To Market, To Market...

Fulton Street Farmers Market
Be there.
Or be square.


Tomorrow morning, bright and early, Jen and I will be heading out to the opening day of our local farmers market.
Even if I don't purchase anything (ha!), the ambiance is enough.
My favorite, favorite part of ANY farmers market is the people watching.
Mama's with babies in their slings, daddy's carrying toddlers, old couples slowly weaving their way up and down the aisle.
Clean faced teens manning their farmer daddy's stall.
Our very own CSA farmers Michael and Anja, selling organic veggie plants.
SO much to see!
Eye candy, for sure.

Inspiration everywhere.

I can hardly stand it!

xoxo,
Cindy

Gettin' Down and Dirty

Me, scootin' around the gardens

I have been trying to get outside on a daily basis, even if it is only for a couple of hours at a time.
A couple hours here, a couple hours there, and it won't be long before pret' near everything will have been weeded.
Then.... you start again.

Dirt cheap.

No. Really. It was cheap!
And I needed some topsoil.
Topsoil from a farm where cattle roamed for 40 years.
Good stuff!

One little bit of weeded garden.

The rusty pitcher has some kind of perennial that comes creeping out of the holes.
I never have to water it, so it's got to be a succulent.
When I peeked down inside I could see bits of green coming up.
Won't be long before it's trailing down the sides.

Dust baths

The chickens have been making themselves at home with all the weeds taken out of the gardens!
These Cuckoo Maran were bought from Ang last year and they have been the sweetest hens we have ever had.
Not a bit skittish and pay you no never mind when you stroke their backs.
I like to do that...just cause I can.
The others will peck at me, so...hands off.

Flowering Crabapple tree

So beautiful right now, with little bees buzzing all around!

I hope you all are having a wonderful spring week!
I'll be back soon with more farmette updates.

Till then...
xoxo
Cindy

By THIS all will know...

Friday, 3:30 PM

THIS is what the main veggie garden looked like yesterday at 3:30 PM.
That would be right before my dear neighbor Michelle sent her husband and 7 of her children over to do some serious grunt work for us.

The younger children worked on the smaller of the two beds,
weeding and cleaning out the debri from last year.

Michelle's husband and older children worked on the larger bed, rototilling, then cleaning out all the clumps of weeds.

Friday, 4:30 PM

Took them an hour to do what would have taken us a minimum of 7 hours.
Doesn't it look beautiful???

The smaller bed, all ready for planting.

"By THIS all will know that you are My disciples,
if you have love for one another." John 13:35

Michelle, Brian, and their children do not just talk the talk.
They walk the walk.
And for that Pete and I are extremely grateful.

xoxo,
Cindy

I'M VOTING....3 X A DAY

Just call me "Yum"!

Puttin' my money where my mouth is and getting 1/4 of a cow from Maple Valley Farms.
Grass fed, lean, and treated with dignity.
Matt and Ang have an awesome off-grid farm about an hour north of us and have just begun selling this years beef. We talked about this at length and tho it is a lot of money initially, it will be enough for our family for a year, and that's with giving some away.

It won't be ready till mid May, so I'm going to try to use up what we have in the freezer to make room for approximately 175# of beef!

Every time we put that fork to our mouths, we are voting.
For most Americans that is at least 3 x a day!
I want to make my vote count.
We are making choices that never crossed our minds before.

Organic vs non-organic
Grass fed vs CAFO (concentrated animal feeding operations...BAD)
low spray fruit vs heavily sprayed fruit
organic chicken feed vs GMO chicken feed
Pizza Hut vs homemade pizza

Every time I shop and make wise choices I am telling my grocer what is important to me.
It's the least I can do.

xoxo,
Cindy

And...for those who have never gotten around to watching Food, INC...here is a link to Public Broadcasting where you can watch it for free on your computer for the next week! So hurry! Whatcha waiting for?

WHAT was I thinkin'???

A teensie tynsie piece of the perennial gardens--pre weeding/cleaning

Did I think I would never get too old or sore to work in these gardens I created out of nothing more than 8 years ago?
Did I think I would ALWAYS be in my 40's?
Did I think I would ALWAYS have kids around to do some of the "grunt" work?
Did it never enter my mind that this might be overwhelming someday?

OBVIOUSLY NOT!!!

Another ittsy bitsy piece, half cleaned

One wheelie cart full of debri

One semi clean bed (see 1st photo for the "before")

See "Poncho" in the corner?
He is one of my favorite pieces of garden junque

Other half of the semi-clean bed

Took me more than 2 hours to get this little bit done!

Don't even GO there!
Those are the dried up old sweet peas from last summer
Just need to hoik them out as the new ones are already popping up nearby

And THIS is supposed to be the vegetable gardens?

HA!
Who the heck is gonna clean that bad boy out?

THAT WOULD BE ME:(

Looks like my work is cut out for me for, say, the next 3 months.

And, while I'm talkin'/fussin' about the stupid things I've done without considering that our bodies DO age...
How about this one?
Could have had the laundry area on the main floor in the 1/2 bath...
but NO...
Wouldn't a coat closet be a better idea?
NOT
So now it is up and down those basement stairs every time I need to do a load of laundry.

