I Stand at the Ready

February 20, 2017February 19, 2017 / makingofahome / 1 Comment

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Thoughts from yesterday:

I am sitting outside of my northern Illinois home, in a tank top and shorts. Sweat trickles down my back and my hands ache from the garden work I have done. It is just 11:30 am. In February.

While working in my garden, many thoughts swirl through my mind. Why am I able to work in my garden right now? Why is the sun so warm upon my skin as I sit here on my deck, less than one week post-Valentine’s day? Why are there already green lilies breaking the surface of the soil in my garden beds? Why are their insects crawling and flying about? Am I terrified by this extreme weather streak in February?

The answer to that last question is, yes. There was record-breaking snow on the East coast this week, torrential rain in the West, and balmy weather in the northern Midwest. A definite climate shift is upon us.

Now, the way I see it, I have two choices: Option one is that I can allow myself to become paralyzed with the fear of what is to come. I can fear for the future of my children, and allow that anxiety to cripple me into inaction. Option two: I can use the gifts God has given me and leap into action. I can strap on my garden boots and stand at the ready to teacher my own children, and others, the skills they need to grow their own food in a world of changing environmental factors. I can help them to see these changes with optimistic eyes, not ones clouded with fear. I can equip them in the ways they can help themselves in times of trouble, and also how to reach out and use their talents to help others in need.

Recently, I have found myself looking to St. Francis of Assisi for wisdom and motivation to help guide me on my journey. Today I came upon this passage, and I believe it will become motto in days to come:

Lord, help me live this day, quietly, easily. To lean upon Thy great strength, trustfully, restfully. To wait for the unfolding of Thy will, patiently, serenely. To meet others, peacefully, joyously. To face tomorrow, confidently, courageously.

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From Dawn to Dusk

February 8, 2017February 7, 2017 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

One of my favorite times of the year arrived this week! In the wee hours of Monday morning, we began pouring over our 2017 seed catalog (We order our seeds and transplants from The Seed Savers Exchange, based in Iowa.) and envisioning what it is we want our garden to look like this year. Now that the girls are older, they too have taken on an added interest in this task and our day was filled with talk of which herbs would grow best inside their cinder block garden boarder, and whether or not we want to skip growing cucumbers again this summer. (My girls no longer eat pickles. Say what?!?)

We normally peruse the seed catalogs in February because this seems to be an especially difficult month to get through for us. So dark. So very cold. This year, however, proved to be a bit strange in that this particular February day was unseasonably balmy. So, we packed up our seed-browsing-paraphenalia and headed to the backyard. There we started a nice fire and continued our quest for garden goodness outdoors, well into the evening. Such an incredibly nice treat.

A Subtle Shift

September 15, 2016September 14, 2016 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

It seems that at each turn of the season I feel the need to start anew. I think this has become even more of a necessity now that I stay home and homeschool my girls. Because our home is where we work, play and educate, there is a more constant need to refresh, even if it is just a subtle shift.

As a means of bridging our transition between summer and fall, the girls and I have been trying to bring in fresh flowers each day from our garden. It is a true blessing to have this beautiful, natural color in our sights as the mercury begins to dip.

A quick family room face lift has also helped usher in this new season. It’s amazing what a fresh coat of paint can do to change the entire mood of a room.

As I mentioned a few weeks back, we have an abundance of home-grown pumpkins, so those gorgeous orbs are finding their way into many indoor and outdoor arrangements, as well as into many new recipes.

Our reading material has also been refreshed. With a little help from Ms. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has whisked our whole family away to a magical land each evening.

And after the girls are asleep, Glennon Doyle Melton’s Love Warrior fills my heart in a way no other book has. As I wrote about here, when my mom was ill, her book Carry On, Warrior shone a light on my experience that helped me through those most difficult, excruciating months of my life. But I believe her new novel, although raw and often emotionally difficult to get through, is giving me the tools I need to make it through the next fifty years of my life by imparting me with a whole new outlook on life, love, truth-telling and grace.

I hope each of you feels refreshed as you enter this new season, ready to embark upon many new fall adventures.

Kale Cubes

July 26, 2016July 23, 2016 / makingofahome / 1 Comment

Every November, we find ourselves with an overabundance of kale that gets hit with a hard frost and dies. It always makes me feel just sick to know all of that healthy vegetation has gone to waste and ends up in the compost bin. This year my husband came up with a great idea: kale cubes.

When my oldest daughter was a baby, we made her baby food. We threw a bunch of fruit and veggies in a blender with a bit of water, pureed it, and then froze it in ice cube trays. Once the cubes froze, we popped the cubes out into a gallon-size freezer bag. That way, at mealtime, we would just take out the cubes we wanted, heat them up, and viola…ready-to-eat baby food. So, last week my husband came up with the brilliant idea to do this same thing with our kale! Then that way, once winter settles in and we are longing for some healthy greens, we can pop a couple of our kale cubes into our blender to add some nutrients to our morning smoothies.

