Tag Archives: it’s not easy being green

>Raspberry Corn Muffins

Posted on by
Reply

>’Tis the season for fresh raspberries, and here’s a great way to use them.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 cup finely ground yellow cornmeal
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 large eggs
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup buttermilk
6 Tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 half-pint (about 1 1/4 cups) fresh raspberries or frozen (unthawed) unsweetened raspberries
1. Position the rack in the center of the oven. Preheat to 400. Prepare 12 standard muffin tins.
2. Place the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl and whisk to combine well.
3. Place the eggs, honey, sugar, buttermilk, and melted butter in a small bowl and whisk to combine well. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir with a rubber spatula until just combined. Gently fold in raspberries. do not overmix. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling them almost to the brim.
4. Bake the muffins until they are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out clean, 20-25 minutes.
5. Place the muffin pan on a wire rack and let the muffins cool for a bout 10 minutes. Remove the muffins from the pan and serve warm.
The muffins taste best the day they’re made, but they can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days. Reheat in the microwave for about 10 seconds each.
This comes from one of my favorite cookbooks: Food to Live By: the Earthbound Farm Organic Cookbook. In the midst of summer’s fresh bounty, it’s my go-to source for using fresh fruits and vegetables from the Farmers’ Market.

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

>From the Market

Posted on by
Reply

>

If you tried to follow me at the Farmers’ Market, my dear readers, you’d quickly figure out my routine. When Chuck is with me we might stop at a few different booths, but in general, here’s the plan.
1. Park the car. Or minivan, as the case may be. Yesterday I parked my minivan in a row with six other minivans and a motorcycle. It felt right. So right, in fact, that I almost forgot to fill the meter. Parking is cheap in my small city; two quarters and a dime will reserve an hour.
2. Gather the bags (including the one with wheels) and head into the Marketplace, otherwise known as the Main Drag of my fair city. The Saturday Market takes over five blocks in the center of town.
3. Walk quickly to the opposite end of the Market to begin. I do this with my bags empty; they’ll be full when I reach the area closest to parking again.
4. Buy bunny food. I mean, of course, buy lettuce. There’s a particular booth that has good lettuce mixes and good peas & beans, too. I start there. I have 3 quart bags of their peas in my freezer already. Mmmm.
5. Buy corn (the only non-local produce I’ll buy today), green pepper, and asparagus. The family is getting tired of asparagus, so this batch will get blanched and frozen.
6. Find a good deal on berries. Today, it’s blueberries and a quart of bing cherries. Oh, my, those cherries are good! I didn’t see raspberries at my favorite booths; maybe (sniff, sob) that season’s over. Already?
7. Bread! The Amish baker makes such good bread. I normally buy two loaves; this week I only needed one. But it’s been too hot to bake cookies, so I bought some of her oatmeal raisin. Yum. Great with coffee.
At this booth, a young couple tapped me on the shoulder and asked where I’d gotten my bag on wheels. It’s a Transit Company approved contraption (meaning I could take it on the city buses), and all three Goodwill Stores in town stock them. Inexpensive, too; I think I paid $12 or $15 dollars for it three summers ago. It’s strong and holding up well.
8. Coffee!! There’s a great deli- small grocer inside the big office building at the center of the city. I pass through this former mall on my way to the car. This time, since Chuck wasn’t busy looking over the barbecue sauces and salads, I picked up two pounds of coffee beans. The deli owner told me they’re both local brands (I recognized this), and I know they’re delicious. Win-win, folks.
9. Back to van, pack the foodstuffs inside, and open the windows. It’s hot! I’m sweaty! But it was worth the trip.
5. Home to unpack! No, dear readers, I didn’t take a picture of the counter full of produce this time. I only photographed one item – the one with meaning. In the hopes that the NFL lock-out will end sooner rather than later, I bought – you guessed it, Packer beans. Sing it – Green and yellow, green and yellow, green and yellow…

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

>The Professional Wardrobe – second hand style

Posted on by
Reply

>

Regular readers know that I’ve traded in my classroom for a cubicle. I’ll have a sizable class, but I’ll be teaching them online. It’s an exciting move, one for which I’ve been preparing for quite a while.
My new cubicle will be in an old building that’s been remodeled many, many times. It now houses two charter schools on its first floor, IT & helpdesk & Media Central offices along with a computer lab in the basement, and offices on the second floor. The offices include Special Education, Title I, English Language Learners/ Bilingual Education and more department heads. My new workplace, a virtual charter school, is also located on the second floor.
Now the issues: the building is air conditioned. How well? I don’t know. It is heated, but old windows are drafty and leak. The end result: I need to dress in layers. Serious, professional, layers. Since I’ll be sharing hallways and bathrooms with administrative peoples, I feel the need to upgrade my wardrobe somewhat. Since my take-home pay will be lower next year (thanks to our nasty current state legislature), I was faced with the dilemma: upgrade wardrobe on a downgraded pay scale after a lengthy unpaid leave of absence. The solution was actually quite simple: second hand. Consignment.
The first pair of jackets are good neutrals. They’re both brand name pieces, and both were on sale 50% off the marked price.

