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Becoming a Farm Girl: Part Two

March 27, 2014 by theblogbloom.com 9 Comments

Note: This is the second of a three part series to celebrate National Agriculture Day that will show my (non-traditional) journey to Agriculture. My hope with this story is to shed light on the many different faces of a “farmer” and how those who are not born into family farms can still learn, celebrate, find careers and purpose in this important industry.

Just days after my eighteenth birthday, I headed to college at Purdue University.

First football game! Showing off our student tickets with my roommate, Sarah in our dorm.

First football game! Showing off our student tickets with my roommate, Sarah. Sarah was so nice and was also a member of Purdue’s Triathlon team!

Like many undergrads, my hometown bubble burst the instant I got to campus. (As it should.)

There were a few girls I made connections with on my dorm floor. But, for the most part they were pretty different. (… Think poor hygiene, curious sexual orientations, painfully shy, etc.)

I remember the huge sense of relief that came over me when I arrived at the orientation for sorority recruitment. Finally, girls that were friendly, passionate, motivated, and, not to mention, looked like they could be great shopping buddies.

Finally girls that made me feel more like me.

Throughout recruitment we were put in groups of about twenty girls and spent a lot of time in alphabetical order. I was sandwiched between a tall, beautiful girl named Amy and a tiny, peppy blonde named Kelsey.

Kelsey’s dorm was one building over from mine. She was a cheerleader and Homecoming Queen in high school. Amy and I quickly made the connection that our mom’s were in the same Purdue sorority only a few years apart.

Kelsey and Amy also found a lot of common ground. They were both from small towns in Indiana. Kelsey’s family had horses. Amy’s raised pigs. I listened as they talked about funny memories from the summer’s fairs where both of them participated in 4H competitions.

During their conversation, I was reminded of an English class as a sophomore in high school:

We were learning to write resumes and the textbook shared a few samples. One of the samples listed 4H as an activity. Our poor teacher had to explain the organization to the class full of “yuppie” teenagers.

I remember the sense of confusion and even giggles that day.

Sewing, farm animals, and pageants?

We all were certain this was the oldest textbook on the planet. 4H had to be something that was only around when our parents were kids.

Please. No one does anything like that now.

Back in the recruitment line, I looked at my new “friends” and thought “Huh… So 4H really is a thing…?”

I also remember thinking, “These girls are really nice and kind of remind me of my friends at home, but wow… we grew up so differently. Could we really be friends?”

At the end of the week the three of us wound up in the same sorority.

(And, to this day, they are great friends of mine.)

Bid Night 2005. New members were in blue. Kelsey is on the far left. Amy is in the center right. Yours truly has the big, blingy, white sunglasses on her head.

My first year of college wore on and I continued to meet new people and to learn new things about myself, the world, and others.

And it was in that first year, I learned that farming is far from backwards.

Many of the students at Purdue had parents who raised animals, were farmers, or had careers somehow related to the agriculture industry. And, many of these students were following in their footsteps.

In fact, one in ten students at Purdue were a part of the College of Agriculture.

Before college, I was led to believe that agriculture and farming was “old fashioned” and that it was not viable career. But, the young people in the College of Agriculture knew that the industry was diverse, growing and innovative. These future agriculture leaders were studying at Purdue because the future of the industry demanded higher education.

They knew that there were jobs in agriculture that would put the over thirty different majors within the College of Agriculture, including Agriculture Communications, Agribusiness Sales and Marketing, Food Science and Engineering, to use.

The industry of producing, processing, and selling food actually makes up 15 percent of the American work force.

However, it also wasn’t too out of the ordinary for the students to be preparing to take over their parent’s roles on the family farm. Of the over two million farms that cover the nation, 97% of them are family owned and operated.

They knew that they were learning skills in the College of Agriculture that would help them feed not only America, but the world, as nearly a quarter of the raw US farm products are exported. These students were motivated and beyond intelligent.

But, they didn’t carry these facts around with them every day. At school, they were just fellow Boilermakers.

And at the time, I didn’t realize how much my selected course of study relied on the Ag Students.

I chose to study Hospitality Management thanks to a passion for putting on events. (…Thanks, High School 5K!) However, the summer before my junior year I studied abroad in Switzerland and was bit by the culinary bug.

Prepping an Apple Tart at a culinary class in a Swiss kitchen in 2007.

This led me to Los Angeles for an internship the summer before my senior year. The internship was with a food service company that was contracted at a large corporation to handle the catering and cafeteria service.

As a Midwestern girl, I was beyond stoked for a summer in LA. I packed my bags and headed west with visions of hanging with surfers, spotting stars everywhere and becoming Lauren Conrad’s next BFF on The Hills.

I never in a million years would have imagined the group of people that I ended up spending a lot of time with in Southern California… Farmers.

