As much as we try to plan ahead for our weekly grocery needs, there's really no way to plan for the occasional cravings for chocolate, ice cream, and/or potato chips. I think we should have made some allowance for these items in our "rules," right alongside cranberry juice.
Last night while gearing up to watch this season's first episode of "Chuck," I had a sudden craving for chocolate. I made mention of this to Michael. He interpreted my indirect communication as, "oh, you'd really like me to run to the store for chocolate." I attempted to brush this off, in honor of the "rules" of course..... and said something like, "no, I'm ok. if only I had some chocolate, but I'm ok." Michael took this to mean, "I better move fast and get some chocolate for my wishy washy wife before I regret it."
He then jumped in the car and drove to Albertson's (yes, the dreaded grocery store, so conveniently located 3 blocks from my house). He returned approximately 11 minutes later with the most beautiful assortment of chocolates (enough to last us through to the end of October) and 6 half gallons of ice cream. Apparently the ice cream was on sale, a bargain he just couldn't pass up.
We watched "Chuck" while savoring Tillamook's Mudslide ice cream, also known as "perfect chocolately goodness." Looking back, I'm thrilled at the outcome. But, I'm also feeling a bit guilty for breaking the rules. On the other hand, aren't we all entitled to a few guilty pleasures every now and then?
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
From the road
Today, I'm travelling for work so there won't be update on farm activities. I did want to update you on a rather simple epiphany I had today. I was sitting in my seat on the tarmac waiting for the plane to take off and I again (for about the millionth time) wondered to myself about why the windows are so darn low on a plane. My next thought was about how interesting I used to think watching the people on the tarmac doing there jobs was and how now I just don't care. The proverbial light bulb went off. How did I never put it together before? The windows are low so you can look DOWN when you look outside. This is just my latest theory. Who knows? maybe someone who is in the industry might comment on this blog and tell me it's for some completely different reason.
I went wine tasting today at four wineries in and around Sebastopol, CA. When I got to my hotel, the room wasn't ready yet. Which is funny because when I got to Oakland airport rental car company where I had my reservation, my car wasn't ready. In fact, there was no car. I asked how long it'll take to be ready. Are they just filling the tank, washing her, etc? Nope. No car. So I said, "what do we do when there's no car that you promised me?" The manager said to go to another company, bring in my contract before I leave and my receipt when I turn it in and FOX will reimburse me for the difference in the daily rate they would have charged me and how much I had to pay elsewhere. The only available car was a full size at National. I rented it. When I went to go get it, the lot attendant said they were out of their regular full size and told me to pick one of their "executive" cars. Ergo, I am driving a Mercury Grand Marquis today and tomorrow. Holy cow that thing is a land yacht. I LOVE it.
Here's a view from the windshield crossing the San Francisco Bay Bridge:
Yesterday, I found out that my coworker's trees were WAY bigger than he thought they were, and VERY complicated to get to the ground safely. We ended up cutting down the two alders, but leaving the Maple and the Cottonwood for the pros.
Here's the after photo of the two felled trees:
Can I just say that the song about the guy that walks around leaving scars and collects a jar full of hearts is rad to the max.
Mike
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
"Work" after work
I always look forward to coming home after a long day at work. Not because I hate my job. I love my job. I also love my farm. Inspecting the garden is always the first order of business upon arriving home. Today I was pleased to find 5 fresh strawberries ready for picking. We've had very little luck with our strawberry production this year, so I was pleased to find these 5 berries before the squirrels ate them for dessert.
After changing into my farming clothes (consisting of my worn out jeans, favorite hoodie, and rubber boots), Michael and I (with pinot gris in hand) let our chickens out to graze in our side yard. Our every broody Lucy refused to leave her nest, but the remaining 12 were eager to get out of the coop. Before we knew it, Audrey had made her way to the opposite end of the yard to scratch and peck in our front yard garden. Audrey knows where to find the best worms. She also knows that she's not allowed in our front yard garden. So she waits for the moment when we aren't looking, running as fast as she can to reach the garden boxes before we realize she's gone. We don't have to worry about the other chickens. They tend to stay in the same general area. If Audrey's missing, we usually know where to find her and then how to guide her back to a more appropriate scratching site.
