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Freezing Leftovers

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Leftovers get a bad rep.

Unfortunately for me, so do girls in their twenties who can vegetables.

And, just because I like my garden, putting food not flowers in Ball jars, and cooking more than going out to eat doesn’t mean that I am not like other twenty-somethings.

It doesn’t mean that I don’t like cocktails downtown with my girlfriends. Or Taylor Swift. Or Instagram. Or fun sparkly shoes.

But, because of my few “old-er lady” tendencies, I have made a conscientious effort to avoid things that might further drive this case home.

Potential Tweets about loving my vacuum and being really excited about my organized spice cabinet have been censored. I try not to let it be too well know that I belong to the library and use it… often. And blog posts with topics like freezer meals have been avoided… until now.

Freezer Meals have a reputation for being a busy mom’s BFF. Carting kids from one activity to another is apparently easier when dinner is already made at home in the freezer and just needs to be heated up.

I am not carting kids around yet, but I do have evenings where meetings go late and I still need to hit the gym. I have days where I have traveled for hours home from a university and have no plan for dinner. And, in the winter, there are plenty of evenings where the last thing I want to do is leave the house to deal with the grocery store.

Story of my life, I am here to break down the reputation: Freezer meals can be anyone’s BFF.

Soups are one of my favorite things to freeze. They defrost well and I also love how well soup stores in the freezer. I typically put the finished soup in a gallon freezer baggie and freeze it solid, flat on it’s side… so that I can save space and stack up even more meals.

Four days past Thursday, I am getting to the point where I am kind of over turkey. So, I decided to make this hearty turkey and rice soup with our left over Thanksgiving turkey so that I can enjoy it some other time when I am not on tryptophan overload.

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It will be perfect for a cold January day. Maybe there will be snow on the roads and I won’t be able to go anywhere. Then, I can be thankful for this turkey twice.

And my new BFF.

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Turkey and Rice Soup
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Ingredients
  1. 1 tablespoon olive oil
  2. 1/2 cup diced onion
  3. 1 cup sliced carrot
  4. 8 tablespoons flour
  5. 6 tablespoons butter
  6. 2 cups milk
  7. 5 cups turkey broth
  8. 3 cups diced cooked turkey meat
  9. 1 1/2 cups cooked wild rice
  10. 1 tablespoon dried herbs like oregano, thyme or sage
  11. Salt and Pepper
Instructions
  1. Add oil and a little broth to a skillet with onions and carrots. Saute over medium high heat until nearly tender, but carrots retain a bit of their bite.
  2. Using a large stock pot, melt butter with medium high heat.
  3. Add flour to melted butter and whisk until combined.
  4. Keep whisking and add a quarter of the broth until mixture thickens.
  5. Still whisking, add remaining broth and milk and bring liquid mixture to a boil.
  6. Remove from heat when mixture is thick enough to coat a spoon.
  7. Add carrots, onions, diced turkey, and rice to liquid mixture.
  8. Stir, adding seasonings like salt, pepper, and herbs.
To reheat
  1. Let thaw in refrigerator over night and then heat in the microwave or on the stove.
  2. OR,
  3. Cook frozen in a large saucepan adding a 1/4 cup water so not to burn over medium heat until warmed through and bubbling.
Bloom. https://www.theblogbloom.com/

Lighter Leftover Love

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So, the goal was to get a handful of left over turkey recipes on Bloom all week long… but, family arrived.  The holiday came.  And, things got busy.  

But, good busy.

It’s always fun to get the family together, talk and laugh.  What was really fun about this Thanksgiving is that Adam and I hosted everyone.  We spent the last couple days showing my family around our town, showing them our favorite parks, places to shop and, of course, our favorite places to eat.

So that meant the new doughnut shop downtown, the brewery, a cute new diner for brunch, and the Irish pub.  

Now that everyone has left and the Holiday festivities have cooled, Adam and I are both feeling the need to get back on track.  All the indulgent food and short week at the gym has us craving something green.

My go-to salad really fits the bill.

It’s similar to a Cobb Salad but, traditionally, a cobb includes greens, grilled chicken, bacon, tomato, eggs, hard boiled eggs, avocado, chives, Roquefort cheese, and red wine vinaigrette.

But, I say, why be so confined? Why go buy Roguefort when there is Colby Jack in your fridge?

Enter my salad: The Garbage Salad.

