As I've said before my kitchen is spotless (for 30 minutes twice a week). Yesterday I got it so shinny I damn near needed sun glasses to go in there. Damn near. Right away the bread maker started calling my name. Ya see I cheat with my bread, I let the bread maker mix my dough and raise it before I take it out and form it into whatever it's going to be before baking it. Ok so I only half cheat. Anyways.
So the bread maker is calling my name and the elk steak my (use to be and I'll miss him greatly because he was awesome [that's another story I'll tell you when I'm not so broken hearted]) good friend gave me that's been in the freezer waiting for something special to happen to take them out was calling my name too. I love elk, I think it's my favorite even more so then beef. True I have to take a little more care with cooking it so it doesn't dry out but it has such a "connected to the earth" flavor to it that cow just can't duplicate, not even that grass fed cow. Sorry Mr. Bovine but you're my 2nd favorite meat (er um maybe 3rd, I really love my home grown chicken). Anyways.
So my bread maker and elk steaks are calling my name. I remind myself that I just cleaned my kitchen and if I don't hold off there will never be proof of it clean until next time (unless I take a picture, hmm... I should have thought about that while it was clean. Damn.) Then I remind myself it's pizza night (Monday night has become pizza night because I like someone else doing the cooking at least once a week and since I'm single [sigh] there is no one else here so I let Digiorno to do the cooking Monday night.) So my spirits are lifted, maybe my kitchen will stay clean until Tuesday morning (a whole 20hrs or so). How exciting would that be?
Yet the bread maker and elk steaks are calling my name and now that I remember it's pizza night I know my oldest is going to be expecting pizza so I'm feeling slightly obligated to let Digiorno do my cooking tonight. At the same time I can't seem to explain that to the bread maker, its saying 'but I'm so much more fun than ripping open a box and shoving a frozen pizza in the oven'. I can't hardly argue with that, but my 8yr old is still going to be expecting pizza, then the light bulb comes on (the one over the kitchen sink because it gets too hot and goes out then when it cools off again it comes back on). I could make pizza, Digiorno will be a little disappointed that I'm not inviting him over tonight but maybe he'd understand. Heck he's the longest relationship I've had since my divorce (I'll make it up to him next week).
So it's settled, I add all the necessary ingredients to the bread maker and set it for dough. Happy with my ability to compromise I go to find my elk steaks then ponder if pizza is really a worthy cause for elk steaks. A couple of brauts catch my attention and I compromise again. I toss the brauts on the counter to thaw out and I smile at my spotless kitchen promising I won't wait till Wednesday to clean it up.
The pizza turned out great! The kitchen is a wreck once more and this morning I'm suffering from regret, kind of like what happens when you drink just a little more then you intended to the night before and your head hurts and you keep the lights off cause they scream at you every time you turn them on. Yet you have no one to blame but yourself and you know it, but, but... you had a good excuse for drinking so much cause you were broken hearted because that sob broke your heart. Of course that doesn't cure your hang over, but you feel a little bit better and remind yourself never to do it again.
[Sigh] I should clean my kitchen... maybe tomorrow.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
Green eggs...
Pictures don't really do color justice, but here's my green egg. If you tilt your screen just so and dim the light just so it looks green. Trust me I tried it!
Gardening...
We've all heard of square foot gardening. I'm taking gardening to a new level (pun intended) well actually three levels.
My little farm is hardly mentionable as a farm because I only have 2.18 acres. Usually when someone thinks of a farm they're thinking a little more footage than 2 acres. So I've been a little restricted on what I could do with my little farm. I've also been poring over the books on small acreage farming, alternative farming, etc. This is the primary reason why alpacas work so well here, they require such a small amount of space. This also why I'm limiting the number of Garden Share customers to such a small number.
With a little intensive, succession and companion gardening I can squeeze about 40 customers out of one acre. That's not a bad number considering I'm just one person and do the majority of the work myself; an acre of garden will keep me pretty busy 9 months of the year.
Now to explain 3 layer gardening. Picture this: a 4x10 bed of lettuce, radishes, beets, carrots, cabbage, cauliflower, turnips, onions and broccoli. Above this is a low sided raised bed on wheels, the bottom of the raised bed would be about 18" off the ground leaving room for the bottom crops to grow as well as providing shade and cool below it (the wagon is about 4x5 and the wheels allows for it to be rolled off the growing bed below to gain access). Inside this wagon will be planted tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, Brussels sprouts, artichokes, zucchini, and any other slightly tall bushy plant.
Above each garden bed would be a wooden frame about 9ft off the ground, from this would be a hanging basket type planters or even a window box type container. In these boxes would be planted trailing crops such as cucumbers, peas, pole beans, melons, lufas, peanuts, etc., anything that grows on a vine that could trail over the side of the container.
So here you have a 4x10 garden bed with low growing crops, a 4x5 wheeled middle layer with bushy crops providing shade for the bottom crops, and a 2x10 box along the length of the bed up on a frame cascading with trailing crops. Can you picture that?
That 40sqft of garden just turned into 80sqft of garden all within easy reach for picking.
