“Do-it-yourself is an ethic that is practiced by many different people. It is an attitude of self-empowerment and openness to learning. Do-it-yourselfers include folks who garden, cook “from scratch,” make clothes and handcrafts, build and fix things, and practice healing arts, to give just a few examples.

Anarchist punk culture uses do-it-yourself, or d.i.y. as a slogan to live by. Publishing a “zine,” being in a band, dumpster diving perfectly good food, squatting, activism, and skill-share events are all manifestations of the d.i.y. attitude.” ~Sandor Ellix Katz in Wild Fermentation

On a Walk

Double rainbow over The Factory.

It’s seems like spring here (honestly I can’t complain too much, but I worry how this summer is going to pan out) so Jack and I decided to take a walk through town today.

It was raining on and off during the walk and we got to see a double rainbow. Actually Jack noticed the rainbow as I was trying to navigate the slushy ground on the nature trail we were walking on.

As we were out Jack kept making “predictions” about the rain. He’s wanted to guess if it was going to come back and if it would be stronger rain than before. He said he knew it would stop raining at some point because he could see where the sky was “torn up.” Basically meaning he could see that in between the rain clouds were patches of blue, sunny sky.

I was pretty impressed that he was so perceptive. Kids are weird in the way that they make you pay attention to things you normally don’t even think about.

You can barely see the rainbow peeking through the trees.

We ended up walking almost 2 miles. By the end Jack was telling me he wished we had a teleporter so we could already be home. (Thank you Star Trek!) We were both a little tired, and pretty wet, but we were glad we got out for some fresh air.

I’m glad for these little outings. I hope Jack continues to ask to do stuff like this with us as he gets older.

Facing Reality

Dream farm drawn during a workshop exercise at the NOFA NY conference.

I’ve found that along my path to someday be a true homesteader/farmer it has really helped to learn from people who are currently doing what I plan to do eventually.

It’s one thing to get a book on how to do something, and it’s another to learn it from someone, even if learning that skill makes you realize how much you don’t want to continue doing something.

For instance, I’m used to the idea of year-round farming through my work with KFF. Michael has given many talks on winter growing and I’m used to our farmer’s market which operates all year. Because of this I just assumed I would take the same path.

All it took was 30 minutes of cleaning the dirty roots of scallions in a very cold washing shed one Friday to realize I should reconsider. As my hands were wet, and bright red from the cold, all I could think was that I really wanted to cry….a lot. I was in pain and uncomfortable and really hoped that every bunch would sell at market the next day to make it worth it.

I can’t say I will never grow anything in the cold season, but I certainly have a different perspective on it now.

A similar thing happened while reading The Dirty Life by Kristen Kimball. She talks a lot about their dairy cow and the daily chores that go along with having a dairy cow. Being honest with myself I realize that’s not something I want to deal with.

Part of me wishes that none of this were the case. It makes me feel foolish and weak, but there are certain aspects of who I am that I fear will never change, at least not easily. Waking at 5a.m. to milk a cow in the dark and freezing cold of winter sounds like something I would easily get immensely frustrated with. I’m glad I can acknowledge that part of me.

At the NOFA NY conference I was in a workshop and at one point we broke into small groups and had to draw our dream farm. There were no parameters. You weren’t supposed to think in a logical sense, you were supposed to go with what you would want if there were no limitations.

So I put aside any thoughts regarding “what we could afford” or “where the land might be” and just went with my ideal situation. In the end half the land was going to be for pastured animals, mostly pigs. The other half would be filled with vegetables, flowers, our home, a barn, a commercial kitchen, orchard, bees, and more. The property would be flanked by water and have a forest in the back where I could cultivate mushrooms.

As we went around and discussed our farms it occurred to me that what I really want is like a homestead on crack. I want enough land and the means to fully sustain our family, with enough room for a small CSA operation, value-added products, and enough pork for charcuterie.

This was a very important exercise in “truthiness” (thank you Stephen Colbert!) as well. It showed me that I don’t necessarily want to supply 100s of CSA shares, I’d rather put the time and energy into Chris’ meat business with some other products on the side.

Obviously things do change and flux over time, and I know in reality the property we may get might not have water on either side, or a forest, and we may never be able to afford a commercial kitchen, but it’s nice to have a vision to work toward and a way to keep my wandering mind in check.

These are the kinds of things I’d really rather come to terms with now than to end up with a bunch of sheep I don’t know how to care for just because they are cute and I can make yarn from their fleece. Believe me, mistakes will be made, but I’m just hoping that being honest with myself will prevent additional ones.

And Here We Go Again….

