I Want FRUIT!

And by that, I mean, RIPE, ORGANIC, fruit. Sigh. It is soooo hard to get any decent fruit right now, except for the ubiquitous bananas, which I am sorry to say, I don't like much.

I have been getting conventional Texas watermelons for $8 apiece a lot lately. Unfortunately, less than half of them are properly ripe, despite my attempts to properly thump and scrutinize them.

Further personal updates... The irresponsible compost pile has been moved. We got a warning notice from the city that we had 4 days to get rid of it or get a citation. It took over 70 5-gallon buckets to move it! And, it was stinky and heavy. The groundhog is sad. I saw him run up to the spot where the pile used to be and look around in confusion, then run back to his burrow. We left him some apple cores at his front door, and they were gone the next morning.

We are finally moving this week. The house is completely ready, and we are on our way.

The community garden project is kicking off another season, and we are seeing a huge increase in participation. I am beginning to learn to delegate and to relinquish my control freak tendencies, with great results. I couldn't be more enthusiastic about how wonderful it is going.

And maybe it's just the sunshine, and birdsong, and warming temperatures, but I am feeling optimistic about almost everything.

Struggling

I have been working on a lot of personal issues and it is hard work, let me tell you!

I have been binge-ing on junk food fairly frequently and feeling generally bad about myself, which is why I haven't been posting here. But I feel like I am ready to stop feeling horrible and start feeling good again. It is AWEFUL to know what it's like to feel good, and yet to continue to make yourself feel bad. Sigh.

To add insult to injury, I have had an itchy rash all over my face and sores in the corner of my mouth for the past 4 days. Enough! Really...

There are exciting developments in other areas of my life, however. My husband has joined Path of Health and has been eating 80-10-10 raw for almost a week now. We are reading the Nonviolent Communication book Language of Compassion. We are working on our homeschooling vision as well.

And, I have been offered a job opportunity to work with my farmer friend Phil next summer. Will I do it? The successful class I had with young children in the community garden seems to be leading me to make some changes in that project as well.

Stay tuned.

Celebrate good times

Our new kitty, Rover (otherwise known as "Nugget"--the name my 3 year-old gave him)

My daughter with a sunflower head that's bigger than her head! Actually, that was one of the smaller heads.

My son enjoys fresh sunflower seeds.

I have so much to be thankful for in this life, although sometimes I get caught up in moments of (self-created) stress and depression and forget to count my blessings.

We have a new addition to our family--a cute little kitten named Rover (or Nugget). He came with a distended belly, gas and diarrhea, which cleared up immediately on a diet of raw meat. We considered worming him, but his rapid improvement indicates that giving him a species-appropriate diet was all that was required. He is a frisky, happy, cuddly little guy and very tolerant of being "loved" by our three year-old. Unfortunately, our other cat has not accepted him yet, and is spending 24 hours outside to avoid poor little Rover. Hopefully, Bart will come around and learn to tolerate his new housemate soon.

This weekend, we had a fabulous children's class in the community garden. Thirteen children, ages 3-10, came and used their 5 senses. They sniffed basil, mint, and dill. They collected flowers and seeds and leaves. They felt furry lambs-ear leaves. We caught and examined grasshoppers. The kids dug and played in the dirt for quite some time. They pulled carrots and harvested summer squash. Some didn't even know that carrots came from the ground, or what squash was. They each got to help cut a huge sunflower head and got their photo taken with it. They sampled local apples, garden tomatoes, sweet peppers, the carrot they pulled, and the squash they picked. A few tried sunflower seeds. It was great fun for all! Honestly, it made every time I felt overwhelmed or frustrated with this garden project fade into the background. It was ALL worth it to enjoy this with these kids.

So I am for this moment, grateful and happy. I wish you all well.

Tuckered out!

My kids started school today. They enjoyed it for the most part. I had a busy day at work. Looks like they're all that way. I enjoyed some of it. It's challenging for me to feel utterly exhausted by 6 p.m.

Tonight I spent a little time with my five year-old, just the two of us. We took a bike ride to the community garden. We found an okra pod the size of a large carrot!

Still eating raw food.

Last night, I listened to a Path of Health teleconference called Monoeating and Self-Love. At the end, the speaker Elchanan reminded us to stop thinking about what goals we haven't accomplished and look back and appreciate how far we've come. So, I think I will try to focus on how much my life has improved in the last few months and just feel grateful.

Too tired to write another Saga

Yummy veggies in the Community Garden

Sorry everyone, the second installment of my Chicago saga will have to wait until tomorrow. I'm wiped out!

I had a full day of errands, dumpster diving (pineapples and cantaloupes--woohooooo!), harvesting in the Community Garden (the girls helped me pick beans and cut chard), and working in my own garden. Whew. And tomorrow promises to be more of the same.

I can't tell you how excited I am now that I have beans and tomatoes to pick. I am growing some wonderful unusual beans--Dragon Langerie and Yellow French Filet are the two that I've started picking so far. Others will be ready later.