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The Garbage Salad is kind of an institution in my family.  Adam and I rarely repeat a dish, but we make Garbage Salad maybe once a month.  We even say that if we were to ever open a restaurant The Garbage Salad will be on the menu.

I was introduced to this complex salad by my Dad thanks to the handful of times he cooked for us without my mother’s menu planning.  He was also a big fan of the garbage macaroni and cheese, garbage pasta and garbage pizza.  

You better get a pen for this one: The ingredients are whatever you can find in your refrigerator that would work well in a salad. So it is great for this weekend, the weekend after Thanksgiving, as I am trying to use up what we already have and clear out the fridge.

This salad features bacon left over from this mornings send off breakfast for all the guests, the carrots from my roasted thyme carrots that were a side dish on Thursday, cheese from cocktail hour and, of course the bird.

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Take a look at your fridge and get creative tonight!

And, for another great turkey salad recipe, check out my most recent post on Scratch Mommy and whip up my Crunchy Chinese Turkey Salad.

Leftover Love

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Back to our regularly scheduled programming on Bloom… food!

And, it’s a good week for food.

I absolutely love Thanksgiving.

I love getting together with family, cooking a great big meal that is a little more fancy than an everyday meal, but still keeping the atmosphere very warm and relaxing.

As a little girl, I loved (and still love) watching the balloons and dancers marching down the streets of Manhattan in the Macy’s Parade fueling dreams of becoming a Rockette… But, unfortunately for me, I am still waiting to clear 5′ 4.

I love taking a little time to really reflect and think about what I am truly thankful for.

I love Thanksgiving so much that I won’t even begin to think about anything Christmas (another holiday that I love) until the leftovers are gone.

And speaking of leftovers… I love those too.

If the whole rhelm of leftovers were a 2000s high school movie, Thanksgiving leftovers would be the handsome and charming football captain who also is Student Body President. Good at everything, liked by everyone.  Pretty much perfect.

Just like this sandwich.

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This panini is everything we all love about Thanksgiving and a little more.  The addition of herb packed and slightly salty pesto really compliments sweetness of the cranberry sauce. 

And let’s be real here, everything is better with melty cheese.

Especially when it’s between two pieces on bread.

 

Day After Thanksgiving Panini
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Ingredients
  1. 2 slices of good bread
  2. 2 Tbs. Butter
  3. 4 Tbs. cranberry sauce
  4. 2 Tbs. pesto
  5. About half cup of turkey slices or pieces
  6. About a quarter cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
  1. Turn on and heat up panini press.
  2. Spread butter on one side of each piece of bread.
  3. Spread pesto on other side of one piece, and cranberry sauce on the other.
  4. Place one piece on bread on panini press, butter side down. Top with turkey and cheese. Place second piece of bread on top of the sandwich, butter side up.
  5. Close panini and cook sandwich until golden brown.
Notes
  1. If you don't have a panini press, you can easily prepare the sandwich in a skillet, flipping once the bottom side is golden brown.
Bloom. https://www.theblogbloom.com/
Check back the rest of this week for more Thanksgiving leftover love!

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“Where Are We Going” by Both of Us

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After a little discussion about what we were going to say for our “Where are we going” posts Adam and I have decided to write it together, because where ever we are going, we are going together.  And, while we both have different ideas for details, the goal is the same for the both of us.

So, this final post in our Thanksgiving Series is a collaboration told from my  voice.

In October, we hosted a handful of my sorority sisters for “a weekend in the country.” During dinner one evening, a friend posed the question to the group “What do you love?” Everyone took turns going around the table revealing their love for friends, family, food and more. 

When it was Adam’s turn his response was “Growing food that people can enjoy.” 

Adam’s mom always talks about how his favorite book as a kid was Farmer Grover. I can hear her now mimicking the book: “Be a farmer, Grover!”

Funny story… I read Farmer Grover as a kid as well.  And, that’s about the last I heard about farmers until I was eighteen.

Because of Grover, and his background, he has been fascinated by farmers his whole life. It’s not surprising that growing food is something he is still passionate about.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love growing our own food as much as he does. But, we look at it from two different perspectives.

I look at the beauty of growing food.  Taking something covered in dirt and transforming into a fabulous dish that people love. My passion for food starts with my desire for putting the best ingredients into the dishes I serve. And, I now know that we are capable of growing the best ingredients possible in our own yard .  I want to teach people that they can do the same.

Adam looks at his passion for growing food from a  different perspective. He wants our production of food to be the most successful and efficient as possible.

