Jam Fan (or Alex's hero!)

It wasn't on my list of things to do, but it is something I kind of forced myself into . . . I made strawberry jam! YEAH!

Previously, on Crunching Along, I blogged a little about my new favorite book, The New Self-Sufficient Gardener. In it, J. Seymour discusses what to do with surplus harvest. I didn't exactly have a surplus harvest, as my starwberry plants are too young to produce this year, but I did pick a bunch of strawberries with my friend, her children, Little Dude and Bananie.

Now, Little Dude can eat his weight in strawberries, I've seen him try. I can eat a few myself, but Bananie is a little young for citrus-esque berries. We ended up with surplus strawberries and my choices were: a. eat as many as I could before they rotted, b. give them to the horses and mule in the pasture behind out house, or c. make jam. I picked "C." Hey man, when in doubt, Charlie Out!

So, I went online, did a little quick research, flipped through Mr. Seymour's book some more and decided, this can't be that difficult. I needed to purchase a few things:

1. Pectin (I could have made my own with apples and will probably try to later on, but not for a first go.)

2. Jars with ring tops and lids.

3. A canner (a special pot enabling easy raising and lowering of the cans into and out of their "bath").

4. A jar picker-upper (I am not explaining that one . . . it explains itself).

This is what I actually purchased: pectin and the jars.

I put the steamer basket from our rice/veggie steamer in my biggest soup pot for a canner and used some not-for-canning tongs instead of a picker-upper. The soup pot worked great . . . the tongs, not so much. I don't know that these tongs are for picking up anything, at all.

So, core the berries, smush the berries, boil the berries with pectin and sugar, pour mixture into clean jars, burn fingers on hot jars, screw lids on jars, re-screw because it wasn't tight enough the first time, burn other fingers on hot jars, place (drop if I am being honest) hot jars into almost boiling water, wait 10 minutes, sweat, open windows, try to pick up jars, drop again, re-try the pick up with inadequate tongs, burn hand on hot pot, get jars onto towel to set, grab cold beer to soothe singed fingers, drink beer while admiring handy work . . . and . . . BAM! You've got JAM!

(Let the water from the "bath" cool overnight and use it to water plants in the morning!)

Now, to make this mildy cerebral . . . the difference between jam and jelly is this: jam includes actual pieces of the fruit, jelly is the gelatinized juice of the fruit. I am a jam fan myself and it seems to be a little easier to pull off. It also doesn't take as long in the bath, so you get to the beer quicker.

The jam is setting and I've been hearing the tops suction down with a little pop, so at least they are sealed. As was stated by a friend, if they don't set, strawberry syrup is great on pancakes! Another friend just said I was their hero. So, go ahead, be a hero, make jam!

Me and my jam!

Free Fetilizer . . . YES!!!!

Ok, so . . . I don't actually add bagged fertilizer to my gardens. I've said it before, I'm a little anti-poison. So, when we were forecasted thunderstorms for today I was excited! Free Fertilizer!

What? Ok, so not everyone knows about the nitrogen fixation cababilities of lightning, but it's true! This is how it works . . .

Nitrogen is present in the air as N2, N2O and NO, none of which are useable by plants. Plants need ammonium, NH4. So, how do they get it? Well, some bacteria can effect change nitrates that result in useable ammonium at the root level of some legumes. But, we all knew that, right? That's why farmers will plant alfalfa or soybeans in a field previously planted with corn. They are trying to replace the nitrogen.

Where does the lightning fit it? Lightning is a high energy event (insert "duh" here). The high energy rips apart the tripple bonds of the N2 molecule, leaving a bunch of single nitrogen atoms in it's wake. Now, much of this will return right back to atmospheric nitrogen. Ah yes, but some of those lonely N's will hook up with some O2's, making nitrites. Hmmm . . . the stage is now set for some easier bond "switching."

There are a few different processes now involved in the Nitrogen Cycle including nitrification, nitrogen mineralization and denitrification. All of those can be explored in detail at http://www.visionlearning.com/. But we shall suffice it to say, lightning is free fertilizer.

