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Macro Microgreens

June 11, 2015 by theblogbloom.com 1 Comment

My husband, Adam, is a man’s man.

He owns his own agriculture construction business.  

He is fascinated by anything with a motor and multiple wheels.  

He hunts, enjoys fishing, traps and reads outdoor life magazines.  

While he doesn’t mind dressing up, 90 percent of the time you will find him in a ball cap and jeans- that are likely covered in dirt from the day’s activities.  

And, he would never be one to turn down a steak.

However, while a majority of the time it is unintended, he lives in a house that participates in meatless Monday. (Or Tuesday… Or whatever-day)

Listen.

I have no aspirations to be a vegetarian because, like Adam, I too wouldn’t turn down a steak.  But, because of all the veggies in our home year round thanks to the garden and preservation, I try to get creative with what we have.  

Through this creativity, we have played with different proteins like legumes such as lentils and grains like quinoa versus meat.  Done right with bold flavors and exciting textures, my man’s man doesn’t even think about missing the meat.

He sure didn’t when I whipped up this quick and easy quinoa meal using frozen, shredded zucchini from last season.

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To help give the dish a little more punch, I turned to the pot on my patio full of microgreens.

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Microgreens are young greens that are a little bit of a specialty and are used in many fine dining restaurants for elements of presentation.

However, I turned a little too late to the pot on the patio. My microgreens grew super fast and were getting big!

Microgreens are ready for harvest after they develop their first set of true leaves which really only takes a week or two.

Thankfully, I wasn’t too far behind the eight ball. The greens were still much smaller than their mature counterparts.

And, more nutritious too.

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Because of their small size, vitamins like vitamin C, K, E and beta-carotene are 40 times more concentrated in the tiny greens making them great for cancer prevention, eyes and skin. Mircogreens are also packed with 30% protein.

How about that for Meatless Monday?

… or Whatever-day.

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Mediterranean Quinoa Zucchini Salad with Microgreens
2015-06-11 18:13:16
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Ingredients
  1. 2 cups water
  2. 1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
  3. 1/4 teaspoon salt
  4. 3 medium zucchini, grated
  5. 1/4 cup kalamata olives, chopped
  6. 4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
  7. 2 tablespoons red win vinegar
  8. 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  9. A few handfuls microgreens, washed and dried
  10. 1/4 cup pine nuts toasted
  11. Pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Rinse quinoa until water is clear and drain.
  2. In a medium sized sauce pan, combine quinoa, water and salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until done.
  3. Take the saucepan off the heat and set aside for 5 minutes with the lid on. Pour into a large bowl.
  4. Add zucchini, olives, and feta to the quinoa.
  5. Whisk together the vinegar and olive oil. Pour into the bowl with the other ingredients.
  6. Add microgreens, pine nuts and pepper to taste to bowl and toss.
Bloom. https://www.theblogbloom.com/

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: backyard Garden, Garden, grow your own, meatless monday, microgreens

So, You Want to Plant a Garden?

March 30, 2015 by theblogbloom.com 7 Comments

You guys…!

I think we made it.

I can see it. I can smell it. And, – on good days- I can even feel it.

I think spring is here.

Well, it better be. I started seeds last week and they are already growing out of their starter kits.

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A good thing, yes. But, also a weather reality check as it’s only a matter of weeks before the little seedlings move to their summer home, the garden.

In the last week or so I have seen many social media posts sharing images of sprouting veggies and excitement for summer gardens.

I love it because I totally understand: It feels like you just did something magical. You turned a tiny seed into a growing, living, green stem. All in less time than it takes for online shopping packages to find my country doorstep.

But, I also know plenty of people who are on the fence about starting a garden. Almost all of these people that I speak with agree that it sounds wonderful; but, what does it really entail in terms of time, energy, commitment, and more?

Here are six good questions to ask yourself before getting seeds in dirt.

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What grows well where I live?

