Hippiemommy

Category: Homekeeping

  • Getting Your Family to Eat More Vegetables

    There is one thing that almost every diet (vegan, paleo, Mediterranean, traditional Chinese, Ayurvedic…) agrees upon:

    We should all be eating more vegetables!

    As a busy mom, I understand that veggies can take extra prep work and have longer cooking times than other side dishes. On top of that, I think every mom has felt the pain of working hard to prepare a new veggie, only to have everyone pass on it and for it to end up in the trash. I am going to share what I’ve learned about getting veggies cooked efficiently, on the table, and used up by the end of the week.

    The vegetable “crisper” is a graveyard for produce

    If I just put my veggies in the crisper drawer, probably 50% of them end up going straight to the compost bin at the end of the week. That is why, if possible, I need to prepare my veggies BEFORE they go into the fridge. I looked up the numbers, and my experience is not unusual. Estimates are that half of our fresh produce ends up thrown away. That’s a pretty sad number. We put a lot of resources into growing food, so I’d much rather have it go in my belly!

    Produce tastes best when it is cooked fresh

    It wasn’t until I started reading An Everlasting Meal that I considered how much better my produce tasted when I prepared it the same day that I brought it home. The beautiful carrots from the farmers’ market were limp and soggy after just a few days in the fridge. However, if I came home and roasted them, we could eat them that day or reheat them sometime over the next few days. They tasted even better after being roasted, and the texture was still just as great as if I’d eaten them the first day.

    Preparing and cooking in batches saves time and energy

    Sitting down and peeling squash or chopping broccoli can be a pain, especially if it is the only thing I’m cutting. If I, instead, cut and roast all of my veggies at the same time, I am able to save both my own energy (less clean up and time spent throughout the week) and household energy (from only running the oven once for all of my veggies.)

    My Veggie Prep Routine

    The first thing that I do is preheat my oven to 375, and prepare my veggies to roast. Pretty much everything gets diced up, tossed in olive oil, salt, and pepper before I cook it. Then I sprinkle on any other herbs that I want.

    I like to group my veggies by the size/shape that I cut them, and then I roast them together. That helps keep the cooking times similar.

    This week I had parsnips and celeriac, which I cut into sticks and roasted together in a pan. I also had a big batch of carrots, which I coined and roasted in a second pan. Then I had a romanesco and broccoli, which seemed to work well in a pan together, so they were my third pan. I also had leeks and potatoes, which I diced up and roasted in a fourth pan. These four pans all fit in my oven at once, and were all happy at the same temperature. I threw in whole sweet potatoes that I had as well, and my oven was pleasantly full. About an hour later, I had veggies ready to go for the week.

    While all of my roasted veggies are cooking, I wash, chop, and put my greens in a container. Having my greens already washed and chopped means that I am SO much more likely to use them throughout the week. For a long time, I bought bagged greens, because I found that I was more likely to make a salad, toss them in a soup, or whip them into a smoothie if I had them ready to go. Now I do that for myself, and the taste is so much fresher than the bags at the store.

    By the time my veggies come out of the oven, I can have the kitchen cleaned up and the bulk of my work done for the week. I love that. I toss the finished veggies in mason jars, and I am good to go!

    Having veggies prepared means you eat more of them

    I am a homeschooling mom to four kids, and we have a full schedule. If I have food ready to go in the fridge, it is easy to reheat what I have and make a healthy lunch. If I don’t, it is far more likely to be a day of gluten-free sandwiches and fruit…. maybe with a pre-made Trader Joe’s salad, if I had the forethought to buy one.

    On the other hand, if I have veggies already made, I can pretty much guarantee that we will eat them with every meal. You don’t even need to heat them up. They make excellent salads at room temperature, and can easily be tossed in anything from eggs to rice or noodles to make for an instant meal.

    Near the end of the week, I simply take the vegetables that I haven’t used, and toss them in a soup. Sometimes I make smooth soups. Other times I just add them to stock, throw in some kind of meat, and let it all simmer together. Herbs make anything better, so I just experiment and see what happens. Homemade stock is obviously great to have around, but sometimes I cheat and use organic vegetable broth cubes. They are good in a pinch, when my soup needs just a little more flavor.

