End of Summer Stew

Ingredients:
2 small-medium coarsely chopped onions
4 cloves coarsely chopped garlic
2 or 3 handfuls coarsely chopped carrots, cauliflower, and broccoli
9-12 smallish tomatoes, quartered (or halved if too small)
12-16 small potatoes, quartered or equivalent larger potatoes in bite-size pieces (I don't peel my potatoes)
4 tomatillos, quartered
fresh herbs: basil, thyme, oregano, sage, rosemary (all rubbed and chopped)
salt and pepper
olive oil
chicken (or meat of your choice... for those carnivores) butterfly cut/very thinly sliced

Directions:
1. Splash olive oil in dutch oven, place in oven and heat to 375.
2. Saute olives and garlic (until onions are clear) in olive oil in a large skillet.
3. Add tomatoes and tomatillos to onions and garlic, saute for a bit.
4. Add carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and potatoes, saute a bit more.
5. Transfer goodies in skillet to dutch oven, cover, and return to oven.
6. Turn skillet down to medium, toss in some more olive oil. When oil is hot, add a dash of herbs under each piece of chicken, dash on top as well.
7. Careful not to overcook, as meat should be very thinly sliced.
8. Remove veggies from oven when potatoes are tender to fork.
9. Plate veggies, fan thin slices of meat on top with garnish of nasturtium or fresh herbs, ladle stewed tomato (from dutch oven) lightly over each serving.

Sorry no pictures... it was too good to wait!

--Erika

Saturday

B, my aunt K, and I went for a drive (and to check out antique shops). Along the way we got lost (surprised?), and ended up on this LONG, straight, dead-end road that had signs that said "burial" on either side every few yards - between the palm trees - and when we looked carefully, we could see the mongooses at the bases of the trees.

I commented to my step-sister, K, that only tourists take pictures of common house pests...


The kids spend most of the day in the pool. At the beginning of the week the twins, J and K, wouldn't go near it. Now they're begging their cousin, E, to swim with them.

Saturday

I didn't get a chance to post pictures last night, as my step-dad and I were in the ER with my mom. She's having another one of her "episodes," probably some bug she picked up in Mexico... a year ago... that they haven't found yet; I liked the doc she had - he actually listened to her and didn't JUST snow her with drugs (don't let that fool you - he did snow her with drugs, but he actually tried to fix the problem!). Anyway... she's sleeping now... not sure how she's doing, no one wants to disturb her to ask, step-dad just keeps the meds flowing...

Friday

Friday started with a trip to the farmer's market



Then we went to see the first church built in Hawaii, where Joe set off the car alarm... while illegally parked.... and couldn't get it turned off...


While we were at the farmer's market, my mom had a barefoot massage by an eighty-three year-old man...



More of the farmer's market offerings... all from the Big Island...

Thursday

Only tourists snap pictures of hibiscus flowers at the Starbucks Drive Thru...


I met these two cute hogs... from a distance... they grunted at me and then ran off...

Between these and Donkey Crossing signs, there's quite a few critters crossing the road... Maybe we should stop them and ask them why they're crossing....



B checking out the neighborhood produce stand: bananas, pineapple, limes, guava, papaya, mango, etc. Yeah... that's a mild sunburn you see on his shoulder...

Round and Round we go...

We stopped at the Punalu'u Bake Shop - the southernmost bakery in the US. The guava bread is FANTASTIC!

My Grandma at the Black Sand Beach


The black sand in Brian's hand - it's much more coarse than regular sand - created by hot lava hitting the cold sea water and shattering.

Notice the contrast between the stark lava field and the green hills beyond.

Our trip to the volcano was, um, interesting. Between the sign below, and the rain...

Brian got out of the car and turned for a picture - less than 30 seconds - look how wet he got!
This is the visitor center at the volcano - and the waterfall coming off the roof
Just for my father-in-law....

More Pictures from Hawaii...

Open the picture below - the tree on the left is guava, the middle is avocado, and the right is mango...

Wild chickens in a parking lot...
Just for my mother-in-law....

The view from a scenic point overlooking miles of interconnected lava tubes...

Coffee

Today, we went to Kona Joe's Coffee. The owner acquired and began the farm in 1995, and began with a unique technique to growing coffee - he uses trellises, just like in vineyards. He has patented his trellises, but his coffee trees produce approximately 33% more coffee per tree each year, and the coffee cherries get more sun, and ripen so much better than traditional growing techniques. The following picture is from the roasting plant, looking over a field of trellised coffee trees.


Coffee trees less than a month from the beginning of harvest season

Nearly ripe coffee cherries
Another view of Kona Joe's Coffee trees
More to come...

--Erika

More Pictures from the House...

Plumeria



Palm Date Tree

Bird of Paradise
Bird of Paradise and Palm

Aloha!