The book I am presently devouring, The New Self-Sufficient Gardener, mentions this in the opening chapter, believe it or not! John Seymour's books are really quite good and are a reccomended read. This was something my husband had always talked about, too! (He's a smarty pants!)

Now, if your head hurts, here is some lighter fare:

I found an empty bird egg in my wildflower/butterfly garden this morning! I think it is a starling egg (ick) but it is still pretty and a reminder of the cycles of life. I also took some pretty pictures of a squash blossom, lettuce and my ever growing blueberries! Enjoy!

Flutter-bys or Butterflies, if you will!

Well, school is out for the preschoolers, which means I have to come up with some interesting and toddler captivating activities for these summer months. What to do, what to do, what to do?

We have a nice little garden, and our little guy has been helping me in there. He is an excellent bamboo stake sticker-inner, if that makes sense. He is also a good little digger, but hmmm, what to do?

I want to instill in him a love of the outdoors and nature. My husband loves to hunt and fish, so he has that mutual respect with the animals and fish and their habitats. Without healthy habitats, his prey won't be healthy and won't reproduce . . . but how do you get a not-quite-two year old involved at the right level?

I think the answer is small, delicate and flies . . . Butterflies!

Now, I don't want to order some poor anesthestized insects, unwrapp them only to have them drop on the floor, dead or worse, alive but with ripped wings. I want to:

1. Raise them ourselves!
2. Teach about the life cycle; let little man and his sister watch them change.
3. Raise butterflies native to my area.
4. Have little man help me in the butterfly garden so he can see how it all works!

This is where I started: Google . . . where else do you start these days? I would love to hit up the library, but little man and sister are sleeping, so Google it is!

The North American Butterfly Association has an excellent site. They have information on how to grow a catepillar and butterfly friendly garden. Lists of catepillar plants, butterlfy plants, native species, etc. They also have a section listing local chapters of the NABA. On those websites, you can find specific information as to your local species and what local plants they enjoy!

Then there is Butterflies and Moths of North America. Again, you can select your area based on the map choice on the left hand side of the site and keep zooming in until you are looking at the specifics for your county. I got so much information from this site, I had to open a Word Document in order to cut and paste all the stuff I wanted to learn! The best part, there are pictures of the butterflies and some of their catepillars! They also have a children's site!

The other thing I was looking for was a good field guide for butterflies. I found the Audubon Society's Guide to North American Butterflies. Just from the shape-plates, I learned the difference between swallow tails, skippers, folded wing and angled wing butterflies. There are also plates to aid in egg and catepillar identification.

There is a lot to do to prepare for baby butterlifes: "house" to grow in, food onsite, pupation sticks, release location, butterfly gardens or butterfly feeders, etc.

So, now I have my next project in the "wings." I hope some of you decide to rear butterflies this year and maybe next year as well. All the info is on those websites, as I am not an expert. I'm just a mom looking for something to do with my children that will not only help pollinate my garden, but also will help instill an appreciation of the natural world in my children!

Images courtesy Butterflies and Moths of North America, University of South Florida, North American Butterlfy Association, Butterflies and Moths of North America and Amazon.com.

Natural Sleep Aids or I can't fall asleep!

I was so tired today, I had everything all set up to hit the hay at 7:30pm.
Babes in bed at 6:00pm facillitates this nicely.
I hopped in bed at 7:40-ish, so I missed my mark by a bit, but still pretty darn close.
Psalm 139 was the prescribed reading from my Study Bible.
I attempted a sudoku puzzle, put it down . . . and then . . .

toss
turn
flip
flop
get up

Where is the sleepy time tea? I'm out.
Ok, chamomille. No go on the chamomille.
Hmmm . . . warm milk? Won't be enough for babies in the morning.
So, decaf chai with a smidge of hot milk and some honey apparently does not work because it is 10:45 and here I am blogging away!

