Dirt Gym

Do you struggle to find time and motivation to exercise? Are you looking for the latest greatest fitness craze?

Let me introduce you to Dirt Gym. Located on every small farm in the country, including the Harmonious Homestead, you can tone your muscles and chill your mind while growing food.

Searching for six pack abs? Let me introduce you to the amazing effects of hoeing weeds among rows of corn and sweeping the weed whacker between fruit trees in the orchard. Digging drainage ditches builds obliques.

When it rains, have a mud run, no registration fee required! After dark, bring your head lamp for jaunts chasing after the escaped cat or nocturnal predators.

Want ripping arm muscles? Join Alex at the wood pile to chop your way to defined biceps. Haul the split wood from chopping block to storage pile for some aerobics to balance your exercise.

Fill, push, and unload the wheelbarrow for basic cardio. Squat, stoop for a weed and jump up again in the patented 'Weedie' exercise move. Count the number of bags of feed or bales of straw you can load and unload in a single session - and document your PR on Instagram with our complimentary WiFi!

We have no juice bar, but gym rats can refuel on greens and herbs year-round by plucking them out of the beds. Showers and towels aren't provided either but we have 125 feet of hose. Tan with the original ancient process known as working under the sun.

Dirt Gym costs nothing and is open every day of the year - all ages welcome!

Garden Pests Everywhere! {Wordless Wednesday}

Can you ID them all? 1. aphids on tomato leaf 2. flea beetle on potatoes 3. unidentified holes on cabbage leaves 4. cabbage moth caterpillar 5. beet leaf miner 6. chickens eyeing bean leaves 7. chickens turning cabbage moth caterpillar into eggs

We are trying to be zen-like in our thoughts and actions toward the early and widespread garden pests. We are plucking perpetrators and feeding them to the chickens and sometimes we're treating with natural pesticides. But we don't have the time or inclination to treat everything. Perhaps this year will be one in which we build up populations of natural predators. Ideally, the diversity of our plantings will ensure that something will survive; we'll save those seeds to breed local pest-resistance after we're done eating what we can, bug-holed or not.

The Drunken Botanist and Bakeless Sweets {Book Hounds}

Welcome to another episode of the long-lost series, Book Hounds. It's not that we aren't reading, I'm simply not finding time to write about books very often. But two came into my life recently that must be shared.

The Drunken Botanist The Plants That Create The World's Great Drinks

The Drunken Botanist hit me like a cold, strong drink on a long, hot afternoon. It is crisp, refreshing, and a beautiful pairing of two of my favorite things: gardening and cocktails. Part plant-text complete with latin names and growing instructions, part cocktail recipe book, Amy Stewart's latest is a refreshing homage to the many leafy, flowery things that comprise alcohol.

Organized by species, The Drunken Botanist describes basic fermentation ingredients like barley, apple, grapes, and agave and then delves into more obscure flavoring herbs and flowers. In her trademark witty writing style, Stewart tells how each plant grows, a short history of how the plant first became alcohol, and modern uses. Pages are illustrated with Victorian-esque single-color drawings.

Stewart includes cocktail recipes and growing instructions for the most commonly available imbibe-ables. These practical bits of information are written simply for beginning mixologists and gardeners, though if I have one criticism of the book it's that some of the growing instructions are not detailed enough for true success in my experience. More details, including a plant collection available on the West coast where Stewart lives, are on The Drunken Botanist website.

If you enjoy mixed drinks and growing plants, take a sip of The Drunken Botanist.

Bakeless Sweets Pudding, Panna Cotta, Fluffs, Icebox Cakes, and More No-Bake Desserts

Well over a year ago, TheKitchn.com editor Faith Durand and husband Michael joined us for dinner at mutual friends'. They were headed out of town, so Faith brought over a raft of desserts she was testing a cookbook project. The puddings and toppings I tasted then went on to become part of Bakeless Sweets, just released.

Bakeless Sweets is a cookbook of puddings, custards, jellies, and icebox cakes. All are prepared without an oven, from scratch, with simple ingredients and methods. Many are gluten-free; an index in the introduction lists desserts to meet all dietary preferences. Faith calls for serving most recipes at room temperature or chilled, making them great candidates for summer picnics and cookouts.

Bakeless Sweets contains classic recipes and updated versions like Lemon and Sour Cream Custard, Peach Jelly Terrine, and S'mores Pudding Cake. Like a tasty trifle, the book includes many useful side bars, trouble-shooting tips, and overviews among the smooth, well-tested recipes. I'm glad to see that Toasted Coconut Brittle made the cut into the cookbook because the sample I tried was fantastic. I bought rhubarb at the farmers' market yesterday to make Strawberry Rhubarb Fool when our next batch of strawberries are ripe.

Far from the stodgy, box-mix recipes of the 70s, Bakeless Sweets offers a fresh take on spoon-able desserts. Photographs by Stacy Newgent effortlessly illustrate this intersection of vintage inspiration and modern appeal. Two weeks ago, I bought some nesting gelatin molds at an antique store in anticipation of receiving Bakeless Sweets in the mail; when I opened the book it landed on the page pictured above with the same molds!

