Fresh Farm Veggies

This is 1/2 of a CSA share that I received last July! We ate so well last summer!

I just received an email from Spring Creek Farm saying that they still have CSA openings for this summer! If you don’t have an opportunity to grow a garden and live in the Anchorage or Valley area, please consider this! It is such a wonderful resource.

Here is the information from the email:

Spring Creek Farm 6404 N Lossing Road Palmer, AK 99645

What is Spring Creek Farm?
We are a 4 year old micro-farm providing naturally raised produce and pork in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley on Alaska Pacific University's Kellogg Campus.

What is a CSA?
CSA stands for community supported agriculture. Local food lovers pay the farmer up front at the beginning of the season in exchange for a weekly basket of vegetables grown on the farm.

What’s in the CSA basket? It will provide a week’s worth of vegetables for 4 people for about 19 weeks. Depending on time of the season, it will include lettuce, radishes, Asian greens, carrots, beets, peas, squash, tomatoes, and the like.

What are my options?
Full Share: $555
Salad Share: $135
Pig Share: selling halves and wholes for about $5/lb hanging weight

Where and when do I pick up my basket? There are pick up locations in Palmer and Anchorage on Monday afternoons May 31st to October 4th.

How do I sign up? Contact Mimi Rooney at 907-746-2795 or email at mrooney at alaskapacific dot edu (replace the “at” and “dot with appropriate symbols—this is to thwart spammers)

* * *

We have bought into this CSA for two summers now and have loved it. Each weekly share comes with a newsletter and recipes that use the organic, locally grown veggies in creative and delicious ways. There are two pick up points--one in Palmer (at the farm) and one in Anchorage (at APU). The cost for a full share is $555, but both years James and I split a share with a friend, 50-50, and had to work hard to eat all the vegetables. I have to say, it has challenged me as a cook, but just last week I pulled out my arugula pesto from the freezer that I made fresh last summer (their recipe) and made Chicken Pesto Pizza, and I was thankful all over again for fresh summer bounty.

I hope the farm always sells out of their shares! I am so thankful that we have something like this available in Alaska! Oh, and if you sign up, let me know. We can swap recipes and ideas and marvel over the delicious goodies together!

Clara’s 6th Month

From July 8 to August 8, Clara did quite a bit of learning, growing, and changing.

During this time, Clara gained true mobility when she learned that she can roll over more than one time in any direction. In this way, she rolls, with ever increasing precision, to any particular corner of the room she wants to and get into whatever she can find there. With her rolling, a blanket on the floor didn’t cut it anymore, so then we began using queen sized sheets. Now, I have to be more diligent on just vacuuming the whole room because she’s going to just roll all over the floor anyway! She particularly likes to roll over to the fireplace hearth, book case, desk, and easy chair so she can explore those interesting surfaces with her feet. Those little toes like to explore too!

Clara has also become more vocal this month. Strings of adorable babbling syllables, “Wuwuwuwuwu,” “Mamamamama,” “Babababa,” and even a whisptered “Papapa” are tried out one at a time then discarded for the next new sound. “Mama” seems to be the only one she shortens, but she tends to reserve it for grouchy moments. When I KNOW she’s using it to call me, I will dance for joy, but right now I’m just quietly celebrating her growing verbal skills. Oh, and her favorite sound over all, is still the raspberry. : )

On August 8, her six month birthday, I measured and weighed her and found her to be 27 inches tall (measured standing against the bookcase, Aw!) and 20lbs!

So, here is Clara in pictures. These photos are strictly in sequential order, so although they may appear extremely random, this is how our girl grew this month.

Clara and her daddy cuddle and reconnect every day when James gets home. It is very sweet to see their excited reunion. I never get tired of it!

This picture was taken when I was getting ready one morning and left my night nursing *ahem* bra on the bed. Clara in her curious way had to examine it, of course, and ended up putting it on! It was backwards and upside down, but I had to get a picture anyway.

And here’s a levitating Clara in her bouncer. She really loves it.

Here is one cool chick in her Hawaiian shirt, sun hat, and shades. Grandpa Glenn brings home all kinds of adorable clothes and gifts from his many trips all over the globe.

Gran Sally and Clara. Too bad the clouds are grey outside!

This is my front porch after a typical Monday run to get our fresh farm veggies and groceries from Fred Meyer and Costco. This is what I end up toting up to the front door. Surely my arms must look like Popeye’s by now! (The blue bag on the end is full of spinach too : )

Here my little model is trying on some Baby Legs with a little jumper Grandma Carol picked up for her. No, you’re not leaving the house with that on, Young Lady. ; ) But she sure is cute!

