Groupon's "Save the Money" Commercials

Once a year our family goes in for a night of being a "normal" American family and watches the superbowl together. None of us are into football at all, but we have fun cheering along with millions of those who are around the world, gnoshing on goodies and best of all, watching the commercials. I admit I don't have the toughest skin, and there were a few moments in multiple commercials that I found tasteless. But when Groupon's Tibet themed ad came on, I had a naive moment of thinking that the ICT had actually raised enough money to run a superbowl commercial, which quickly turned into having my jaw drop when it turned into a "ha ha" moment for Groupon. My husband and I were both shocked that a company would take something as serious as the atrocities of Tibet and try to make a joke out of it. We logged onto Facebook to see the potential fallout. While encouraged that there was some, we wished there was more. Plenty of people were posting to bash the "hippies" (there was much worse name calling going on) who were offended. I tried to take a moment to analyze my feelings about the commercial. After sleeping on it and watching it along with Groupon's other commercials, I've decided that my initial reaction was sound. Quite simply, using a situation where we have seen a generation of murder, rape, religious oppression, and exile to make a joke is tasteless in the extreme. I've seen bloggers this morning defending Groupon as having been making a joke about themselves--being self deprecating by admitting that it's about money and nothing more. I don't see how that excuses the situation. Once again, it seems that the only way to try to get people to understand why it is offensive is to beg the comparison of something that would be significant to them. Can you imagine a company trying to get away with making light of something that the majority of Americans hold sacred? Would Groupon have ever even considered starting a commercial with the tragedies of 9/11 and then turning it into a joke about getting cheap New York pizza? Absolutely not. Yet they exploited an equally tragic situation because it was removed enough from the American psyche for them to get away with it.

Perhaps the saddest part of all of this for me is the opportunity it has created for the division of our country to play itself out on yet another canvas. Go to Groupon's Facebook page or any of the blogs where people are commenting, and you'll see people ripping apart those condemning Groupon. Thankfully as of early this morning there wasn't too much acknowledgement of those barbs, but there was some mud slinging back and forth. There is a definite air from those not offended of "Why should I care?". Mostly it's all just name calling and cries of "It's just advertising!" Again, I would challenge those defenders of Groupon to imagine a similar commercial with something that is dear to their heart. How about a joke ad about Hurricane Katrina's devastation that turns into a funny bit about saving money at a hardware store? Or maybe poking fun at our men and women in uniform who are in the line of fire and then turning into a laugh about cheap airline tickets? The point is that with this method of advertising, Groupon is capitalizing on our propensity that already exists to turn a blind eye to issues that we can easily forget about. These are issues that are easy for Americans to forget about--to think it doesn't affect us because it's not our backyard. Groupon is giving a nudge and a wink to things that we should be ashamed to be brushing aside as "not my problem". It's truly shameful.

Groupon's only saving grace is their "Save the Money" site where the ads are posted along with buttons where people can donate to related charities for each of the issues that Groupon is mocking: currently commercial whaling, rainforest deforestation, and Tibet. (All very funny issues, right?) For the Greenpeace donation, Groupon will give you a $15 credit for a $15 donation. Groupon is also matching donations to the organization they chose: "The Tibet Fund", up to $100,000. That's nice, sure, but does it really make up for exploiting gross human rights violations for advertising? I find it almost equally offensive that they feel that throwing a "donate" button up under the commercial makes up for their tasteless ads. There is some information from The Tibet Fund on the option to purchase the $15 donation for them. At this point I think Groupon should at the very least make a bigger deal about encouraging people to learn about the issues in Tibet. At the time of this post 1,667 people have purchased the donation to Greenpeace (getting $15 back in Groupon credit). Only 47 have purchased the Tibet donation. I myself wouldn't purchase it because it feels like condoning the ad. Until Groupon ups the ante in repairing this colossal blunder I'll be canceling my Groupon account (which they've made very difficult to do) and continuing to ask people to pay attention to things like these ads that are encouraging us to forget about everyone else's problems in favor of lining our own nests. While I would love to see an apology from Groupon, I'm learning to tone down my naivete.

M2F Brand Denims

I was very excited to discover a new denim brand that focuses not only on sustainable fibers but also sustainable dyes. I first heard about the denim on Facebook when a friend posted about how incredibly comfortable the jeans were. I'm always on the lookout for eco-friendly fashion so I started doing some digging. I was impressed to learn that the yarn that M2F produces for their fabric is OKO-TEX certified. At first I was a bit hesitant about M2F's approach to color. Their dyes are completely non-toxic and use 50% less energy and water than standard denim dye processes. The dye process is designed to create an authentic saturated color. The colors in M2F's denim range from soft pastels to deep jewel tones. The more I looked, the more I warmed to the uniquely colored jeans. After all, I'm always envying my daughter's bright, bold colored clothing. I opted for a couple of skinny pairs from the previous collection, one in earthy Greek Olive, another in Purple Haze. They are wonderfully soft jeans with a hint of stretch. Not too low cut, they are a true skinny jean, fitting almost like a legging. My previous jean colors have delved only into black, brown, and traditional indigo. These colors are deliciously fun. Both the olive and the purple are deeply saturated but also naturally faded, creating a rich vintage look. My picture does not do them justice, but take a gander at the beautiful picture of the colors from M2F's Spring Line above. As far as price goes, they're reasonable for a sustainable fashion jean at around $129. Look for M2F's Spring Line to start appearing as Winter fades away. The pastel color lineup will be a welcome light note. The Spring Look Book can be found at Made to Fade's website.