After an hour or so in the side yard, we were ready to guide the chickens back to their coop. When I opened the gate, I was surprised to find an egg in the path. I'm pretty sure Wilma laid an egg on the way out to the side yard. Wilma is yet to learn how to lay in the nesting boxes. She also hasn't figured out how to climb up the ladder to the roost at night. The ladder is the key to finding the nesting boxes....
Speaking of eggs, it's time for dinner. That's all for now- Trisa
-Trisa
After changing into my farming clothes (consisting of my worn out jeans, favorite hoodie, and rubber boots), Michael and I (with pinot gris in hand) let our chickens out to graze in our side yard. Our every broody Lucy refused to leave her nest, but the remaining 12 were eager to get out of the coop. Before we knew it, Audrey had made her way to the opposite end of the yard to scratch and peck in our front yard garden. Audrey knows where to find the best worms. She also knows that she's not allowed in our front yard garden. So she waits for the moment when we aren't looking, running as fast as she can to reach the garden boxes before we realize she's gone. We don't have to worry about the other chickens. They tend to stay in the same general area. If Audrey's missing, we usually know where to find her and then how to guide her back to a more appropriate scratching site.
After an hour or so in the side yard, we were ready to guide the chickens back to their coop. When I opened the gate, I was surprised to find an egg in the path. I'm pretty sure Wilma laid an egg on the way out to the side yard. Wilma is yet to learn how to lay in the nesting boxes. She also hasn't figured out how to climb up the ladder to the roost at night. The ladder is the key to finding the nesting boxes....
Speaking of eggs, it's time for dinner. That's all for now- Trisa
-Trisa
Cheese delayed another week
Drat. Just when I was all ready to go with the cheese, a business trip came up. So we're postponing cheese until the weekend or sometime next week. We also have to postpone Survivor Night. I hate missing Survivor Night. Next week, my friends. Next week we will have both Cheese and Survivor.
For those of you who don't know: a little background. I work (the day job, that is) at a third party Power Plant Operations and Maintenance company. I write procedures, assess procedures, operations and maintenance, and do all sorts of various and sundry other things that an Analyst does at a 3rd party PPO&M company. I've been asked to go to Sonoma - literally the HEART of CA wine country tomorrow and Thursday to "find out what they're doing with solar-power-generated steam at wineries and see if we can sell them something." Well, alrighty then. I'm an analyst, not a salesman, but for some reason they picked an analyst to go and I happened to be their pick.
Who gets lucky enough to get paid to do THAT?!? Once again, I must say I really do like my day job. I don't like that they informed me I'd be travelling Wednesday on the Monday prior. Had I even a week or so notice Trisa would've probably been able to make this trip with me. Now, I have even more motivation to find some way to sell my company's services. Chances are good that if we can sell them some service that an Analyst would perform there will be more business trips to Sonoma and Napa...
This afternoon, I'm helping a coworker chop down four or five trees in his yard. In return, he's going to give me the pick of the Alder logs and rounds that we collect after the carnage. I have just the box to put the wood in to season them for a year. I have a big wood box that I got from work that was used to ship something. It's about 3' square and 2' deep. I'll put the Alder in there for just under a year and it'll be PERFECT for smoking. Alder smoked Gouda, here we come. I'll also smoke some fish and other meats to cure them for storage as well as because it just tastes good. This way I can avoid buying wood chips at Joe's or another outdoor store. AWESOME!
I feel like my posts are too long sometimes, so I'm going to try to post more often, but shorter posts. Please feel free to give us your feedback in our comments section. Let us know if you've a particular interest you'd like us to talk about more, or if you have questions about gardening/farming/locavoring, etc.