He’s the mind behind production. I’m the mind behind how it can be shared. 

As much as we are different in our roles of producing our food, we are the same in the most important aspect: We love seeing people enjoy the food we grow and becoming inspired to build a stronger connection to their food.

There is something completely romantic about seeing someone pull your carrots out of the ground in complete amazement. Or sit down to a dinner and enjoy the flavor of your homegrown lettuce and beets as much as your guests enjoy the flavor of your pasture raised chicken.  And, I can not even begin explain the remarkable feeling that comes over me when someone reaches out asking for help and advice because they are interested in starting their own garden.

We love providing food, real food, to people who will enjoy it. We have been producing food for ourselves and a small group of family and friends. We want to grow this to the point that we can provide food to many others as well.  Our goals for the future include more pastured chickens and the addition of pasture raised beef and pork.  We plan to continue to increase the size of the garden each year.

We aren’t sure if this will lead us to Farmer’s Markets, CSA’s, Farm to School programs, partnerships with local butchers or chefs.  Where ever or however we choose to share our food, we want to be transparent.  We want people to come to our farm and see the passion we put into the food that will be going onto their table that night. We want people to understand that their food doesn’t have to come from a grocery store but rather directly from the farm it was grown.  We want people to be inspired to take starter plants back to their homes and teach their children how to grow their own food.  

Most people are generally disconnected from where their food comes from. I know, I was!  

Where we are going is a place where we will work to close that gap.

Where we are going is a place where people will be connected to their food.

And that’s where we all should be going.

Hillary Ferguson Photography.

Hillary Ferguson Photography.

 

 Thank you all for reading our series.  We really enjoyed working on this together and we hope that you enjoyed it as well!  

Wishing you and your loved ones the all best this Thanksgiving!

 

… And, if you do choose to shop, Shop Small!

 

“Where We Are” by Claire

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So, where are we?

Thanks to Adam’s last post and the last year and a half of blogging you know we have moved on from our initial “Rookie” gardener status.  

We have grown from eight to twenty four garden beds in garden that now produces food three quarters of the year.  We also can and freeze our homegrown vegetables to eat throughout the winter.  We have our cute, free range hens and now raise pastured meat chickens each fall. 

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But, it’s not just the garden that has grown.  

In just the last couple weeks there have been a few clear indicators that we may have even moved beyond the “novice” gardener status that we thought we were just a few months ago.  We know we still have so much more to learn to even begin to be considered an expert, but we just might be flirting with whatever it is that is in between “novice” and “expert.”

Last week, I went back to Purdue and spoke to undergraduate Hospitality Management students about their career goals, answered questions about classes that I found valuable, and even reviewed a few resumes.

Surprisingly to me, many of the students I spoke with were very interested in local food.  They wanted to know of Farm to Table restaurants and argitourism destinations that might be offering internships.  I didn’t know about any specific internships, but I was able to rattle off a handful of restaurants, companies, markets and farms or wineries in the region that they could look into.

This opened up a really good conversation about the shift in the food service industry and how responsible  sourcing or even growing food is becoming a common component of restaurants and food service management companies.  Something that even my company has discussed.   The students were receptive and excited.

Then, over the weekend, a young man who is working on an incredibly creative food delivery concept stopped by my house to drop off his product for me to review in early December.  His company, Fresh Artistry, has partnerships with local butcher shops working with Hoosier meat producers, local vegetable growers and Indiana chefs to put together recipes and all the components of a delicious, restaurant style meal.

While here, Adam and I asked him about his business, how he got started and made his connections.  We knew many of his connections and we even began to talk about the potential future of the company.  He has reached out to bloggers like me in Indiana to help build his customer base through our like-minded readers, but after hearing about his company Adam knows we could help more.  Our knowledge and goals for sustainability and growing the most food as possible on our land had Adam’s wheels turning like crazy.

And just in the last forty eight hours, an old friend and sorority sister who I hadn’t spoken to in years reached out for help trying to understand words like “organic,” “natural” and “local” better.  She was curious to know if organic really is better for you and why Adam and I grow our food.

I could explain strong, real answers to her and was even able to point her in the direction of materials to learn even more.  

I have surrounded myself with people who are driving locally grown food in Indiana.  Adam and I have networked with people who are growing vegetables and raising pastured animals.  We have read books, magazines, blogs, articles and watched YouTube.  We are now very well informed.

