Category Archives: Local Food

Fruit Preserves, No Sugar Required

I love fruit! Fruit is especially delicious when it is fresh picked. And I love picking fresh fruit with my beautiful kids. They have such excitement discovering the fruit, how it grows, how to harvest it, and how delicious it tastes.

When I pick fruit fresh from the tree, vine, bush, etc. and eat it right where I picked it, I can taste the life energy in every juicy bite. Fruit enjoyed this way is so rich, full flavored, and life giving.

There are places in this world, where fruits and vegetables ripen year around, and folks can gather what they need each day. But most of the world deals with long seasons when vine ripened fruit and fresh picked vegetables are not available.

Even fruits and vegetables in the groceries stores are not fresh or local. They have most likely traveled thousands of miles, and have spent time in various warehouses, trucks, ship yards, etc. They were likely picked weeks before they were ripe, and they are likely modified in some way to last this long in transport without spoiling. For example, apples are picked and then stored in gas warehouses for months before they are sent to market. Of course the government says these modified foods are safe to eat, but do you really want to eat apples that have been stored for months in a building full of gas to keep them from spoiling?

Food Preservation

Historically humans didn’t have gas filled warehouses, and a transport system to stock a grocery store across the world, let alone a store just up the road. I recently learned that grocery stores with fresh and frozen foods really did not appear until the late 1940’s and 1950’s in most of the USA. Part of the reason being, that technology for home refrigeration, and small scale commercial refrigeration was not yet available or affordable until the 1920’s, electricity was not yet available to everyone in the urban setting until the 1930’s, and only 10% of those in the rural setting had electricity. The first modern self serve grocery store with shelf stable boxed and canned foods, opened in Tennessee in 1916, and quickly opened franchises in rural towns across the USA. They became recognized in Time Magazine in 1929 and many across the country began trying to bring the concept of a modern self serve grocery store to their state and towns. But it would be many years yet before they could refrigerate or keep frozen meats, and fruits and Veggies. Rather you still needed to visit the meat man up the road who kept the meats in a smoke house, or frozen with large blocks of ice cut from the frozen rivers and lakes.

So how did folks get supplies and fresh fruit prior to the grocery store? Prior to grocery stores, folks were only able to get a few dried staples for the pantry from a small general store in town that sold hardware, ammo, fabric, and other dry goods needed on the homestead. But everything fresh like fruit, vegetables, meats, eggs, milk, etc. came from their own gardens, local butcher, or local milk man, or local growers (vineyard, orchards, farms) in their neighborhood community when it was in season. If they or their local vender had an icebox for cold storage, it was cooled with a block of ice that had been cut from the frozen lakes and rivers near by in the winter. They learned to deal with limited seasonablity by either going without and only eating it in season, or by preserving it to use later.

Preserving fruit (or any food) can mean variety of things. I might be put into a cellar for cold storage, dried, powdered, frozen, cured, smoked, mixed with sugar, mixed with spices, etc. to prevent it from spoiling. In recent human history, since the 1800’s, we also learned to can fruit and other foods to extend the availability of to the food, and the sweet flavor in regards to fruits, however, canned fruit (food) does not contain the same enzyme or protein structures and nutrients of the other historical forms of food preservation. Minerals and fiber in canned food are similar to their fresh stage, but high heat can cause the breakdown of fiber too, and many of the minerals are dissolved into the canning liquid. So if you pour off the liquid, you likely are pouring off the minerals too. It is wise not to make canned food the majority of ones diet. If you do use canned food, it is best to use foods preserved in glass rather than metal cans whenever possible. Metal cans, and the coating within, can break down and leach potential toxins and metals into food, especially acidic food like fruits, including tomatoes, over time.

Indiana Harvest

Here in the midwest in central Indiana, fruit has a very limited harvest season. Typically, whether it is wild fruit, or domesticated fruit, any variety has about one month or even a few weeks of harvest is about all you can expect from a local fruit. Locally grown fruits in Indiana typically include strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, cherries, elderberries, mulberries, plums, apples, paw paws, pears, peaches, persimmons, and grapes.

Here is a basic list of approximate harvest dates for fruits in Indiana, but depending on variety (wild, domesticated, special variety), and the weather, the harvest season could vary by two weeks early or two weeks later than posted below.

Apples September 1 – October 25

Blackberries July 15 – July 30

Blueberries July 5 – August 10

Cherries June 10 – June 25
Elderberries August 10 – September 20

Grapes September 10 – September 20
Paw Paws August 10 – October 15

Peaches, Nectarines July 20 – September 1

Pears August 10 – August 31
Persimmons Late September-early October

Plums Late July – August
Red Raspberries July 15 – August 15
Black Rasperries June

Strawberries June 1 – June 15

When I harvest fresh fruit on the homestead or at a local orchard, we usually eat fresh what we are able to, and then I typically freeze some so it does not spoil. Sometimes I will can fruit preserves, fruit butters, tomato sauce, and green beans in glass jars for convenience and gifts. But honestly canning the fruit is not the best option, so I try to only can enough to give as gifts, and to use occasionally.

The benefit of freezing fruit, instead of canning it, is that it preserves most of the nutrients in the fruit. When fruit is subjected to the high heat of canning, the enzymes are killed, proteins are changed, and a lot of the nutrition is lost. But if frozen, they can be served later by thawing and eating, gently heating, or by blending frozen into smoothy or ice cream treats. When fresh or frozen fruit is heated gently, many of the living nutrients like enzymes and vitamins are still available to your body. But these nutrients are heat sensitive and will be destroyed or altered if heated under high temperatures.

