A Gift of Green BEAN Delivery

A few weeks ago, the fine folks at Green B.E.A.N. contacted me about some updates in the works. I reviewed Green B.E.A.N. a few years ago and concluded then that the service was useful and cost effective, so I was interested to see what was new. My brother in law and his wife recently welcomed their first baby, Lil's first cousin, into the world. They live in Saint Louis which is too far for us to support them in our usual way by making meals. Unlike flowers that fade and clothes that are outgrown quickly, new parents can always use healthy food. The email from Green B.E.A.N. came at exactly the right time because Green BEAN could deliver for us!

Ordering a gift through Green B.E.A.N. was simple. I just set up an account with my payment information and my brother in law's delivery address. I chose the organic produce I want delivered plus a few healthy treats each week. Green B.E.A.N., available in Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, and Kentucky, takes care of the rest.

The recently redesigned website features enticing photographs and descriptions of each option. Items you add to the bin are conveniently displayed on the right sidebar so you don't have to scroll up and down the page to see your total. I appreciate the methods of sorting the available foods because I can easily select vegan foods for my sister in law and see which vegetables are coming from local farms.

I'm impressed with the updates to the website and the ease of ordering for my out-of-town family. The account information is easy to access and it will be easy to cancel when I'm ready. I feel good about sending my growing family some healthy, growing food.

If you want to give the gift of Green B.E.A.N. delivery or start up service yourself, use code 15HHml for $15 off your first bin through July 29.

Disclosure: Green B.E.A.N. provided one bin for my review. I purchased the gift bins myself and all opinions remain my own.

A Gift of Green BEAN Delivery

A few weeks ago, the fine folks at Green B.E.A.N. contacted me about some updates in the works. I reviewed Green B.E.A.N. a few years ago and concluded then that the service was useful and cost effective, so I was interested to see what was new. My brother in law and his wife recently welcomed their first baby, Lil's first cousin, into the world. They live in Saint Louis which is too far for us to support them in our usual way by making meals. Unlike flowers that fade and clothes that are outgrown quickly, new parents can always use healthy food. The email from Green B.E.A.N. came at exactly the right time because Green BEAN could deliver for us!

Ordering a gift through Green B.E.A.N. was simple. I just set up an account with my payment information and my brother in law's delivery address. I chose the organic produce I want delivered plus a few healthy treats each week. Green B.E.A.N., available in Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, and Kentucky, takes care of the rest.

The recently redesigned website features enticing photographs and descriptions of each option. Items you add to the bin are conveniently displayed on the right sidebar so you don't have to scroll up and down the page to see your total. I appreciate the methods of sorting the available foods because I can easily select vegan foods for my sister in law and see which vegetables are coming from local farms.

I'm impressed with the updates to the website and the ease of ordering for my out-of-town family. The account information is easy to access and it will be easy to cancel when I'm ready. I feel good about sending my growing family some healthy, growing food.

If you want to give the gift of Green B.E.A.N. delivery or start up service yourself, use code 15HHml for $15 off your first bin through July 29.

Disclosure: Green B.E.A.N. provided one bin for my review. I purchased the gift bins myself and all opinions remain my own.

Spread the Love Sunday & Ohio History Center Giveaway!

Now that I have the bad news of the chicken slaughter off my chest, it's time to share some good news:

1) First, I'm thrilled to announce that I was selected to be part of the US delegation to Slow Food International's Terra Madre and Salone de Gusto in Turin, Italy this October! I'm excited to represent small farmers at the conference and to learn from more experienced growers and food producers. Soon, I'll share details about how you can participate by supporting the delegation through farm-to-table fundraisers.

2) My friends Joel and Dana of WellPreserved.ca just announced their book project and The Home Ec Big Outdoor Party. Congrats to them! If you happen to live or visit the Toronto area in mid September, I'm sure the party will be a blast.

3) Have you heard about The Commissary? It's a new commercial test kitchen, co-working space, and connection point for the central Ohio food community being built in Grandview. I support their Kickstarter campaign to outfit the community space where folks can hold cooking classes, private events, and pop-up restaurants. Can you support them too?

4) Not another Kickstarter?! Well, yes. The Shazzbots, a seriously entertaining kids band in Columbus is raising money for a TV pilot. We've loved the Shazzbots since Lil was a little duder and any time we can encourage decent television among the stratosphere of mind-rotting junk, we want to support that. Give the Shazzbots TV pilot project a look - they even have a $1 reward!

