Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's out there. A special shout out to all you mother's of fur children. You are loved by your cats, dogs, horses, and other pets just as deeply as human kids love their human moms.
Today I want to send a special shout out to the step-mothers out there. Your job is different, harder, and more often than not, thankless. My two step-daughters called me today. I am blessed. There are many step-moms who are forgotten and ignored as they are not the "real" mother.
In particular, I want to share with you the deeds of a superior step-mother who I will call Carol. Her child attends school in my district. Her son is often the one that has other parents and students cringing. He's loud, boisterous, overzealous, often rude and negative in his commentary. He's defensive and sometimes insistent on doing the things he knows he shouldn't be doing. Other kids will say, "Shut up so and so..will you please be quiet. Just listen to your teacher." But this young man is a miracle and I am thankfully that he has Carol in his life. What makes this young man a miracle? He loves everyone he meets and he has never met a stranger. Given his history, that's a miracle to me, and I adore this kid and I admire his step-mother.
His "real" mom encountered problems with drugs, the law, and raising a child. He was neglected, pushed aside, physical needs went unnoticed and untreated. Schools put him in special education as that's where they thought he belonged. Carol entered his life and took care of the vision problems and the dental problems. The young man began to feel confident and okay around his peers. Then the came the educational challenge. Carol fought tooth and nail to remove the young man from special education. He didn't test and meet the requirements once he could see. She pushed him to do school correctly, to learn, earn a diploma, not drop out of high school. Even now at 17, she's at the school making sure that he's doing what he needs to be doing. She sat through his morning classes with him, watched, made notes and made his behavior improve the very next day.
He's lucky. Not every step-mother would have fought so hard for a child that she didn't birth. I am better for knowing Carol and her son. Carol, you are doing what needs to be done above and beyond what you were expected to do. Thank you so very much. I can't wait to see where your son ends up in life.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Friday, May 11, 2012
The Newest Adventure
Last May while at Disney, we purchased a nifty little lunch box from the Japanese Pavilion at Epcot and a cookbook on "Bento Boxes". The book, Just Bentos, came home with my cute little collection of boxes held together with a red elastic band. They found a home in a kitchen corner and on the bookshelf until this week.
I don't know what inspired me to find the book, travel the web, and start trying my hand at making some bento box lunches. It could have been it's May and I am tired of Lean Cuisine. It could be that I am feeling sluggish from poor food choices and too much snacking. It might be that my garden is starting to prosper with all the good rain. It might be that I am trying to practice my belief that less processed, local, seasonal food is the best. Probably all of the above.
So I discovered a recipe for curried quail eggs in a bento box lunch and instantly all the bells and whistles went off. I have lots of quail eggs! Perfect for a bento box! So with some help from Just Bentos and my husband, I prepared my first Bento box! (I can't call it a hidden Mickey as it's not really "hidden") What fun! I ate with chopsticks while my co-workers wondered what screw came loose this time and a little bit of envy. Of course, now I am inspired to do and try more Bentos.
What are bento boxes? A Bento box is a packed lunch box that is artfully arranged and follows the principals of Japanese cuisine. There are some really beautiful and crazy food art out there for your perusal on the World Wide Web. I am not ready to jump into creating octopi out of hot dogs or bunny sandwiches out of bread. But I do want to prepare edible art that comes as much from my own garden as possible with as little processed food as I can manage.
Are they filling, my first and second boxes left me satisfied on what I thought was very little food. I don't do calories, so I don't know the numbers. However, I was not looking for a 2:30 snack from the office of my school's guidance counselor. I was looking for a stress ball. They are not for throwing at students is what I was told as I was handed a squishy ball. Fine.
Back to Bentos, I love this new adventure. I think tomorrow we will journey into Houston for a couple more boxes, some tools, and some pantry items. There are things that I just can't get in Magnolia, Texas. It's been a fun challenge on many levels. Contrary to popular belief, I can cook and I like to cook and bake. Normally, I don't have to do much because he's better at it than I am. So we are beginning our Bento adventure!
Friday, January 13, 2012
Seeds of growth
I teach at an alternative high school geared towards students designated as "At-Risk". I hate that label. The connotations carry many meanings, most far from the reality of the young people who walk in my classroom doors. You are asking yourself, "Why is a hobby farm blogger talking about teaching?" and my response, "It's another kind of farming."
I spend many countless hours with these young minds and rebellious souls. And I plant seeds. Lots of seeds. Seeds from my harvest of hard won wisdom, experience, research, strength and hope. Seeds of a better life. Mostly, I sow heavily seeds of hope and belief. I am not a "touchy-feely" kind of teacher. I don't spend a lot of time in deep discussion with them learning the depths of their problems, which is why I got an interesting surprise and affirmation Thursday evening. But this story really started 6 months ago, like most farm stories-they take time to take root.