Compote, preserves, and spreads contain rich deep tones of the fruit it is made from. Fruit compote is basically fruit preserves, or fruit jam, but the fruit is left whole instead of cut up, crushed, or pureed. It still vaguely resembles the original fruit. Making traditional fruit compote preserves involves basically using whole fruit, or dried fruit, that is cooked in water, sugar, and flavored with extracts or spices. However, I believe that if you combine fruits that are tart and sweet, you really don’t need the added sugar, and you are able to make a delicious treat that is healthy for the body. And if you reduce or eliminate the water, and heat very gently until much of the moisture is evaporated and the fruit is tender, you have maintained much of the integrity and nutrient value with in the fruit itself.

So I often make my fruit preserves or conserves right when I need them or the day before. Lately, in the face of one more subzero frozen day, when winter seems to never end in January in central Indiana, I have been craving the summer harvest. So I pulled several fruits from the freezer to make different dishes with. I will post a story soon how I used frozen peaches this week. But today I am excited to share a Berry Persimmon Compote Preserve that I made.

This was my first year to harvest and freeze persimmons on our homestead. I had seen them in the stores before, but never on the tree and I was really excited this fall when friends on facebook answered my inquiry about what kind of tree and fruit was on my driveway, that it was indeed persimmons. Yeah!

I wanted a fruit spread that I could use this week for homemade bread, waffles, and to stir into my tea for flavor. Rummaging through the freezer, this combo seemed to stand out as one to try. This recipe makes enough for one person to use for several meals or snacks, or if serving a large family like mine with lots of kids, you might only have enough for one meal depending on how much they eat.

Fruit Preserves, No Sugar Required

Berry Persimmon Compote Preserves:

2 cups frozen or fresh blueberries

1 cup frozen or fresh strawberries

1 frozen or fresh persimmon without seeds (I mashed this as it is hard to remove the seeds from a thawed persimmon otherwise. This was the sweetener and thickener for the dish, so it was fine to mash it).

1/4 cup water (more or less depending on what you desire).

Heat gently over low heat, stirring occassionally, until almost all of the liquid is evaporated and a thick consistency is achieved. Remove from heat. It will continue to thiken as it cools, serve warm or cold. You can use this as a topping for deserts, snacks, meats, as a side, or use it in place of jam. I also enjoy using the stained sauce from it to stir into tea and flavor drinks.

Sweet Blessings

I was all set to use these preserves on waffles and homemade bread for breakfast this week, when our pastor stopped by with some wonderful food. He picks up restaurant leftovers that otherwise would be thrown away then distributes the frozen leftovers to families in need. He has helped thousands of people through this wonderful ministry over the past few years.

I hope to post a story soon about this ministry. If you would like to see some of the meals I have made, stop in to my Instagram page and check out the pictures with hashtag #pfwcleftovers. The pictures represent a combination of foods that I was given mixed with foods I had on hand. Sometimes I use what was given in its original form, and sometimes I use it as an ingredient to make something completely different. It is exciting for the kids and I to sort through the box and see what is in there when it arrives.

As I sorted through the recent box, there was a package of something round and creamy looking. At first I thought it was a big ball of butter. It looked similar to butter when I make it homemade.

I was so excited about this butter as my mind raced thinking about all the delicious foods I could make with it. However, as I opened the package, I realized it was not butter, but CHEESECAKE. Oh my, I was even more excited! So I topped the cheesecake with the fruit compote preserves and it was a match made in heaven!

My kids were so excited about this awesome cheesecake. It quickly dissapeared, and became a fond memory. But I ate mine slowly and savored every bite.

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Feeding The Hungry and Needy

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Have you ever been hungry and unable to buy food? Have you ever been without money to buy food and had to call on family, friends, a local church, a food pantry, or stood in a food line? If you have, then you know what it is like for nearly 49 million Americans today. In the state of Indiana where I live, 1 out of every 6 children are hungry. YIKES!

Why is this happening? The causes are too numerous and too complicated to reduce into one statement. There are many reasons such as: Unemployment, Underemployment, Lack of Resources, Lack of Knowledge, etc. But one thing is very clear, BEING HUNGRY is very real in America and it is very real in every American community too. That is right, somewhere nearby where you are at right now, someone is hungry.

Many food pantries only offer boxed dry goods and canned goods that are full of preservatives, artificial ingredients, and lack real nutrition (enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and living foods). I was really saddened to see a food outreach ministry last October that lacked any source of fresh nutrients for the needy. Once a month the food pantry opened its doors to the local community and it provided boxed pasta, canned vegetables and canned fruit, boxed dried potatoes, a small jar of peanut butter, one box of cereal, one bottle of apple juice, and a can of tuna for families. It may have equalled about $30 of boxed/canned food groceries for a family.

DO WHAT? I was horrified. Is this all that poor hungry Americans are eating? They stood in line awaiting their names to be called. No one looked happy. No one was joyful. The room was very somber. The room was filled with hungry needy people, over 300 families were represented. But this is all they were given. This particular food pantry, and I am guessing many food pantries across the nation offer little nutrition for folks to survive on.

I understand the challenges of keeping and offering fresh and frozen produce and risks of spoilage and overstocking. But wouldn’t those risks be worth it to actually feed people? Don’t we want to feed people so they can live life to their fullest potential and so they can be healthy, instead of dead food that does not provide nutrients for their bodies? Perhaps the food being offered may even be making people sick? I have learned enough about boxed man made food full of preservatives to know this is not something we should be feeding people and definitely not expect them to have any quality of life if they have to live on it longterm which many of these families do.