In addition to the day to day tasks in regards to catering events and running a large cafeteria, I was asked to help with a handful of projects. One particular project was to create an onsite, bi-weekly Farmers Market.

The corporation valued work life balance and to support that my boss decided to bring the Farmer’s Market to work. The employees would have the opportunity to shop on their lunch hour versus giving up time at home with their families on the weekend.

I worked through our produce supplier to connect with growers located close to LA County. As I met with them to learn about their produce, I was so surprised to see the many different faces of farmers. Some were young, some old. Some men, some women. There were many different backgrounds, from Hispanic to Australian to American through and through.

But, they all had one common thread: They were so proud of the food they produced. And, they couldn’t wait to share it!

My conversations with these farmers left me energized and eager to do their products justice as I tried to sell them at the pseudo Farmer’s Market.

But, I didn’t have to try too hard. It was 2008 and SoCal was on the forefront of the organic, local, green, Farm to Fork movement. The farm fresh produce sold itself.

The market was a huge success. We sold out of everything each week. I loved seeing the corporation’s employees so thrilled to have healthy options to take home to their children instead of swinging by In-and-Out after work. I was also intrigued with how interested some of the people were in learning about the people who grew their food. And also, how they grew the food. They weren’t afraid to ask questions.

Lovin’ Life in SoCal in 2008!

That August I left LA to begin my final year at Purdue, convinced I would be back the following June to start my career.

But a couple months later, my plans began to change when a boy, named Adam, asked me to his fraternity’s dance.

… His Agriculture fraternity’s dance.

Becoming a Farm Girl: Part One

March 25, 2014 by theblogbloom.com 14 Comments

Note: This is the first of a three part series to celebrate National Agriculture Day that will show my (non-traditional) journey to Agriculture. My hope with this story is to shed light on the many different faces of a “farmer” and how those who are not born into family farms can still learn, celebrate, find careers and purpose in this important industry.

At the beginning of 2014, a good friend and sorority sister encouraged me to join a blogging group supported by her employer, Indiana’s Soybean Alliance. The group is a network of women bloggers with agriculture backgrounds. The group holds monthly lunch meetings that include blogging speakers or workshops.

It sounded like a great opportunity so I eagerly began attending meetings. And just a few months in, I have already learned so much.

I am getting better with layout design (Aren’t the bigger pictures nice?), social media (“Like” Bloom on Facebook, if you haven’t already!), and I have really loved networking with woman who have been doing this for years and have found success in the blogging world.

Not to mention, they have been a lot of fun to get to know.

But, just like any time I join new group, especially a group of women that have known each other for years, I can’t help but wonder where or if I fit in.

A big element that adds even more pressure to trying to fit in is that all of these women grew up on farms, have careers in the agriculture industry and/or are farm wives. The group is even nicknamed the “Farm Girls” within the Indiana Women Blogger’s Network.

The issue?

Well… I am not really a “Farm Girl.”

At least, I never thought I was.

I know I live in a small agriculture based town on eighty acres that are farmed. And, my husband has a major passion and career in the agriculture industry. And, that I have five little hens.

But, it wasn’t always this way.

My insecurity about fitting in became even more prevalent a couple days ago when I was reading a beautiful “Farm Girl” blog. The blog is full of great stories and a good look into her love of agriculture. On a particular post the Farm Girl wrote as she regaled about her childhood on the farm, “And who doesn’t have memories of playing through the beans?”

Umm… Me?

In fact, about five years ago, I asked my then boyfriend as we drove on country roads through northern Indiana what “that other plant” was.

They were beans.

So, no. I don’t have any memories of running through beans.

But, I do remember running through large sprinklers on summer evenings as the Country Club watered the golf course.

And, just like the Farm Girl, I also have fond memories of childhood and love where I grew up.

Where I grew up, there were cement bike paths connecting every neighborhood, and tunnels that ran under main roads so children wouldn’t have to cross the street.

We would race each other around the cul-de-sac and ring our neighbor’s doors to see if they could come play “Ghost in the Grave Yard” or “Hide and Go Seek” after dinner on summer nights.

The town was also always hosting some major event.

It would come to life after winter for a St. Patrick’s Day parade, where my Dad starred as St. Patrick a handful of years.

My dad, the Irish man, in his element as St. Patrick with me and my brother. Cerca 2000

There was a PGA golf tournament each spring bringing in all the big players. I had friends who got on ESPN during the tournament and others that babysat the pro’s children at an “undisclosed location.” I often worked at the pro shop the week of the tournament and admired the golfer’s wives diamonds and black AMEX cards.

The 4th of July celebration included concerts from Boys to Men, Kool and Gang and more. And, fireworks were beyond spectacular.

Dublin’s 4th of July Celebration is half the reason why I love the Holiday so much. Getting into the Patriotic spirit in 2006.

