Worky Work, Busy Bee!

Wow, what a week! I started a new job yesterday, working from home as a transcriptionist- I'm really excited about it, and there's a TON of information that I'm trying to learn and absorb while I get my feet under me. So, my brain feels a little mushy at the moment... bear with me.

I have a new yarn to put up on Etsy this weekend; it just needs to finish drying and then I'll be able to take photos. Until then, though- here's a sneak peek... shh! It's another gorgeous Greenwood Fiberworks creation: a 50/50 Merino and Silk blend called "Paper Roses" that measures out at 315 yards. It's a 2 ply, lighter weight yarn- I'll have the final gauge after it's fully dry.

Oh, back to learning the new job- I'm going to have to adjust my schedule here a bit while I get into the routine needed for work. My plan is to keep posting here at least twice a week, and keep my Tuesday GRIT posting as-is... I'm just not sure how the "Around the Web" and "Friday Photos" posts fit into things, right at this moment. (Besides, it's raining like mad here, so unless you want to see dimly-lit photos of puddles... we may want to just take a break from that for a little while.)

So, whether it's still Monday and Wednesday, or some other assortment of days, I'm not sure. But, I will still be here, at GRIT, and on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest (and maybe even Twitter from time to time!) as I get my new routine established.

Have a safe and Happy Halloween!

 

Home Stretch of the KAL

Happy Wednesday, everyone! How's the knitting coming along? I have to admit I got a little off track after this past weekend, but I'll be knitting away this coming weekend so I can finish up with the rest of you. Fortunately for me, I have a reader-submitted photo to share with you:

Thanks, Mom! 

I absolutely love the colors she picked- the yarn is Lion Brand "Amazing" in their Strawberry Fields colorway. Gorgeous!! I've knit some hats and a different cowl using that line of yarn, and I have to say it's never a disappointment.

If you didn't slack off like I did, then you should be on the final bits of the project. This week's assignment is to Knit 3 rounds, cast off loosely, weave in the ends and enjoy!

Not sure about the cast off? It's also called a "bind off", and there's a great video over at Very Pink Knits. I should say another great video- she's my go-to resource when I need a refresher on anything knit related.

Oh, one more thing: I really want to see your photos! Post them over on Facebook so we can all admire your hard work and celebrate our accomplishments together. Also, tell me what you thought about the project... likes, dislikes, what you'd like to see for a future KAL, you know- all that good stuff.

Finally,we're taking a few days off, so things are going to be more or less quiet here from now until Monday. Until then... happy knitting and I'll see you when I get back!

Onward and Upward

Happy Monday, everyone! It's going to be a busy day here, so I'm going to keep this first post short, for now. I've decided to take the plunge and open up an Etsy store; my personal goal is to get at least 15 items photographed and listed today.

Photographing things like yarn can be challenging, at best. Indoor lighting adds color casts that need to be corrected, otherwise the actual product photo turns out quite different than the "real life version". So, I'm planning to spend my morning fiddling with lighting and staging so that I can get the photos just right.

So, that's the scoop for now. I'll keep you posted!

We Have Another Giveaway!

As much as I can grumble about the shift away from summer, the truth is that I love Autumn. I'm an October baby, so really, I shouldn't be too surprised- it's in my blood, after all. One of the best things about the changing seasons is having an opportunity (excuse?) to hunker down with a good book when the weather doesn't lend itself to my being outside.

That being said: Could there be a better way to kick off the upcoming season than with a book giveaway? I think not! I'm super excited to announce that the wonderful folks at Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds have generously given me a copy of their beautiful book The Heirloom Life Gardener to share with one lucky reader.

Much like their stunning catalog, the book is packed full of great information as well as some truly beautiful photos. It's definitely a lovely addition to any gardener's bookshelf, if I may say so.

About the book, from the Baker Creek website:

"The Heirloom Life Gardener is the first comprehensive guide to heirloom gardening—whether you're just starting out in your backyard or have been gardening for years.

The Heirloom Life Gardener is not just another boring how-to book based on the latest gardening trends. It is a fun-to-read book that weaves Jere's and Emilee's personal lives and life-long adventures in gardening into a resource of tried and true methods of gardening based on necessity and economy—the way it is done at Baker Creek.