More Monarchs

Back in 2006 I wrote about our first adventures with monarchs on the fledgling praire plants in our yard. Those plants have come a long way, and this year our monarch population caught up. I haven't noticed too many caterpillars the past couple of years, but this year has been absolutely insane. We started looking for eggs shortly after learning in early July that many monarch eggs get eaten by ants or earwigs. I always thought it was better to leave nature well enough alone, but I decided to go ahead and 'save' some butterflies and that the ants and earwigs could find plenty of other munchables in the prairie. Our first night out Bird spotted a gigantic caterpillar and we found a couple of eggs. Over the course of the next month we found more and more eggs and started a monarch nursery! It's minimal work but you do need to keep the enclosure clean and make sure that the leaves are fresh. We did have a couple of very tiny caterpillars "disappear" but overall we had really good success with those we brought in. In recent weeks it's gotten to the point that we would have them randomly appearing in the cage, having hitchiked in on some of the fresh milkweed we brought in. I got tired of the constant cleaning and getting fresh leaves so I've been trying to avoid bringing more in, but I can't really avoid it. Today I was getting ready to take out a vase of flowers I picked from the gardens last week, and I spotted some frass and a caterpillar skin--they molt theirs when they go into their chrysalis stage. I poked around and sure enough, there was a chrysalis hanging from a wilting coneflower blossom. We'd had red milkweed in the bouquet and he must have been living there the whole time. Interestingly enough we found the earlier eggs and caterpillars on the regular milkweed that you see in ditches, etc. that we have around the yard. But lately it's been the native red milkweed we planted that's literally crawling with them.

One of the best things about having so many is that we've had a better chance of seeing the "as it happens" moments. We saw a caterpillar just as he molted into his chrysalis a couple of weeks ago. This morning that same little guy emerged from his chrysalis right before our eyes. His chrysalis had turned clear so Bird was keeping a close eye and called us all over just in time to see him burst out. Simply amazing. We've learned a lot and enjoyed feeling like we're playing for the monarch team. I think it's an experience every child should get to enjoy.

You can look for eggs on the underside (sometimes the top) of milkweed leaves. They are a tiny white raised bump. Just before they hatch they will turn dark as the little one emerges. Keep the original leaf fresh by wrapping some wet paper towel around the stem and covering it with foil. You may need to moisten the towel again but don't let it go too wet--you want to avoid mold. After that just make sure that you leave fresh leaves in. They get positively voracious when they're about ready to go into their chrysalis (about the size of the caterpillar in the third picture, but we've noticed they do it at all different sizes--just look at the difference in the sizes of the chrysali on the lid), so be prepared. Our latest caterpillars have preferred red milkweed right on the stem. Don't let the frass build up in the cage. Remember that when they want to build their chrysalis, they go UP, so be sure to have a secure top on the cage that the caterpillars can't crawl out of. We use a terarrium type plastic cage with fine ventilation. Keep an eye on the chrysalis and you'll see it turn clear before the butterfly emerges. Ours have emerged between 8:30-10:30. Let the wings dry for a couple of house before releasing them. Don't release them in the rain or the dark. Release near a food source is ideal. Enjoy the magic of seeing this spectacle of nature up close and personal!

Elemental Garden Dinner

All the fancy recipes come later. For our first big harvest, we stuck with the basics. Tonight's dinner is brought to you by what Rob brought home from the farm today: broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots; and my evening's garden harvest: chard, and beets. Throw in some onions from last year's garden, a bit of olive oil here, lemon juice there, a sprinkle of apple cider vinegar... Ahhhh, summer!

Fraternizing with the Enemy

Spring has come on so quickly here in Wisconsin. I've watched Rob busily working on starting seeds and getting cold tolerant crops in the ground for the farm and nearly forgot about our home gardens. Last week I got a small area cleared and turned and got a few rows of beets started. My goal on this beautiful day was to finish clearing and turning that bed and get it planted with carrots and spinach. I was clearing the last little corner of the bed with a small rake when I noticed some fur in the straw I was pulling back. I carefully cleared away a bit more, expecting an abandoned mouse nest, but saw it was actually rabbit fur, and soon spotted a few pairs of teeny ears to match. I know I will be cursing our cottontailed friends in a few short months or even weeks, but lets face it, I'm a sucker. I've always been a sucker in particular for baby bunnies. So I called Wildlife in Need and they assured me that mom won't care that I disturbed the nest, and that if the dogs hadn't bothered them thus far then they might not bother them at all. Baby bunnies have big mammalian tummies, so Mom is careful to only visit at dawn and dusk so as not to attract predators. Wildlife in Need assured me that I could even fence off 3 sides of the nest to keep the dogs out, and that as long as mom could get to them, she would. I let the kids get a closer look before I covered them back up. They are quickly outgrowing their little depression in the garden but we think we counted 5 sets of ears in the little jumble of legs and backs. I planted the other half of the bed that I'd already turned, but left this half for momma and her babies. Hopefully when they grow up they'll decide that a two-dog yard isn't the best home, and move along. Happy planting!

