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Stomach Flu!
Blech!!! I contracted stomach flu from my parents who were sick from it last weekend. I started feeling the pain at 3:00 a.m. on Wednesday morning and I am just now beginning to feel normal, although still far from it. I would rather be afflicted with just about anything other than the stomach flu. I was bedridden the entire day but Mauricio was a champ and handled business with the kids and around the house so that all I was left to do was agonize in solitude. Dinner, homework, laundry, feeding the animals and cleaning was all taken care of, I love my pookie. He's such a Mr. Mom. Anyhow, we are praying that our vigilance in terms of sanitizing surfaces and avoidance of contact with me spared the rest of our family my fate. Unfortunately, the kids were at my folks house over the weekend while we attended a wedding. We will be very lucky indeed if they come away from all this exposure unscathed. To make matters worse, between now and Sunday we have THREE little league games and a Cinco de Mayo party to attend. Cross your fingers for us.
A Short Lull But Here's Why....
I I was waiting for these beauties to ramp up! Namely a variegated blue iris started from bulb and two Canterbury Bells which I started from seed in the Sping of 07'. They did not bloom last year but this year I'm happy to report that are more than making up for it. Other pictures include Italian Purple Artichoke plants started from seed, sweet pea plants climbing a bamboo trellis, a grape vine and giant sunflower vying for space. I forget the name of the pink flowers pictured but I simply scattered the seeds in this bed and so far they've come back each year. I don't have much else to show or tell. The back vegetable bed is doing fantastic as are all of the new fruit and berry bushes I planted. May is a busy month but June is down right crazy so I'm trying to enjoy my sanity while it lasts.
Just some idle chit chat today....
For some time now I've been thinking about joining La Leche League. I've got a full plate, brimming actually, but experiences I've had both recently and in the past have compelled me to give it serious consideration. Over the past few years I've helped women who were having serious doubts and or issues with breastfeeding their babies. Most recently, I assisted a friend who gave birth to a healthy baby boy in January and didn't think she could get the hang it. After several failed attempts and much frustration in the first few days, her husband called us over and I helped her get the latch technique and holding position correct. She had actually gone so far as to make a bottle of formula and was in tears at the prospect of having to feed her son with it. With a little coaching and support I've seen a few mothers meet with success. Usually it boils down to a lack of confidence or fear that the baby is not getting enough. I battled my way through these same "demons" and know that every woman is truly capable, if willing.
There's no doubt that it's frustrating business but mothers needed to overcome these obstacles before formula was invented. Sadly, studies show that only 30.5% of women in the U.S. breastfeed their babies exclusively to the age of 3 months. Having breastfed both my boys for 9+ months, 6 of which were exclusively from the breast, I know the challenges involved and would like to share my experience with others who face the same obstacles. One of my hurdles included being in NICU when my first was born and having to demand that I be allowed to breastfeed him exclusively. I found myself constantly having to fend off nurses who wanted to give him formula from a bottle for their own convenience. I learned with this experience that the difficulties of breastfeeding can be exacerbated by the fact that the entire world is not necessarily hospitable to the notion.
There's no doubt that it's frustrating business but mothers needed to overcome these obstacles before formula was invented. Sadly, studies show that only 30.5% of women in the U.S. breastfeed their babies exclusively to the age of 3 months. Having breastfed both my boys for 9+ months, 6 of which were exclusively from the breast, I know the challenges involved and would like to share my experience with others who face the same obstacles. One of my hurdles included being in NICU when my first was born and having to demand that I be allowed to breastfeed him exclusively. I found myself constantly having to fend off nurses who wanted to give him formula from a bottle for their own convenience. I learned with this experience that the difficulties of breastfeeding can be exacerbated by the fact that the entire world is not necessarily hospitable to the notion.
