Nov. 9, 2008 Farmers Market
I went to the area farmers market yesterday. I just love it! I researched all the area local farmers before we moved here. In the process, I ran across this farmers market. They have been in existence for 32 years. The requirement is you only sell that which you have grown yourself.
I love talking with the farmers. They are so full of information and very inspiring. I am looking forward to putting in the first of my gardens over the next few months. I want to have them up and running for a decent spring harvest.
One of the best lessons I learned yesterday is be there early. I had the chance to purchase beautiful stalks of broccoli, but missed them. You would not think a person would get so excited about broccoli. Trust me, if you had fresh from the garden broccoli, you know what I am talking about! All this excitement for only $2!!
I feel it is my duty to buy from each of the vendors. Even if it is only a little. I want to encourage each of them. It is a huge thing that they are doing and I want them to keep on doing it!!
Do you have a local market in your area? Check out this website and find out!! You will not regret it! |
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Jul. 2, 2008 My Blogaversary...
Wow! I just looked back and realized that I started this blog one year ago today. Who would have thought I would check today?! What fun things did I do on my blogaversary? My Brilliant and Talented Mom, Darling Daughter Number Two and I canned strawberry jam. We did two batches yesterday and two today. I now have 9 jars of strawberry jam. That should last me until September!
I was able to can all this using only one cup of honey! This was achieved by using this:
Note the: Any amount of sweetener. That was wonderful. The directions in the box even say to "feel free to experiment. This is a wonderful product. I will definitely be purchasing more of this! I order it from Breadbeckers.
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Jun. 16, 2008 I Started A Garden!!
Nothing like waiting till the last minute, but it could have been later! I could have waited till July!! I am so excited! So are the children. We were going to plant it in containers until after we bought the plants. Then I realized that I needed far more room.
And One Week Later...
I cannot believe that it grew THAT fast! Yes, I did over-plant for the space and yes, I have no idea how I am going to harvest the center of the garden, but I don't care...I planted a garden! I cannot wait to start harvesting!!
We planted 14 tomato plant (Roma, Big Boy, and grape), sweet potatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, yellow squash, okra, 4 types of pepper, cantaloupe, watermelon and way too many onions. There were so many onions that we planted them in the flower gardens!
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Jan. 15, 2008 How To Start A Produce Co-op...
We just had our produce co-op today. I am so blessed by this co-op. We started it about a year and a half ago. It has undergone some continual changes, but thankfully it has only improved it. I thought I might share with you how I started it. I am sure there are lots of ways to run a produce co-op, this is the way I chose to do it. It has been the easiest to maintain, as far as I can see. In addition, it requires the work of everyone involved so the co-op does not become a burden to one person.
1. Start asking a group of your friends if they would be interested in joining your co-op. I started with about six families. They were all interested and willing to help me do a bit of "leg work". I have found that shopping with about 15 to 20 families is a good number. You can build up to that number. Too many more than that and the produce will not fit in the shopper's vehicles.
2. Find an area farmers market. This can be right down the road or 20 to 50 miles away, depending on your preference. We go about 25 miles into the major town we are next to. Before you start your co-op, you need to do some reconnaissance work. Our farmers market has a local and wholesale section. We started in the local and then realized that the wholesale would give us more selection at better prices. We do venture to the local side once in a while for special things. It is all in your preference.
3. Once you have your place chosen and you have visited, put together a list of guidelines. This is what I included:
- cost per basket. We decided on $20. Currently, the cost is allowing us so much produce that we are overloading our baskets!!
- Each person must take a turn shopping. If they choose not to shop, their basket price will increase to cover the cost of gas.
- Inform everyone where the produce will be sorted. Each month should be at the same place. We sort at a member's home.
- Information about the farmers market. Contact names for people we have spoken with.
- Money is collected by me the second week of each month. I then give the money to the shoppers for shopping on the third week of each month. This way the money is easier to keep track of.
4. Schedule of shoppers for the year. My goal is to have at least three shoppers each time. This way the burden does not fall on one person to keep track of everything. I try to schedule everyone at six months intervals. If you have a smaller group, they may need to shop more often.
5. Each member must supply their own basket to sort produce in. This basket must be at the sorting point before the produce gets there. This is very important. If you do not have baskets, there is nothing to sort into. Then you end up setting produce all over the floor. Apples and oranges rolling everywhere. Not a pretty picture.
6. Make sure everyone knows that this is THEIR co-op. If we all work together, no ONE PERSON gets the bulk of the work.
One thing I started recently was a yahoo group. It makes it much easier for me to communicate with the members. It also allows for a better trade of information. Now everyone can share questions and answers with the entire group. I do not have to be the only one answering questions.
We also have a file section for uploading recipes. This is good for those "exotic" fruits and vegetables. One of the rules we have is that if you buy something "different", you must share some recipes.
I also made a file of produce we have bought and how it is packaged. This helps the shoppers know what their options are when choosing what they are buying.