WGBH Family Nature Program

WGBH-Boston is developing a new TV program to help parents connect their kids with nature and get families outdoors! They have asked that I share this survey with you to help them design the program. It is short and to the point, so please take a minute to provide your input on this valuable project! I'm excited to see what develops!

Packing Veggie Kid Lunches

Packing healthy, fresh lunches for Sprout and Bird has become much easier now that I have a few years of practice under my belt. The more I read about the standard school lunch, the happier I am that we send the kids lunches with them every day. Inspired by Vegan Lunchbox, we got Sprout a Laptop Lunchbox and started planning all kinds of fun meals. The boxes work great--the kids love them, and the carriers provide some insulation. Some lunches have gone over better than others with the kids, but what I've ultimately learned as that I need to take my own advice and keep things simple. What I mostly do now is things that the kids can "put together" themselves. Don't overthink it. Use fresh, whole foods. I try to choose nutrient dense foods and always have something fresh. I'll put a big glob of peanut butter or hummus in one of the smaller containers, and then do 2 things they can dip in in the big containers--usually a veggie and something whole grain. The other small container gets some dried fruit or applesauce. Or I'll do whole grain crackers in one, slices of cheese in another, a veggie and a fruit. The kids each have favorites, and as with most things, letting them have a say, or even help with preparation and/or packing, helps a lot. I was surprised to find out that kohlrabi sticks were one of Sprout's favorite veggies, and that they thought that cream cheese cranberry sandwiches sounded good. Here are a few of our favorites to mix and match:

• Whole grain pita wedges
• Whole grain crackers
• Kohlrabi sticks
• Carrot sticks
• Cucumber Slices
  
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Edmame
• Celery
• Dried Cranberries
• Raisins
• Peanut butter
• Hummus
• Cream Lunches
• Almonds
• Cheese

I'll include a knife for spreading or encourage them to make their own sandwiches with the "ingredients" that I pack. They love making their own "ants on a log" (especially with cream cheese and cranberries). I will also occasionally pack a hot lunch for them in a thermos--a baked potato with black beans on top, soup, etc. along with a whole piece of fruit. I will include a square of dark chocolate as a treat every now and then. I've also learned that they actually eat more if I keep portion sizes small. They don't have much time to eat and Bird especially would get overwhelmed by how much food I used to pack, and hardly eat a thing. You'll figure out what works for your kiddo. I used to send an organic juice pouch with them but frugality and packaging concerns have led us to include a bottle of water instead. (Sigg's tiniest bottles will squeeze into the Laptop Lunch carrier with the lunchbox if you really try, trust me!) I hope this helps you with some simple ideas to help make your child's lunch healthier and easier for the whole family.

Childhood Obesity vs. Eating Disorders

I was pleased to learn that Michelle Obama has chosen combatting childhood obesity as her focus for 2010. Let's face it, this is a growing problem in our society, one focused around our twisted American food culture. Her focus will be on promoting health, expanding the education efforts on the importance of health eating in families with an emphasis on fruits and vegetables. I probably shouldn't have been surprised, but was, to learn that there was outrage spreading about the fact that Obama had mentioned her own daughters' weight issues in a recent comment about the importance of fighting child obesity. People who have experience with eating disorders feel that by drawing attention to her own daughters bodies. I will never make light of eating disorders, but I am shocked that people are drawing this conclusion from Obama's statement. In her comment, Obama specifically said that their pediatrician had told her that her daughters were overweight and needed to lose weight. The eating disorder folks are lamenting Obama putting her daughters on a "diet" at such a young age. Surely they must see that a healthy diet goes hand in hand with preventing eating disorders? Without a doubt, our society gives our youth an unhealthy image to live up to. I would love to see less rail-thin models, especially when it comes to youth-targeted advertising. However, the other side of our advertising to children is encouraging them to indulge in fat-laden, vegetable-deprived, HFCS-filled junk. How can we try to condemn Obama for wanting to help her daughters find a healthy weight by eating healthy foods, and making it a family effort? I think Obama should be applauded for not only her efforts, but for showing that the first family deals with many of the same issues that we all deal with. I hope that she will be able to educate more families on the importance of healthy eating, and hopefully expand programs to take these educational efforts into schools as well. Our kids should be the best motivation for us to eat healthy, whole foods again.

New Year's Revolutions--Goodbye Procrastination

Rob and I have been talking about the concept of New Year's Revolutions rather than Resolutions. I love thinking of ringing in the new year by making the decision to revolutionize something rather than just "resolving" that something needs to be done. In the past couple of days I have realized that for me, one of the biggest revolutions I can make is changing the way I think about things. My number one obstacle to getting "organized" in the past has been plain and simple procrastination. I have so many things on my plate that I try to balance. Between the gardens, my jobs, being a Mom, being a Wife, volunteering, and keeping the house in order, it seems I am always putting something off. I purchased a book on organizing last year and it emphasized that when we procrastinate, we never do ourselves any favors. We put an extra burden on our shoulders and have that stress eating away at us until we finally complete the task. This is so true!

