pyracantha berries!

each time titus ate one of these i would worry he was going to get sick from a dreaded red berry of the woods...until i learned that they are quite edible!

and full of vitamin c!

so after they served well as Christmas decorations, esme and i divided them up from their green parts and just had the berries....

sadly i decided they would make a great jam so i cooked them down without realizing one must take out the seeds first...(think making muscadine jam with all the bits of seed in there...ick)

but before i ruined them we ate quite a few! 

also i thought how fun to make our own feed for the sheep or birds...this would be a treat in there...they both LOVE the berries!

anywho...next time i will save them from my jam making =)

Already with bluebirds!!!!!

Watching my hobbits from the garden :)

Rain rain!!!

In the pouring rain downtown waiting to buy jersey milk!

Jack mixing mortar for his foundation

This is Titus and pic of jack in same outfit!!!

Fairy

Dinner!

Beans from our garden from last summer and the lady Russians cauliflower !

Buying greens from the lovely Russian :)

go daddy go!

 

 

 

snuggling with daddy and the stache

we have also eaten a lot of cabbage and greens this week....we visit the 'russian' often who grows all these wonderful things just a couple miles downt he road....so we have eaten it cooked, in shakes and in slaws....mmmmm

even titus likes it!

we also picked lots of rosemary and wild ginger....dried it with some basil and peppercorns and cardamom and made our own tea!
it tastes pretty good! the kids enjoy it bc they helped to make it =)
 

 

 

Week 1 without the grocery store!

i thought i could update our foodie life once a week...bc it is surely not super interesting in large quantities ;)
observations this week:
i went into town 3 times and each time it was like an invisible pull to the grocery store! i realized that whenever the kids say "im hungry" i find food...whether from target or publix or chickfila! so having to wait until we got home was a new challenge
i also realized that i "swing by" the grocery store pretty much everytime i am in town bc i feel like "i am here so why not" but then end up getting way more and way silly things that i don't really need
meal times have been the biggest change! everyone is hungry and as ben franklin once said 'hunger is the best pickle'
we all eat together with very little "i don't like this! im not hungry'
everyone is hungry and happy to be sharing food together...it makes it feel like an occasion!

and i have put on about 5 lbs...not kidding =)
i dont' usually eat a lot of bread but have had such fun making pastries and breads and rolls and cinnamon rolls...and then helping to eat them all!

i feel sure we will run out of sweeteners....i am counting on getting honey locally when we do...

anywho! great week and we are excited about keeping on!
jack said 'mama i wonder if we will even remember grocery stores after a year"
bless him, a year must seem like forever to him!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

thank you justin and julie! a swing for jack's bday!

 

 

Josh helping Daniel on their new farm!

Making veggie broth from left over bits and pieces of veggies

Build a new higher school area for kids

That Titus cannot crawl on top of :)