Cool Stuff From Friends {Friday Five}

It's been awhile since I've posted a Friday Five but my friends go on being awesome and you need to know about their projects: 1) Clintonville writer Sally aka Real Mom Nutrition just published a fantastic book, Cooking Light Dinnertime Survival Guide: Feed Your Family. Save Your Sanity! It contains tips, hints, and lots of recipes for feeding your family real whole food every night in Sally's very approachable writing style. Stay tuned to her website for a local book signing event.

2) Several fellow gardeners are part of the organization team for the Central Ohio Plant Swap coming up May 17 in Hilliard. Though I've never been able to go, this FREE event gives you a chance to infuse your gardens with new varieties. I've heard it's especially good for sourcing perennial flowers.

3) Homeschooling mom and licensed professional counselor Dawn Friedman is teaching Parenting for Attunement this June. Dawn is a grounded, thoughtful, open-minded counselor and her parenting classes will help you solve parenting challenges with respect to your needs and your child's. Register using the code 'harmonious' for 20% off registration, making the two-class series just $100 per pair of adults - can be couples, friends, or any two people who want to support each other to be better parents.

4) The fine folks at Clintonville Farmers' Market are holding a canned food drive for the Clintonville-Beechwold Resource Center at the market tomorrow. The Worthington Farmers' Market moves outside this week and collects produce donations weekly for the food pantry too.

5) Finally, our friends at the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association are coming to our homestead as part of their farm tour series! Mark your calendar for June 22 at 1 pm to visit the chickens, gardens, hoop house, and orchard.

What coming events do you recommend? Leave links in the comments!

Cool Stuff From Friends {Friday Five}

It's been awhile since I've posted a Friday Five but my friends go on being awesome and you need to know about their projects: 1) Clintonville writer Sally aka Real Mom Nutrition just published a fantastic book, Cooking Light Dinnertime Survival Guide: Feed Your Family. Save Your Sanity! It contains tips, hints, and lots of recipes for feeding your family real whole food every night in Sally's very approachable writing style. Stay tuned to her website for a local book signing event.

2) Several fellow gardeners are part of the organization team for the Central Ohio Plant Swap coming up May 17 in Hilliard. Though I've never been able to go, this FREE event gives you a chance to infuse your gardens with new varieties. I've heard it's especially good for sourcing perennial flowers.

3) Homeschooling mom and licensed professional counselor Dawn Friedman is teaching Parenting for Attunement this June. Dawn is a grounded, thoughtful, open-minded counselor and her parenting classes will help you solve parenting challenges with respect to your needs and your child's. Register using the code 'harmonious' for 20% off registration, making the two-class series just $100 per pair of adults - can be couples, friends, or any two people who want to support each other to be better parents.

4) The fine folks at Clintonville Farmers' Market are holding a canned food drive for the Clintonville-Beechwold Resource Center at the market tomorrow. The Worthington Farmers' Market moves outside this week and collects produce donations weekly for the food pantry too.

5) Finally, our friends at the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association are coming to our homestead as part of their farm tour series! Mark your calendar for June 22 at 1 pm to visit the chickens, gardens, hoop house, and orchard.

What coming events do you recommend? Leave links in the comments!

BIG Plans {Friday Five}

What's going on behind the computer these days? Planning, saving, measuring, and more planning. In the coming few months, our little homestead will undergo a lot of changes. Here's what's going on:

Kitchen Renovation Underway - When Uncle Leonard, our personal contractor-like friend, suggests moving up the start date for the big gut and replace kitchen project, we had to say yes. Mid-April is now early April, which means supply purchases begin now. In four weeks we will (pending no big surprises) be cooking with gas! Gas! I can't wait to fix our dysfunctional kitchen. I'll share specific plans and our strategy for quick renovations soon.

Mudroom Finishing - Uncle Leonard will tease us endlessly unless we finish the mudroom before he arrives in a few weeks. Afterall, he was instrumental in building it...in July... We'll be drywalling, painting, and adding gutters this weekend. Oh, and clearing out the garage so we have room to store the kitchen supplies as they're purchased

Ponds and Swales - The front plot where we'll plant Swainway Urban Farm produce has some water issues. We debated an agricultural tile system but that seems to be throwing away a potential resource. Instead, we're going to try digging two small ponds with a series of swales to direct and hold water. We will plant the edges in water-loving habitat flowers and grasses.