So my first Revolution of the year, is giving myself the gift of doing, rather than procrastinating. Now an important part of this for me is that I tend to put things off because I "don't have time" to do things. I look at the kitchen counter after cooking a meal, and think "I don't have 30 minutes to clean this before I get the kids in bed, I'll do it in the morning." Or "I don't have time to take pictures of the kids artwork right now, I'll just add it to the pile." The truth is that if I break down a task into increments that I DO have time for--i.e. rinsing all the dishes and getting the counter wiped down, or taking just one picture instead of trying to do 20 later on, I can fit in a lot more accomplishments. By doing so, I take a lot off my plate, little by little. This will reduce my stress along with helping me actually achieve more of my goals!

I also tend to put things off because I need to take time to just relax and take care of myself--which is true! But by taking breaks and putting reasonable limits on them, I can take time for me without feeling like I wasted time. Instead of getting sucked into the computer for an hour, I can sit down and give myself 10 minutes before tackling something else. I personally have found this Revolution in thought to be very liberating. I hope that whatever Revolutions you need to make your life more fulfilling come to you, and that 2010 is a fabulous year for you and yours.

"Cream" of Broccoli Soup

The piles of brassicas at the Farmer's Market a couple of weeks ago caused a bit of overindulgence. I filled a bag with heads of cauliflower and broccoli. We've been enjoying them, but tonight I realized that I needed to use up the last few heads of broccoli quickly. Now that it really feels like December, soup came to mind right away. Cream of Broccoli was always one of my favorites, so I decided to do a vegan version. I don't always enjoy cooking with soymilk, so I wanted to find an alternative. I found some recipes that substituted silken tofu, but as I was prepping the onions, I realized I had a better alternative! The other night Rob made a great alfredo-like pasta sauce that was potato based. I tried this method, and it turned out wonderfully. As most of my readers know, I tend to freehand cook, but here is the basic idea:

Vegan "Cream" of Broccoli Soup

• 2 small onions
• 2 cloves garlic
• 6-8 cups veggie broth
• 2 large potatoes
• 1 turnip
• 3 small heads broccoli
• salt

Directions:
Chop onions and saute in oil in a large soup pot. After a couple of minutes, add garlic. Continue to saute until onions begin to carmelize. Add vegetable broth to pot and increase heat. Add cubed potatoes and turnips, then florets of broccoli. Add broth as necessary to keep vegetables covered and able to move freely. Add salt to taste. Bring to a boil, then simmer until all veggies are tender. Let cool slightly, then transfer in batches to a blender and puree. Reheat if necessary.

Turnips add wonderful flavor to soups and are plentiful this time of year. We've really been enjoying them. The kids gobbled up this veggie-rich soup. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Summer Meals

I have been taking photos of a few of our great locavore meals this summer, but haven't taken the time to sit down and blog. So I thought I would briefly share a couple of recent creations to get back on track.

Veggie Chili with Herbed Whole-Wheat Buttermilk Biscuits

We had a lot of fresh herbs left over from our Farmer's Market stand last week, so I've been planning some kind of savory bread. I had decided to do some savory scones with a veggie chili, and thought about doing biscuits instead and baking them right on top of the chili in a dutch oven. It turned out wonderfully. The chili was entirely homegrown with the exception of the beans--onions, shallots, carrots, and tomatoes all came from our gardens.

Honey Glazed Pear Upside-Down Cake

We are lucky to have an orchard on-site at the farm we rent land from. They are generous in their produce trades with us, and we took home a bushel of early asian pears last week. I made this pear upside-down cake from a recipe I found on-line (just google it). The only change I made other than making up for using asian pears instead of big ones was to sprinkle chopped pecans instead of almonds. It was amazing!

We've also been eating a lot of potato "nachos"--baked potatoes with tomatoes, salsa, black beans, cilantro, and sour cream. Those are a big hit with the whole family. Marinara has been the other big meal maker. Since we sell almost all of our "good" tomatoes, usually I'm left with tomatoes that are only good for sauce. We've been trying to be better about keeping some of the good stuff for ourselves this year though, so we've had some yummy cucumber-tomato cold salads and the like.

Please send good energy against late blight. Our two main crops of heirloom tomatoes were completely taken out in the past couple of weeks, and with 1000+ pounds of potatoes still in the ground, we are very concerned about it spreading. We appreciate all the energy you can give us, as nothing else seems to stave off this awful disease. Thanks all, and enjoy the last "real" week of summer!

