Many Americans seem to believe that life is about getting more stuff.  One of the most offenseive bumper stickers I have ever seen stated, "He who dies with the most toys wins."  Maybe it was meant to be ironic, but unfortunately many Americans seems to have made a religion out of consumerism.

To see just how truly fortunate and wealthy you are, click here to play the video:

http://www.miniature-earth.com/

Think about it and then do something - decrease your consumption of gas, energy, material goods; lobby your elected officials to support the development of need based capitalism in developing countries (capitalism based on fulfillmet of basic needs rather than capitalism based on creating artifical needs for useless products - cruise your local supermarket aisles to see what I mean about useless products);  if you are not vegan, decrease the amount of animal products in your life - from flesh, to hides, to eggs and dairy.  Resources diverted to maintaining animals as sources of food are resources that are denied to the world's most vulnerable populations.

Remember - just because you cannot fix all the world's ills does not mean you cannot do something.  If we all do that something we can make this world a better place for all the creatures who make Earth their home.

Despite a shaky start at Reverence the Wave 2 planting is nearly complete (sunflowers and some experiments with grains yet to be done this weekend).  The Wave 1 harvest is still underway - lettuces and kale and collards though strawberries are almost done and peas and spinach were a major bust.  Lucky for me that I am friends with a local farmer who is willing to trade spinach for asparagus!

Of course, in the rush to get all the planting done the weeds have been overlooked.  The potato hills are thistle infested and it will be a major undertaking to get those all cleared.  On the up side - the cole beds and onion bed are weed free (for now) and the tomato rows look OK.  They will be hoed and mulched this weekend and the corn field will be dethistled and tilled.  I'll also be planting clovers and annual rye in between rows - this creates lovely pathways during the season.  The rye will winter kill and leave a nice mat of biomass to walk on during the spring - and the clovers will come back - hopefully densely enough to crowd out weeds.

Buckwheat will go into a section I am working on rehabilitating (Wave 1 cover) and will later get tilled under and succeeded by winter wheat or oats (haven't decided yet!).  And sometime very soon the potatoes will get dethistled and otherwise weeded and then hilled and mulched (she said optimistically) with annual rye and clovers in between.

A little rain is needed now though - those carrot, beet, bean, and cucumber seeds are unlikely to sprout without it!  The Chicago area got some heavy rain (and damaging hail) while we stayed dry here.  I really wanted that rain but am glad not to had golf ball size hail slamming into my tomatoes.

All in all, though, I am once again wildly impressed with the way the farm is shaping up.  I'm also thrilled by the legions of red wing blackbirds and swallows who have made their homes at Reverence and by the development of a substantial stand of milkweed.  It's great to have the company of the birds and bees and butterflies while I work (the swallows where busily gulping down winged insects while I was mowing down the asparagus the other day - an amazing aerial ballet).

No matter how the season finally turns out I know I will be deeply grateful - not just for whatever I harvest but for the opportunity to work with Nature to create food and habitat.  I feel the deepest sense of awe and reverence on the farm and in the backgarden - a connection to all that is and the humble realization that I am not apart from nature but deeply rooted within it.

Yes!  Seeds are sprouting and seedlings are rooting and almost ALL of the transplants have been transplanted!  Yippee!

This week the tomato seedlings FINALLY made it into the ground and today eggplants, sweet peppers, and hot peppers made it in.  (Not counting the ones that are going to be tended in the back garden at home - always something).  That leaves only the sweet potato slips and the late coles to get in (and of course all the back garden transplanting left to do but hey - progress is progress!)

I have also been busily 'manicuring' the farm - mowing and dethistling and mowing and dethistling.  I am finding that the work is getting easier as the season progresses - I just love the natural fitness that farming provides (not to mention the naturally good food!).

The current harvest includes strawberries, lettuces, spinach, snap peas, rhubarb, and sorrel from the back garden and asparagus and garlic scapes (the flowering part of the garlic plant) from Reverence.

At Reverence the corn seedlings are up, the squash transplants are holding their own, the potatoes are coming up (please please please let more come up!), and the coles are doing beautifully.  The garlic is also looking beautiful as are the onions.  The only disappointment has been the peas and the spinach (but hey - there's always next season  - plus maybe a shot at fall peas and spinach this year...).

So, once again, after the early season megrims, we are off and farming!

And so it goes - the weather has been more intractable than it usually is - and I will spare you the rant about global warming (this time).

A very long very wet very cold spring kept me out of the fields for a very long time.  I had a brief respite and managed to get in the coles, potatoes, and corn. 