In early high school I raged to Flogging Molly before they made it big at one of the worlds largest Irish Festivals that is held every August.

I still love where I grew up.

The town was and still is beautiful. So was my home.

My old backyard.

I always felt safe and that could be because the town has been ranked one of the safest in the nation.

It is also ranked as one of the most intelligent towns in the country.

I do not know anyone from my high school that did not go onto college. In fact, my old high school has topped High School rankings for years.

In school, we were challenged. We were told we could be whatever we wanted to be and were given over three hundred courses to choose from to figure that out.

We had award winning yearbooks and news magazines. Our morning announcements were live from a studio that looked almost like any other professional news room. The school’s musicians were composing musicals. The students who were strong in math and science were taking leaps to prepare them for medical school. Honors foreign language classes traveled abroad to experience cultures first hand.

At the Don Quixote statue in Madrid, Spain in 2004. I am in the center in the red tank top.

Even through the school’s extracurricular activities we were doing extraordinary things. There was always some cause to support, be it a huge dodge ball tournament for the victims of a hurricane or a formal event for the whole city to raise awareness about a crippling disease. As a senior, I was president of an organization that raised over $26,000 for Juvenile Glaucoma through speaking (At seventeen years old…!) to major local business leaders to encourage donations for a community wide 5K.

Awarding the winner of the 5K in 2005.

We were given opportunities and we were encouraged to change the world.

But, despite our 4.0 GPA’s, near perfect SATs or scholarships to the colleges of our choice, if you had asked me, or any of my friends, where our food comes from, we would have likely said, “the grocery store.”

In our childhood years, we had a huge disconnect to where and how food gets to our table.

Of those three hundred class options listed in the course catalog, not one of them was related to agriculture.

Or, Horticulture.

Heck, the only thing even related to food was a class called “Global Gourmet.” (Likely placed the course catalog knowing that one day these young people are going to be in a dinner meeting and probably shouldn’t be ordering chicken tenders…)

Where I grew up, farming and agriculture were not considered to be a career.

And, why would it?

Where I grew up, no one farmed.

I have looked back at my family tree trying to find any connection to agriculture and as far as five generations back I learned I come from a long line of industrialists: Car dealership owners, patent officers, military leaders, engineers, and marketers.

And, it wasn’t just my family. My friend’s parents were teachers, computer programmers, development managers, architects, government representatives and more.

There were no “Farmers.”

No “Farm Wives.”

No “Farm Boys” and no “Farm Girls.”

Where I grew up, “Farmer’s Daughters” were only in Beach Boys songs.

The only hint of agriculture in my town was a field of corn.

A field of cement corn.

Not my image. Credit to livbit.com.

Literally illustrating, “Agriculture is what we were. Progress, industry, cement: that is what we are.”

Where I grew up, farming was backwards.

Go Garden: Starting Seeds

March 25, 2014 by theblogbloom.com 7 Comments

Last night, we started seventeen different seeds.

Things that we will not be starting indoors are items like root vegetables such as carrots, beets and radishes. We saved some lettuces to sow right into the ground as well.

A good rule of thumb is that seeds should be started indoors about six to seven weeks before the last frost. The last chance of frost in my area is May 11 (…Here’s hoping!). So, I am right on track as it’s about six and half weeks out.

Starting seeds is relatively easy. And, garden companies make it even easier.

We use plastic seed starter flats that you can get at any grocery or home improvement store. Some have soil pellets in the containers when you purchase them. We used these last year and I didn’t have any issues or complaints. They were great. But, this year we added natural and organic seed starter soil to our starter flats.

Once soil is in each container in the flat, be sure to water the soil thoroughly before planting. Make sure the soil isn’t too packed or becomes too wet.

Seed companies have really made seeds easy to use. The back of the seed packets have all the basics like when to plant, how deep to plant a seed, if it can grow well in a container or if it needs to be transplanted into the ground and more.

We planted about three to four seeds in each individual container. Once they germinate, we will thin the weaker plants. Sometimes seeds will not germinate, and having more seeds in each individual container will help ensure you get a healthy plant.

Once complete, put plastic lid on the kit and place it in a warm (65-75 degrees) area of your home away from direct sunlight. You do not want to use light until the seeds have germinated.

Check your seeds daily. Make sure soil is moist, but not wet. You should see signs of germination in about 7 to 10 days. Then, you should move the seeds to a heated lamp or sunlight.

Two other little tips I have picked up from my second year of planting seed indoors:
– Make a “Cheat Sheet” to show were everything is. Even once the seedlings begin growing, it will be hard to tell what is what for a while.

– Mark numbers on each side of the starter kit and mark them on your cheat sheet. The kit can get flipped around or backwards. You will want to know if that’s the side with tomatoes or not.

Next time you see these babies there should be some GREEN!

