The Inadvertent Farmer: June 2009

Kids are amazing creatures...they can either get used to peanut butter with added fat and sugar, jelly with preservatives on white bread with who knows what in it or...

They can find that this is totally normal...

A basket full of veggies with a flower or two sprinkled in...freshly picked from the garden.

The garden that they helped plant and tend to...where they go to help gather lunch!

Kale is lightly sauteed with olive oil and garlic...

Then its drizzled with Balsamic vinegar and sprinkled with Feta Cheese and walnuts...oh my!

Here is what Baby Boy's plate looked like...

Organic roasted garlic bread spread with homemade hummus, broccoli, lettuce, and peas straight from the garden and a few slices of organic white cheddar cheese...

Baby Boy is just 2 but has already developed a taste for everything we had...well except the kale and I'm working on that!!!

This was Sweet Girl's plate...salad with lettuce tomatoes nasturtiums, sauteed kale with feta cheese and walnuts, a handfull of almonds, some broccoli, a slice of roasted garlic bread and her favorite, sugar snap peas!

She ate everything but the bread, which she ate half of but decided she needed to save more room for peas...which she promptly went out to the garden and picked!

A few tips I've learned about getting kids to love veggies...

Introduce different veggies to them young and often, get kids used to variety...not just frozen corn!

When they are very young (under 3) prepare veggies simply...steam them, puree them, or just serve them raw cut into little pieces. I have found that all the extra flavoring like vinegar, pepper, garlic, etc. seem to not sit as well with their sensitive taste buds.

All ages of kids enjoy pretending broccoli are little trees, finding peas in the pod is a treasure hunt, and carrots are the perfect opportunity to pretend to be a rabbit...

Kids are more likely to eat things that they have had a hand in growing.

Older kids enjoy more complex flavors and are much more likely to try things that they get to help cook.

Most of all kids will learn their eating habits from you...

So put up the chips and sugary snacks, hide the soda...

and go pick some peas

or make some bread because...

They learn what they live!

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June 19, 2009

Friday Funnies...Little Mister Smoothie!

The other day when Sweet Girl was down visiting grandma, Baby Boy and I shared a smoothie together...

As I sipped mine through a straw, Baby Boy guzzled his....

All the while telling my stories about 'neigh, neighs' (horses) and 'moo moos' (cows) while doing his best animal noises!

Yes fun was had by all...

then it was bath time...

after that laundry time!

Here is the smoothie recipe...the kids and I have it almost every afternoon.

1/3 of a small block of soft tofu

1 Cup organic vanilla yogurt

1 Cup frozen organic wild blueberries

7 or 8 large organic strawberries

1 banana...(best if prefrozen but sometimes I forget)

1 - 2 heaping Tablespoons flax seed meal

Enough water just to help the blender along

10 - 12 ice cubes

Blend everything but the ice cubes until smooth, then add the ice a few cubes at a time and process until ice is crushed into little tiny pieces. Grab some glasses and straws and enjoy...it is really delicious!

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June 16, 2009

Garden Beauty Just For Beauty's Sake...

Yes there are peas, lettuce, cucumbers, and tomatoes growing in my garden.

As wonderful, delicious, not to mention nutritious these are...

Sometimes a garden needs something special...

Something that is not necessarily practical,

But something beautiful planted just for beauty's sake...

You can't eat it...

But is sure is lovely!

My Sweet Girl uses these daisies to decide when it is time to quit for the evening...

"Look mama...the daisy is closing. It must be time to go in!"

Flowers aren't the only impractical thing I grow in the garden...

There can also be found little farm kids in both the blond and the brunette variety...

Yes impractical but...

Sure a lot of fun!

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June 15, 2009

A Small Rant...and follow up.

Those of you that read me over at 'not dabbling in normal' please excuse me for repeating myself, but I do have an update...

I'm not one to usually rant and complain here on my blog. No, I rather share pictures of ballerinas and camels...

But I have something I need to get off my chest...

So to speak...

