I'm back

I apologize for my long absence. I'll provide my excuses later .. maybe. But I'm so happy that you are here. I'll provide a brief update.

My substituting has reached a good level - I'm on a permanent stay with a kindergarten class near my home while the regular teacher is on maternity leave. I'm most happy to get up in the morning and go to work.

I am looking forward to spring to start doing some camping and hiking.

I'm planning on spending my summer working on my short stories and novel. I really intend to get published this year.

I do want spend time on crafts - doll making, doll houses, soap making. Maybe I'll be setting up a booth at some festivals this year.

Oh, and I want to just play, walk on the beach, spend time Letterboxing & geocaching.

I really would like to get more involved in my massage practice and perhaps get more training in trigger points.

I can't neglect my gardening and storing food for the winter.

How will I find time to do it all? I'm realizing the sands of time in my hourglass are slowly slipping away.

Soap Making in the Planning Stage

I found the bucket with the Coconut Oil – I had purchased a twenty pounder awhile back. I recently ordered 4 gallons of Olive Oil from ebay and got it for about $12 a gallon, but I had to pay for shipping as well. The third oil which is basic to my recipe, vegetable oil, is easily obtained at a mainstream grocery in the form of ~crisco~ or something like that. Various other oils could be used such as shea butter, cocoa butter or many others – research into their skin beneficial qualities would provide many other choices but the three basics – coconut (for sudsing action), olive and vegetable are the ones I always use as a base. 

The lye was purchased in a larger quantity from a wholesaler in Dallas. I would have liked to purchase a larger quantity – like a 20 gallon drum, but storage of this very dangerous chemical would have been an insurmountable challenge before I had a safe, secure, dry location to store it. In the meantime I have 5 pre-measured bags of lye, enough for 5 batches of soap.

I don’t use water to mix my lye, rather an herbal tea, refrigerated overnight. My personal favorite is Comfrey, an herb known for its skin-healing properties. I think that making the tea must also establish the correct PH since I never have problems when I make it with tea rather than plain water. I’ve heard of mixing the lye with goat’s milk but someone had a problem with her end product stinging when she used milk for the mixture. I couldn’t say what caused this but I was getting my goat’s milk direct from the farm and never had that problem.

Cosmetic grade fragrance oils were purchased by the quart and I have 3 remaining – sugar cookie, patchouli and the label is worn off the third.

So, those are my ingredients although I could add oatmeal, fresh dried herbs and many other ingredients for varieties in selection and use.

Mixing the ingredients is a key step in the process. Both the hot and the cold have to meet in the middle at temperatures between 120-125 f in order for the chemical process to occur. To facilitate their merge, I use an electric mixer on a stand. The small bowls on these mixers won’t be large enough for the measurements I use so a purchase of a large aluminum bowl (glass too dangerous – I wouldn’t want to take a chance on that breakage) to fit a stand mixer that holds ‘other’ bowls. 

I recently purchased a Sunbeam FPSBHS030 250-Watt 5-Speed Hand and Stand Mixer Combo cookware kitchen that I will NOT be using for soap making – too flimsy. I bought on ebay but amazon sells cheaper. Doesn’t matter what you pay for it, I wouldn’t take a chance on making soap in it. 


In the past I’ve used a SUNBEAM MIXMASTER 12 SPEED STAND MIXER which worked very well. Unfortunately it was lost during a storage move. I’d like to find another and there are several on Craigslist for Kalamazoo. Guess I might have to make a drive over there. KitchenAid makes an expensive one that might be more power than I need for this project.

This is the Sunbeam mixer I’m looking for. Happy Shopping~

Final Move

I'm moving next week, about 2 miles down the road, still in Michigan. I think I'm gonna love it - its a old farmhouse (a Sears house which brings up all kinds of research for me to follow up on) on a 100 acre operational Fruit & Horse farm. I've been packing for awhile and I'll get the keys a week from Wednesday with the furniture being moved on Saturday, the 18th. 

