Community Supported Agriculture

For any of you in our neck of the woods, we just found out about a CSA. This method of getting food to the eater far surpasses any current standard methods as everyone wins. The farmer offers a membership to a limited number of people, in this case 100. You pay by the month the month prior to pick-up. Then the farmer gives you a share each week in the produce. The veggies are picked that day, just hours before you pick up. Veggies can be grown for taste rather than shipability. In this case, everything is grown using organic methods. You get truly fresh, organic, locally grown produce at better prices than you'd see in the store. If disaster strikes, we all lose a little... rather than the farmer losing everything, including the farm. Its food with a face. It takes a little getting used to, as in you don't make your menu for the week and then say, "Darn, there's no green beans this week. I'll go buy some." Or "I wasn't planning on cooking any corn. I'll just toss it into the compost." Its a mental shift, but a good one, environmentally. Rather than having what you want when you want it, it forces you to think of what is in season, what grows in your area, and what to do with those few left overs that aren't enough for another full dish. Until we're able to grow all our own produce, I'm quite thrilled to be supporting this venture. If you want more info, contact me at acoslow (at) mail (dot) com.

Meet (or meat) Chuck

This morning we headed out to our first experience with an animal swap. We loaded up "Daisy", our supposed mature female muscovy duck which really is a male, into a chicken pen in the trailer. Our first 5 minutes of being there, we had her... or him... sold for our purchase price. We were in the market for a boer goat kid and a truly mature female muscovy. We found a 7 month old beautiful boer buck who just so happens to be great breeding stock. The man, who knew our intents, had to tell his wife we were going to breed him or she wouldn't sell him to us. :-> "Chuck" is already a big, strong fella. It was work to get him back to the pasture, but I think he's settling in alright now. Noel, our little sweetie, wanted to welcome him warmly. Annabelle is still leery, her hair standing straight up, not letting him eat despite the fact that he towers over her. We'll be castrating him soon, but since all of our little ladies are already expecting, we have some time for him to get over the first trauma before encountering another. We can't wait too long though as crossing a large boer with a little Nigerian inside the little Nigerian would cause for a really difficult, if not disasterous, birth.

No muscovies to be seen... but if you're in the market for a bunny, that's definitely the place to go.

The Sedan Can

This weekend we purchased an upgraded carseat for Gloria so Aaron could have her's. He could have gone another month or so in the current rear-facing seat, but we wanted to be all together certain that we could fit 3 car seats in our sedan... or have as much time as possible to acquire a mini van. And we're proud to say, our little Sonata can continue to serve us faithfully as our family grows! We love that car, especially since its paid for, and gets much better gas mileage than any 7 seater on the market. Frankly, we love debunking the myths that all families need an enormous vehicle, or every child needs their own room, or you can't live a good life on a single income. One of Randy's favorite phrases is, "what did you just say?" in response to a "you can't" statement. Lately, as people have questioned us on the size of our car, home and income as we expect our third (and not final) child, his response has been to ask if they would like him to answer in Mongolian. This stems from my stories from Mongolia- watching families, yes even large families, live happily in just a few hundred square feet.

So this morning, I loaded the kids into their new seats, new arrangement, etc. and headed to get groceries. Gloria is still needing some help figuring out how to get in and out of the new seat with a different strapping system than she had before. I'm sporting maternity pants with no pockets (why IS that???) and being out of the unloading-kids-routine, proceeded to lock my keys in the car. Thankfully my mom was working nearby so I hoofed it to the next shopping center over, (wishing I had my sling as Aaron almost made my arm fall off carrying that strapping, young lad!), and borrowed her car to go home and get my spare key. As I was attempting, rather pointlessly, to strap Aaron down so he wouldn't climb over the back seat into the trunk, a sweet lady pulled up and said she had heard me explain my predicament to my mom. She offered us a ride home, her car being equipped with car seats and kids being home with dad. Wow. God provides. What a blessing it is to know that He really does supply our every need... and provides new friends along the way. :->

A Valentine's Kiss

So this post is not what I wanted it to be, but frankly, I don't have time to do better. Aaron has been making "kissie" noises at any mention of a farewell. Sorry its sideways, I don't know how to flip it. Sorry its not the greatest video... the best he was willing to give me on my short time schedule. Its taken by the door to add to the idea of going bye bye, but he was way more interested in the camera itself than the thought of me pretending to leave. At any rate, if you get to see him live when he's feeling amorous, merely say "Bye Bye" and the kissies fly! Happy Valentines Day!

An Announcement

ETA- September 12

Donations of large blocks of ice will be accepted all summer.

:->