Both beginning gardeners and already successful gardeners will benefit from tips to help them avoid many costly mistakes. 240 pg. Colorful Hardcover. "

Still want to know more? The book was featured on NPR, too! Click here to check it out.

To enter the giveaway: Leave a comment here, or on Facebook, and tell me what you're looking forward to doing this coming Autumn and Winter, now that the gardening season is winding down. Are you a crafter? A quilter? A four-season outdoorsy person? I want to hear about it! 

The fine print: US entries only, one entry per person. Entries accepted until 11:59PM on September 23, 2014. Winner will be picked via a random-number generator. I have not been compensated for this post, aside from being given the copy of the book to giveaway, and my opinion of the book and the company remain my own. 

Food Summit: ENCORE!

Good morning, everyone... I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! I'm excited to say that the Food Summit folks have released an encore presentation of some of the top speakers. Take a listen, while things are still free! Here's the lineup:

Paul Gautschi, Sustainable Farmer for 55 years; Documentary Star, Back To Eden

Grow Your Own Healthy Food Easily by Modeling Mother Nature

• Growing organic food sustainably and simply.
• Why you don’t have to water your garden!
• Picking and eating seasonal foods the natural way.
• Tips on how to eat more raw and live foods.

  

Joel Salatin, Sustainable, Maverick Farmer; Lecturer; Author

Why Our Current Food System “Just Ain’t Normal” and How to Change It

• Joel has authored such books as Folks, This Ain't Normal, You Can Farm and Salad Bar Beef.
• The farm as a romantic, magical place of awesome mystery and beauty.
• How to promote the cowness of a cow and the tomatoness of a tomato!
• Why decomposition keeps us alive.

  

Paul Stamets, World-renowned Mushroom Researcher; Inventor; Entrepreneur

How Mushrooms Created, and Can Save, the Living World!

• Paul fell in love with mushrooms and became the world’s authority on them!
• Humans have 100 trillion cells in their body, 90 trillion of these are non-human cells--we’re outnumbered!
• The importance of mushroom mycelium as our planetary immune, nervous and digestive systems
• Mycelium as the keystone group of organisms and foundation of the food web.

  

Marjory Wildcraft, Training Course Creator, Grow Your Own Groceries

Growing Your Own Food for Self-Reliance

• Marjory’s DVD has been used by 300,000+ people around the world!
• Why Marjory is called the “most dangerous woman in America”.
• Grow, prepare and preserve your own food and medicine in less than one hour a day!
• Cha-ching! Why growing your own food is like printing money.

 

Mark Forman, Master Composter, Teacher

How to Build a Simple Home Composter to Supercharge Your Garden Soil

• How Mark stumbled into composting, then told the world!
• Using kitchen and yard scraps to boost soil fertility.
• The different ways to compost in your backyard.
• How Mark’s children never knew soup came in cans!

Click here to register, if you haven't already. If you've missed any of the presentations and want to buy the series of 34 interviews (and all of the bonus material that comes with it!) while they're still on sale, click here. It's $47 for the download, and $67 if you want them to send it to you on an 8GB flash drive. 

*Disclaimer: I am an affiliate of the summit, and would receive a small commission on any purchases made through that link. That being said, these are some really knowledgeable speakers sharing a ton of great info, which is why I chose to promote the summit rather heavily while it was available for free.  

While you're checking them out, I'll be clacking away over here on the keyboard, getting things ready for this week. More to come shortly!

Food Summit: Day 3

Happy Wednesday!

On tap today are some more fantastic speakers... I hope you'll check them out. Today's topic is Connecting to the Local Food System and presentations like growing your own groceries and getting started gardening are sure to get the ideas flowing at home. I'm looking forward to learning more about seed saving, myself!

If you're not already registered, click HERE to get your free access.

Food Summit: Day 2

Good morning! Here's today's Grow Your Own Food Summit lineup- if you haven't registered yet for the free series, today's the day! With Erika Allen and Paul Stamets in the queue, it's sure to be another information-packed day.