Local Dinner with Far Away Flavor

I just had the most excellent meal ever, and I made it. This is one of my favorite times of the year, as the produce selection from the gardens really starts to explode. I made a sesame vegetable stir fry earlier this week with kohlrabi and broccoli from the farm we grow at--we traded our potatoes for them. I was paging through Vegan with a Vengance when I came across the recipe for potato and edmame samosas with coconut-mint chutney. I've come to realize that samosas are one of my favorite foods, so I was sold. I had some frozen edmame and thought it would be a great way to use some of our plethora of potatoes. I picked up my copy of Six Spices, a wonderful cookbook by the talented Neeta Saluja, who I've been lucky enough to take a cooking class from. Curried zucchini seemed like the perfect accompaniament since we had also traded potatoes for a good pile of zuchs. Yesterday I made the chutney--a simple blend of coconut milk, herbs, and spices. The mint and cilantro came right from our gardens. (If you wanted to make this more local and weren't trying for a vegan meal, you could make a locally produced yogurt based chutney instead.) Today I realized that I probably had enough carrots I could thin to use those for the samosas, and that the peas from the Farmer's Market would be a great substitute for the edamame. I got excited as I prepped the vegetables and collected a beautiful workspace of colors, textures, and aromas. This was a pretty labor intensive meal, but well worth it. I made chapati (Indian flat bread) to accompany everything and served brown rice for those who wanted it with the curried zucchini. All the dishes turned out wonderfully. I have never made a curry like the zucchini recipe--it had a lemon and sugar finish. If you enjoy Indian foods, I highly recommend that you check out this book and experiment with some of the wonderful different authentic methods. I was thrilled to be able to make such a great Indian meal with such local food. As Rob pointed out, it makes sense that it would be so easy to do, since much of ethnic cuisine draws from good whole foods. As you enjoy this summer's bounty, I hope you explore the many possibilities that your local gardens offer.

Strange Times

My head has been in a very strange place lately. I seem to be at a precipice, but I haven't decided yet what the significance is. As a firm believer in what I refer to as the "Divine Nudge", I try to be open to feelings which urge me to sway one way or another--change direction, or make a certain decision. But as I have sat in this new mindset for a few days, I'm beginning to believe that I've just reached a point where I am open to making that change or taking that big step at any time, not just the "right" time, where there may be a critical choice to be made.


Maybe I should back up and try to explain a bit where I'm at. I've been feeling a bit burned out in the previous few months. I've been in my current field for about five years now, and I love my organization, but I feel like there is more I could be doing. I don't feel as called to it as I once did. I've been able to cut my hours back and still get the job done though, and spending less hours has been helpful in allowing me to step back yet continue to meet the needs of my organization.

Local, organic food is a bigger passion, but that too has seemed to loom as more responsibility than I can keep up with. I've enjoyed our home gardens more this year though, particularly as we have established relationships with local outlets that want our produce. There is nothing like growing your own food, and extending that to sharing it with others. The cool season has made growing slow, which has been nice as we haven't been overwhelmed as much as last year with weeds, haven't had to fight flooded fields, etc. The gardens have been just right--a source of food but also of solace and respite from the busy day-to-day.


The kids have been doing activities almost every morning, but I have them in the afternoons, and have struck a good balance I think between "doing" with them, and just letting them be. We have our beach days, and we have our days where they splash around in the backyard while I chill out with a book or putz in the gardens.


So that's where I've been, and then Rob took a week off of work last week, and before that I had a few days with my family visiting. The kids had off of their activities, and we didn't plan a million things to do, so it was just spending time with family, visiting bookstores or the farmer's market--just living life. It seems weird to say that it was just a week--maybe 10 days. It felt like much more. I felt so relaxed and at peace with everything, but as the days went by, I started noticing some strange things.


First, I started listening to different music. I's been listening to a lot of my typical workout music all the time now, to the point that Bird was starting to sing along with Lady Gaga and the Black Eyed Peas a bit more than I was comfortable with! Then I got the new Regina Spektor album, which was a change since I normally just buy a select song here and there, and somehow it allowed me to get into this very internal mindset. I went back to my more mellow music, it just feel right again.


I think the strangest thing though has been books. I am an avid reader, and "have" to have a good novel on my bedside table to read myself to sleep. I rarely read for pleasure outside of that bedtime window, but at the beginning of this little mini-vacation I spent much of a day reading a novel I'd picked up from the library. It wasn't particularly fabulous, but a nice pleasant read. When I finished it, it was too late to go to the library but I needed something to read at bed, so I went to our bookshelves and grabbed the last Harry Potter. I am usually someone who has to finish what they start readig, but I have a few select books that I have read enough times that I'm okay with just reading a bit in-between other books. So the next day I looked at some of the "best of" summer reading lists, and couldn't find anything that appealed to me. I went to the bookstore, and looked at dozens of books, but nothing called to me. Another bookstore--same thing, and another... Then I went to the library and experienced the same phemomenon. You have to understand, this has never happened to me before. Yes, I'm picky about books, but I've always found something I want to read. I spent about 30 minutes staring at the spines of the books on the shelves in the non-fiction section pondering this. Perhaps it's because my normal reads are escapist--sci-fi, fantasy, historical fiction--and something in me is rejecting that as I get closer to--what, reality? But that can't be all there is to it, because not even my beloved non-fiction appeals right now. I left the library with a copy of Vegan with a Vengance (an old friend) just because it felt ridiculous not to check out something.

