Sally Fallon Wrecked My Kitchen. . .

. . . or How One Pregnant Woman, Left With Only One Cookbook in the World, Has Been Seized By Nourishing Traditions Fever. . .

the experiments

My counters are wrecked.  My fridge is bursting.  My freezer is dangerous to open.  My pantry is full of mysterious jars of foreign grains and legumes with names like Adzuki or Cranberry.  What has happened to me?

Well, first we decided to sell our house to make the big trip up yonder so that Mr. Flavius can continue his education.  Second, we decided that the best way to do that is to pack away any unnecessary items and de-clutter everywhere possible.  For a month and a half the Motherworks-Flavius joint was The Most Extreme De-clutterers: Home Edition.  We might have warranted our own show.  At one point, I began texting Mr. Flavius from underneath an enormous pile of girl-garbage because I could no longer muster the energy to raise my voice to call down the stairs.  Heaven help me, it was tiresome work.

But here we are many moons past that tumultuous time and here we sit with a perfectly staged home (with six lovely, but wild children in it day-to-day, I might add) and we have not shown the house once.  My dear Mr. Flavius and the Realtor say, "it's the market."  Maybe.  I think we've entered the Divine Silence.  At any rate, we'll keep praying, cause that's what we can do.

All this means, that my garden plots were plowed under and allowed to grow. . . grass [shudder].  Do you know how hard it is to clear bermuda?  I just about died of sunstroke getting it done and now I blithely turn a blind eye to the yard and say, ''pretty grass" whenever I accidentally look that way, so as not to indulge the bile that is want to rise to the surface when I think about all those impossible stylons weaving their way through MY SOIL that I so lovingly and painfully suffered over to cultivate.

Among the many boxes stowed away in anticipation of the move, that has not come, are all my cookbooks;    all except one:  Nourishing Traditions.  Mr. Flavius gave me this gift for Mother's Day.  I opened it once, saw the recipe for Brain Omelet and promptly shut the book.  Never to opened again, not until the great book austerity project of 2010 began, that is.

It really is an innocuous looking book with its soothing azure tones and golden hues.  Inside is a totally different matter all together.  Sally Fallon has packed this book with tons of information, helpful hints, healthful recipes, and a mind blowing bibliography.  As far as the diet is concerned it as if they took the best parts of Atkins, Macrobiotics, Raw Food, and Whole Foods diets and mashed them up in a fantastic plan for wellness.

Since we started this new way of looking at our food, I have: started eating meat again, made beef and chicken stock, tried liver (and lived.  Actually,  I'll try to make it again), ate tempeh, made Quark, made, whole milk ricotta, made whole milk buttermilk, purchased and am cultivating Kefir grains, started a Kombucha colony, made two different types of pineapple vinegar, fermented brown rice milk, made sweet cream butter, cultured cream, have used whey everyday, began sourdough starter, started ginger beer bug, I am currently fermenting orangina, and I started a Raw Milk Co-op for my area.

This has been a lot of fun, a bit tiring, but a lot of fun.  The kids are responding well to the changes in the menu.  I'm trying to work out fasting days and regular days.  I can already feel St. Philip's Fast marching hard upon us despite it only being the middle of October and it's still a little more than a month away.  Every night brings round the new chores: tend the kefir, feed the sourdough, add more ginger and sugar to the bug, and soak grains for the next morning's breakfast.

I've purchased starter for mozzarella and I plan to make that just as soon as I make another run for milk.  My counters are totally cluttered with experiments.  The dog is happily muching on marrow bones leftover from stock making.  D. my non-eater loves the new natural peanut butter I purchased.  Great!  They all loved the gingerbread recipe.  Fantastic!  They rave over the bread and the fresh butter.  Wonderful.  Perhaps, best of all they've quit asking for fast food, sodas, and junk in general.  Now that does not mean they wouldn't go wild for m&ms or a Happy Meal.  What it means is that it is not on their radar at the moment.  This makes me pretty proud.  I have felt empowered to explain how sugar is not really a food, that their school serves up kid pleasing junk that will never fill them up or make them healthy, and to say, "eat an apple," when asked for dessert and they are listening.  All-in-all, this has been a great start.  I hope to share more with you as time goes on.