Click here to sign up right now. All of the presentations are available for purchase at the end of the event, in case you hear something that really resonates, or if you aren't able to make time this week to catch it while things are free. The replays are on sale this week, but I'm told the price will go up later. This link will take you to the purchase page, if you're interested in buying the collection.

Pardon the Interruption

Good morning, everyone-  I hope you all had a safe and wonderful Independence Day!


I'm still regrouping after being sick last week, but I have every intention of being back on track later today. I don't know what it is, but summer bugs always seem to be tougher than winter ones to shake. Anyone else feel the same?

While I work on getting my act back together, you should head over to the Grow Your Own Food Summit and check out the great presentations available today. I'm looking forward to watching them, myself- so much great info in one place!

Grow Your Own Food!

Time for a real food shout-out: I wouldn't be promoting this event if I didn't believe that a) this will provide something of value to you, and b) that growing your own food really is one of the most important things that we can do. I'm pleased to be an affiliate for the event, and I hope you'll take a moment to register today! 

The Grow Your Own Food Summit will teach food-growing people, both novices and experts, how to improve the world more than any other event in the last decade. Learn step-by-step instructions for what you can do today to put healthy, trusted food on your table in the future! Plus, it's ONLINE and FREE from July 7-14, 2014.

  
Enthusiastic food growers and community builders, Valerie Kausen and Gary Heine, have created 34 presentations to show you how growing your own food can change your life. This event is truly for everyone... because growing your own food contributes to improved health and connected community. It’s also an activity for the whole family that builds friendships in your neighborhood as you share each other’s skills and interests.

  

Register for FREE now at the following link:

https://nf130.isrefer.com/go/foodreg/Acorn13/

  

WHY ATTEND?

Don’t let anyone else decide what’s in the food you eat! Change your life. Gain access to the information you need RIGHT NOW to optimize your health and connect with both nature and those you love. It’s that simple.

• Learn how to grow and eat healthy, local food.
• Change your health and life, and that of your family, friends and neighbors.
• Feel satisfied that you can depend on yourself.
• Trust your own ingredients.
• Learn how growing your own food helps make your local community stronger.

  

There are serious issues to address related to our health, our community and our planet. The answers begin in your backyard–growing your own food reduces toxicity, transportation and pollution, and gives you a trusted, sustainable source of nutrition and increased happiness.

  

Here are a few of the incredible presenters:

• The Good Food Revolution is Here... Take Action!, by Will Allen, Founder, Growing Power; Winner, McArthur Genius Grant; Farmer; Author, Speaker
• Why Our Current Food System “Just Ain’t Normal” and How to Change It, by Joel Salatin, Sustainable, Maverick Farmer; Lecturer; Author
• How Mushrooms Created, and Can Save, the Living World!, by Paul Stamets, World-renowned Mushroom Researcher; Inventor; Entrepreneur
• Saving Seeds, Growing Food and Ending GMOs Can Save the World, by Vandana Shiva, World-renowned Indian Activist
• The Food Revolution and How GMOs are Disrupting It, byOcean Robbins, Co-founder, Food Revolution Network; Author, Speaker, Educator

  

With 34 presenters sharing their wealth of knowledge, this invaluable (and FREE) resource is intended for you, whether you live in a city or on a farm!

  

Better yet, if you register today, you'll have access to the following FREE GIFTS as soon as you register!

• Food Growing 101, eBook by Gary Heine and Valerie Kausen
• Saving seeds, growing food and stopping GMOs can save the world, 17-minute presentation by Vandana Shiva
• How to create a simple home composter to supercharge your garden soil, 57-minute presentation by Mark Forman 

Come listen to the Grow Your Own Food Summit ONLINE for FREE and be inspired from July 7-14, 2014.

  

Register for FREE at the following link today:

https://nf130.isrefer.com/go/foodreg/Acorn13/

  

We’ll see you at the Summit!

Grit Day!

It's been a busy morning! In today's post over at Grit, I talk about a few of my favorite ways to use lavender. It's such a versatile plant!

I also just got home from the new volunteer orientation over at the goat rescue. More on that tomorrow, but until then, ponder these three words: baby pygmy goats. 

Last, but not least: I will be signing up for the Craftsy photography class shortly! Thank you to everyone who responded. I'll probably end up taking the veggie one as well, as it's been hard to choose between the two. 