Faith is sharing photos that didn't make it into the book on the Bakeless Sweets website. She'll sign books and offer a demonstration at the Country Living Fair in early September in Columbus and I'm hopeful she'll have a pudding party in Central Ohio sooner than that as well. In the meantime, I highly recommend finding a copy of Bakeless Sweets to enliven your summer desserts.

Where We Be

You don't need to be a careful observer to figure out that we aren't sitting around inside blogging these days. Photographs are few and far between these days, hence a gratuitous picture of chicks to illustrate this post. We're incredibly, happily busy in and out of the house.

Here's where we are:

In The Garden - As often as we can, we're outside playing on the natural playground, tending the hoop house, caring for chickens, and building and filling new garden beds. We come inside happily exhausted and start over the next day.

Working - Rachel is spending one afternoon a week at City Folk's Farm Shop. She loves talking to people about gardening and helping out friend Shawn and Gerry who own the store. Rachel is also putting in hours at the Ohio 4-H International office this summer while they are in between staff.

Despite the threat of furlough, Alex is leading up a new program with his job and working more than usual. The good news for our bank account is that he will only be furloughed up to eleven days now.

Bringing Food to the People - Rachel also sells mushrooms, microgreens, seedlings, and specialty vegetables for Swainway Urban Farm at Clintonville or Worthington markets on Saturday mornings. She'll help out for the Clintonville Wednesday evening market when that starts in early June too. And Alex is now serving on the Clintonville Farmers' Market board, so he spends time meeting, running errands, and completing projects.

Teaching - We have a full line-up of classes with City Folk's, Franklin Park Conservatory, Local Matters, and the newly-opened Seasoned Farmhouse. Come join one of our summer workshops!

Grow Your Own: Chickens 101 - 5/21 Seeds! Swap and Save - 6/2 Solve Gardening Problems Naturally —6/11 Pressure Canning—6/23 Pickles—6/25  Preserving Basics—7/11  Makin’ Bacon—7/14  Planning Your Fall Garden-8/1  Cooking with Herbs—8/18  BBQ Basics—8/25 

After August, our lives will return to a slower pace again. In the meantime, stop by a farmers' market or class to chat about what's up on the homestead!

Our Natural Playground

When we bought our new house, we had big plans to build a tree house around our huge oak. Then we found out that the oak might qualify as a Big Tree and we don't want to damage it. And establishing the garden is taking an inordinate amount of time and money, leaving little for a play house.

Instead of buying lumber to create a house-like structure, we turned to what we have in abundance - tree sections - and used tools on hand to build a natural playground. First, Alex lag-bolted a thin oak trunk to two trunk sections to create a balance beam fun for kids and adults. After blazing through batteries and exhausting the air compressor, Alex resorted to hand tools and mechanical advantage to drill the pilot holes for the beams. Trees are ever humbling.

I rolled sections of catalpa tree trunk into a series of stepping logs over a wet area. Until these settle in, they are quite unbalanced and difficult to walk over! Lil and friends enjoy using the tarp-covered soil pile as a slide, one which is shrinking by the day. Lil thinks the creatures who visit her nearby fairy house might use the balance beam and stepping logs.

Last, but certainly not least, everyone likes climbing on the four-foot-tall trunk sections of oak laying near the house. Someday we'll get around to processing them into lumber or firewood. Right now, they're a pretend pirate ship, a climbing gym for kitty Moonshine, a jumping-off point, and a lookout.

We are enjoying the natural playground so much that I question whether we'll ever get around to building a tree house. It might be more fun to put in a couple slack lines and hammocks.

Where are you playing these days?

Keep Yourself and Your Plants Cool This Summer & Duluth Trading Giveaway!

Warm days are here to stay, hooray! As the temperatures rise, staying cool becomes all the more important. Here's how we keep ourselves cool in the summer:

1) Don a hat - a lightweight hat keeps sun off the face which keeps your whole body cool. In addition, it shades your eyes which prevents eye strain and headaches.

2) Wear light-colored, breathable clothing - Clothing made from materials like wool and bamboo are naturally breathable. New woven synthetics can match their drying power. The folks at Duluth Trading gave me a chance to try out some of their clothing made from lightweight, wicking fabric. The Armachillo shirt I'm wearing in these pictures has clever vents along the back to stay even cooler.

3) Work smart - Carry tools with you to prevent running back to the garage, stay in shade, and work in the cooler morning or evening if possible. Many women's pants don't have enough pockets but the quick dry work pants from Duluth Trading have plenty of places for hand tools, seed packets and cellphone.

Keep your plants happy and productive this summer by ensuring they stay cool too. Here's how:

1) Water at the soil surface because it minimizes evaporation. If you water on a sunny day on top of plants, the droplets can be like little magnifying glasses and cause sun scortch on the leaves. Push your hose or can to the bottom of the plant for best results.

2) Water deeply every three to four days instead of lightly every day. This way, even the deepest roots get to soak up a drink and you aren't spending as much time watering.