Not only were they hungry, many were sick too. I knew many were sick from a lack of nutrition. It broke my heart. I sat in that room and prayed “God what can I do to help?” It came to my mind how wonderful it would be to grow a garden and supply fresh salad greens and cooking greens for local food pantries. Also, in addition to access to fresh vegetables and fruits, folks need recipe ideas so they can use up what is being provided from the food pantry in a healthy way. Why can’t food pantries also offer a freezer meal day, when hungry folks come together, assemble a months worth of freezer entrees. Give them the ingredients, and supplies, and teach them how to make up nutritious meals they could store in their freezer if they have one, and easily heat in a crock pot or oven when ready. I think food pantries across the nation could start up free CSA with the needy in their local community.

What about free gardens and orchards? Can you imagine every park in your community, and empty spaces every few blocks through out town, planted with FREE GARDENS? Can you imagine fresh salad greens and cooking greens available at local food pantries?

People need nutrients. LIVING LIFE GIVING ALL NATURAL NUTRIENTS. It cost to much to buy these nutrients at the stores today. Partly because it is all shipped in from across the country and out of season and the costs are sky high.

Seriously not even I can afford good quality nutrient dense foods at the stores lately. I am feeding a family of 8 people and it costs an unreal amount to buy fresh nutrient dense food for our family. I am also limited on storage space at this time, and wish I had a second freezer, and a root cellar full of winter produce and crocks of fermented foods, and a greenhouse /hoop house for winter gardening, and I wish I had put up 10 times more food for the winter from my own garden, but I didn’t. But it is possible for each of us to learn how to do this, and empower our selves and our neighbors to eat healthy living foods.

This is a dream of mine, to grow fresh gardens for the needy. I want to use the farm to feed and educate folks who want to know how to grow their own food and help themselves. Then for those who want to learn, have them come and help in the gardens, and learn. I want to head over to their homes and apartments and help them start gardens in their own yards or on their balconies that are easy to care for. Give them everything they need to get started and help them start it. Teach them in a hands on way. It doesn’t have to be a big overwhelming garden to bring them fresh nutrients. It they have the room in their yard, we can plant a bigger garden, or if they only have space along a flower bed we can put it there. It can be something as simple as a small planter box on the balcony that can grow fresh salad greens and herbs or a jar on the kitchen counter that can sprout seeds to provide fresh nutrients for a salad, soup, or stir fry the needy can easily make.

This idea is catching on across the country. Already many restaurant owners grow fresh produce or hire a local farmer to grow it for them instead of shipping the produce from across the country. A few communities are also starting Free Forest Gardens. A forest garden is a combination of fruit trees, shade trees, and food gardens. I have also recently read about some public schools and a hospital that is growing their own produce gardens. Also many restaraunts are giving away their leftover meals and fresh produce to local food pantries and this is giving more access to real food for the needy. More of these programs are needed in each community.

I recently read this article about food pantries starting their own gardens. What a wonderful answer to a desperate situation! If every food pantry had a garden, a green house, as well as a room for dry goods, and rooms with refrigerators and freezers for cold and frozen goods, and a commercial kitchen to teach nutrition classes and prepare some of the garden produce in, then food pantries would go along way in meeting the true needs of hunger in America, and in each local community.

If you are interested to learn more, then do a Google search for Community Forest Gardens, Apartment Homesteading, Urban Gardening, Food Not Lawns, WAPF, Real Milk, Slow Food, Local Family Farms, Eat Local, Nourishing Foods, etc. I definitely want to get involved in helping folks learn about, and have access to nutrient dense foods including seeds and garden supplies, and how to use the foods they grow. Perhaps you can help start something like this in your local community too.

We can make the world a better place by caring for each others needs, making sure programs in our communities have the resources to provide life giving foods for the needy, and perhaps planting one garden at a time, or even a large community garden or CSA to feed a families in need.

There is an old saying: “If you give a man a fish, he will eat for the day, but if you give him resources like a fishing pole and tackle, and teach him how to fish, he can eat for a lifetime and feed others in his community too.”

Be blessed!

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Garden Fresh Smoked Burgers

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We have been doing some outdoor cooking on an open wood fire in the backyard. It is the best tasting grilled food I have ever eaten! There is something special about the natural fire burning the hardwood limbs of apple, maple, and mulberry trees. It flavors the food with a delicious sweet smoky flavor. Be sure to read more about how we set up our outdoor campfire grill to cook meals for our family.

Dinner: Garden Fresh Vegetables and Smoked Burgers

Pictured above here is my complete dinner which included garden fresh red potatoes and green beans, acorn squash, and a delicious smokey sirloin burger with a few veggies inside. All of the ingredients in this dinner (except the bun, and the ground sirloin), were picked fresh from our family garden just a few minutes before grilling them. A few of the green beans were just starting to mature, and so they are quite small, tender, and delicious.

The veggies include:
            beside the bun (potatoes, green beans, jalapeno, cilantro, shallots, acorn
                 squash)

            inside the burger (jalapeno, cilantro, shallots)

            and on the burger (lettuce leaves, sliced radishes, yellow tomato, and onion),

Yeah, I know what you must be thinking, those ain’t normal radishes! Well, they are, they were just some that were left in the ground longer than the earlier ones we harvested. They really packed a spicy punch! And were so crunchy and delicious on this burger.