The couch next to me filled with all the necessary garden planning items.

Looks like I’m about a week ahead in terms of garden planning this year. Here is the post where I talked about my garden plan for 2011. Going to the NOFA-NY Winter Conference (here’s a recent post on that) invigorated me in terms of wanting to grow things.

Tonight I sat down with some paper, a pencil, my leftover seeds, and a few catalogs. First I wrote out what I already have, and then I went through to pick out what I might want this year.

I tried to be very realistic when choosing certain things. Last year’s garden wasn’t nearly as well thought out, and I ended up wasting tons of produce. It was really pathetic.

I foolishly grew too many tomatoes and I don’t really know why I grew Romas because I always get so many from work, it’s just crazy. I also ended up growing a type of of cherry tomato called a sungold. I got the starts from work and I’m pretty sure I grew 5 plants which produced like crazy. This year I’m going to grow one plant of yellow pear cherry tomatoes and be content.

Last year's leftovers.

I’ll be growing lots of greens. Most of them were purchased for our cold frame garden that didn’t end up happening this year, so instead I’m going to plant them right out in the garden. I will have one section for lettuce successions and another for cut-and-come-again plants like kale and chard.

I think I’ll throw in a few more broccoli varieties, and make sure to not let the transplants get too leggy this year. I also need to be better about removing the outer stems to promote better growth this time around.

Our cool pea trellis that Chris built last year is going to work hard this year. I plan to put peas on the front again but this year I’m going to plant two varieties of pole beans on the back.

It also looks as if I’ll be tearing up the other part of my front yard for herbs. There’s simply no way they will all fit in with the vegetables. Plus I feel like herbs are something I need easy access too, so a nice, narrow plot should suffice.

A few herb varieties are perennials so I may try to figure out a way to plant them somewhere separate like in my backyard. If I do this I’m going to have to put up a low fence around them otherwise my crazy dogs will trample them.

I’ve done a rough mock up of the garden but one of these days I’m going to go out and remeasure it so I can pin down the final version. I plan to compare the space needed for each vegetable with the actual space so I’m not caught off guard at the end of spring. I also don’t want to accidentally start too many seedlings.

I’ll keep updating things as the season progresses too. What are you planning to grow?

Juicin’ It

Jack wanted to showcase his "sour face" from drinking the combo of lemons, limes and purple carrots that I made for him. He enjoyed it but his wintery chapped lips did not.

For awhile now I’ve wanted to get a juicer. From time to time I’d get the notion, browse Craigslist, find nothing and then forget about it. I really didn’t want to spend a fortune on one.

Recently I started looking again. I browsed reviews and shopped around online and it still looked like I was going to have to spend around $150. I really didn’t want to spend that kind of money but felt like I didn’t really have a choice. After all, if I was going to put in the money, I wanted something that would last.

Chris noticed they were offering a factory refurbished Black and Decker one at a local discount store. It was only $20. I had never come across the model in my search but I figured for $20 it wouldn’t hurt to try it out.

For something so inexpensive, and also refurbished, I cannot believe how well it works. I’ve been using it for over a week and haven’t been disappointed once.

Now in the morning I make juice for myself and Jack. I’ve been trying all sorts of crazy combinations. This weekend I plan on getting lots of beets at market because that is one flavor I haven’t tried yet.

Having juice this way is so much tastier than the stuff from a bottle. I actually haven’t bought juice in some time because it just seemed like kind of a waste.

I was a bit worried that by having it as my breakfast that I’d be starving an hour later. It turns out it actually fills me up. This has given me hope for the eventual possibility of a juice fast. In due time….

Work Songs at NOFA NY Winter Conference

Check out this short video of the group from Sylvester Manor Educational Farm singing work songs at the NOFA-NY Winter Conference. They were fantastic!

Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012!

Gingerbread farm we made at the Kilpatrick Christmas party.

Well we did it, we survived the holidays and rang in the new year. I knew that somehow I’d get all my homemade gifts finished in the nick of time. Seriously though, this year I’m going to craft things all year long and just squirrel them away so I’m not so frantic near the end.

I also decided upon a new tradition. Going forward I’m going to make a handmade gift for Jack that he can open on the morning of Christmas Eve. We were never allowed to open anything on Christmas Eve when I was little so I’m the same way with regular presents. That’s why it will only be handmade and something really special.

The hat in action.

I’m proud to say that Jack loved his surprise Angry Bird hat and has been wearing each day since he opened the package.

Christmas morning Chris went to work and Jack and I had a nice breakfast together. I got to enjoy two lovely, homemade gifts during breakfast. Jillian had made me some tasty foccacia bread and Christina gave me a jar of home-roasted coffee. I had them with some tasty farm eggs and it was the perfect way to start the day.

