a bigger brother (2yr.old) around.

In any case, since learning about the raw foods diet the hub and I knew we wanted to introduce Clark to raw from the get go. A couple months ago we purchased the Sun-Sational Raw Baby Food ebook by Melissa Gilbert and made a few simple recipes for ourselves then tested a couple on Clark. He absolutely loves GREEN smoothies.

First Foods

Veggies! One veggie per week to test for allergic reactions. His first food was lightly steamed butternut squash, carrots, zucchini, peas, sweet potato, green beans, spinach, red chard etc.

After going through the gamut of veggies we let him try fruit. Once we rotated the weekly cycle of fruits we introduced green smoothies.

I plan to keep him mostly breast for now. He eats about twice a day…sometimes only once depending on how busy our day is. When he turns one, I will introduce nuts & grains and he will get more to eat. He’s had a little bit of grains  but not much (he naturally gets really fussy if he can’t have what were eating).  So, I’ve allowed a little table food but no dairy and no meat (and of course, no sugar!). We skipped the rice cereal all together this time too. I’ve read that it makes for a starchy eater. Rice cereal was Tristan’s first food and I was reluctant but being a first time mom I went ahead and honestly; he’s as starchy as they come.

Long Term

I discussed veganism with the peditircian last week for Clark’s 9 month appt. and his only concern was B-12. He mentioned he sees a lot of B-12 deficiencies in vegetarian/vegan kids. I was surprised he didn’t say more. I’m actually happy he did not. Makes me believe he’s not against it. We asked all the questions we needed to and feel comfortable with the decision of raising a veggie baby.

As far as a family we plan to remain meatless also. We are slowly weaning ourselves from meat and have not purchased any for a month! Most of January was meatless with a few exceptions (we still had meat in fridge…but that is no longer the case). We actually have eaten a mostly vegan/raw diet but have included some dairy. Overtime we will eventually kick meat and dairy to the curb for good.

Clark’s Favorite

Summertime Delight

from the book Green for Life by Victoria Boutenko

6 peaches (seeds taken out)

2 handfuls of spinach

2 cups of filtered water (we have reverse osmosis)

Blend and enjoy!

I freeze any of the leftovers in the So Easy Baby Food Trays.

::

He also loves  “Chocolate Milk” …

adapted from my local health food store

(juicer required)

- Handful of Red Leaf Lettuce

- 3 carrots cut in half

You can also add in a sliver of ginger if you like… we often do!

Yum!

I recently made him flax banana crackers (from ebook) but my husband is concerned about allowing him to eat whole flax seeds because he heard they can get caught up in the colon.

Can any of my raw food friends chime in on this?

And- if any of you mom’s know of any great online resources for raising vegan/raw children- do tell!

Would love to hear your thoughts!!

Our trip to the Ananda Marga Organic Peach Farm

On Sunday, the hub Baby C and I drove out to the Ananda Marga Organic Farm in Lake Hughes, Ca. Which is not a far drive from our home whatsoever! The Ananda Marga Organic Farm was part of our local farmer’s market. Last weekend was the final market until next June.

I really liked the opportunity of having fresh locally grown produce at my disposal on Saturday mornings. This was the first year our town did anything like this and I thought it was successful. It was nice chatting with the farmer’s and their wives and getting to know the person who is growing the very food on your plate. It’s actually quite interesting to have a conversation with some of farmers. Especially, the ones who are growing their produce organically.

I’m sad the market was over but happy  I was able to meet and greet the local farmers each Saturday! After doing my normal chitchatting I found out the Ananda Marga Farm is open year round to visitors. I had no idea! Finding this out made my entire year. I’ve known about the farm for quite some time but did not know you could buy produce from them directly. I thought you had to be part of the CSA.

Which was definitely one of our goals this year- to get on board with Community Supported Agriculture through Abundant Harvest Organics. I’m still working on it though and visiting the Ananda Marga Farm has given me some inspiration to get something started ASAP. I haven’t really found anyone receptive enough to take on half of the load with us- but still working to find others interested in sharing a box. Keep your fingers crossed for us because it’s the next best thing to growing your own!

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Happiness Comes In the Form of a Jar!

Over the weekend, we visited our dear neighbor’s from my childhood- I babysat their daughter and grew up hanging out in their home. They’re the coolest people on the planet. They’re daughter graduated from UC Northridge with a degree in Journalism and we’d been invited to celebrate! Since we hadn’t seen them in awhile we decided to take them some fresh eggs.

I packed a re-used gift bag with rafia and paper shreds and layered in the eggs. A whole dozen! For as long as I’ve known them they’ve always had a garden. The tomatoes they grow are the best- EVER. In the summer they grow tomatoes and peppers and can them…boy are they delicious.

Before leaving, we received 2 jars of their famous jarred Chileno peppers and a jar of Pomegranate jelly! We were some happy people- that’s all it takes- jarred goods. I know, sad-but true! Yum! Tyler and I love Chileno peppers. LOVE THEM.

Apparently, Tristan does too because he ate the tops off of 4 yesterday. He won’t eat the end with seeds (smart boy). I really should take a picture of him eating peppers and salsa.He can tolerate the heat, it’s funny. Sometimes it’ll get to him but usually after a sip of water he’s good- thankfully, no crying incidents have occurred- yet.

Anyway, we are SO looking forward to doing some canning this year. Our 2 peach trees are putting off some serious fruit. I’m hoping to can some peaches and make some jam. Also, cherry picking season is just around the corner. I’d like to go strawberry picking but there are no close fields- the closest would be 2-2 1/2 hrs. away. We’ll see. Hopefully, I’ll have the opportunity to can tomatoes, cucumbers and beans this year.

What are you planning to can this summer? Or – what fruits and veggies will  you be picking this season?