In my blog I plan to chat about nature, crafts, baking, gardening, beekeeping, family, and whatever else seems appropriate at the time. Sit back, relax, and enjoy!

Friday, March 18, 2011

Food for thought...


First of all, you have to watch the guinea fowl at Verde Farm
It's hilarious...

I thought I'd chat with you a minute about food. Food for us and the bees. And I feel somewhat of a hypocrite right now because I'm not sure I'll have time to grow anything this year. Hopefully, I will have time to visit our farmer's market. Usually by now I have plants growing under grow lights in my basement and in my potting shed.

But, I would like to recommend that all of you read this book.


And I would like to challenge you to grow one edible plant. Just one. You can get Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver at your library. The first time I got it I listened to it on cd in my car as I ran errands. It's easy to read or listen to in bits and pieces. I enjoyed it so much, I bought the book and read it cover to cover. If it doesn't motivate you to grow your own food, nothing will. It's about a family's plight that decided to either eat local food or grow their own. The whole family got involved. And by local I'm not talking about your local grocery store, where food can travel as much as 1500 miles to get there. I'm talking about local farmers or local farmer's market. If I remember right, they would eat anything grown or sold within a 100 mile radius. It's a very interesting story, and included in the book are recipes.





Here is a little snippet from the book...
"Oh America the Beautiful, where are our standards? How did Europeans, ancestral cultures to most of us, whose average crowded country would fit inside one of our national parks, somehow hoard the market share of Beautiful? They'll run over a McDonald's with a bulldozer because it threatens the way of life of their fine cheeses. They have international trade hissy fits when we try to slip modified genes into their bread. They get their favorite ham from Parma, Italy, along with a favorite cheese, knowing these foods are linked in an ancient connection the farmers have crafted between the milk and the hogs. Oh. We were thinking Parmesan meant, not "coming from Parma," but "coming form a green shaker can." Did they kick us out for bad taste?
For those of you who are linked to Farm Friend Friday, or who are interested in growing your own food, I have a challenge for you. Please encourage your blog readers to grow one edible item. Just one. I think it should be something us bloggers try to motivate everyone in America to do this year!

And for beekeepers....if you are having an early spring, like we are....FEED THOSE BEES. Chances are good they are out of winter food. I'm VERY concerned about my bees on our farm. This is the time of year we lose a lot of bees to starvation.
This is what a pollen patty looks like. I will be putting these on my hives as soon as it's warm enough to get into them. I could have gotten into them yesterday, but I was gone all day. I ordered these from Dadant.

And this is a feeder that you can slide into the bottom of the hive. It has sugar water in it...one part sugar, one part water.

The best way to feed the bees......

of course, is by growing plants, trees, and shrubs.

And by making sure you have something blooming

all season long.

Cindy Bee
PS - Still appreciating your prayers for my cousin and his wife in Japan.. Millie Meadowsweet
reminded us to pray for the lost pets too.

15 comments:

  1. I think that book looks really good ....I will have to look for it.
    I love the spring sun....glad to see your bees are mostly accounted for

    ReplyDelete
  2. I transplanted horseradish, and tis coming up - is that considered a food item :D ? Actually we havent landscaped yet so im looking into a perennials for the yard..but i'll make sure theres flowers involved for the bees we see occasionally ! And we do plan buying beef in the area once again :)

    Do you mind if I take your challenge once step further and link back to your post? I think it is a splendid idea!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the comment about modified genes and how other countries have hissy fits! In Romania they have McDonalds and it taste so much better than ours because of the clean way they feed the cows. KFC over there is really amazing too! Of our course like anytime you travel you want to eat what the locals do and they have great traditional home style foods. I have spent a lot of time there and my Romanian friends have been here and had a fit over the taste of our food and couldn't wait for me to try these two fast food places there.

