For dinner tonight, i had a bowl of microwave popcorn and a big glass of red wine. The kind that makes you want to stick your nose waaay in to the glass and breathe it in to your soul. My pup is curled up at my feet and I'm watching Eat, Pray, Love. I adored the book when I read it a few years ago -- it was a life changer! -- and now I'm watching the movie and thinking.....

Thinking.....

Thinking about my life's big adventures. Aventuras!

There was a time when I truly believed that I would travel the world. Learn languages. Backpack across Europe. Write in San Miguel. I thought I would wake up to church bells through open windows and the smell of street vendors. Amazing art & architecture, amazing food & music. An exciting, adventurous life.

And I have had SUCH an adventurous life. I've loved men...so many men. Exotic and exciting men who've taught me their language and their food. Who've given me pleasure and children and stories to tell. I've packed up and moved across the country to start again...or maybe to START, period. I've birthed children fed them from my body and watched them grow in to adults and have children of their own. I've done things that make others cringe and laugh and whisper. And I have no regrets. Not one.

"I've been a miner for a heart of gold. And I'm getting old."

There are so many things that I meant to do that I have not yet done and it's almost too late. La Aventura se esta' acabando.

Meanwhile, back at the farm.....

I stuck some seed in dirt. Beans, kale, spinach, squash. Cilantro & basil. Some of my seeds were outside through the winter so they may not be viable. We'll see.

5 Years and Holding...

Today is our 5 year anniversary! Who'd have thought in 5 years our lives would change do much? Don't get me wrong, I have absolutely no regrets. But if you'd asked me 5 years ago where I thought I'd be today, my answer would NOT have included the words "organic farming".

I'm feeling better about things today than I have been. Today, I feel pretty sure that we are going to continue down this path and create a life that really works for us. I still have moments of terror when I realize that we are solidly below the poverty line. Then I ask myself whether I would be willing to do what I would need to do to change that, and the answer is ... no way, man.

Meanwhile, back on the farm....
I need to get to planting! Just need to figure out what's going where. Bill has one indoor plot and two outdoor plots at the farm that he can grow for personal use. Indoor, he's going to do tomatoes ... lots and lots of tomatoes...with hopes of making tons of tomato sauce to can* to get us through the winter. He'll also have cilantro, onion & jalapenos (a salsa garden) so we should have some nice salsa canned as well.

So I'll definitely do kale again, and I'd like to find some Lombardi Spinach. I tasted some at the farm and it was amazing. Realizing they know what they're doing more than I do, mine might not be quite as awesome, but at least edible. Tomatillos were a hit and I can make as much salsa verde as I have tomatillos. Also taking a shot at more mushrooms.


*I bought stuff for canning last year but I didn't really have enough of anything to can so it's still sitting in my kitchen, taunting me. I did freeze quite a bit though. A month or so ago, I pulled out some sweet corn that I'd frozen and MAN was it like a little visit to summer time!
And just for fun, here's a pic of my silly puppies...who are going to LOVE the farm life as much as any of us!

MSU Student Farm

Who Knew?

Seems like a year - to the date - is long enough to go without updating a blog, huh? And so much has happened! Updates - at a glance:

- Both Bill and I have left Corporate America. I left voluntarily in June, 2010 so that I could focus on our family and to see if I could, in fact, make it as an "independent". I can ;) Bill lost his job in February, 2011 and decided that instead of looking for another office job, he'd fulfill his lifelong dream to spend his days in the sunshine with his hands in the dirt. March 1st (5 days after losing his job) he began the Organic Farming Training Program at Michigan State University. I've never seen him happier. He's also living in Lansing during the week since it was costing > $100 a week in gas for him to drive back and forth. We're in week 3 and, though I've had a few freak-out spells, we are making it;

- We now have 2 80# German Shepherds in our home. Ezra came in July, 2010 as a 9 wk old pup. Maxx came in February, 2011 as a rescue. Since I work from home, they are with me almost 24/7 (except when I'm at client sites). I've always wanted to own a dog but a few things stood in my way: 1) I'm kind of scared of small animals. Weird, huh? I'm not afraid of horses, cows, animals at the zoo, etc. The smaller they are, the more they scare me. And don't even ASK about fowl. Shudder; 2) I've always worked full time and it didn't make sense to have a dog just to leave him at home all day alone; 3) I didn't really know anything about how to train or socialize a dog. So, I'm working all that out now in my typical "baptism by fire" manner;

- Kim & MJ moved back to Memphis in November, 2010. I miss them every single day.

- Finances? Don't even ask. Our household income is something like 80% less than it was and we will likely never be back at the earning level we were when I started this blog. We will need to move from our house at some point and we have NO idea where we'll end up living. We've committed to staying in this area until the girls finish high school, though. Bill wants to own a farm, maybe in the UP. Who knows? I'm trying to lean in to the ambiguity and look at this as a growth experience for myself. Some days it's easier than others.

All in all, the changes are good. The family is more stable & less chaotic than it has been in years. I am having fun with the work I'm doing and spending my time & energy according to my values. We are eating better, getting more sunshine and exercise than ever before (though I've dropped that ball SERIOUSLY over the winter). I've been broke before and it's not that big of a deal. We will not starve and we will not be homeless. All is well.

Remember those seeds I planted? They grew. I now have tomato plants, bean plants, carrot plants, lettuce, cilantro.......all growing in various South-facing windows of my house and almost 2 months before I can put them in the ground. What the heck am I going to do with this stuff until Mid-May?

Looking at the 12+ inches of snow on the ground in my back yard, it's hard to believe that anything green will ever live there again. March is the time of the year when I start to get really twitchy. Down South, it's already spring. Buttercups are starting to peek up. At most, they're wearing hoodies. Here, we're up to our knees in snow. Unlike.

So, to make myself feel more like spring is around the corner, I have started seeds for all kinds of stuff. Carrots, tomatoes (slicers and canning), cucumbers, broccoli, beans, bell peppers, hot peppers, lettuce. Garlic that I really should have stuck in the ground in the fall but let's see what happens.

I have a few friends who are keeping chickens that I'm hoping will want to barter eggs for veggies. And, as Bill mentioned, I'm hoping that we can produce enough veggies to barter.

The person who gave me worms for the first go-round has agreed to give me another batch for round 2. I think I know what I did wrong this time after more closely inspecting the bin - they got too dry. I distinctly remember my friend telling me that ignoring my worms was the right thing to do. Apparently, spraying them with water once in a while is a better idea. I found about 20 dried worms in the pain underneath the bin so I'm pretty sure that was the problem. I did scoop the dried worm carcasses back in to the bin so they'll rot and make my compost even more yummy.

I've spent the last few days reading books and magazines about sustainability. I've engaged hubby in a few garden-planning conversations but amazingly, I'm the one with the passion behind it right now. He seems only mildly interested in talking about it. I think he's going to need to be able to see the ground before he gets psyched. I've decided that instead of purchasing a $200 rain barrel, I'm going to look out for some recycled barrel to use. Honey, wine...really anything but oil should work fine. I was up for using rainwater for some of our household use as well, but Bill didn't think that was such a good idea. Give him a few seasons :)

D