    Kids eat food they see often

    I had a revelation when I read French Kids Eat Everything, I considered the culture of food in our house. The truth is that we hadn’t done a great job at making new foods exciting (as opposed to scary) and we didn’t offer them nearly enough times before we gave up. Research indicates that you need to offer a food up to 15 times before you expect a child to eat it. Having vegetables around, all of the time, is one of the keys to getting kids to try them and eat them. They need to see you eating and enjoying them.

    I Want to Hear From You!

    Which time-saving meal prep tips have helped you? I am always looking for new inspiration as I strive to make our family as healthy as possible! 🙂

  • From Frazzled to Focused

    I’m not sure what initially motivated me to pick up this book when I saw that it was available for review. I wouldn’t self-identify as “frazzled,” but I am always interested in being more focused. I am an organizational junkie (and sometimes I wonder if I prefer the theory to the actual doing.) Something about the description led me to believe that this book would be one I’d like.

    In From Frazzled to Focused, Rivka Caroline leads the reader through exercises to organize and “systemize” his or her life. She focuses on areas in the house (broken down by room) and activities (like meal planning and scheduling.) The book is aimed at mothers with young children, although many of the ideas could apply to anyone. Rivka is witty, and even though we obviously live very different lifestyles (she’s in Miami Beach), I appreciated her self-deprecating humor.

    Although I cringed at all of her systems and plans at first, I realized as I went through the book that I already do a lot of what she recommends. I read the book slowly over a few weeks, and noticed that by the end I’d naturally adopted many of her techniques.

    If you’re looking for a quick, fairly light read on organizing your home and your time, this book could fit the bill. 🙂

  • The Family Dinner

    People say they don’t have time to cook, yet in the last few years we have found an extra two hours a day for the internet. — Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma

    There is nothing like a crisis to remind you of what is important in life.

    Over the past few months, as my family has adjusted to our current, leukemia-battling life, I’ve come to appreciate just how important family dinners are for all of us. When my mom was released from the hospital after her induction therapy, I realized that cooking big dinners for my parents and my family was healing for me. I’ve always loved food, and I show love with healthy, yummy food, so it just felt “right”.

    Not surprisingly, as times of higher-stress have come… times when I’ve been at the hospital for large chunks of time (including dinner time), we’ve eaten out more. Not only have our bodies screamed that they don’t appreciate crappy food, but so have our spirits. It just isn’t the same.

    So, it isn’t a shock that I was instantly drawn to The Family Dinner: Great Ways to Connect with Your Kids, One Meal at a Time by Laurie David. Part book and part cookbook, it is a nice reminder of why I value family meals so much.

    The encouragement, recipes, and ideas for family rituals are really beautiful. I love the place setting, conversation starters, table games and music ideas. Each recipe includes a list of prep/cooking items that kids can do. Are these things necessary for a great family meal? Absolutely not. They are fun, though 🙂

    Some parts of our family meals have been harder to keep up during this high-stress time, and one of those was our Shabbat meal with homemade challah bread. It is something that my kids love — the fresh bread, lighting candles, giving thanks… I smiled when I saw Shabbat meals mentioned in the first chapter and again later in the book, and realized that I’ve really missed those Friday night meals. I’m re-instituting them, effective immediately 😉

    …I think Shabbat is a perfect concept for any family, regardless of religion. It’s just too great an idea not to do your own version: a special night once a week where everyone knows they will sit leisurely around the table, take stock of the week’s highs and lows, and savor family, food, and friends… — The Family Dinner pg. 199

    On top of everything else: This book is just beautiful. The quotes and photography are lovely, and it is a joy to read. I can see how it’d be an encouragement for both those who already practice a family dinner or for those who want to start one.

    (For the record, I didn’t get a free copy or any compensation. I had to check the book out at the library ;))

  • The Laundry Monster

    Laundry. It is my nemesis.

    I am fairly good with everything else, but I just detest laundry. Actually, that isn’t true: I don’t mind washing a load, and I find something incredibly relaxing about hanging my laundry outside. I just hate folding and putting away!

    I read a post from a wise, fellow mama-of-many, and she said that she turned a corner when she accepted that 2 loads of laundry a day was just a necessity. I thought about this and rejected it for a few months, but I recently decided to accept it. Something amazing has happened: My laundry isn’t so bad.

    I’ve realized that I was trying to deny something that could not be denied. It was as if I wanted to pretend that gravity did not exist. It does not help to deny it, because the reality of it is still there whether you accept it or not. Just like with birth, life is so much easier and less painful if you accept it and just ride the waves. Fighting it only makes for frustration.