Cool and Refreshing

I grow apple mint.  Apple mint is taking over my yard.  On the one hand mowing the backyard is a pleasure, just when I am ready to be done and quit mowing, a burst of mint erupts from the blades of my Toro.  It's like aromatherapy for yard work.  On the other, it can be fairly aggressive.  Everyone should grow a pot of the stuff.  If you are inclined, plant some under a tree in a place that receives frequent mowing.  The shade and the mowing will help control it substantially.

Apple mint has a more subtle flavor, mint without the bite.  I use it in drinks, fruit salad, asian noodle salads and spring rolls, and desserts.  This year, I think I will try my hand at making some apple mint jelly and some mint ice cream.

Ladies In Hats, by Gayle Kabaker

Last night, I was going through my rss feed and I came across an article by Rod Dreher on BeliefNet entitled, the Best Mint Julep Recipe Ever!  Really.  Growing up in Texas, I missed out on a-many  culturally enforced traditions of my Louisiana betters.  Marrying a boy whose family came to Texas by way of the Mississippi Delta only re-enforced to me the existence of those ghosts of traditions. One being the mandatory watching of Kentucky Derby upon the first Saturday in May whilst drinking mint juleps.

While my breeding may be as Southern and genteel as ladies in hats on Sunday, I am not. We missed the Downs due to fishing and strawberry picking on Saturday.  I would like to recover my southern roots if at all possible and it occurs to me that learning how to make a proper mint julep might be a step in the right direction.  Maybe another time.  I made a frozen mint julep, and it was really perfect.  Here's the recipe:


Frozen Mint Julep

Fill a blender with ice and crush it.  Add a goodly amount of sugar (about 1/3 cup), more or less to your taste,  and a small handful of mint (less the stronger it is).  Pulse and add 2 1/2 ounces of good bourbon.  Pour up in some pretty glasses.  Grate some fresh nutmeg or a squeeze of lemon on top.  Enjoy!

Once Upon A Garden . . .

An old Mexican lived alone in Texas. He wanted to plant his annual tomato garden, but it was very difficult work, as the ground was hard.

His only son, Fernando, who used to help him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament:

Dear Fernando,

I am feeling pretty sad, because it looks like I won't be able to plant my tomato garden this year. I'm just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. I know if you were here my troubles would be over . . . I know you would be happy to dig the plot for me, like in the old days.

Love, Papa
A few days later he received a letter from his son.

Dear Papacito,

Don't dig up that garden. That's where the bodies are buried.

Love,

Fernando
At 4 a.m. the next morning, FBI agents and local police arrived and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies. They apologized to the old man and left.

That same day the old man received another letter from his son.

Dear Papacito,

Go ahead and plant the tomatoes now. That's the best I could do under the circumstances.

Te amo,

Fernando

Question from the Combox

The question is:  How can I tackle the problem of the Grackle?  

For the uninitiated, Grackles are the bird equivalent of rats.  Say what you will about urban sprawl and habitat destruction, Grackles live where we live and can frequently be seen near and around areas that trees and fast food restaurants, and very little competition from other species.  They are aggressive foragers, aggressive breeders, create both noise pollution and actual pollution (in the form of massive amounts of bird poo), and they will wreck your garden if given half a chance.  Grackle abatement is a serious subject of many city councils as they cost cities tens of thousands of dollars to clean up after them.  They pose a health risk wherever they flock.  Among the parasites and illnesses that call Grackle, home, erm, vector, are Coccidia, West Nile Virus, and encephalitis, to name a few.  

A flock of Grackles is called a plague.  I'm not kidding. Early in the morning and near sunset, thousands of grackles can seen gathering in en masse.  The noise is deafening and they can literally black out the sky when they get going.  