Note: There are many, many other ways to begin seeds. Some people like to reuse recycled yogurt containers. Others, have natural wooden flats that they use year to year. Some make up their own starter soil with compost, worm casings, etc. Do what works best for you. I believe this is the most approachable start for the “Rookie/Novice Gardener.”

Spring Has Sprung.

March 23, 2014 by theblogbloom.com 7 Comments

Well okay, not in Indiana.

There were snow flurries today.

But, we spent the weekend in Atlanta celebrating a good friend and sorority sister’s wedding.

And, in Atlanta spring had arrived.

It was gorgeous day for a wedding. Saturday was sunny and temperatures were in the seventies. Trees had come in bloom and the wedding was held at Atlanta’s Botanical Gardens where large tulips made the perfect background for the outdoor ceremony.

Like any wedding, I really look forward to spending time with my college friends who are now located in new homes across the nation. This weekend was a lot of fun because we had so much time to spend together and were able to really catch up.

Everyone got in on Friday and Ashley, whose boyfriend is currently assigned to a project in Atlanta, lined up a dinner at Einstein. Einstein was located right in the heart of Midtown in an area that is similar to Chicago’s Boystown.

Einstein is a restaurant and bar that has a great menu. They have a good amount of small plates and a few entrees, many sandwiches, and amazing selection of sides. They also have received plenty of accolades about their brunch.

With so many great choices, I struggled deciding on something for dinner. I ended up making a meal out of the Crab and Shrimp Cake small plate that sat on a bed of edamame succotash and sides of beets and fried green tomatoes.

Fried green tomatoes are a huge staple in the south and we actually saw them at every meal we ate this weekend in Atlanta… even at the wedding!

Out at an Irish pub after dinner!

The next morning I made brunch reservations at South City Kitchen. Based on some research I had done before the weekend, South City Kitchen sources meat and produce from local growers and bread from a local bakery. It also happened to be right around the corner from our hotel.

South City Kitchen is a bright and cheery restaurant in the Midtown area. There was a patio in the front of the restaurant just off the street and seating inside on both the first and second floors. The waiter led our group upstairs where we were seated at a large table.

We ordered cocktails, because…

I had a Bellini and Adam had a bloody Mary.

Corn bread and biscuits with apple butter were brought to the table. The corn bread was great and got me inspired to make my own with all the corn in the freezer. Stay tuned for that one…!

Yummy, mini corn bread muffins.

The South City Kitchen’s menu was a good balance of brunch and lunch options. There were salads and sandwiches, and then your typical brunch fair like eggs and pancakes.

Adam had been excited all morning to try chicken and waffles. He had never had it, but as an avid Diners, Drive In’s and Dives viewer he had to see what it was all about.

When it arrived his excitement was at an all time high. He even took a picture of it and texted it to a couple friends.

He dug into the fluffy waffle and decided it was well worth all the excitement.

“It’s like sex in my mouth,” he exclaimed between bites.

“God, your classy,” I replied as I reached over to get a bite.

I am a big fan of a sweet and salty combo. I mix in M&M’s with popcorn. Chocolate chips with nuts. And, Chicken and Waffles is basically the epitome of sweet and salty combinations.

There’s the juicy, salty fried chicken and then the sweet maple syrup and soft waffle. It was good.

I had barbecue pulled pork egg Benedict with pork and coleslaw with, in true southern fashion, grits on the side. The eggs were perfectly poached and the sweet barbecue worked so well with this brunch classic.

Other entrees that graced our table were the smoke roasted beef eggs Benedict, a BLT with fried green tomatoes as the “T,” salmon, chicken livers and two more plates of chicken and waffles.

After brunch the boys headed to a bar to catch up on March Madness and some craft beers. My friends, Kelsey and Katie, joined me for the walk to Piedmont Park. Piedmont Park is a park in Midtown, but what we didn’t realize just how huge this park is.

Girls at the park. Loved the views of the city!

It’s massive and, on the nice Saturday afternoon, it was booming with life. We saw soccer games, baseball games, kickball games, runners, bikers, boot camp classes, families picnicking, and lots and lots of puppies!

At the edge of the park, there was a large farmers market that was just winding down for the day. Many of the vendors were selling early spring produce such lettuce, kale and green onions. We weren’t really looking to buy anything because we had long drives back to our homes.

Although, if we had seen asparagus I would have found a way to make that work.

As we were approaching the end of the vendor tents, a table of pretty glass bottles caught my eye. The sign said it was a USDA organic ginger farm named Verdant Kitchen. The couple that ran the table offered us a sample of their ginger syrup.

It was zingy, sweet and interesting!

I looked down at the other items on the table, as the woman told us about all the different things you could make with the syrup, ranging from desserts to cocktails. You could even make your own ginger ale. In addition to the syrup, they also were selling ground ginger, dehydrated ginger and chocolate covered ginger candies.