(Though earlier I had gotten in plantings of peas and spinach - but those were Hail Mary passes and Mary wasn't listening.  So much for peas and spinach from the farm this season.  Good thing I had small plantings of each in the back garden to snack on.)

Then the heat and dry came on - mid 90's in early June - so, because I have no irrigation I was unable to plant any more seedlings for fear they would die of dehydration.  Well, there is always work to be done on a farm so I mowed and scythed and scythed and mowed (and fed untold  mosquitoes and at least three ticks...ick...).  I am still not done with that but... the rain and the cold came back so still no planting - the soil at the farm is too clayey to allow for tilling or planting when it's wet.

In the meantime, however, I am rather sure the weeds are still growing.  Oh, well - at least the coles and potatoes and corn got a good drink.

Meanwhile - back at the ranch (or suburban two story) I have made some progress.  All but one fruit tree got planted and all seem to have survived though I still have my doubts about the pie cherry tree.

I transplanted all my lettuce seedlings and they are now happy that they've gotten the cooler wetter weather so all is good there.  Soon I'll be able to add  my own lettuces to the romaine I've been buying from my real farmer friends Sue and Gary.  I've also been eating spinach from the backyard (and bought 5 pounds from Sue and Gary to freeze for this winter's spinach pizza, spinach quiche, spinach pie, and spinach crepes).  The lemon sorrel totally got away from me so I guess I'll be waiting till the fall now to eat more (the leaves are huge and are best eaten when tiny).

Today, I transplanted my celery into the back garden, interplanted with lettuces, and some up front in between some strawberry plants in the front garden orchard.  I also interplanted a few eggplants and transplanted  several others into harvest lugs.  I also managed to interplant some onion seedlings in between lettuce plants that are also in harvest lugs.

And - ta da! - I up potted my mini orange, lime, and pomegranite trees as well as some parsley that overwintered beautifully indoors, and my rosemary and bay laurel plants.  I also potted some bunching onions.  Oops!  Just remembered!  I forgot to up pot my cranberry - must do that soon!

A real bright spot in all the cloudiness are the gorgeous ripe strawberries I 've been eating right out of the berry patch.  They are outstanding.  Plus, I've been eyeing my rhubarb thinking that soon I will cut it and make a pie (assuming my husband repairs my oven...).  The apple trees are bearing some fruits (and the sweet cherry may too though I found a cherry already on the ground - yikes - hey birds - at least wait until they're ripe will ya!), the raspberries and blueberries are beginning to flower, and I made some very good brownies last night and I've got 15 quarts of asparagus soup in the freezer for winter - so - all in all - things are very very good.

Yep - the growing life is the good life!

On Sunday August 14 we lost our beautiful Pumpkin at the age of 20.

Pumpkin arrived in our house three years ago after she had been left at a local shelter because her person had been admitted to a nursing home.  I saw her picture in the shelter's newsletter and showed up there the next day with adoption on my mind.  We ended up adopting both Pumpkin and Jeffrey on the spot.

Pumpkin was skittish and it took months to be able to pick her up without her snapping at me but perseverance and love won the day.  After a time she became comfortable enough to rest on my lap - but never for too long!  Pumpkin had her preferences - and her preferences were either to be on the move or snuggled up in her bed.  For the short six months before Jeffrey passed away he was Pumpkin's constant companion.  He'd been a lonely boy before he was rescued so never wanted to be far from company.

Pumpkin, though 17 when she came to live with us, was an active dog.  She loved being outside. Though walks were typically 'sniff arounds', Pumpkin would suddenly take off at a run and I would have to go trotting after her - she winded me more than once!  And how that little Miss Pumpkin loved to sniff at the local 'watering holes' - the fire hydrant, the mailboxes, any place another dog had been instantly became a source of utter fascination for Pumpkin!

As the years passed Pumpkin slowed down and so she became content to hang out in the backyard and spend more time cuddling.  I loved to cuddle her - her small sweet body nestled into mine.  And I loved to just look at her - Pumpkin had the most beautiful eyes and a little mop of fur at the top of her head that dangled into her eyes, requiring constant trimming.

I miss my Pumpkin.  I miss the sound of her breath, the tip tap of her paws as she walked around the house, her eager crunching of the dog cookies I baked for her, and those beautiful beautiful eyes.

Thank you Pumpkin for being with us.  You are forever in our hearts my little love.