Decisions, Decisions...

I'm trying to decide which Craftsy class I'm going to take, and I really need your help!

Here are my top three picks; please leave a comment and let me know which subject you'd be most interested in reading a post about. I'll take suggestions up until Monday, June 23rd!

Number 1: Love Your Vegetables: Best Methods, Flavorful Techniques. It's all about using seasonal veggies to their fullest! Check out the class description and/or the video Here.

Number 2: Handmade Sourdough: From Starter to Baked Loaf. I love bread, in case I haven't mentioned it before. Here's the link to the description.

Number 3: Shooting Intimate 

Landscapes. Photography is an integral part of blogging, so any opportunity to hone my skills is worth taking. Click here for the description.

They all look so great... it makes choosing just one very difficult! I've loved all of the classes I've purchased from Craftsy, so I know I'm going to enjoy whichever one wins. 

Leave a comment, either here or on FB, between now and Monday (6/23) to help me pick a class. Please! 

**Disclaimer: I am part of Craftsy's affiliate marketing program- if you purchase any classes through the link on my blog, I will get a small commission for the referral. Also, the class that gets chosen will be provided to me at no cost, by Craftsy, as a thank you gift for their new affiliates. My opinion of the company was formed prior to this partnership, however, and said opinion is unsponsored at this time.** 

We Have A Winner!

Happy Monday, everyone! I hope you all had a pleasant weekend.

I'm excited to announce the winner of Acorn and Thistle's first ever giveaway: Madeline Edwards!
Congratulations, Madeline! Please email me or send me a private message on Facebook with the address you'd like me to send your prize to. A big Thank You to everyone who participated, as well- I received a bunch of really good questions, and I'm looking forward to answering them all, as best I can.

Madeline's question was "What do you do with the parts of the rabbits that you don't process into food, since you can't compost them?"

For me, it's important that I use as much of the animal as I possibly can. At this point in time, all that's left when I finish processing are the inedible guts, feet and heads. Those go out to the farthest part of our property and get buried a couple of feet down so as not to attract any attention from dogs or other animals. So, in that regard, they do get composted, just not in my main garden pile.

We keep the pelts and dry them. I'd like to learn more about tanning, and it's on my list of things to work on. I'm not overly keen on some of the chemicals that get used though, so I'm still researching different methods to see what will work. (The idea of brain tanning, which is a common way to treat small animal hides, freaks me out. Not so much the idea of using the brain- it's the getting it out that makes me uncomfortable.)
Anyway... for now, I tack them to a pallet and let them air dry for a day or so, and then salt them heavily. I was reading about bark tanning recently, so the batch I have drying now are coated with a paste of salt and hemlock/red alder bark "tea".  This is my first try with that, so we'll see how it goes.

I pull the livers, kidneys and hearts out and cook them up for the dogs. I know there are folks out there who love them- apparently rabbit liver is great, if you like liver... but I'm not a huge fan. I keep a bag in the freezer that I put veggie scraps in- carrot ends, celery trimmings, onion bits... that sort of thing - for making stock. So, I put the organs in my crock pot with the veggie scraps and covered them with water, then let them simmer overnight. I chopped up the meat with my food processor, and the dogs get a little of that with their dry food. The stock was strained, and will be used as "gravy" for their dry dinners as well as for making some dog biscuits.

And that's about it, for us. There may be other uses out there, that I'm either not aware of or ready to try, but to me, it feels like very little gets wasted. We'll get several meals out of one rabbit, as will our dogs. And the trees in the "back 40" also benefit from a little extra microbial action while the last little bits break down.

Does anyone else have anything to add? I'd be curious to hear if there are any other uses for the parts we don't keep.

Thursday Links

Hello again!

Two things before we start: 

• I checked in with the folks at GRIT and my post from Tuesday should be up later today. They're a little behind due to vacation coverage ('tis the season!) but expect to be caught up shortly. I'll post the link over on FB when it's live, for convenience. 
• I'll be putting the produce bag giveaway up on FB later today as well! We hit over 100 likes this week, so it's a great way for me to say Thanks to you and to celebrate. 