OK...enough complaining.
I am thankful that I have legs to stand on, a roof over my head, fresh clean drinking water, food in the cupboards, and get to spend eternity with my heavenly Father.

See y'all real soon.

xoxo,
Cindy

Spring supper on the deck

Tabouli

SO good and spring like!
Fresh parsley, cucumber, tomato, green onions and soaked bulghur tossed with a mix of fresh lemon juice, olive oil and garlic.
It's a beautiful thing.

Asian Green Beans

Green beans I froze from the 09' garden, sauteed in a bit of coconut oil/olive oil and a few slivers of onion
Toss in a dash of soy sauce, sesame oil, and a sprinkle of black sesame seeds
These were so tasty I couldn't stop eating them.

Burger toppings

Pickles canned from autumn 08'

The finale!

I confess, I ate the whole thing!
Sat out on the deck with Pete and just enjoyed the summer-like weather.
Watching the ducks, the cats, and the chickens meandering all over the place.

For now...
life is good.

"He makes the sun rise on the evil and on the good,
and sends rain on the just and the unjust." Matthew 5:45

xoxo,
Cindy

Is there peace in your valley?

Not so much right now.

SO much going on here.
Things I cannot share.
Personal things.
Painful things.

I must remember to trust in Him.
And Him alone.

TURN YOUR EYES UPON JESUS

O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s a light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there;
Over us sin no more hath dominion—
For more than conquerors we are!

His Word shall not fail you—He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well:
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!

"Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him" Job 13:15

xoxo,
Cindy

That's my story...and I'm stickin' to it!

38 years, and counting

I was given a Beautiful Blogger award by Mimi, from "French Kitchen in America" and now must tell you all 7 things about myself that you might not know.
And personally, one of the hardest things about blogging is not remembering how you got to where you are!
For the life of my I have no idea what bunny trail I took to find Mimi, but whenever it was, and it was quite a while ago, we've been friends ever since.
I bet most of you have NO idea how you found me here...right?


Since my life is pretty much an open book, I am thinking long and hard about this!

Okay....Did you know I am a leftie?
I write with my left, iron (ha ha) with my left, but bat with my right!

I met Pete just after my 16th birthday and married him just weeks after my 18th.

On a good day I am only 5 ft tall.

I started running when I was 52 years old and ran my 1st 5k just a few months later.
(no more running...doctors orders)

My kids tease me cause I am always telling them about a "new friend" I just met.
Likely it was someone at a garage sale, cashier at the grocers, or even the internet.
"Here we go again...mom has a 'new friend'!"
I'm sure I've told them about some of YOU!

I make my own...
noodles, yogurt, bar soap, laundry soap, bread, sauerkraut, kombucha (1st batch is fermenting now!), dog food,....
and occasionally I even make my own bed!

I watch American Idol.
(did I just say that???)

I SHOULD pass this on to 7 deserving others, but quite frankly I can't pick just 7!
So, if you're so inclined, give us your top 7!

xoxo,
Cindy

I had NO idea! Did YOU?

Store brand plastic wrap

See on the side of the box there?
Where it says "Push 'N Lock Tab"?
Even has nice, big arrows pointing there!

Did you know that when you actually do that "push 'n lock tab" thing, it actually prevents the roll of plastic wrap from jumping out of the dang box???

Did you know those very same "instructions" are on the ends of other roll type boxes?
Like aluminum foil???

Have you ANY idea how silly I felt when I found these "instructions" after nearly 40 years of cooking???

Just goes to show...
I'm still not too old to learn somethin' new!

Tell the truth now...
Did you know?

xoxo,
Cindy

HOT TOWN...SPRING IN THE COUNTRY!

The high yesterday was 87F!
Warmer than any place in Florida!
Never mind that next week it's back in the 40's.
For now I am living for the moment!

Sam and his cousin Adam, fishing in our dinky pond.

Played a few games of one-on-one.

Notice his shoes?
One beat up sneaker, one swim shoe.
Can't seem to find the matching pair anywhere!

Whole wheat soaked tortillas on cast iron griddle

I simply cannot pay what they are asking for store bought, whole wheat tortillas, so I made my own.
Easy-peasy!
Found the recipe at Passionate Homemaker's blog, and the only thing I did different from hers was I did not grease my griddle.
I found an old cast iron griddle a few weeks ago at the Goodwill, and it worked perfectly for these.
They are not especially pretty to look at, but then I've nearly always gone for the more rustic look in my cooking!

Black bean/chicken/cheese burrito

I had bought an organic chicken (nearly $4.00 per #) from the grocers a couple days before and got several meals out of it.
Good thing, eh?
Roasted chicken the 1st day. (served 2 as no kids were around0
Chicken soup the 2nd day. (served 4, and we all had 2nds!)
Burritos the 3rd day. (served 5)
The burritos were just thrown together from a pkg. of black beans I had cooked up and froze in ziplocs a few weeks ago.
Toss in the leftover chicken, cut up tiny.
A good handful of chopped cilantro.
The juice of 1 whole lime.
A bit of cumin.
Oh. My. Word.
SO good!

A $15.00 chicken.
Divided by 11 servings = $1.36 per serving!

Stretching a buck...does it get any better than this?

Have a MOST blessed Resurrection Day!

xoxo,
Cindy