One last thing: check out northwest coupons connections on the web (www.couponconnectionsnw.com). A our neighbors a few houses down from us run that blog. It's not too applicable for Trisa and I as we don't buy food from grocery stores, but for those of you who do, this website will save you a TON of money. I check it often for coupons for non-food items.
That's all for now.
Mike
For those of you who don't know: a little background. I work (the day job, that is) at a third party Power Plant Operations and Maintenance company. I write procedures, assess procedures, operations and maintenance, and do all sorts of various and sundry other things that an Analyst does at a 3rd party PPO&M company. I've been asked to go to Sonoma - literally the HEART of CA wine country tomorrow and Thursday to "find out what they're doing with solar-power-generated steam at wineries and see if we can sell them something." Well, alrighty then. I'm an analyst, not a salesman, but for some reason they picked an analyst to go and I happened to be their pick.
Who gets lucky enough to get paid to do THAT?!? Once again, I must say I really do like my day job. I don't like that they informed me I'd be travelling Wednesday on the Monday prior. Had I even a week or so notice Trisa would've probably been able to make this trip with me. Now, I have even more motivation to find some way to sell my company's services. Chances are good that if we can sell them some service that an Analyst would perform there will be more business trips to Sonoma and Napa...
This afternoon, I'm helping a coworker chop down four or five trees in his yard. In return, he's going to give me the pick of the Alder logs and rounds that we collect after the carnage. I have just the box to put the wood in to season them for a year. I have a big wood box that I got from work that was used to ship something. It's about 3' square and 2' deep. I'll put the Alder in there for just under a year and it'll be PERFECT for smoking. Alder smoked Gouda, here we come. I'll also smoke some fish and other meats to cure them for storage as well as because it just tastes good. This way I can avoid buying wood chips at Joe's or another outdoor store. AWESOME!
I feel like my posts are too long sometimes, so I'm going to try to post more often, but shorter posts. Please feel free to give us your feedback in our comments section. Let us know if you've a particular interest you'd like us to talk about more, or if you have questions about gardening/farming/locavoring, etc.
One last thing: check out northwest coupons connections on the web (www.couponconnectionsnw.com). A our neighbors a few houses down from us run that blog. It's not too applicable for Trisa and I as we don't buy food from grocery stores, but for those of you who do, this website will save you a TON of money. I check it often for coupons for non-food items.
That's all for now.
Mike
Monday, September 13, 2010
In Over Our Heads
Yesterday, we took another trip out to the Ballard Market. We left with three 1/2 gallons of milk (for cheese making), two of Deborah's savory meat pies (we could hardly contain ourselves), 6 pounds of nectarines and peaches (for preserves), and two months or so worth of pasta (because we love fresh pasta from our friendly pasta maker who always throws in more food for free). It might be time to invest in a grocery cart....
Going to farmers markets to shop for our weekly groceries has been a treat, but come October most of these markets will be closed until next spring/summer. It's now time to prepare for winter. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by it all. We may be in over our heads. Whether I'm ready or not, we have entered a new way of life.
Michael recently ordered a manual covering the topic of spin farming. Ever since, he's been completely spun over the idea. He decided to install a produce cooler in our garage. The plans are in the works, and I'm pretty sure he hired his brother to complete the construction. Without any warning, a canning kit arrived in the mail along with The Complete Book of Home Preserving. Michael already canned two jars of pickles, all made from ingredients from our garden. The cheese making kit is a bit more of a mystery to me. The box came in the mail with a big smily face sticker on the front. Inside, the materials are packaged in "happy meal" like boxes. Clearly, the market is geared toward a younger crowd. Michael can hardly wait to make cheese, yogurt, and cottage cheese. I, on the other hand, am not so sure about playing with milk products.
Now, if our garden would just cooperate. Our tomatoes still hang greenly on their vines. Our dreams of tomato sauces galore are quickly fading. Our pole beans continue to show off their pretty white flowers. No beans in sight. The brussel sprouts are growing, but they're still too small to harvest. Clearly, it's time for a visit from Farmer Colin.