Now, back to our regularly scheduled Link Love: 

• THIS concept is fantastic. It's the second time I've seen it mentioned in the last couple of weeks, so I'm hopeful that it will gain some traction. Maybe, just maybe, some forward thinking developers would try this in our area, instead of just cramming hundreds of homes on only a few acres. 
• Interesting. I'll keep it in mind now that fresh produce will start accumulating in my kitchen. 
• YUM. We use our grill year round, but nothing says summer like grilling up some ribs. 
• And more yum! I must be hungry. Now that the days are longer, we're starting to build a backlog of eggs, and this  frittata looks like a good way to make a dent in the pile.
• It's not my imagination...we really are having an awful caterpillar year.  
• Hey look, more food. I have a sorrel plant that's been in my garden for a few years and is woefully underused. I love the tartness of the leaves, but wasn't sure what to do with it. This recipe looks like a great place to start. 
• Plant more heirloom seeds. This article about the number of seeds that are patented by companies is disturbing. 

Ok, that's enough for now. Time to get outside and get some work done...

Has anything caught your eye online this week? Drop me a line and let me know!

MENF and Other News

Hey, everyone! I hope you had a great weekend. I surely did!! This is what it looked like:

2014 Mother Earth News Fair. Puyallup, WA.

The Mother Earth News Fair (MENF) was AMAZING. I have many (many!) pages of notes from the presentations I attended, that I'll be basing upcoming posts on. All of the speakers I listened to were great, but I have to say that the two standouts were Toby Hemenway and Joel Salatin. Between the two of them, my head is still spinning with ideas!

There were so many great vendors and exhibitors, too! The poultry show hall was packed full of hundreds of beautiful birds, from chickens and roosters to ducks, geese, turkeys and guinea hens with their gorgeous feathers and not-so-pretty faces. There was even a show pigeon area, but I didn't have time to wander through there, unfortunately.

I sent a few tweets and instapics while I was there, but mostly I was rushing between presentations and trying to cover as much ground as possible. Next year, I'm definitely going to get a hotel room down there so I can attend both days. There's just too much good stuff to be seen, and I'd like to do it at a more leisurely pace. The day positively flew past and I had a wonderful time. There are 2 more fairs this year, in September (PA) and October (KS). I *highly* recommend checking them out, if you're in the area.

On to more news: I've been working hard at monetizing the blog; in order for this to be my new career, I have to find a way to bring in some money to support the work that I do. I didn't want to overload people with random ads, so with the exception of the ad feed from Google, I've been hand-picking affiliate programs to join. Affiliate programs (like the Amazon link, for example) pay small commissions on sales that generate from a given website. I list books and things that are of interest to me, but it's not limited to those items- all you have to do is start out here at the blog, then click on an affiliate link to shop at your merchant of choice. Then, they give me credit for the traffic when you make a purchase, at no extra cost to you. So please, check out the affiliates when you're looking to make purchases, and help me keep this going.

One of the affiliate partners that I'm excited to team up with is Craftsy. As a thank you for joining their affiliate program, I get to take one of their classes for free so I can do a post about it. I purchased a few classes over the winter, and I've been singing their praises ever since- so if you haven't checked them out yet, please do! This week, over on the FB page, I'll put up my three top choices and let you guys decide which class I take and then I'll do a post (or series of posts, more likely!) to share my experiences with you.

I also have a couple of giveaways coming up! I know I've mentioned them before, but I'm a huge fan of the Baker Creek Heirloom Seed company. I reached out to them last week about partnership opportunities, and they've graciously agreed to provide a copy of their hardcover book "The Heirloom Life Gardener: The Baker Creek Way of Growing Your Own Food Easily and Naturally", written by the owners, to be used as a giveaway prize! I'll review the book before the giveaway, so keep an eye out for that in the next couple of weeks. The other giveaway will happen this week on FB as well- it's a package of reusable produce bags that I got at the Fair yesterday... stay tuned!

What did your weekend look like?

May: Hope and Renewal

Oh, hi! It's been a while, hasn't it? That's my dirty little secret... I get overwhelmed, and I get quiet. Really Quiet. Like, not even crickets in the background, that sort of thing. My apologies...

The good news, though, is that I'm back.