In honor of national spinach week....

warm farro and spinach salad with apple and blue cheese

 

 

 

 

OK, it's not really spinach awareness week, I made that up.  I am not sure about you but in the summer it is really easy to get in my green leafy veggies, but come winter my tastes turn to sweet potatoes and butternut squash.  I feel hard pressed to make a big salad on a cold winter's night and I would like to think that's because it's not in season, but the truth is spincah likes really cool weather and in a climate like ours, spinach can pretty much grow year round.  I just picked the last of my spring spinach that has survived unscathed until now, December 1st.  
Here is a recipe for a spinach salad that can stand up to the coldest of temperatures.  I didn't add tomatoes because I was trying to eat in season,
 
Warm Farro spinach salad with warmed apple blue cheese and hard boiled egg.

1/2 cup of cooked Farro
1/4 cup stock (optional)
1 shallot sauteed until softened
1 bunch of spinach
1/2 an apple thinly sliced and briefly heated on stove top to soften
sprinkle of blue cheese
hard boiled egg thinly sliced
 
Dressing
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1-2 tsp honey   
1 tsp dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste

I warm the dressing in the microwave for a few seconds
 
Have you discovered Farro yet.  A wonderful ancient grain believed to have sustained the Roman legions.  Not wheat but a grain of it's own, it is easy to cook and tastes great plain.  For this recipe I add a  bit of stock and sauteed shallots when I am done cooking to give some depth.
Cover with spinach, softened apples, blue cheese egg and then warm dressing.  It is hearty and healthy. 
   
And since I have finished the last of our spinach, I decided to try some indoor,
I have had luck starting lettuce inside and then moving outside on warmer days in my version of a hot house, a piece of glass set against the south side of the house, perfect for days like today with temps in the 50's.

  

finally finished Anastasia

 Finally finished my Anastasia sweater.  Love this, it was so fun to knit and I like it better than anything I have knit thus far.  I want to knit it in charcoal.  


 

Fall is here....

Fall is here! And not a minute too soon.  The garden is winding down, the pumpkins and squash have been plucked out from under the nose of daredevil squirrels who brave our backyard despite out very own guard animals.

Ferocious Oddie

And the vicious Casey Caso

The only tomatoes left on the vine are mealy or still green,  Today I cleared out a raised bed and put on a cover crop of clover down, something I plan on doing every year but never seem to get around to.
The bees have decreased there number to prepare for winter,  I am concerned about the amount of wasps I have flying around the ground in front of the hive and even occasionally entering.  They bees seem strong, but I can't imagine why they would allow a wasp in. I am VERY reluctant to kill them, I really believe there is a delicate balance that we should not disturb, and the wasps have been so good in the garden keeping out your everyday garden villains like slugs and squash borers.
I have posted on some bee forums to see if I can get any feedback,  I also snooped around the neighborhood to a home near by that has 3 langstroth hives. I noted many wasps patrolling the grounds around their hives too.  
On the knitting front, I am still spinning my beautiful fiber, slow and steady.
I have also finished a shrug

But the big news is I have started a new cardigan.  
Anastasia by Cecily MacDonald. I downloaded the pattern from Raverly today and have been knitting furiously since,



  




It is the most difficult but by far the most fun thing I have ever knitted.  I love the Madeline Tosh yarn.

Also my sweet hubby, after all these years decided he wanted to learn to knit!  YEAH.

Audrey done!

Shades of green

I am sorry if I am just preaching to the choir for anyone who would be looking at my blog, but I am still frequently floored by people who are otherwise concerned about our environment but who are using toxic chemicals on a daily basis.
For instance, I have a lovely neighbor who eats organic foods and buys organic cotton clothing, and wouldn't dream of using an Roundup, but pours toxic fertilizers on her lawn on a regular basis.
This morning I saw here dousing her front yard with a spray can full of the stuff  
"Oh it's just Miracle Grow"  she smiled innocently at me.  "I put the dogs in the house for a few days."  Really?  Is that what we want to put on our yards?  For a green lawn no less?

Here are some facts about Scotts Miracle Grow (not to mention the 12 million dollar law suit they have just been slapped with for selling poisonous bird feed) 
http://www.rodale.com/scotts-bird-food-lawsuit



Miracle-Gro is a synthetic fertilizer that contains ammonium phosphate and several other chemicals that can be toxic to your soil and plants. It is prohibited from use in certified-organic farming.


Long-term studies at the University of Wisconsin have shown that acidic chemical fertilizers are causing serious, permanent damage to our soils. Usually these fertilizers are also highly soluble, so they leach away and pollute our water systems, too!

This isn't just specific to Scott's products, all non organic fertilizers reek havoc on our soil.
 

• Chemical fertilizers do not contain any trace minerals/micro nutrients. After a few years the soil has been depleted from those elements. Overtime those elements are not contained in the fruits or in the vegetables anymore diminishing their quality.
• Chemical fertilizers are used together with chemical pesticides, herbicides and fungicides. Use of chemicals have a negative impact on the soil, the water as well as the crop as the vegetables, for instance, still contain chemical traces which are then absorbed upon eating
• Chemical fertilizers kill microorganisms which in turn will make the soil useless where nothing can grow
• Chemical fertilizers and pesticides are responsible for water contamination. For excessive enrichment of ponds, rivers and lakes is due to an overuse of chemical fertilizers (see eutrophy)
• Usage of chemical fertilizers have a long term effect on the plants, the soil, the environment and you.

The advantages of organic fertilizers are so numerous I won't get into boring details and they are available everywhere, but one of the best ways to keep your soil fertile is to encourage earthworms! 
But that's for a whole other post... 

One seed at a time...

This weekend was the Denver Botanic Gardens' Urban Homesteading Tour and I was lucky enough to be part of it.  Denver has amazed me with it's homegrown, eat local, and urban homesteading movement, and Saturday as the groups of people filed through our small city garden, I got to meet and talk with them firsthand.  I met so many people who were planning on or who already embarked on the age old practice of growing their own food or raising chickens or keeping bees.  I met people who various reasons could not start their own gardens but wanted to be apart of this incredible movement all the same.    
People from all walks of life who see a need for a change in our current food production system and are taking steps to make that change happen one seed at a time.

Truthfully I didn't take any pictures Saturday since I was so busy showing people around.  I was also coming off a night shift and had only slept a few hours so I was dazed.  One of the sponsors of the tour, The Lazy Homesteader, came and did take some pictures.  
She has a great blog  at lazyhomesteader.com
In the morning before people arrived, I made a meager attempt to cut back fallen sunflowers, pick dead leaves and clean out any fresh poop from the chicken coop. Then I put out a basket of eggs, jams and applesauce I had canned this year for viewing, and honey and beeswax lotions for sampling.  I have to say, the honey went over well.   
 

I picked herbs and set out the dehydrator to dry them, I also brought out seeds that I had saved.

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My favorite chickens ever, a docile black Java and Delaware

Audrey In Pink

 

I have been knitting madly on my Audrey in Undst sweater,  I just finished the sleeves which are made by picking up stitches around the arm and then adding short rows.  Now I am putting on the button bands.  I love this construction, but sadly made it too small.  I never get gauge and then I try and adjust the pattern.  I don't think it worked in this case, but I still love the sweater and plan on squeezing into it if it kills me!  I plan on making it in brown too.