Here’s the deal: I would absolutely love a lemon tree. But, the reality is, Indiana’s short growing season and continuous growing cycle of a lemon tree isn’t a good fit.

Local nursery’s and garden supply stores are good indicators of what grows well in your area. The USDA’s Plant Hardiness zones also help you understand the length of your area’s growing season and what plants will do well.

What do I like to eat?

These are things you should plant.

If you don’t like squash, don’t plant it. Even if kale is totally on trend, but you can’t stomach it, don’t plant it. You will be more apt to care for plants that you are excited to eat. Plus, it also prevents veggies from going to waste.

But, even the most seasoned gardeners will also encourage you to plant one thing to try. This year I plan to get over my fear of butternut squash with five little plants. Wish me luck!

What do I want from my garden?

Do you plan on enjoying fresh summer veggies only or do you want to put things up for winter?

This will help you determine how much to plant. Canning and freezing vegetables, like beans and tomatoes, is awesome because you can enjoy them throughout the winter months. Plants like potatoes and carrots can stay fresh for months in a cool, dry place.

But, enjoying tomatoes the whole month of August or asparagus all spring is the greatest introduction to learning to eat seasonally. Do what makes sense to you.

Where is the garden going to go?

For the most part, garden plants only need a bit of space, water, and sun to grow well.

Many plants will be just fine in containers on the patio and you can even work edible pieces into your landscaping. Or, if you have the space and you are willing to give up some of your lawn, you can do beds that are either raised or right into the ground.

No matter where the vegetables go you want to make sure it is an accessible space that receives six to eight hours of sunlight and there is a good water source nearby.

How do I want to do this?

Do you want to go the totally organic route? Or would you prefer to use conventional fertilizers and pest control?

Either way is fabulous. You are growing your own food in your own yard!

Either way you are still saving fossil fuels because your produce isn’t being shipped from Argentina and Southern California. You are teaching your kids an amazing skill and your family is learning to eat fresh, seasonal foods.

But, if you do choose to go the organic route you may want to begin to explore composting, natural pest control (such as diatomaceous earth and just good old manual labor) and even begin looking into chickens for natural fertilizers.

How much time can I give the garden?

Gardening is easy, but it isn’t easy.

… Perhaps only gardener’s will understand that.

But, it’s true.

And a caveat here, it all depends on scale. If I let my garden sit for a week, I will be weeding for an hour or two. But, if a gardener with two 8×3 raised garden beds lets things go for a week, they may only need to weed for 20-30 minutes.

But, at the end of the day, every garden requires a little attention. If you can work with the garden at least twenty minutes once or twice a week (with the exception of a couple weekend afternoons where you get everything into the ground or cleaned up for fall) you will be fine.

And, if that seems like too big of a commitment, herbs are a great place to start and CSA’s are wonderful too!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: backyard Garden, Garden, Gardening, growing food, planting seeds

To Everything There is a Season

January 8, 2015 by theblogbloom.com 7 Comments

My dad does this weird thing where he can think of and, of course, start singing a song for any situation.

Anything.

My sister and I recently talked about this. It is crazy.

I remember her screaming, “DAD! STOP. You have a song for EVERYTHING!”

In the background of her screaming you could hear things like, “You can’t always get what you want…” by The Rolling Stones or Frankie Valli’s, “Big girls don’t cry… They don’t *CRY-I-III.*“

I could commiserate with her frustration. It was annoying. Especially when you were fifteen wanted to go to “so and so’s” party or were begging to be allowed more than ten text’s a month.

I mean, seriously. Come on, DAD!

But, now that I am over halfway through my twenties something funny has happened: Those “weird” or “annoying” things about my mom or dad… are now things that I (scarily) do.

My mom comes out of my mouth more than I care to admit. And, my dad’s music on the mind trait is now my own. I also might add, even though this is kind of embarrassing, the music on my mind is usually songs that he would listen to.

… With the exception for T-Swift’s “Shake It Off.” Hey, what can I say? I work in sales.

