Brassicas: My Beloveds

October 12, 2017October 11, 2017 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

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A few months back I shared my love of cabbage with all of you. But maybe I wasn’t being specific enough, or not general enough, depending upon how you look at it. In actuality I harbor a secret love for all brassicas. Cabbage, kale, collards, cauliflower. I adore all of them.

So, you can imagine my thrill when I found //ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ac&ref=qf_sp_asin_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=makofahom-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=1607745712&asins=1607745712&linkId=82bdfd62229e8cf86f4ef4e04b84e03c&show_border=false&link_opens_in_new_window=false&price_color=333333&title_color=0066c0&bg_color=ffffff“>Brassicas: Cooking the World’s Healthiest Vegetables at the library last week. I was immediately smitten, and for good reason: an entire book, all about my favorite genus of veggies!

This week our kitchen has been brimming (albeit a bit stinky) with so many fabulous dishes featuring these amazingly healthy, nourishing plants.

The Equinox

September 25, 2017 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

fullsizeoutput_c72 fullsizeoutput_c70 fullsizeoutput_c73 fullsizeoutput_c74 fullsizeoutput_c71 As I grow older, I feel my connection with Earth and her rhythms strengthening. Becoming more intertwined. When I first began gardening in my late twenties, I found that cord of connection beginning to weave and form itself, as the growing and providing of food for my family from our garden space was dependent upon the cycles of the seasons, weather, and so on.

But as I near my forties (I can’t believe I just typed those words!), I find the strength of that cord widening, becoming more tethered to my inner-self. This connection became very apparent to me on Friday, the autumnal equinox. On this day of equal light and dark, I could feel a sense of profound balance that I have never experienced before. It seemed that on this day, I was able to face negative elements with the positive. I was able to keep my head up and keep my eyes on my daily intentions. And I was able to fully engage my girls in this special day that only comes around twice a year.

In addition to our daily school tasks on Friday, my girls and I set out to fully embrace our day with time spent in the garden, bringing some new art pieces to life, and celebrating with neighbors.

I hope on this Monday you are able to find a snippet of balance in this world that often seems to be spinning a bit out of control. Have a wonderful week, friends!

Makin’ Kraut

July 17, 2017July 13, 2017 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

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I love cabbage in an obsessive, kind-of-creepy way. I adore it raw in salads, sautéed in butter, and cooked down alongside a big ole’ roast in a low and slow oven. But perhaps my favorite way to enjoy this curciferous comestible is in its fermented form as sauerkraut.

I have been starry-eyed about kraut my entire life. In elementary school, I was the kid ordering ruebens with extra sauerkraut. In high school, I could be found asking for sauerkraut as a pizza topping. And when I was pregnant with my oldest daughter, sauerkraut was one of the few foods I could eat while battling morning sickness.

Beginning to make sauerkraut at home has only increased my passion for this food. The taste and texture of home-fermented kraut is unmatched, and the nutritional value is even more unfathomable. Loaded with literally millions of healthy bacteria, homemade sauerkraut is one of the healthiest foods you can consume. And, one of the easiest to make.

Here’s how we do our kraut:

Step 1: Thinly chop up a head of cabbage (green or red).

Step 2: Spread a layer of chopped cabbage in the bottom of a glass jar or crock, sprinkle with some salt, and bash away at it with a wooden spoon. (This will break down the membranes of the cabbage, allow the salt in, and pull water out.)

Step 3: Continue the layering process (cabbage, salt, bash) until you have used all your cabbage and there is enough water to cover the cabbage leaves. (You may need to add a bit of unchlorinated water.)

Step 4: Use a plate or glass to weight down the cabbage so that every tiny piece is submerged beneath the surface of the water. (This is very important because any cabbage leaves exposed to oxygen will grow mold.)

Step 5: Allow to sit on your counter or in your basement.

Step 6: Check on your kraut every couple of days until it reaches the tartness and funkiness of your liking 🙂

Recharge

July 10, 2017July 9, 2017 / makingofahome / 1 Comment

A while back a friend said to me, “In an airplane emergency, first you must put on your own oxygen mask, then help those around you. Have you put on your life mask first?”

Since December, I have diligently tried to remember to practice self care as a means of improving my own life, and also the lives of my family members. This has been a difficult task for someone like me. Someone who often says yes to everything others ask, without any thought as to how this decision will impact me on a personal level. Someone who puts the thoughts and feelings of others before my own. Always.

Last week we ventured to the Northwoods of Wisconsin for a family vacation, but also for a personal recharge. While Up North this year, I tried to carve out some “me time,” where I could breathe in the positive energy around me, and release any toxic, negative energy that was holding me down.

I ended up finding time in the early morning hours, while my family still slumbered. The sun cast a faint glimmer upon the mirror-like surface of the lake, while the frogs and toads sang me a melodious tune. I found myself in the many green spaces on the property, pulling weeds and tending to the small plants that managed to survive the feast of the nearby deer. With my hands beneath the soil, I could feel the energy of the Earth pulsing through me, filling me with a profound sense of peace. It was during these moments that I felt connected, not only to the Earth, but also to those in my life whom I have lost and to the God who placed me here at that moment to embrace the spirit of my surroundings.

Yes, these moments of recharging my mind, body and spirit have proven to be my life’s saving grace. And for that, I am so very grateful.