Our school's Spanish teacher retired last May, and we had lunch one day during the summer. At school, she held the position of surrogate grandmother, and as such she heard a lot of the stories, problems and realities of our kids. She was revered and honored and very well-liked. She was a strong advocate for the student, but always from a balanced, non-enabling, position. At our lunch, she expressed concern that our students would have no one to go to with her gone. I basically shrugged it off and replied that we were going to miss her-no one could fill her shoes. We enjoyed our lunch and talked about our summers and her upcoming plans. I forgot how much she's in tune with the universe, god, goddess, spirit, buddah...however you name your higher power. Thinking back, I know she went home and said some prayers....
Returning back to this semester, I continued to do what I do. Teach kids, listen to them, support them, cheer them on, talk to them, and love them.
My school celebrates graduation twice a year. We graduated a crop of 27 students Thursday night. From the speeches from the stage, I had several students articulate how important I was to their success, how much I meant to them, how I was a role model, what kind of difference I made to them and so on. I cried. Then, I dried my eyes and finished my graduation evening duties.
The retired Spanish teacher was in the audience. She smiled and told me, that it appeared that I had taken her place after all. I laughed it off. On the way home, I cried some more. We all plant seeds. We all grow seeds. It would seem that her seeds and mine both found fertile soil. And never, ever, underestimate the power of a little bit of prayer-who ever says them.
I spend many countless hours with these young minds and rebellious souls. And I plant seeds. Lots of seeds. Seeds from my harvest of hard won wisdom, experience, research, strength and hope. Seeds of a better life. Mostly, I sow heavily seeds of hope and belief. I am not a "touchy-feely" kind of teacher. I don't spend a lot of time in deep discussion with them learning the depths of their problems, which is why I got an interesting surprise and affirmation Thursday evening. But this story really started 6 months ago, like most farm stories-they take time to take root.
Our school's Spanish teacher retired last May, and we had lunch one day during the summer. At school, she held the position of surrogate grandmother, and as such she heard a lot of the stories, problems and realities of our kids. She was revered and honored and very well-liked. She was a strong advocate for the student, but always from a balanced, non-enabling, position. At our lunch, she expressed concern that our students would have no one to go to with her gone. I basically shrugged it off and replied that we were going to miss her-no one could fill her shoes. We enjoyed our lunch and talked about our summers and her upcoming plans. I forgot how much she's in tune with the universe, god, goddess, spirit, buddah...however you name your higher power. Thinking back, I know she went home and said some prayers....
Returning back to this semester, I continued to do what I do. Teach kids, listen to them, support them, cheer them on, talk to them, and love them.
My school celebrates graduation twice a year. We graduated a crop of 27 students Thursday night. From the speeches from the stage, I had several students articulate how important I was to their success, how much I meant to them, how I was a role model, what kind of difference I made to them and so on. I cried. Then, I dried my eyes and finished my graduation evening duties.
The retired Spanish teacher was in the audience. She smiled and told me, that it appeared that I had taken her place after all. I laughed it off. On the way home, I cried some more. We all plant seeds. We all grow seeds. It would seem that her seeds and mine both found fertile soil. And never, ever, underestimate the power of a little bit of prayer-who ever says them.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Reflections from 2011 at Brown Dog Farms
The Brown Dog, Kona, is another year older and showing grey in her muzzle, and this year at the farm added several strands of white to my head from stress instead of age. As I look back on 2011, I can say we did some things well and some things not so well. We fell victim to circumstance and nature and yet; we continue to do.
We did loofah gourds really well. Our best garden crop was inedible loofahs. I hope they dry well, and I can trade with a soap maker friend of mine. We had a couple of plants that took over a corner of the fence where the watering system had a small leak. A little water went a long way. Sweet potatoes were our next best garden crop. The vines went every where also, and they did well with small amounts of water. I learned that once you pull a sweet potato from the ground it takes 30 days to cure before you can eat them. Our favorite method of eating them is to cut them like french fries, brush them with olive oil, dust them with some cumin and bake them. Then we make an dipping sauce of sour cream with cumin added. Yummy! The rest of the garden fell to the drought and heat. Even the okra, which loves heat perished one plant at a time with a few pods here and there. We irrigated, but probably not as deeply or as much as was needed. The tomatillos looked great, but the fruits never really filled out and set properly. The peppers did fairly well, but they are a spice, not a food. We prepared another batch of Brown Dog Farm hot tobasco pepper sauce. (For the very brave~a little goes a long way)
The drought hurt us. There were very few blooming plants, so our bees could only produce enough honey to keep the hive for the winter. We didn't bother to raid the hives, we left them alone doing bees things and keeping the colonies as strong as possible and hope for a better spring. Ball Clover is priced at $140/25 lb bag and with existing poor rain, I cringe at spreading seed that might not grow. That decision hasn't been made yet. I spent a great deal of time and money watering my horse pasture. It's the only reason I have more than bare dirt for the cow and the horse. Thankfully, we were able to get some winter rye grass seed spread just in time for the rains and it's coming up nicely. My flower gardens held on, barely. They got much less water. I love my Peggy Martin Rosebushes. This variety survived Katrina and the Texas drought. I didn't get the second bloom, but I didn't lose my plants. The herbs managed as did my Hojo Santos plants. Those are highly drought tolerant plants! Some of my trees are gone. We will see what just went dormant versus what actually died when the spring comes back.