    And, on that note, it is time to put another load in…

  • Many hands make light work

    Behold, I am blogging again!

    I’ve been so busy with… well, life. I’m 32 weeks pregnant, a student midwife (yay!), and of course I have my main jobs: a wife and homeschooling mom to three. So, please forgive me. I really do want to blog… I just haven’t found much time.

    I was inspired today to make a post. My husband was at Barnes and Noble last week with the kids while I had some unexpected dental work done (woohoo, lucky me!) and he skimmed this book at the store. He told me to check it out from the library, and he was totally right. I’m devouring it.

    Better Off is Eric Brende’s story of his own experiment to live without technology. He wanted to find the balance between

    how much–or how little– technology was needed. Was there some baseline of minimal machinery needed for human convenience, comfort, and sociability– a line below which physical effort was too demanding and above which machines began to create their own demands?

    I find this to be a really interesting question. Some of my processes that I used to do entirely by hand, like making bread, I have recently been using machines instead. I originally (for money’s sake) had a hand mill for my grain, and kneaded my bread by hand. Last year I received gifts of an electric grain mill and a Kitchenaid. I sold my hand mill. Ironically, I soon realized that those appliances were too loud to do before the kids woke up in the morning, so I stopped even trying. As a matter of fact, the grain mill is so loud that I feel the need to warn my baby in the womb of the loud sound that is on its way, LOL. I can no longer sneak downstairs and get breakfast going. Now I must warn the children and they run out of the room. Sounds lovely, doesn’t it?

    Anyways, back to the book… So Brende ends up living off of the grid in a community that is similar to the Amish. One of the points that I’ve been meditating on tonight is this one:

    ‘Many hands make work light.’ The statement was true, though hard to explain. Gradually, as you applied yourself to a task, the threads of friendship and conversation would grow and connect you to laborers around you. Then everything suddenly became inverted. You’d forget you were working and get caught up in the camaraderie, the sense of lightened effort. This surely must rank among the greatest of labor-saving secrets. Work folded into fun and disappeared. Friendship, conversation, exercise, fresh air, all melded together into a single act of mutual self-forgetting.

    Brende goes on to talk about this in detail, and shares many examples. I have experienced this myself, especially in physical labor outdoors or in working with my hands (like knitting.) It is interesting that I have felt this far less often with technological work.

    One of the things that I love about group knit nights or working with my family in the garden is that you forget the job that you’re doing, and pretty soon the job is done and everyone is happier and closer. I learned in my doula training that when a group of women get together and talk, they release hormones that make them happy. I think that God made us that way for a reason. We are social creatures, and it is a shame that we often have to split the things that we must do (chores, work, etc.) and our social time. It is so much nicer to be able to work together and accomplish these goals at once. I can’t tell you how many times I have wished that the women in my neighborhood could get together and work on laundry together like women did 100 years ago. Wouldn’t that be great? I think it’d be awesome. 🙂

  • Living More with Less

    Things in my life keep pointing to the Mennonites. I truly have no idea what that means – no conversion plans in the future – but Joe and I really like a lot of what they stand for. I checked out Living More with Less from the library after I saw it recommended on mothering.com. I had no idea that it was a Christian book. Joe grabbed it from the book basket and practically devoured it. I read it next, and we had so much fun discussing it.

    One of the really striking things in this book is how oddly “ahead of the times” the Mennonites were when this book was written. It was published in 1980, and it is filled with “green” ideas that are just now becoming popular.

    This book is split into two sections. The first section is more of the “why’s” of voluntary simplicity. The second section is filled with chapters that start with some words from the author on a particular subject (transportation, clothes, eating together, recreation…), and then there are pages of ideas from fellow Christians on how to live out simplicity.

    One of the underlying principles that I really liked about the book was the focus on learning from those who live in countries that we consider to be developing… Countries that we think we need to swoop in and save. For all of our advances, and all of our technical knowledge, we are becoming more and more like the humans in Wall-E 😛 We are divorced from natural processes, and if we were forced to live without our conveniences, we certainly wouldn’t look like the advanced society that we like to think ourselves to be. This is how the author, Doris Janzen Longacre, discusses this topic.

