Tag Archives: organic farm

Local Food from Farmer’s Market

The Redding Farmer’s Market, the first to be certified in California more than 34 years ago, was bustling this morning as my sister and I made our way through the early-bird crowd inspecting potential dinner and dessert ingredients. We thought it best to develop a strategy if we wanted to guarantee we’d leave with peaches...

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Lemons, Lemons, Who’s Got Lemons…

“I think Mother Nature hates us,” grumbled my son as he dropped one more lemon into the metal bucket. He had already sustained several fiery pokes from the Meyer lemon tree, and by the thirty-third puncture, he had had enough. It took six hands, three pairs of clippers and three strong wills to brave the...

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Weekend wish: visit with your local praying mantis

While clipping the oleanders this past weekend, I disturbed a baby praying mantis. Startled, he quickly jumped onto my arm and said, “Hello.” He then went on to say how much he appreciated my refraining from spraying chemicals in the garden. Had I sprayed, not only would I have killed the aphids, his food source,...

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Saving the Honey Bee, One Scoop of Ice Cream at a Time

I’m sure most of you have heard about the decline in the honey bee population. The cause is still unknown, but scientists are working diligently to solve the mystery. A solution needs to be found soon or we might find ourselves in a world with few to no honey bees. Without the honey bee, an...

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Building Synchrony with Cookies and Coops

We have been blessed with the first rain of the season;  it began to fall on Friday and has not stopped.  Normally, I love the rain and look forward to a long season of cold wet weather, for winter gives me an excuse to stay inside and knit, bake, or make soap.  However, the timing...

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Generous People, Generous Universe

My son and I hopped out of the car at the farmer’s market this morning where he made a beeline to the entrance.  He was hungry, as all teenage boys are, and looked forward to a breakfast of crepes and fresh squeezed lemonade.  We didn’t have much time to shop as we needed to be...

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Secrets, Surprise, and Romance

Excitement, intrigue, and empowerment were the elements that filled the first days of my solo road trip.  Secrets, surprise, and romance filled the last. After being away from my family for a week, I developed a case of homesickness.  So, at the beginning of my last week in Colorado, I called my husband and told...

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Preserving More than Just Peaches and Tomatoes

When I realized Fresh and Wyld, the inn where I stayed for the first days of my trip, offered cooking classes, I signed up for “Canning Peaches and Tomatoes.”  I have canned both fruits but could never get the peaches right; the little buggers always want to float around in all that syrup, leaving wasted...

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