Today's Raw Food


10:30 a.m. Smoothie with 6 bananas
2:30 p.m. 2 cups pineapple, 2 cups grapes
3:30-5 p.m. Snacking while harvesting--some beans, some shell peas and sugar snaps, a few tomatoes
6:30 A salad with romaine lettuce, fresh cucumber and yellow zucchini from my garden, and a dressing made from blended red pepper, grape tomatoes, celery, and sunflower seeds (I didn't really like it)
10 p.m. A medium cantaloupe

1470 calories, C-P-F 81-7-11

I am getting in a bad habit of not eating enough fruit calories (for my activity level) early in the day, and then feeling hunger right before bed. Normally, I will just go to bed hungry. But tonight, when I had fleeting thoughts of Oreos and potpies, I decided to just eat, darn it. I never even liked Oreos. LOL!

Exercise


30 minutes low-impact aerobics
30 minutes upper body strength training

Rest and Optimal Eating

A photo of me, my son, and our cat, Bartimaeas taken today. Bart's wondering why the heck I picked him up while he was playing outside. That's our little gazebo in the background.

I have been really working hard these past few days in my garden, the community garden, and today at the Farmer's Market. I am noticing how the less I rest and the more sleep-deprived I get, the less I tend to make optimal food choices. Why is that?

I ate a LOT of raw salsa with salt in the past two days. Since I have been completely abstaining from salt in the past month, I really notice a difference. I'm thirsty, despite drinking more water, and am feeling a bit of extra fatigue. I have also been allowing myself to eat too late at night and eating more blended foods, rather than taking the time to slowly eat and thoroughly chew whole foods. I also have been making more "ice creams" and while they're a great treat, I don't want to start eating too many frozen foods because of the stress they can place on your digestive system and the flora inside it.

Today, after another fun day at the Farmer's Market, I spent some time with our friends wrapping up a garage sale. We made a pretty penny, and cleared out lots of unwanted clutter from our house. My husband and the kids spent some time with my husband's extended family at a local "lake" fishing and swimming, so I had the afternoon to run errands, sell Farmer's Market leftovers to some shut-ins, buy a Father's Day present, pick up waste to compost from a local florist, and meet with a plumber about the water hook-up in the community garden.

My husband has just finished a full week of 100% low fat raw vegan! He challenged himself to do a full week, with a reward at the end. I'm very proud of him. What a great gift to a great Dad for Father's Day.

My cat has not really taken to the raw meat yet, even with the regular food and egg mixed in. Yesterday, he vomited on the floor in the living room, a mixture of what looked like grass and water. He has never vomited indoors before and I believe cats eat grass when they are feeling ill. I really need to research more on transitioning him properly.

But, I better be off to bed now!

Today's Eating

9 a.m. 1 pint raspberries, 1 pint blackberries, about a cup of mulberries
12:30 p.m. Lots of homemade raw salsa (Roma tomatoes, red, green and yellow pepper, raw onion, cilantro, lime juice, agave nectar, cumin and salt) over Four Seasons Lettuce
5 p.m. Green smoothie with bananas, mango, and Four Seasons lettuce
6:30 p.m. Another large green smoothie with bananas, mango and Four Seasons lettuce
8:30 p.m. A totally unnecessary frozen banana-mango ice cream (wasn't even hungry, but made some for my husband and decided to eat some)

Total: About 1900 calories

Another Adventure

Today, I really tried to cram too much in. But it was all fun, and I couldn't resist.

This morning, my husband had his rock-moving gig. It ended up being a LOT more work than we originally anticipated. The short version: At 7:30 a.m., he set out optimistically. 5 hours later, he came back, red and sweaty, and said his heart was racing and he felt dizzy. He thought he could push himself to finish the last little bit, but he was just too overheated. Luckily, he had the sense to stop when he did, or he might have ended up with heat stroke. Turns out that what looked like a thin layer of rock was really a thick layer of rock, mixed with mulch, on top of a plastic sheet, with more rock underneath. Poor guy! He made $50, though, and now will make more finishing the job and painting a garage on the property.

While he was gone, I headed out to the local Food Pantry. We donate much of the produce we raise in the Community Garden there. I also collect donations from the other Farmer's Market vendors after the market on Saturday and take them in. I have to keep track of who donates what and weigh everything and get a receipt. So it takes a bit of time. The community garden donated 1 1/2 lbs. of radishes. Yay!

Then I went downtown to a little family-owned bakery/ lunch spot to sell some lettuce and herbs. The proprietor there is a really interesting lady. She and her family are "vegetarians." (I use the quotes because she eats fish.) She said something really neat..., "I believe that the fresher the food, the more life it has in it, the healthier it is." Made me wonder if she doesn't eat a lot of raw food herself? She told me that she makes her own vegetarian stocks for all her soups, instead of using prepackaged chicken stock. I'll have to pass that along to my "cooked vegetarian" friends. She also talked about the struggle to educate her customers, but also be successful in business by giving them what they want--like meat and storebought bread.

The neatest thing she mentioned is that she is planning to go to a local park and harvest all of the mulberries there. She bought $7.50 worth of my lettuce and took some samples of my partner's herbs. She will definitely be buying fresh basil and cilantro, but wants to experiment with some others.

