Made by Hand, Blueberry Girl, Jamberry & Blueberries for Sal

Publishers recently sent me a copy of Made by Hand: Searching for Meaning in a Throwaway World.  Written by Mark Frauenfelder, founder of Make magazine, this quick read is an overview of one family's experience with making things by hand.  Organized by the various objects they attempt to create, each chapter is both a tutorial and reflection.  The themes are simple: waste not, want not; creativity and out-of-the-box thinking is fun; mistakes are how we learn; and quality beats quantity.  While some chapters seem to come to pat conclusions, I always enjoy peering into another do-it-yourself-er's life. It's berry picking season in Ohio and we have three berry favorites in heavy rotation for reading to Lillian:

First is an old story I remember my mother reading to me, Blueberries for Sal.  In it, a mother and cub bear and mother and child human both happen upon the same blueberry hill at the same time.  Robert McClosky, author of other classics such as Make Way for Ducklings, spins a tale of what happens when the two children get mixed up in a daze of gobbling berries.  A Caldecott Honor Book with indigo illustrations, Blueberries for Sal is a gentle cautionary tale, perfect for reading aloud to a young child about to pick blueberries for the first time.

Jamberry is a quick silly rhyming book about many kinds of berries, both real and fantastical.  Packed with charming illustrations of a friendly bear and child, this is a favorite read aloud at my Kids Cook classes.

Blueberry Girl is by the poet and author Neil Gaiman.  A gift from Alex and Lil to me for Mother's Day 2008, this poignant book is equally appropriate for adults and children.  It's a love poem from parent to daughter detailing the hopes and dreams held in that relationship.  Whimsical illustrations compliment Gaiman's well metered writing.  Below is a trailer of sorts with Gaiman reading.

A month or so ago I also recommended a few books.  I have an ever present stack of books from the library (you'll Keep CML Strong, right?) and regularly coming across material appropriate for Hounds in the Kitchen readers.  I would like to start a little 'recommended reads' series but am struggling to come up with a catchy title.

So, how about a little giveaway contest?  I'll mail a copy of Made by Hand and jar of my handmade jam to whomever suggests my favorite series moniker.  It has to be relatively short so I can make a little icon and include it as a category.  Something to do with the common subject matter - food - would be good too.

All you have to do is leave a comment with your suggestion(s).  I'll leave the giveaway open for a week and choose a winner next Friday, August 20 at 9 PM.

FTC disclosure: I received Made by Hand for free.  Title links are through the Amazon affiliate program.  I really hope readers will use their libraries before buying!

This post is part of Fight Back Fridays

Lil's Colorful Chop Salad

It is afternoon, a time when summer boredom hits hardest.  Lil is whiny and wants nothing to do with any of the ideas I suggest.  That is, until I start working on dinner and ask if she would like to make a salad.

She runs to her garden and picks what is ripe and fresh.  She brings them inside, washes, and begins to chop.  Lil dices carrots finely with an adult paring knife.  I teach her how to chiffonade large leaves.  She mixes a vinaigrette, pours it over the salads, and serves them.

These chop salads genuinely taste delicious and make good use of our in season vegetables.  More than that, Lil's salads represent the growth of a healthy eater and contributing member of our food loving family.

Recipe for a Chop Salad, verbatim from Lil

First, we need to do carrots, then chard, then some dressing.  Put herbs and done.

Tips for a Successful Salad Making Experience with a Child

1. Say 'yes' as often as you can.  You want both the making and the eating of a child-led salad to be positive.

2. Set yourself up for success by offering to do tasks that might be frustrating for a young child, such as cutting thick parts of a carrot.

3. Be flexible about letting the child try everything they want to try.  Model techniques, moving their hands under yours if need be.

4. Give them the proper tools, especially knife ware.  A child will be easily frustrated with a knife that doesn't cut well.  Lil has been using an adult pairing knife since she was three, for these reasons.

5. Double check the washing.  Garden vegetables, especially greens, can be dirty and grit makes for a poor salad.  Kids love using the salad spinner, so employ yours if you have one.