Better Late Than Never Garden Update

June 16, 2017June 15, 2017 / makingofahome / 4 Comments

Well friends, it’s June 16th, and I am coming at you with my first garden update of the 2017 growing season. Hum. Where exactly did the time go? And better yet, what on earth have I been doing? Time has somehow slipped between my fingers so rapidly, that I cannot even seem to identify the activities that filled these minutes, hours and days.

But nonetheless, this garden of ours is surely well underway, and perhaps the furthest along we have ever been come this time of the year. I believe I can owe a great deal of this success to the fact that my girls have been real, active participants in our homestead this year. While in the past the girls surely had “jobs” like collecting eggs in the morning, watering their fairy garden, and picking ripe cherry tomatoes from the vine, but this year the girls have been logging some legit man-power hours. Gianna hauls spent dishwater outside to water plants, and she moves the sprinkles around to various locations throughout these hot, dry days we have been experiencing. Addie tilled all the garden beds this spring, and she does a great deal of the wedding that needs to be done in the veggie beds.

And let me tell you, this year these littles are much more appreciative of the strawberries gracing their breakfast table and the cilantro and lettuce making its way into their tacos come dinnertime. And isn’t this what homesteading and forming connections with our food is all about? With the knowledge of the human labor and natural resources needed to grow our food, we are much more humble and filled with an awe-inspiring sense of gratitude when we are able to bring that food to our tables.

I wish you all a wonderful weekend, in which you are able to nourish your body with food that gives you strength in body, as well as soul.

Home

May 1, 2017April 30, 2017 / makingofahome / 4 Comments

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The last few weeks have kept us very busy with a variety of DIY projects around the house. With the absolutely beautiful weather gracing us, my girls and I decided to take advantage, move school outside most days, and just get after it.

We first needed to fashion a new table for our deck. Our old table, after weathering many a Midwestern winters, had finally called it quits and we needed another piece on which all of our summer family dinners could take place. I happened to find a local woman who was selling barn wood, so we ventured to her barn and listened to a wonderful story of a Swedish family who immigrated to the Rockford area with hopes of building a family farm. They bought property on the corner of Baxter and Mulford Roads and there constructed a home in 1902. Later, in 1903, they gathered with neighbors to build a barn in which to begin their farming venture.

We brought home three 10-foot boards, washed them, and ran over them once with some sandpaper. I then applied three coats of //ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ac&ref=qf_sp_asin_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=makofahom-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B000C011CE&asins=B000C011CE&linkId=96a4608fd8c32411f7f8bbe7d4f64747&show_border=false&link_opens_in_new_window=false&price_color=333333&title_color=0066c0&bg_color=ffffff“>an exterior marine polyurethane to all sides of each board. I connected the boards with 2 x 4’s in order to create a removable table top that I can bring inside during the winter months. I then created “table legs” using cinder blocks. I was so thrilled once the project was complete because I was able to craft a one-of-kind ten-foot table to entertain upon for under $100.

My girls and I also got busy building a backyard washing station. While visiting Koviashuvik Living School in Temple, Maine last August, I was struck by all the ways in which the Knapp family used seemingly random household objects to craft “new” devices to serve a very sustainable purpose. Our washing station is not completely sustainable, as we do plan to start our washing process with city water from our home, but our hope is to eliminate one avenue of waste through this process. (And keep my kitchen cleaner too!) Each garden season we are faced with what to do with the dozens upon dozens of 5 gallon buckets filled with dirt-caked veggies that make their way into our kitchen. Enter…our OUTDOOR veggie washing station 🙂

We had a random cement slab that was found in our yard when we bought our house and it has been milling about under a tree ever since. So, with much assistance from my strength-and-conditioning-coach hubby, we moved the cement slab near our backyard water spigot. I used the old legs from our outdoor table we had just scraped, and attached them to a countertop my dad had just removed from his basement during a remodel. I then placed a washtub next to the table, with a bucket beneath the drain. We plan to plug the washtub, dump in our muddy produce, and fill the tub with our nearby hose-water. Once all the veggies have been scrubbed clean and placed in a strainer on the table, we can drain the tub into the bucket and then use that greywater to water our plants with. And all of this will happen outside, and now only gloriously clean veg will make its way into my kitchen.

And last, but certainly not least of our DIY adventures of late, I have created a spot in the garden entirely for me. I moved around some aimless pieces that had been littering our property and used them as the basis for this new space. I then crafted prayer flags and stitched each stitch with a heartfelt intention. So here I stand to greet my morning, in my very own corner of the garden, setting positive intentions for my day.

Wishing you all a productive, yet peaceful start to your week.

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.

Craft and Science

September 13, 2016September 12, 2016 / makingofahome / 1 Comment

Last Sunday, we gathered with friends in our late summer garden for some fermentation fun. My husband (and his trusty brewmaster side kick) concocted a nice autumnal nut brown ale, while I worked with some of the other littles on cabbage sauerkraut.

I just love the craft and science behind fermentation. I love the look of amazement that crosses their faces when I tell kids they are working with millions of living organisms when they ferment. I also adore the slow and deliberate pace of fermenting. The fact that the process cannot be rushed is what pulls me in the most to this craft. We are all so rushed in our daily lives, that at times it is just so therapeutic to slow down, gather with friends, and enjoy that slow gait together.

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