Eggs!  Who needs 'em?  Packed full of artery clogging cholesterol and industrial toxins.   But - how do you bake without them?  The link takes you to a couple of easy and healthy subsitutiions and has suggestions on replacing eggs in savory foods as well. 

http://www.wikihow.com/Replace-Eggs-in-Your-Cooking

And if you've never tried it - scrambled tofu is actually delish!  Simply crumble a package of firm tofu (not the silken kind!) into a lightly oiled pan.  Sprinkle in some garlic and/or onion powder, a sprinkle of turmeric for color, a tablespoon or so of nutritional yeast , (if you have it and like it - available in most health food stores or on line), and salt to taste., stir while cooking over low heat.  Add the veggies of yoru choice and sautee until they are tender.  This make a lot so reduce ingredients accordingly if you're cooking for yourself!

TRAVELING VEGAN STYLE!

Traveling vegan style does require a tad more preparation if you want to eat well on the road.  Yes, it does mean 'packing your lunch', but it also means never having to feel sick from eating at a road side greasy spoon or watching your waistline expand from too many supersized fast food meals.

No matter how you travel, it's easy to bring along some great food.  Traveling by plane?  Why spend gobs of money on those nasty airline 'brown bag' lunches when you can make your own?  One of my favorites is roasted red pepper hummus mixed with some giardiniera (I can NEVER spell that properly!) and packed into a pita pocket.  It's filling, no mess, and super tasty.  Add a piece or two of fruit, a homemade brownie, or some vegan dark chocolate (some dark chocolate has butter oil so you'll want to check the label) and your fellow passengers will be wishing they were as well fed as you!  Sad to say, you'll need to buy something to drink in the airport - but that's they way things go these days.

Traveling by train or bus?  The same lunch will work out just fine but you can bring your own drink.  Some AMTRAK lines offer vegan burgers - but really - they get microwaved in plastic wrap on the train - ick!

If you're traveling by car your options expand greatly.  Pack a cooler with fresh veggies, hummus (of course!), some tofu eggless salad (mash some tofu, add some Vegenaise or other vegan mayo, some salt, and some garlic powder and a little turmeric for color if you wish - instant sandwich filling minus the cholesterol and salmonella!), hearty breads or crackers, fruit, and drinks.  Nuts, raisins or other dried fruit, and nut butters are also great travel companions.

Before you leave home, check on line for veg friendly restaurants at your destination, or if you've got an iPhone they've got an ap for that!  (I don't have an iPhone so I check before leaving...).

Once at your destination scout out the local groceries - many are now stocking a pretty decent array of vegan convenience items.  In smaller towns you might be a bit challenged but canned beans, some rice, and a bottle of hot sauce and you've got dinner!  If you won't be in a hotel with in room cooking facilities you may want to stock up on shelf stable microwavables, your favorite cereals, and the smaller aspetic carton of plant milks.  Most hotels do offer rooms with fridges and so you can keep a few perishables on hand. 

I've been traveling vegan for 7 years now - every time is an adventure but I always find great places to eat and easy to eat stuff in the groceries!

Vegan Websites

http://www.veganchatroom.co.uk/

http://vegandad.blogspot.com/

http://www.compassionatecooks.com/

http://www.theppk.com/

http://vegancookies.wordpress.com/recipes/

Volunteer Opportunities 

Grayslake Prairie Grassroots for Change

Join us in providing service to our community.  Our current projects include providing lunches and other necessary items for Lake County PADS and we've adopted a stretch of highway to maintain.  We are looking for new members who want to do their part to change their corner of the world! 

Allendale Association

www.allendale4kids.org 

The Allendale Association is a private, not-for-profit organization dedicated to excellence and innovation in the care, education, treatment and advocacy for troubled children, youth and their families.

• A Home for over 150 boys and girls, 7-21
• A School for 200+ boys and girls K-12
• A Place to Heal for children, youth, adults and families in need of intervention or support.

 Night Ministry

www.thenightministry.org 

About 25,000 youth in Illinois experience homelessness each year, nearly 10,000 in Chicago. The Night Ministry provides a continuum of age-appropriate services for homeless youth. Staff help youth identify their own strengths, advocate for themselves, and create solutions to their own problems.

 Literacy Volunteers

www.literacyvolunteers.org 

ProLiteracy Worldwide is the oldest and largest nongovernmental literacy organization in the world. It achieves its mission, championing the life-changing benefits of literacy for adults and their families, by sponsoring educational programs that help adults and their families acquire the literacy practices and skills they need to function more effectively in their daily lives. 

Habitat for Humanity

www.habitat.org 

Habitat for Humanity has shown that building homes does more than put a roof over someone’s head. In clean, decent, stable housing: Families can provide stability for their children. A family’s sense of dignity and pride grow. Health, physical safety, and security improve Educational and job prospects increase.  

