Life as a Food Hero

So, what happened to me since the holidays? I surely haven't bothered to write on my blog that is a sad fact. Well, life takes many turns giving me new direction to what I think and what I do. Simply, I got interested in several different things and found little time to sit to type about me.

Spring is almost here; which got me thinking about my vegetable garden. Not to do anything half-assed is a fault that I cannot manage to control. I read several gardening magazines, books, articles that I had saved and looked up things on the internet in an effort to make the best possible vegetable garden. This took hours that turned into days that ended up in weeks and even over a month! I found a website that was fantastic in letting me visually see what I was planning. It is GrowVeg.Com . This site allows you to draw out your garden plan and even see how many of each vegetable you can plant in the allotted space! Whalla, I could see what I was plotting in my head. If you make a new file, you can then see where you will plant your next season and whether you can actually put the peas where you think you want them. The plan flashes red to remind you that maybe that isn't a good choice taking in the considerations of why we rotate our crops. The first month is free, then the site will charge you a mere $25.00 to continue using it. They even send you emails to remind you to start your proper seeds at the right time because you have told the program your zip code! I always need a slap aside the head and love that email telling me that it is the time NOW!

I also read about a book, "Food Heros" by Georgia Pellegrini and true to my nature ordered the book from Amazon.com. I could not put the book down. You can see a link to buy a copy at the top of this post. I bought a used one from Amazon that made it a tad less expensive. I always buy used books when I can. I am a yellow-underliner and a used book is just as good as a new. It is surely not pristine after I have marked it up! I've loaned the book to two different people who also were excited about the possibilities for becoming a food hero! Georgia also has a blog that you can read on line. I can't wait to buy her other book due to be published in the fall "Hunter Woman". I know my daughter, Lynnette, will love it as she loves the idea of hunting and then using her kill to supplement her larder. To make a long story short, I met up with Anne Boulley at a local party given by my friend, Laura Ashby. Anne and I met up to discuss organizing a group based on the premis of being food heros. Laura and another friend, Lee Sadaat came to the meeting. We will certainly become food heros of Brookings, Oregon! Anne, bought pork belly while in Portland so three of us have made our own bacon! We have also played with making carmelized pork belly. YUM!

The book is so much more than cooking. It has stories about being a bee keeper, beer maker, mushroom picker etc. I really thought I was being so innovative until my mother received her latest copy of Ladies Home Journal. There was an article about something similar! The article is on page 102, of the March 2011 issue. Extreme Housewives is the name of the feature. These women have embraced the kind of back-to-basics homemaking our grandmothers did- and they've been happier. So, just when you think you have a fresh new idea, think again.

Now, I have also encountered the most amazing weather on the Southern Oregon Coast! It has been in the 60's for like two weeks now with full sun, warm breezes and NO rain. I have spent hours and hours...days upon days, turning over dirt, hauling tree limbs Jim has cut down, cleared up spaces that haven't seen the sight of organization in years and strung out my garden plus much more! If it doesn't rain soon, I will die of exhaustion. I missed the first 21 points in the Super Bowl yesterday because after 1/2 glass of nice wine I was zapped out cold on the couch! My arms and hands are limp and my back has twinges of muscle pain from hacking way too many hacks and pulling way too many blackberries from their stronghold on my property. I have cleared at least 200 feet of fenceline, turned over the garden space, hauled wonderous stuff out of a corner in the back acre and much much more! I purchased 75 lbs or more of fertilizer, mixed it and fed everyone that yelled out to me that they might be hungry. I have used 1/2 of it so far.

So, friends and family, I think I need to get off of here and get busy again. The house is yelling that it needs my attention and the sun is shining telling me to yonder out back. The choices are endless and my body seems limitless even at the advanced age that I have become. When do I say enough is enough. I think never.