The Process

Potatoes and beans:

Spray foil with oil spray. Add veggies of choice. I added sliced red potatoes, young green beans, diced jalapeno, cilantro, sea salt, and pepper. Optional: you can add a tsp of butter or olive oil if desired. I ment to ad diced shallots to this packet, but forgot. I did ad it to a different packet though. Lay another piece of foil over the veggies. Fold the two foil pieces into a packet by folding the edges to make a seal. Be sure there are no gaps in the edges, as the veggies will steam in their own juices and you don’t want any steam to escape. We laid these packets onto campfire and let them cook for 20 to 30 minutes or so. The result was a delicious tender cooked and deliciously flavored vegetables.

Squash:

For the squash I used acorn squash and sliced it about 1/4 inch thick. Drizzled with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and pepper. Place onto grate on the campfire and cook 15 minutes or more turning as needed until both sides are lightly golden and cooked through. You can set the squash to the coolest part of the campfire if they start to over brown. We placed ours on top the foil packets to cook slowly in the beginning, and then directly over the fire later on. It all depends on how hot your fire is for where is best spot over the fire to cook them.

Burgers:

In a bowl I mixed together diced shallots, chopped cilantro, and diced jalapeno pepper, garlic powder, sea salt, and pepper. Then made the mixture into patties by gently pressing the mixture in the palm of my hand with my fingers until I had a flat and round patty.

I made some patties that were plain too for our kids, and put some uncured all beef hot dogs on the grill too. The kids are not very accepting of green things hanging out of their burgers.

The Campfire:

We placed all these wonderful patty’s and other dinner items on the open campfire.

Then we placed it all on the campfire. Here you can see the burgers and foil packets of potatoes and beans over the fire, and the squash is on top of the foil packets slowing down the cooking of them so they didn’t over cook. Then we also cooked them over the direct fire for a time too till they were lightly golden and cooked through.

The Outcome:

Their loss is MY GAIN! The kids don’t know what they are missing!

The burger was moist and so flavorful! It was not spicy at all. All of the flavors and sweet smokey aroma complimented the burger perfectly!

Though this meal was cooked outside, over an open wood fire, it was restaurant quality.   There is no doubt about it!   This was one of the most delicious dinners I have ever enjoyed.

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Tailgate Market Hendersonville NC

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For this Walk and Talk Wednesday post, I wanted to focus on local foods.



Have you ever sat down to a meal and looked at where each item was grown? It would be very easy to sit down to a breakfast for example, and eat eggs from Illinios, bacon or sausage from Idaho, bread from Kansas, orange juice from Florida, strawberries from Chile, blueberries from Brazil, butter from Pensylvania, cream cheese from Wisconsin, and so on. How far did your food travel before it made it to your home for your family to eat?

What is local food?
Local food by definition is food produced within a 100 mile radius of the consumer.

I don’t buy everything local, but I try to buy as much as I can. For example: honey, jams, bread, free range chicken & eggs, fresh garden produce, fresh orchard produce, raw milk, soaps, lotions, cleansers, etc.  There are plenty of meats locally raised, but  I have yet to find 100% grass fed beef and organic local grains among other things in my immediate area here in NC. But I try to buy what I can, and support local producers and the local economy as much as it fits into my family’s lifestyle and budget.

When I lived in Indiana, I was so blessed to have folks support me as a farmer and store owner and my my products. The Weston A Price Indy Chapter and Cincinnati Chapter, and the Cincinnati Locavore movement supported me and purchased lots of my products that I raised on the farm. People from all over Indiana (north, south, east, and west), Dayton OH, Cincinnati Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, and lots of places in between came to load up on our beef, chicken, eggs, and produce. Folks who came from over an hour away would always bring big coolers to load up on meats and other cold products. Sometimes even whole coops would have an order filled and bring a truck load of coolers.  Even local folks came regular and in addition to meats and cold items, they bought bulk grains, locally bottled coconut oil, local raw honey, local maple syrup and other several other items in our country store too. In addition, we had lots of crafts made by local artisans for sale too including some dear Amish friends who made handmade items like greeting cards and candles, a local farmer who made goat milk soap and lotions, and more.

I have been on both the farmer’s side of raising local foods, and the consumer’s side of supporting local farms and local foods. When I moved to NC, I went on a search to find the freshest nutrient dense local foods I could find. We visited several farms directly and traveled near and far. One great resource we found was the local farmer’s market called the Tailgate Market in Hendersonville, NC.   It is a special gem on the journey of local foods and local farmers and producers meet in downtown Hendersonville, NC on Saturday mornings.

I love to take my children with me and walk and talk at the Tailgate Market.

It is still spring, but items already in season included: chicken eggs, guinea eggs, turkey eggs, whole frozen chicken, pork (assorted cuts), various breads, cookies, deserts, jams, turnip greens, collard greens, radishes, lettuce, herbs, flowers, plant starts for the garden (tomatoes, squash, lettuce, greens, peppers, hebs, etc.), early strawberries, soaps, lotions, cleansers, local wood carvings and art, etc.

We bought some chickens and fresh free range pastured eggs. These chickens are moved daily in moveable pens in a pasture and allowed to free range on grass. They are fed grains, but they are allowed to supplement their diet by eating a full range of bugs, seeds, and a variety of weeds and grass every day.

We also bought some fresh baked goods from the Balson Bakery. They are a local homeschool family that produces a wide range of baked goods, jams, applesauce, fresh eggs, fresh plants and potted herbs for you to grow in your own garden, and they make recycled market bags that are hand sewn by their daughters.