Maybe it's not just reality that I've discovered, but somehow managed to find that near-enlightenment of living in the present. Having no work responsibilities, having Rob home (and really home, not able to go to the farm to work because of a shoulder injury), not planning any grand trips or adventures, having the kids home and happy... I've done plenty of thinking about where I want to be eventually. Should I get my Masters in Non-Profit Management? Should we look for a farm here, or closer to my parents? Should I try to find a job with more hours but less responsibility? I've thought about how the reason we're all so stressed is that we fill our lives with STUFF, and then we stress about keeping up with all of the STUFF in our big houses that we don't have time to clean, and we're not happy so we work harder so we have more money to buy more STUFF... But I haven't stressed out about it, it's just passed through as a truth. Is it as simple as coming to terms with the present? Carpe diem? I feel disconnected from all of the normal stress, all of the worries. It's like I'm somehow floating above the currents that I was previously constantly caught in. I'm curious, especially to see what happens next, but not so much that I'm stressing about it. I'm just...living. And really enjoying it.

Barter

Back in February, I wrote about the new bakery that opened in our area. We've continued to patronize the bakery and have been happy to see it continue to succeed. We have talked to them about their desire to use more local ingredients and offered to grow more herbs this year so that we could provide some of their stock. We started a new bed in the Spring and dedicated most of it to herbs--basil, cilantro, sage, thyme, and rosemary. We tried to grow oregano as well but couldn't get a single seed to start up for us. The cool weather has hampered the more woody herbs' progress a bit, but I told the bakery yesterday that we had a good batch ready for them. This morning I delivered about 3 ounces of basil, 2 ounces of sage, and an ounce of thyme, and brought home a bag of whole grain rolls. I can't describe in words the feeling of growing something, being able to provide fresh, organic, local ingredients, and receiving something we need in exchange. What's more, the bakery is able to get the ingredients they need at a much lower cost to them. It has a feeling of such satisfaction and accomplishment to be able to somehow amplify our resources to gain more of what we can't do ourselves. Check it out:

BEFORE

AFTER

I love it. I've been trying to slow down a bit more, and have found myself more apt to muse, so I hope to be blogging more in the coming months. I hope you all are enjoying a wonderful growing season!

Just Sayin'

And now, for something completely different!

One Tribe
Black Eyed Peas--The E.N.D.

Lyrics -- best I could do tonight, forgive my mistakes and lack of proper repeats!

One Tribe, one time, one planet, one race
It's all one blood don't care about your face
Color of your eye or the tone of your skin
Don't care where you are, don't care where you been

'Cause where we gonna go, is where we wanna be
The place where the native language is unity
And the continent is called Pangea
And the main ideas are connected like a sphere

No propaganda to try to upperhand us
'Cause man I'm lovin' this peace,
Man I'm loving this peace
Man I'm loving this peace

I don't need no leader that's gonna force feed a
concept to make me think I need ta
fear my brother, and fear my sister
and shoot my neighbor with my big missile

If I had an enemy, enemy
If I had an enemy, enemy
If I had an enemy then my enemy's
gonna try to come an' kill me
cause I'm his enemy.

There's One Tribe y'all
One Tribe y'all
We are one people
Let's cast amnesia
forget about all that evil
all that evil that they feed ya
remember we are one people
We are one people

One Tribe, one time, one planet, one race
One love one people, one
Too many things that's causin' one
to forget about the main cause

Connecting, uniting, but the evil
is seeded and alive in us
So our weapons are collidin',
and our peace is sinkin' like Poseidon

But we know that the one
the evil one is threatened by the sum
so he come and try to separate the sum
But he dumb

He didn't know we had a way to overcome
rejuvanatin' by the beating of the drum
come together by the supper of the hum
Freedom when all become one, forever.

It's One Tribe y'all
One Tribe y'all
We are one people
Let's cast amnesia
forget about all that evil
all that evil that they feed ya
Remember we are one people
We are one people

One love, one blood, one people
One heart, one beat, we equal
Connected like the internet
United that's how we do

Let's break one soul we situ
Let love and peace lead you
We can overcome the complication
cause we need to

Help eachother make these changes
Brother Sister rearrange this
We are fakin but we can change this
bad condition break

Use your mind and not your greed
Let's connect and help proceed
This is something I believe
We are one, we're all just people.

One Tribe y'all
One Tribe y'all
We are one people
Let's cast amnesia
forget about all that evil
all that evil that they feed ya
remember we are one people
We are one people
One Tribe y'all
One People

Lord help me out
trying to figure out what it's all about
'cause we're one and the same
same choice, same pain

And I hope that you get what I need ya
'cause maybe we need amnesia
and I don't wanna sound like a preacher
but we need ta be one

One war, one love, one passion
One tribe one understanding
cause you and me can
become one
***
New album is out--check it out!