6. Go with the child's taste ideas.  You may never have thought to pair certain herbs and vegetables, but the child's tastes may surprise you. More than that, by allowing her creativity in the kitchen you are giving her confidence in other areas.

7. Specifically and honestly affirm the act of making and eating a healthy salad.  "You worked really hard at this." "I especially like how carefully you cut the carrots."  "Thanks for making part of our dinner! I love eating this nutritious and delicious salad."

Guest Post: Go Geocaching with Your Kids!

As the Hounds in the Kitchen are cooking over a campstove in Canada right now, we've invited some of our favorite bloggers to come fill the space here.  Today's guest post is from Kristin Marks, the awesome CbusMom.

“We found it!” Cheers and excitement filled the air as we held our first box full of hidden treasure. It was a small gray box placed inside a tree log and inside the box were small gifts left behind by someone named namaste98. My children, a good friend, and I traipsed through Whetstone Park of Roses for almost three hours on our “Family Stroll in the Park” mission in search of this gray box. We were hot, sweaty, and tired, but determined to find that box to complete our very first Geocaching adventure.

Geocaching is basically high-tech scavenger hunting. Seekers use their GPS device (be sure it offers longitude and latitude) to locate a “geocache” which could be a box, bag, tube, or whatever the hider uses that is weather resistant. The website offers all the information you will need to go hunting: www.geocaching.com.

My experience was a really great one for the first time. I went online to sign up for a free membership and began searching for a geocache in my area. Turns out there are tons of geocaches hidden around Central Ohio and people have been doing this for years! I phoned my friend and asked her to come with me because I was a little apprehensive doing it alone with two kids. We chose the mission I mentioned above “Family Stroll in the Park,” mainly because namaste98 stated it was family friendly and had trinkets for children in the box.

We tried using only the google map we printed off the site’s page, but it gave a very loose frame of location for the geocache. So, I downloaded a free app for my Droid that told us where we were in regards to longitude and latitude because the basic GPS on my phone did not. Once we understood how to read where we were in regards to degrees North and West, we were on our mission.

The search lead us into the woods, we crossed over streams, patted nice dogs…and kept retracing our steps. The satellite signal to my phone kept bouncing off the trees and giving us incorrect longitude and latitude numbers; but, we reached the correct area, incredibly determined to find that geocache. Now, these geocaches aren’t always found. Sometimes you can search and search and not find it – and that is okay. It is the adventure of trying to find it that is fun.

After we knew we were in the correct area and not finding the hidden geocache, I was almost ready to call it quits. My friend asked “are you sure you checked every hollow log?” So I pouted a little and checked again. Wouldn’t ya know it?! I found it! Hidden by a broken branch in a hollow log was the little gray box we had spent hours trying to find. We opened it up and gazed at the little treasures inside. My daughter chose a piggy and my son chose a car; and if you take something you need to leave something, so we left a pirate figurine and some beads. We all felt accomplished and my kids got rewarded for their scavenger hunting abilities. When I got home I went to geocaching.com and logged my experience. The hiders sent me a congratulations email for finding their geocache. I’ll definitely do it again, and try not to pout next time.

Read Kristin's website, CbusMom for more fun family friendly ideas.

Rest In Peace Chester

Chester, our beta fish of two years, died today.

Lil was extraordinarily sad, as young children are when a pet dies.  We helped her sit with her grief and choose what to do with the fish body.  We never thought to ask him his final wishes.

Lil chose to make a bed of flower petals in a small box for his coffin.  I helped her write a note on the top that says 'This fish died just when he got his new home.  I really miss him.'  The 'new' home is a tank we got three months ago...

We buried the box in Lil's garden and talked about how Chester's flesh and bones will decompose and fertilize the soil.  I took pictures and later Lil and I put together the collage pictured above.

Lil called all her aunties to tell them that Chester died.  On her second birthday, my sisters, the aunties, bought her the fish tank and I think that's where Lil had the idea that they would want to know about the death in the fish family.

