I'm watching Ugly Betty, whose star is named America, seems pretty apropo for the week, a great show about following your dreams, and to be yourself no matter what. This has been a momentous week, and we are so fortunate to be able to vote our conscience in relative peace.
No matter who you voted for, and I hope you all voted, I just want to say publicly- GOOD FOR YOU! We can go to the polls without fear, or vote by mail, trusting that our votes will be counted. We can disagree, or be completely united, it doesn't matter, we can each have our say at the polls. When all is said and done, I think we can all agree that we each want what's best for our country, and even though democracy can be sticky and brutal, just by casting our vote, we have a say in the outcome of any election. GOD BLESS AMERICA!
OK, on to other things- my broccoli, cabbage, peas and onions are doing very well. It dropped to 24 degrees here last night! Luckily I had covered the tomatoes, but the basil got zapped. I should have picked it all yesterday, but it wasn't supposed to freeze. So much for weather reports. Bucky has been crowing like a fool, I'm worried about the neighbors! We still haven't had eggs, hopefully the girls will start laying soon. I'm craving fresh eggs. We have all but 3 puppies spoken for, with a couple more possible takers. They are so cute! They've been running, playing, even Cara is playful with them now. She gets to be more than just a milk jug, I think she's enjoying the romp. Today they were using a board like a teeter-totter. One would climb onto the top board (propped onto a 2X4), then another would jump on the end, and they'd both fly off, it was so funny! I watched them do it several times, it was just like little kids at a playground.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Saturday, November 1, 2008
What's to Eat
Saturday, November 01, 2008
Boy, I’m really moved by this book, Coming Home to Eat. From the subtle nagging thoughts in the back of my mind have come a full blown fear and realization, that I, indeed most of the inhabitants of this country, could not survive in our own homelands without food products from other regions and even other countries. My staple food is rice, and as far as I know, rice is not indigenous to the desert southwest. What would I do if the trucking industry were crippled for 6 months??? I have enough food storage to last that long, but as I read the labels on the foods I’ve stored, few of them are actually grown in Arizona, and the foods that grow here naturally are practically unknown to 95% of us. I have a forest of mesquite trees around me, and I can easily harvest the pods, but I have no idea how to make flour from them, nor do I have recipes to use it well. I’m not even sure yet where to find a grinder to use. Sorry, but I don’t want to hand-grind, I’m just not that strong. I have a lot of work to do if I want to be able to live a sustainable life on this arid land I call home.
I’m a 3rd generation Arizonan, raised on a ranch by children of farmers. We grew cattle, sustained by wild grasses and natural spring waters. In the 1960’s through the late 1990’s, homemade and homegrown had a pretty negative connotation. My mother and grandmother made most of our clothing, while most of my friends’ wore store bought. We ate ‘organic’ beef before the word even existed, along with venison, home-butchered chickens, homemade applesauce, apple butter, currant jelly, even prickly pear jelly. We weren’t considered an important part of the food chain, we were considered country-cowboys that couldn’t do any better.
Indeed, one sign of affluence in many cultures is the ability to buy goods from other cultures and countries. Why were teas and spices so expensive throughout the ages? Because they grew well only in certain areas of the world. Wisely, the people of those regions protected their crops and knowledge, ensuring that the world would keep calling at their door. Every culture and most countries consider themselves wealthy only when they control materials valued by others, and glory in the ability to buy exotics from the world over. It is that mindset that has fueled our obsession with Japanese, European, Chinese and Indian foods, religions and other products. There has historically been a disdain for local grown foods, locally made clothing or products. This has created such a lopsided economy that we can’t even sustain ourselves without outside help. The corn we buy in the grocery stores has little similarity to the corn that has been grown in the Southwest for millennium. I grow a garden every year, but most of the seeds I have used in the past are hybrids of European vegetables, and they are poorly equipped to survive the arid, hot summers here. In fact, it has been extremely difficult to find seeds for the southwest, and after reading this book I understand why- there are only a few commercial seed companies left in the WORLD, and they have no interest in providing local seeds that they can’t patent.
Anyone interested in growing seeds well adapted to their own areas have to search deeply- typically in local natural food stores or through local organic farmers. Thank heavens there have been grass-roots harvesters deeply committed to saving heritage seeds from all over the US and parts of Mexico! With the internet it’s become easier to find them, and I plan to buy native seeds this year, and start growing locally adapted squash, beans and maybe even corn. Now it’s time to get off my soapbox, and get on with gardening!
