Benjamin's Uncle Garrett and I took him to the Farm Tour this weekend to see Orchard Pond Organics where we have our CSA share. Look at how beautiful these chickens are! We eat their eggs so I'm glad to know that they're such good looking creatures. They have a pretty awesome chicken tractor, too. There were some good lookin' cows in this field (behind Garrett and Little Bear) … [Read more...]
Eating by Season: Why I Like Having a CSA Share
I've had a few people ask about the CSA we have a share in, so I thought I'd post about it with some background on eating seasonal foods. In the past couple of years I've gained great appreciation for the rhythms of the Christian Year and the way that by observing it, the story of the Gospel unfolds. One way to participate in the Christian Year is to feast and fast according to the traditions of … [Read more...]
Some September Reads…
I'm still plugging away at Wendell Berry's agrarian essays: The Art of the Commonplace. I can't believe it's taken me so long to read them. Each one is brilliant. “We need better government, no doubt about it. But we also need better minds, better friendships, better marriages, better communities. We need persons and households that do not have to wait upon organizations, but can make necessary … [Read more...]
Our House, Part III: The Vegetable Garden
While choosing a house, one of our main concerns was having enough yard space for a large vegetable garden. Growing our own food has become really important to us over the past three years and it is so fun to watch Little Bear be excited about the garden. Daniel planted some okra, peppers, eggplant, and tomatoes right next to the house as a start and then added 8 raised beds. … [Read more...]
Lamb for Easter
We ate lamb for Easter. But not these lambs, Katherine, if that makes you feel any better. These five little guys are still too little. Aren't they sweet? Our house in the country is now surrounded by fields of wildflowers. Texas has donned its spring finery. I'll have to take pictures of some of the fields of orange Indian Paintbrushes and purple Bluebonnets. On Easter morning, Little … [Read more...]
The Annunciation and Playing Outside
There are so many beautiful images of the Annunciation but this is one of my favorites: It's an icon our friend Marianna gave to us of an Annunciation scene by Fra Angelico. On March 25th (9 months before Christmas) we celebrate the moment when the Angel Gabriel came to Our Lady with the announcement that she would bear the Son of God to which she gave her "Fiat" or "Let it be … [Read more...]
Updates: Lambs and Cloth Wipes
St. Patrick is one of my very favorite saints. So, I’m very excited about his feast day tomorrow. It will also be good to celebrate a feast after a few weeks of Lent. More on the menu and the saint tomorrow or Thursday. In other news, our third ewe had twins so we have five little lambs skipping around in our back pasture. As we’re moving in May across several states and into the city, anybody … [Read more...]
Little Fluffy White Lambs
So, I lied. I said I would post pictures of our new little fluffy baby lamb on Saturday. I didn’t. Oops. The story: As you may know, my husband bought 4 young St. Croix sheep several months ago, one ram and three ewes. I named the ewes Madame Rosmerta, Bathilda Bagshot, and Hepsibah Smith. The ram is the one with the mane. We were hoping for some spring lambs but hadn’t seen the … [Read more...]
Why We Live in Community
For the past three years, my husband and I have lived in community. For two years we had two housemates. This year we moved out to the country and have five housemates. We rent a house together, share household tasks, tend to a garden, and cook and eat together as schedules allow. And we have four sheep. They’re a bit skittish but will get closer for some yummy sheep feed. We used to have … [Read more...]
St. Scholastica and a Snow Day
Yesterday we celebrated the Feast of St. Scholastica, twin sister of St. Benedict. Her feast day is actually February 10th, but Wednesday wasn’t my day to cook (we live in community and take turns cooking, more on that some other time). So we celebrated late. I’m not sure that’s allowed, but at least I'm honest. We used recipes from here: And here: Have I mentioned that I love … [Read more...]