5) Sprout It gardening app is holding a Jeni's ice cream contest just for trying out their garden planning software. The info in the software is solid and it automatically sends email reminders with growing tips. Download the app and enter the contest by Monday. 

6) To spread the love to you, I'm giving away three two-packs of tickets to the Ohio Village & Museum provided by the newly-rebranded Ohio History Connection. The 1800s historical Ohio Village includes a town hall, school, church, houses, barns, and more.

We visited the Soldier's Aid fair a few weeks ago and saw tin type photography in action. Another favorite part of the village is the gardens that include chickens this year!

If you want to visit the Ohio Village & Museum with a friend, tell me how you're spreading the love these days. Leave a comment below by Thursday, July 3. I will choose three random winners on 7.4.14.

Spread the Love Sunday & Ohio History Center Giveaway!

Now that I have the bad news of the chicken slaughter off my chest, it's time to share some good news:

1) First, I'm thrilled to announce that I was selected to be part of the US delegation to Slow Food International's Terra Madre and Salone de Gusto in Turin, Italy this October! I'm excited to represent small farmers at the conference and to learn from more experienced growers and food producers. Soon, I'll share details about how you can participate by supporting the delegation through farm-to-table fundraisers.

2) My friends Joel and Dana of WellPreserved.ca just announced their book project and The Home Ec Big Outdoor Party. Congrats to them! If you happen to live or visit the Toronto area in mid September, I'm sure the party will be a blast.

3) Have you heard about The Commissary? It's a new commercial test kitchen, co-working space, and connection point for the central Ohio food community being built in Grandview. I support their Kickstarter campaign to outfit the community space where folks can hold cooking classes, private events, and pop-up restaurants. Can you support them too?

4) Not another Kickstarter?! Well, yes. The Shazzbots, a seriously entertaining kids band in Columbus is raising money for a TV pilot. We've loved the Shazzbots since Lil was a little duder and any time we can encourage decent television among the stratosphere of mind-rotting junk, we want to support that. Give the Shazzbots TV pilot project a look - they even have a $1 reward!

5) Sprout It gardening app is holding a Jeni's ice cream contest just for trying out their garden planning software. The info in the software is solid and it automatically sends email reminders with growing tips. Download the app and enter the contest by Monday. 

6) To spread the love to you, I'm giving away three two-packs of tickets to the Ohio Village & Museum provided by the newly-rebranded Ohio History Connection. The 1800s historical Ohio Village includes a town hall, school, church, houses, barns, and more.

We visited the Soldier's Aid fair a few weeks ago and saw tin type photography in action. Another favorite part of the village is the gardens that include chickens this year!

If you want to visit the Ohio Village & Museum with a friend, tell me how you're spreading the love these days. Leave a comment below by Thursday, July 3. I will choose three random winners on 7.4.14.

The Cost Of Freedom

Find the cost of freedom,

I mentioned that we recently switched our chickens from a small yard to a much larger pasture system. We loved giving our girls more space to forage and rotating them to a new area when one was hen pecked. They seemed healthier for having the freedom to roam around.

Buried in the ground,

But last Wednesday, we experienced the devastating cost of such independence. A quick and thorough predator slaughtered our entire flock save one hen hidden in the nest box.

The attack happened just after I let the birds out in the morning, a time I've never been worried about predators. The culprit, likely a fox or family of hawks, only took two bodies to presumably eat. When I returned to the yard to feed kitchen scraps, I found fourteen dead or dying bodies scattered like a crime scene.

Mother Earth will swallow you,

My heart raced, momentarily unable to believe my eyes. I didn't know what to do next. No one does in the face of such devastation.

In the end, with the advice and assistance of many friends, we buried the bodies. Our sweet rooster Shakleton, who by the dispersal of feathers clearly fought the predator, lived another eight hours but ultimately succumbed to unknown internal injuries. We buried him as well.

Lay your body down.

As overwhelming as losing the entire flock was, we have always been aware of the possibility of predator attacks. Foxes, raccoons, and hawks all frequent our property. The only way to truly protect chickens would be to confine them completely and that's not the way we wish to raise livestock. So we submit to the occasional interruption of natural predator and prey behavior.

A whole-flock loss, however, especially when the birds weren't even consumed, cannot happen again. We extended fencing on the run to make it a little harder for predators to climb and rehung buntings to deter hawks. We will add geese to the group because they will alert and possibly fight off small predators. And when we return from summer vacation, we'll adopt a dog to help guard the livestock. We're already rebuilding the flock with some chicks raised by our neighbor.