Boy, I’m really moved by this book, Coming Home to Eat. From the subtle nagging thoughts in the back of my mind have come a full blown fear and realization, that I, indeed most of the inhabitants of this country, could not survive in our own homelands without food products from other regions and even other countries. My staple food is rice, and as far as I know, rice is not indigenous to the desert southwest. What would I do if the trucking industry were crippled for 6 months??? I have enough food storage to last that long, but as I read the labels on the foods I’ve stored, few of them are actually grown in Arizona, and the foods that grow here naturally are practically unknown to 95% of us. I have a forest of mesquite trees around me, and I can easily harvest the pods, but I have no idea how to make flour from them, nor do I have recipes to use it well. I’m not even sure yet where to find a grinder to use. Sorry, but I don’t want to hand-grind, I’m just not that strong. I have a lot of work to do if I want to be able to live a sustainable life on this arid land I call home.
I’m a 3rd generation Arizonan, raised on a ranch by children of farmers. We grew cattle, sustained by wild grasses and natural spring waters. In the 1960’s through the late 1990’s, homemade and homegrown had a pretty negative connotation. My mother and grandmother made most of our clothing, while most of my friends’ wore store bought. We ate ‘organic’ beef before the word even existed, along with venison, home-butchered chickens, homemade applesauce, apple butter, currant jelly, even prickly pear jelly. We weren’t considered an important part of the food chain, we were considered country-cowboys that couldn’t do any better.
Indeed, one sign of affluence in many cultures is the ability to buy goods from other cultures and countries. Why were teas and spices so expensive throughout the ages? Because they grew well only in certain areas of the world. Wisely, the people of those regions protected their crops and knowledge, ensuring that the world would keep calling at their door. Every culture and most countries consider themselves wealthy only when they control materials valued by others, and glory in the ability to buy exotics from the world over. It is that mindset that has fueled our obsession with Japanese, European, Chinese and Indian foods, religions and other products. There has historically been a disdain for local grown foods, locally made clothing or products. This has created such a lopsided economy that we can’t even sustain ourselves without outside help. The corn we buy in the grocery stores has little similarity to the corn that has been grown in the Southwest for millennium. I grow a garden every year, but most of the seeds I have used in the past are hybrids of European vegetables, and they are poorly equipped to survive the arid, hot summers here. In fact, it has been extremely difficult to find seeds for the southwest, and after reading this book I understand why- there are only a few commercial seed companies left in the WORLD, and they have no interest in providing local seeds that they can’t patent.
Anyone interested in growing seeds well adapted to their own areas have to search deeply- typically in local natural food stores or through local organic farmers. Thank heavens there have been grass-roots harvesters deeply committed to saving heritage seeds from all over the US and parts of Mexico! With the internet it’s become easier to find them, and I plan to buy native seeds this year, and start growing locally adapted squash, beans and maybe even corn. Now it’s time to get off my soapbox, and get on with gardening!
Sunday, October 26, 2008
transgender chickens
So it turns out that Betty is a Bucky. I learned that the other morning when I woke up to crowing. I had hoped it was a neighbors rooster, but no such luck, it's Betty, er- Bucky. On the positive side, he's become a beautiful bird, black and gray feathers in a stripe pattern, strong red comb and wattle. The bad thing is the crowing-I just hope the neighbors don't complain. If they do, I guess we'll have chicken soup! He's young enough, he should make a good chicken stew. I hope I don't have to do that, frankly I don't like butchering chickens much. Maybe I can pawn him off on my Mom, heaven knows she's brought enough animals my way over the years. He doesn't crow horribly loud, so for now he gets to be the 'cock of the walk', until further notice.
We gave away the first puppy on Friday, one of the chocolate colored males. The proud new owner is a 9-year old boy. He visited them last week, and since then had already named him, made a couple toys and was dreaming of all the fun they'd have together! I'm thrilled to give puppies to people that love them and will take good care of them.