This morning's photos are of the house we are staying at, mainly the front grounds and the fauna. There are quite a few wild animals that come to the house; we've had cats, "cardinal" birds, chickens, cockroaches, dragonflies, all manner of bugs, and, of course, geckos. There are reports that wild turkeys will come in the house if you leave the screens (see first two pictures below) open. Click on any of the pictures to have them shown full size. The following photo was taken from the plantation style front porch, looking toward the ocean (the blue behind the foliage toward the middle of the picture... behind the pool).

The following is a picture of the entrance to the house. Next, a view from the living room, looking through the screens to the porch - you can see the columns at the edge of the porch.

Pineapple, anyone?

More later... either this evening or tomorrow morning...

--Erika

Naked Dog Update

So, we've figured out what Jessi-Lou is allergic to - mosquitoes! I slathered her up pretty well on the 4th, but she still got bit once on the head, which turned into an ugly spot. She then got bit again on the side (we actually killed the bugger that got her... while it was on her...), and it's been bothering her for a few days. Her hair is growing back in nicely, but she still looks somewhat pathetic.

Independence Days.... um.... yeah... I've transplanted more peppers and tomatoes, but need to transplant more... and we ate the first ripe tomato yesterday at dinner. Jessi actually pulled it off a plant and it ripened in the window, but it still counts (and it was still better than the store-bought one we used with it). There are two more tomatoes turning reddish - one will be ready in a few days, the other one might be a week or so. We also used quite a bit of parsley for goodies over the weekend of the 4th. One of these days, I'll catch up and write the actual post to go with this...

--Erika

Photo Updates

First, things growing...
These eggplant (Thai Yellow Eggplant) were transplanted last week and have really taken off...
From top to bottom - Royal Purple Basil, King of the North Peppers, Ilini Star Tomatoes, and a tomato I have forgotten the name of (it's yellow).

Beautiful, sweet smelling, no longer in bloom - lilac...
One of my MIL's favorite - columbine

Then, my poor, pathetic-looking, fur-less dog... the following picture is not for the faint of heart... We thought she had one 'hot spot' on her side, and a few on the side of her face. The vet started with where we thought there were spots, and just had to keep going. Any thoughts as to what allergy she has (as the vet has determined that her issues are an allergic reaction) would be greatly appreciated!

--Erika

Independence Day #4, 5, and 6... Bad Erika...

1. Plant something: transplanted tomatoes, dragon peppers, jalapenos, and a curry plant. Round two of potatoes, soybeans, and arugala, round one of mung beans. See #7, Work on local food systems for more!

2. Harvest something: green onions, parsley, mint/oregano for drying, arugala, amaranth leaves, rosemary, lavender, thyme, basil, strawberries (MMMMM… note to self, plant MORE, MORE, MORE)

3. Preserve something: My first batch of Kombucha is coming right along… I’ve got a VERY thin layer of SCOBY forming! Still working on vanilla extract. First round of herbs hanging to dry.

4. Preparation and Storage: took Sharon’s questions from the other day and started answering them, explaining my goals, motivations, and dreams is really helpful; not to mention having a plan is the first step in getting it done! Working on Breakfast from storage. B found a great deal on bell peppers, so we chopped and froze them.

5. Cook something/Eat the Food: Had the last jar of cherry jam – it was really good, this coming from someone who doesn’t really like cherries! Found a great recipe (sorta) from the B’ham coop for using quinoa, carrots, and parsley. Batch cooking – beans, spaghetti sauce, rice, oats, etc. baked bread with freshly cut herbs…

6. Manage your reserves: Used some of the frozen produce in the freezer to make room for more/get it outta there… started dating everything that gets opened to get an idea on how much we use (especially on condiments like shoyu and katsup)

7. Work on local food systems: Planted plants that were destined for the compost (overgrown/not okay for sale) – nasturtiums, peas, two kinds of beans, etc. Planted peas, bush beans, and parsley with kiddos from the apartment complex I volunteer with – discussed basic techniques of cultivation w/them. Discussed other cultivation techniques with adults working on the project (e.g. Broccoli gets big – needs more than 4 inches of space…). Prepared area for bean-tipis, if more kiddos would have come to plant (only 3 out of 15-20 came!), the bean-tipis would have been in. Does it count if Grandma gave me jam – she’s not local, but I went down there, and it was local to her! Local milk (MMM, Golden Glen Creamery!) Pork chops, tomatoes and radishes from the Farmer’s Market, Oh, and we get eggs from B’s co-worker (OMG, I’ll forgo eggs before eating store-bought again!), lettuce from locally supplied (and locally owned) produce stand.

