Meal #1

Okay Meal #1 was a success! Thanks, garden. I suspect that I will refrain from posting every thing made or eaten, however, first meal is like that framed first dollar, isn't it? Here's what was cooked up over a hot boiled water. Lemon from the lemon tree (just kiddng), spices, garlic, onion, collard and mustard greens, a turnip, mint, and a boat load of spice topped off with a hard boiled egg from the Swingbelly egg man! Delicious.

Wishing for a Farmer's Market

Tomorrow is June 1st. Tomorrow starts living off the garden. Looking at the garden, this looks like a recipe for disaster. There is nothing ready for consumption yet. That is except some great mesclun, collards, parsley, cilantro, and one strawberry. Hmmm. So where's my farmer's market that is open to tide me over. Brookie-Wookie's opens tomorrow while we are on the road. Quandry #1. But who cares. Let's talk gardening plan and perameters. Gardening plan goes like this- organized by growing month. Collards and herbs, Edamame, peas Romaine and mesclun lettuces, Strawberries and Rasberries, Kentucky green beans, Pinto beans, Snack pepeers, Pablamo peppers, Tomatoes, Squashes (zuchinni, patapan), Eggplant, Radishes, and Beets. Not bad, not bad, not bad. We can work with that. So tonight, what's for dinner. It goes like this. We have turnip, mesculan, parsley, leftover potatoes and sage. Mix this up with soup broth topped with a boiled egg and we have a delicious Poland meets Jeruselum meets Lebanon meets Brookfield borscht soup. Okay, this can be done. All with a slice of Noah's homemade bread. Now for the parameters of Gardening a Little Brick-e. They are wide, broad and open to accomodate for travels and potential pass out potential from starvation! I eat out of the garden from June 1st until its all done or damaged from bugs, weather, etc. Supplementation for nutrition can only come from other people's gardens or the farmer's market in order to have some grains. The following items are allowed in the experiment simply because I refuse to give them up: coffee, alcohol, and rice cakes. Hummus will have to be homemade from organic beans bought from anywhere in their organic, closest to real form. Whole Foods here we come! While traveling, I will try to eat from farmer's markets or stands we find along the way and this I suspect will run the gammet from Michigan peaches, cherries, to homemade farm peanut butters. Eggs will come from the Clevenger's and their backyard chickens or from Swingbelly at the market. That'll do it. Let's the experiment begin.

Here's What We're Looking At...

This past school year I have indulged in my way too fair share of junk food. Anything that is synthetic and frosted, I have said, "Bring It". Anything sweet and available, I have said, "Sure, why not!" Well, now is the result of the bringing it. I feel gross, uncomfortable, and my system is out of whack more so than it normally is- and that's saying its REALLY outta whack! So I have come up with a fun new experiment for summer gardening. I am not sure how it will pan out or if it will even be an interesting blog to write or read. I suspect there might not be a lot to say. I mean am I going to check in every day with a report about how much higher the bean stalk grew? I don't know- maybe. Am I going to write about recipes and cabbage rot? I don't know- maybe. But I do know this: 1. My skin hurts 2. My Crohn's hurts 3. My knees hurt 4. 15 new pounds hurts and 5. My body is super uncomfortable I'm curious to see if living off the garden will eliminate all or most of these discomforts. On a political note, this experiment is also interesting to me because it aligns with my fascination about people and our food choices. Why is it that we think things processed in a factory are in any way good for us, healthy, or nutritional? I mean really. For example, if you can't or don't want to consume sugar why choose an "all natural sugar substitute" that is powder formed and generated in a factory by an employee wearing a Tyvek suit? Just stop eating sugar!< That's natural. I feel this way not about sugar substitutes, but about industrialized foods. They are not food, they are made in factories, and I should just not eat them. Period. The garden and my farmer's market are the present best I can do to reject the commercialism and industrialization of my food. Amen. That's my soap box tonight. Next comes the garden plan and the Gardening Little Brick-e perimeters.