My kids love picking out a few bags of their homemade cookies and jars of jam.

These recycled market bags are sewn from re-purposed feed sacks. Aren’t they cute?

You can find venders selling homemade soaps, lotions, bath salts, remedies, and more.

My kids enjoy walking around and meeting each of the local producers and learning about what they have grown or made to sell at the Tailgate Market.

From fresh breads . . .

To delicious edible flowers, beautiful plant arrangements, and herbs . . .

The kids have a great time exploring at the market.

This vender had turkey eggs (sold out), guinea eggs, and chicken eggs.
Can you guess which of these are guinea eggs?

I used to raise a variety of eggs on my farm in Indiana too.&nb
sp; FRESH EGGS ARE DELICIOUS! I used to raise free range chicken eggs, duck eggs, goose eggs, turkey eggs, and guinea eggs. My favorite eggs to eat fresh were chicken, turkey, and guinea. My favorite to bake with were duck and goose eggs. I loved to make cakes and homemade noodles with duck and goose eggs. Yum!!!

These are guinea eggs. I love these eggs for breakfast!

This farmer spent a long time teaching us about edible mushrooms. I will share some great pictures and things we learned from him in a future story. But he was a wealth of information and I was so glad to meet him and learn about different kinds of local mushrooms he was selling. He has agreed to come and teach kids a life skills class for our outdoor programs we have in the park. I can’t wait!

I bought some fresh collard greens from this vender. He also had fresh eggs and rainbow chard for sale.

Another farmer with a variety of eggs and hand crafted wooden art for sale.

She had chicken eggs in various colors of brown, white, blue, and green. Some of the light brown eggs almost look pink. These colors are natural variations from various chicken breeds. The green and blue and pinkish brown are produced by the Aracauna chicken.

Seems we just can’t help ourselves when surrounded by all this great produce, but to buy some more locally grown fresh vegetables. It is a good experience for my children to learn to clearly ask the vender for the product we are want and to pay the vender.   As we walk along the market and talk to the farmers, and buy their products, the kids are learning how to do business, exchange currency, count money, meet local producers, and choose healthy food for our family. These are all valuable life skills.

I encourage you to see if you can find a local farmer’s market in your area to support. If there is not a market close by, perhaps there is a local farm that will sell to you directly.

Your body will thank you from the fresh nutrient dense foods you feed it! Your local farmers will thank you for your support. Your kids will thank you for quality time together as they spend time walking with you outdoors and meeting other people from your community and they feel they belong to something special. They become connected to the people who make their food and it becomes important to them.

Check out Local Harvest to find a local farm near you. Other places to look might be your local news paper classified adds, a local 4H extension office, and the farm and garden section of craigslist.org .

Be sure to read about other great adventures we have made in our search for local foods and other stories written about the Tailgate Market too.

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Hog Heaven Produce

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If you live, or travel, anywhere near Asheville, NC and Greenville, SC no doubt you have seen hundreds of small produce stands that dot the countryside going in all directions on the highways.

I stop in several different ones from time to time to see what treasures I can find for my family. My children learn a lot about local food, business, and meet a variety of people from different cultures, and learn about lots of different foods by visiting these venders.

We talk about what we found that was produced locally in our region, and what was produced far away from other regions. We talk about what was produced by the vender on their own farm/garden, or what they had to buy at wholesale from others to resell at their produce stands. I often let the children pay the vender for the items we buy to help them develop their purchasing skills too.

There is a special little local produce stand I want to tell you about in the foothills of the Blueridge mountains. We have been stopping in to pick up a few fresh items, including my favorite local sourwood honey, for the past 4 years.

Maybe I shouldn’t give away my sourwood honey secret, but it is too wonderful not to share. Sourwood honey is the best honey on the planet!!! Soon I will write a story telling you all about wild sourwood in the Blueridge mountains. In my humble opinion, this honey is the best!

I have tried out lots of honey over the years, and sourwood honey is my all time favorite! It just tastes better to me than other kinds of honey. According to some science data I found, sourwood honey has a lower level of salicylates compared to other kinds of honey. That means that folks with salicylate intollerance, including some kids with ADHD and spectrum disorders, and folks on the Feingold diet, should be able to tollerate this honey better than other honeys.


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Hog Heaven Produce sits on the westside of Highway 25 just south of Highway 11 near Travelers Rest, South Carolina. See the map above to learn where Travelers Rest, SC is located.

Hog Heaven Produce is owned by Rodger Lindsey, a local native to Travelers Rest, SC. Rodger can help you find anything you are looking for. He sells produce, but he also knows all the local farmers and points travelers in the right direction to find local free range eggs, local beef, local pork, and fresh raw milk. He has lots of local friends who come and help out in his produce stand too. Everyone is friendly and helpful. Since moving to the blueridge mountains in Hendersonville, NC 4 years ago, this little stand has provided me with information about where to find local producers who make quality foods my family can use.

Hog Heaven Produce has lots of variety to choose from during different times of the year. These pictures were taken during my stops there over several weekends during late April and early May, and the variety of items, including locally available produce, is increasing each week. It won’t be long before he is overflowing with local garden produce. But even now, you can find fresh strawberries and garden greens produced by himself and local neighbors.

It is a great place to buy a variety of local honey. I have searched high and low in these mountains for good honey at a fair price. Rodger has it!

He keeps several varieties of local honey on hand. Some of the different kinds of honey include wildflower from Pickens SC, wildflower from Lake Lure NC, clover honey from SC, sourwood from Asheville NC, Star Thistle from Virginia, Orange Blossom, Poplar, Locust, and more. Currently, his honey’s sell for $5-$7 a pint, to $10-$12 a quart depending on what kind of honey you choose.