8. Reduce Waste: Acquired more jugs to use as planters… used paper bags from work that just held ground coffee once for produce, used my tumbler or didn’t get a drink @ work, **Gross alert** Jessi-Lou threw up the other day, and instead of using paper towels for the whole mess and the carpet cleaning, we just used them for the really icky parts, and then used rags (well washed afterwards, and sun-bleached) for the rest. **end Gross alert**

9. Learned a skill: still (slowly) working on Spanish... Learned three ways to eat radishes, learned to cook pork chops, and I am learning to treat “hot spots” without chemicals (and without Bag Balm).

My new category: 10. To Learn or Do or Find/Purchase List:
In no particular order and certainly never finished: Lehman’s (or similar) hand-wash agitator, get shoes repaired, find old tire parts to attempt to craft own shoes from, seek out affordable, sustainable diet for Jessi-Marie Wigglesnort…

Independence Day #3

1. Plant something: corn, green beans x2, black beans, Lena Cisco’s Bird Egg beans, spinach, lettuce, radishes, amaranth, transplanted tomatoes, basil, cauliflower, broccoli

2. Harvest something: oregano, rosemary, green onions, sage, mint, parsley

3. Preserve something: Started my first batch of Kombucha… does that count? Still working on vanilla extract.

4. Preparation and Storage: Labeled pantry, decided on a few other organization things that need to get done…

5. Cook something/Eat the Food: husband and I decided that our jam next year would be much more fruit and much less sugar (after eating several kinds of jam on our sandwiches this week)

6. Manage your reserves: Used some of the older grains I had hiding in my ucky pantry…

7. Work on local food systems: talked to FIL about using old bean seed (he and MIL have bean seed from 2003) for the garden the kids I work with are planting, made a point to purchase local produce this week, and remember the name of the farm when we ate.

8. Reduce Waste: remembered bags for shopping, took reusable tumblers, finally brought H2O bottles from house to car… adopted some milk jugs that would have been just recycled… now they’ll help grow food!

9. Learned a skill: still (slowly) working on Spanish, talked with community member who is trying to learn English, made a plan to work together once a week. I don’t know if its learned… but we tried planting pole beans with corn… no squash with it… but we’ll see what I can accomplish with my powers of persuasion, muah ha ha!!!!

Lost Generation

Random Link of the week... finally

I have a bottle of vodka working its magic on some vanilla beans (2/3 of the way to vanilla extract!), but here are 12 more ways to use potato liquor.

Independence Days #2

1. Plant something: thyme, transplanted tomatoes

2. Harvest something: oregano, rosemary, green onions, sage

3. Preserve something: nothing new, working on vanilla extract.

4. Preparation and Storage: Organized pantry, purchased bins to aid in organizing pantry and other areas, found small plastic containers (think smaller than pill bottles) for storing small seeds in over the winter, came up with new way to transplant tomatoes (don’t know if it will work or not – take a gallon milk jug, rinsed out, and cut out about 1/3 of the opening, down to where the side straightens out, then across – so about half of the side is exposed. Poke holes in the bottom, fill with soil, add plant. Water through the handle to get straight to the roots!), cleaned out glass near-gallon jars for water storage…

5. Cook something/Eat the Food: baked bread (from old beer and fresh herbs!), baked banana bread/muffins from super-sale (and freegan) bananas, tried Jerusalem Artichokes (will try a few more times before I give my opinion), made beans again...

6. Manage your reserves: Cleaning out the pantry definitely helped with managing reserves, found flour and rice that needs used before we start with the newer stuff!

7. Work on local food systems: We tried to go to the Farmer’s Market, I swore the website said the first Saturday in May was the start date, but apparently, it’s the last Saturday in May. We also went to the Master Gardener’s Plant sale and picked up some very lovely plants! Talked with kids who weren’t there last week about the garden that was planted, and we checked on our seeds – the flowers my group planted are up (marigolds and others), we sampled the spearmint that is attempting to take over the bed, and talked about where food comes from (Doritos are from corn, etc.)

8. Reduce Waste: remembered bags for shopping, purchased a reusable tumbler for B’s iced mochas, hopefully he will be able to keep track of and clean it!

9. Learned a skill: still (slowly) working on Spanish. Learned and practiced making tortillas on our new (wooden – very cute!) tortilla press!

Independence Day #1

For those of you who are new to the Independence Days Challenge, check it out here. Below are descriptions from Sharon's blog from last year, beneath each category is my current response.

1. Plant something. Obviously, those of us who live in the Northern Hemisphere and having spring are doing this anyway. But the idea that you should plant all week and all year is a good reminder to those of us who sometimes don’t get our fall gardens or our succession plantings done regularly. Remember, that beet you harvested left a space - maybe for the next one to get bigger, but maybe for a bit of arugula or a fall crop of peas, or a cover crop to enrich the soil. Independence is the bounty of a single seed that creates an abundance of zucchini, and enough seeds to plant your own garden and your neighbor’s.

