Oh, Freedom

As you know my kids started school yesterday. So my new found freedom warranted some free time for me to go shopping! Not for a new purse or shoes but for fresh food. All summer I refused to take my kids to the farmer's market or farm stands because of the gripping -when are we leaving, how long will we be here, I'm hungry. I took them a couple of times in the beginning of summer and that was enough for all of us. (Don't get me wrong, they are great kids, but I think they know if they gripe I won't take them. They like to work mom over, ha ha.) I can't think when they gripe. When I shop for food I need to think of how long the potatoes will last, how many apples to buy or do I really want eggplant.

I was so happy to be able to go to Smith Family Farm about 10 minutes away. I hadn't been there yet this season and I was pleasantly surprised at how much they had, and I bought most of it. (The next couple of days will be eating, baking, cooking and freezing for me.) My goal today was to start storing local produce for over the winter eating. I bought corn to freeze, and potatoes, onions and garlic to hide in a dark dry place. After I bought those I found some awesome heirloom tomatoes that almost look too beautiful to eat. (Below) Some huge blackberries that melt in your mouth. (Above)(I thought berry season was over.) And apples!!! Apples in summer! And here, it is so hot. (You will have to forgive me, I don't remember the names of the apples or tomatoes and I know that can be important. I'll go back next week and find out.) I also bought some lemons, nectarines and pears. I scored today and I am happy.

Be green.

Greener Water

We recently spent some time in the local Sierra Nevada mountains along the American River. I love this river. It is so beautiful. The clear water rushing along meeting up with boulders to form rapids of white water. The plastic bottle floating near the lost sandal.

During my visit I noticed quite a bit plastic and aluminum garbage floating along, minding its own business, probably hoping to meet up with its compadres in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Oh, the environmentalist in me cried and then picked up as much of it as I could. (Picture a mom with her friends and their kids carrying beer cans up from the river. Not a good sight. But we did it.) When I got back I started to wonder where that river flows and is anyone helping to clean it up.

The river originates further up stream near Lake Tahoe from ice melt and eventually, after a few reservoirs, dams, a delta and a bay, the water ends up in the ocean. That is a long journey, let's estimate 250 miles. There are a lot of stops along the way but it is very possible that pollution from up river could end up in the ocean. While sitting on the bank of the American River you don't think of the Pacific Ocean and its wildlife. You are thinking whitewater rafting, fishing for trout and swimming. I thought of both locations. How do the locals keep their our watershed clean? And thus help the clean the ocean environment.

A watershed is a drainage basin where water from rain or snow flows down in the form of streams, rivers or creeks toward a larger body of water, i.e. the ocean or bay. What happens upstream effects downstream. Many people don't realize that. I didn't until about 5 years ago when I heard about the Marsh Creek Cleanup.

Every year on the 3rd Saturday of September our city holds the Marsh Creek Clean Up. It is a collaboration of the local city, sponsors like Home Depot, the Resource Conservation District, Friends of Marsh Creek and citizens to clean our Marsh Creek. Every year it grows in volunteers and you wouldn't believe what we pull out of the creek. One year our Cub Scout Pack pulled out a shopping cart. How sad is that? Chairs, sofas, car parts, batteries, fishing line and everyday garbage gets taken out of the creek. I always wonder how it gets there.

I don't need to tell any of you how to keep the waterways clean, I know you guys are green, but unfortunately we need to clean up after others. Please help clean the rivers, lakes and ocean and spread the word.

The Marsh Creek Clean Up corresponds with California Coastal Clean Up Day. Now I made it very easy for anyone living in California to help clean our waterways. Visit the site above and sign up. They will send you info on who your local organizer is.

You can also check with the Ocean Conservancy for clean up locations near you. There is a link for international volunteers there also. Or simply google " 'your body of water here' clean up". For example "Mississippi Clean Up" gave me Mississippi Coastal Clean Up, which is on September 20th this year. Also search for your local Department of Water Resources, they have a lot of information.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention, the American River has quite a few friends friends to help clean it up. The American River Parkway Foundation organizes a clean up. And here is a large list of Sierra Nevada and national environmental links also.