He has various fresh local produce when it is in season. Right now, SC strawberries are in season. These sweet beauties are from Strawberry Hill farm in Chesnee, South Carolina.

Check out my stories about easy strawberry cheese pie, strawberry greek yogurt parfait, and other recipes we love to make and eat with these fresh delicious strawberries.

He has lots of peaches and apples from SC, NC, and GA.

Most of his vegetables and fruit produce comes from upstate South Carolina, and within just a few miles of his produce stand. He also carries items from through out the mountain region made in SC, NC, Georgia, Tennessee, and Virginia. In the off season, if he can’t buy local grown produce, he buys his produce from markets further south in Florida and Georgia. But there is a long growing season in the foothills of SC region and he is able to offer a lot of local food.

As the season warms over the next few weeks, and through out the summer and clear in to late fall, his shelves will be overflowing with fresh produce. Today he had two kinds of onions, three kinds of potatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, and fresh cabbage. Last weekend when I stopped in he also had fresh greens.



He also has lots of canned items like apple butter, pickles, and jams produced in Asheville, NC and surrounding mountain regions. There are several different kinds of BBQ sauces. He has bottled juices from the mountains made with various kinds of fruits like peaches, apples, blackberries, and muscadine grapes. He also has a few Amish type foods like peanut butter spread. Yummy!



Can you guess what Rodger makes in this?

He makes his own boiled peanuts.

These sell for $4 a quart. You eat them hot, right out of the boiler. Yum! My kids and I enjoy a handful of them. You peel the shell off, and eat only the nut inside. They are soft, salty, and taste a little bit like a pinto bean.

He also has fried peanuts, baked goods, and macaroon cookies for sale too. It is amazing he manages to sell all this different variety of foods from a small three sided shed on the side of the highway.

Each week it is something different, so be sure to stop in when you get a chance and see what he has to offer. If you are out this way traveling on vacation to visit the beautiful mountain and foothill area, be sure to stop in at the Hog Heaven Produce roadside stand to get some delicious local produce and the best mountain honey!

We just love these strawberries and have made several trips to pick up more. For some reason, they don’t last long at our house. Actually, they don’t last very long when I just pick them up and put them in the van. They are a family favorite!

I think more than anything, I love to visit with local people and learn about their lives. I love sharing this learning opportunity with my children. And, the rewards of this learning expedition are delicious!

And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind; and God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:12

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Cheesecake

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                                            Yummy Cheese Cake with Kids In The Kitchen

This recipe is definitely kid approved!   It is Mommy and Daddy approved too.

A simple, delicious, and healthy treat that looks and tastes like it came from a gourmet restaurant. But this delight can be made with kids right in your kitchen.

No expertise needed! My nine year old son made this recipe for us for desert. He loves to cook. Cooking is an important life skill to attain, and having kids help in the kitchen is a great way to impart this knowledge and give them practice.

This Cheesecake is great for desert, snack time, and to serve to guests. It is also a great gift to give to friends or neighbors too.

And it is cheap to make too! It cost approximately $3 to $4 +/- worth of ingredients to make this entire cheesecake. The pie will make 6 to 8 slices depending on the size of slices you want. But a single slice costs around $4 or more in local restaurants, and $15 or more for a whole pie at the local grocery stores.  But why go to a restaurant when it is so easy, high in nutrition, and cheap to make right at home.

Yummy Cheesecake

Ingredients

Graham Cracker Crust:
Use a pre-made crust or make your own using:
1 and 1/2 cup graham crackers
6 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup Evaporated Cane Juice (natural sugar)

Mix together and press firmly into a pan.

Bottom Filling:
8 oz Cream Cheese, softened
2 Eggs (Free Range Chickens on Pasture have the highest nutrient value eggs)
1/2 cup Evaporated Cane Juice Crystals (natural sugar)
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice, fresh squeezed
1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/4 tsp Sea Salt

Blend or whisk the bottom filling ingredients together and pour into a graham cracker crust. Place pie on on a baking sheet to catch any overflow or spills. Place into a 325 degree oven and bake for 25 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.

Top Filling:
1 cup Sour Cream
2 Tbsp of Evaporated Cane Juice Crystals (natural sugar)
1/4 tsp of Vanilla Extract

Whisk the top filling ingredients together and spread over the baked pie. Return pie to the oven and bake for 10 minutes longer.

Remove cheesecake from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Chill for two hours or more for best flavor. Slice and serve. Your family will love it!

Eat plain, or top with fresh or cooked fruit, or any topping you desire. We enjoy topping with a variety of different toppings depending on what is “in season” and depending on the occasion: blueberries, strawberries, peaches, mulberries (we collected these from our own trees in Indiana), nuts, chocolate chips and whip cream, or nut/seeds and chocolate blended together, etc. But today our cheesecake was simply topped with a drizzle of chocolate syrup.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Goooooooooooooooood!

This is a nutrient dense food.

You can make this treat even more nutrient dense by making the cream cheese and sour cream yourself from fresh cows milk, and using sprouted flour graham crackers and grass fed butter in the crust.   Not everyone has access to these resources, so just look for the ingredients you can get that are as healthy as possible. For example use real grass fed butter (not margarine), or use organic coconut oil in place of butter if you want to swap it out, fresh eggs from a local farm that lets the chickens run freely in grass (not pasteurized, or  liquid egg product), real cream cheese and sour cream with active live cultures in them. Also evaporated cane juice has more nutrients than plain white sugar. Use fresh lemon juice instead of bottled lemon juice. If you really want to reach maximum nutrition, make fresh cream cheese, also the Weston A Price Foundation has a great recipe for raw cheesecake too.

