At the farm!

Last Thursday we (Pat, Brenda, and I) spent the day at the farm (Ironwood Farm) harvesting. We arrived and met Karen and Kris and the other CSA members there to help. I noticed 2 horses were harnessed up began to wonder what the horses were for. Pretty soon, over comes Karen and Kris with the horses and a plow. What's up with this setup?!? One of our tasks was to dig potatoes. They decided to use the plow instead of handing us pitchforks. Yeah! It went really quick and worked great! Next step for us: find the potatoes and put them in the furrow to get picked up with the wheelbarrow...in the pouring rain. Kris and Karen kept saying we could go inside to get out of the rain, but we all knew the harvesting needed to be done "rain or shine" and had rain coats with us. At least we were looking down and not up!

After the potatoes, bean picking started...still in the pouring rain. By this time it was getting very muddy. We had milk crates to sit on since the bean plants were low to the ground. Not sure what kind of bean plants they were, but there were lots of beans to pick. It probably took five of us an hour to get them all. Following the beans we moved into shelter and did some sorting and packing. Then, lunch! Everyone brought a dish to share and Kris had made a stew. Everything was tasty and satisfying. After lunch we packed up the cars with the produce to take to the drop spots and then headed out.

Overall, it was a really fun day even though we got soaked in the rain. It was nice to see the farm and meet Kris and Karen and a few other members. Wish it was a little closer to home, but it also made for a fun little road trip.

To Do list

Here's a new To-Do:

1) Do Sarah Palin's children go to public school and if so, does their school teach traditional or abstinence-only sex ed? I've been assuming that traditional ed is currently taught in schools, but people (including Palin) want it changed to abstinence-only. I've seen people's online/blog comments (here's an example) that Bristol is a good example of abstinence-only not working, but how do you know she didn't get a traditional education in school? If you know what kind of education she got, please share, but until then, let's not assume she's a good example of abstinence-only not working.

2) Not write a scathing and angry response or comment on Cribsheet. I read the Star Tribune's Cribsheet blog (not sure why some days). There have been a couple Sarah Palin blogs. People of course have comments and a lot of them have revolved around the pregnant daughter. I read comments about abortion or marriage but have yet to read one word about adoption! Hello people! What a great example of a teenager making an adult decision this would have been. I've since re-read comments and admit to an over-reaction. I won't write anything. Still wish adoption had been mentioned as an option though.

Side note: I'm not big into politics, but wish people wouldn't fly off the handle at comments, statements, or situations. Sometimes we get a little too emotionally wrapped up in candidates. I know there will never be a candidate with whom I totally agree, so I have to choose what's important to me and compromise on the rest.

Trying new things

How many had Grandmas that canned fruits and vegetables? Mine did! I remember when we cleaned out their house (well, more my parents did the cleaning) that jars and jars and jars and jars and jars, and then more jars were thrown. There was tons of canned goods still in the basement. Can't say I ever thought I'd try canning, but I was proved wrong this weekend.

My family has a half-share in a CSA farm (Community Supported Agriculture). We get a bag of produce each week. A recent delivery included a pickle pack. It had the cucumbers, onions, garlic, and recipe for making pickles. Sounded good to me, so we decided to try making them and possibly canning the pickles if they looked good. Well, they looked really good, so I went searching for jars and lids. Found some and away we went. The recipe resulted in about 1.5 quarts. I could not resist sampling them the next morning after they had cooled. I have no doubt I'll make pickles again. They were wonderful! Flavorful but not tangy or sour.

Here's a link to our CSA's blog. It's called Ironwood Farm.