    If you as a North American travel to an economically poor country such as Haiti or Bangladesh, your first reaction is likely to be shock. You have heard of poverty, and seen it in pictures. But to find yourself face to face with hungry people jars your soul with feelings for which you are unprepared.
    After a while, shock gives ways to ideas for development projects typically conducted by church agencies. These usually promote better education, nutrition, agriculture, sanitation, family planning, small business investments, and, increasingly, a concern that people receive just access to resources….
    These reactions are certainly warranted. God help us when poverty no longer shakes us into action. But how rarely we realize that persons from other countries often go through a similar thought process when living with us!

    It does seem that we want to swoop in and save everyone, but we could really benefit from making this a two-way street of assistance. They have as much to teach us as we do them, and it seems easy for Americans to overlook this fact. I say this as someone who did this EXACT same thing when I was overseas on a mission trip, and I wasn’t even in a poor country.

    For we, of course, have problems too. No one wants to hear the whole sordid list again, but it begins with materialism, violence in streets and homes, family breakdown, drug and alcohol abuse, automobile accidents, poor diet and degenerative diseases, waste of material resources, pollution, and nuclear proliferation. What if we became as concerned with our own overdevelopment or maldevelopment as we are with the underdevelopment of poor nations? … Could they help?

    Then she begins with quotes from foreigners who were shocked when they saw the blindspots of Americans. Here are just a few.

    “America is a wasteful society. In every store you see disposable things. People want everything to go fast, so after using things once, they throw them away.” –Jusef Sumadi, Indonesia

    “People in North America don’t care to repair things once they are out of order. There are few repair shops. I cannot imagine how many TVs and refrigerators are put into junk which are repairable.”–Guillermo Abanco, Philippines

    “When we first walked into a North American church, my friend from Indonesia said, “The cost of this carpet alone would build a beautiful church in Indonesia.”–Sammy Sacapano, Philippines

    “Children don’t like vegetables? No, I never heard of that in my country!”–Taiwanese nutrition student, Kansas State University

    “American communities are beautiful. But instead of growing vegetables or fruits, the people prefer grass and spend money taking care of it.”–Guillermo Abanco, Philippines

    So you get the idea. A lot of the ideas in the book come from missionaries who learned simpler ways of living when they were overseas. One, in particular, has happily been adopted in my home this week. This was the tip (actually, there were two on the same idea…)

    Cordless Crockpots

    “During our stay at the Thokoza Conference Center in Mbabane, I saw demonstrated what I’m calling an African crockpot. This is a fairly deep, simple grass basket stuffed full of crumpled newspaper. You make an impression at the top to hold the pot. In the morning, boil soaked dry beans for fifteen minutes. Then nestle the pot down in the newspaper inside the basket. Put a heavy blanket or pillow on top to keep in the heat. At suppertime the beans are soft, hot, and ready to eat.” –Darlene Keller, Mbabane, Swaziland

    So it turns out that this is a pretty popular idea. I found some information here – http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/Heat-retention_cooking – that I used to cook both rice and beans this week. They turned out delicious, and I only used a very small amount of electricity and gas to make them. It was so cool!

    There were tons of other great ideas in there, but this post is getting rather long-winded, so I think I’ll wrap it up, lol. It really is a good book, though, and I recommend it if you can grab a copy. Joe particularly liked the ideas on transportation and ways to simplify around the house. I really liked the sections on eating together and homekeeping. We both liked a lot of the ideas for simple celebrations and recreation. We’ve already implemented quite a few, and its been wonderful. 🙂

  • Simple living… and walking

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    Joe and I have been doing a lot of thinking recently on simplifying our lives. We took some huge steps last year, and now we’re re-evaluating the “untouchables” from last year – internet service on our phones, multiple computers, satellite tv… We’ve both been convicted about the fact that many of these items take more from us than they give. Its so easy to buy into the idea that these things make your life better, but if they cause you to withdraw and go off on your own, is it really better?

    Don’t get me wrong, we love our modern conveniences, but it just seems too easy to surf the internet for hours and then feel rushed into making dinner and cleaning, and then exhausted when I go to bed.  I don’t feel that way if I use that extra time to do things more slowly and with more intention.  

    I was reading my Bible a few days ago and came across one of those little built-in devotionals. I’m really not a fan of them, but this one made me think. It talked about how Jesus needed time alone with the Lord to recharge, and yet it is so easy to forget to make that time. Our lives are so crowded with activity, whereas Jesus would’ve had quiet times when he walked to new places, waited for a fire to warm up, or did the millions of other small daily activities that we’ve automated or somehow sped up.  Even with that, Jesus still had to make time for God.  Again, I don’t think that automating of washing dishes is bad, but I think we need to realize that we’ve lost a lot of the down time in our days.