Happy Birthday, to Mama! It’s so much nicer to have a birthday as a mother. I got to cuddle my little girl and get wet slobbery kisses all day. I think it gets even better when your children actually know what a birthday is. : ) Here we are at Red Robin for my birthday. Isaac and Adam were spending a couple of days with us and we all met James for lunch. I got a free burger, but I DID NOT get a free sundae, would you believe, I stayed completely sugar-free through my birthday?

So I did a naked baby photo shoot. She was so adorable! I have to have SOMETHING to embarrass her with when she’s older. : )

“Happy Six Month Birthday, Clara!”

A quick family photo while packing to go to our party.

Our two families assembled (except Grandma Carol who was in Ohio) to celebrate my birthday. Aspen and Dad took over hosting duties. It was a lot of fun.

Starting on the left, there was Sheila, Sheila’s Mama from Peru, Sally, Glenn, Robert, Brady (the silhouette), Aspen, me, Clara, James (taking the picture), Drake (not in the photo) and Jeremy.

The “kids” table: cousin Niqui, Uncle Adam, and Uncle Isaac, with cousin Drake in the background in the highchair!

My little Family. Aspen made the cute cake. I also finally broke my sugar fast with a little cake, some homemade Ben and Jerry’s ice cream (I own the recipe book!), and a wonderful vanilla ice cream made with maple syrup. Yum!

I had fun making sure that Clara had gifts to open too. She did great with the tissue paper. She got an organic bamboo stuffed bunny to cuddle, a phthalate free squeaky ball, and a wonderful wooden and rubber string flexible toy. She’s six months old now! It was time for real toys! She loves them all. . . .

Especially to eat!

But Grandpa Glenn’s security tags work well too!

Uncle Isaac and Uncle Brady entertain Clara too.

And later, James had a little birthday just for me. : ) Aren’t those the prettiest roses ever? They opened and dried so lovely too.

“In other news . . .”

Our non-Clara portion of the month was busy too. To highlight a few things . . .

Our CSA share of farm fresh veggies has been going great this summer. I think it peaked at the end of July with a beautiful, Alaska grown variety of fresh yummies, but I expect it to go through September, ending with more root veggies like potatoes.

James and I hosted a very authentic Greek birthday dinner at our house for Granddaddy Robert (cooked by all the ladies of the family). Did we get a picture of all of the wonderful food that we slaved over? Or the (almost) immaculate house that we haven’t showed you yet? Oh no. But we did get a picture of the baklava “cake” and the impromptu “birthday candle” that we used. : )

Clara and I also met a few members of Sheila’s family. You may not know that James’s sister-in-law is from Peru, and this summer both her mother and her sister (who actually lives in the Netherlands now) came to visit her in Alaska. Sheila’s mother didn’t speak any English, either, that’s why Clara looks so confused in this picture below. : )

A big part of Clara’s six month was taken up by her mama stressing about, preparing for, and teaching a VBS class on God’s Amazing Creation: Insects. I focused on butterflies and bees, although I really could have gone HUNDREDS of directions. I also am very aware that spiders are NOT insects, but the web added a cool effect. These are a few pictures of my classroom, and the 4 and 5 year olds who came to see it on the last day. Oh, while Mama was teaching, Clara stayed with Grandma Carol, and they had lots of fun together.

That’s about it! Whew! With the marathon out of the way, I hope to feel more free to just post more about our day to day life. I’ll try anyway!

Sugar Free Summer

When I first heard that Laura at HeavenlyHomemakers.com was doing another one of her wonderful challenges, I thought that I'd probably just observe silently and learn from her experiences and others. However, through a round-about way, I did take up her challenge!

Back in April a combination of issues reminded me again that sugar is really bad for me.


* Sugar causes us to keep or put on excess weight.

* Sugar corrodes the enamel on our teeth and causes/allows cavities to form.

* Sugar inhibits minerals like calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium from being absorbed by our bodies and steals those minerals from healthy cells in order to process it..

* Sugar feeds yeast (which in nursing mommies and babies shows up as thrush).

* A life long sugar habit can lead to diabetes, hypoglycemia, and gallstones (among other things).

* Sugar highs lead to sugar crashes.

* Sugar is addictive (some even say it is drug like in its addiction).

* Sugar (which has been stripped of all of it's nutrients) often takes the place of other nutritious foods.

* Not to mention that all of these problems could potentially pass on to my completely-depending-on-Mama's-breast-milk baby!


I believe that some natural, God given forms of sugar--like honey or unrefined maple syrup--do have redeeming qualities and can be used by people in moderation with good results. But personally, I knew that going from too-much to moderation wouldn't work for me. I needed to call a sugar fast.