-Trisa
Going to farmers markets to shop for our weekly groceries has been a treat, but come October most of these markets will be closed until next spring/summer. It's now time to prepare for winter. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by it all. We may be in over our heads. Whether I'm ready or not, we have entered a new way of life.
Michael recently ordered a manual covering the topic of spin farming. Ever since, he's been completely spun over the idea. He decided to install a produce cooler in our garage. The plans are in the works, and I'm pretty sure he hired his brother to complete the construction. Without any warning, a canning kit arrived in the mail along with The Complete Book of Home Preserving. Michael already canned two jars of pickles, all made from ingredients from our garden. The cheese making kit is a bit more of a mystery to me. The box came in the mail with a big smily face sticker on the front. Inside, the materials are packaged in "happy meal" like boxes. Clearly, the market is geared toward a younger crowd. Michael can hardly wait to make cheese, yogurt, and cottage cheese. I, on the other hand, am not so sure about playing with milk products.
Now, if our garden would just cooperate. Our tomatoes still hang greenly on their vines. Our dreams of tomato sauces galore are quickly fading. Our pole beans continue to show off their pretty white flowers. No beans in sight. The brussel sprouts are growing, but they're still too small to harvest. Clearly, it's time for a visit from Farmer Colin.
-Trisa
We made a cameo appearance in a Grist.org newspiece
I hope you all remember that awhile back I mentioned we might make a cameo appearance in a grist.org newsy article. Well, folks, it's out. I've embedded the video and also posted a link to the grist.org website where you can find out all sorts of AWESOME information on green things and you can see Mike in the video...
http://www.grist.org/article/food-colin-mccrate-wants-you-to-eat-your-yard-/
That's all for now,
Mike
http://www.grist.org/article/food-colin-mccrate-wants-you-to-eat-your-yard-/
That's all for now,
Mike
It's bread time
The last couple of weeks have found us out in the garden doing a lot of maintenance. There hasn't been much in the way of harvesting, except another ginormous Zucchinni and a whole mess of beans. The potatoes got done and dried in the sun for a few days befoe going into the cellar. This week or next we'll be ready to harvest the Brussels Sprouts. In the front yard, our rainbow chard and winter harvest broccoli are coming in like mad.
Next week we're building two or three hoops for the front beds and planting winter spinach, carrots and lettuce. Now is a great time to plant carrots. They'll begin to grow and while they're still baby, the frost will come and they'll go dormant and stay preserved in the soil until spring. As soon as the temps begin to rise next year, the carrots will grow again and you'll be the first to have wonderful fresh carrots ready for harvest in your garden.
Last night I baked my first loaf of bread. I've added ingredients to a bread machine and pushed go before, but I'd never before made my own from scratch. It was very fun and very rewarding. The loaf came out superb, if I do say so myself. I substituted about 35% of the white bread flour with whole grain Emmer wheat flour. Emmer is an old red wheat. It grows very well in WA. I buy Emmer grain from Bluebird Grain Farms in Winthrop, WA. They mill their flour about 1 week or less before taking it to market.
I also harvested pickle cucumbers and made our own pickles. I hope in three months they are as yummy as I expect them to be. I used a white wine vinegar and added some spices and a sweet bell pepper and a jalapeno pepper from our backyard. So they should be tasty and a wee bit spicy.
Yesterday we bought a gallon of dairy milk that will be used for cheese. FINALLY. The cheese kits came last week a day or so after my birthday and I've finally read a few chapters in the cheese making book and have everything ready to start. I think Thursday or Friday we'll start making cheese. Everything I've read says to start with soft cheese before trying the more difficult hard cheeses so this week we'll focus on Mozzarella and Ricotta. After I've mastered those I'll try a Gouda, then a cheddar, then maybe something even more intense...
Well, that's all for now.
Mike
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)