    So I’ve had these thoughts in the back of my head, and then Joe and I keep finding all of these articles on the benefits of walking. First Joe told me about an article in one of our little local papers on the value of walking as a couple. Its kind of hokey, so consider yourself warned.

    In the article, Amy Henry says

    I find it interesting that husbands and wives find hours each week to run, lift weights, attend yoga classes, cultivate flower beds, paint works of art, play sports, watch television and chauffeur the kids to activities, but somehow expect our marriages to miraculously survive — no, thrive — on zero effort, zero time and zero energy.

    Joe and I have talked about this a lot.  It is easy to find time to watch Scrubs, so why is it sometimes hard to sit down and find time to hang out with your spouse?!  It makes no sense.  We love each other more than anything, and yet we pick to do stupid stuff.  Joe and I have been working on reading books together, which is fun, and we’ve been talking a lot more at night.  Its so silly that we have to be so intentional about it though!

    Moving on…

    The average couple spends two to 2½ hours together a day, but half of that time is spent in front of the television, 30 minutes are spent eating, and 24 minutes are spent on household chores. This means the average couple is spending between six and 21 minutes a day actually interacting with each other. How long would we stay employed if we spent only six minutes a day working at our job?

    Yeah, that’s pretty sad.

    What then is a couple to do? What does it take to tend our marital gardens so they do not end up choked to death with the weeds we neglected to pull? Most people do not have the money for babysitting and frequent dates, the chance for long tropical getaways or the luxury of grandparents willing and available to watch the kids. And, if money is the main obstacle to a great marriage, than why are rich people no happier in their relationships than the rest of us?

    Walking together is a great — free — marriage building activity. The benefits are life changing. Not only does a daily hour-long walk eat up enough calories over the course of a year to burn off more than 30 pounds, but it also provides a regular, consistent forum for couples to talk in something other than the Morse code of parenthood. Consistent time together renews passion for those of us who swore we would never, ever call each other Mom and Dad, for those of us who insisted parenthood would never slow us down, and for those of us who bragged we would be romantically sauntering across Europe with Junior in the Snugglie by the time our milk came in.

    So, again, while I’m not normally a fan of newspaper articles that are built upon an imaginary couple, she made some good points.

    After Joe and I discussed that article, I came across this one about the Amish not getting fat.  The long and the short of it is that the Amish have a lot of the “fat gene”, and yet they aren’t fat.  Go figure!  They’re too busy working from dawn to dusk, giving me beautiful cabinets!  (Just kidding.  I can’t afford them :P)  The author of the article ended up suggesting that you go for a walk.  Duh.  OK.

    And then, to complete my triforce of walking propaganda, I was re-reading Urban Homestead (go get it!).  I have been riding my bike and walking to as many things as possible, and I was meditating on the fact that I really feel so much better when I choose to move a bit slower and more intentionally.  I still use my car when the weather is bad, but I’ve found that walking or riding bikes is so much better.  The kids love to walk or ride, and it easily soothes or puts to sleep my 10 month old.  I burn some extra calories.  I get to talk to my kids, and it seems like they always open up and talk about the deep stuff when we’re walking.  Its just so nice, and I don’t know why I wasn’t doing it more.  We picked this house because it was so close for walking, and yet I haven’t taken full advantage of it.

    My friend, Cari, suggested that I make a walking challenge.  That might be fun.  Maybe a simplification challenge in general.  I’m going to have to think about it.  Any thoughts?  Maybe an anti-car challenge? That would be fun  😀

  • Consumerism and the green movement

    I just read this article by Michael Pollan. He makes some really good points.

    It sounds like he’s on board with the Food, Not Lawns movement

    We’ve had in this country what I call a wilderness ethic that’s been very good at telling us what to preserve. You know, eight percent of the American landmass we’ve kind of locked up and thrown away the key. That’s a wonderful achievement and has given us things like the wilderness park.

    This is one of our great contributions to world culture, this idea of wilderness. On the other hand, it’s had nothing to say of any value for the ninety-two percent of the landscape that we cannot help but change because this is where we live. This is where we grow our food, this is where we work. Essentially the tendency of the wilderness ethic is to write that all off. Land is either virgin or raped. It’s an all or nothing ethic. It’s either in the realm of pristine, preserved wilderness, or it’s development– parking lot, lawn.