So, for the month of June, I am doing what I can to kick the sugar habit. Maybe after this, I will be able to eat some desserts in moderation. We'll see. Now I am avoiding all sodas, cakes, cookies, chocolate, candy, sweets, and sugary foods (some salad dressings, sauces, etc.). I am allowing myself one or two servings of fruit a day and a glass of milk on occasion (we still have a gallon of the good stuff coming to us each week!). I am also trying to avoid white flour, white pasta, bananas, and potatoes. I do have a good serving of brown rice, oatmeal, or whole wheat each day, but I try not to let the starches take over my diet.

On June 1st, I went to Costco and bought big bags of multi colored peppers, sugar snap peas (okay, so they are sweeter than many veggies!), cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, apples, and strawberries. I also went to pick up our first CSA share of the season which included bok choy, mustard greens, and two different kinds of lettuce.

So, at the end of day 4, I have been eating big green salads and handfuls of peppers, tomatoes, and peppers all day long and eating a few strawberries after dinner. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but except for some strong pulls towards the candy basket on the second day (it's really slim pickings, but I was feeling desperate!) I haven't wished for any of the stuff I have been avoiding. In fact, it's early to tell, but I think I have more energy and am clearer headed than usual. I hope the rest of the month goes this well.

I am really happy that this decision is helping our whole family (all three of us : ). My eating healthier is forcing me to be more on top of the planning and cooking of meals than I have been since Clara's birth. We are forced to not rely on fast food for a quick last-minute meal (especially since our recent move has brought us within a mile of both McDonald's AND Wendy's along with about 10 other places!). James has joined me during the meals, of course, and now has veggies to take with him to work to snack on. He even encouraged me to make us a "to go" meal for the hour long drive to church on Wednesday night. It worked pretty well. And I feel so much better about myself being the homemaker I so want to be and am even more productive with my time--all just because I dropped sugar from my diet! Amazing!

So, my tip for those doing an eat more fruits and veggies challenge is to eliminate, avoid, or extremely limit all forms of sugar in your household. Yummy fruits and veggies will step up to fill the gap right away. Many of you are way ahead of me, but I'm excited that this is so doable. Let's hope I still feel this way on June 28th!

Locavore Inspiration

Just letting you know that the Barbara Kingsolver book, Animal Vegetable Miracle, is available in paperback now. As I wrote in my earlier post, I do not agree with the author in her complete disregard of the Creator in her marvel of creation. Politically, we would probably find ourselves in different camps as well. However, I believe that most Christians would agree with me that we (as a nation, as a world, as individuals) have been woefully negligent in our care of the planet that God has given us stewardship of and even our own bodies. Going back to whole, locally grown and produced foods is a healthy and fulfilling way to reverse that. Besides, this book is a fun and inspiring read.

Enjoy! Let me know what you think.

Fresh "Moloko"

Kiana's fingers are being "nursed" by a two day old calf, while Isaac and Adam watch.

Knowing the dangers of store-bought milk: hormones, antibiotics, unhealthy diet and lifestyle of cows, homogenization, and pasteurization (killing all of the good enzymes), plus learning many of the the benefits of pure, unadulterated straight-from-the-cow milk (now called "raw milk" although this is a misnomer in that it presumes that milk must be cooked), brought me to a private dairy farm Thursday afternoon where I bought my very own share of a real live cow.

In Alaska (as in many states), it is illegal for an informed, conscientious, peace-abiding citizen to buy raw milk (or more accurately, it's illegal to sell it). It is a controlled substance. It's really ridiculous when I think about it. In Alaska it's also illegal to drive without a seat belt. I personally support this law wholeheartedly, but I've heard people grumble about that risk being their own personal right. However, in James' traffic engineering experience, he recently learned that the state spends 1 million dollars on each traffic fatality. Wow. It seems like they might actually have a bit of a right to say, "You are required to wear your seat belt and cut down your chances of dying in a car wreck by 75%." However, I don't see this with milk at all. If I did get sick because I drank contaminated milk, it probably wouldn't kill me and I would pay any medical bills. However, drinking milk chock full of antibiotics, hormones, damaged fats (through homogenization) and empty of any good qualities (through pasteurization) just might kill me and the state wouldn't even care or lift a finger to help me. I love politics . . .

This pretty lady is "Cadbury." When the fields behind her are green, she will be eating in them, but for now, like all of us, she has to deal with the mud.