One bad note about the clean up. Ask what happens to the trash. Do plastic bottles get recycled? Where do aluminum cans go? If the organizers say to the dump, that is not good enough. Try to convince them that much of the trash floating in the ocean is from landfill garbage that got airborne. And we know you NEED to recycle those items. A couple of the articles I noted in this post address that issue. But don't give up, we all know every little bit helps.

Resources and Reads:

Green Peace: The Trash Vortex

Algalita.org - Marine research Foundation

Floating Fecal Funship - Not all garbage comes from the land.

Plenty Mag: Environmentally Sound Beaches

Signs from Mother Nature?

OK. Mother Nature is sending me signs that she wants me to be green. I can't ignore these signs

• Mom Nature was happy with me. Friday night we went on a local farm tour and it was great! It was hot but great. My kids and I joined a group of mostly girl scouts and homeschoolers to learn a lot about two of our local farmers and their farms. We learned how corn grows, how it is processed, picked apricots for $.50/lb, made homemade ice cream, ate the freshest corn (it was like candy!), learned that farmers today only earn $.07 on the $1 (unlike 100 years ago that number was $.40 on the $1, support your local farmer), saw farm equipment and so much more. I loved it and we ate all the fresh veggies and fruits along the way.



• Mother Nature wants me to be hot. Saturday our air conditioning went out. You are thinking that is a good thing. It can be good but not with temps in the high 90's. I am very frugal with the A/C and rarely run it unless it is miserably hot. Well, last night it was. Mother Nature wants my A/C off and not back. I know she is sabotaging my summer. She was the one that took out my A/C.


• Mother Nature likes my garden. She is giving me a glorious garden. All our veggies seem to be growing great and we should see some edible zucchini next week! Woo Hoo!
  



• Mom Nature doesn't want me to travel. All around me are fires. They aren't threatening my home or anything like that. They are all around me. They are in South SF, Napa and Santa Clara Valley. West, North and South of me. I won't be traveling anywhere. Not to mention the air smells of smoke, like a huge campfire, so I won't be outside today. Oh, I forgot I have to leave my windows open because my A/C is out.


• Mother Nature hates my boat. (Yes, we have a boat. Please don't ostracize me out of the green club. We have had the boat for 3 years now, before my greener days. And now we don't want to get rid of it. It is a small 18 foot boat and falls under more strict guidelines for CA emissions than others. We use it wisely and it brings our family together. So please keep my in your green clubs and just call me "light green" if you must. If you have been reading my blog you know everything else I do I find a greener way.) Yesterday we decide to take our boat out to the Sacramento Delta and it broke down. So not only did my A/C go out, my boat is broken. I guess it is appropriate, those are the two non-green evils in my life. (I did manage to snap a few photos. Below is Mount Diablo from a southern point in the delta.)

In reviewing all the clues Mother Nature has sent me I think I need to be greener. Whether she is sabotaging my summer or just helping me out, I think I should heed the signs. And listen to my mother.

My Green Friday

I woke this morning to the heat. It is suppose to be 97 degrees outside today. Ohhhhh. And I am trying desperately not to turn on the A/C. So far so good at noon. But the heat really comes around 3 pm. But at that time, I am so excited, I am going on a farm tour sponsored by Contra Costa Resource Conservation District (RCD).

The tour's main focus is to educate children on where our food comes from, what it takes to produce it and what is done with it once it is processed. I am so excited to have this resource available. The kids will learn about soil, organics, seasons, food, farm machinery and storage of food. We will be visiting 2 farms, Simmoni-Massoni and Farmer's Daughter, for you bay area dwellers to come and visit our little u-pick and farm heaven.

But back to this morning. I actually did some gardening! (Now everything will die by the touch of my brown thumb.) I am on a green bean quest! I need green beans. They are the only thing out there I can grow from seed (organic of course) and, damn it, I will grow more! So I moved the watermelon plants we thought were not going to make it but are, to the back of the yard. And replaced them with green bean seeds. Then I decided to give up on growing NATURAL CALIFORNIA WILDFLOWERS (ya, I can't even grow native stuff!) and replace those with, drum roll, green beans. If everything goes as planned I will have 11 green bean plants, hopefully enough for freezing. I don't know, this is my first time growing veggies. Technically it is my husband's garden, I just water it. And now fertilize it. I use Dr. Earth and so far so good. But if you have a dog beware, they like to eat it and dig for it in your garden.