Turns out Sears sold about 70 thousand of the 'kits' from 1908 to 1940 and this one looks to be one of the 350 designs, a Sheridan, and was built in the late 1920's. The house was sold in 1951 (the year I was born) to a family that owned it up until recently. The Missus died in 1998 at the age of 88 and her husband in 2003 at the age of 96 - he'd already planted his spring garden that year. Their son  lives about 1/4 mile down the road and he was in his late teens when his parents bought the house. He and his wife walk everyday and are very helpful in the history they remember. 

It's a huge house - 3 bedrooms and bath up and 1 bedroom, bath, dining room, kitchen and living room downstairs plus a basement. One of the out buildings can be used for my soap-making since it has a sink, bathroom and heater. It's amazing. 

The current owners live about 1/2 mile away in his historic family home but the land was sold and the owner is a big business guy accumulating land in the area. This is why the current owners farm the land but live elsewhere so its a great opportunity for me. There are 100 acres with apple, sweet cherry and peach orchards. About 5 horses and he'd like to do more horse rescue - I've already got a good relationship with one of the horses. You can see pics if you scroll down. 

There are fine with me adding goats and chickens and I'm seriously considering bee-keeping. The owner has already tilled up a 20x20 patch for my garden this year and I can start planting right away. The garden is where the family had an organic composted garden for many years so the soil should be excellent. Corn & Tomatoes are on their way.

Spring Garden

 On my patio, the Sage and Chives are coming back to life. Lettuce and Beets are sprouting.

In a little while I'll go over to Church and see how the Community Garden is coming along and then plan to attend the Monthly Soup Supper where the local churches and organizations join forces to raise money for the North Berrien Food Pantry, located at the Coloma United Methodist Church. I have a 4x8 plot there for my growing where Cilantro, Comfrey, Beets, Carrots, Radishes and Lettuce were planted about ten days ago. Finally, the big one... 20x20 is being plowed up for me now, at the Farm. I'll plant corn, sweet potatoes (hope they grow up here), lots of tomatoes & peppers so I'll be canning salsa, spaghetti sauce and plain ole tomatoes. Green, Wax and Italian Beens are likely additions. Should keep me busy for awhile~


I've updated the Events Page for Paw Paw River Campground and Canoes. Also created an Event for the Spring Grand Opening at the Watervliet Fruit Exchange

Fruit Trees Blossoming in Southwest Michigan

Sweet Cherry Blossoms

Apple Blossoms

Peach

Apple Blossoms

Apple Blossoms

Peach

Apple

 Please correct me if I'm wrong on which blossoms go with which fruit. As it comes time to Harvest, there will be no doubt in my mind!

BEES

I finally will be getting to use my Honey Bees & Beekeeping, A year in the life of an Apiary by Keith S. Delaplane from the University of Georgia Extension Office. All these years I've carried this book on my travels until I finally arrived at the place where I could use it and here I am. Currently these 4 hives have been rented for the blossoming season... but next year~ 

Forsythia

The forsythia is one of the first splashes of springtime color in many yards in the northern United States and has become a landscape staple throughout New England. Its bright yellow blossoms light up the yard, mirroring the golden sun above.  They provide a thick screen between neighboring yards and a secure nesting area for several species of birds. The forsythia is very cold-hardy and durable. Its prolific root system enables it to withstand droughts as well as any northern plant. To get the best blossoms year after year, however, one must know how to prune the forsythia properly.

Learn When to Prune by Observing Your Plants

Choosing the right time to prune the forsythia is the most important aspect of preserving the blossoms for the following year. If you prune too late in the year, you'll be removing next year's flowers before they have a chance to bloom. The spring-time forsythia erupts in thousands of little bright yellow flowers along the length of its branches early in the spring. The flowers come out even before the leaves do. The flowers will cover the new growth on the outside of the forsythia bush, leaving the older growth inside more bare. This gives the observant gardener a clue about when to prune. Source: http://voices.yahoo.com/how-prune-forsythia-bush-5559325.html

A Lovely Day in the Community Garden

We planted today. Three of us planted our own sections and the rest worked on plantings for the Food Pantry. I planted Comfrey=finally, and some Cilantro-a must have, plus Beets, Carrots, Lettuce and a handful of radishes. One fellow’s grandchildren were joining him to have their first experience with the wonder of gardening in the form of radish planting.