Add caption

So what to do?  I don't know.  I don't have Grackle problems.  In researching the answer, I came across several articles that espoused different techniques and different products.  The main tactic seemed to be to let the Grackles no they are not at the top of your local food-chain.  Dogs and cats do not seems to affect them, but then my retriever isn't into hunting trashy birds, just barking at them.  Here are the top recommendations from the experts on the Interweb:

• limit their food: eliminate bird feeders with trays until they are gone
• shorten perches on post type bird feeders or invest in thistle seed feeders
• do not throw seed out on the ground (aka. creating a Grackle free-for-all)
• change your feed to something that Grackle don't prefer like safflower, black oil sunflower, or hulled sunflower seeds
• consider a visual deterrent like a faux-Hawk or a giant plastic Owl
• if you are really desperate call a falconer

Here is the article from the Fort Worth Star Telegram:

On Gardening . . .

My name is Svetlana and I am gardening addict.  It started so simply, a few plants, a few soil amendments, a hoe. . . I don't know when it stopped being a choice and when it became a compulsion.  After the first week week of spring my cuticles are the color of dirt.   Some mornings I find myself wrist deep in the earth furiously digging out bermuda stolons with animal intensity . . . in my pink fruity pajamas (with my pears in the air like I just don't care . . .  Aaaaaaaaaa! Oooooooh!).  But I can stop anytime.  I don't need help.  Just because six mornings out of the week my husband happens to find me  digging or planting or clipping or watering in bare feet or that sometimes I drive by my house two or three times just to admire my roses that are bursting with white and pink blooms . . .  I'm fine.  Really.

The first Passion Flower
 of the season

Spring has sprung!  Wherever you are in the Northern Hemisphere, signs that the Earth is renewing its spirit after the long (or short if you live in the Southern US) slumber of winter.  For me the urges to get out and dig in the dirt are as powerful as any nesting compulsion I've ever had (and actually, my nesting usually takes the form of some sort of radical desire to homestead, but that is another post).  In years past the desire to cultivate was strong, but the timing was all wrong.  Either time or money was arrayed against me and I would pout until the scorching heat of summer drove me indoors until fall.

Rhubarb in Lasagna Garden bed

Texas has three growing seasons (four if you are in the south), which is lovely, but we do pay for it with 100°F+ days and in many parts of the state, drought.  There is something so miraculous about tending the soil, sowing seed, and bringing forth a bounty of sustenance.   Actually, it is nothing short of habit forming.  


I have used many methods of garden plot planning from sod removal, to raised beds in boxes, raised beds out of boxes, lasagna gardening, container gardens, etc.  This year I have struck upon the method for the Lazy Girl in me.  Garden in a bag.  I use the Square Foot Gardening Technique with this method and it works beautifully.

Bag of Soil with a 3-sided cut opening.
The flap is rolled and tucked into the bag.

Starting with 2 or 4 or 6 one cubic foot bags of soil, begin by selecting your site.  Stab a few holes in one side of the bag.  Flip it over, laying it flat and cut a flap out of the top of the bag.  If you are planting peppers or eggplant, no more than 2 to 4 seedlings per  bag.  For tomatoes, 2 seems to be the limit.  Cucumber and lettuce seeds can be sown directly into the bags and gently watered or poked into place.  Sow radish and carrot seeds together and water in.  For lettuce, radishes, and carrots sprinkling a few more seeds on every 2 weeks or so will keep you going for a long time.   


Once the seeds begin sprouting I like to use a little homemade foliar spray to help encourage healthy foliage and root growth.  Mine is a combination of fish emulsion, cider vinegar, and molasses.  There are lots of recipes online for this kind of spray, including Garrett Juice.  Spraying once a week until you see flowers and then twice a week after fruit has begun to set seems to be a manageable and beneficial regimen.

Tiny Vernal Wonders

Flowering Aromatic Sumac

Bridal Wreath Spirea

Tiny Red Flame Grape Budding Flowers

Dew on Red Clover