Move the Chicken Yard - Our chickens need more space to roam further away from the main garden. We're going to give them a big portion of the yard in a shady area that isn't ideal for planting. I think we're finally going to invest in portable electric fencing so that we can change the shape of their yard as other projects reveal themselves.

Low Mow - Alex is thrilled that I want to mow a lot less this year. We'll keep enough grass mowed for kids to run in and baby trees to survive, but we want to let a lot more grow wild. The wild will be managed be seeding flowers and incorporating native transplants. Less fuel wasted, more wildlife habitat, and less work - why didn't we think of this last year?

Of course, we're still seeding greens and roots in the hoop house, potatoes and peas outside, and tending seedlings inside. And celebrating Pi Day. And teaching classes, working with Swainway Urban Farm, and occaisionally tending shop at City Folk's. And making freezer food for the week or so we'll be without a kitchen. Busy days.

What are your BIG Plans?

BIG Plans {Friday Five}

What's going on behind the computer these days? Planning, saving, measuring, and more planning. In the coming few months, our little homestead will undergo a lot of changes. Here's what's going on:

Kitchen Renovation Underway - When Uncle Leonard, our personal contractor-like friend, suggests moving up the start date for the big gut and replace kitchen project, we had to say yes. Mid-April is now early April, which means supply purchases begin now. In four weeks we will (pending no big surprises) be cooking with gas! Gas! I can't wait to fix our dysfunctional kitchen. I'll share specific plans and our strategy for quick renovations soon.

Mudroom Finishing - Uncle Leonard will tease us endlessly unless we finish the mudroom before he arrives in a few weeks. Afterall, he was instrumental in building it...in July... We'll be drywalling, painting, and adding gutters this weekend. Oh, and clearing out the garage so we have room to store the kitchen supplies as they're purchased

Ponds and Swales - The front plot where we'll plant Swainway Urban Farm produce has some water issues. We debated an agricultural tile system but that seems to be throwing away a potential resource. Instead, we're going to try digging two small ponds with a series of swales to direct and hold water. We will plant the edges in water-loving habitat flowers and grasses.

Move the Chicken Yard - Our chickens need more space to roam further away from the main garden. We're going to give them a big portion of the yard in a shady area that isn't ideal for planting. I think we're finally going to invest in portable electric fencing so that we can change the shape of their yard as other projects reveal themselves.

Low Mow - Alex is thrilled that I want to mow a lot less this year. We'll keep enough grass mowed for kids to run in and baby trees to survive, but we want to let a lot more grow wild. The wild will be managed be seeding flowers and incorporating native transplants. Less fuel wasted, more wildlife habitat, and less work - why didn't we think of this last year?

Of course, we're still seeding greens and roots in the hoop house, potatoes and peas outside, and tending seedlings inside. And celebrating Pi Day. And teaching classes, working with Swainway Urban Farm, and occaisionally tending shop at City Folk's. And making freezer food for the week or so we'll be without a kitchen. Busy days.

What are your BIG Plans?

Mark Your Calendar {Friday Five}

It's summer time and the local eating is easy. Nearly every day one can find an event featuring great Ohio foods. Here are my top picks for the next few weeks: 1) Next Wednesday, July 25, Jeni Britton Bauer will be the featured author at Thurber House's Summer Literary Picnic where she will share from her cookbook, Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home. Tickets are $30 for a boxed dinner and the reading, and $15 for the reading only. Call 614-464-1032, or visit: www.thurberhouse.org.

2) The Ohio State Fair runs July 25 - August 5th. Our family attends every year to see the wide variety of domesticated animals at the agriculture barns. We also enjoy the ODNR park to explore Ohio's wildlife.

3) Local Matters Local Foods Week is August 11 - 19. Start by taking the Eat Local Challenge to make small changes with big impact in your eating and then plan to attend an event during local foods week. There is something for every interest and budget.

4) Despite all the fun stuff to do outside the house, I will spend lots of time canning in the coming weeks. I hope to pick peaches at Branstool soon. Bird's Haven already has canning tomatoes available for $0.50/pound to pick up at their farm, Granville or New Albany Farmer's Markets. Email farmfresh@birdshavenfarms.com or call 740-404-1475 to reserve yours.