So yea, you can see I'm a little eccentric because this is what I lay awake thinking about at night and takes up most of my brain space during the day. Is that sad a 30yr old single mom trying to optimize my little 2 acre piece of earth? Too bad I couldn't grow livestock in layers. Hmm... maybe I could rabbits, chickens, piglets, oh my!
Back to house chores. My kitchen is begging for attention. My kitchen is spotless for about 30 minutes twice a week. I haven't figured out how to keep it spotless for longer than that. Twice a week I clean it top to bottom but then when it's clean I start making bread, marinating meat for dinner, and all the other fun stuff a kitchen is made for. Ya know what I mean? I guess maybe I should just clean it more often. Hmm... what a concept!
I'll see what I can do about pictures of what my brain has been pondering about. I feel a book coming on. Woo hoo the newest craze in gardening.
My little farm is hardly mentionable as a farm because I only have 2.18 acres. Usually when someone thinks of a farm they're thinking a little more footage than 2 acres. So I've been a little restricted on what I could do with my little farm. I've also been poring over the books on small acreage farming, alternative farming, etc. This is the primary reason why alpacas work so well here, they require such a small amount of space. This also why I'm limiting the number of Garden Share customers to such a small number.
With a little intensive, succession and companion gardening I can squeeze about 40 customers out of one acre. That's not a bad number considering I'm just one person and do the majority of the work myself; an acre of garden will keep me pretty busy 9 months of the year.
Now to explain 3 layer gardening. Picture this: a 4x10 bed of lettuce, radishes, beets, carrots, cabbage, cauliflower, turnips, onions and broccoli. Above this is a low sided raised bed on wheels, the bottom of the raised bed would be about 18" off the ground leaving room for the bottom crops to grow as well as providing shade and cool below it (the wagon is about 4x5 and the wheels allows for it to be rolled off the growing bed below to gain access). Inside this wagon will be planted tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, Brussels sprouts, artichokes, zucchini, and any other slightly tall bushy plant.
Above each garden bed would be a wooden frame about 9ft off the ground, from this would be a hanging basket type planters or even a window box type container. In these boxes would be planted trailing crops such as cucumbers, peas, pole beans, melons, lufas, peanuts, etc., anything that grows on a vine that could trail over the side of the container.
So here you have a 4x10 garden bed with low growing crops, a 4x5 wheeled middle layer with bushy crops providing shade for the bottom crops, and a 2x10 box along the length of the bed up on a frame cascading with trailing crops. Can you picture that?
That 40sqft of garden just turned into 80sqft of garden all within easy reach for picking.
So yea, you can see I'm a little eccentric because this is what I lay awake thinking about at night and takes up most of my brain space during the day. Is that sad a 30yr old single mom trying to optimize my little 2 acre piece of earth? Too bad I couldn't grow livestock in layers. Hmm... maybe I could rabbits, chickens, piglets, oh my!
Back to house chores. My kitchen is begging for attention. My kitchen is spotless for about 30 minutes twice a week. I haven't figured out how to keep it spotless for longer than that. Twice a week I clean it top to bottom but then when it's clean I start making bread, marinating meat for dinner, and all the other fun stuff a kitchen is made for. Ya know what I mean? I guess maybe I should just clean it more often. Hmm... what a concept!
I'll see what I can do about pictures of what my brain has been pondering about. I feel a book coming on. Woo hoo the newest craze in gardening.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Oh I forgot to mention...
I found a green egg today! It was so cool. I ordered chickens awhile back and the hatchery must have tossed one of them easter egg layers in. What a neat suprise it was.
7:06am...
This week ended with a dud. I'm still sick though I've changed a few of my habits and it does seem to be helping. I deleted my dating profile. I really don't have the energy for that kind of thing. It seems to drain everything good in me out. Who'd thunk it?
I set my alarm for in the morning. Civil twilight begins at 7:06 tomorrow though sunrise isn't until 7:38 so you can bet I'll probably hit the snooze button atleast twice. Like usual.
Another day. Another week. This week is going to be stressful. The baby's physical therapist will be here tomorrow afternoon, then Wednesday she gets to go see her new doc (back surgery detail). Oh the fun!
I think I'm going to get a pool table. I like the idea of becoming a social hermit. I know just the other day I was saying how important being social was to a person's character. Well ya know what? I'll just be social right here. Ha! So yea, I'm going to get a pool table. 9 times out of 10 when I go out that's what I wind up doing anyways. Playing pool and drinking a porter. Doing that at home will save me loads of mola.
Wish me luck! (on the kid and the pool table) I'm going to need it!
I set my alarm for in the morning. Civil twilight begins at 7:06 tomorrow though sunrise isn't until 7:38 so you can bet I'll probably hit the snooze button atleast twice. Like usual.
Another day. Another week. This week is going to be stressful. The baby's physical therapist will be here tomorrow afternoon, then Wednesday she gets to go see her new doc (back surgery detail). Oh the fun!
I think I'm going to get a pool table. I like the idea of becoming a social hermit. I know just the other day I was saying how important being social was to a person's character. Well ya know what? I'll just be social right here. Ha! So yea, I'm going to get a pool table. 9 times out of 10 when I go out that's what I wind up doing anyways. Playing pool and drinking a porter. Doing that at home will save me loads of mola.
Wish me luck! (on the kid and the pool table) I'm going to need it!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)