We lived next door to the most delightful woman as I was growing up. There was some turbulence in my home during my preteen years as my Father experienced several strokes, heart attacks and eventually, death.

Mrs. Mazey lived next door and she brought a ray of light into my heart. I remember her laying with me as I tried to fall asleep, her asking me to sing her my favorite hymns, all the while, they were working on my father in the living room—the rotation of the red blinking light through the open front door, down the hall and onto my bedroom door. And later as the years passed, she always spoke with me as though I were an adult no matter how immature I acted. She asked me interesting questions and listened thoughtfully to my answers. I'll always remember her.

Mrs. Mazey gardened. She taught me about lettuce and radishes, tomatoes and together with my mom, the joys of bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches on homemade bread, toasted with mayonnaise. Nothing short of heaven.

So, today I planted and I’ll post some pictures in a couple of weeks to show you how its sprouting. In the meantime, our Sponsor, Gene Hanover, Manager at the Watervliet Fruit Exchange has let us know that the first plants are beginning to come in. He has tomato, pepper and cabbage plants; also strawberry, geranium and petunia plants. Additionally the Saturday classes have begun to fill up.

There is no cost associated with the Saturday Morning Gardening Classes, but he does appreciate a holler so he makes sure he’s got enough chairs ready for all who want to come. We’ll be posting the class schedule on the website soon.

See you there!

The Coloma Community Garden Project

First Congregational UCC - Coloma, MI

Let’s Get Growing

Quoted from First Congregational UCC, Coloma

Blessing Our Community Garden

April 21, 2013

God bless this garden through which your glory shines 

May we see in its beauty the wonder of your love

God bless the soil rich and teeming with life

May we see in its fertility the promise of new creation 

God bless our toil as we dig deep to turn the soil 

May we see in our labor your call to be good stewards

God bless each seed that takes root and grows 

May we see in their flourishing the hope of transformation 

God bless the rains that water our efforts to bring forth life 

May we see in their constancy God’s faithful care 

God bless the harvest abundant and bountiful in season 

May we see in God’s generosity our need to share 

God bless this garden as you bless all creation with your love 

May we see in its glory your awesome majesty

 Amen

Home Grown in SouthWest Michigan

I love Blueberries. They may be Superfood and that’s great, I’m definitely into eating healthy. This weekend is the South Haven Blueberry Festival and it sounds like a fun time for all. But I don’t have to go anywhere this year – I’m surrounded by fresh blueberries!

In southwest Michigan it’s easy to enjoy eating healthy with the abundance of local produce. Fresh Sliced, homegrown tomatoes are on my plate most evenings, with buttered Corn-on-the-cob and something off the grill. Life is good when I’m eating good. Right here, right now, it’s easy and it’s cheap!

Fall is coming, I know. I just got the letter of approval from Wayne State for a May 2011 graduation. This will be my second Master’s degree, this time in Information Science. In addition to eating, I do enjoy going to school, obviously. 100% online, I spend my time doing what I enjoy.

I know, I know, the world around me seems to be crumbling with the stock exchange dropping to new lows, unemployment, war, and all the chaos. I’m just holding steady, maintaining my faith, being grateful for all the good in my life and dancing while I can still hear the music (between bites).

Second Life

I’m going to have to abandon this blog for a few days, now that I’ve spent way too many hours on it, yesterday and the day before. I’ve got some big assignments due that must be completed, well, and in a timely manner. I hesitate to admit it publically, but I’ve been in work avoidant mode as I’ve spent way too many hours researching videos and coding for this site.

How can I say its work avoidant, and not just taking some time off for R & R? Because last night I was up until almost 4am, working on Julianne Mexicola, my alter ego in Second Life. In other words, these last few days, I’m still sitting in front of the computer, still typing, still gazing into the screen, but I’m not moving forward on my projects, I’m Playing!

