Mom and Dad's garden

 I am at my family reunion and enjoying my parents garden. They have worked really hard on it since they moved here 5 years ago. Every year some major improvement is done in time for the reunion.
In this picture my niece Savannah is checking out the asparagus. It is a little past picking time but there are a few spears that my Dad let me have and it is sooo yummy. This asparagus is in i'ts second year, so the reason we don't pick it after it's first 6 weeks of the season is to let the roots get nice and healthy to produce even more next year.

 Savannah is showing her toothless smile here. She is quite the ham. She is also probably the most intelligent person I have ever known. Not even joking.

 My Dad was a landscape artist years ago. Every house he has built, he has made the yard a showpiece. It's a good thing his health has improved this last year so he can keep up with his works of art. It helps too that my Mom is a gifted artist. They do things together that are amazing.
I liked this baby pine tree. It will be fun to see it grow through the years.

 Notice the yield sign across the road with a cow on it. :)

Isn't this a cool old  mower? My parents have always liked antiques. When I was around 9 years old we had a draft horse and an antique pioneer hand plow. My little sister and I would sit on him and guide him pulling the plow while my Dad would be behind us handling the plow. We have video of it. I love that memory.

Romaine lettuce. Yum.

 This was one of the big projects for the year.  My parents went to an actual volcano that has a sign saying you can gather the volcanic rock but not sell it. They even had some injuries in the process. Volcanic rock is very sharp.  This little pond has water that comes from the top and gushes down, and the pump in the pool at the bottom sends up a spray. It is beautiful.

Here is a picture of the asparagus at the base. It is a really neat plant. The tops are all feathery and have little tiny berries on them. I have some planted at my house but they are not up yet. I have wondered if they would come up at all because it was a last minute purchase at a hardware store. I have wondered if the roots were even alive. My Dad told me he had the same thoughts about these asparagus, and it took about 3 months for them to surface. I will keep watering mine and hope for the best. I would so love to have it at my house.

A Story about Lorraine

I just wrote a story about a woman named Lorraine who thought she was destined to always be overweight. She finds a friend who opens a door to health for her.   http://health.rosefromarock.com/2012/06/29/a-story-about-lorraine/

Pizza from the Adobe Oven

When I came home from the Farmer's Market yesterday, my husband and 10 year old son were making pizzas in the adobe oven. They said it took less than 10 minutes to cook the first two and they were perfectly cooked.

I was going to take a picture of the pizzas but my phone was out of battery. :(

I took pictures later when it had all been devoured.

My 10 year old had made the crust with spelt. We are still figuring out how to make that come out best, but even when it is not at its best it is tasty and everyone can have it without reactions to wheat. It must have been good because it is gone!

Dinner from the garden

Today I did a video that takes you into my garden to get veggies for dinner. It comes in three videos, so you'll have to watch parts 2 and 3 too to get all the nitty gritty. :)
I talk a little bit about pesticides and throw in some about the Stages in my Whole Foods Binder.
Happy Healthy,
Elisa

Garden Progress

BEANS:
They are growing fast! They will be so yummy!

 THE GARDEN:
This view shows more green in the beds than has been there previously. My next big project will be figuring something out for the walkways. If I let the prarie grass grow in, it will eventually grow up through my beds and I DON'T want to deal with that.

 ONIONS:
The onions are getting tall. The high winds blow them over here but they are still thriving.  The stems would be like green onions to use, but I want the bulbs to get big so I am letting all of the stems gather sunlight to feed the bulbs instead of eating them.

 We are eating peas!!!  The first variety of peas to produce have been the Sugar Snaps. I planted a Lincoln variety on the same day as these, but they are slower to produce. I really like these Sugar Snaps because I can eat the entire pod. It seems less wasteful  than opening up the pod, eating the peas, then throwing away the pod. I wonder if I could juice the pod?

 POTATOES:
I bought heirloom seeds and potatoes this year so I can save all of the seeds and plant them next year. I ordered these pretty early in the season, so I was worried about how well they would do. They are doing great! I planted Pontiac Reds and Yukon Gold. I have had great luck with both of these in the past.
I learned from an old farmer to not water potatoes after you plant them until the plant shows up on top of the soil. I always do that and I always have good results. If you water them too much early on they will rot.

 SQUASH:
When I finally got my tires leveled and ready to plant it was getting late for planting so I hurried and got them in. Well, I didn't keep track very well of what was going where, so right now I don't know which kind of squash these are! I love surprises though, so as long as they are healthy I am happy!

 WEEDS:
I really want to know what kind of weeds these are. They grow with prolific abandon around here. I know that some greens that we call weeds because they are growing where we don't want them, are actually more nutritious than what we are having a hard time growing. I would love to know if I should be cultivating this type of weed instead of killing it.
I have a contact who will be coming to my yard soon to identify wild edibles, so I will let you know!