The current tune running thought my head is “Turn, Turn, Turn” by The Byrds.

Well, actually the song was originally by Pete Seeger and was titled “To Everything There is a Season.”

It is that exact verse that runs through my head at least five times a day as I stare out the window at the, now, very frozen and snow covered piece of land that once was my booming garden.

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I miss it.

I wish I could run out there and grab all the fixings for a wonderful salad at lunch.

I wish I could spend an hour in the morning before work tending to it and getting a little Vitamin D.

I wish my Instagram was full of things like this:
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Or this:
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Or this:
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I wish Adam and I could walk out there in the late evenings with a glass of wine and admire what had popped up since the night before.

But,

To everything, there is a season,
And a time to every purpose under heaven
.

There is a purpose to this time of year and the purpose is to rest.

Just like a strong athlete, the garden needs this time of oscillation.

Both the athlete and the garden, are pushed hard and to their limits in order to get stronger, faster, better.

But, if an athlete were to be constantly exerting himself he would likely strain or even hurt his muscles to the point of damage. In fact, it is proven that continuous training can weaken the strongest athlete.

However, the best athletes know that by stepping back, taking time away from the gym and recovering, their body will repair and strengthen itself allowing them to perform at their peak.

Real growth is found in the rest.

Quite the opposite of what our world seems to tell us, right?

We are encouraged to go, go, GO! Told that good things come to those who hustle. The guy who busts his butt working weekends and well into the evenings gets the promotion… and becomes the example.

But, all the while, no one wonders if we could be doing damage or making ourselves weaker.

Perhaps we should follow the lessons that are found in nature.

Athletes need to take a break from the weights to build up strength.

Babies and teenagers sleep so much because they are growing like crazy.

Studies have even shown that without sleep healthy and strong adults impair their motor and cognitive traits, similar to being drunk. (Spoiler Alert: The drunk guy never gets the promotion.)

Seasons existed before life.

And, there was quite some time that life reflected the seasons.

There was a reason to each season. A purpose.

So, as much as I love busy and vibrant August in the garden; When January comes, I smile as I take time to step back and just watch the snow fall on that corner of my yard.

For, without January there would be no August.

season

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: cold, Garden, Growth, midwest garden, Seasons, Snow, Vegetables, Winter

To The Resolutionist:

January 3, 2015 by theblogbloom.com 1 Comment

I believe in The Resolutionist.

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The optimistic. The excited. The one who is inspired to grow and to make a change.

But, the whole idea of a “resolution” gets a lot of smack this time of year.

People claim that it is stupid/inappropriate/negative to set resolutions. They state that resolutions are unattainable wishes that lead to depression. They declare that people who make resolutions are just dreamers. They say why even bother because the resolution will just be broken within 30 days.

News flash: “They” are grumps.

There is always room to try something new. To learn. To grow. To make a change. To make yourself stronger.

To help give everyone’s resolutions a fighting chance we need to stop being so grumpy and use our skills and experiences to help each other.

So, here’s the deal: If your resolution is to save money by not shopping at Anthropologie as much, sorry, forget it. I am not your girl. I can’t help you. I can’t help me.

But, if your resolution is to cook from scratch more, begin to ditch processed foods, eat locally when possible, or even grow your own food, stick around.

These are things I have done and you can to.

Here a few tips to get you started:

So, you want to cook from scratch more often?

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Awesome! I am a firm believer in home cooked meals. I honestly think they can change the world. (More on that some other day…)

But, how do you do this without getting discouraged? Without your family hating everything you put in front of them?

Two beginner tips:

1. Having a plan is huge. I meal plan and shop on Sunday’s (sometimes Monday’s) for the whole week. I check the fridge and freezer and see if there is anything I need to use up. I make a plan for left overs be it lunch or re-purposed for the next day’s dinner. I make sure there are different proteins and flavor profiles throughout the week so that we don’t get bored. And, I try my best to stick to my meal plan mainly because I have already invested the money in the meal. This makes take out or eating out not tempting at all even when it’s a busy night. (Got to save that cash for Anthro… duh!)