All I did was harvest and wash some of our kale, threw it in our Vitamix with about one cup of water, pureed it until the mixture was nearly smooth, poured the puree into ice cube trays and popped them in the freezer. The next day, I popped out the cubes and put them in a gallon-sized freezer bag. Now they are all set for those February morning breakfast smoothies 🙂

The Most Amazing News

July 21, 2016 / makingofahome / 4 Comments

Oh friends, I just received the most amazing news. My favorite blogger/author, Amanda Blake Soule, will be featuring my garden photos and writing on her blog tomorrow. I invite you to check out the post tomorrow (Friday, July 22) at www.soulemama.com.

I am completely overcome with excitement and gratitude at being given this wonderful opportunity to share with those around the world, what wonderful things are going on right here in Rockford, Illinois. A true blessing indeed.

And, this news does not come on any random day either. Today we celebrate my mom’s birthday. If this is not a true sign of a guardian angel mama always looking out for her babies, I don’t know what is. You always told me to keep writing, Mom. And I have been. Just for you.

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Can You Feel It?

May 24, 2016May 25, 2016 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

The chill in the air has finally dissipated, and the sun remains hanging in the sky a bit longer these days. Can you feel it? I do believe that summer may just be right around the corner. After those strange May evenings dipping to freezing temperatures here in Illinois, and sadly losing some of my plants despite the fact that they were covered, I am so thrilled to see the mercury rise into the seventies and eighties.

Our garden seems to be loving these temperatures and this week’s sunshine just as much as we do, and we have wasted no time getting out there and digging in, in the most full and present way we can. Yes. Finally.

{A side note: The pictures in this post are very special for two reasons…#1: My camera broke last week. Yes, broke. I was beside myself. Then my friend Jodi came to my rescue, and loaned me her fabulous camera. She is amazing. Thank you, thank you! #2: I have been afraid of heights for as long as I can remember. I am talking palm-sweating-heart-racing-paralyzing fear. But this week, while my husband was away for work (he is normally my “aerial” photographer), I desperately wanted overhead shots of my garden. So, I mustered up all the courage I had, climbed onto the top of my shed, and took these pictures. I. Did. It.}

Growing Food

May 4, 2016May 3, 2016 / makingofahome / 1 Comment

I love growing food. Love. It. There is nothing that gives me more pleasure than seeing the food I have grown, grace our plates at meal time. And while this time of year requires a lot of physical demand (Who needs a gym when you are working 6 yards of compost and mulch into the soil?), the rewards are definitely worth the effort. The perennials are already popping up, and the cold tolerant vegetable seeds are in the ground. We are not far away, friends. I can almost taste that strawberry rhubarb crisp now.

But perhaps the most rewarding of growing my own food, is sharing this passion with others. I have the absolute pleasure of working with the students of Cathedral of St. Peter School in their school garden for the forth growing season. And as I worked with students last week in the garden, I was reminded of why this project is so very important. Many have lost their connection to the food they eat. They view food as coming from the grocery store and have no idea how it is grown, or the work that goes in to growing it. Working with these students allows them to connect with their food, see how it is grown, and become an active participant in that growth process. Our garden project enables students to try new foods, and learn about the importance of consuming healthy foods and how that translates into fuel for our bodies and minds. Most importantly, our school garden work illustrates how to be stewards of God’s creation, and to value and cherish all that the Earth and God provide for us each and every day.

Happy 2016 growing season, friends!

Our Undervalued Friends

April 26, 2016April 23, 2016 / makingofahome / 6 Comments

Oh, the dandelion. She is so often picked, sprayed and just plain despised by so many. What did this little lady ever do to deserve such harsh treatment? For in fact, it is her ability to pop up everywhere and withstand the harshest of treatment that makes her so wonderful!

Our little dandelion friends act as a detoxifier for our liver; are high in calcium, iron, magnesium, vitamin A and vitamin C; help tone the kidneys; and restore a general vitality to our bodies. It is for all of these reasons, that we try our best to harvest these beauties when we can and take advantage of all their undervalued greatness.

Last week the girls and I needed to clear our strawberry and asparagus bed of weeds, and there were lots of dandelions. So we picked and picked, trying our best to keep that lovely taproot intact. Then we rinsed those little gals a lot. (I think we ended up doing about 10-12 rinses to get all of the dirt off.) We then chopped up the roots, stems, crowns and some leaves and placed them in 1/2 gallon mason jars. Next we boiled apple cider vinegar and poured the boiling vinegar over the dandelions inside the mason jars. We placed the capped jars in a cabinet where they will stay for 3 weeks. After that time, we will strain the vinegar through a fine mesh strainer and refrigerate the vinegar for use over the next several months. This vinegar is great in salad dressings, but we also take shots of it when we feel a bit under the weather, or when we feel we need a pick-me-up.