To the point that growing food, raising animals, and all the great people who are doing things like this are things that I not only hold intelligent conversations about, but that I can get other people excited about.

I initially started this blog as a creative outlet, but knew in the bottom of my heart that there was, and still is, a piece of me that wanted to influence people. To make them passionate, informed to make the best food choices possible and to be inspired to cook more. By becoming a good reference for people I know that I am on the right path towards that goal.

And I love that this is where we are.

Hive and Honey Photography

Hive and Honey Photography

Thankful For Local Farmers… and Local Turkey

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Interrupting Adam and my series for a little more Thanksgiving fun that was worth sharing the week before the big day.

Last week a post I wrote on how to cook a pasture raised turkey on Scratchmommy.com.

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The post is full of not just cooking tips, but also how to source a turkey for your holiday feast.

In the Scratch Mommy post I advocate for pasture raised birds from a local grower versus just picking up a turkey from the store.

I wrote about my decision to purchase a pasture raised turkey and said, “I cannot think of a better way to “give thanks” than doing something sustainable for the environment, that supports my local community, and is good for my body.”

It’s so true.

For the Scratch Mommy post I purchased a turkey from a farm called Homestead Heritage that I found on eatwild.com. Eatwild.com is a great resource for finding local growers of fruits, vegetables, meat and dairy in your area.

Homestead Heritage is located just across the county from our home and when I reached out to the owners they suggested I meet them at their farm to pick up my bird.

In addition to turkey, Homestead Heritage raises and sells grass fed beef and dairy products as well as pastured pork, chickens, and eggs. They even make up freezer dinners and soups using homegrown vegetables and their sustainable raised meats. They sell at a handful of farmer’s markets in Indianapolis or you can pick up their products at their farm.

I really enjoyed going to see their farm when picking up my turkey. I was able to see other turkeys that had not been processed for the 2014 Holiday Season yet. It was great to see their living conditions; a great space full of grass, sunshine, room to roam and shelter from rain and wind.

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They were really interested in checking me out as I hopped out of the car to get a few photos.

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I was able to meet and talk with the owner of Homestead Heritage, Jonathon. He works with his wife and was really helpful as I asked lots of different questions about the turkey.

He said that they raise Broad Breasted White Turkeys and that the free range, pastured bird’s nutrition is supplemented with an organic feed. I asked him if they do the breeding and they do not. They arrive to his farm as day old chicks and the birds take about five months to become the right size for a Thanksgiving meal.

For the Holiday’s, they take pre-orders but almost always sell out… early. So, he recommends getting on a farm’s pre-order list early.

That’s what I did with the turkey that we will be enjoying next week

I put a deposit down in June- before I even knew I was hosting Thanksgiving!

The turkey I ordered for the holiday is from a small farm on a state road that runs from my house to Purdue that I travel on often for work. They also sell pastured chickens, seasonal flowers, vegetables and starter plants.

I have loved connecting with these growers for our Holiday meals. There is something incredibly wonderful about meeting the person who raised and cared for your food.  They take pride in it and were quick to offer tips and suggestions for cooking the turkey’s so that I have a good experience with the product that they poured themselves into.  These growers were also beyond kind. They invited me to their homes and even helped me get the birds into my car.

They shared their passion for raising animals that have the opportunity to bask in the sunshine, eat grass and bugs, stretch out their wings, and run around.

Their passions for creating a sustainable piece of land.

Their passion for helping people understand farming better.

And for people like them, I am very thankful.

“Where We Are” by Adam

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This is Part Two of our series where we are giving thanks for starting a garden two years ago. Throughout the month of November with the help of my husband, Adam, we will be telling the story of “How we got here,” “Where we are,” and “Where we are going” from each of our perspectives.

Today Adam explains where we are:

Well, it’s a crazy weekend in the Trost house.

Saturday we hosted a co-ed baby shower for four of my fraternity pledge brothers and their wives. We have reached that point in our lives that the wedding season is shorter and the kids are showing up in droves.

We had nearly 30 people in our house on Saturday which made for a very loud and fun baby shower. We ate, drank, laughed, told stories and genuinely had a fantastic time catching up with great friends.
Now it’s off to the Sunday night Colts game in Indianapolis. I think I will need a weekend to recover from my weekend.

Purdue Alpha Gamma Rho all grown up.

Purdue Alpha Gamma Rho all grown up.