2. Try your best to learn to like cooking. This is weird, obscure, and maybe even hard. But, if you are going to do it you have to find some joy in it. I thoroughly enjoy getting away from the many screens in my life and working with my hands. I find it refreshing after a long day. Think of it as a way to unwind with a byproduct of a great meal for your family.

But, if that sounds completely ridiculous and there is no way to unwind until kids are in bed; grab a glass of wine, turn on your show and do tomorrow night’s chopping then. Or, befriend your crock pot and prep Tuesday night’s dinner on Monday evening. Put it in the fridge over night, turn it on before heading to work, BINGO.

Plus, coming home from a long day to marvelous smells coming from your crock pot is one of life’s most pure joys. I speak from experience.

So, you want to quit that processed food that you can’t seem to make it through a day without?

You are brave. But, you got this!

I was once the Diet Soda Queen. No seriously. It was a known fact. I love, love, loved it. A Diet Coke can or the 32 ounce Styrofoam cup from a gas station just steps off my college campus was like an accessory for me that I wore proud and daily.

Then I started reading about it. Forget the whole cancer thing: My first concern was for my teeth. Was I staining them? Then my bones. Could I be doing damage to them and become a weak, brittle old lady? Then I read about how it tricks you into thinking you are consuming something sweet, but you really aren’t because it’s a “fake” sweetness, so then you crave and, in turn, eat more sweets.

There is nothing “diet” about that.

Especially when I was in my early twenties and there was a wedding dress in my near future.

Today, I couldn’t tell you the last time I had a diet soda.

How did I do it?

1. Occupy your thirst. I began drinking water like crazy. (Which happens to have loads of benefits. Bonus!) I had water with me at all times so that I couldn’t get thirsty. But, the caffeine thing is hard.

So 2., Start small. Don’t go cold turkey. Let yourself have one or two a week. Maybe a Friday afternoon treat. Whatever. But after a month or so you won’t even miss that treat.

(A byproduct of this? You will become crazy water fiend. You will feel strange if you feel like you have not gotten enough water in a day.  And, then you will begin to dream about how wonderful it would be to have beautiful water fountains full of Evian straight from the Alps on every corner like they do in Europe.)

So, you want to eat locally?

Cool. Love it!

However, one tiny issue with this one. If you are in a state like, oh let’s say Indiana? Now is not the greatest time to start. Eating Local has to do a lot with eating seasonally. And in this lovely frozen tundra, there isn’t that much that is in season right now.

But what you can do is get your toes wet and start making a plan:

1. Check out websites like eatwild.com or just even use google to learn about local growers in your area. Reach out to them or follow them on social media to learn what they have for sale right now. Start making relationships with them and maybe even begin purchasing things like their eggs, cheese, or meat which they might have available this time of year.

2. Use this time of year to study up on canning or freezing so that when these farmers have things like tomatoes, berries, or corn this summer you can buy it in bulk and put it away for next January.

Honestly, you should see my freezer right now. We have a lot of eating to do.

So, you want to grow your own food?

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Heck yah, you do! You are a rockstar.

Now is a great time to start thinking about this, even if your home is currently frozen like mine. And, man, do I have tips for ya!

This could be a whole post. Or series of posts. Or maybe even a whole blog. Hey, wait.. isn’t that what Bloom kind of is…! 😉

I have done a lot of gardening posts so check them out in the “Garden Tips” tab of the menu bar, but to get you started:

1. Think about what you like to eat and eat often. These are things you should grow. We love tomatoes, herbs and lettuce greens…But, winter squash? Not so much. So we don’t grow it.

2. A good garden isn’t super needy, but it does need sun, water, and good soil. Right now is a good time to think about all these things.

Sun- Is there a place that gets at minimum five hours of good sun light? It can be your windowsill, your patio, your lawn, whatever. That is where your plants should go.

