Archive for July, 2006

July 29th, 2006 - One Local Summer week 4b

I forgot to write that we also had a local salad last night. Everything was from the garden, mostly picked right before dinner: lettuces, carrots, green pepper (not ready to pick, as it should have been an orange one, but it got hail damaged a few days past), cilantro, basil. Eric and Maggie also got mushrooms, which aren’t local. (Last summer, someone sold mushroom logs for growing your own in the basement. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been around this year or else I’d buy one just so I could add them to salads!) I didn’t add cheese because I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get the eggs this morning and wanted to be sure I did have at least one local meal for the week!
Maggie and I also ate one dragon bean! Our purple striped have started producing! This one was just barely long enough to pick, and I found two others getting there. When I return from my business trip, I bet I can pick them. Maggie ate most of the bean before dinner and I finished the inch she didn’t. Wow; I haven’t had a bean fresh from the garden in years, maybe a decade. I’ve gotten them from the farmer’s market…but I guess I didn’t eat any of those fresh. I’d forgotten how wonderful a raw bean tastes! I’m excited for the rest of them!

I’m heading off to Guelph, Ontario, for a few days. I hope to find a hometown bakery and some local cheese to have for snacks and one dinner. I did find a bakery online, and I think it’s within a mile of the campus. I didn’t look for grocery stores, but I’m sure I’ll be able to find them easily enough. Will also look for other local (Ontario made at least) food. Maybe there will be a natural foods store–the city is over 100,000 so I think it’s pretty likely they’d have one. Unfortunately, I’m staying on a university campus so I doubt I’ll have a phone book in the room. But who knows?

Posted in Eat Locally | No Comments »

July 29th, 2006 - One Local Summer week 4

Eggs and veggies II Here’s this afternoon’s lunch. Maggie and I quickly went to the farmer’s market after her breakfast–it looked like it could start raining soon and from the radar it could have last hours. It started up just as we left the market, but only lasted 15 minutes or so. We went to the market specifically to buy lunch–farm fresh eggs and fresh cheese. Sadly, they were out of the xtra sharp cheddar, so I got cheese curds instead. Then for lunch we had scrambed eggs with shredded carrots, chopped peas, onions, cheese curds, chives, basil, and a squash blossom. Everything but the eggs and cheese were fresh from the garden less than an hour before eating; Maggie of course helped pick and carry them. (Ok, technically, she just carried.) I got the idea last week when I made a similar dish (not with local eggs); Maggie adored it and ate more than I did.To my disappointment, Maggie was not interested in it this time around. It might be because she was ready for her nap, but I have to admit it didn’t taste as good, either. I wonder if it’s because I forgot to put in the herbs while it was cooking or if was the different taste of the eggs or the use of curds instead of shredded cheese (they didn’t melt much and end up kind of chewy).

I was a bit flustered when I sat down to eat since I was setting our plates down when I realized I’d forgotten all the herbs. So I neglected to take a picture until Maggie was finished. So this is a half-eaten plate!

The book, Misha, is the autobiography of a woman who as a child wandered across Belgium, Germany, and Poland on the run from the Nazi’s. She was only 7 when she set off, far wiser than her years. I do not understand how she was able to do this; she wonders herself, too. I’m only 1/3rd through the book, so I’m not sure where else she wanders but she wandered for FOUR years.

Veggie snagging Here’s a picture I forgot to upload last week or the week before of the fresh veggie dinner. Note how Maggie took advantage of my full hands to snag a carrot off my plate! It was one of the baby dragon carrots we’d thinned. She ate it right up, too! The only carrot she’s eaten lately….she’ll eat the veggies handed to her in the garden but rarely inside at meal time. I don’t understand.

Posted in Eat Locally | 2 Comments »

July 28th, 2006 - Micro credit at Kiva

I have long been a fan of micro credit (or microfinance), ever since first learning of it in college (not in a college class, however, as far as I can recall). In graduate school, I ran across some books about the Grameen Bank and became even more enthusiastic. However, there’s no way for the average American to be involved, unless you are able to work or volunteer for a micro credit agency. (Which, actually, a friend from college does!)That is, until now. Kiva is a way to be involved in 3rd world micro credit! “Kiva lets you connect with and loan money to unique small businesses in the developing world. By choosing a business on Kiva.org, you can ’sponsor a business’ and help the world’s working poor make great strides towards economic independence.” Your committment could be a specific amount for one person, smaller amounts divided amonth a number of businesses (diversification!), or an entire loan for one person.