Where did that expression come from anyway? Does the size of your chest determine the how much you need to get off of it? What if you are breast feeding, does that change the meaning altogether? What about men with hairy chests? This is why my husband is glad he cannot hear my thoughts directly but only when they have been condensed and filtered...thoroughly

So I was saying...

This all began when I needed a new nozzle for my hose last week. I made my way over to Lowe's to search for the perfect nozzle, my dream nozzle, to use exclusively in the garden (in other words the men in my life are not allowed to use it for washing their cars...which by the way is how the last one got ran over and smooshed). I had a couple of prerequisites about said nozzle...it had to be simple, cheap and it had to be made in the USA....no problem right?

Hah! Do you know how many hose nozzles Lowe's has this time of year??? There are plastic and metal, extension, and swivel...there are some with so many setting that you would have to be a professional gardener to use them all...who uses a angled mist setting anyway???

After much searching (all the while my kids making very loud and rather disturbing car noises in the shopping cart equipped with a fake car on the front, vroommm, beep beep, honk...) I finally decided on the 'classic pistol grip' metal nozzle. It had no fancy setting...no, you just squeezed the trigger and out came the water. It was simple, less than $5 and most importantly made in the USA.

I made my purchase, put the kids in our real car and took off for home. After lunch we wandered out to the garden to test our new nozzle, we were all very excited (we don't get out much...)

After connecting the nozzle I pulled its little tiny tag off and put it in my pocket. We proceeded to water the garden with great abandon...we all came in soaked and smiling. It worked just as it was supposed to.

After putting my wet, dirty shorts in the laundry I remembered I had put some things in my pocket that would not go through the washer very well....some pretty rocks that Sweet Girl had insisted I hold, a popcicle stick Baby Boy was trying to put up his nose, and the itty bitty tag from the nozzle.

I decided to read the tag, and here is what is said and the heart of this particular rant...

"Note: The brass in this product contains lead. !WARNING This product contains one or more chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. Wash hands after handling."

OK...what the heck???

Lets me get this straight. I am watering my vegetable garden with a nozzle that I have to wash the carcinogens off my hands when I am done touching it...

Are there now traces of lead in the water coming out of it?

What about the mystery chemicals that can cause cancer and birth defects in the state of California...I live in Washington, does that mean I'm immune???

My only explanation for all of this is that the world had gone completely stupid...

Seriously, what am I to do? I can use my nozzle and decontaminate myself after each use or I can go and buy a nozzle made in China, certainly containing plastics and who knows what other secret ingredients.

Today...

After thinking it over I have decided that I am going to take the made in the USA, lead laden, California cancer causing nozzle back to Lowe's. Explain my dilemma and begin an exhaustive search for a safe, domestically made nozzle...

and I am throwing caution to the wind and saying I don't even care how much it costs...well to a point anyway!

Oh yeah the nozzle had one more dire warning...without a doubt caused by some dork trying it and then suing!

"DO NOT spray water into an electrical outlet. Severe electrical shock and/or death could result"

Ya think?????????

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June 10, 2009

The Very First Time!

I have 4 sons...I love my boys dearly. I have spent many, many hours watching and cheering at baseball and football games, soccer matches, and martial arts tournaments.

This last weekend I got to do something that in my 23 years of parenting I have never done before with any of my children!

I had the privilege of attending my only daughter's very first ballet recital!

Sweet Girl had so much fun dressing up for this. She very much enjoys the trapping of being a girl... the clothes that twirl, the matching shoes, her dolls, having tea parties, playing princess...she can be quite the girlie girl!

She could hardly wait for the recital...she just kept dancing and dancing on our stairs before we left!

She was all smiles...

Dancing for her adoring audience...

Yes it was a privilege and an honor to accompany this sweet girl and see her dance with all her heart...

Beyond that it is my deep thankfulness to God for brightening my life with such a lovely and lively creature as she!

Sweet Girl...you are indeed the princess!

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June 08, 2009

What Have You Been Up To???

I am sooo very behind on my blog posts as I'm often reminded by by mom and sister...my two remaining readers! So here is a peek at what we've been up to lately...