She went on and told us that their farm is located in Savannah. This got me wondering, “Where is ginger typically grown?”

I like ginger and love to use it in Asian inspired meals, like stir-fry. I had even considered it when trying to come up with the name of this blog because my first name is Virginia. Something like, “Ginger’s Roots.” It didn’t paint the whole picture though.

Despite a bit of a crush on ginger, we had never even thought of growing it in our own garden.

So, I asked.

The man asked if I wanted to know where ginger is grown domestically or internationally.

Unsure of what I was even looking for, I just said domestically. He said normally it’s in Hawaii and a little bit in California and that it was pretty unique to be grown in America, let alone Georgia.

Thanks to Google, I learned that it typically comes from India, Africa, or the Caribbean. (And, that it needs a pretty warm climate to survive. So, ginger won’t be gracing our garden anytime soon…)

I thought this was very interesting. I had never thought about where ginger grows or even how it is grown.

And, thanks to the woman who was still sharing recipes that you could create with the ginger syrup, Katie and I each bought a bottle.

She said that we could find all the recipes on their website.

I asked the man what his favorite ginger syrup recipe is. He kind of laughed, saying that he enjoys them all. But, he really just likes it over vanilla ice cream and that it is also great in rum.

Something that I will have to try soon!

But, not tonight.

It’s a whopping 18 degrees tonight, making ice cream very unappealing. And, after all the fun at the wedding, it’s time for a little detox.

Sorority girls with the B&G!

Cleaning Out the Freezer: Pesto Pizza and Homemade Chicago Style Crust

March 15, 2014 by theblogbloom.com 2 Comments

Weekends are great for pizza.

Adam and I used to order pizza often, but last summer I canned some pizza sauce and we began making pizza more and more often. We love to make pizza at home so much that if we were to ever able to design the patio of our dreams it would include a large stone pizza oven.

Unfortunately for us, this, and the remainder of our dream patio, would probably require winning the lottery…

But, it doesn’t stop us from making pizza at home.

There are plenty of mixes for pizza crust, but it’s so easy to make from scratch. Not to mention, worlds cheaper.

Here is my go to for a fluffy, thick pizza crust similar to Chicago Style pizza. (… Still working on perfecting a great thin crust dough. Any rec’s out there?!)

Pizza Crust
¾ cups of warm water
1 tablespoon of dry yeast
1 teaspoon of sugar
2 ¼ cup of flour
1 teaspoon of salt
3 tablespoons of olive oil

In a small bowl, mix together water, yeast and sugar. Let sit for about 5 minutes or until it gets foamy.
Mix flour and salt in a large bowl or using a stand mixer with a dough hook.
Add yeast mixture and oil. Mix until dough is smooth. Should take about five minutes.
Add a tablespoon of olive oil to a large bowl. Transfer the dough to the bowl and turn it to coat in the oil.
Cover with either saran wrap or a slightly damp towel. Let the dough rise until it has doubled in size, about 25 minutes.
Add dough to cookie sheet or pizza stone, pressing outward to create crust. Let rise for another 20 minutes. You may have to press it back into shape. (We like to use a cast iron skillet for the Chicago Style effect. It also ensures the crust cooks evenly really well.)
Add pizza toppings and bake at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes.

Cast iron is honestly the best.

Instead of sauce on this weekend’s pizza, I busted out some frozen pesto I had made last August when the basil plant was booming. The pesto recipe is here.

It’s so good and I love the smell of it thanks to the strong, fragrant basil. I used about a cup to cover the crust.

Other toppings included some shredded chicken from the birds that we raised last fall that was cooked a few days earlier, mushrooms, red onions, some crushed red pepper and feta cheese. Random stuff, yes. But, I was just trying to get some stuff out of the fridge.

The pizza was perfect for a relaxing weekend night. The dough had a great texture and taste.

But, if you are not cleaning the refrigerator out like me, sliced tomato and fresh mozzarella are also excellent toppings for a pesto pizza.

Hope you are all having a fabulous weekend!

Giveaway Winner and Happy Super Bowl!

February 2, 2014 by theblogbloom.com 1 Comment

Hope all you Bloom Babes are having a great Super Bowl Sunday! Adam and I just got back from a great, relaxing and WARM week in Jamaica. It has been nice to have today to unpack and get our lives back in order after living out of a suitcase.

I am so excited to announce the winner of Bloom’s Among Friends Giveaway tonight! As a newbie blogger it is so fun to see everyone’s responses. I love that I asked for your favorite ways to prepare eggs because it left me incredibly inspired. From fried eggs in burgers to goat cheese in omelettes, ya’ll have made me want to get back on the wagon after a week in frozen drink paradise.