3) Mulch or plant short plants under taller ones to retain moisture. We're experimenting with planting carrots and lettuces under our tomatoes and peppers this year to keep down weeds, give us a secondary crop, and act as living mulch for water retention.

Want to have your Summer Solved? I have a $50 gift card to Duluth Trading Company for one lucky person. Enter to win in one or both of these ways:

1) Leave a comment below about how to beat the summer heat or anything else that's on your mind.

2) Like Harmonious Homestead on Facebook and leave a comment telling me you did, or already do.

Duluth Trading Company is offering free US shipping for orders over $50 now through June 30, 2013. Just enter code “T13PRCG”.

Giveaway rules: The giveaway winner will be chosen by random.org from all valid entries on Sunday May 12 at 8 pm and winner will have 24 hours to respond by email. The gift card giveaway is open to anyone who can receive the card at a US or Canadian address. 

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Punch Rhyme Time With Pink Rum Punch Recipe

Bring out your bowls and cups - punches are coming back! These mixed drinks are returning in a big way for good reason - they're fun, fast, and festive. I make punches following the ratio recipe of the traditional Barbadian national rhyme:

One of Sour, Two of Sweet, Three of Strong, Four of Weak.

Traditionally, the sour was lime juice, sweet was sugar, honey, or molasses syrup, strong was rum, and weak was black tea. Perhaps punches originated this way because when made with the above ingredients, Barbados rum punch contains alcohol, caffeine, carbohydrates, and scurvy-preventative - everything a sailor needed to make it through a voyage.

Playing with Punch

The punch rhyme is a jumping off point for creative cocktail makers like ourselves. We make punches with all types of alcohol. They're a convenient way to use up vodka infusions. A few drops of bitters creates yet another layer of flavors and punches always taste better after aging overnight in the fridge.

Here are some ideas for the ingredients:

Sour - lemon, 100% cranberry, 100% cherry, or lime juice

Sweet - diluted honey, simple syrup, maple syrup

Strong - rum, bourbon, vodka, fruit or herb infusions

Weak - black tea, herbal tea, light fruit juices

Pink Punch Recipe

1 part 100% cranberry juice 2 parts simple syrup 2 1/2 parts white (unaged) rum 1/2 part sour cherry liqueur 4 parts raspberry hibiscus tea Angostura bitters, to taste

1. Mix all ingredients in a glass jar. Hint: A Ball quart or half-gallon jar has convenient measures on the sides for parts.

2. Shake well to combine and store in refrigerator overnight or up to five days.

3. Serve over ice, perhaps with a stainless steel straw.

Fairy Houses And The Importance Of Self-Directed Play

Lil spent the better part of Monday and Tuesday last week building a fairy house. Crouched below a tree, she collected and arranged equal-sized pieces of bark into walls and a roof. She lined up tiny branches to form a path to the house, keeping an eye on little hound Hawise at the same time. Or was Hawise keeping an eye on her? 

Lil decided the house should be more than just a structure. The fairies would enjoy a garden. Lil carefully transplanted spring beauty wildflowers and mosses outside a 'window' in the house with a scrap of glass as a gazing pond. With laborious effort, she tied grass to sticks and a piece of bark to make a swing.

Decorations continued with a little stick to hold acorn-top hats and a hand-written welcome mat. After this photo session, she transplanted a radish for more green space. Rain damaged some of the walls to fall and she repaired them at the next dry opportunity.

Initially I was thankful for the hours of uninterrupted time I was afforded by Lil's interest in building the house. I layered and planted some garden beds, tended the hoop house, and cared for the chickens and dogs.

But upon reflection, I thought about all the benefits Lil earned:

• practice with laws of physics as walls fell down
• approximation and measurement to build even wall and roof members
• classification and identification of natural species
• awareness of surroundings
• responsibility for others (the little dog Hawise)
• persistence when building and rebuilding the swing
• large and fine motor exercise
• imagination and story-telling
• satisfaction of carrying out a vision to completion

I suppose I could have construed a home school lesson to teach these things. But I didn't know her brain was craving them. Assigning her to build a fairy house would have changed the whole dynamic - instead of time for my own chores I would have to monitor whether she was carrying out my vision and she likely would not have freely expressed her creativity or felt satisfaction.

Self-directed play is the heart of our unschool philosophy. It is allowing Lil to choose projects to consume her time, meeting her own needs leisurely. Sometimes Lil's chosen activities require our support in gathering materials or learning alongside her. Often, like with the fairy house, Lil is completely independent.

Lil excitedly shared her fairy house with us when it was completed. Conversation about the fairy house inspired talks about construction and resilience in the face of difficult problems. Building a swing the size for a make-believe character the size of a quarter might not seem like a real problem to us but for Lil it was - and she created a solution.

Self-directed play is work of the best kind, something to be experienced by children and adults alike. Play is fun and empowering. It draws people together.

While Lil exhausts herself playing by building homes for mythical creatures, Alex and I tire from playing outside planting, digging, chopping and moving wood. These are all self-chosen chores that fulfill our spirit while creating the homestead we envision.

How are you playing these days?