I’ve already comitted to $100 in loans, divided among 3 businesses. Once the loans are funded and dispersed, we are to receive a regular entries in their journals (this link is to actual journal entries) about how they have used the loan and what difference it is making.

Kong Komtia general store Household Items Store in Ban Tum Poum District, Cambodia. Komtia’s loan has been fully funded and dispersed already!

Maria Guadalupe Escobar Food Production and Sales in Casada, Atlantida, Honduras. I haven’t gotten an email indicating this, but according to the page, this loan has also been fully funded!

Esther Tumuheirwe Seamstress in Kampala, Uganda. Ditto, this one also fully funded.

You can browser their businesses to choose specific people you wish to sponsor. I am most interested in supporting women, especially those with children. You might focus on type of business, gender, location, families, size of total loan (I’ve seen from $150 - $1875 so far), or just choose randomly. I’ve looked at the site a couple times this week, and have seen businesses come and go, so if you don’t see something you want this time around, come back! You might loans already raised to see other unique businesses. For example, musicians have received loans! (Unfortunately, you can’t search by type of business.)

Unfortunately, although you are making loans, you don’t get any interest on them, so this is not an investment (unlike the American people-to-people lending website Prosper where you do earn interest). It’s not a charity, either, since the money is actually loaned and repaid. I wish we got some sort of interest, even if it was miniscule. But, as a first generation way to be involved in micro credit, I’m taking it. Although the loan is repaid over a specific period (6-18 months typically), you do not receive your money back until the entire loan is repaid. At that point, you can either take your money back, or reinvest it in other businesses. It’s a strange little area inbetween investing and charity. Their are no personal financial benefits (you could even say it’s a negative since I will not earn any interest on this money now). But there are definite non-financial benefits for me. It’s the old adage “Bring someone a fish, feed them for a day. Teach someone to fish, feed them for tomorrow.” But brought further, “Loan them money to increase their fishing intake and feed and educate their entire family for the future.” (Or something more elequent than that!) The journal entries already show families who have been able to build better houses!

I suspect that in another 3 months or so, I will invest another $25. Otherwise, I’ll invest, then have to wait an entire year before I can invest again!

Posted in General | 1 Comment »

July 26th, 2006 - Hand cranked cell phone charger!

I finally found a hand cranked cell phone recharger!!! And it’s from a company I trust: Real Goods/Gaiam. I liked the compost things I found at this site so decide to explore the rest of their products. It’s only $25. I did need a good incentive for my exercise/goals as I’ve fallen off course the last two weeks (haven’t been feeling well, plus it’s really hot even in the morning, plus classes keep getting canceled).

Hmm….in looking at info on other sites, I don’t think it works with my phone. One site lists all the compatible cell phone models, and while Ericcson is listed, Sony Ericcson is not; ProTravelGear has lengthier list (PDF) which includes models numbers just before and after mine….. The funny thing is that first site’s FAQ says you wouldn’t want to fully charge your cell phone this way. But they are assuming you let your batter run down before recharging! I plus mine in almost every night, so it’s only in for about 15-20 minutes unless I’ve had unusual usage. (It might need less time than that; I just plug it in while getting ready for bed.) I’d easily run the charger while watching TV or at a boring meeting. ;-) (Never mind. Another review reports that makes too much noise for doing during business meetings. Guess I wasn’t the only person who thought of that!) He also states that it does work on most Sony Ericssons. Hmmmmm….. [The last guy also provides a link and discount code at the end of the review.]

Posted in General, Exercise/Weight loss | 1 Comment »

July 26th, 2006 - Compost crock

I’ve been thinking about buying something more durable for my compost bucket. I’ve seen a number of metal, plastic, and ceramic compost containers. Now which do I want? My other problem is that I will likely want two, one for regular wastes and one for kitty litter (which may or may not work in a worm bin).