Each of these better quality adjustments adds more flavor and nutrition for your family.   But even using average ingredients from the grocery store will yield a nutrient dense product.   I used Nutrition Data Self.com to analyze the recipe.  The analysis does not account for the higher nutritional values of grass fed and pastured products from local farms, so these nutritional values would be much higher if it did so. It would show high omega 3, and x factor vitamin k, vitamin D, etc. that goes way down in our modern foods available in grocery stores.

But according to the analysis with average quality ingredients available in the average grocery stores, each slice has 324 calories, 6 grams of protein, 181 mg omega 3 fatty acids, 1145 mg omega 6 fatty acids, 560 Vit. A, 89 mg calcium, 160 mg potassium, 7.7 mcg selenium, 21 mcg folate, 1 mg iron, complete spectrum of amino acids, and numerous other vitamins, minerals, and trace elements.

What is your favorite Cheesecake recipe?
Please leave a comment below. Thank you.

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Honey Safety

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I read this great article today about the safety of honey and the need to protect ourselves, our families, and our future. We also need to protect local populations of honeybees. In the long range, the only way to protect our families, and the bees, is to be informed and willing to speak out against ultra-pasteurization of honey, and the use of dangerous pesticides and herbicides in agriculture. In the short range, we need to consume more locally produced, raw, all natural honey and support our local farmers. We need to be an informed voice for our future. This responsibility falls on all of us.

Here is the article, reprinted with permission.

By Dr. Mercola

Bees have been dying off around the world for more than a decade now, a phenomenon that has been named “Colony Collapse Disorder,” or CCD.

The U.S. and the U.K. both reported losing a third of their honeybees in 2010. Italy lost half.

The die-offs have spread to China and India, in addition to many other countries.

A third of the U.S. food supply requires the assistance of the honeybee.

The collapse of bee colonies is probably multifactorial, rather than a response to one type of toxic assault.

Although experts don’t yet understand all of the underlying factors and how they interact to cause our pollinators to disappear, they agree about one thing: if we allow this to continue, our already-limited global food supply is at risk, which means more than 7 billion humans occupying this planet are at risk as well.

The common honeybee pollinates 130 different crops in the U.S. alone, including fruits, vegetables and tree nuts.

Without our bees, almonds, pumpkins, watermelons and other varieties of melon, and even vanilla, could completely disappear.

Haagen-Dazs donated $250,000 to research into bee colony collapse disorder because it says the honeybees are responsible for 24 of its 60 ice cream flavors, including strawberry, toasted pecan and banana split.

As usual, at the core of the problem is big industry, which is blinded by greed and enabled by a corrupt governmental system that permits the profit-driven sacrifice of our environment. Unfortunately, this motivation reflects an extreme shortsightedness about the long-term survival of the human race, as well as of our planet. Not only are commercial agricultural practices harming honeybee colonies, but your own health is being compromised by deceptive marketing practices about the “honey” you buy, some of which isn’t really honey at all, despite what it says on the label.

Honey: Nectar of the Gods

Pure, natural, unfiltered raw honey has an abundance of medicinal and nutritional uses, including the following:

A bounty of nutrition, including enzymes, antioxidants, amino acids, vitamins and minerals	Promotes the growth of friendly bacteria in your intestinal tract	Good for your skin
Helps with occasional sleeplessness	Promotes heart health by reducing homocysteine levels	Tames allergies
Can help fight viruses, such as herpes, and bacteria, such as that present in chronic sinusitis	Helps sooth a cough	Helps prevent tooth decay

A special kind of honey that has healing benefits far exceeding that of ordinary honey is called Manuka honey. Manuka honey is made by bees that feed off the flowers of the Manuka bush, a medicinal plant native to New Zealand. Fake honey is unfortunately common in this era of food manipulation and control. Some Chinese brokers sell a mixture of sugar water, malt sweeteners, corn or rice syrup, jaggery, barley malt sweetener or other additives, and label it “honey”. A recent report by Food Safety News reveals just how often they get away with this trickery.

Is Your Honey Fake?

In a new report by Food Safety News, more than 75 percent of the honey on American supermarket shelves may be ultra-processed—to the point that all inherent medicinal properties are completely gone—and then smuggled into the country by the barrel drum. Nearly all of this fake honey is made in China. Some of these brokers will even create bogus country of origin papers. All 60 jars of “honey” tested by FSN came back negative for pollen (including Sue Bee and Winnie the Pooh brands), which is a clear sign of ultra-processing.

According to FSN:

“The removal of these microscopic particles from deep within a flower would make the nectar flunk the quality standards set by most of the world’s food safety agencies. The food safety divisions of the World Health Organization, the European Commission and dozens of others have also ruled that without pollen, there is no way to determine whether the honey came from legitimate and safe sources.”

Millions of pounds of honey that have been banned by the European Union are being smuggled into the U.S. from China. Much of this honey is tainted with illegal antibiotics, including chloramphenicol, which can cause DNA damage and cancer, and heavy metals like lead. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) states that any product that’s been ultra-filtered and no longer contains pollen IS NOT honey.