Anyway, one of the loopholes currently available to health conscious, whole-foods connoisseurs like myself, is to buy a "share" in the cow itself so that I'm not "buying" someone's milk, I'm only taking the share of milk that my share of cow produces. Several families from church are doing this as well, so we'll be able to take turns picking up milk for each other before church on Wednesday evenings. So now, every Wednesday, I will bring home this sweet, wholer-than-whole milk in my new sun tea jar. After 24 hours in the fridge, a thick layer of cream rises to the top which can be skimmed off for cream (in coffee or tea) or to make whipped cream or butter. Because the milk has not been altered in any way, it can be easily used to make kefir, yogurt, sour cream, cottage cheese, soft cheese (like feta or mozzarella), or (with a little more time and effort) hard cheese. The by-products of all of these products (whey and buttermilk primarily) can then be used to soak grains before cooking them, in place of milk in recipes, to feed animals, or to drink yourself. Of course, as you have probably been wondering, since I grew up with store bought milk, I know how to do none of these things. So, I have a lot of learning to do!

Besides Nourishing Traditions, which has a nice section of helpful dairy information, there are many other useful sources out there. Highly recommended (but as of yet unread by me) is The Untold Story of Milk: Green Pastures, Contented Cows, and Raw Dairy Products by Ron Schmid which covers both the reasons behind raw milk drinking and the recipes of how to use the milk. A somewhat older book, The Complete Dairy Food Book: How to make everything from Cheese to Custard in your own Kitchen by Annie Proulx is the one I am currently reading. I don't believe it's in print anymore, but I'm excited that I can buy my own used copy for only a few dollars since I think it will be a useful resource. Proulx's book gives a thorough "milk history" of our nation, then covers milk products one by one showing how to make them as well as how to use them in recipes. Definitely one I won't want to return to the library!

There are many resources on raw milk online as well, of course. Here are just a few that I recommend :

Real Milk Facts

TIME article

A campaign for Real Milk

Another note that makes all of this particularly difficult for our state right now, is that our (still very beloved) Governor Pallin, was forced to close down Matanuska Maid Milk--our only local creamery which took milk from local dairy farms and processed it to make different milk products packaged to go to local stores. Now these poor farmers are forced to pour out the milk that they make into the fields. Thankfully, there is a private creamery that hopes to open soon. From a locavore perspective, not being allowed to eat local, available food and being forced to buy the same food produced and processed in another state, is extremely frustrating. Thankfully, I can have a cow share and maybe soon there will be good cheeses and ice cream from our new local creamery. Let's just hope they keep it organic as they have advertised!

Broken Record

Note that this man is in short sleeves (probably most people did not have hats or gloves--the snow started mid morning) and some poor soul planned to ride their bike home.

Okay, so you're going to think that all we talk about is the weather here--and you might be right (why not? It's so interesting)! But after a week of gorgeous weather, temperatures in the 60's (at least on sunny afternoons), total snow melt off, a few brief uses of AC in our hot cars, and jacket less walks with Titus--15.5 inches of snow fell in Anchorage yesterday, April 25, officially breaking our record for snow in April in Anchorage at 29.7 inches. If you don't think that's nuts--you're nuts! It's SPRING, People! Officially and unofficially! Hey, we celebrated Easter over a month ago!

This morning, I gaped when I came into the living room and looked out our huge windows at trees outlined with snow on every limb, branch, and twig, all the cars covered with snow, an overcast white sky, and lots of snow everywhere. I went back into the bedroom and shouted, "Merry Christmas, James!" We're pretty sure that there is more snow now than there was in December. It's nuts. It's not global warming, it's global reversing--we're becoming the southern hemisphere! Walking Titus through the thick wet slushy white stuff was not pleasant, though, like walking through the powdery or crunchy stuff of cold winter days. It's obvious that this isn't here to stay, but still, the inclement weather took a man's life in a car accident in Anchorage yesterday. It seems a silly, frivolous snow to be so life changing.

My little tomato sprouts in the windowsill don't much care how cold or snowy it is outside. In fact the bright white snow might just reflect MORE light in here than before. It was depressing though to turn on the heat again after such a beautiful week. However, my darling little tomato seedlings are not what my heart goes out to. What I am thinking of are the little lettuce, radish, and cabbage babies trying to grow at Spring Creek Farm up the road. This year is our first experience with a CSA box. We pledged to give the farm $550 in exchange for a box of fresh seasonal veggies every week starting mid May for as long as the season lasts (usually until late October). I am excited about the challenge of using the vegetables we are given in the seasons God made them grow, supporting a local farm, and getting fresh, healthy, organic vegetables. We will be sharing our box with the Cannons, from church, so that we won't waste any of the precious greens. If we don't have enough while sharing, then next year we'll have to just each get our own! Still, this spring is turning into a lousy growing season, and I feel pain for farmers who are working to bring young vegetables to fruition in this crazy weather! Well, I'll shop the farmer's markets this summer and probably make it up to them *gulp* from my wallet!