Real Goods’ ceramic crock $42 + filters $10

ceramic for $25 and metal for $35 filters only $5

looks like the same thing, but comes in blue for $30 3.5 qts
a pretty ceramic one with green for $30 1 gallon
plastic, but holds 1.5 gallons $20
enameled metal w/ plastic lining bucket w/ handle $20
biodegradable bags for the bucket 100/$20 aren’t something I would normally use, but might consider for the kitty litter wrom bin. I wonder if the worms can digest the bags or not?

ceramic for $30 stainless for $40, 1 gallon

plastic square from Gaiam, I think I’ve seen this at Amazon too, 9.6 qt $17, 5.5 qt $14

speaking of amazon
metal, 1 gallon, $39
plastic sqaure one 1.8 gal $17
plastic 2 1/3 gallon! $13

Posted in Garden | No Comments »

July 24th, 2006 - A Porch and Flowering Meadow, 6 Floors Up - New York Times

For once, I didn’t have to change the auto-generated title on an article. A family makes the perfect porch and backyard in A Porch and Flowering Meadow, 6 Floors Up. Now that sounds like a place in NYC where I could stand to live!

Posted in General | No Comments »

July 21st, 2006 - One local summer: Week 4

I’m sounding like a broken record, but it was salads again this week. This challenge just happens to be during prime season for lettuces in my garden, so I can’t justify spending money on other products (if I could even find them) right now. The lettuce, I’m sure, will start to bolt soon. But should last until at least next week. But then we’ll be on to other produce!

Maggie and I have had salads a couple of times. (Pictures may be posted later on. I keep forgetting about them when at home!) On Wednesday, I went to a potluck, and brought a local salad, too. I proudly announced it’s complete localness to the other eaters as well! They all thought that was pretty cool! Maggie went to the garden to help me pick some extra lettuce when I realized I didn’t have enough. It’s the first time she’s been out there since I planted. She doesn’t understand rows/aisles of course, so I’ve not wanted to let her wreak havoc unintentionally. It’s pretty safe now, however, since everything is so large. She stood quietly and watched me pick the lettuce, then we checked out the peas. I picked on and handed it to her–and she actually ate the whole thing! At dinner, she’ll usually not eat more than one bit of a pea pod. I don’t know if it tasted better straight from the vine (I think so!) or it was the novelty of it. But she at the entire pod! woohoo!

Eric had a salad last night as well, but his had mushrooms on it (ooops, so did Maggie’s, but she didn’t eat them, so I guess it still counts as local anyway).

I also made a salad dressing for the potluck–homemade yogurt, a bit of milk, ground dried veggies from last summer, fresh chives, and dried dill from either my Mom’s or my Grandmother’s garden. Not local here, but at least homegrown! My dill isn’t looking too good–I bought it half price at the end of the selling season. While this was a cheap way to get dill and basil, neither has grown much since planting. The cilantro I planted as seeds however has taken off. I need to harvest some tomorrow!

Posted in Garden, Eat Locally | No Comments »

July 21st, 2006 - The worms crawl in…

Yesterday, I purchased 1# red worms from WormMan’s Worm Farm. That means i absolutely must make the worm bin this weekend (need to drill holes in the plastic bins I bought). I started shredding paper for it yesterday, too. Unfortunately, they only ship worms on Mondays. I was hoping they’d arrive sooner. Shucks. Hopefully, Eric will notice when they are delivered, because this isn’t the season for them to sit on the front stoop. I’ll track them carefully, so hopefully we’ll know what day to look for them.

I’m really looking forward to vermicompost next spring for the garden. It’s doing so wonderfully already, but there’s definitely room for improvement!

Posted in Garden | No Comments »

July 14th, 2006 - Currants are good for you!

I believe I’ve written before about the many currants I pick each summer. And about how I don’t particularly like them. I eat them, however, because I assumed that any fruit has something nutritious in it. But I ran across a reference once to just how little vitamin C was in them, and was left with the impression that they weren’t really all that nutricious in anything else, either. I’m delighted to learn they have flavenoids just like blueberries. Good, now I can feel good about eating them.

I also learned at the Winter Solstice that I might not like them because I pick them too early. They are rather tart…but I was told they sweeten if you leave them hanging for a while. I always figured they’d drop quickly, but they don’t. So this summer, perhaps my mind will change.