    Have a great weekend I hope you are dry over there.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Adding to my reading list!...I love growing vegetables, a couple of years ago when our grand-daughter, Mackenzie, was around 4, we grew some carrots, I let her help me harvest them (when I say grew) I mean we had 2 short rows, harvest was around 20 carrots(didn't want to give the impression that I had this huge garden) anyway..it was the cutest thing. We pulled them and I cut the tops off outside put them in my colander, went inside and set them in the sink. I picked her up and sat her on the counter so she could watch, I turned on the faucet and 1000 questions followed, pause, then she says, 'Grandma, boy those carrots sure are thirsty'! I just giggled, I'll remember this for a long time...just made me hug her!
    Have a great day!
    ~Ronda

    ReplyDelete
  5. RJ - I love the spring sun too...but I'm concerned about my 'farm' bees. They don't seem to be too active...I'm afraid I've lost most of my hives. I won't know until the next warm and sunny day.

    Go West - of course horseradish is a food! You eat it right? It'll probably be the best horseradish you've ever eaten. You see, that's my real plan. Once people start eating real food, they will start growing more and more things because the quality and taste is so superior to the crap we're used to eating.

    Wanda - you are exactly right. We're dry so far. I hope it stays that way for awhile.

    Ronda - so funny. It reminds me of something one of my nieces would say. You just don't forget cute stuff like that!

    Cindy Bee

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks for this one, Cindy. I love book recommendations. I have one for you too: How to Grow a Farmer. Funny and fascinating. I'll be linking this post to my blog today so my bee-keeping friends can see it. Have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Cindy! Great post. Before we moved to Z-ville I'd never really had much in the way of fresh or organic fruits and veggies. We lived in Indy before and organic foods were hard to come by and very expensive. Here it's actually more cost effective.My husband is going to till today. This will be our second year growing a garden. Last year I learned a lot of what not to do so I have a better plan this year.I also learned that the flavor is amazing!!!!!! Ok I'm just going to have to post about this....linking back to you if that's okay?

    ReplyDelete
  8. A fantastic post here today and I will take you up on the challenge and grow something edible this year and I'll post about it too. Have a great weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I read AVM when it first came out, and laughed out loud several times. We raise about 1600 sq ft. of garden, plus herbs, berries, perennials (asparagus, rhubarb, grapes, etc.) and we have a fruit orchard with about 45 trees. This year we're going to try a 'pancake patch' a little wheat to see how it does here, and then we'll mill that wheat for a pancake breakfast (if it works!)

    I raise some chickens for meat (we have chickens and ducks for eggs), and would like to get back into turkeys. I had them before and they were a lot of fun. :)

    -Laura at TenThingsFarm

    ReplyDelete
  10. Cindy Bee, Don't forget to look at the super moon tonight.

    We usually grow tomatoes, but that's about it. BUT we do plant lots of flowers in the beds. I'd like to grow so veggies, but I really don't know if I can make the commitment. It's been awesome to see how people are going back to growing their own food.

    I'm currently reading Sarah Snows book, and she has a whole section on the importance of growing your own food.

    See the moon!

    ReplyDelete
  11. That sounds like a great book. I have a huge garden, and I'm hoping to start selling the surplus from it this summer. I hope your bees make it through.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I planted a few flowers but my garden plot hasn't been tilled yet. I'm intrigued by your bees and wish I could keep some. I'll check back so I can live vicariously through you/yours!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hey Cindy
    Very interesting, I used to have a huge garden but no room since I moved here. I do a little herb and tomatoes. Would love to try container or a raised bed.
    I have quite a few bumble bees here, they must be in the ground because somehow they get into my basement. I am always rescuing one during the summer.
    You asked about using my stash, such as the buttons on the card. I agree with you, if it is something in tact - like the button card, I do not tear it apart, I use the whole thing in my artwork. So it would be the focal point.
    Have a wonderful Sunday and happy spring
    Blessings
    Rebecca

    ReplyDelete
  14. C.B.I have a few questions on that community garden...We must have lunch for a meeting on the subject.
    I want to plant some stuff, but the rabbits are so bad in my area....i know they will eat everything.
    I went yesterday to Liz's house...

    ReplyDelete
  15. Cindy, another great post from you. I love your passion and dedication to what you do here :) Thanks for sharing with FFF!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to leave a comment on my blog. I enjoy reading them. I hope you have a wonderful day.

Cindy