We got really good at raising Mallard ducks. Too good. We topped out at about 70 ducks, and we thought we had all but our breeding stock (15 or so birds) sold. Our buyer backed out. Totally backed out. These are not the best eating variety of ducks. They are a bantam breed, lean, and hard to cook. We are thinning them down, and I am open to suggestions. Anyone interested in some ducks? Lesson learned. Get a deposit when custom raising an animal/birds for clients you don't know well. I just may make dog food from the lot of them. Key point: Dog food production is as heavily regulated, perhaps even more so, than human food production. So my dogs will eat well.
We learned about pigs. Of all the animals/birds, pigs keep themselves and their pens pretty neat. They have a designated bathroom. Best of all, they are the best kitchen recycling unit EVER! They eat anything. Eggshells. Leftover bread. Pasta. Salad gone bad. They are tasty and we are able to use most of the pig. We even made head cheese. It's a texture thing for me. I tried it. My Dad loves the stuff. Not me. Jowl bacon is the best. And real cracklins', not the stuff in a plastic bag...amazing. And probably not good to eat in quantity. We were able to actually raise two pigs; one for us and one that we able to as a "community project" with two other families.
I almost forgot to elaborate on the cow, Freezer. She was an orphaned heifer that we were able to purchase very cheaply. We bottle fed her for a couple of months and she's halter broke. She's food. No ifs ands or buts...yes, she's cute. Yes, I feed her from a bottle. Yes, I have to hip check her into the fence to get her out of my space, but she's still beef. And our timing is going to be about right. The prices on beef are going to get pretty high in the next year. Another unrealized effect of the drought. Hay prices are through the roof and growers in other states are price gouging and sabotaging hay being brought into Texas.That's another story.
And another story which I will include here because it's part of what we learned at the farm in 2011. There are chickens and there are chickens. We normally purchase our meat birds from a hatchery in Cameron, Texas. Normally. Late this summer, a friend of ours came across a "deal". Meat birds at a ridiculously low price per week old chick. He bought 100. We took 25. Thank goodness we only took 25. These birds were aggressive, ate lots of food, and didn't put on weight. They got bigger and meaner and ate more, but no meat production was happening as we expected. As they feathered in, I can only speculate that there was a fighting rooster somewhere in the hen yard mixing in with probably a leghorn variety. But we finally gave up on feeding them and butchered them. We used them to make chicken stock, and we pulled the boiled meat and froze it for future King Ranch Casseroles and other chicken dishes. Lesson learned: Buy only from reputable breeders. Period. I repeat, buy only from reputable breeders.
I have enjoyed sharing my farm with my friends and family. My nephew loved to listen and follow the chickens to get their eggs. A friend's 7 year old took great delight in leading the heifer around the pasture. We enjoy hosting our friends at our table with food from our farm labors.
So as I look into and plan for the coming year, I drool over the seed catalogs, Burpees and Seeds of Change, being my favorites. I am studying some different varieties of ducks and chickens for some new markets. We will continue to raise the Muscovy Ducks in a smaller flock (no more Mallards!), chickens, and quail. We are looking at simplifying our quail pens, so that I don't have to fight the nasty water system. Two more pigs are on the way; one for us and the other as a CSA pig. More meat chickens later in the year. Maybe some turkeys this spring for fall.
Whatever 2012 brings, we are here, and we will keep doing what we do. Maybe I will get fewer white hairs, maybe I will get more, but regardless I will keep life at the farm real! Thanks for reading and I wish all of you the best in 2012!