Lake County Haven

www.lakecountyhaven.org

The Lake County Haven empowers homeless women and children to achieve permanent independent living. We use transitional housing, education, employment, and life-skills training to help people move from homelessness to independence. Throughout this process our goal is always the long-term stability and self-sufficiency of each person.

 Save A Pet

www.save-a-pet-il.org 

Save-A-Pet is a not-for-profit, no-kill shelter dedicated to finding loving, quality homes for each cat and dog in its care. Pets are sheltered indefinitely. Our shelter strives to create an environment which enhances both awareness of and support for the humane treatment of animals.  Our Mikey, who sadly has passed on, came to us from Save A Pet and  Pumpkin and Jeffrey were both adopted from Save-A-Pet in 2008!

Seed Savers

www.seedsavers.org

Seed Savers Exchange is a nonprofit organization that saves and shares the heirloom seeds of our garden heritage, forming a living legacy that can be passed down through generations. When people grow and save seeds, they join an ancient tradition as stewards, nurturing our diverse, fragile, genetic and cultural heritage.

 Sustainable Harvest International

www.sustainableharvest.org

Founded in 1997 by Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Florence Reed, Sustainable Harvest International (SHI) addresses the tropical deforestation crisis by providing farmers with sustainable alternatives to slash-and-burn agriculture. SHI facilitates long-term collaboration among trained local staff, farmers and communities to implement sustainable land-use practices that alleviate poverty by restoring ecological stability.

My Favorite Hair Stylist! 

Andrea's Hair Services

www.andreashairservices.com

I have been having my hair done by Andrea for years!  I love her!  You can always count on a great cut and style.  Andrea is now at the Hair Source Salon in Libertyville and can be reached at 847-636-6267.  Tell her I sent you! 

Mind-Body Connection Research 

Mind and Life Institute

www.mindandlife.org 

Vision
To establish mutually respectful working collaboration and research partnerships between modern science and Buddhism — two of the world's most fruitful traditions for understanding the nature of reality and promoting human well-being.  

Purpose
To promote the creation of a contemplative, compassionate, and rigorous experimental and experiential science of the mind which could guide and inform medicine, neuroscience, psychology, education and human development.

Mission
The Mind and Life Institute is dedicated to fostering dialogue and research at the highest possible level between modern science and the great living contemplative traditions, especially Buddhism. It builds on a deep commitment to the power and value of both of these ways of advancing knowledge and their potential to alleviate suffering.

 World Compassion Movement 

Seeds of Compassion

www.seedsofcompassion.org

 Seeds of Compassion came about through a collaboration of the Kirlin Foundation and the Venerable Tenzin Dhonden to focus world attention on the following:• Our communities need thoughtful, creative adults who are actively engaged citizens.
• Our global society needs people equipped to communicate across cultures and address differences through understanding and collaborative problem solving.
• These qualities must take root in early childhood.
• When children build from strong foundations emotionally, socially and cognitively, they can develop into compassionate adults.

Sojourners

www.sojo.net 

Our mission is to articulate the biblical call to social justice, inspiring hope and building a movement to transform individuals, communities, the church, and the world.In response to this call, we offer a vision for faith in public life by:

• publishing Sojourners magazine, SojoMail and other resources that address issues of faith, politics, and culture from a biblical perspective;
• preaching, teaching, organizing, and public witness;
• nurturing community by bringing together people from the various traditions and streams of the church;
• hosting an annual program of voluntary service for education, ministry, and discipleship.

In our lives and in our work, we seek to be guided by the biblical principles of justice, mercy, and humility.

Vegan Outreach and Resources

Farm Sanctuary

www.farmsanctuary.org

Farm Sanctuary works to end cruelty to farm animals and promotes compassionate living through rescue, education and advocacy. We envision a world where the violence that animal agriculture inflicts upon people, animals and the environment has ended, and where instead we exercise values of compassion.

Vegan Essentials

www.veganessentials.com

VeganEssentials is both an online store and a retail shop located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. We have been in business since early 1998 and are one of the USA’s oldest cruelty-free retailers, filling the needs of vegans worldwide for nearly a decade. We’re a vegan owned and operated store that specializes in only offering the highest quality animal-free products, and our mission is to offer unparalleled service and selection all in one location, making us a one-stop shopping destination for all things vegan.  My go to store for all things vegan - since they're just across the border my orders usually make it here in 24 hours!