Another rule that we have is that whoever shops has the choice of what is bought. You cannot complain about the produce purchases. One good thing is that if you make sure you are at produce sorting, you can choose not to take something your family will not eat. I have found that my family has had the opportunity to eat a lot of new things since we have started this co-op.
I am sure there are a million different ways to run a produce/farmers market co-op. The number one thing I kept in mind when I started this was that I was not going to be the only one doing everything. It is important that everyone has a role, otherwise you start to lose unity in the group.
I hope this has inspired you to start a co-op in your neck-of-the-woods. |
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Oct. 25, 2007 How Far Should I Go In the Name of Good Health?
My family and I are in relatively good health. We have a couple of little things, but overall nothing life-threatening. I have voluntarily opted to change our diet to consist of mainly whole foods. I use only fresh ground whole wheats. I do not used processed sugars or flours. I try to use mainly honey and fruit as my sweetener. I am not obsessed with buying only organic, but I am not adverse to it. In my quest to avoid man-made chemicals, I try not to buy products that have words I am unable to pronounce in them.
I have several friends who are not so lucky. They have members of their family who have to be on a controlled diet. They have all sorts of issues in their lives that CAN be controlled if they avoid different things in the food they eat. Some are easy to control, others are not.
I have tried to make it my goal to educate myself in these areas so that I can support them. I supply many of them with grain through my co-op. I also head up a produce co-op in an attempt to help our families eat healthy at a better cost.
There has been a running theme. You go along trying to cook well for your family and then BAM! Suddenly, everything has to change. You cannot use gluten. No more casein (dairy) for you. Wheat has caused many intolerances in your system. Yeast is a big NO NO. Where do you go from here? Well, it should not be too bad, I will just cut out bread if I cannot have gluten or wheat. Wait, there is gluten in canned vegetables. I will stop drinking milk. What does sodium caseinate mean? No yeast? I will just eat flat breads. Natural Yeast Extract?
Have you ever really read the ingredients on the can? For most of us, these ingredients are scary, but not life threatening. Yet, for many, eating the wrong thing can mean the difference between living well or living in pain and agony. I believe this is a small minority, but the minority is growing.
So what are we to do? I will go back to me, who has few health issues. I will do my best to put whole foods on my table (do we get into the degradation of the soils?). I will study and research what I can and try to apply that to the choices I make. I will try to teach my children to make good choices about the foods they put into their mouths. It sums up to this, only through the strength of Christ can I do all things. He gives me the ability to do what I can do. I will use the intellect that He has given me to learn and the strength He has blessed me with to apply what I continue to learn.
The most important thing is be at peace with the direction your life is taking. So often we rush to do everything, especially when it comes to our health. Take the time to research what information you are given. Make changes slowly. The "baby steps" that you take now have a better chance of sticking around than huge leaps of change made haphazardly.
For some further study, I encourage you to start at these sites:
MSG information
Artificial Sweetener information
and more
Gluten Free Casein Free information
Wheat Intolerance information
Low Carb information
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Oct. 8, 2007 Only A Woman Would Start Four Projects At Once!!
Yes, I am that woman! I only have a little time, but I thought I would post a quick hello. We have been thinking about painting our kitchen. Well, this weekend, I bought the paint (it had mail in rebate to boot). The cabinets will be white and the walls yellow. I also looked into what it would cost to replace the counter tops. Lots of money! It isn't too bad but I do think we will probably opt for something a little cheaper. I don't want to start the counter tops until after everything is painted, though. Then I can choose what I like with the color scheme.
In addition to those two things, I started measuring for a new cabinet in the laundry room. The room is too small so I have to make the most of space. We are currently keeping a cabinet in there to utilize space, but something will need to be built in. My Wonderful Husband already has the wood so it shouldn't cost anything extra.
After that, we decided to take out the HUGE CABINET that is in the library. I emptied it of EVERYTHING! In doing that, I had to clean out a closet and make a school area for things I needed downstairs. We need to rehang a bar for hanging coats and fix the light. I took all the craft/art supplies up to my craft closet in my room. Of course, I needed to rearrange that room and sort stuff!
We have wanted to build book shelves because the books have gotten away from us. I have four shelves that are two books deep! My Wonderful Husband has done the measuring and figured what wood we will need. Now all I have to do is get paint and paint the wall and trim then he can build. That is why we removed the cabinet. That put us one step closer to getting new shelves!!
Finally, we needed to give the cabinet a home. We moved the freezer in the garage to fit better and Wonderful Husband dismantled the cabinet and reassembled it in the garage. Now I have storage that will not invade HIS space. It tidied up the garage and gave me more space in the house.
So, how many jobs was that? My poor Wonderful Husband knows that this is how I work. I can never start "just one job". But isn't that the way of women? Once you start one thing you need to start another and then another and then... Isn't everything connected throughout the house. Needless to say, Lowes was happy to see us on Saturday morning! |
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