Chris actually had New Year’s Eve off from work so we ordered Chinese food and watched Green Lantern. This was followed by Portandia and Star Trek: Next Generation, while I furiously tried to finish a cowl I was knitting. At the stroke of midnight I was binding it off. I really like how it turned out.

New Year’s Day we slept in, made homemade waffles with KFF strawberries, real homemade whipped cream, toasted pecans and local syrup, then took a walk through the Village with our pups. At night we went to Albany to see Hugo (which was awesome and reminded me of my days working at The Film Forum) and surprised Jack with a trek over to The Melting Pot for some chocolate fondue.

Monday Chris was off again so we took down all the decorations, put the tree on the curb, and cleaned the house. Now it’s time to look ahead to what we are going to do with the year.

I pondered writing out very specific goals for myself here (and I still might in a future post) but for now I’ll just say that my theme for the year is “stewardship.” I want to be a better steward of all the amazing things in my life.

I want to be a better steward of the land by planning and working my garden better this year and by continuing to improve the market experience for KFF. I want to be a better steward to my kiddo by being more patient and doing more fun/creative things with him on a regular basis. I want to be a better steward to the important people in my life by being more kind and understanding. I want to be a better steward to myself by exercising more, namely running.

I have a feeling it’s going to be a wonderful, eventful year!

Chocolate Peppermint Pretzels & More!

The finished products.

I needed to make some simple gifts for neighbors and the Kilpatrick Family (because they are seriously like a surrogate family to me, and they are amazing people), and I really wanted to do something where Jack could help.

I figured these chocolate dipped peppermint pretzels would be the perfect solution.

Peeled candy canes, ready to be turned into minty dust.

I used two different colored candy canes (traditional and ones that include green), peeled them, and then separately gave them a good crushing in my food processor. When each was done I poured them into their own shallow bowl.

Powdered minty magic.

I got 2 bags of the honey wheat pretzel sticks. They are a good, medium length. I melted (separately) white and semi-sweet chocolate chips in a double boiler. When they were all melty, I put the bowls at our workstation and we got to dipping.

After we dipped each one we rolled it around in the peppermint crunchies, then we set them down on a huge silicone mat. You could also use wax paper or parchment paper if you don’t have a silicone mat.

Almost done....

At the end we took red and green colored sugar and sprinkled it on them, then waited for them to dry.

Scrumptious

I realized when we were finishing up the pretzels that I still had lots of melted chocolate left. Since wasting food makes me feel nutso, I knew I had to figure something out.

Chocolate peppermint coins

I got out my mini muffin tin, spritzed a little cooking oil in the bottom of each space and then started pouring the melted chocolate in. I quickly sprinkled the leftover peppermint and sprinkles on, then stuck the whole pan in the freezer for about 30 minutes.

If you don’t have a mini muffin tin you could use a regular one, but the disks would just be thinner and wider. They may also be a little harder to get out so silicone muffin cups might make things easier if you have those.

When I pulled the pan out I let it sit on the counter for a few minutes before carefully popping them out. I put them in little baggies and I’ll be giving them as gifts.

For the pretzels I got some inexpensive containers to package them in. I found a set of green plastic containers and a glass jar with a hinged lid. The glass jar was less than $3 at local dollar store!

When I filled them I put some candy cane striped ribbon around the top and then little “To, From” labels on the top.

The whole project didn’t take more than a couple of hours and it was really affordable. This would also be a great project if you have kids of multiple ages, because even though they might not be able to all the steps, even just putting on the sprinkles would be fun.

So if you are scrambling for any last-minute gift ideas definitely give these a  try!

St. Nick…you ninja!

Image Source

Our first real Christmas here (we first arrived just a few weeks short of Christmas, so that one doesn’t really count in my mind) we only had a few friends in the area. I whipped up a few spice rubs for our friends and neighbors, got a couple gifts for Chris and Jack, and that was about it.

Now we are fortunate to have lots of awesome friends, and since I love making stuff (duh), I want to make all sorts of nifty things for them this holiday season. Here’s the only problem….I swear it’s sneaking up on me faster than ever this year!

I really should start planning this stuff in the summer. I know that sounds bonkers, but some things take longer than others to make and can sit around for a few months before Christmas. I’m referring mostly to knitted/crocheted/sewed things. Also, I should stretch my canning endeavors to include extras for gifts. I didn’t really think of that this year. Ooops.

Then there are the things I have to make right before gifting, such as edibles. Now, I obviously can’t make these whenever I have a free moment, since I have to make them right before I give them….but I should’ve been thinking about these recipes back in October!