We did loofah gourds really well. Our best garden crop was inedible loofahs. I hope they dry well, and I can trade with a soap maker friend of mine. We had a couple of plants that took over a corner of the fence where the watering system had a small leak. A little water went a long way. Sweet potatoes were our next best garden crop. The vines went every where also, and they did well with small amounts of water. I learned that once you pull a sweet potato from the ground it takes 30 days to cure before you can eat them. Our favorite method of eating them is to cut them like french fries, brush them with olive oil, dust them with some cumin and bake them. Then we make an dipping sauce of sour cream with cumin added. Yummy! The rest of the garden fell to the drought and heat. Even the okra, which loves heat perished one plant at a time with a few pods here and there. We irrigated, but probably not as deeply or as much as was needed. The tomatillos looked great, but the fruits never really filled out and set properly. The peppers did fairly well, but they are a spice, not a food. We prepared another batch of Brown Dog Farm hot tobasco pepper sauce. (For the very brave~a little goes a long way)
The drought hurt us. There were very few blooming plants, so our bees could only produce enough honey to keep the hive for the winter. We didn't bother to raid the hives, we left them alone doing bees things and keeping the colonies as strong as possible and hope for a better spring. Ball Clover is priced at $140/25 lb bag and with existing poor rain, I cringe at spreading seed that might not grow. That decision hasn't been made yet. I spent a great deal of time and money watering my horse pasture. It's the only reason I have more than bare dirt for the cow and the horse. Thankfully, we were able to get some winter rye grass seed spread just in time for the rains and it's coming up nicely. My flower gardens held on, barely. They got much less water. I love my Peggy Martin Rosebushes. This variety survived Katrina and the Texas drought. I didn't get the second bloom, but I didn't lose my plants. The herbs managed as did my Hojo Santos plants. Those are highly drought tolerant plants! Some of my trees are gone. We will see what just went dormant versus what actually died when the spring comes back.
We got really good at raising Mallard ducks. Too good. We topped out at about 70 ducks, and we thought we had all but our breeding stock (15 or so birds) sold. Our buyer backed out. Totally backed out. These are not the best eating variety of ducks. They are a bantam breed, lean, and hard to cook. We are thinning them down, and I am open to suggestions. Anyone interested in some ducks? Lesson learned. Get a deposit when custom raising an animal/birds for clients you don't know well. I just may make dog food from the lot of them. Key point: Dog food production is as heavily regulated, perhaps even more so, than human food production. So my dogs will eat well.
We learned about pigs. Of all the animals/birds, pigs keep themselves and their pens pretty neat. They have a designated bathroom. Best of all, they are the best kitchen recycling unit EVER! They eat anything. Eggshells. Leftover bread. Pasta. Salad gone bad. They are tasty and we are able to use most of the pig. We even made head cheese. It's a texture thing for me. I tried it. My Dad loves the stuff. Not me. Jowl bacon is the best. And real cracklins', not the stuff in a plastic bag...amazing. And probably not good to eat in quantity. We were able to actually raise two pigs; one for us and one that we able to as a "community project" with two other families.
I almost forgot to elaborate on the cow, Freezer. She was an orphaned heifer that we were able to purchase very cheaply. We bottle fed her for a couple of months and she's halter broke. She's food. No ifs ands or buts...yes, she's cute. Yes, I feed her from a bottle. Yes, I have to hip check her into the fence to get her out of my space, but she's still beef. And our timing is going to be about right. The prices on beef are going to get pretty high in the next year. Another unrealized effect of the drought. Hay prices are through the roof and growers in other states are price gouging and sabotaging hay being brought into Texas.That's another story.
And another story which I will include here because it's part of what we learned at the farm in 2011. There are chickens and there are chickens. We normally purchase our meat birds from a hatchery in Cameron, Texas. Normally. Late this summer, a friend of ours came across a "deal". Meat birds at a ridiculously low price per week old chick. He bought 100. We took 25. Thank goodness we only took 25. These birds were aggressive, ate lots of food, and didn't put on weight. They got bigger and meaner and ate more, but no meat production was happening as we expected. As they feathered in, I can only speculate that there was a fighting rooster somewhere in the hen yard mixing in with probably a leghorn variety. But we finally gave up on feeding them and butchered them. We used them to make chicken stock, and we pulled the boiled meat and froze it for future King Ranch Casseroles and other chicken dishes. Lesson learned: Buy only from reputable breeders. Period. I repeat, buy only from reputable breeders.
I have enjoyed sharing my farm with my friends and family. My nephew loved to listen and follow the chickens to get their eggs. A friend's 7 year old took great delight in leading the heifer around the pasture. We enjoy hosting our friends at our table with food from our farm labors.
So as I look into and plan for the coming year, I drool over the seed catalogs, Burpees and Seeds of Change, being my favorites. I am studying some different varieties of ducks and chickens for some new markets. We will continue to raise the Muscovy Ducks in a smaller flock (no more Mallards!), chickens, and quail. We are looking at simplifying our quail pens, so that I don't have to fight the nasty water system. Two more pigs are on the way; one for us and the other as a CSA pig. More meat chickens later in the year. Maybe some turkeys this spring for fall.
Whatever 2012 brings, we are here, and we will keep doing what we do. Maybe I will get fewer white hairs, maybe I will get more, but regardless I will keep life at the farm real! Thanks for reading and I wish all of you the best in 2012!
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