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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Change

May 27, 2016May 27, 2016 / makingofahome / 1 Comment

Summer 2012

Summer 2016

We hosted our first “summer family dinner” of the year this week and I couldn’t help but look around me and take note of the changes that have taken place over the last four years since we began these gatherings. One very special person is no longer present, and four more are moving on to exciting new life adventures and will shortly leave our table as well.

When these thoughts of change began to surface, I started to feel that all-too-familiar sense of anxiety, sadness and dread seeping into my veins. I wanted to push those feelings down deeper, think about them another day. But then I thought to myself, No. I want to be fully present in this moment right now. I want to feel the rawness of these feelings of loss and change, because it is out of these feelings that I am able to also experience real and true happiness. For it is not until we fall down into the earth, that we are able to grapple and stand erect again, with our feet firmly rooted in the soil, stronger and more prepared for what lies ahead.

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.

Patience

April 25, 2016April 24, 2016 / makingofahome / 2 Comments

Things have been tough lately, friends. As you may have noticed from my lack of presence in this space, I have been finding it hard to articulate exactly what it is I have been feeling. And because I try to keep this blog filled with positivity, it has been difficult to come into this space with the honesty I try to present here. Over the course of the last few months, the void of life without my mom has been growing to depths I never thought possible. I guess I never anticipated what it would be like to raise my children without my own mom by my side. Even when we lived in Champaign, she was just a phone call away, and now, well, she is not. It feels as if I am on an island, on which I am alone and unable to navigate. I am just lost.

My mom always talked of seeing signs of her own deceased parents in her natural surroundings. The turkeys crossing the road were signs from her dad, and the blue birds perched on her bird bath was her mom stopping by for a quick hello. Well, I had been grappling for these same signs of her, but as I looked out my window all I seemed to see was the dreariness that is February and March in the Midwest. I grew weary, for I could see no signs of life, nor signs of my mom.

But last week, something seemed to have shifted with the thawing ground and the warmth of the sunshine upon my skin. I felt like I may be turning a corner. I saw glimmers of my mom in the cardinal resting upon the chair outside my window while I drank my morning coffee. I sensed her excitement as my girls assembled the fairy garden she gave them. And I could feel her presence beside me Friday afternoon as I peered into the soil of my garden perimeter and spied her blackeyed susans pushing up through the surface of the blackness. Perhaps I just need to have patience, and although I now know I will never feel completely whole again, maybe I will be able to heal just enough to see the color of life push its way through the darkness.

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.

A New Look

September 10, 2015September 9, 2015 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

With all of the change in my family lately, I have tried to take a step back and really look at my life a bit more carefully. Time goes by in a simple blink doesn’t it? And when I really stopped to think about it, I have been writing this blog for almost four years now. And when I looked at the format of this space, and the picture that was its backdrop, I realized the little girl peering into the water has grown up. And my other daughter, who was too tiny to even be found on the dock in the picture, is now just as tall as my oldest, and she cannot be found anywhere else but beside her sister.

So, in keeping with my mantra to try new things, I hope you like the new format of Making of a Home. And I thank each of you for visiting this space, which I have come to hold so dear to my heart.

What I’m In To

September 8, 2015September 7, 2015 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

It is been a very, very long time since I have written a What I’m In To post, so I thought today would be as good a time as any to just dive right in. So, on this Tuesday following Labor Day, I’m in to…

…tomatoes. I am literally surrounded by these ruby orbs of goodness. They are currently covering every horizontal surface of my kitchen, and this is after I spent all of Sunday (and Sunday evening) roasting and canning over 10 quarts worth. I always get a bit overwhelmed by our tomatoes at this time of year, but I just keep trying to keep perspective. And I know I do love the taste of summer during those snowy February days. So for now, I am trying my best to keep my head above the proverbial tomato-filled water.

…ordering a great deal of this coconut oil. About 5 months back I experimented with creating a vegan cold-pressed soap recipe, and it actually turned out amazing. In about a week we plan to whip up some more of this soap in preparation for the Christmas gift-giving season. I cannot wait to share this recipe with you!

…All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. Do you know how there are those rare books that hold you in their grasp from the moment your eyes hit the first page? This is that kind of book. Unbelievable.

…lemon verbena and lemon balm. These two herbs are new to our garden this year and they have completely taken off. They are fragrant and delicious, but also very beneficial for our health. After listening to Rosemary Gladstar speak two years ago at The Mother Earth News Fair, I wanted to grow these two herbs. So this past winter I bought her book Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health, found so many wonderful recipes for these two herbs within its contents, and now have the scent of lemon wafting in our nostrils every time we set foot in our herb garden.

…my husband’s new Vitamix. Actually, this statement is false. I am not only into my husband’s new Vitamix, but I am in love with it. In. Love. My girls and I have created a new smoothie that we make every morning, using this new kitchen gadget. We call it the “Hulk Smoothie” because it is bright (I mean bright) green. For this smoothie we use a splash of pineapple juice, 2 oranges, a large handful of kale, one avocado, a few spoonfuls of hempseed hearts, a large handful of cilantro, lime juice, stevia and ice. Amazing. (Oh, and I also love, love, love my stainless steel straws that go perfectly with our Hulk Smoothie, or all smoothies for that matter.)

…being back in this blogging space each week. Thank you so much to each of you for reading today, and everyday.