A flurry of activity last weekend
To start the weekend off, we had a party on Friday night. It was small but lively. Mauricio made ribs and chicken - he's a master of cooking meat over fire. There was a nice ecclectic group of people present and fun was had by all. Saturday the boys both had baseball games. I also continued planting the tiers with the various specimens I ordered or bought at the local nursery. The pomegranates, which came from Raintree Nursery, are the spindly little plants on the bottom tier and the blueberries are interspersed with lavender on the second. I've also included a close up picture of a Sunshine Blueberry plant. As you can see, it has dainty pink blossoms as opposed to the white or blue blossoms that most blueberry plants have. These are especially suited to our mild climate and need less acidic soil and a modest 150 hours of chill time each winter to produce at full capacity. I spent some time laying out a small curved retaining wall planter which is an addendum to the larger bed behind it. This is where I will plant potatoes. I'm not keen on using the larger planter for potatoes as they can muck up the soil should they acquire one of many dreaded potato diseases. Also, potatoes need very good drainage and super deep, loose soil. I have Yukon Gold, Red Pontiac and Purple Pride seed potatoes ready to go in as soon as I dig out the foundation and get my compost in there. One really good potato seed can produce up to 10 pounds of potatoes. I have two pounds worth of each type of potato seed. I can't use them all so if y'all want to try your hand at potatoes, it's not too late to get them in the ground. I get my seed potatoes from Potato Garden. Just as Tomato Festival knows tomatoes, these guys know their potatoes. Mauricio and I spent a good three hours constructing the geodesic dome in the next picture. The kids absolutely love it. It's great exercise and so far has really kept them occupied in the back. I made corned beef and cabbage and warm yeast raised, glazed donuts last night for dessert... mmmmm... Krispy Creme can't hold my jock.
The great news and the bad news
Mauricio and I went to Michael's parent teacher conference yesterday. For a special education student, which Michael is, it's actually referred to as an IEP.
First, the bad news. Michael, as we've begun to suspect, is dyslexic. His teacher and the school's special ed. director confirmed this yesterday. This is incredibly difficult news to swallow as he's already been diagnosed and is being treated for APD (auditory processing disorder) and ADD (attention deficit disorder). To add another learning disability to the laundry list is both crushing and daunting.
Now for the good news. Michael's made amazing strides academically and is testing at or above average in almost every area and in the areas that he is deficient, he is just barely so. It surprised us to learn that his teacher actually considers him a math wiz. It has and will continue to take an enormous amount of effort on his and our part for him to perform on par with his regular ed. peers but it looks as though he's slated to be mainstreamed very soon, YAY!!!!
His teacher also added that he is an absolute joy to have in her classroom and is obviously extremely bright and talented in many areas. This meant the world to us. We have come along way with Michael and for those of you who have been along for the ride, you know this represents a spectacular turn around.
Along with putting in long hours working on reading and other areas of academic weakness, we made the decision a few months ago to hire U.C. Berkeley graduate, Dr. Leda Ciraolo, Ph.D. who's background includes working with and tutoring children with special needs. Leda is an amazingly gifted author, scholar and of course, tutor. She continues to work with Michael three times a week and they have formed a very special bond. We owe a serious debt of gratitude to Leda for Michael's academic progress which she's seriously helped facilitate.
First, the bad news. Michael, as we've begun to suspect, is dyslexic. His teacher and the school's special ed. director confirmed this yesterday. This is incredibly difficult news to swallow as he's already been diagnosed and is being treated for APD (auditory processing disorder) and ADD (attention deficit disorder). To add another learning disability to the laundry list is both crushing and daunting.
Now for the good news. Michael's made amazing strides academically and is testing at or above average in almost every area and in the areas that he is deficient, he is just barely so. It surprised us to learn that his teacher actually considers him a math wiz. It has and will continue to take an enormous amount of effort on his and our part for him to perform on par with his regular ed. peers but it looks as though he's slated to be mainstreamed very soon, YAY!!!!
His teacher also added that he is an absolute joy to have in her classroom and is obviously extremely bright and talented in many areas. This meant the world to us. We have come along way with Michael and for those of you who have been along for the ride, you know this represents a spectacular turn around.
Along with putting in long hours working on reading and other areas of academic weakness, we made the decision a few months ago to hire U.C. Berkeley graduate, Dr. Leda Ciraolo, Ph.D. who's background includes working with and tutoring children with special needs. Leda is an amazingly gifted author, scholar and of course, tutor. She continues to work with Michael three times a week and they have formed a very special bond. We owe a serious debt of gratitude to Leda for Michael's academic progress which she's seriously helped facilitate.
My battle with the squirrels...
We have a magnificent old Black Mulberry Tree in the upper most corner of our yard. It's a very pretty tree with great branch structure and large fan like leaves that offer cool shade in the summer. Outside of its' beauty, what makes it particularly endearing is its' prolific production of delicious black mulberries which brings me to the title of this entry. I am at war with the squirrels who seem to have a voracious appetite for these sweet tart fruits.