We've sure enjoyed having Megan and Taylor visiting the past few days. Megan is my niece, and we haven't seen them since their wedding last May. They've been out hiking in Sycamore canyon, and we went to Jerome, it's always fun to go there. There's a great yarn shop there, I try to visit it when I can. Megan likes to knit, so I've just been giddy having someone to talk knitting with again. Heather and I work on patterns together still, but over the internet and by phone now. It's nice to sit down, look at patterns and chat about the next fun project in person. I pushed tons of magazines and books at her, to see which ones she liked. I know, it doesn't take much to entertain me....
We gave away the first puppy on Friday, one of the chocolate colored males. The proud new owner is a 9-year old boy. He visited them last week, and since then had already named him, made a couple toys and was dreaming of all the fun they'd have together! I'm thrilled to give puppies to people that love them and will take good care of them.
We've sure enjoyed having Megan and Taylor visiting the past few days. Megan is my niece, and we haven't seen them since their wedding last May. They've been out hiking in Sycamore canyon, and we went to Jerome, it's always fun to go there. There's a great yarn shop there, I try to visit it when I can. Megan likes to knit, so I've just been giddy having someone to talk knitting with again. Heather and I work on patterns together still, but over the internet and by phone now. It's nice to sit down, look at patterns and chat about the next fun project in person. I pushed tons of magazines and books at her, to see which ones she liked. I know, it doesn't take much to entertain me....
Monday, October 20, 2008
Week in Review
It's been a busy week, at least for me. Adele, David's sister, came in Wednesday, and has been working through all of their Mom's stored stuff. Mom Farr moved a 4 bedroom house, garage and shop into one big garage here. There are lots of things there, from the beautiful handmade pieces of furniture that Dad Farr created, to really old toys and games that have been with her since the 50's. Adele found cancelled checks from the 1940's, how cool is that? She and her Mom have been going through boxes, divying up treasures between the 5 living children, and pulling a few things out for Mom to keep. It's a really tough job, Mom Farr gets a little overwhelmed with all the decisions she has to make, but at least she's finally decided what to do with a lot of it, and the kids are trying to pitch in and help.
I drove Nic to the airport on Thursday night, he flew to Salt Lake for the weekend. His flight left at 4:50, which meant we had to be there in the middle of rush hour. One of the reasons I left Phoenix 30 years ago was the traffic, and trust me, it hasn't gotten any better! I decided to take advantage of my strapping son, and stopped at Costco for a bulk grocery run. No frozen or cold stuff, I'd be traveling too long to carry them, but lots of laundry and pantry items. I love having Nic here to help with the heavy stuff!
We got him into the right terminal and I left the parking lot about 3:20, and it took an hour to drive 10 miles. Stop and go, jostle and dart, the traffic is snarled and awful! I decided to try driving up I-17 instead of going east to the 101, I have no idea if it was any better. All I know is that I'm very, very grateful to live in the sticks, where the traffic can get busy, but the roads don't look like a spaghetti bowl! Besides all the afternoon traffic, the roads are torn up and there is roadwork going on for miles on the 17, which is the only way home for me.
The puppies are growing fast, cavorting and wrestling with each other. They have free run of the back porch and backyard now, and they're doing really well, getting lots of excercise. It's tricky for humans though, to walk out there without tripping over a puppy, or stepping in 'droppings'. Cara is already starting to wean them, they are drinking formula from the bowl and munching on puppy chow.
We've had beautiful fall weather, at least for Arizona. The nights are cool and crisp, the days are in the very manageable 80-90 degree range. I've planted broccoli, red cabbage, spinach, turnips and radishes, so hopefully we'll have a nice fall garden that will make it to Christmas. We had a frost 8 days ago that killed my peppers, while we were at my Mom's. The tomatoes got bit, but survived, so I'm covering them at night, hoping to harvest the tomatoes still on the vine. All quite bucolic, but it's my life and I love it.
I drove Nic to the airport on Thursday night, he flew to Salt Lake for the weekend. His flight left at 4:50, which meant we had to be there in the middle of rush hour. One of the reasons I left Phoenix 30 years ago was the traffic, and trust me, it hasn't gotten any better! I decided to take advantage of my strapping son, and stopped at Costco for a bulk grocery run. No frozen or cold stuff, I'd be traveling too long to carry them, but lots of laundry and pantry items. I love having Nic here to help with the heavy stuff!