Water- Do you have outdoor hose hook-up’s? Or will your water be coming from inside? Keep that in mind when you are trying to figure out where you want to put your garden. Or, get busy working on your biceps.

Soil- Soil is tricky. Find out if you have sandy or clay soil. Maybe start a compost bin to help bring in organic matter to your garden soil this spring.

3. Look into seeds and seed starter kits. Planting for areas in the Midwest should begin around March. There are tons and TONS of seed companies out there.  Request a catalog and have fun “ooh-ing” and “awe-ing” over the beautiful, colorful veggies and their funny names.

4. A big thing to remember is that there is no need to go crazy when you are starting out. It’s YOUR garden and it can be as big or as small as you want it. Maybe you do herbs in your windowsill? Or tomatoes in pots on your patio? Or maybe you dig up eight beds in the backyard? Perfect. Do what works for you. We started with just tomatoes and peppers and now I couldn’t even tell you how many plants are in our summer garden.

Once you start, you will grow too.

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Happy New Year and Best Wishes for 2015!

Follow your dreams.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: eat local, Garden, goals, healthy, local food, new year, real food, resolutions

Summer in December

December 17, 2014 by theblogbloom.com 2 Comments

This weekend I took on Operation Holiday Cookies.

The amount of butter in my kitchen was at an all time high and my mixer found a new temporary home on the counter top.

I baked a handful of treats that my mom always had for the Holidays like oatmeal candy canes, spritz cookies and almond crescents.

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While in the middle of my baking marathon Adam poked his head into the kitchen.

“I know you are making things that your mom used to make, but those are not cookies,” he told me.

Um, have you seen the amount of sugar I have gone through? These definitely are not crackers….? I was confused and really curious why he thought this way.

“They aren’t circles. Cookies are circles,” he stated.

For those of you who might be new… Hi! Thanks for reading. And just so you know, Adam is my husband… Not a toddler. I thought it would be best to clear that up after this preschool observation.

Okay then…!

Cookies are circles. Only.

-Weirdo.-

Hmm.

Well, that ruled out my plans for gingerbread men or frosted sugar cookies in the shape of trees and bells.

So, instead, to appease my husband’s wishes for round cookies, I made one of his (and my) summertime favorites: Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cookies.

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By the middle of the summer, we have zucchini’s covering every surface of the kitchen. We saute them, grill them, bake them. We have so many that I even make special trips to Indianapolis to pawn them off give them away to my friends.

But, even with all this, there are still tons of zucchini’s that come out of the garden everyday in the middle of the summer. To help make the most of our plentiful zucchini’s I like to freeze them either grated or sliced so that Adam and I can enjoy them throughout the winter months.

This cookie recipe calls for grated zucchini, either fresh or frozen. However, if frozen, be sure to squeeze out all the liquid.

Now, I know what you might be thinking… Zucchini in a cookie?!

It’s actually really good.

So good, that I think the flavors would make a really good ice cream too. Maybe I will play with that next…

The taste of the grated zucchini isn’t strong by any means and is complimented by the ground cinnamon. It’s also a fun way to sneak in vegetables in a picky kid’s diet.

Or husbands.

… And they are circles.

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Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cookies
2014-12-22 11:28:42
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Ingredients
  1. 1 cup (2 Sticks) unsalted butter, softened
  2. 1 cup granulated sugar
  3. 1 cup brown sugar
  4. 2 eggs
  5. 2 teaspoons vanilla
  6. 2 cups all purpose flour
  7. 2 cups whole wheat flour
  8. 2 teaspoons baking soda
  9. 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  10. 1 teaspoon salt
  11. 2 cups grated zucchini (about one large zucchini or two medium sized zucchini's)
  12. 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Using a stand mixer, beat together butter, sugar, brown sugar, until combined and fluffy.
  3. Add eggs one at a time until combined and mix in vanilla.
  4. In a medium bowl, sift together the dry ingredients.
  5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and beat on low until they are just incorporated.
  6. Add the zucchini and chocolate chips and mix until they are just incorporated.
  7. Scoop the cookies onto a greased cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes.
Bloom. https://www.theblogbloom.com/

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: christmas, cookies, Garden, home grown, Vegetables, Zucchini

Green Beans and Very “Green” Vlogging

December 9, 2014 by theblogbloom.com 1 Comment

Without the garden to keep me occupied, I have been exploring other projects to fill my free time.