Earth Day--Transplants

When Beo and I were shopping for seed trays recently, I found myself going all "Ooh, shiny!" over a little wooden "Pot Maker". The Richter PotMaker is basically a wooden pestle and shallow mortar, which you wrap strips of newspaper around, fold over the bottom of the pestle, and then press shut with the pestle. I went ahead and picked it up for $12.95, fully knowing that it might not actually replace the strips of peat jiffy pots we were buying for $17.95. It was too nifty not to give it a shot. In past years, we've used peat pots minimally, trying instead to reuse plastic seed trays, but the transplant shock sets us so far behind that we're converting more. I figured Earth Day was a good day to give it a go (particularly because with how busy we've been we're getting behind schedule to get transplants started!). We don't get the newspaper, but Beo had asked a local restaurant for their old newspaper, and I stopped by the library for theirs. Lo and behold, the thing really works. You cut strips of newspaper about an inch wider than the bottom part of the pestle, and the width of one page of newspaper, give or take. I tried using double and single thickness--both worked fine. Roll it up, tuck the ends under, smash it, and voila--a little transplant pot! It took me less than 10 minutes to make 20 of them and get them seeded with pepper seeds. The kids helped me after school and we made some more--20 Wisconsin Lake Peppers and 16 Buran Peppers will be testing out these first batches of pots. (Those 36 fit well in a standard seed tray.) It doesn't take much newspaper at all to make them. Happily, the little it does use keeps that newspaper from having to be recycled, and saves us from having to use manufactured peat pots. If these work well as the seedlings get bigger, I will definitely do more of them next year. Just a little way to remember that we can celebrate Earth Day every day, in little ways. Keep on keepin' on.

Early Garden Days--Propagation

Spring seems to have finally won over Winter, just in time for Ostara. A few warm days have finally lured me out of the shelter of the house and into the garden. Our crocuses are finishing their show, which was better than ever this year. Our hyacinths didn't do much of anything this year, and our daffodils are a bit behind, but our early blooming daffs are just about ready to burst. The peonies, iris and allium are up, and I've seen peeking leaves from the columbine, bergamot, bleeding heart, and a few others. I took clippers to the perennial beds today to take most everything to ground level--we leave almost everything up in the winter to provide food and/or shelter for the critters. I also began this year's battle with the quack grass, which apparently got a better foothold than I'd realized last year. As I was trimming the false indigo, the lure of the crackling pods finally got the better of me. I harvested the pods that hadn't yet split open, and set them aside for planting. One of the things I most enjoy about gardening is propagation. To me, that's a huge part of the magic--taking just one plant and seeing it become many more. For years, that's been a necessity for us as we build beds faster than we can afford to fill them with new stock. So I've gotten pretty good at splitting and dividing plants and letting them fill in where they will. In the past I've toyed with the idea of propagating more seriously. Now we're finally at a point where our beds have filled in nicely and we can turn our efforts in another direction. Last year I had a small nursery bed where I kept plants leftover from garden installations and "volunteer" plants from our more controlled prairie beds. We were able to use a few of them for more installations and to fill in to other beds. This year I'm hoping to do much more. I started all of the indigo seeds I could find in some peat pots, and rounded up some red milkweed seeds from the rain garden to try as well. I also dug into the dwarf iris in our larger rain garden, to split some for professional propagation, and move a few. I'll do most of the splitting for our own garden in the Fall. I'm confident that I'll be able to stock up on a good number of Purple Coneflower, Cupplant, and a few of other frequent volunteers before the season gets too far. I'm hoping that if I can succeed in expanding our collection of native nursery plants, I can supplement our stock that we need to order for garden installations as well as give us something to sell at the Farmer's Market when all of our produce is going to our restaurants and regular customers. Last year we didn't make it to market once, because our produce sold so quickly.

Vegan Lasagna

Lasagna has always been my go-to meal when I want to have a hearty veggie dish for company. I am a huge fan of the recipe from the original Moosewood Cookbook--a recipe which is no longer in the revised version. As I've been cutting more dairy out of my diet, I've been contemplating ways to make some of my favorite dishes which normally have cheese. I still eat a little bit of dairy (mostly organic goat cheese), and most of my favorite dishes are already dairy free, but the challenge has still been bouncing around in the back of my mind. So this week I finally buckled down and put my ideas into action. The challenge was to replace the creaminess and different textures that the cheese provides. I decided to replace the mozarella layers with roasted butternut squash and roasted garlic, pureed together. The ricotta layer kept it's spinach from my Moosewood recipe, but instead of the cheese and egg, I added finely chopped almonds and sauteed chopped onions. Here is the final recipe:

• 1 box lasagna noodles, cooked


• 1 large butternut squash, roasted


• 4 cloves garlic, roasted


• 1/3 c. chopped almonds


• 1 small onion, chopped and sauteed


• 1 bag frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained


• 1 jar marinara sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Puree the squash and garlic together, set aside. Mix almonds, onions, spinach, and salt if desired, set aside. In a 9x13 pan, spread a small amount of sauce in the bottom. Add a layer of noodles. Spoon half the spinach mixture over the noodles, then spoon about half the squash mixture over the spinach layer. Drizzle about 1/3 of the jar over the top. Add another layer of noodles and repeat the layering. Follow with one more layer of noodles, and the remainder of the sauce. Cover the pan with foil and bake approximately 40-45 minutes.