I started thinking about all the great celebrations we take part in and what is so common with each. Almost every event Claire and I host I feel like it all revolves around the food. Now any great host knows that the meal doesn’t mean anything unless the guests you are sharing it with are 5 star.

I had one great friend turn to me and say “You always know you’re going to have a great meal when you come to the Trost’s.”

That made me feel great.

I enjoy cooking great food as much as others enjoy eating it. One thing I enjoy even more is growing great food.

I love to serve people spectacular meals made with the food I have grown and taken care of. There is a feeling completely different than anything I have ever felt when I can transform a garden treasure into a meal that someone genuinely enjoys. It is my passion.

This brings us to “Where We Are.”

We are just on the edge of discovery and refinement.

Claire and I have progressed through growing our food rather quickly. Our first year was trial. (And we tried a lot of things.) Gardening, having egg layers, raising 50 meat chickens, trying to figure out composting, and many others.

Our second year has become more of a discovery and refinement season. We still have the egg layers (a big topic of conversation at the baby shower), we raised meat birds again this year to fill our freezer, our garden went from 8 garden beds to 24, and our compost actually looks like compost.

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Currently I am trying to figure out how to grow the most possible food in the smallest possible area. We are discovering how different crops planted in very specific areas and timing can produce massive amount of food.

For example, when tomato plants are young, plant radishes in between the plants. By the time the tomato plants get large enough to shade out the ground the radishes are harvested and you just produced 20 more pounds of food in the same bed. We also use plants that grow tall, like peas and cucumbers on trellis to shade our lettuce. This allows us to grow lettuce all through the summer without bolting. We are also planting cover crops like buckwheat in the bed when another crop will not be planted there for at least two weeks. This keeps the soil active, shaded to reduce weed pressure, and adds organic material to the soil.

Spinach shaded by growing beans.

Spinach shaded by growing beans.

One of the best tools I have discovered is not a special shovel or some magic garden tiller. It has been Mother Earth News Garden Planner. It is an online garden planner that keeps track of what you plant in each bed every year. This is key to having healthy soil, reduce insects and disease problems and grow plants more efficiently. Every time you plant a bed the garden planner will keep track of it and let you know that in 2013 tomatoes were in bed 4. It will then light up in red, letting you know not to plant them there again. Aside from YouTube, it is the tool I rely on most.

Now that winter seems to have shown up early, and our garden is all but dead (carrots, beets and kale are holding strong), I am in the reflection phase of our season. We had an incredibly successful year growing food, produced much more than we could eat and were able to share that with others.

I just took my pastured grown chickens to the butcher and my first thought was “I have a really big yard, I wonder how many pastured chickens I could grow on my lawn.” Now that I have used that grass to grow food, it seems worthless to fertilize, water and mow it constantly.

You should see how green my grass is where the chickens had been for only a day. Each day I moved the chickens to a new spot and now have 50 days of area fertilized. What if everyone did this? We are worried about growing enough food to feed the world when we don’t fully utilize what is right under our nose.

I am currently reading two books on starting a successful farming enterprise and the other on raising salad bar beef and am incredibly inspired.

The field around our house has been farmed for so long that nearly all of the quality top soil has washed into the creek. It is a gently rolling field that channels all of the water to one corner. Every year we have a big rain and it floods, washing through a culvert under the road through another field and into the creek. Each time, the water carries more soil with it. So much so that every few years the farmers have to fix the culvert, repair the washouts and watch the ditches get deeper and deeper.

Are we really fixing the problem?

What if we turned the field into, pasture, wood lines, natural habitat and ponds? Pastures could raise beef, pork, poultry, and sheep. The grass would hold the soil in place and help retain the water. Most of the corn grown in the field is being used to feed those animals anyway. Wood lines and natural habitat will attract birds who will spread the manure while searching for bugs. Ponds will retain the water and be used for livestock, especially in drought years.

So that’s where we are.

We don’t have it all figured out but, we have been very successful on our small scale. So much so that we want to continue to grow and produce food for others. You’ll have to stop in next Sunday to discover “Where we are going.”

Talking about raising chickens with a future farmer.

Talking about raising chickens with a future farmer.

“How Did We Get Here?” by Claire

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Wasn’t it super fun to hear from Adam?! I already am excited for his next post in this series. He is so sweet.

Anyways… My turn.

Unless you are really new to Bloom you know a bit about my background. I was born in downtown Chicago. I grew up in a upper middle class, suburban neighborhood on the North West side of Columbus, Ohio in a silly-large house on a golf course.  I loved shopping, being with my friends, and if the thought of a farmer happened to cross my mind I was either reading a story book or a history book.