Every morning I hear the dogs bark at the same time which signifies that the squirrel mob had descended in to the mulberry's branches. In most cases I have a very tolerant view of the natural fauna, a live and let live mentality if you will but these squirrels are literally squandering the fruit. I see the half ripened and newly formed berries dropped to the ground by the dozens with just the tinniest nibble taken from each one!!! It is heinous blasphemy! What's more, is that they have far easier access to a kumquat, plum and apple tree mere yards away but they insist on nibbling the unripened berries of my prized Mulberry.
This morning as I heard the dogs bark, I ran out and aimed my hose at the little vermin, giving them a thorough soaking. Ya see, my dogs sit at the base of the tree eagerly waiting for one to have the slightest misstep which means there is no exit down the trunk. In order to escape the hose, they had to scramble to the furthest tips of the mulberry's branches and make a death defying leap to the next closest tree, the kumquat. I felt a little bad because it was kinda cold this morning but also a bit smug. I'd like to think that I've made it that much harder for them to overlook the lower hanging fruits from the plum and kumquat trees, mere feet away.
By the way, in case you've never had the pleasure of tasting a black mulberry, the fruits are dark red, almost black, and resemble a very large raspberry, or a loganberry, with a delicious, but rather sharp flavor that is totally unique. I you leave them to become very ripe on the branch,
the flavor begins to ferment and seemingly turns in to a berry filled with a delicious wine. They make the most amazing preserves, desserts and drinks.
Some pictures of the back garden bed
I thought I would add some commentary to this entry although little is actually needed. We went and picked up some free used stepping stones which we found on craigslist. This bed is 18' long x12' wide and 24" deep, double dug and amended with earthworm castings, bat guano, compost from my bin, crab meal, kelp meal and steer manure.
In it I've planted corn, tomatoes, squash, snap peas, basil, melons, peppers, cucumber and loads of lettuce.
The sugar snap peas are just now sprouting. I've planted them along the entire length of the deer fence so that the pea vines can climb it.
Phew!
After dinner last night, I cooked and prepped then took a break to do homework with the kids, give them a bath and read a few bedtime stories. Once they were tucked in, I went right back to cooking and prepping. My efforts produced 4+ pounds of sweet Italian sausage containing free range pork ground fresh, fennel, green garlic, herbs and other vegetables plucked directly from my garden. I stuffed the links fat so that they were positively bursting from their casings. I like my sausage to have some girth. I'll freeze most of the links using my food saver and the rest will be sliced in to coins, fried golden brown and sandwiched in between the delicate sheets of spinach pasta which I will roll out tonight for the lasagna. The tiramisu I made last is setting up nicely. I made a full 9"x13" sheet pan of it. It's rich stuff so that quantity will go a long way.
Why, you ask have I gone to all this trouble? The answer is simple, this type of effort is not anything unusual for me and I certainly do not consider it to be a bother. I love to cook for friends and family. Furthermore, growing and then cooking much of what we eat gives the boys respect for the fact that food is grown in the dirt, harvested fresh brought in to the kitchen and used to nourish their bodies. It is an idea that has sadly been lost on many in our quick gratification culture. Most kids will point to the local supermarket when asked where their food comes from.
The fruits of my garden are the inspiration for many of my culinary creations. Growing delicious, wholesome, organic ingredients and incorporating them in to my cooking is an ultimate form of self expression for me. The spinach to make the lasagna pasta sheets will come from my cool weather vegetable bed which currently contains spinach, swiss chard, lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, garlic, onions and cauliflower. My relationship with the food I grow in my garden is made more intimate by the fact that I created the compost which nourishes the soil. From beginning to end I have helped craft the results.
Why, you ask have I gone to all this trouble? The answer is simple, this type of effort is not anything unusual for me and I certainly do not consider it to be a bother. I love to cook for friends and family. Furthermore, growing and then cooking much of what we eat gives the boys respect for the fact that food is grown in the dirt, harvested fresh brought in to the kitchen and used to nourish their bodies. It is an idea that has sadly been lost on many in our quick gratification culture. Most kids will point to the local supermarket when asked where their food comes from.
The fruits of my garden are the inspiration for many of my culinary creations. Growing delicious, wholesome, organic ingredients and incorporating them in to my cooking is an ultimate form of self expression for me. The spinach to make the lasagna pasta sheets will come from my cool weather vegetable bed which currently contains spinach, swiss chard, lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, garlic, onions and cauliflower. My relationship with the food I grow in my garden is made more intimate by the fact that I created the compost which nourishes the soil. From beginning to end I have helped craft the results.