We got him into the right terminal and I left the parking lot about 3:20, and it took an hour to drive 10 miles. Stop and go, jostle and dart, the traffic is snarled and awful! I decided to try driving up I-17 instead of going east to the 101, I have no idea if it was any better. All I know is that I'm very, very grateful to live in the sticks, where the traffic can get busy, but the roads don't look like a spaghetti bowl! Besides all the afternoon traffic, the roads are torn up and there is roadwork going on for miles on the 17, which is the only way home for me.
The puppies are growing fast, cavorting and wrestling with each other. They have free run of the back porch and backyard now, and they're doing really well, getting lots of excercise. It's tricky for humans though, to walk out there without tripping over a puppy, or stepping in 'droppings'. Cara is already starting to wean them, they are drinking formula from the bowl and munching on puppy chow.
We've had beautiful fall weather, at least for Arizona. The nights are cool and crisp, the days are in the very manageable 80-90 degree range. I've planted broccoli, red cabbage, spinach, turnips and radishes, so hopefully we'll have a nice fall garden that will make it to Christmas. We had a frost 8 days ago that killed my peppers, while we were at my Mom's. The tomatoes got bit, but survived, so I'm covering them at night, hoping to harvest the tomatoes still on the vine. All quite bucolic, but it's my life and I love it.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Wedding and a birthday
Blahh! I'm sick as a dog today, and yesterday too, for that matter. Some kind of stomach crud is going around, and of course it came to visit me.
We had a good weekend, David and I drove to Phoenix and met Jared for a few minutes. He flew in for his old roommates' wedding, and was a groomsman, so he wasn't able to get away very long on Saturday, since they were finishing up all the last minute details before the wedding at 5. Anyhow, he looks great, and was very happy to announce he's found a job. It is in insurance, customer service, and only a few minutes away from his house, so no long commute. Yea! After we saw Jared, we drove to Stanfield to spend the day with my Mom. It was her birthday, and we got her a DVD player, and planned to install it, but it outsmarted us. We needed one of the kids there! She needs to have the Direct TV tech come out anyhow, so she'll have him set up the DVD player too.
My sister Debbie made dinner for all of us, to celebrate Mom's birthday. She rarely cooks, so it was really special. She has one of the rare husbands that likes to cook, and is retired, so he cooks most of the time. I wish someone else would cook around here sometimes, I get tired of doing all the cooking. See, I told you I'm sick, and grouchy too. Anyhow, Mom's birthday turned out very nice, I'm glad we could be there.
We had the puppies in the house last night, because it's been so cold. Cara doesn't stay with them much any more, just long enough to feed 'em. They are in a little fenced enclosure, with old blankets to lay on. We felt sorry for the little boogers, they were outside shivering, all piled on top of each other trying to stay warm, so we put them in the laundry room overnight. What a mess! They pooped all over the place, past the newspapers we put down. David and Nic had to clean it all up this morning before they left for work. Needless to say, the pups are back outside, and we'll figure out a box for them tonight-outside!
We had a good weekend, David and I drove to Phoenix and met Jared for a few minutes. He flew in for his old roommates' wedding, and was a groomsman, so he wasn't able to get away very long on Saturday, since they were finishing up all the last minute details before the wedding at 5. Anyhow, he looks great, and was very happy to announce he's found a job. It is in insurance, customer service, and only a few minutes away from his house, so no long commute. Yea! After we saw Jared, we drove to Stanfield to spend the day with my Mom. It was her birthday, and we got her a DVD player, and planned to install it, but it outsmarted us. We needed one of the kids there! She needs to have the Direct TV tech come out anyhow, so she'll have him set up the DVD player too.
My sister Debbie made dinner for all of us, to celebrate Mom's birthday. She rarely cooks, so it was really special. She has one of the rare husbands that likes to cook, and is retired, so he cooks most of the time. I wish someone else would cook around here sometimes, I get tired of doing all the cooking. See, I told you I'm sick, and grouchy too. Anyhow, Mom's birthday turned out very nice, I'm glad we could be there.
We had the puppies in the house last night, because it's been so cold. Cara doesn't stay with them much any more, just long enough to feed 'em. They are in a little fenced enclosure, with old blankets to lay on. We felt sorry for the little boogers, they were outside shivering, all piled on top of each other trying to stay warm, so we put them in the laundry room overnight. What a mess! They pooped all over the place, past the newspapers we put down. David and Nic had to clean it all up this morning before they left for work. Needless to say, the pups are back outside, and we'll figure out a box for them tonight-outside!
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