Shop 'til you drop! Me at 12-13ish?

Shop ’til you drop! Me at 12-13ish?

The more I think about answering the question of “How did we get here?” that Adam and I posed to one another recently, the more I realize that it’s really not as crazy as I had originally thought.  

There were two very different elements in both of our lives that made starting a garden, and growing beyond the garden, a perfect storm.

While Adam learned to enjoy planting seeds and making things grow with his mom’s help, my mom was helping shape an important piece of my life.

Growing up was a running joke that my mom was “green” before “green” was cool. And, it was often expressed to me by snack-hungry friends that my house had “weird” food.

My sister recently posted this Buzzfeed roundup and it was pretty much my life as a child.

Sugary cereal, Lunch-able’s, Gushers, and Wonder Bread did not exist in my house.  Chips were rare.  So were trips to fast food restaurants.

Instead, for snacks, we had blue corn chips and air popped popcorn.  Our sandwich bread was dark brown, the crust was always on and sometimes it was even covered in unrecognizable seeds.  And, nearly every meal we ate was made from scratch.

Out of curiosity, I recently asked my mom why she did this.  Today, a mom can find so much (Maybe even too much…) about the benefits of real, whole foods thanks to the blogosphere.  But, it was the nineties.  Were there articles in the magazines my mom used to receive like “Family Fun” and “Better Home and Gardens” blasting processed foods?  

Her answer kind of surprised me.  

I thought it was because she wanted us to be healthy.  And, yes, she did know the food she was serving us had to be more healthy than fast, processed food, but her main reason behind it was because it was cheaper.

I was confused.  How did it get drilled into my head that scratch made, wholesome meals and real food snacks were better for me?

Then it clicked.  I had learned this one on my own.

Like most kids who leave the nest, I immediately started trying new things.

I had Taco Bell for the first time at eighteen.

Cheetos became my study snack of choice nights before accounting exams.

The first time I had a Little Debbie Ho-Ho or Zebra Cake I was freshman and it was kind of a “Where have you been my whole life?” moment.

It was a known “thing” in college that I was the Diet Coke Queen.  My day was not complete without a stop at the college town’s Discount Den where I could get a 32 ounce Styrofoam cup full of carbonated goodness for a whopping 55 cents.

I was even guilty of housing a jar of icing or a tube of cookie dough in my mini fridge just for snacking… raw.  And/or scooped up with pretzels/potato chips/Oreos/my fingers… whatever.  

Ohhhkay… you can stop judging me now.  

(And, for the record, there were two considerable heartbreaks in my first two years of college… so I get a pass for the cookie dough thing.)

Shockingly, by the fall of junior year, I not only had gained twenty pounds but I just didn’t look good.

A little chub and a big soda.

A little chub and a big soda.

It was never too bad, but I had breakouts.  

I didn’t sleep well and just always looked tired.  I felt it too.

I would get occasional headaches and I would pick up colds easily.

And after years and years of life guarding, I struggled through the 500 yard swim when it came time to renew my certification.

Over Thanksgiving Break my parents could tell something was up and suggested that I take vitamins.

I had never taken a vitamin.  I barely took cold medicine or pain relief for cramps. I didn’t want to have to take a vitamin. I didn’t want to have to take something man made to make me feel better.

Then it was like I had a break through moment: I had been eating man made foods that made me feel absolutely awful with no problem.

Uh… Lightbulb…!

Getting back to a more natural diet started slowly. I replaced the Cheetos with nuts or veggies with hummus and made an effort not eat after nine… Which, by the way, is SUPER hard to do in college.

After my summer in California where I cooked from scratch often and worked alongside growers creating a small farmer’s market, I came back for senior year with new energy and just felt so much better in general… and about myself.

Right after CA and just before Senior year I took a cruise in Europe with my family and looked so much more healthy in between my two siblings.

Right after CA and just before Senior year I took a cruise in Europe with my family and looked so much more healthy in between my two siblings.

People noticed, too.

Guy friends were actually more apt to comment on how much more fit I looked.  I can remember one night, just as classes began, I was talking with a great guy, who had been a friend all through college, and he complimented me saying that I looked great, but pressed and asked what had I been doing.

I was kind of stumped for a minute. I wasn’t practicing some hip, uber-intense workout routine or following some trendy diet. So, I thought for a second and simply replied, “I just started taking better care of myself.”