5) I would be remiss if I didn't mention my upcoming classes. I'm teaching Dehydrating 101 at City Folk's Farm Shop on August 5 from 3:30 - 4:30 pm, Meatless Monday at Franklin Park Conservatory on August 6 from 6:30 - 8:30 pm, and Yes You Can: Preserve Tomatoes at Franklin Park Conservatory on August 12 from 3:30 - 5:30 pm. And of course I love to chat gardening, cooking, and preserving at the Swainway Urban Farm booth at the New Albany Farmers' Market on Thursdays from 4 - 7 pm and the Clintonville Farmers' Market on Saturdays from 9 am -12 pm.

Markets, Contests, Chickens, and Bees {Friday Five}

1. Starting next Wednesday, the Clintonville Farmers' Market will host Slow Down Wednesdays from 4:30 - 7:30 pm. Shop some of your favorite market vendors plus a few new faces during the evening. 2. The Food Experiment is coming to Columbus on July 15. Amateur chefs will compete under the theme 'Smoke'. A $10 ticket gains you entry to taste samples, vote on your favorite, and drink a Brooklyn Beer.

3. Speaking of competitions, did you know that state fair blue ribbons aren't just for kids? The Ohio State Fair give adults a chance to win cash prizes in addition to bragging rights in many cooking and baking competitions. Contests require pre-registration by July 11 so browse the link and sign up soon.

4. City Folk's Farm Shop is hosting an inaugural Chicken Support Group for central Ohio backyard chicken keepers. Experienced chicken-raisers, newbies, and those thinking about rearing fowl in the backyard are welcome Sunday July 22 at 7 pm.

5. I leave you with this funky educational video produced by Burt's Bees and Wild For Bees. Watch the wildly costumed actress teach about bee life and why we need to protect them.

How to Eat an Unfamiliar Vegetable {Friday Five}

I saw plenty of unfamiliar produce at farmers' markets in Hawaii. Often I ask farmers what to do with strange items but when I purchased the above taro root from a non-native English speaker, I didn't receive much guidance. My family was suspect of the taro after eating poi and I wanted to show them it could be tasty so I employed my five step plan to enjoy an unfamiliar vegetable:

1. Raw - I taste everything raw to see what the initial characteristics are like. In the case of taro our tongues were coated with thick starch and not much other flavor. I knew this meant we had to cook the taro for a good while to break down the starch and add heavy seasoning to trick our tastebuds.

2. Steamed - A quick steam is a good way to enjoy vegetables whose initial raw taste has good flavor. I suspected that taro would take a long time to steam thoroughly so we skipped this step.

3. Boiled and Pureed - Most root vegetables taste good when boiled in salted water. Puree with a little butter if the texture is off putting. Peas, beans, and leaf vegetables can also be quickly boiled and added to purees. I meant to try boiling taro but ran out of space on the range. 4. Oven Roasted - Nearly all produce, including fruit, taste sweeter after a trip in a hot oven. Toss the raw product with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper (or brown sugar in the case of fruit) and cook until caramelized. Roasted taro mixed nicely with potatoes prepared the same way.

5. Fried in Bacon Fat - When all else fails, pull out the big guns: bacon drippings. There is precious little that doesn't taste amazing when fried in bacon fat and indeed the taro was more than palatable this way. To completely cook the starch, we fried each half-inch side for five minutes.

What do you do when you come across an unfamiliar vegetable?

Please excuse the poorly lit photos. Despite ample outdoor light for some reason I chose to take pictures in the kitchen. I blame it on the mai tais.

Earth Day Events {Friday Five}

Earth Day is every day around here. We reuse, recycle, and repurpose. We grow our own, capture rain water, dry laundry on the line, and more. No matter where you are on your earth-friendly journey, here are some ideas for marking Earth Day this weekend.

1) City Folk's Farm Shop Grand Opening - Shop City Folk's from 9 am - 5 pm Saturday for discounts, samples, Sharpening on Site, GNix Food Cart, and a donation of proceeds to benefit Local Matters.

2) Do Something Outside - Take a walk, visit a park, look for eagles, identify wildflowers - be outside and enjoy what the earth has to offer.

3) Root Down Earth Day Celebration - Join the citywide celebration from 11 am - 10 pm at Columbus Commons featuring music, food trucks, a kid's area, ecofriendly booths, and more. Free!

4) Plant Something Edible - Plant a pea, transplant an herb seedling, and soon enjoy eating from your own patio or backyard.

5) Clothing Swap at OSU Urban Arts Space - How cool is this event on Saturday? Turn in your unwanted clothes from 11 am - noon, get tickets, and at 1 - 3 pm exchange them for other's used clothes!

What are you doing for Earth Day?