Greenhouse Girl provides a lengthy page of info about growing currants. She includes that “Like most fresh fruit, red currants are good for you. They contain a high amount of vitamin C, together with vitamin B, iron, phosphorus and fibre. They also have a relatively low calorie count at just 25 calories per 4oz (100g).” which contradicts my prior information. [The benefits of searching all blogs through Bloglines because I figured, “How many people talk about currants anyway?” and was surprised to not find my Eat Local blog (first link) in the first 25%. She, too, notes their tartness.

Posted in Garden | No Comments »

July 14th, 2006 - Is this me?

Liz’s post sounds like it could have come from me: Pocket Farm: How does my garden grow?. Except that I’m not growing broccoli, kohlrabi, and wheat. And I rarely tak epix of my garden to share. (Maybe this weekend?) And I live in WI not Maine. But the similarities were delightful.

Posted in Garden | No Comments »

July 13th, 2006 - Go garden go!

Last night, I picked a handful of sugar snap peas; I saw this morning there’s plenty more to pick today. I also picked the first pepper–I believe it’s a white one. It’s not fully white yet, but while I was feeling it to judge whether I wanted to pick it, it snapped off. I can’t wait to have dinner tonight–a lovely salad with these two items!

My hope for the garden, so that I wouldn’t be disappointed if it didn’t grow well the first year, is 10 meals. If I’d been eating salads all week, I’d almost be there, but I haven’t for various reasons. But there are about 10 different crops and if I could eat a meal of each…. The main ones are beans, peas, greens, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, corn, summer squash, and pumpkins. From the current state of things growing, I’m pretty likely to get there just with peas, greens, and tomatoes. But the squashes aren’t looking very good–found 3 zukes, but two were only 3″ long and withering at the ends. I’d also read that you could find baby potatoes once the plants flowered. So I dug around in the volunteer plant in the back garden yesterday morning–no sign of anything. I didn’t did too far down, just in the hilled part. But I didn’t find anything but stem. So I’m a little nervous about my potatoes. That’s from last year’s variety, however. This year’s isn’t quite flowering yet, so maybe things will go better there. (by a meal I don’t mean I actually intend to eat an entire meal of just that item…except greens and tomatoes because I adore those alone. But the equivalent amount of produce as would feed our family of 3 one meal.)

I love just standing in the window staring out at the growing plants. I am so delighted we turned the front part of the side yard into a garden. It makes a lot of difference to me to be able to see the garden! (The back garden I only see when I dump compost a few times a week and was difficult to remember to take care of.)

Posted in Garden | No Comments »

July 13th, 2006 - Buying stuff

Yesterday, we spent over $100 downtown buying stuff. But it was good stuff!

First, the consignment shop had a 50% off sale, including the fabulous Melissa and Doug wooden toys. I resisted strongly, and bought just one puzzle, plus one M&D consignment puzzle (looked brand new). I did not buy the cutable vegetables set that just fascinates me. We also bought another wooden puzzle of the US, but it won’t be usable till she’s at least 5 so will be packed away. Maggie's chair Then, we saw a wooden rocker for just $10–$5 on sale. As you can see from the picture, we bought it! It’s older, well-made, and solid. Should last through many kids! Although far past dinner time and while I was fixing food in the kitchen (which usually leads to her whining to be fed), Maggie beelined to the chair when we got home. She sat down and picked up a book immediately. I think it will become her reading chair.

I’m reaffirming my committment to get rid of more toys at home; Eric also suggested packing up the good ones for later use. (For instance, I find it hard to give away things grandparents and uncles give her. Boxing them up will be fairly easy to do and means we’ll have them for the next kids in 4 years*.)

Then we went to the bike shop for helmets for the family. Eric found a 15% coupon in the paper earlier this week. We purposefully wanted to go to the local shop, instead of the chain where we bought the bikes. At the time, I didn’t know W&S was a chain or we would have gone downtown instead. But then, I wouldn’t have found the bike I now adore. Anyway, we found an awful pink bunnies helmet for Maggie. I saw awful because, really?, pink bunnies??? But it was the best design there. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the Trek helmet (Trek’s a WI company, along with being Lance’s supporter for so long). The Trek helmet has a Velcro adjuster while the Giro we bought has a clicky-turny thing which is VERY easy to use. Hoewver, Eric and I got Trek helmets. And they were on sale. AND they still gave us the 15% discount on top of it. Helmets are very expensive–even with the discounts, it was over $80. To our amazement, Maggie left the helmet on for at least 5 minutes in the store. She didn’t fuss once over being fitted, either.