    This is a topic that I’ve been thinking about, especially after reading Urban Homestead. They talk a lot about the wastefulness of having a lawn, and I’ve been slowly trying to de-grass my yard. We are expanding our mulched beds, and putting in vegetables, fruits, and herbs that look beautiful, but also don’t waste water. It is ridiculous to pollute our water supply with all of the chemicals that we put in to our lawn, when it gives us nothing in return except for a manicured slab of grass. I am fortunate to live in an area where I am not required to have grass, but my husband is afraid that we will be the weirdos on the block if we completely eliminate it. He helped me to yank out some of our useless water hogs this weekend though, so I think he’s coming on board. For now, my goal is to reduce the amount of water that we waste and to make sure that I do the best that I can to avoid further polluting the water that does go to my lawn.

    Back to the article… Michael Pollan also challenges readers to

    …find one thing in your life that doesn’t involve spending money that you could do, one change that would make a contribution both to the fact of global warming and your sense of helplessness about global warming.

    I think of this when I’m at the grocery store and I see the “green” grocery bags for sale. I know so many people who have tons of canvas or mesh bags at their house, but they feel the need to buy the bags to be more green. Its silly. Our consumerism is tainting our attempts to undo the problem… a problem that it has caused in the first place!

    I think this is such a great challenge. Its one that I’ve struggled with… I’ve had to push myself to think in a new way. There are so many things that we can do that will help immensely and don’t require for us to spend a single cent. I use a clothes line outside, but I wanted to dry some clothes inside. I immediately wanted to run (or walk) to the store and buy a fancy, retractable clothesline. I thought about it for a second, and I realized that I had places in my house where I could hang or drape the sheets, and I didn’t need to buy anything. Why did I feel the need to go get the proper gadget to hang clothes?! Billions of people have hung clothes without indoor retractable clotheslines!

    I did the same thing with my worm bin. I was researching online to find some kind of super worm chalet. It took me several days to convince myself that all that I needed was the rubbermaid that held my homebirth supplies, with a few holes drilled in the side. It took me only a few minutes, and it reused an item that I wasn’t using. When I went to the Boulder county worm composting workshop, I smiled when I saw that they were using the same thing for their official worm bin. You don’t need fancy stuff to make it work.

    I’m not saying that there aren’t times when the special equipment is worth it. For example, I use my grain mill daily, and I absolutely adore it. I traded in my hand powered model for the electric one, because it grinds a much finer flour so I don’t need to supplement with white flour. I still try to make good choices, by buying Colorado grown organic wheat berries in bulk, and by batch processing the wheat. I’m still happy to use the electric version though 😉

    If you’ve recently started doing anything to be more green that doesn’t include buying something new, then I’d love to hear about it. I’m always excited to try new things! I am going to try to make a solar oven out of stuff that I have in my garage. We’ll see how that goes. Hopefully I’ll soon be making my zucchini bread in the back yard 😉

  • My new favorite book

     

    If you’ve been thinking about going “green” or taking yourself off of the grid as much as possible, then I really recommend this book.  I stumbled upon it after finding the authors’ blog, and it is such a great little gem.  It covers everything from vermicomposting to guerilla gardening to making your own solar oven and even outfitting your bike for grocery shopping.  Its really great.  I checked my copy out from the fantabulous Boulder library, but I’m going to go buy a copy because it is just that good of a resource  😉  Seriously…  Check it out.

  • Garden update

    My garden is so happy!  We’re still eating out of it every day, and I am just so proud.

    The early season crops have all either gone to seed or turned brown.  My lettuce has bolted so high that it is taller than my 6 year old.  I was planning on leaving a few and letting them just go to seed and hopefully they’ll give me some volunteers for the fall.  I’ll probably sow some seeds as well.  I’m trying to embrace the fact that things in nature don’t grow in neat little rows or on grids.  I’m planning on removing my grids from my garden to help remind myself that I don’t need everyone in a neat little spot.  Jungles don’t grow like that.

    My crookneck squash has already given me some food, and my zucchini is very close to being ready to cut.  My cucumbers are going nuts, but they are still really little.  My basket tomatoes and the ones in the ground are both very happy.  We ate blueberries for several weeks, but that is now done.

    So, without further ado…  Here’s some current pics.

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