Thank you for all your entries! And, a BIG thanks to Among Friends for their amazing product for this giveaway. Even if you aren’t a winner be sure to check out their store locator to find the products somewhere near you!

And now without and further adieu….

The winner is BECCA!

Becca shared her mother’s secret to Deviled Eggs– Horseradish!

… This is something my husband, the lover of all things spicy, would LOVE.

Becca- I will shoot you an email to figure out shipping the products to you!

Again, thank you all! Enjoy the Super Bowl whether you are in it for The Seahawk’s, The Bronco’s, the commercials, the beer, or the food!

Here are a few fun Super Bowl Food Facts:

– Today is the second biggest day for most food consumption in America. The first is Thanksgiving.

– Thanks to a career in the food industry, I am aware that ground beef prices have increased in the last couple weeks. This is because it is the largest day of the year for beef consumption. (… We are part of this trend… it’s chili for dinner tonight, complete with frozen, summer sweet corn!)

– Dips are a Super Bowl Star. Guacamole being a crowd favorite means that 208 million haas avocados will be consumed tonight.

– 1.25 Billion Chicken wings will be consumed this Super Bowl, according to the National Chicken Council, and it is also the 50th Anniversary of the Buffalo Wing. In my book, that is something worth celebrating!

Enjoy! Have fun! And, may the best team >cough, BRONCOS, cough< WIN!!

End of the Season and So Much More

November 2, 2013 by theblogbloom.com 2 Comments

Autumn became a little aggressive last couple weeks bringing blustery wind, biting cold, and even flurries. Yuck.

This made me very glad that Adam and I had taken advantage of the sunshine the weekend before last and cleaned up the garden for the end of the season.

We tore out the remaining plants and tilled up the garden beds. All the herbs were pulled from their pots and composted; after trimming pieces we could still use.

Cleaning up a garden at the end of the season helps to make planting easier in the spring. You want to wait until the first frost, so that plants don’t grow back after removing them and trimming them back.

After a day of putting the garden to bed, I looked out at the empty piece of land.

It was hard to imagine that just a couple months ago that same spot was booming with life and vibrancy.

This brought on a little reflection.

The garden has given Adam and I so much more than produce. It has helped us grow. Learn. Expand who we are as individuals and together.

I read something somewhere that you should take time each day for your mind, body and soul.

And that is exactly what we did- without even knowing it- through this summer’s garden.

Mind

Outside of a pathetic attempt at green beans and a couple cherry tomato plants, Adam and I had never gardened before this summer. We learned so much.

We learned how things grow. How to take care of plants. The benefits of eating food from a backyard garden.

This learning made us want to know more.

We were open to new concepts. Tried new things. Created new recipes with our veggies.

We read. We researched. We attended conferences. We listened to old pros. We Googled and Youtubed.

As a strong, yet apathic student in my younger years, I don’t know if I have been so interested, engaged and excited about learning ever.

Body

First? The injuries.

Two bee stings. A sliced thumb when making cucumbers. One very, very bad sunburn when I thought it would be a good idea to pull weeds in a bikini top. And an unfortunate canning incident where boiling water poured down my right hand, branding the outline of my claddagh ring to my finger.

Don’t worry… Adam happened to make it out unscathed.

Second: A lot of people ask if we were doing it for the health benefits.

And I would be lying if I said, “No.” And we did see them.

We weren’t doing 4,000 calorie burning Cross Fit workouts, but we were outside and moving.

We didn’t feel like we were on a diet, but we were eating more vegetables than we had in the past.

I didn’t lose any noticeable weight, but I also didn’t gain any.

However, one thing that is fatter is our wallets. Grocery lists were shorter than ever. We also used to eat out at least once a week, but since June, we have maybe been out to eat just a handful of times.

Soul

Tonight, I told Adam I was writing this post and asked him what he would say the garden gave us. Without hesitation, he said, “It has changed who we are.”

I smiled, because I couldn’t agree more.

As an individual, I felt like I gained a stronger definition of myself.

Ten months ago I was a young woman who worked hard trying to develop her career and liked to be with her friends. You might have gotten “shopping” out of me if you asked about my hobbies.

Kind of superficial. Very on the surface. Pretty boring.

Now, not only do I love working hard, being with my friends, and shopping, but I can go so much deeper than that.

There is so much more that makes me… me.

I love to spend time in the garden, getting dirt under my nails. I giggle with I have a gaggle of hens following me around the yard. I get so excited create something delicious with the fresh food from the backyard and share it with my friends and family. I like to learn more about local food growers, sustainable and self-sufficient living. I seek out hyper local restaurants and opportunities to share this new found passion.

I looked at Adam, who clearly was thinking of nearly the same things I was, and said, “But you know what was so great about all of this? What was at the core of everything? We did it together.”

Adam lit up and nodded.