If you aren’t up to speed on Second Life, take a few minutes to view the videos at the bottom of this page, below all my blogging. The video selections, which aren’t individually picked by me, just the topics, are gifts from YouTube. The heading is Second Life and they tell who, what, where, and all that stuff about this do-it-ourselves, virtual world being created.

Before I go off on another tangent, and make it an SL kind of a day, I’m going to leave it to you, my reader, to do that yourself and hope you enjoy visiting the 3D world. If not, please, please, get into the discussion on community gardens or urban farming or something. Feel free; in fact I encourage you, to comment on my posts.

Or follow me, something only the crazed attempt to do in the real world.

Sustainability

So what is Urban Farming? In Detroit, seriously? Yes, it’s happening. The alternative to leaving the trashed vacant lots empty and useless as teams of Detroit residents are getting together with help from organizations like Earthworks Garden/Capuchin Soup Kitchen, The Greening of Detroit and MSU to work together creating community gardens.

Community gardens provide food security, healthy choices at that, especially for low income persons. They usually are created in an open space and provide areas of fellowship. They help form strong bonds between neighbors, working together to provide food, while enjoying nature and healthy exercise. Most importantly they provide sustainability.

Community businesses can do that too. Do we need a large corporation to come and build a factory so that we can spend eight hours or more a day inside making widgets to sell to people who don’t need more stuff? Can we create a business where we work together, sharing the load, each person doing work they enjoy and do well, contributing to the whole, creating a useful product that we can sell at a reasonable price and still make a profit? Can we become sustainable in our own backyard?

Something to think about.

One thing always leads to another

I pick up a piece of thread and an hour later, I’m amazed to look around and see where I ended up.

Last week’s Free Press had an article on Farming Detroit. Wow, that’s positive. Things are looking up. The work of organizations like Detroit Garden Resource Program, Greening of Detroit, Detroit Agricultural Network, Michigan State Extension and Earthwork Gardens came to my attention when I simply Googled Farming Detroit.

A huge movement is underway in the city that I once visited only during daylight hours and escaped promptly at 5 pm, Monday through Friday. Having grown up in St. Clair Shores, Detroit had a reputation that only worsened after the sixties riots. When I left in 1981, I felt like a deserter and I was. I sought career opportunities in the Southwest and I found them. But now I’m back.

Having visited Lake Orion this past summer for the first time in my life, I fell in love with the abundant lakes, trees and curvy country roads. I live downtown and walk everywhere. I’m finishing up my degree from Texas Woman’s University and am looking into continuing my education in Oakland or Wayne County. Wayne State University attracted me because of the online distance classes. No, I really didn’t want to spend too much downtown Detroit, but there was a certain flavor to the air in the WSU area that I remembered fondly from the old days, especially at Traffic Jam & Snug, one of my all time favorite pubs that I was so glad to still standing and thriving. So, I am just so pleased to see the community gardens and the personal investment into the city of Detroit.

I’m already working on my garden here in downtown Lake Orion. I’ve got the green light from my landlord and collected twelve bags of leaves from my sister’s house in Ferndale that are waiting for the site to be ready. I’ve enlisted a fellow from the neighborhood to till up my spot and plan to get some landscaping timbers this week to frame it in. Full steam ahead as my mouth is already starting to salivate at the thought of home-grown organic Michigan tomatoes in the backyard, next to cucumbers, onions, squash and peppers.

I decided to Google community garden Lake Orion Michigan and found a blog post from someone looking to start a community garden here. Yikes, maybe there is even greater hidden treasure in this lush little village that I’m falling in love with, than I originally thought.

A new tenant, a lady about my age, is moving into the upstairs flat of this quaint house that I rent this weekend and I’ve already told her to feel free to take a patch of the garden for her own. But maybe, there are others. Who knows where this is going. I’m just following threads and enjoying all the flowers I get to stop and smell along the way.