Now Frog is living alone in the fish tank.  We talked about getting a new beta or perhaps other fish when we return from Canada.  In the meantime I'm sure we will keep talking about Chester.  The circle goes round again.

Raising Children with Chickens

There is no doubt that the true chicken keeper of our family is four and a half year old Lillian.

She named the chickens and feeds them scraps. She takes them on bike rides and returns them to the coop after free ranging in the yard.

Lil recently petitioned to be in charge of collecting eggs.  This is no small feat; Lil climbs headfirst into the coop and reaches into the nesting area.  She pulls out eggs one at a time and gently carries them into the house.

Sometimes the chickens have had enough child's play.  Recently Lil came crying to me with a blemish on her eye lid.  I asked what happened.  "I was holding Sussy by the wings and pinching her comb."  I don't have a lot of sympathy for her injury but hopefully Lil learned something about treating animals gently.

Here are Lil's thoughts about the chickens in her own words:

We have come to learn that a flock of laying hens is a delight for most children, including Lil.  Keeping livestock teaches responsibility and biology with a healthy dose of fun.

Kids Cook Summer Camps

I am excited to offer four summer day camps for kids who love to cook and eat! Each camp will be an extended edition of the weekly Kids Cook series.  In an open, creative environment, kids will taste and reflect on local healthy foods.  All the senses will be engaged through story, hands on cooking, and art.

What's special about Kid's Cook camps?  We will explore every part of the ingredients from how they're grown to tasting raw to how they are cooked.  We also cook everything from scratch giving children experience chopping, measuring, and mixing.  Finally, children will direct the menus this summer.  They will choose dishes THEY want to make.  Join me for one or more of the camps listed below!

Kids Cook Breakfast - From waffles to eggs, fruit to frittata, kid cooks will plan breakfast menus, make meals, and record their experiences in their breakfast cookbook.  Children will also have the opportunity to decorate a reusable cereal bowl.

Tuesday June 15-Thursday June 17 at Sprout Soup, 4310 N High Street 43214. 10 am – 12 pm ages 3 – 5 years, 1 pm – 3 pm ages 6 and up, $75, register here

Kids Cook Lunch - Together we'll choose and make dishes for daily picnic lunches. Kid cooks will decorate a reusable lunch bag and illustrate a lunch cookbook.

Tues. June 29-Thurs. July 1 at Sprout Soup, 4310 N High Street 43214. 10 am – 12 pm ages 3 – 5 years, 1 pm – 3 pm ages 6 and up, $75, register here

Kids Cook Dinner - Cooks will create dinner menus and cook favorite hearty recipes from local foods.  They will also hand dye an apron sized just for them to encourage making dinner at home.

Tues. Aug 3-Thurs. Aug.5th at Sprout Soup, 4310 N High Street 43214. 10 am – 12 pm ages 3 – 5 years, 1 pm – 3 pm ages 6 and up, $75, register here

OpenHeartART Food Camp- Explore nutrition and food through cooking,  music, and art at the OpenHeartART studios.  In this camp, children will have the opportunity to create edible art, used edibles to make art works, and even make instruments from food packaging.

Monday Wednesday & Friday August 16, 18 & 20 at OpenHeartART, 280 W Lakeview 43202. Ages 3-5 10am-12pm, ages 6 & up 2pm-4pm, $75, Register at OpenHeartART

Please contact me with any questions about summer programs.  I hope to see you and your little one at a camp this summer!

Build a Salad Container Garden

Yesterday I lead a edible container building workshop for members of Food Matters Columbus. We claimed a few picnic tables at Whetstone Park and planted away. Today, Lil wanted to make a garden just like the workshop. So we did!

Lil was happy to get her hands dirty filling the container.

She planted a tomato seedling, radishes, endive, and basil for me and mint for her.

Could her hands be any dirtier?  I say that one good measure of a child's happiness is the variety of grime on their body. ;)

Lil decorated each label with her interpretation of what the vegetable looks like.

Just before going in for bed, Lil used the rain barrel hose to water her new garden.