That conscientious decision to just simply “take better care of myself” lead me to my first apartment where scratch made meals with Adam were the norm. To ditching the Diet Coke for good, even when working for the brand. To being excited about local growers and the idea of having my own garden.

That decision to make an effort to do the most and best I can for myself, combined with Adam’s love of growing food, has lead us to where we are today.

Hive and Honey Photography

Hive and Honey Photography

So, where are we? Adam will tell you this Sunday! 

“How Did We Get Here” by Adam

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It seems like people do a lot of reflecting in November.

Thanks to the upcoming Holidays, like Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas, many people begin to take time to think about what they are thankful for and count their blessings just a little bit more.

With our Facebook Newsfeed full of daily “I am thankful for >enter whatever first world benefit here<,” Adam and I couldn’t help but get in the spirit.

Okay. So, maybe after we judged the people who said they were thankful for their iPhones within the first three days of the month…

But, it did make us ask “What are we Thankful for this year?”

The iPhone didn’t hit the list… weird. But there was one common denominator between us: The Garden.

We smiled at each other thinking of our love of the garden and our future plans for the garden. Then, I asked, “We are going to be those people, aren’t we?”

“What do you mean?” Adam questioned.

“The people who other people will think are insane for ditching their steady, corporate careers for sustainable farming. The people who have root cellars. Cows. Pigs. And, don’t know how to work an iPad. The people whose kids will be praying to the God of Sun and Rain while their cousins are singing, ‘Jesus Loves Me.'”

Okay… Just a little dramatic.

But, Adam, laughing, said, “Pretty much.”

“Oh my gosh,” I sighed, “How did we get here?”

Inspired by this question, our mutual gratitude for the garden and our excitement for the future, Adam and I, together, will be giving thanks and telling our versions of the story of “How we got here, where we are, and where we are going” throughout the month of November on Bloom.

Because you hear from me all the time… and because even I have enjoyed this story from Adam’s perspective, I thought Adam should start:

First off, I guess I should introduce myself. You all know Claire, as I am sure you have read her blog posts. Well, I am her crazy husband. You know that guy who drug that girl away from the city and “cut her off from”… you name it.

To understand some of Claire’s blog, I think you should understand who I am. I am the country boy who isn’t all that country. Don’t get me wrong, I wear jeans a t-shirt and a ball cap just about every day(if it’s cold I put on a hoodie). I hunt, fish, trap, drive a diesel truck, drive tractors and wear boots.

Hive and Honey Photography

Hive and Honey Photography

However, I am not the rebel flag flying redneck some people imagine when they hear someone is from the country.

I love a glass of merlot with my steak. I save my money to buy nice things. I enjoy dressing up in a suit for a wedding or a coat and tie for a nice dinner out with my wife. And a night out for Wicked on Broadway doesn’t sound awful any more. I’m that guy that Claire’s hometown never thought she would marry. I’m that guy who taught her about farming. I’m also that guy who has learned with her, dreamed with her, grew with her, and become passionate about our life together. (Sorry for the sap.) We’re on an adventure together no one would have guessed, not even us, and this is how it all started.

I’ve always thought gardening was fun. My parents had a garden when I was kid, but I’m not sure how many years it actually lasted. I certainly don’t remember canning. As I got into high school I would start a garden in the spring, typically consisting of tomatoes, zucchini, peppers and cucumbers. Not the most diverse selection by any means. Spring always came around and I was excited to get plants in the ground. Typically, I always planted 10 too many pepper plants, wait too long to pick zucchini, and tomatoes rotted on the vines from lack of attention.

Somehow, my mom was always on board. She would take me to the local nursery, help me pick out the plants, help me plant them, and watch me ignore them all summer as friends and girls kept my attention.

Fast forward to January 2013 and Claire and I are moving into our new house. I had already decided a garden is going to be in our future. My friends had one. The neighbors had one. Must be a small town thing, but everyone around me had one. So, I had to have one too.

I know what you’re thinking.

“So what! It’s a garden. Big deal.”

Well, that’s what I thought too. Until I started doing some research.

Claire was working for a public school as head of their food service and became involved in the Indiana “Farm to School” program. She quickly became passionate about these farmers, how they grew their food, where our food comes from and the environmental impacts of producing our food.

So, I jumped on board and began doing some of my own research. YouTube is my best friend by the way. Video after video, hour after hour of listening to people talk about their gardens had me excited to get started. Square foot gardening, raised beds, typical row crop gardening and many more.

