January 2010

Snow Wheel A typical snowy and cold January greeted us as we started 2010. Oh how comforting to enjoy inside time, reading and relaxing without the pressure of weeds and outdoor projects. In time, winter will get old and we'll be itching to start planting but for now we'll relish the quiet. The "quiet" does involve homeschooling plus recently included several planning events - meeting with fellow market gardeners to coordinate seed orders, working with Lehmans store as they create a new demo schedule with the possibility of evening cooking and gardening classes and meetings to discuss options for getting our local foods book to the printer (and figure out the financing!) I also am looking at options for my garden next summer and trying to discern what I will have the time and energy to accomplish. Keeping up with a toddler, the possibility of marketing involved with the book along with increasing speaking engagements will probably mean I need to reduce the amount of veggie customers. Doors seem to be opening up for teaching opportunities which means I may need to give up some "hoe time." However, if some young adult helpers agree to show up regularly, I'll be glad to "teach" them the garden routine which would allow me to still provide salad and veggies for my regular customers.

Winter Salad Here is a plate of the fresh veggies we ate as part of a January 8th meal. I picked mache and escarole from the greenhouse for salad, the turnips and carrots are from the root cellar along with the red and green cabbages for the slaw. Cole slaw has become a favorite of the children this winter. I use just a simple vinaigrette as a dressing (3/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup vinegar, 1 T honey or 2 T sugar) to top the shredded cabbage and carrots and sometimes onions or shallots. Winter has also given us time to experiment with a new cookbook, Wholesome Home Cooking: Preparing nutrient dense foods. It it a compilation of Weston Price type recipes collected by an Amish woman from Pennsylvania. Basically it is "Nourishing Traditions for Dummies." I enjoy the fact the recipes all include ingredients that we approve of and I don't have to convert recipes with white sugar to alternative sweeteners because there are no recipes with white sugar. Our daughter has a list of recipes to try and has even attempted a homemade toothpaste recipe she found in the back. Also on the winter experimentation agenda is trying some new homemade cheese varieties like queso blanco and some using thermophilic starter.

We don't know what challenges and joys 2010 will bring but will trust God to lead us. Isaiah 61:11 is a verse that I plan to keep hanging in a prominent place as I prepare for the upcoming season, "For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations."