Spring Gardening Photo Tour

I really wish I had more time to write about all the awesome garden stuff going on and about all the ways that gardening has brought me back to life after such a long, grey winter.  But I'm reading Joel Salatin's book "Folks, This Ain't Normal" and I want to get back to it.  (Not to mention my Mac is telling me that my "startup disk is full" and is acting up.  I feel like screaming, "PC LOAD LETTER?  What the ^(^&&(*^% is PC LOAD LETTER??!?!?")  So this will be a "pictures with captions" kind of post and I will call it good enough for now.  Stay tuned for more in-depth garden posts as the season progresses and I figure out what is up with my computer.

Seed potatoes (ordered from Fedco) are sitting in this box growing eyes.  They will be ready to plant in my Jumbo Potato Grow Bags this weekend.  This is a first for me, so we'll see how it goes.

Oregano after a long winter.  I have serious plans to start harvesting and drying more of my herbs in my dehydrator this year. 

An unusual variety of sage.  I think it's called Striped.  Also struggling after the long winter, but will be full and bushy soon!

Peas already planted and coming up.  This picture is 5 days old, and so the plants are even bigger now.

Kale that survived Hurricane Sandy blowing the hoop house off.  I can't believe how hardy this stuff is.  Good thing we love kale chips around here...I have five kale seedlings ready to plant as well!

With the rain and warm weather the Hairy Vetch and Winter Rye beds are exploding.  This stuff is not going to be easy to till in when it's time.  I might be renting some serious power tools.

Spinach that also survived Sandy.  

The garlic, onion and shallot bed is flourishing.  

This is a game.  It's called "Find the Osaka Purple Mustard Greens Sprouting."   (The dirt in this bed and the pea bed has not been de-rocked very well, so we go out and pick rocks and sticks out as time allows.  The beds I'm prepping for the major plantings are getting a much more thorough clean-up!)

A view of the whole garden.  Split rail fence will be installed in a week...Just in time for planting out my first set of seedlings.

From death to life.  The rosemary.  

And the mint and lemon balm box.  This is my favorite place to come, pick off a leaf and smell.  It's heaven.

Strawberries have been weeded and are gearing up.  Along with greens, strawberries are the first things we get to eat after the long winter.

Compost system and two helpers.  

Sweet potatoes cut, stuck in water with shishkabob sticks, and ready to grow roots and vines.

The kale, brussels sprouts, and cabbage seedlings are doing awesome, even after I burned the kale with a little too much fertilizing.  It has rebounded nicely and I made a note to self not to fertilize kale.  :-)  Also started already are peppers (they are TINY) and eggplant.  Starting seeds has been a really wonderful way for me to start "gardening" and getting back to what I LOVE even while the weather is still cold.  Thank you to Annmarie for all her encouragement and advice and to Ken for assembling the most awesome seedling system in the downstairs bathtub!

These are the chard seedlings.

SPRING IS HERE!  HOORAY!!!

"I Make All Things New"

Every year I watch The Passion of the Christ on Good Friday.  This year, I was particularly moved by the scenes with Mary.  Perhaps my "Year of Mary", has brought me closer to her and has helped me to see Christ through her eyes.  One of my favorite scenes has always been the one when Jesus falls, and Mary rushes out to meet Him (flashing back to when He falls as a little boy).  I remember seeing the movie in the theater, and that being THE moment when I couldn't contain the tears any longer.  And then Jesus says to her, "See Mother, I make all things new."  While this is a bit of artistic license on the part of Mel Gibson, since these words actually appear in Revelation and are not words that Jesus spoke to Mary, I can understand why they make so much sense in this context.  And this Lent, these words touched me more than any other year.

I can truly see the way Christ is working to make things "new" in my life.  The rough valleys are being made low, the crooked paths straight.  Where there was once pain, suffering, and discord, peace, joy, forgiveness, and a new and greater love are entering in...a true Springtime of souls.  It is that time of year for all of us, when we shake the chill of winter, when we peel back the rough and dying branches to behold the life hidden underneath.  We realize with great hope and anticipation that behind every cloud there is sunshine.

Baby mint among all the old dead mint stalks from last year.  This makes me so happy. 

     

Life begins again in the flower garden...

The transplanted chives making their Spring debut.

The kale, brussels sprouts, and cabbage seedlings thriving in the bathtub shelving setup.  

The two new apple trees planted, pruned and protected.   The peach tree is behind me.

There is so much to look forward to, so much life, growth, and newness to come.

Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed!  

And HE makes all things new.

Okay, So I Won't BURST!!!

I am off the Facebooks for Lent.  And I wasn't going to blog.  But if I don't say it, I think I might burst. (And my friends Ellie and Alexis have GOT to be sick of me bursting to them, Vox'ing them or emailing them articles, so I am going to direct my bursting elsewhere for a moment)...

I. 

Love.

Pope.

Francis.

We were watching live on Wednesday when the smoke turned white.  I wept.  My daughters stared at me strangely, but for the first time, they DID NOT make fun of their mommy (who "gets weepy over every little thing!")  

We waited, glued to the TV for the announcement and his first appearance.  I wept.  Again.  This man, clad simply in white with a wooden cross, waving awkwardly from the balcony was our new pope!  

Immediately I knew something was going to be different.  And then, he asked US to pray for HIM!  Our earthly shepherd bowed before his flock so that we could pray for him.  I couldn't stop crying. 

As the days have unfolded, the more I read and see about this man, Pope Francis I, the more I love him.  The articles, the pictures, the stories all point to his refusal to be anything other than a humble servant of Christ.  It is truly building me up, filling me with the joy of the Lord, and I know it must be doing the same for others.  He is a do-er.  He's out there, among the people, kissing the feet of the sick, shaking hands with parishioners, refusing to ride home from the Conclave in a special car (he rode with the cardinals instead) and I can't help but think how much he's like Francis of Assisi (strong and determined, yet humble) and Mother Teresa of Calcutta (truly a champion of the poor and sick) rolled into one.  And WHAT a combination.  

For more amazing pictures of Pope Francis, click here.

It is a much known fact that I'm a "homebody" in an almost disturbing way.  And I hate airplanes.  I'd be happy to never ever get on one again.  But seriously, since Wednesday, I've decided I'd go to Rome in a minute.  I'd go just to be in the same place as this wonderfully holy man.  There's something about him that just draws people.  You can see it in the emotion of Catholics right now.  You can see it in the press.  Something good is happening, and I'm overwhelmed completely to the core just to be a part of it.

Here are some of my favorite Internet things about Francis (so far!):

1.)  Francis' homily from today (It's a short one, and SO worth watching!)

2.)  After mass, he stood outside for almost twenty minutes greeting the entire congregation.  And yes, that made me cry too.

3.)  Just one of many beautiful articles on him, in which he states, "How I would like a church which is poor and for the poor!"

4.)  And for a good laugh, there's nothing like a Papal Meme!   (Click the link for more funnies like the one below.)

5.)  In an address to the Cardinals after he was elected Pope, he said, "We will work harder to carry out the mission of bringing Christ to mankind and bringing mankind to an encounter with Christ.  This mission will bring joy to humanity."  Yes, that is absolutely what this is...

God Bless Pope Francis!

Lard Part 3: "Fat" Tuesday

Well, here we are, part three of the "Lard Journey."  My nostrils might be singed, but I have roughly eighteen cups of smooth, beautiful, white fat to show for it.  As promised, this is the "How to Make Lard" post.

Here's what to do:

1.) Procure large quantities of properly sourced pig fat.  (Thanks again to Beau at Rettland Farm for the fat he provided for this project!)

2.) Figure out how to make lard.  (Thank you, God, for the Internet, which allows ignorant people like me to learn crazy new things!)  While I consulted MANY websites, I found out rather quickly, that making lard in a crockpot is a bit of different experience than the stovetop or oven methods.  While most websites claimed that the whole thing would take a "couple of hours," I found that barely anything had happened to my lard after a couple of hours.  That led to a frantic internet search where I stumbled upon this website that depicts most accurately the time it takes to make lard in a crockpot.  (How fitting that it is called "Chickens in the Road!"  I promise I didn't let that sway me in choosing it as my favorite web resource!)

3.) Follow the directions you find online.  But please, for the love of your family, for the love of your furniture and clothing (especially if it is winter and you can't really open windows), and for love of any future visitors to your house, DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT MAKE LARD INSIDE.  I have to confess here (it is almost Lent after all) that I felt completely unprepared for the stench.  Beau was kind enough to warn me not to do it inside, and THANK GOODNESS he did.  Because I had so much fat, and was worried that my slow-cooker wouldn't hold it all, I almost caved in and did it in the oven in my gigantic enameled cast iron pot.  I am so so so so so so so so glad I didn't do that!  To tell you that the process smells just doesn't give it due justice.  Think skunk.  Not alive, but dead and rotting on your kitchen floor...after it sprayed itself.  (Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration, but it really smells foul!)  If you do it in a garage, though, the smell doesn't seem to have much to hold on to (carpet, fabric, etc.) and so it is gone fairly quickly.  I do not say this to deter anyone from making lard, but I refuse to paint this entire process as a walk in the park, complete with fairies spewing glitter everywhere and angelic choirs singing.  Making lard is not such an experience.  Gardening?  Maybe.  Chickens?  Sometimes.  Lard?  Not so much.

Lest I bore you with words---here are the pictures (and some more words, sorry!) of my lard making adventure.

The hardest part of making lard, as I soon discovered, is cutting it all up.  I was an idiot, and tried to put cool (not frozen) lard into my food processor.  It then became basically like Crisco.  The idea is to get small uniform pieces that will render down quickly.  HINT: Leave lard almost frozen if you plan to use machinery to cut it.  I decided in the end not to re-freeze the lard and abandoned the Cuisinart because I was afraid a job that big would burn the poor thing out! 

Knife and board cutting begins.  This process took me two hours.   HINT: Next time employ the help of a friend who wants to share your lard.  Unless you are used to cutting up stuff for hours on end, or unless it's gardening season and you have your farmer muscles back, your hands will hurt the next day.  

But they will be deliciously moisturized by the oily fat. 

Here's the lard going into my new Ninja Slow-Cooker.  (Thanks MOM!)  It worked beautifully!  Before you put the lard in, add a bit of liquid, about a quarter cup or so, to keep the fat from burning.  Who knows if that's really necessary, but the directions said so, and I'm a rule follower.

Still chopping.

The pack of fat is getting smaller....but there's still a lot left.

STILL CHOPPING.  But look how full the slow cooker is!

Almost done! 

This extra bit wouldn't fit in the pot.  I just let the original batch cook down for about an hour and then added it in. 

All packed and ready.

I set the time on LOW for about 4 hours.  Silly me listening to directions on people's blogs!  :-)  Apparently, you have to be careful not to burn the fat, which is why I did it on low.  I suppose I could've set it to high just to see what would happen, and hurry up the process, but with such precious fat, and a new slow-cooker that I'm not used to, I didn't want to risk it.

After 4.5 hours, you can see that the fat isn't totally rendered.  There are still large chunks floating on top.

According to legend, the secret is to wait until the pieces of fat sink to the bottom.  Those are apparently the pieces that you can make into crackling.  I had started the crockpot at about 2:30 in the afternoon.  Here you see it, at 11:30 that night.  That's way more than a "couple hours!"  I bet I could've let it cook even longer, but I knew cooking it through the night would've been sketchy.  I'm not sure if it's possible to OVER render lard, but again, I didn't want to risk it, so I proceeded to the next step.

Line a fine mesh strainer with cheesecloth that you don't ever intend to see, smell or use again.   Ladle the chunky stuff (it looks like dog vomit, and probably smells like it) into the cheesecloth strainer.  Press gently.

What comes out is a mildly yellow liquid fat.  Ideally, there are no chunks or pieces of stuff in it.   

 Here you can see I was left with about two cups of leftover solids.  I opted not to do anything with them.  First of all, it was midnight.  Second of all, I knew if I wanted to cook them down, I'd probably have to tend to the cooking of them.  That would've meant doing it inside the house, or to avoid the stench, sitting on the freezing cold garage floor.  At midnight.  Cooking cracklings.  I'm crazy, but I didn't feel that crazy.  Part of me still feels badly about this.  I really hate wasting stuff, even barfy-looking chunks of pig fat.  Isn't that weird?  Next time, I will know more about the timing, and I promise to update this post with the joys of cracklings.  (The website I linked to explains that process, FYI.)

After all the liquid is strained into the pot, ladle it into clean wide-mouth jars.  I was really happy to find all these canning jars leftover from canning season!  Place the jars in the refrigerator.

Come back in the morning.  LOOK!  Beautiful, white, pure, healthy lard.  Just like our grannies would've made!  Set up the jars for a photo op.

What people won't tell you:

1.  Pig fat has "stuff" in it.  Like skin or weak tendons or something (I'm no bio major, bear with me.)  When you're cutting it, don't expect it to be silky smooth and easy.  It's more like cutting the skin off of chicken breasts.  I don't have super great knives, so this was more work for me than I thought it was going to be.  Please don't laugh, but I also have "issues" with cutting meat, and this gave me that same icky feeling.  (I DO have so far to go before becoming even remotely legit as a "farmer" in regard to meat and its processing.  But at least I can cut up raw chicken now.  When we were first married, I made Ken do it.)

2.  If you want it to be easier to cut, leave it frozen.  But bear in mind that most everyday kitchen machinery is probably not built to cut up huge pieces of frozen pig fat.  I wasn't willing to risk my Cuisinart, which is the one appliance I would probably rescue in a fire.

3.  It smells.  I've already explained this in depth.  But in case you skipped everything but the pictures, I'll say it again:  Don't do it inside.  Consider yourself warned.

4.  Unless you use machinery of some sort, the cutting of the fat will take considerable time.  Enlist help.  Preferably someone with strong forearms and hands and a good knife.

5.  If you are using a slow-cooker on low, this process takes a heck of a lot longer than the "couple of hours" you read about on the Internet.

6.  There ends up being a lot of trash with this project.  I used an entire roll of paper towels.  We don't have a garbage disposal, and even if we did, I don't think you're supposed to put fat down it.  So every utensil, jar, pot, counter surface, etc. had to be wiped with something I could throw away.  (I also don't think you're supposed to wash stuff in a washing machine that is soiled with large quantities of oil---at least not in a house with sketchy plumbing.  So I didn't use kitchen rags for clean up either.)  Anyway, it just seemed that the cleanup process was more complicated than just washing some dishes.  I couldn't throw stuff in the sink and I was constantly twirling around thinking about where to wipe all that fat.

7.  Finished lard will have a slight smell.  Not horrible or strongly pungent, but it smells slightly of pork, and here I don't mean cooked bacon.  When you use it to make stuff, though, that odor doesn't seem to translate into the finished products.  I've used lots of lard in cooking, and nothing has ever tasted weird or like the smell of the lard.

8.  Making lard is not hard.  But it's work.  See #4 and #6.  (I'm sure it will get easier every time I make it, though.)  Like all worthwhile things, it takes time.  And so we've arrived at the million dollar question:

Is it worth it?:

Yes, absolutely!  Even without the fairies and angelic choirs, I would do it again for sure.  I'd even consider making it for people who didn't want to bother.  Just bring me your (good) fat.  Stay a while and help me chop if you want to be part of the process.  I have a garage, and while it's no summer or canning kitchen (drool), it'll do.  (Be forewarned: I might require a payment of a couple jars to keep me in supply!)   

Happy Fat Tuesday!

Christina R.-This one's for you!

Lent: Thoughts on Fasting, Praying, and Almsgiving

I have decided on a couple simple projects to celebrate Lent, but the main areas of focus for us this year are really going to be those traditional three tenets: fasting, praying, and almsgiving.   (I realized quickly that this post got too long to include our "fun" stuff, so I will try to do a separate post for that....)

Because I have young kids, I think it will be better to keep things a little bit fresh and manageable as opposed to the "easy to forget" resolutions that the girls like to make.  Each day, we are going to draw three slips of paper-one for our daily fast, one for our daily prayer focus, and one for our daily almsgiving assignment.  While it seems overwhelming, I think for my girls, doing something concrete and focused will help us "live Lent" each day, instead of saying in a nebulous way on Ash Wednesday, "Oh, um, I think I won't eat candy this Lent..."  (and then mommy forgets, or caves, or child claims that she really meant "chocolate" but not gummy candy...)

Admittedly, coming up with FORTY ideas for fasting, praying, and almsgiving was really hard.  I received some help from my Facebook friends, which I appreciate so much!!!  In a good way, this experience has forced me to spend time pondering those three concepts.  At first, I spent a couple days researching, researching, researching....asking myself, "What does the Church say about these things???"  "Is there some Saint who wrote about this stuff???" and "Where can I find these these things in the Catechism of the Catholic Church????"  Oh boy.  Immediately I felt overwhelmed, and then something hit me.  I don't have to be a theologian to celebrate Lent well.  I don't have to have to worry about "doing it wrong" in some way.  Lent is a really personal and special time not only for the Church as a community of worshippers, but also for us as individuals within it.  Instead of approaching the topic from an intellectual standpoint, and realizing that no matter what, I'd probably get all the "theological stuff" wrong anyway,  I decided it would be better to ask MYSELF, "What do fasting, prayer and almsgiving mean to me?  How can I help bring them to life for my children?  How can these Lenten practices bring us closer to Christ as a family?"

Yes!

Below are some of my thoughts on fasting, praying and almsgiving.  These are the thoughts, along with the input of my friends, that guided me in making the "cards" that we will draw each day.  I hope that some if it is helpful to those of you that gave your input.  (And here are the cards I promised you!)

Fasting:  To me, the idea behind fasting is to empty yourself.  If you are empty of all the distractions, all the things that keep you from God, then you can fill yourself with Christ.  This Lent, I want to ask myself, "What is keeping my gaze from Heaven?"  For some people, technology is what fills up their hearts and minds, and so a fast from that would make sense.  For others, it's the pleasure of food, alcohol, insistence on their own will, obsession with outward appearance, needless anxiety and worry about the future, etc.  Whatever it is that "fills" us, makes us think we are more than we are, keeps us focused on ourselves, and/or holds us back from that fullness IN Christ, I guess those are the things that  we are asked to give up in Lent.  It reminds me of those famous words of John the Baptist:  "He must increase.  I must decrease." (John 3:30)  But HE can't increase in us unless WE decrease.  So fasting for us this year will be focusing on decreasing (or as some say, dying to) self.  There's the other part of fasting, which is the suffering part.  As members of a culture based on comfort-seeking and pleasure, most people probably have the hardest time embracing the idea of voluntarily suffering.  But when we "suffer," even in little ways, it helps unite us to Christ's suffering, passion and death.  Not only can we understand better what a huge sacrifice that was for us, but uniting those sufferings to Christ's becomes an efficacious type of prayer in itself that benefits those we pray for and unites us as a Church.

(One "intellectual" explanation here: the term "mortification" that is used in the document below means "the practice of asceticism by penitential discipline to overcome desire for sin and to strengthen the will." -Dictionary.com  I think this is a good way to look at the benefits of denying ourselves---it can be used to strengthen us against sin.  I want to thank a dear friend who helped me really think about fasting and mortification, and helped with many of the ideas on both this page and the prayer page.  You know who you are!  :-) )

(Here's a link to the document of "fasting cards"that we will use.)

Praying:  Prayer becomes richer during Lent after all that "emptying."  We've rid ourselves of so much, and suddenly Christ is living in us in a new way.  Maybe we are noticing more how much He DOES work in our lives, and our hearts naturally begin to overflow with more love and more gratitude.  What the fasting took away, the prayer is refilling with something new and beautiful.  We are more aware of doing HIS will, not ours, because we are taking time to listen and ask Him what that is.  And as we listen, we realize that He is directing us towards a good....

(Here's a link to the document of "praying cards" that we will use.)

Almsgiving: ...and that good He is directing us toward is the love of others, which manifests itself in our good works.  This is where the almsgiving comes in.  In many ways, this is also tied to fasting, because when we love others above ourselves, that IS a dying to self, that IS a sacrifice that requires us to "decrease" so that God and the welfare of others may be our first and foremost concern.  It's like a big cyclical process, except all three (fasting, praying and almsgiving) are dependent on each other.  Neither one really comes first, second, or third, but they coexist together, each working for the good of the other two.  As I thought about what I wanted our "almsgiving" to look like, I felt really torn.  I had trouble thinking of ways that we could do things as a family, even with little kids.  I tried to narrow down my ideas by looking at almsgiving through the lens of these questions:

1.  Who is God calling me to minister to in this moment?  It might be the elderly person in the nursing home down the street, but it might also be my spouse, who I may have been ignoring out of selfishness for weeks (or perhaps haven't really listened to in a while.)  It might also be one of my children who is having a rough day, and just needs some more of my time, time that I normally reserve for myself, which I will give up to care for him/her (again, also a "fast"/sacrifice in a way.)

2.  What time, talents, and treasures do I have to offer to those who need them?  I don't think there are many people who are blessed with time, talent, AND treasure, but most of us have one or two.  So, those who can support charities financially can do that, those who have special talents like cooking, baking, sewing, etc. can put those to use for food kitchens, making meals for sick friends, or sewing baby blankets for a pregnancy center.  We can volunteer our time to visit those who need some attention, or take the time to clear our homes of usable items to donate.  There are so many things we can do.  

3.  Am I giving of MYSELF in a way that is pleasing God and building His Kingdom?  This can be as simple as responding positively to someone, being kind, helpful, etc.  I think that with the help of the fasting and praying, the answer to this last question about almsgiving is bound to be a yes.

(Here's a link to the document of "almsgiving cards" that we will use.)

Above all, I need to remember that all our fasting, praying, and almsgiving matter little if our hearts, minds, and eyes are not directed toward Heaven.  A big trap for me during Lent is to spend SO much time thinking about whether I'm fasting, praying, or almsgiving well enough, that I forget to behold Christ, to ponder all that He did for me.  In the end, to quote my friend Alexis, "It isn't about us."  It most certainly isn't.  It's about God sending His Son into this world to save our sorry selves.  It's about how much we need Him, how much we acknowledge our need for Him, and how much we love Him back by the way we live.  I hope that this Lent will be one in which I remember that.

I found this quote by Mother Teresa after I finished this post and was searching the web for pictures.   I do not think that it was a coincidence, and think I will print it and put it on my fridge!