I thought we would want to do raised beds, with the help of Claire and all her pins on Pinterest of raised bed gardens. Soon we found that they would cost more than her car to build. So, I simply started by tilling up eight large garden beds.

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My mom thought we were crazy for having such a big garden. The twenty tomato plants probably had something to do with it…

We also settled on trying to grow our food as organically as possible.

I don’t want to get into all the political crap about anti-organic this or pro-gmo that. Everyone has a reason why they choose what they eat. My opinion was I didn’t want to waste the money on fertilizer, herbicides and pesticides if I didn’t need them. Also, I really didn’t feel that entirely comfortable putting things on the food I was going to eat that suggested chemical gloves, a dust mask and safety glasses as appropriate PPE.

I believe there is a place for both, and my backyard didn’t need the alternative.

With good management of crop rotation, proper maintenance and a little extra labor I felt like I could achieve the same results.

So, how was I going to fertilize this large garden? Back to YouTube I went. After many videos it seemed backyard chickens were the perfect companion to a backyard garden. They solved my pest problems, I could compost their manure for fertilizer and they produced eggs as a byproduct.

On Mother’s Day weekend, Claire and I brought home twelve baby chickens which launched us into an ever evolving production of growing our own food.

So, that’s how it all started. One idea of wanting a backyard garden launched me into a job as conductor of plants and animals, trying to make everything work in the most symbiotic way possible.

Not Sweet, But Still a Treat

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What a gross night for Trick or Treat-er’s.

Poor kids.

Poor parents.

Fortunately, there are no Trick or Treat plans for me tonight.

In fact, Trick or Treat night is barely a blip on my radar any year.

Our house sits nearly a half mile off the road so we never get Trick or Treat-er’s.

Some years this kind of bums me out. I think it would be fun to pass out candy and see all the local kids dressed in costumes. And, maybe if we had Trick or Treat-er’s we would carve pumpkins… Something Adam and I have never even done together!

Last night I saw my sister-in-law and she was talking about the sugary gift baggies she made for the kids in her neighborhood.

My little green eyed monster crept up…. I want to put together fun, festive baggies and be the cool house on the street that gives out the best candy too…!

Today I stood in the candy aisle, looking at all the black and orange sweets, but turned my cart away knowing that with no little goblins at my door, the treats would become a temptation.

As I rounded the corner of the aisle, I came face to face with a awful piece of Halloween’s Past: The Halloween Popcorn Ball.

“They still make these?!” Crossed my mind as I looked at the Jack ‘O Lantern decorated bag, “Come on. Doesn’t someone know that kids hate these by now?!”

Thanks to Adam’s grandmother, I know that fresh made popcorn balls are a wonderful treat.

But, these little balls, the enemy of a kid with braces for FIVE years, made with popcorn that was popped God knows how long ago? They might as well be little balls of cardboard.

I would always trade mine with my brother for his Snicker’s and Reese’s cups. Being seven years younger, he didn’t know what he was doing… At least for a few years.

But, on this cold night, sans candy and Trick or Treat-er’s, popcorn and a movie sounds pretty good.

Just this week I made a great batch of popcorn dressed up with the flavor from the last of my herbs.

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I roughly chopped thyme, rosemary and oregano and tossed it with melted butter and Parmesan cheese in the just popped popcorn.

Oh. My. Gooooodness.

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This super simple combo was delicious.

And addicting.

At one point, I told myself, “just one more bite…”

So, I grabbed a handful that was a little (See also: a lot) bigger than a bite and stuffed it all in my little mouth like a hungry monster.

I turned, cheeks just as full as a chipmunk’s, only to see that Adam had caught the whole thing.

… So much for romance.

This herby popcorn is just that good.

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Herby Popcorn
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Ingredients
  1. 1 Bag plain popcorn,
  2. 1 Tablespoon rosemary, finely chopped
  3. 1 Tablespoon thyme, finely chopped
  4. 1 Tablespoon oregano, finely chopped
  5. 2 Tablespoons butter, melted
  6. 2 Tablespoons shredded parmesan
  7. Salt and Pepper
Instructions
  1. Pop popcorn in microwave according to package (Or use your air popper, if you are lucky enough to have one!)
  2. Pour popcorn into large bowl, add herbs, butter, cheese, salt and pepper, mix until just combined.
  3. Enjoy right away.
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