Watermelon

Cantaloupe

Our zucchini is coming along splendidly! The top picture (below) is from June 9th and below it from June 19th. They grow really fast. This city girl had no clue to this phenomenon. But I like it because the veggie grows fast also. (My husband's size 10's are hidden in the 2nd picture.) The 3rd picture is our little baby zucchini. (Can you tell this fascinates me?)

Baby Zucchini

And we finally gave up on 1 of our 3 tomato plants. It just looks ill. No water starting today. And I may replace him with.......a green bean seed!

Pathetic tomato plant

Have a green weekend.

P.S. Mama and daddy mocking bird are still keeping their chicks safe. Yesterday my neighbor found out that there are 2 chicks. Those birds are working hard.

More on Local Produce

Again, I am so excited to be moving forward on the green road. Yesterday I went to a local farmer that just opened their season recently called Tachella Farms. They carry some of their own veggies and fruits and local produce also. I was proud of myself for asking where her products came from. (I am a pretty quiet person and only talk when necessary, but my husband would say otherwise, ha ha.) I bought red potatoes from Stockton, oranges from Watsonville and honey from "somewhere off the 5 highway". I can accept Stockton and Watsonville, I have been to both towns, but "somewhere off the 5 freeway", I am not sure if I like that answer. I still bought the honey because the family I bought from is local and I wanted to support them but I will be on a quest to find a more personal and local bee keeper/honey maker. The woman behind the counter caught on that I was looking for local and firmly assured me, in a motherly way, that all she sells is local and wouldn't expect her customers to eat anything but local. I felt so comfortable with her that I asked her where I can get local meat. She mentioned a guy from Orland, CA (about 160 miles away from me) that sells his beef at our farmer's market so I will try him next time I hit the farmer's market.
I know that I never mention organic. I am working on that. I think I am a little scared to find out that I am going to have to work harder and maybe travel further to get it. I work in steps. Local first and if I have to buy from the grocery store then I buy organic.
Well, I gotta go pick strawberries. The first crop at Chan's will be coming to an end soon and want to pick a few pounds to last me through the summer. Hopefully, if weather permits, Chan's will have a late summer crop also. And I can go pick again!
Happy Eating Locavores!

My Farmer's Market is Open!

I went to the Brentwood Farmer's Market on Saturday. I was so excited to see it open. I have been on a quest to see if I could find a lot of my food locally. And I scored at the farmer's market.

• Fresh eggs from Shelly's Garden in Brentwood-my hometown
• Zuchini and cucumbers from Arata in Byron-next town over
• Lettuce, broccoli, carrots and potatoes from Garcia Farm in Hollister-about 111 miles away but still considered close to me
• Blueberries from Alpine Blue in Vacaville-56 miles north of me
• And sweet potato pie from Gran'ma Lillie's in downtown Brentwood

I also bought oranges which I forgot exactly where they came from. I believe they were from Allard farms in Westley, which is 45 miles southwest of me. Oh, the asparagus is of unknown origin to me also, but looking at the list of farmers on the market's website it was local also.

I am blessed to live here in the far East County of the Bay Area because we are very close to the main farming belt of California in the Central Valley. And Brentwood is known in the Bay Area as a farming community (well, after the SF Chronicle this weekend, we will be known as foreclosure central. I don't care, I enjoy raising my children here.) In July we will be up to our "ears" in corn and we will get a huge influx of Bay Area people coming for u-pick cherries, apricots, peaches and nectarines. Besides the heat, and I mean hot dry heat, I believe I live in a great place.

I am still looking for local cheese and meats. I will ask around to see if those exist within my area. But I live about 1 1/2 hours from Sonoma and Napa areas. I am going to look there for cheese. Where else would I look but in wine country for cheese. Actually Brentwood has a couple of wineries now. Come to think of it, we also have our own olive oil. Am I set or what? Now where can I find grain? I may have to just resort to the bulk section at Raley's.