(*I think I’ve mentioned it before, but I know I have some new readers. We intended to become a foster family when Maggie’s goes off to school in 4 more years.)

Posted in General | No Comments »

July 12th, 2006 - Reusable Bottles

My next exercise/work incentive might be a non-plastic Reusable Bottle. Of course, I’d ideally have at least 4–one at work, one for exercise (I suppose I could combine these two and carry and back and forth), one for home, and one beside my bed. But, ::sigh:: they tend to be fairly expensive. I currently use plastic containers. At home, I use two water bottles. For exercise classes, I bring along the regular home one. At work, I have a 32 ounce hospital insulated plastic “cup.” (Cup for something so large with a lid and plastic straw seems wrong.)

I would definitely like to convert given some of the dangers of plastic. But I believe this is one of those I won’t do. I also can’t live w/o plastic freezer containers. My older canning materials speak of freezable glass jars, but I’ve never seen any. And I freeze a lot! (Like the bulk peaches I bought Monday. 50#. That’s a lot of peaches.)

Posted in General, Exercise/Weight loss | No Comments »

July 12th, 2006 - It’s the little things: Tubes

I’ve been meaning to start a little feature on Monday mornings called “It’s the little things that count.” Since it’s Wednesday, maybe I’ll make it a Wed feature instead. The point will be to list little things that I do (or should do) that, while in and of themselves make little difference, do make a difference taken together or over a long period of time or if lots more people did them.

Today, my recommendation is to cut the ends of tubes to get the last little bit out. I know lots of people do this with hand lotion. The trick is to cut the tube an inch or so up from the end the stuff comes out. Crimp that end or cut a slit in the other piece and you can use the other piece to top it. (Hard to describe–I’ll try to post a photo later) But have you thought of doing it with other products? Yesterday, I did it with my acne facial gel. I thought maybe I’d get a couple uses out of it. I squeeze the thing so hard before throwing it out that I was sure I already had it almost empty. I was surprised at how much was left! I’ve used it 3 times already and there’s at least that many more uses in it. I use only 2 tubes a year, so I’d save an entire tube once every 40 years or so. But it means less medicationg going in the landfill. And if only 40 other people did this, we’d save a tube every year.

I’ve also done this with toothpaste–you’d be amazed how much is left behind on the insides of the tube.

Posted in Little things | No Comments »

July 12th, 2006 - Changing the look

My brother just uploaded some new themes for me (THANK YOU!!!). Throughout the day (or the week) I’ll be playing around with them, so don’t be worried if this site looks different every time you show up. Of course, if you use Bloglines or another aggregator, this is meaningless since you rarely see the site anyway.

Posted in administration | No Comments »

July 11th, 2006 - One Local Summer, week 3?

[I just discovered today that my post on the weekend was saved as a draft.]

I’m not sure what week this counts for. Having my local meal on Saturdays mixes things up, but doing it on the weekends works the easiest for me since I have time to think and prepare it.

Here’s my lunch: Homemade waffles, fresh raspberries from a farm, and WI cheese. (And this week, I’m reading The Orchid Thief. The ingredients in the waffles, except the eggs and probably the butter, aren’t local. But if I picked up WI-made waffles at the store, or some bread, I’d consider them local. So I believe my homemade foods count, too. I think I’m pretty lucky that I live in WI for this challenge since I don’t even have to think twice about dairy products. I *know* they’ll come from here. (Well, except that I just started drinking powdered milk again, and that might not be local. But everything else pretty much is.) I adore fresh raspberries. Picked them up this morning at a farm stand–$4 for a pint. Terribly expensive, but they are oh so delicious. NEXT summer, I swear, I’ll have raspberries in the back garden. They gave me the idea for the waffles.

And for a late dessert, I had an ice cream waffle sandwich. The ice cream was lemon sherbet Ann Marie B. and I made earlier this week. It’s VERY tart, and must have something sweet paired with it. The coconut (not very local, although they are packaged by a local company) waffles were just the thing.

Posted in Eat Locally | 1 Comment »

July 10th, 2006 - Woohoo! A whole directory of WI food!

Savor Wisconsin

And another of WI products: Wisconsin Made. Where I just learned that the Blumer’s sodas I see at the store are WI. Unfortunately, I hate soda. But if I didn’t, what a cool addition to a meal one day!

Unfortunately, I’m not learning a whole lot else new. I can buy wine, cranberries, cherries, cheese, fudge, cheesecake, ice cream, and of course fruits and veggies at farmer’s markets. I don’t know…I guess I was looking for something more interesting. I’m not sure what exactly…maybe a pasta company or something. A lot of the WI-made things are gift baskets and baked goods mixes–that’s no better than making it at home (and a lot more expensive).

Posted in Eat Locally | No Comments »

July 10th, 2006 - Flour in WI

I have found a WI grown and milled flour. Too bad I don’t live in the Madison area, as they sell it at the farmer’s market(s) there. I’m sure it’s quite expensive, as they do a lot of the work by hand and/or with older technologies. (I think I saw horse-drawn combine in there….)

Posted in Eat Locally | No Comments »

July 10th, 2006 - How to eat locally in WI

I’ve been feeling a little guilty about making things at home without using WI ingredients. So I decided to try to find some WI grains/flours. My search isn’t going well, as I’m getting a lot of agriculture reports. But, I have found some books about eating in WI: Taste of Wisconsin books and publications. The very first one, Hometown Flavor is at another UW campus and I’ve already requested. (Odd page–that’s not the name they list the book under, but they show the book cover with the correct title.)

The candy “Cow Pie” is a WI product. We passed the factory store on the way to the House on the Rock on Thursday. I so wish we’d turned around and stopped in! (Although we were already an hour later than expected….)

Another book on the list reminds me that WI is home of the ice cream sundae (invented in Two Rivers–and I’ve had a sundae there!). Does that mean I can eat a sundae and count it? LOL (Now that would be a fun challenge–find foods/dishes invented in your state/area. I think I could also have a hamburger, IIRC!)

By the way, I’ve decided to go with state-wide as my “local.” The directions were a 200-mile radius. But I don’t know WI well enough to know whether or not a particular town is that close to me. 200 would also include parts of MI and IL, which I know even less well. (Hmmm….if you go by the crow flies, I wonder if E Lansing and Kalamazoo would be within 200?) Anyway, I’m just going with the whole state–some of it, like Superior is over 200 miles (more like 350), but IL and MI are about 100 miles away, so I figure it balances out.

Posted in Eat Locally | No Comments »

July 6th, 2006 - One Local Summer, week 2

Maggie joined me in the One Local Summer challenge earlier this week (July 1). She had no greens but did have homemade yogurt! (Actually, she had almost no veggies either. It’s still new to her to have fresh veggies and she’s unsure of everything but the peas.)

And here’s my dinner that same night. Same as last week….. (updated with photo). Well, not completely the same, I had some additional veggies from the farmers’ market–the aforementioned peas, zucchini, and young carrots. But close enough…. I hope this Saturday to find something different at our local natural foods store or at the regular grocery stores. Haven’t had time this week as my brother and friend are visiting. (She’s really cool; she has the same name as I!)

Posted in Eat Locally | 1 Comment »

My Adventures in Simple Living

Archive for July, 2006

July 29th, 2006 - One Local Summer week 4b

July 29th, 2006 - One Local Summer week 4

July 28th, 2006 - Micro credit at Kiva

July 26th, 2006 - Hand cranked cell phone charger!

July 26th, 2006 - Compost crock

July 24th, 2006 - A Porch and Flowering Meadow, 6 Floors Up - New York Times

July 21st, 2006 - One local summer: Week 4

July 21st, 2006 - The worms crawl in…

July 14th, 2006 - Currants are good for you!

July 14th, 2006 - Is this me?

July 13th, 2006 - Go garden go!

July 13th, 2006 - Buying stuff

July 12th, 2006 - Reusable Bottles

July 12th, 2006 - It’s the little things: Tubes

July 12th, 2006 - Changing the look

July 11th, 2006 - One Local Summer, week 3?

July 10th, 2006 - Woohoo! A whole directory of WI food!

July 10th, 2006 - Flour in WI

July 10th, 2006 - How to eat locally in WI

July 6th, 2006 - One Local Summer, week 2

Recent Posts

Monthly Archives

Links

Meta