My home office is finally about 90 percent complete. It’s nice to have a good space for all the papers in my life in our huge new filling cabinet and to get frames on the wall. It’s now a space that I actually want to work in instead of being the house “catch all.”

My gym recently closed (Wah! I am still sad about even though they announced it two months ago.), so I have spent my evenings gym hopping hoping to find a new gym that I love. While annoying, it has been fun trying new things like reformer Pilates and getting back into swimming.

And, of course, the down time is a great time to give Bloom a little TLC. Photography books and blogs have become my reading material as well as advice on social media outlets and SEO. But, more exciting to me, is thinking of what else I could bring to Bloom to make it more interactive and valuable to the readers. Ideas like eBooks, personal shopping at farmer’s markets and meal planning, and even Video Blogging are on the table.

Recently I enlisted Adam’s help. I wanted to experiment and see if something like Vlogging was the right direction to take.

Scratch that.

I wasn’t even there yet.

At this point, I just wanted to make sure I could talk and cook at the same time. And that I didn’t sound too stupid doing it.

It wasn’t perfect.

There were things like this:

Video Player
http://www.theblogbloom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/My-Movie-1.mp4

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Download File: http://www.theblogbloom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/My-Movie-1.mp4?_=1
00:00
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Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.

… And, I learned my lesson to leave Adam out of my projects if it’s Sunday and football is on TV.

But, between his “Take Ninety-Seven!”‘s on Take Three and us bickering over if “garlicky” is a word or not, we got things like this:

Video Player
http://www.theblogbloom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/My-Movie-2.mp4

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Download File: http://www.theblogbloom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/My-Movie-2.mp4?_=2
00:00
00:00
00:00
Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.

Did you learn something?!

Not too shabby for a first timer and just an iPhone.  (Minus that expression on my face in the beginning…) 

And I also got a great, super simple green bean recipe out of it all.

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So, who knows? Maybe there are more “vlogs” in my future.

But, one thing I know to be for sure is that, in my very immediate future there will be more garlicky green beans.

(Sorry, Trost. Auto correct recognized it. “Garlicky” is a word.)

This recipe is the easiest way to add some flavor and to do something a little different with fresh green beans. I used green beans that I blanched and froze this summer, but fresh green beans from the store with their ends trimmed off will work great too.

 

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Garlicky Green Beans
2014-12-10 08:18:14
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Ingredients
  1. 1 pound Green Beans, ends trimmed
  2. 2 tablespoons butter
  3. 2 garlic gloves, minced
  4. 1 tablespoon lemon zest
  5. 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan
  6. salt and pepper
Instructions
  1. Steam green beans until nearly tender, but still have a bite.
  2. Melt butter in a skillet on medium heat, add garlic and cook until tender and fragrant.
  3. Add steamed green beans, salt and pepper to the skillet.and continue to saute until the beans are coated in butter and garlic.
  4. Top with lemon zest and Parmesan.
Bloom. https://www.theblogbloom.com/

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: backyard Garden, blogging, Garden, garlic, green beans, Local, video blog, vlogging

“Where We Are” by Adam

November 16, 2014 by theblogbloom.com 2 Comments

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.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Baby Shower, Chickens, Fraternity, Garden, learning, Mother Earth News, pasture raised meat, Purdue, Vegetables

“How Did We Get Here?” by Claire

November 12, 2014 by theblogbloom.com 2 Comments

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! 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: college, Garden, Growth, health, healthy, Love, natural foods, nutrition

“How Did We Get Here” by Adam

November 9, 2014 by theblogbloom.com 5 Comments

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.