***Important note: Because so many people spray dandelions with poisons chemicals, it is of the greatest importance that when picking dandelions to consume, you only do so in an area where you are assured they have not been spayed! I don’t even pick the dandelions around the perimeter of our property just in case a neighbor has sprayed their yard and some of those nasty chemicals may have leeched over the property line.

Finding My People

February 2, 2016January 31, 2016 / makingofahome / 1 Comment

As I’ve grown older, I have come to learn that putting on airs and trying to be someone I am not to fit in, is just not worth my time. While I have always thought of myself as an independent person, there was always that small part of me that really cared what others thought. Trying to seamlessly slide in and out of varying versions of myself in order to better fit in was something I often tried, and it just became, well, exhausting. And really, now that I am in my mid-thirties, I have neither the time nor energy to keep up that charade. And I have got to say it has become quite liberating as I have slowly shed that desire to camouflage with everyone, and instead just be only me.

The interesting thing I have noticed about making this mental decision is that I have learned that no matter where I am, I can find my people. Each person is unique of course, but isn’t it funny that there are people out there, in all parts of the world, who share similar thoughts, beliefs, even dreams? And when we take a moment and stop trying to impersonate someone we are not, we can see more clearly those people around us with whom we naturally fit in. Our people.

This past week I had the pleasure of spending time in Florida with my husband’s family and it was so fascinating to me that although we were over one thousand miles from home, I was able to find my people. I found myself at a farmer’s market a couple of times while in Florida where I brushed arms with moms buying their week’s worth of produce and ethically raised meat from local farmers to bring home to their families. I chatted with two women about the importance of nourishing our bodies with soul satisfying food and how that can really make all the difference in life. I listened in on two twenty-somethings as they chatted about which hand-dyed, hand-spun yarn they were going to buy so they could fashion a cute scarf to help them brave this “cold” Floridian weather they have been having this winter. And I spoke with a local artist about how she crafts beautiful vessels that are both functional and gorgeous. These are my people, and although there were hundreds of people present in these situations, by dropping the veil I held in from of my face for so long, I was able to see not only these people clearly, but also be reminded of who I am and how I fit in to this great big world around me.

Early September in the Garden

September 14, 2015September 9, 2015 / makingofahome / 2 Comments

As fall quickly approaches, the end of the gardening season is just around the corner. But with everything going on in our garden, one would never know it. So, for now, we are just so very grateful for all that our garden provides for us.

As I mentioned last Tuesday, our tomatoes are in full swing right now. That means lots of canning is taking place around our house. This year I am attempting something new after reading my favorite blog. I am roasting my tomatoes and basil with a bit of garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper in a 450 degree oven until the tomatoes begin to brown. I then let it cool to room temperature, scoop the mixture into quart jars, and freeze them.

On a fun tomato note, last year I grew Mexican Midget tomatoes and Green Zebra tomatoes in our school garden. At the end of the growing season, my students and I tried a little experiment. We picked about 3 tomatoes from each plant, sliced them very, very thin and left them to dry out on a coffee filter. Once the tomatoes were dry, I stuck them in my file cabinet until this past March. Then, using our class pet’s castings (Yes, we had worms as a class pet!) as a base, we placed the coffee filters (with the dried tomato slices on them) on top of the compost. We then coated the dried tomatoes with a thin layer of compost. Once mid-May hit, we transplanted the small tomato plants into our school garden and I also took some home. Above is the result of our experiment: some Green Zebras (left), some Mexican Midgets (right), and a nice cross pollinated version (middle). And the result of this cross is just delicious because it is sweet like a Mexican Midget, but also has a tang to it similar to the Green Zebra. Science is so fun!

Our milkweed has begun to go to seed, and with my daughters’ current obsession with Little House on the Prairie, we are drying the seed pods and then plan to use the wispy, silky fibers to stuff a small doll.

For the first time ever, we are growing pumpkins. And they are actually growing! I cannot express my excitement when I went out to weed the other day and found this guy nestled in among the gourds we are also growing in that same space.

The cucumbers are currently out of control. And truth be told, I have no desire to can pickles this year. At all. I am hoping my sentiment changes because I am not quite sure what do to with all of these guys that are currently sitting in the middle of my kitchen table.

We are so incredibly fortunate to still be in the midst of our second round of berries. This has been a truly prolific year for us and berries. Yum.

Making of a Home

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