I will repeat the container building workshop with families this Saturday, April 17, from 2 - 3 pm at Sprout Soup. Each container that participants will fill with soil, seedlings, and seeds costs $20. Spaces are limited! Reserve your experience by emailing me.  Or, make your own salad garden by following the steps below:

Supplies:

Container, preferably at least 20 inches wide by 7 inches deep

Potting soil or topsoil mixed with peat moss

Seedlings (herbs, tomatoes, radishes)

Seeds (lettuces, spinach, radishes)

Row markers, tongue depressors, or popsicle sticks

Trowel

Procedure:

1.Label row markers with the plants you choose.  At a maximum, choose one variety of tomato, two herbs, and two seeds.

2. Fill container with soil to within one inch of the top, mixing in two scoops of peat moss if you have it.

3. Place row markers.  Tomatoes should be planted at an end so they will not shade everything.  Herbs and lettuce need 4 or 5 inch spacing.

4. Plant seedlings by hollowing out a small hole in the soil.  Plant deep enough that the dirt covers a quarter inch of the stem.  Cover with removed soil.

5. Scatter seeds (five to eight seeds per variety).

Care of the Container:

1. Place in a sunny location.  If necessary, move throughout the day to chase the best sunlight.  Orient the container such that the tomato will not shade the rest of the plants (generally towards the north east).

2. Water immediately upon placement.  Continue watering whenever soil is dry a half inch deep.

3. Watch the weather for hard frosts.  If one is forecast, bring your container inside for the night or cover with a sheet or tarp for the evening.

4. When plants develop, harvest tomatos by plucking them off the vine.  Lettuces and herbs can be snipped with scissors or gently torn from the plant.  They will continue to produce new leaves.

5. If herbs or lettuces develop flowers, snip or pinch those off.  When plants go into flower production, the leaves become bitter.  If you remove the buds you can enjoy the leaves longer.

6. When it gets very hot, lettuce will become bitter.  Remove the plant.  In late August or early September you can replant lettuce and it will grow outdoors until the first fall hard frost.

Starting Seeds

There are oodles of books about starting seeds from people far more qualified than me to be dispensing advice.  If you really want to know everything, I suggest searching out references at your local library. What we do here is a casual process guided mostly by the backs of the seed packets and our own yearning to be outside.

Indoors we will soon start some peppers, tomatoes, and herbs.  Our setup is a simple plastic tray with peat pots and a hardware store fluorescent light suspended on top.

As soon as we can work the soil, around the end of March, we will sow potatoes outdoors in our potato tower (post in progress).  Peas, shallots and greens will come soon after in early april.  Greens can be started indoors but with our limited seed starting space we just start them outside.

This year we'll add asparagus to the garden and sow the crowns sometime in mid April.  They need deep and well drained furrows according to the OSU extension fact sheet.  The extension publishes fact sheets on most varieties of home garden vegetables and are worth a look.  They are hybrid and chemical proponents, so just ignore that advice if you are going for a more natural approach.

Everything else will be direct sown around May 1.  The traditional frost free date is May 15, but I am usually willing to take the risk by May 1.   I cover beds with old sheets for the night if there is a late frost.

Direct sowing is one of Lil's favorite garden projects.  She is good at punching her finger down to make holes and covering the seeds back up.  We label rows with old plastic silverware, popsicle sticks, or whatever else is available.  I lust after reusable metal row markers.

Around mid May there's an inevitable trip to the garden center and we can never seem to resist buying a few more seedlings.  This year we plan to visit Jon Fisher tomato greenhouse on the recommendation of neighbors to add some variety to our tomato plantings.

We sow many seeds two or three weeks in a row to extend their production.  Peas, squash, beans, carrots and greens are all good candidates for this.  In the fall after early season vegetables (peas, broccoli, greens) have gone by, we will sow late season vegetables like carrots, beets, chard, kale, and lettuces in their rows.

To keep everything in order, I generally arrange seed packets in a box based on their planting date.  I put them at the back of the line after they are planted.

A friend just shared this awesome planting calendar calculator.   I will probably  print a copy for the seed packet box so I don't have to keep everything in my head.

What's your seed starting plan?