Then La Petite found some more colorful neutrals for me. I think we’ll replace the rhinestone button on the peachy blazer, but I really like the yellow. Fall and spring, pastels for the office.
Then I became more adventurous. Below is a Laura Ashley jacket in great earth tones with scattered shiny trim. Each time I looked at this one I thought of another pair of pants or shirt that would coordinate with it.
La Petite said she wouldn’t wear it herself, but agreed that it was a good style and good fit (and fun) for me. Here’s the back view. It’s fairly lightweight, too.
Then I got serious about having fun. These two pieces were on the clearance rack as I went to check out. It’s hard to see the detail on the vest; it’s really gorgeous, front and back. These were 50% off the already low consignment price. The shirt is Croft & Barrow; the vest is Coldwater Creek.
All that for a total of (drumroll, please) $60. Five jackets, a dressy shirt, and a vest: I’m rather pleased with the results. Oh, one more detail: only one needs to be dry cleaned. The rest can be washed on delicate cycle. Now that, my friends, is priceless.

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

>Rain, rain, come my way!

Posted on by
Reply

>The thunder yesterday sounded encouraging, but the storm dropped so little water that I felt I still needed to lug around the watering can again.

It’s been so dry (how dry was it?) that I’ve used up all the water in both rain barrels and I’m filling the watering can from the house tap. Sigh. It feels so wasteful! I’ve almost – almost, mind you – been tempted to hook up a sprinkler.
In the category of wasteful, sprinklers score a capital W for Wasting Water. Why? Find my Monday post at Green Spot-On for more detail.

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

>Strawberry Season!

Posted on by
Reply

>Part of pursuing the locavore philosophy means serving the same fresh ingredients for a period of time. Nature is convenient this way. When we start getting tired of a certain food, it’ll be out of season and something else will start ripening and taking over the Farmers’ Market stalls. Last night’s supper was salmon (frozen), asparagus, rice, and for dessert, strawberry ice cream and strawberry dump cake. The ice cream was a basic vanilla with strawberry “juices” added. I made the juicy flavor additive by mashing ripe strawberries through a strainer. The juice went into the ice cream; the leftover mush went into this basic dump cake. I posted this last summer, but it’s so simple that it’s worth posting again.

Strawberry Dump Cake

Fill the bottom of a 9 x 13 casserole pan with 4-6 cups clean, sliced strawberries. Leftover mush from the ice cream process works here, too.
Top with ½ cup butter, cut into slices. Sure, you could use margarine. But butter tastes so much better.
Dump one plain yellow cake mix on top. I keep a boxed mix in the pantry as a staple for times like this.
Top THAT with another ½ cup of butter cut into slices. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.

Serve with ice cream (homemade, if you can) or whipped cream. Coffee on the side, of course.

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

>Mom’s playing in the dirt again! Weeding, reprise

Posted on by
Reply

>Finally, the plants are maturing enough that I can see what belongs and what doesn’t. That means it’s time to start weeding!

Readers, did you notice I didn’t complain? Weeding is productive and therapeutic and even enjoyable. I searched through old posts and found out that I’ve discussed the positives of weeding in the past.
Here’s one from June, 2007.

I enjoy weeding because I can see progress. My garden is divided into small sections, set apart by my stepping “stones” made from old deck and fence pieces. I set a goal of weeding one section at a time. When that’s done, I can quit weeding or choose to finish another section. This is a managable goal; I feel productive when I can see the results in one part of the plot. It spares me the frustration of not “finishing” the whole thing, which is of course an impossible goal. Today I chose one triangular section of the garden and weeded out the many mini maples that flew in from the lot behind ours. If I ever abandon this small plot of ground behind my garage, I predict the mini maples will take over, leaving room for a blanket of clover underneath. But for now, look out maples! I have garden gloves and I know how to use them.

Here’s an older post from July, 2006.

Weeding feels good because:
  • I can’t hear the telephone.
  • Digging in the dirt is fun.
  • It doesn’t matter if I’m all sweaty and grimy.
  • I can appreciate the growth of my vegetables by comparing them to the weeds I’m pulling out.
  • I see the little flowers that mean the plants will bear fruit — some time.
  • I can laugh at the tiny “stray” tomato plants that grew where the rotten fruit dropped last fall.
  • The science teacher in me looks at all the clover and thinks, “Wow! There’s a lot of nitrogen in this soil! Who needs fertilizer?”
  • I notice the little grubs and worms that aerate the rich soil; and they’re not, I said NOT, yucky.
  • I notice how dark and rich the soil is, thanks to our home-grown compost.
  • The weeds (well, most of them) will become part of the cycle of life by decomposing in the compost bin.
  • Progress is noticeable. Every little bit of weeding shows results.