If life gives you lemons, make lemonade, right? So my lemonade this evening was a brief internet search for natural sleep aids. This is what I found:

Sleep hygeine - It is important to go to bed at roughly the same time each evening and rise within the same hour every morning. This teaches your body a rythm to follow. From personal experience I know this to be true. But it wasn't going to help me tonight.

Visualization - The idea is you imagine yourself drifting off to sleep. I will admit I have a CD with a hypnotist that talks you into a sleep state. It is pretty effective, but I can't find it, so that's not going to help right now.

Magnesium - Hmmm . . . pills. I am trying to avoid pills, but magnesium is something I need anyway. Many whole foods including black strap molasses, brewers or nutritional yeasts, whole grains and legumes contain magnesium in amounts believed effective for this purpose. The pills can cause, umm, the opposite of constipation, so use at your own risk!

Herbs - Of course, never use any herbs in capsule or medicinal tea strength without consulting your physician, especially if you are taking ANY medications. Sleep inducing herbs include valerian, chamomille, passionflower, lavendar and lemon balm. Hey, I have lemon balm and lavender in my garden! Hmmm, maybe I'll go chew a leaf of that!

Warm Milk - I have used this in the middle of the night while pregnant. Not sure if it works due to some actual chemistry or if it is only the placebo effect. But, it does work . . . I just need the milk for the children in the morning . . .

So, I guess my lemonade is actually lemon balm and I might sniff a lavendar leaf or two.

Hope you are asleep and read this in the morning!
If you are in my area and need some fresh herbs to plant for your late night needs, contact Dianne's Greenhouse 931-648-8701.
For a great variety of herbal teas, you can visit the Herb & Vitamin Store 931-906-1100.

Things that make you go, "CRUNCH!"

Ok, so, here we are . . . finally getting to the main purpose of this blog:

I would love for everyone to switch to cloth diapers, have as big a garden as they could handle and recycle; Reduce, Reuse, Recycle! My reasoning for this is based on my personal background and some books I have read.

Personal Background: Globabl Ecology Studies Program, Oceanography Major, METOC Officer. I have been up to my neck in environmental issues since I was at least 14 years old.

The Books: The Bible, In Defense of Food, Crunchy Cons, Serve God, Save the Planet.

If you explored those links, you now have an idea where I am coming from . . . maybe. Perhaps I just confused you.

Not everyone can or is going to spend all the time to read books and take classes in order to learn how to steward the planet. This earth does not belong to us, we are really just here to take care of everything; plants, animals, sea, land, air and each other! Family, Community, Planet . . . that's the goal.

What makes one go, "crunch?"

Family. The definition of family can be wildly specific or as far reaching as is needed. Mother, father, and child are just the begining, but such an important beginning. Strong families are the foundation of healthy communities.

Community. Neighborhood, associates, etc. Your town is your community, your street is your community. As these entities ail, and they are sick, the rest of society follows. Healthy communities take care of each other and become self sufficient. Vibrant communities help stabalize the planet.

Planet. Here's where we will wax philisophical for a few moments. The planet encompasses the environment, the people and it's God. God calls us to care for the, "least of these," through His Son. The least have no electricity because they have never needed it. But their ways of life are being taken from them. The least have no habitat, no place to live because it is being taken from them. The least used to be the smallest, rarest, most removed groups of people, plants, animals and ecosystems on the planet. The least are now not so rare, not so small and not so removed. The least can be your neighbors or your local river.

Family and community have to take on global meaning. There is no dodging this responsibility. As those versed in science can tell you, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Therefore, everything we purchase, everything we throw, "away," everything we want will have reprecussions, either positive or negative. Negative reprecussions are as simple as adding unnecessarily to the land fill by purchasing items with too much packaging or by not recycling. They are also obscure, yet serious. Purchasing chocolate manufactured with slave trade cacao or coffee from clear cut rainforests.