Hours were spent working alongside each other outside in the garden with no other distractions. We laughed remembering the chicks when they were clumsy, little fluff balls that could entertain us more than any episode of Big Bang Theory. And the evenings in early June spent in the garden together catching up and checking out the changes in the growing plants with a glass of wine are memories that we both will carry with us for the rest of our lives.

I don’t think we needed it, but the garden did make us closer. It made us stronger. It made us better.

And we both cannot wait to see what next year will bring.

Keeping Vampires Away

October 31, 2013 by theblogbloom.com 2 Comments

Happy Halloween!

This Halloween is the first Holiday that I really put up decorations since Adam and I got married two and a half years ago. We were in the process of building our home and lot of things were in boxes, not just decorations. It always seemed like too much energy to sort through everything and put them up in a place that was always temporary.

It’s fun to get a little festive.

… haha, ignore the fact that I am still in the market for some new knobs.

Something we also did recently that fits in with Halloween festivities, thanks to some old folklore, was plant garlic.

Let me rephrase that, we planted one hundred cloves of garlic.

Anyone we tell this to responds with something along the lines of, “Good God. Are you guys trying to keep vampires away?!”

Well, fortunately, we have not been too concerned about the threat of vampires. (… Phew!) But, it still made me curious to see where this connection between vampires and garlic was made.

Turns out it goes back far in history, but was made popular by the novel “Dracula” in the late 1800s when characters wore garlic around their necks to protect themselves from vampires.

The theory was used in real life as well and was based on the idea that vampires are symbolic of mosquitoes. Mosquitoes suck blood and spread diseases. One of the common diseases spread by mosquitoes is Malaria. Victims of malaria appear to be drained and suffer from anemia, much like eerie Dracula stories describe victims of vampire bites.

Garlic is often associated with longevity, good health and also happens to be a mosquito repellent!

This is why garlic would be worn, hung, or rubbed on doors, windows, chimneys, and keyholes… People felt as though they needed to repel vampires.

Like I mentioned, vampires have not been too much of a concern, but it could be because I cook with garlic nearly every evening.

Okay, so maybe it’s not the best thing to have on a first date, but it is so versatile. Garlic goes well in almost any dish. Asian. Mexican. Italian. You name it. Not to mention, Adam and I think it is delish.

I love this quote about garlic.

SO TRUE.

Thanks to our passion for garlic (… and five years together, making garlic breath a non-issue) we decided to plant the hard-neck garlic variety in the backyard. Hard-neck garlic grows best in cooler climates and it is also what I am most familiar cooking with.

When planting garlic, you want to plant in the fall so that the roots can develop before the winter. Plant only the large, plump cloves. The small inner gloves will likely not develop correctly.

Make sure your garlic bed will receive good sun and water.

Create three inch deep holes spaced eight inches apart and place the flat end of the clove down, pointy tip up, in the hole.

Cover the cloves with two inches of loose soil then about four inches of straw. The straw will help prevent damage from frost and cold weather to your growing bulbs. The straw will be pulled away in the spring.

In the spring, we will also thin the garlic and pull out every other when they begin to look like scallions. The bulbs will likely be harvested in late summer.

So, yes, it sounds crazy to plant one hundred cloves, but we will likely only get fifty bulbs. Which I am pretty confident we will be able to use.

And, if not?

We will use them to keep the vampires (and pesky mosquitoes) away.

Post done…! Time to go hang with some “Party Bones.”

Happy Fall, Ya’ll!

October 6, 2013 by theblogbloom.com 2 Comments

Unlike much of the rest of the world, I have not fully come to terms with the fact that it is Fall.

Now, before you choke on your Pumpkin Spice Latte, let me say that I do love Fall.

I love all of the seasons. And, yes, Fall is wonderful. Football, chili, over-sized sweaters, colorful leaves… Love it.

But, let me also remind you that, in Indiana, it was a muggy, eighty degrees all last week.

Not exactly the kind of weather that makes you want to carve pumpkins or pick apples (… or have a PSL, for that matter), but it is time to welcome Autumn with open arms and give it a try.

Recently, my parents were visiting and I was trying to figure out how to entertain the Ex-Chicago Yuppies in the country. I thought about the little apple orchard I drive passed nearly every day that is just around the corner from our home, but have never been to. So, I suggested a trip to the apple orchard.

They took me to pick apples as a kid so I thought what better way to kick off fall and return the favor.

Some fun shots from a trip to an orchard just outside of Chicago in 1991. My little sister couldn’t have been much more than a month or two old.

We took the whopping two minute drive to Farlow’s Orchard, drove up a gravel driveway past rows and rows of apple trees to a small barn with open doors.

Inside it looked like a basic gift shop. There were lots of different varieties of apples around the room that you could buy as a bushel, peck, or individually. There was also a cooler full of ciders and many apple desserts like apple dumplings or caramel covered apples.