Photos (other than the mailman) were taken by James who risked his life to show you how things looked outside yesterday!

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Barbara Kingsolver is one of my favorite authors. Reading her work is kind of a guilty pleasure for me as her world view is polar opposite of mine (Poisonwood Bible is even a critical look at a fictional missionary family), but she has total mastery over her craft, an intuitive look at nature, and sympathetic characters that draw me in. Recently I read the two book series about a single woman who adopted a Native American baby abandoned in her car in The Bean Trees and Pigs in Heaven. So when I saw a recommendation for her book on a conservative Christian blog, I couldn't resist reading what I knew would be delightful prose on a compelling subject. I was not prepared for just how eye opening and potentially life changing her book would be.

For someone who does not believe in God and points to evolution to tell her little daughter how things came into being, Barbara Kingsolver has a deep respect for natural processes, the order of seasons, the symbiosis of birds-insects-plants-minerals in organic growth, and the importance of the family table and nutrition. So even though occasionally, I differed from her opinion 100%, most of the time I found myself learning at the feet of a woman with knowledge and experience that I want to emulate.

This book, co written by Kingsolver's husband, Steven Hopp, and daughter, Camille Kingsolver, covered a year in which their family ate food grown or produced within a 100 mile radius of their home: a small farm in Virginia's Appalachian Mountains. Although, the Kingsolver-Hopp family members were not strangers to growing, preserving, and cooking their own food from scratch, their decision to eat ONLY local foods was a journey of learning that the book chronicles in delightful detail.

Following the seasons of Spring (greens, mushrooms, asparagus), Summer (zucchini, tomatoes, and a plethora of other veggies), Fall (potatoes, pumpkins, garlic, root crops), and Winter (winter squash, root cellar holdings), the family grows, hatches, butchers, cures, pickles, freezes, dries, and preserves all the food they need to comfortably live for a year. They frequent farmers’ markets and local farms for available fruits, meat, and milk that they themselves don’t grow. They learn to make cheese and yogurt. They travel to different parts of the country to observe organic farming elsewhere. They take a trip to Italy to see a country centered on a food culture of growing and producing local olive oil, vegetables, cheese, pasta, and meats.

They give compelling arguments for supporting local agriculture, cooking from scratch, and “voting with our dollars” to avoid processed foods and foods that have traveled across continents to reach us (apples from New Zealand anyone?). They also talk about foods that cannot be reasonably purchased locally (olive oil, spices, coffee, and chocolate) and, instead of giving up and going down to the local grocery store, buying from small farms elsewhere through free market enterprises to support someone else’s local economy (without supporting big foreign businesses who don’t have as much respect for the land or individuals in that place).

This can be done much more reasonably than I expected. The first part of the book, I wished ruefully that it could be done where I lived. However, a little bit of research (specifically on localharvest.org) quickly showed that I can buy fresh local produce through a local farm CSA (for community supported agriculture) which will allow me to “subscribe” to a farm and receive fresh seasonal produce weekly through the growing year. I also have the option of buying into a not so local CSA in Oregon called “Full Circle Farms” which gathers food from small farms locally and farther afield to provide fresh organic produce year round. I also found several local dairies that will allow me to “share” in a cow’s ownership to buy fresh raw milk (which can then become yogurt and cheese). I also found places within 50 miles of me that sell eggs, syrup, beef, and chicken meat. I suddenly remembered the local summer farmer’s markets in Anchorage and Wasilla that I was too busy for. The options are really much more varied that I had ever hoped! I can even start a small window garden in my apartment to grow several salads. The possibilities get more and more exciting.

Although I hope to write more later, I did want to point out that this method of eating and living may not be the most frugal method at first. Buying local produce may cost a little more than buying produce shipped from South America, and buying hormone free, grass fed meat will definitely be costlier, but setting those pennies aside, the gains of making sure that local food producers stay in business (no matter what happens world wide), the local economy stays strong, healthy food is on your table daily, and whole foods are prepared from scratch with the ingredients you choose is really a much healthier alternative over all. This method of eating does not have to be done all or nothing. It could be done by choosing only one or two local items to incorporate, or it may be done to any degree that works for your family. Becoming educated and supporting local food however you can is a big step in itself.

In conclusion, I strongly encourage anyone who is interested in feeding their family naturally to look into this book. It contains a treasure trove of ideas, recipes, resources, and motivation. It comes out in paperback April 29, 2008.