This is meant to be a hopefull blog. So here are the positive reprecussions: purchasing produce at a local farmer's market keeps local families in business and not only puts food on your table, but food on theirs as well. Unplugging appliances reduces your energy bill and the demand on local power plants. Teaching a low-income family how to grow their own food in the summer helps them reduce their grocery bill and gives them high quality produce to eat, boosting their health as well as their self esteem. I'm sure you are coming up with others as you read!

So, what's to be done? Do what you can with what you have, where you are, right now. What you have at the moment is this blog. In the coming days and weeks, I will be chronicling the ways my family is attempting to become greener and greener! So, for starters . . . unplug your computer when you are finished reading and come back to visit often!

Family, Community, Planet!

Hope Springs an Earthworm

So, the actual line is, "Hope Springs Eternal." It has so many connotations, in just three words. Amazing how a carefully worded phrase has the power to bring to mind all variety of thougts and meanings.

Unfortunately for the masses, my line, "hope springs an earthworm," doesn't really make as much sense right off the bat, nor is it as poetic. I will explain . . . just try to bear with me!

It has been raining for about two weeks. Some days we are blessed with random bursts of sunshine, but most days have been soggy, overcast and stormy. Today was a severe weather day, so at least there was a little bit of excitement. The rain is much needed as we have been in a drought situation for the last few years, but I'm not so sure getting a year's worth of rain in a month is really the way to go! As a friend of mine said, "I am waiting for the animals to start pairing up!" Hmmmm, do mini-vans float?

As I write, it is still overcast, definitely muggy and trying to storm. People in the neighborhood are frantically trying to mow their lawns. Over the last few weeks, I had been frantically trying to get my garden in the ground, plant fruit trees and bushes and keep my toddler son entertained. Rain can really put a damper on things!

But there is always the hope of sunshine and a few moments of dry weather. They are needed. Plants need direct sunlight to effectively activate their chlorophyll and people need it for vitamin D production, not to mention the cheerfulness associated with a sunny day. Dry weather keeps the mold from becoming rampant, allows plants to obtain non-diluted nutrients from the soils and helps the streams and other waterways recover from heavy rains.

Spring is rainy and there isn't really anything to be done concerning the cycle of the seasons, so I will await the arrival of my May flowers! The hope of flowers is what gets me through the rainy days. Rainy days are also a God-send to my plants since I have history of forgetting to water them adequately!

Spring. Flowers spring up from the ground, children spring outside to play and rain springs from the clouds. Earthworms also spring on out of the soil, if you are digging! I love earthworms! As I was frantically digging my garden and transplanting my seedlings I was finding scores of earthworms! It makes me happy to find them squirmming around in the soil; to me it means the soil is becoming healthier than before.

So there I was, planting a pair of apple trees in my backyard. The first hole was uneventful. The second hole produced about a dozen earthworms. I was running earthworms from one hole to the other in an attempt to spread the wealth, the dog was chasing me and I'm sure the neighbors thought I had lost my mind! Add in a little yard waste and an apple tree and there you have it . . . hopefully the perfect new spot for baby apple tree to grow!

Hmmmm . . . hope, spring and earthworms . . . I hope you aren't groaning too loudly! Earthworms are such simple creatures and such a huge help to the garden and our lives! The next time you see one, pick it up and set him down in your garden or flowerbed . . . just be sure to give him a little blanket! It's true, hope springs an earthworm!

Tomorrow: Things that make you go CRUNCH! I

Burning at Both Ends

Well, it has been raining which means I have antsy children in the house. I have also had a bunch of stuff I wanted to accomplish, but entertaining a toddler and an 8 month old tends to force other activities onto the back burner.

Because of the rain, there hasn't been much going on in recent days. We did go to a fabulous farm about two weeks ago and I will be blogging the trip soon. In the meantime, check out their website, www.ChristianWayFarm.com. The pictures are great and my son was in love with a kid (baby goat for you city folk)!

Tomorrow's blog should tie together the rain, my time spent in my fledgling garden and earthworms! YAY! I love earthworms! Hope springs an earthworm . . . don't get it? Come back tomorrow for some insight!

Tell me this little guy doesn't look hopeful!

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