Plant something: Cucumber and melons (under cover), kale, arugla (sp), soy beans, beets, carrots, parsnips, transplanted (in greenhouse) tomatoes, eggplant, peppers (hot and sweet), already had planted (so I remember what all I’ve got going) potatoes, garlic, shallots, lentils (they are up!!!), peas, dill, herbs, and I’m sure I’m missing some…

2. Harvest something. From the very first nettles and dandelions to the last leeks and parsnips I drag out of the frozen ground, harvest something from the garden or the wild every day you can. I can’t think of a better way to be aware of the bounty around you to realize that there’s something - even if it is dandelions for tea or wild garlic for a salad - to be had every single day. Independence is really appreciating and using the bounty that we have.

Harvest something: green onions, oregano

3. Preserve something. Sometimes this will be a big project, but it doesn’t have to be. It doesn’t take long to slice a couple of tomatoes and set them on a screen in the sun, or to hang up a bunch of sage for winter. And it adds up fast. The time you spend now is time you don’t have to spend hauling to the store and cooking later. Independence is eating our own, and cutting the ties we have to agribusiness.

Preserve something: nothing new, working on vanilla extract.

4. Prep something. Hit a yard sale and pick up an extra blanket. Purchase some extra legumes and oatmeal. Sort out and inventory your pantry. Make a list of tools you need. Find a way to give what you don’t need to someone who does. Fix your bike. Fill that old soda bottle with water with a couple of drops of bleach in it. Plan for next year’s edible landscaping. Make back-road directions to your place and send it to family in case they ever need to come to you - or make ‘em for yourself for where you might have to go. Clean, mend, declutter, learn a new skill. Independence is being ready for whatever comes.

Preparation and Storage: “tested” car kit - made necessary additions, need to return it to the car… I’ll do that when I’m done here. Worked on menu planning/determining how much of what to plant, didn’t get far.

5. Cook something. Try and new recipe, or an old one with a new ingredient. Sometimes it is hard to know what to do with all that stuff you are growing or making. So experiment now. Can you make a whole meal in your solar oven? How are stir-fried pea shoots? Stuffed squash blossoms? Wild morels in pasta? Independence is being able to eat and enjoy what is given to us. AND 6. Manage your reserves. Check those apples and take out the ones starting to go bad and make sauce with it. Label those cans. Clean out the freezer. Ration the pickles, so you’ll have enough to last to next season. Use up those lentils before you take the next ones out of the bag. Find some use for that can of whatever it is that’s been in the pantry forever. Sort out what you can donate, and give it to the food pantry. Make sure the squash are holding out. Independence means not wasting the bounty we have.

Eat the Food - made beans (vice opening a can of ‘em), cleaned out the fridge, insisted on leftovers versus cooking again, made “Jordan Surprise,” a family dish with a very precise recipe: use what’s in the fridge/pantry that needs used, and make it taste halfway decent. Got water to over 180 degrees in less than one hour in solar oven.

7. Work on local food systems. This could be as simple as buying something you don’t grow or make from a local grower, or finding a new local source. It could be as complex as starting a coop or a farmer’s market, creating a CSA or a bulk store. You might give seeds or plants or divisions to a neighbor, or solicit donations for your food pantry. Maybe you’ll start a guerilla garden or help a homeschool coop incubate some chicks. Maybe you’ll invite people over to your garden, or your neighbors in for a homegrown meal, or sing the praises of your local CSA. Maybe you can get your town to plant fruit or nut producing street trees or get a manual water pump or a garden put in at your local school. Whatever it is, our Independence days come when our neighbors and the people we love are food secure too.

Build Community Food Systems - Planted edible flowers and vegetables with local kids in raised beds at their apartment complex, we discussed how plants grow, what’s important for growth, and why we should grow even just a few of our own. This is an ongoing project I’m working on, a community garden (and one set of raised beds) run by the kiddos (K-10) that live in the apartment complexes (that are specifically for families who earn a significant part of their income from “migrant” labor), if anyone has any ideas, links, or suggestions, please let me know (comment on my blog… wherever you feel inclined)…

8. Reduce Waste

Reduce Waste: researched how to compost citrus (slowly, small amount at a time, or wait until they are rotten) and set aside a specific place for citrus composting (we found a 3lb. bag of organic lemons for $1 at a local bargain store)

9. Learned a skill:

See previous comment about composting citrus peels/rinds.

More Plant Pics

Broccoli

Strawberries

And my new clothesline!

Spring in the Greenhouse

Well, the peas aren't exactly IN the greenhouse, but aren't they pretty?! Now, to keep the bunnies (and a certain black dog) away!


The herb corner - two kinds of lavender (the second kind is not in the picture), oregano, sage, rosemary, parsley (2nd year... kinda sad looking, but doing well!) and mint!


--Erika