We were greeted by an older man in bib overalls. He explained they don’t have a “You-Pick” operation to preserve the orchard. He mentioned that Farlow’s is the oldest apple orchard in the state of Indiana. The orchard was created by his wife’s family three generations ago.

I knew I wanted to make something with the apples and had recently scanned through the Canning for a New Generation book. There was a recipe for applesauce that had caught my attention in the “Fall” chapter.

I asked which apple was good for making apple sauce. He said lots of them were, but his wife’s favorite for apple sauce is the Cortland variety.

Good enough for me. A woman who grew up on an apple orchard and continued to live there well into adulthood? She probably knows what’s best.

My dad treated me to my apples and got himself an Apple Slush, basically an apple Slurpie.

“Mmm, that’s good,” he said offering me a sip. It was.

He thought for a moment. “A suggestion?” the marketing extraordinaire questioned the orchard owner, “A little caramel in here would really just make it incredible.”

“They sell pretty well enough on their own,” the orchard owner bluntly replied.

Welcome to the country, Dad. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Another thing that clearly had not broken was the cash register. It looked like it was at least a hundred years old. It was a huge machine covered in ornate designs and complete with a big hand crank. The owner said he tried to use a computer once, but this worked better.

Again, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

I took this mind set home with me and prepared to make applesauce. After cutting, boiling and mashing the apples I pushed them through an old, aluminum sieve with a wooden mortar that belonged to Adam’s grandmother.

Adam found it in his childhood home after his parents moved out and had to hang onto it. It had still not been used since it was in our possession so I decided to give it a try.

Oh my gosh. I discovered muscles in my forearms that I didn’t even know existed. It was crazy, hard work. But, with my peck of apples (… Minus a few for snacking.) I made two jars of apple sauce.

Here is what I did:

Get about about six pounds of apples (Not as many as you would think once you weigh them.)

Core apples, cut into 1-inch chunks

Add to a pot with about 1 ½ cups water

Heat on high, bring to a boil and stir occasionally. As the apples cook down, the peels will separate from the apple. Cook for about forty minutes.

Pass through a food mill (or sieve). I had the puree fall onto a deep cookie sheet. You can use a bowl as well.

Bring puree to a boil for five minutes.

Can, if you would like. I did not, just because I didn’t make that much. If you were to water bath can apple sauce, process the jar in the boiling water for fifteen minutes.

The apples and applesauce were a perfect first taste of fall.

Now, time for chili… And maybe even a Pumpkin Spice Latte.

Egg-citing News!

October 2, 2013 by theblogbloom.com 2 Comments

Yesterday was a Big Day!

I retrieved the first egg from the chicken coop!

We had been told that it would take five to six months for our birds to begin laying eggs. We brought the few days old chicks home on Mother’s Day, so I knew it was just a matter of time. Adam had also recently switched the birds from Chick Starter Feed to Layer Feed supplemented with oyster shell.

I came home from work and opened up the coop to let the chickens run free in the yard. Side note: We used to let them roam all day, but one day two didn’t come home. (… Can’t help but wonder if a predator was involved somehow.) They still have a fenced in area off their coop they can run in during the day.

Many of the chickens ran out to explore, but one hen hung back. I peered beyond the doorway of the coop to the three roosts Adam had built and sure enough there was a small brown egg. I was excited and kind of in disbelief.

As I stepped into the coop to investigate, it was almost like the hen knew what I was about to do. They normally scoot out of the way of our feet, but she stood her ground.

I felt bad. Was this her showing maternal instinct? I reasoned with my commiserating, female emotion: She didn’t have this maternal instinct thing all worked out. Otherwise, she would have been sitting on this egg. Plus, it wouldn’t matter how long she sat on that egg. She wouldn’t be getting a baby. There was no chicken hanky panky going on.

Shoeing her away with my hands, I made it to the roost and picked up the small, fragile egg. It was a lot smaller than I was expecting, but I read this would be the case in the beginning.

Tiny Egg… Going to need ten of these to make anything…

I couldn’t help but beam with a little pride as I carried the first of many eggs back up to the house. Once in the kitchen I placed it in a little ceramic egg holder I purchased at Anthropologie right after we got the chicks last spring in anticipation for this moment.

I laughed.

It was like I had been nesting.

In fact, the whole process of raising a chick to lay eggs seemed a little bit like pregnancy.

The excitement when you first get the chicks.

Seeing them grow bigger and bigger every day.

Getting fun accessories like the egg holder or asking everyone you know to save you their egg cartons because their “coming.”

Then it comes and it’s a lot smaller than you thought it was going to be.

But, it’s wonderful. And fun!

And then you start thinking of all that it could become…

An omlet?

A frittata?

Quiche?

… The possibilities are endless.

Below are some fun shots of the grown ladies. We have seven.