Grief over losing so many favorite birds, including our last remaining chicken from our very first group of hens, ebbs and flows but is generally abating. What still brings tears to my eyes is the outpouring of support. A half dozen friends showed up to help on the day of the slaughter and many more offered their assistance. Hundreds of friends spoke or wrote words of sympathy via social media, at the farmers market, and at our OEFFA tour. We are humbled by the number of people who encourage us.

NB. The interspersed lyrics are from the song 'Find the Cost of Freedom' recorded in 1971 by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. Listen to a live 1971 recording re-released last year. I fully realize that writer Stephen Stills was likely expressing a reaction to the tragic losses in the Vietnam War and a few chickens is no comparison to those events. My father's band sings 'Find the Cost of Freedom' at the end of each performance. Practicing and performing small gigs since I was young, their rendition of this song has helped ground me through losses my entire adulthood, and the lyrics ran through my head for days last week.

The Cost Of Freedom

Find the cost of freedom,

I mentioned that we recently switched our chickens from a small yard to a much larger pasture system. We loved giving our girls more space to forage and rotating them to a new area when one was hen pecked. They seemed healthier for having the freedom to roam around.

Buried in the ground,

But last Wednesday, we experienced the devastating cost of such independence. A quick and thorough predator slaughtered our entire flock save one hen hidden in the nest box.

The attack happened just after I let the birds out in the morning, a time I've never been worried about predators. The culprit, likely a fox or family of hawks, only took two bodies to presumably eat. When I returned to the yard to feed kitchen scraps, I found fourteen dead or dying bodies scattered like a crime scene.

Mother Earth will swallow you,

My heart raced, momentarily unable to believe my eyes. I didn't know what to do next. No one does in the face of such devastation.

In the end, with the advice and assistance of many friends, we buried the bodies. Our sweet rooster Shakleton, who by the dispersal of feathers clearly fought the predator, lived another eight hours but ultimately succumbed to unknown internal injuries. We buried him as well.

Lay your body down.

As overwhelming as losing the entire flock was, we have always been aware of the possibility of predator attacks. Foxes, raccoons, and hawks all frequent our property. The only way to truly protect chickens would be to confine them completely and that's not the way we wish to raise livestock. So we submit to the occasional interruption of natural predator and prey behavior.

A whole-flock loss, however, especially when the birds weren't even consumed, cannot happen again. We extended fencing on the run to make it a little harder for predators to climb and rehung buntings to deter hawks. We will add geese to the group because they will alert and possibly fight off small predators. And when we return from summer vacation, we'll adopt a dog to help guard the livestock. We're already rebuilding the flock with some chicks raised by our neighbor.

Grief over losing so many favorite birds, including our last remaining chicken from our very first group of hens, ebbs and flows but is generally abating. What still brings tears to my eyes is the outpouring of support. A half dozen friends showed up to help on the day of the slaughter and many more offered their assistance. Hundreds of friends spoke or wrote words of sympathy via social media, at the farmers market, and at our OEFFA tour. We are humbled by the number of people who encourage us.

NB. The interspersed lyrics are from the song 'Find the Cost of Freedom' recorded in 1971 by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. Listen to a live 1971 recording re-released last year. I fully realize that writer Stephen Stills was likely expressing a reaction to the tragic losses in the Vietnam War and a few chickens is no comparison to those events. My father's band sings 'Find the Cost of Freedom' at the end of each performance. Practicing and performing small gigs since I was young, their rendition of this song has helped ground me through losses my entire adulthood, and the lyrics ran through my head for days last week.

Edible Plant Flowers

Lil doesn't have much patience for gardening some days because "it's all about vegetables!" She plants her garden in flowers instead of food and she's taught me to appreciate beauty for beauty's sake alone. But most of the food we grow comes from flowers too. Can you identify these flowers from edible plants?

Answer key: 1. chamomile 2. cucumber 3. elderberry 4. pattypan squash 5. potato 6. sesame 7. tobacco 8. tomato 9. seed poppy

Edible Plant Flowers

Lil doesn't have much patience for gardening some days because "it's all about vegetables!" She plants her garden in flowers instead of food and she's taught me to appreciate beauty for beauty's sake alone. But most of the food we grow comes from flowers too. Can you identify these flowers from edible plants?

Answer key: 1. chamomile 2. cucumber 3. elderberry 4. pattypan squash 5. potato 6. sesame 7. tobacco 8. tomato 9. seed poppy