Other Stuff You Can Use 

Compare Hospital Quality

www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov

This tool provides you with information on how well the hospitals care for all their adult patients with certain conditions or procedures. This information will help you compare the quality of care hospitals provide. Talk to your doctor about this information to help you, your family and your friends make your best hospital care decisions.

Health Care Reform

http://wyden.senate.gov/issues/Legislation/Healthy_Americans_Act.cfm  

Take a look at this information - affordability and availability of quality basic health care affects every single one of us, whether or not we currently have employer provided coverage.  This bipartisan proposal has been calculated to be budget neutral by 2014 (not so far away).  The Senator's site contains the full text of the bill, an analysis by an independent consultant, and plain language information on key bill provisions.

As usual, time has gotten away from me.  The intent, of course, was to post weekly.  Ha.  Back to reality.  In between a full time job, three adopted dogs, and the farm there just isn’t much time for blog updating .  Though in truth, needing to switch computers to update the blog doesn’t help much.

Anyway – over the past few months I’ve learned a few new farming lessons and made a few compromises.

First, the lessons. 

Lesson One:  Take a look at the picture above.  You will note that the eggplant seedling to the left is quite a bit larger than the others.  Why?  The one on the left is in a plastic cell pot.  The others are in cardboard tubes.  I thought I’d go green and use the cardboard tubes from toilet tissue as ‘pots’.  It doesn’t work well – I think there might be some chemical leaching out of the cardboard tubes.

Lesson Two:  I have mentioned before that using soil in your potting mix will make your seedlings more vigorous.  Still true (assuming you don’t use the cardboard tubes as pots).  But – the more fertile the soil the more vigorous the seedlings.  I dug up some soil from my comfrey patch and the plants that got the enriched soil were SO much happier – they grew fast!

Lesson Three:  Tomato seedlings that spend too much time outdoors in damp cool weather come down with Septoria Spot.  If it’s too damp don’t leave them  out full time.  I am now waging a war against Septoria Spot and that means we are now on to Compromises.

Compromise One:  I have yanked as many of the damaged leaves off the seedlings as possible.  Now I have to use chemical warfare.  I had been hoping to get by with just sulfur dust but all they carry at my feed and seed store is Garden Dust – a sulfur, copper, and pyrethrin mix.  I don’t need or want to use pyrethrin (an insecticide) and really didn’t want to use the copper (bad for earthworms).  So – the compromise.  I am going to use the Garden Dust (and bundle up in a hazmat suit before I do).  My intent is to put the seedlings on a mat, dust, and leave them in the side yard (they are still in their seedling trays).  I am hoping that by having the seedlings still in their trays and on a mat that I won’t have too much of the dust getting on the ground.  And since I don’t have any bugs flitting about my seedlings just yet I’m also hoping to avoid poisoning any insects.  Like I said – a compromise.  

UPDATE:  I realized I could not make this compromise so searched harder for just plain sulfur dust and found it - off to buy it and a duster and the appropriate dust masks.  Some compromises are just not worth it.

Compromise Two:  More chemicals.  Before I realized that I had likely poisoned my eggplant and pepper seedlings by using the cardboard tubes (and these were not the seedlings that got the richer soil either), I decided they needed more nutrients than they were getting from the molasses and alfalfa tea.  So I used some chemical fertilizer.  I now think that may have been unnecessary given the other issues but I did it. 

What it amounts to is a battle of principles.  My first and guiding principle is do no harm.  My second one is to use organic growing methods.  In terms of compromise one  - the garden dust actually falls into ‘organic’ but the pyrethrin is decidedly not  life friendly.  And the more  I think about it the more I dislike it – so maybe it’s just time to keep looking for that sulfur dust.  Plus then maybe I won’t need to wear a hazmat suit.

Compromise two came more out of panic.  I refuse to use fertilizers made out of animals and seemingly my first choice – plant based fertilizer wasn’t working – so my compromise was to use the chemical fertilizer for the seedlings.  Once they hit the field though there is no more use of chemical fertilizer.

Which as I think of it brings up another compromise – the use of peat in my seedling mix.  Peat is not really sustainable.  The reason I use it instead of compost in my seedling mixes is that I just never have enough plant based compost.  All of last year’s batch went to create a new garden bed.

So – like it or not – and I don’t like it – I’ve made compromises.  Perhaps others don’t – or perhaps they have in the past and through the mistakes and compromises have arrived at a place where they no longer make either.  I can’t say.  All I know is that I learn something from each mistake and that each compromise sends me on a search for ways to avoid having to do it again.