The lasagna was pretty well received. The kids ate it despite the fact that they knew they were missing the school fundraising night at the local fast-food place. The squash definitely gave it that creamy layer that I wanted. I do recommend adding about 3/4 t. of salt to the spinach mixture. I also added a pinch of turmeric to the squash. I would really like to make it with a thick, homemade marinara--I think the tomato sauce is the key to a good lasagna. Next time I will probably use a full head of garlic. The garlic can go in at the end of the roasting with the squash--makes the house smell great! I may also try toasting the almonds before I use them next time. Rob would like them chopped more finely, but I liked the texture. If you give this a try, let me know what you think! Enjoy!

V-Day, Like it or Not

I know that plenty of people scoff at the "commercialness" of Valentine's Day. My whole view on the "Hallmark Holiday" is, if they're trying to get us to appreciate one another and be nice to eachother--heck, I'm in. This year Bird is in a double classroom with 2 teachers, so she had 30 valentines she needed to provide. Combine that with Sprout's almost-20 and that's a lot of sugar and/or flimy cardboard squares to come up with. So we decided to do something a bit more fun and utilitarian. I had visions of something much more handcrafted and elaborate, but after I got realistic I came up with the following: Take some die cut bookmarks, stickers, and markers. Add children. Leave for approximately 30 minutes, and voila--homemade Valentine bookmarks. No, they're not entirely eco, not really sustainable other than the fact that they might not get trashed like a standard valentine would, but the kids had a blast making them, and they turned out pretty swell, if I do say so myself.

Last week we headed up to the local bookstore I mentioned in my last post only to find it not only closed but entirely gutted. That was a bit of a blow. But the bakery we discovered seems to be doing well, so that's given me some hope. I feel so lucky to have a local place using local organic ingredients. Living in a rural area, we are pretty fortunate to have the local coffee shop, the bakery, and a few organic farms to choose from. The bakery's Saturday cinnamon rolls have become a new family tradition. Today we went in and found that the buttercreme frosting was pink, and the maple frosted rolls had conversation hearts on them. I'd hoped, but was afraid it wouldn't be "natural" enough. These are my kind of people. Even more to that point: they had giant heart shaped chocolate chip cookies. Giant cookies for the win! Nothing says "forever" like a ginormous cookie. Tonight we're dropping the kids off at the Children's Museum for a few hours of fun and pizza while Beo and I run out to have some incredible Himalayan cuisine. An excuse to use a ridiculous amount of stickers, eat gratuitous amounts of sweets, and make some couple time? I'll take it! Happy Valentine's Day!

The Economy v. The Economy

I think it's safe to say at this point that all of us have been affected in some way by that dreaded elephant in the room: The Economy. Maybe you've had your hours cut back at work, or have had a spouse, friend or family member lose their job. Perhaps you've seen your favorite restaurant close its doors, or a local plant shut down. Maybe you've seen an increase in the cost of some of your own expenses. Our household has been lucky thus far in that our own jobs haven't been affected--yet. But with Beo working in retail and myself working for a non-profit, we know that nothing is certain. We've watched friends, colleagues and neighbors lose hours, jobs, and even their houses. Learning that a neighbor packed up and left in the night is sobering (especially when it happens more than once). So months ago, we started tightening our belts and building up savings. We tried to get back to basics with food, stop going out to eat, spend much less on clothes, and cut back on the "extras". I stopped collecting dolls and sold off most of my collection to help pay bills and build up our savings. We're in good company, knowing that likely millions of other families are doing the same thing.

So we're feeling pretty good, though nervous, as we build up our potential "island", even as it's been challenged by medical bills and the like, and then we start looking out in the community and realizing: What is going to happen to the businesses we support if they don't get our dollars? Yes, we can go to the library instead of the local book store, but how many families can do that before the book store has to shut down? What about the local family-run restaurant, or the indy coffee house? Beo is baking bread again, but what about the new local organic bakery we just discovered, that is trying to get off the ground? We have to face that this is a dangerous dichotomy. We can build our own ark, or we can reach out to the community and figure out how to keep the flood waters at bay. Those who know us probably know that we've decided to go for the latter. It is a bit of a balancing act, and we have to be wise, but we believe it's necessary. These small local businesses reflect a model that we know is more sustainable not just for society, but for our environment. If we get through the current economic crisis ourselves and have no local bookstore, no local indy coffeehouse (which buys our produce), no local bakery, then how much have we gained? Futhermore, when these businesses close, business connections are severed, hurting more companies, and jobs are lost. It is in everyone's best interest to keep our local businesses strong.

So we're being smart with our money, but we're making sure to share what we have with the businesses that we most want to support. Baking our own bread may save me $20 a week, but it doesn't save the local bakery, and I can make room for that $20 in our budget. If we all work together, we can get through this as a larger community--not just here in our community, but in yours too, and as a nation. We can't do it alone. Last night when Beo took Sprout to the local bookstore, he questioned the owner about the signs announcing an "Inventory Reduction Sale". She confirmed his suspicions that she will likely be closing her doors soon. It's so difficult to watch a small, family operated business fail, especially when it is an important cultural hotspot for a small community. So please, take care of yourself, and your family, but don't forget to support the web that your strand is a part of, and help to keep that strong as well. Let's all try to do our part and work together to keep our communities strong.