10423897_10103858494483058_4233421323350073437_n

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.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Chickens, future, Garden, Gardening, goals, homesteading, Love, November, Thankful, Thanksgiving

Unfancy Beets

October 13, 2014 by theblogbloom.com 1 Comment

I can’t remember the last time Adam and I went out for a “date night.”

I am racking my brain to try to recall… Hmm. It might have been when we went to St. Elmo in Indianapolis last January.

Geesh. Sounds like a long time ago…

But, even though that was almost a year ago, I don’t think we feel like we are due for a night out to dinner. We do “date night” at home instead.

And, I actually prefer date night at home.

Okay, okay. Depends on where we are going. You can take me to St. Elmo whenever, love.

But other than that, I enjoy our weekend dates at home a lot.

Adam and I have talked about it and he agrees.

We both are pretty decent cooks and, outside of sushi, we can cook, if not better, on par with almost any restaurant we would go to.

Not to mention, with our at home dates, we avoid sixteen year old valets trying to park Adam’s big truck in parking garages that are too small and 50% mark ups on bottles of wine…

So our blue house out in the field has become the steak house, the seafood restaurant and we have even given sushi a try!

For date nights, we like to try new recipes and learn to love them so much that our past date night meals tend to become our week night meals.

In fact, Adam recently looked up from a Tuesday night dinner plate as we sat down at the table and said, “If someone didn’t know us any better, they would probably think that we are really fancy for a Tuesday.”

I look at the plate. I had roasted everything in the oven.  The thyme carrots, rosemary beets and even the Dijon chicken.

“Really?” I asked. Everything excluding the Dijon had come from the backyard… maybe he is thinking from the trendy Farm to Table perspective?

Beets growing this summer.

Beets growing this summer.

“Yeah. People would think a meal like this is fancy because it looks like it took a lot of effort to cook.”

Really…? My oven did all the work. Boxed Mac and Cheese is more hands on than this meal.

Roasting vegetables is still something I do for date night but it is so easy that it can be done for a week night without much fuss. Roasting vegetables is also one of my go-to’s when entertaining thanks to how hands off it really is.

DSC_1227

By roasting vegetables, like beets, carrots, asparagus or Brussels sprouts, you can amplify the natural flavors and sweetness.  There are also different ways to add unique flavors to dress it up or use what you have in your pantry.

All you have to do is toss the peeled and cut vegetables with a little oil, herbs and/or spices, then spread them on a pan and check them occasionally as they roast.

 This year, Adam and I grew beets for the first time.  We loved having homegrown beets so much this summer that we planted a second crop for this fall and it seems like we roast a bunch once a week.

DSC_0908

Roasted beets make a great side dish but are also fabulous on top of a salad with a little goat cheese and nuts. Try them at your next “Date Night.”

DSC_1230

 

Rosemary Roasted Beets
2014-10-13 19:41:16
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Ingredients
  1. 1 Bunch Roasted Beets, peeled and cut in consistent sized pieces
  2. 1 large sprig rosemary, chopped
  3. 1 TBS Olive Oil
  4. Salt and Pepper
Instructions
  1. Preheat Oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Spread all ingredients out on a foil lined baking sheet.
  3. Toss all ingredients together until beets are well coated.
  4. Fold up the sides of the foil to make a pouch leaving a hole to vent.
  5. Bake for 45 minutes or until beets are tender.
Notes
  1. We sometimes top these with lemon juice and goat cheese which really compliments the natural sweetness of the beets.
Bloom. https://www.theblogbloom.com/

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: backyard Garden, Beets, Garden, roasted vegetable

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Meet Claire

Hi, thanks for visiting! I am Claire and I have been sharing my life and thoughts on Bloom since 2013. Welcome to 2023's project, The Farmers Market and The Library. For more about me...

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