After that little adventure, we all packed up the car and drove 40 minutes to visit my parents and go swimming and play tennis at the country club where my mom works. My family is... let's say, unique. So, it was a relatively painless visit considering. Unfortunately, the pool closed 30 minutes after we got there because of a swim meet that no one knew about. But we had fun walking around the golf course, playing tennis, etc. The highlight of the kids' day was to see some great big bullfrogs down by the pond on the golf course. My 2 year-old would chase them until they would jump into the pond with a big PLOP.

Today's Food

10 a.m. About 10 C. watermelon

1 p.m. While preparing food--a bit of bok choy, some of the tomato herb soup that I made for "lunch"

3 p.m. (lunch) A lot of bok choy with lime juice, some Four Seasons and leaf lettuces, Tomato Herb soup with roma tomatoes, yellow pepper, lime juice, fresh chives and dill blended (not so great, unfortunately--the tomatoes needed to be riper), 2 large bananas

7 p.m. Banana ice cream made with 4 medium bananas and a bit of Chinese 5-spice powder

Total: About 1300 calories

Another fun market day

Our friend Lynn visiting our booth during the Grand Opening of the Market in May.

What a wild and wonderful day.

After a whopping 4 hours of sleep, I woke to a crabby 2 year-old and husband. I washed some more lettuce and bagged up my Sprouted Salad Crunchies (sampling a few before beginning--I know, I thought I could resist and then I didn't).

This week, I decided to try trimming up the lettuce, and only selling the tender inner leaves of the Four Seasons Lettuce, combined with some Black-Seeded Simpson lettuce that is finally ready. Of course, the washing and trimming process is time-consuming, explaining my 2 a.m. bedtime. The lettuce mix did sell better than the Four Seasons lettuce alone. One customer, however, wanted the Four Seasons lettuce, unwashed and in a whole head (it keeps longer that way), so I'll have to bring that next week.

It was a gorgeous day for the market! Sunny, but not too hot. And yet attendance was down from last week when it was overcast and drizzly. Go figure. Of course, I had fun! The market is my favorite part of the week. Too bad getting ready for it is soooo draining.

Kristi, my market partner, and I had the brainstorm of trying to sell our leftover wares to some elderly folks that can't make it down to the market. We made four stops after the market and sold more of Kristi's bread and rum cakes. I felt a little like a drug pusher, selling white flour and sugar to little old ladies with failing health and false teeth. None of them wanted any lettuce--can't chew or digest it, they say. But they were so thrilled to see us and said to come back next week. Perhaps they'll be more receptive to the veggies later in the season when I have tomatoes and other things.

We talked with another market vendor who works in a nursing home and hope to find another venue for our products. There is also a bakery downtown that has a little lunch counter on the weekdays and they have expressed interest in buying fresh, local produce and herbs, so we'll be trying to make a connection there soon.

Kristi and I spent time fantasizing on our joint herb farm. (Lisa, if you're reading this, we want you to move back and help us). There are some cheap vacant lots available in town that we are eyeing.

After market fun was over and a quick lunch and time with the family, I headed off to pick up rabbit poop donations for the community garden's compost bin. That turned into a lot more work than I thought it would! First of all, there was a LOT of poop. I took my two oldest kids with me, but the buckets were too heavy for them to help with, so they mainly just kept me company and complained a lot.

Then I spent some time with an elderly garden neighbor who spent time regaling me with all the details of his home repair and landscape projects and showed me his own little garden. He also gave me detailed instructions on how to refinish my hardwood floors. I may use that knowledge someday!

And then, I tried to rebury all of the flowers that the squirrels dug up. Time for some cayenne pepper! I started on the watering, but the kids' patience was wearing thin. So tomorrow morning, I'll have to head over there. The new plantings look awfully dry.

After dinner, I headed off to see The Giving Tree Band perform. What fun! Some friends got me in as an "usher." What good friends... I plan to write another post about the concert tomorrow.

After the concert, I was so energetic, I made a dumpster run at Aldi. The dumpster was so darn full that I couldn't even get in it. A lot of moldy strawberries and white bread were in the way of proper investigation. But I got LOTS of good stuff, which you can see listed in my June grocery expenses post.

And now, here it is, 11 p.m. and I'm quite tired!

Today's eating was less than optimal and resting was nonexistent. I feel better, mostly, but I have a quite strong dry cough that surfaces occasionally, making me feel like a lung is trying to hop out.

7 a.m. A few ounces of Sprouted Salad Crunchies (Triple whammy--legumes, dehydrated, salt)

9 a.m. About 8 cups watermelon

1 p.m. Big salad of Four Seasons and Black-seeded Simpson lettuce w/ blended cucumber, tomato, red pepper, lime, and basil dressing, a whole lot of Sprouted Salad Crunchies

5 p.m. A medium peach, a blended soup made from blended cucumber, roma tomatoes, red and yellow pepper, iceberg lettuce, with lime juice, onion powder, cumin, cayenne, and a dash of salt (see--more salt!), more Sprouted Salad Crunchies

6 p.m. About 4 C. watermelon