Again, I know this is making me sound like some crazy Martha Stewart nutcase, but not all my friends like the same edibles, and with food restrictions and allergies, I can’t just make one big batch of something and dole it out to everyone. I actually need to sit down with a list of people and make notes next to it.

In the end, I know it will all get done, and it will be fun to deliver everything. But seriously, next year, in the heat of the summer (when Chris starts singing Christmas songs because he’s weird like that) I’m going to get out a pen and paper (and login to Pinterest) and get crackin’ on planning.

A bit of knit

Jack loses his mind whenever I turn on Photo Booth. That's the new hat.

I should probably be making stuff for my friends and family for Christmas right about now, but instead I made myself a new hat. I had some yarn from the Southern Adirondack Fiber Fest that I still hadn’t used and recently donated some of my older crocheted hats, so I searched on Ravelry for a good pattern.

I wanted to find something I had all the materials for so I could start it the same night. I was also very tired when I started and wanted something simple and a pattern with familiar stitches. A few had stitches I hadn’t used before, and although I’d love to learn them at some point, this week was not the week for that.

I found this pattern and it fit all the criteria perfectly. I didn’t want it quite as slouchy (plus I was afraid I’d run out of yarn) so I only did 2.5 repeats of the fish scale pattern. I also added a knitted row in between each decrease row at the end. It only took two nights to complete and I love it.

Now I’m finally getting around to making this Acorn Head scarf/hat combo thing. A friend was making them last winter but I just never got around to it then. I’m frogging a cardigan I made that came out way too big in order to use the bulky yarn from it for this project.

After that I think I’m going to try to make a few gifts for people. I may even make an Angry Birds beanie for Jack as a surprise. I am not in love with any of the patterns I’ve seen for it, so I’m pretty sure I’m just going to wing it and make up my own.

I should really plan this stuff out better earlier in the year. Dang Christmas, creeping up on me like that.

~happy home~ Like a Boss

The understock is so beautiful it almost makes me cry. I'm glad I actually have some photographic proof of what I used to do.

*If you tinker with DIY stuff from time to time, you may not find this super helpful. However, I find in order to really have the time for all the projects I love (and there are many!), I really have to streamline the stuff I hate (cleaning, organizing, etc.). For the past few months I’ve been trying to be more mindful about what needs to get done to make our house a Happy Home and I’d like to share that here. By no means is any of this a perfect fit for everyone, but if it helps you find the time to make some awesome homemade bread or knit yourself a scarf, all the better!

These past few months I’ve been trying to use skills I learned when I was a boss outside of my home, to being a boss inside my home. I’m always trying (and a lot of times failing) to not be bossy (especially with Jack), but I also think a lot of things work well in both environments.

For instance, when I worked at Calvin Klein we had certain things we did each day of the week, almost always. This made things run more smoothly because all the things that had to get done each week were assigned to their own day. By week’s end, all the important stuff had been taken care of.

Generally speaking, I try to get a huge chunk of house stuff done on Sunday and/or Monday. Lots of chores and weekly prep cooking (ex: making bread dough, granola, tortillas, etc.) get done on these days. It makes me feel like I’m starting the week off on a good note when I have a clean house and a head start on meals.

Other days we already know we have things to do (art class, trip to the farm, 4H), so those get penciled in, and other things get worked in around them. I am not to a point (I’m not sure if I’ll ever get there) where I’m super strict and assign a specific chore to each day of the week. I just try to keep track of them mentally, and get them done at some point during the week.

As Jack gets older I’ve been trying to delegate certain tasks to him. He now has to vacuum his room each week, and organize the shoes by the door each day. The older he gets, the more chores I will teach him how to do. Delegation is crazy important as an effective boss, and there’s no way I’m doing all this nonsense through his 18th birthday!

I’ve also been trying to think of other things that may help too. For instance, I’m really going to start trying to finish certain things up before bed each night. Every properly run business (I’m speaking mostly about retail/service stores here) has a “closing checklist.” There are things that simply must get done before people can leave for the night. I’m pretty sure if I just drag myself off the couch earlier at night, I can eek out an extra 10 minutes to load the dishwasher. I know it will make me feel better to not look at a sink full of dishes first thing in the morning.

Again, I know there will be nights when I’m just exhausted or weeks that everything goes bonkers, but then again, I’m not going to get fired if I take it easy from time to time. After all, I want my home to be a place I can relax and not feel super stressed out over. However, I do think a lot of workplace skills can transfer well into the home.

Do you have any great tips for making things run more smoothly at home?