I heard a garden expert on the radio recommend that serious gardeners spend about 30 minutes a day weeding and maintaining. I don’t come near that, so I guess I’m not “serious” by his standards. I do keep it up, though, and get my hands dirty and produce good things to eat. My garden makes me happy. Isn’t that enough?

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

>My yard – it rocks.

Posted on by
Reply

>

First it looked like this. Mint, mint, everywhere, as far as one could see.

Then the mint was gone (Hah! Take that, invasive weed) and covered by a handy home made biodegradable barrier.
Next step: gather supplies. On the right, gravel. Basic, commercial gravel, previously located under a lilac tree. On the left, random rocks, most of which were scraps of concrete salvaged when we replaced our driveway.
Then I brought it the family member with the best sense of aesthetics: La Petite. She helped me put it all together. It looks much better now. The concrete planter needs a plant, and the pine trees really need a new unbroken home, but that will come later. For now, we have a rock garden where the mint used to be, and that’s exactly what we wanted.

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

>Home gardening – how do you rate?

Posted on by
Reply

>Mother Nature Network continues to be one of my favorite sites. Today their newsletter led me to this graphic describing home gardeners in the U.S. According to their statistics, I fit the mold pretty darn well.

  • College Graduate
  • Age 45 or (ahem) older
  • Average amount spent per household: $70 (seeds, seedlings, supports, etc.)
  • Average return on investment: $530 ($600 dollar return – $70 investment = $530)
  • Most common foods grown: tomatoes, beans, summer squash, lettuce, peas, peppers.
If I’m honest, my cost is a bit closer to $100. I invested in starter soil for seeds, a mini-greenhouse, and organic heirloom seedlings, all of which cost a bit more than the average. I believe it will pay off in quality, if not quantity. It’s not the $64 tomato, but it’s a sizable investment.
Time spent: their average is 5 hours a week. I’ll say it varies. Between watering, weeding, and making compost and chasing away the critters, I spent at least that. The time spent is an investment in the garden and its food output. This time is also an investment in my own peace of mind. While I’m weeding and watering, my mind is wandering. I’m thinking and processing all kinds of random thoughts, sometimes working through problems or writing whole blog posts in my head. There’s no dollar amount to attach to the mental health benefits of caring for a garden. I call it priceless.

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

Get out of my compost, critter!

Posted on by
1

Never before, in more than ten years of letting compost happen in the backyard, never before has the big black made-of-recycled-plastics compost bin been raided. This year I’ve found evidence several times – evidence in the form of the side access panel removed and compost in various stages scattered around. I reached for a quick solution: a rock. A big rock. A heavy rock, right in front of the access panel. That should keep the furry creatures out of the bin, right? Right?

Wrong. This big, heavy rock wasn’t enough. The critters, obviously with significant dexterity, just reached over the top of the rock and pulled the panel open again. Again!! This critter (or critters) was nocturnal, so I never actually saw it in action. I just saw the results, and the results frustrated me no end.
So I did what so many people do: I turned to duct tape.
I taped the other side shut, too, even though the nocturnal critters with maximum dexterity (and probably opposable thumbs) hadn’t attacked that side yet. I wasn’t taking any chances.
So far, the tape is working. Let that be a message: get out of my compost, punk!

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

>From mint to a rock garden

Posted on by
Reply

>

This is the “before” picture. Mint, mint, and more mint. A few tulip and daffodil bulbs, but other than that, the area is almost entirely occupied by mint. Sure, it smells good. I could use it to make mint syrup or garnish a refreshing beverage. But this plant is aggressive. A-G-G-R-E-S-S-I-V-E. It takes over. I’ve tried pulling it; it comes back. I’ve tried moving it; it spread. I placed layers over the mint last fall, hoping I could start a new raised garden over the top. Nope; mint was determined to find the sun.

I started again by removing the mint. I moved the bulbs (see the daffodil remains on the right?) to a better place. I set the mint on a drying table in the backyard. I might compost it. Maybe. Does mint seed get destroyed in compost or does it flourish? I’ll find out.
Next step: cover the soil, again. This time I’m going one more step. The area will become a rock garden. This concept worked around my rose bushes, intimidating the clover and other weeds into submission so the roses could thrive by themselves.
For now, it’s just a batch of packaging held down by large stones and heavy planters. I have extra gravel; but do I have enough? Maybe, just maybe, I can build this rock garden without spending money on the materials. I’ll find out, and I’ll let you know on the next episode, when I hope to have a picture of all rock, no visible packaging, and certainly no more mint.

Share and Enjoy !

Shares