Posted in Locally grown, Moderation and Economy, Uncategorized, Working the earth/harvesting its bounty on Mar 10th, 2010
Seems like we’ve been living in our wellies this week as we spent most of our time planting in the garden. This week we’ve started:
Peas, round two, this time in the front yard – Little Marvel, Tall Telephone, and Oregon Sugar Pod II.
Potatoes, in three beds in the backyard, near the larger coldframe – German [...]
Posted in Changing Seasons, Locally grown, Working the earth/harvesting its bounty on Feb 26th, 2010
You know what they say – “Good things comes in small packages.” I think tomato seeds are just about the best small package around -they contain the promise of wonderful meals to come.
I know our garden is going to be growing food for more than our nuclear family, and therefore we’ll be starting more tomato [...]
Posted in From my kitchen, Locally grown on Dec 4th, 2009
It’s no secret that pie is our dessert of choice here at the Baker house. At the holidays I try to bake a pie at least a 3 or 4 times a week, rotating between nut and custard and fruit pies. And, in my opinion, at the holidays, no fruit pie is complete without the [...]
Posted in Changing Seasons, Locally grown, Moderation and Economy, Outings, Working the earth/harvesting its bounty on Oct 30th, 2009
Some pictures from the cider pressing party last weekend. It was also my husband’s birthday – I’m so glad he had a great time! (We all did!)
Most folks brought apples from their own trees and also gleaned many from abandoned orchards along country roads.
Apples were washed, wormy parts and bruises removed, and then cut in [...]
Posted in From my kitchen, Locally grown, Working the earth/harvesting its bounty on Oct 29th, 2009
I’m feeling so much better – and very grateful that none of the rest of the family became ill. In an effort to get back into the kitchen and make something nourishing and comforting, Firecracker and I started with something easy but wholesome and cooked up a big pot of bean stew. Here’s my recipe [...]
Posted in Changing Seasons, Crafting, Learning, Locally grown, Outings, Playing/ Free Exploration, Uncategorized on Oct 7th, 2009
The past month has left me feeling stretched pretty thin because of obligations and responsibilities to my family and others. Tackling domestic duties and “home schooling” the girls while my non-stop motion toddler “explores” the house into a distaster zone has also been a challenge. Crafting has been particularly tricky – Tum Tum either attempt [...]
Posted in From my kitchen, Locally grown, Uncategorized on Sep 19th, 2009
Final count from the Barlett harvest:
20 – 1/2 pints of Caramel-Spice Pear Butter (sorry, secret recipe!)
18 quarts of pears in light syrup (some spiced, some with lavender, some vanilla)
12 quarts of pear sauce (which we all discovered we prefer to applesauce – it has a wonderful buttery quality)
oodles of pear crisp and pear upsidedown-gingerbread cake
about [...]
Posted in Building Community, From my kitchen, Locally grown, Moderation and Economy, Outings, The Gift of God, Working the earth/harvesting its bounty on Sep 7th, 2009
Saturday, I was blessed with the opportunity to ride with another family of volunteers out to Mosier, OR (in the beautiful Columbia Gorge) to glean pears for Birch Community Services. The weather was very rainy, windy, and chilly, so I was grateful that the children could all stay home, snuggled up reading their latest chapter [...]
Posted in Crafting, Giving, Locally grown, Moderation and Economy, Sewing on Sep 2nd, 2009
Now, my sewing skills are pretty basic, (nothing like the beautiful sewing at Pleasantview Schoolhouse), but this week I tried my hand at making some farmer’s market totes. (A few more tote tutorials can also be found here, but I like how the pattern I used has the lining fabric peeking up above the edge [...]
Posted in Crafting, Locally grown, Moderation and Economy, Sewing on Aug 31st, 2009
The other night I stayed up ridiculously late finishing a little scrap quilt, and I really paid for it the next day! Of course, the children decided to wake up almost two hours earlier than normal the next morning! I needed two cups of coffee just to be able to make toast and eggs for [...]