CORN:
This picture of the quick growing corn tells a picture about how busy I am with trying to get my binder system ready for its debut, blogging, Farmers Market, website design and email correspondence.
I have kept the garden watered and fertilized, and once in a while I take the time to get the worst weed problems under control but they have taken over for the most part. There is a haven of spare time in my kind-of near future when I will once again reign in my garden. For now I will grant the weeds a few more days sabatical in my beautiful garden.

Watermelon for breakfast

  

This is our favorite summer breakfast.

My Dad's Story

I posted a story on this blog that I write for, http://health.rosefromarock.com/ about my Dad's transformation from sick to thriving. He did it all through nutrition and he actually credits a lot of it to me! Wow. I am so honored.
The story is in my Dad's words and is very motivational. I am so glad to have been a part in it.

Those Dangblasted Chickens!

I did not have money this year to buy flowers for my yard. I love flowers but I can't eat them, so they had to stay off of my budget.
Last year I had bought some Marigold seeds that I did not end up planting, so I thought that since I couldn't buy flowers, I could still put some seeds in the ground and see how they did. I got them in late because of all of the construction in the garden beds, but I am enjoying them still.

I also saw at Sutherland's 2 weeks ago that their bedding plants went down to 50 cents for 4 plants. I bought a few Moss Roses and planted them too. (Those are my Dad's favorite - he wants them planted on his grave someday. I would rather plant them now and think of my Dad than think of when I would be putting them on a grave :( 

 Fast Forward to Yesterday when I got home from church.

 

My chickens had a hay day in my flower planter!!!!
I am not happy with them!

All of the flowers are gone and my soil mixture is everywhere! If I thought I could teach them a lesson I would but pretty much I just have to live with it and hope it doesn't happen again. Not fun.

They had also been in the garden and flattened my peas and lettuce. I am thinking an 8 foot white picket fence would be an awesome investment.

Non Dairy Ice Cream

I love this kind of ice cream. It is so quick and totally hits the spot!

Just blend

• bananas,
• cocoa powder
• ice cubes

 I added a little bit of date sugar to mine last night too. Yum. I also woke up this morning another pound lighter. :)

New Chicken Coop

 My husband has been working on a new chicken coop out of old barn wood. We are getting 30 chickens to add to the 17 we already have. Several of us don't even eat eggs, but the people at the Farmers market will appreciate them!

Our chickens free range during the day and get shut in their coop for safety from foxes at night. I have to keep an alarm on my phone to remember to put them in. The problem is that the chickens go to their coop on their own when it gets dark, and the sun is going down later and later, so the phone has to be set to different times periodically!

The spaces between the boards of the coop will be closed in by another layer of boards. It is turning out cool. My husband said if he had time he would put a false front on it so it would look like the old western storefronts. Then he wants to put a sign out front that says, "Coup DeVille" or something like that. He is really witty, so when he said it I had to giggle.

We are trying to transition the hens (and 2 hens that grew up into roosters we just found out) into the new coop because it has a better door. It is funny to shut them up in there and open it in the morning to have the older hen run to the old coop to lay her egg. I hope she can get the hang of the new coop. Funny birds. I hope they like their new house.

Whole Foods are not too expensive

I have spent $550 this month on food to feed my family of 7. 

We did not need to buy grains, beans or meat because we had those stocked up according to my system of spending 1/5 of my grocery budget on bulk items. I have not bought my bulk yet, so that will be another $200 or so on top of my $550.

It is almost the end of the month and we still have food in the cupboard. I may have to get a few things before the end of the month, but I'd say that this proves (to me at least) that it is not too expensive to eat a Whole Foods Diet!

Oh, and we only ate things out of my Whole Foods Binder System to accomplish this. :)

Happy Healthy,
Elisa

Different plates for different tastes

This was my dinner plate. I made ribs for those who wanted meat and put carrots, potatoes and onions in with it in the crockpot that I could enjoy. I steamed some asparagus, made a cucumber salad, steamed and mashed some cauliflower, and made gravy from the roast.  

This is my sons plate. He wanted meat and potatoes on his plate. We leave it up to each person in the family to choose their diet. I am still teaching them about food combining and that the potatoes and carrots weren't going to digest well with his meat, but I didn't force him to eat how I thought he should. After dinner when he was tired, he did mention that maybe I was right. :) That's all it takes. Gentle reminding of truths and then letting them choose and see for themselves.

Facebook Fan Page

http://www.facebook.com/InTheGardenOfEatin   

I will be putting videos, blog posts, and other happenings on my new Facebook Fan page.
Go 'like' it to keep up to date! Thanks! :)

Happy Healthy,
Elisa