In their investigation, FSN discovered the following:

76 percent of honey samples bought at grocery stores (such as TOP Food, Safeway, QFC, Kroger, Harris Teeter, etc.) were absent of pollen

77 percent of the honey from big box stores (like Costco, Sam’s Club, Walmart, and Target) were absent of pollen

100 percent of the honey sampled from drug stores (like Walgreens, Rite-Aid, and CVS Pharmacy) were absent of pollen

The good news is, all of the samples from farmers markets, co-ops, and natural stores like Trader Joe’s had the full, proper compliment of pollen, as did organic brands from common grocery stores. But fake honey—the sorry substitute that it is—might be the ONLY thing even remotely resembling honey that you’ll be able to get if we don’t find a way to save our honeybees from total global collapse.

HUMANS are Causing the Demise of the Bees

Each year, commercial beekeepers have reported unprecedented losses. Steve Ellis, secretary of the National Honey Bee Advisory Board and a beekeeper for 35 years, had so many abnormal bee die-offs that he’ll qualify for disaster relief from the USDA.

The main theories are the following:

Malnutrition of the bees due to destruction of their food supply, causing irreparable damage to their immune systems, which makes them more vulnerable to toxic exposures and pathogens, like viruses and fungi

Toxic pesticides, especially the newer systemic pesticides, insecticides, and genetically engineered crops, are a massive source of toxic exposure to the bees

Microwaves from cellular phones have been shown to cause CCD within 10 days, apparently by affecting the bees’ communication with the hive and disrupting their navigational ability

Changing global climate, drought, and migratory stress brought about by moving bee colonies long distances to provide pollination services

The EPA claims that new systemic pesticides are safer for humans because farmers can use less of them. However, experiments show that agricultural chemicals that are safe for bees when used alone are lethal in combination. Farmers increasingly combine sprays. They also destroy nearly all flowering weeds, depriving bees of essential nutrients from different kinds of pollen.

Bee Very Afraid…

While much has been made over the “mystery” surrounding CCD, the problem began shortly after neurotoxic pesticides, which are known to be particularly toxic to honeybees, took over the global insecticide market. These relatively new pesticides are called neonicotinoids. Two prominent examples, Imidacloprid and Clothianidin, are used as seed treatments in hundreds of crops.

Virtually all of today’s genetically engineered Bt corn is treated with neonicotinoids. A Purdue University study found multiple sources of pesticide exposure for honeybees living near agricultural fields, including high levels of Clothianidin in agricultural machinery exhaust, in the soil of unplanted fields near those planted with Bt corn, and on dandelions growing in those fields. The chemicals were also found in dead bees near hive entrances and in pollen stored in the hives.

Bee colonies began disappearing in the U.S. shortly after EPA allowed these new, toxic insecticides to be used. Even the EPA itself admits that “pesticide poisoning” is a likely cause of the collapse of bee colonies.

These insecticides are highly toxic to bees because they are systemic, water soluble, and very pervasive. They get into the soil and groundwater where they can accumulate and remain for many years and present long-term toxicity to the hive. They enter the vascular system of the plant and are carried to all parts of it, as well as to the pollen and nectar.

These chemicals affect insects’ central nervous systems in ways that are cumulative and irreversible. Even minute amounts can have profound effects over time. Foraging insects may become disoriented and unable to find their way back to the hive.

Jim Frazier from Penn State sampled hives from across the U.S. and found an average of six different pesticides in each hive, with one hive testing positive for 31 different pesticides, some of which are of the systemic varieties. Beekeepers everywhere are concerned for their own livelihood, in addition to being fearful of the broader implications of CCD. But one small Colorado beekeeper has served as a one-man sting operation in exposing the EPA’s negligence on this issue.

Bee Aware from Greg Stanley on Vimeo.

Courageous Beekeeper Battles Negligent Regulators on Behalf of Bees

Colorado beekeeper Tom Theobald became concerned about the effects systemic pesticides were having on his bee colonies. Theobald discovered that EPA allowed Bayer Crop Science, manufacturer of Clothianidin, to market its pesticide for public use without safety studies. Clothianidin has been used commercially for eight years now, with no good safety studies to back it up. Theobald uncovered the documents proving that Congress gave Bayer a thumbs-up to market their product while awaiting the results of a safety study, promised to be complete within 18 months.

And guess who conducts and funds honeybee studies?

The pesticide companies themselves… the fox is again guarding the henhouse. The EPA merely receives the report from the pesticide company, has its scientists make a recommendation, and then EPA administrators make a decision about product safety, supposedly based on good science. In this case, there is NO good science to be found—at least coming from Bayer.

The supposedly scientific research by Bayer proved to be woefully inadequate. Bayer performed the study on one 2.5-acre plot of land planted with canola seed. However, this is a mere fraction of the area foraged by a typical bee colony. In fact, the average area foraged by such a colony is 28,000 acres! Theobald called Bayer’s study a “mockery of science” because it was nowhere near an accurate representation of the bees’ natural habitat.

So, Theobald wrote an article for the July 2010 issue of Bee Culture, which created quite the buzz. The EPA changed their tone in response to his article, admitting the Bayer study was deficient. Nevertheless, they haven’t pulled Clothianidin from the market. According to the Pesticide Action Network:

“Governments in Italy, Germany, France and elsewhere have already taken action against neonicotinoids to protect their pollinators. And beekeepers there are reporting recovery. Yet regulators in the U.S. remain paralyzed, apparently captive to industry-funded science and a regulatory framework that finds chemicals innocent until proven guilty.”

No Simple Answers—Persistence is Key

Saving the honeybee will require much more than removing one or two pesticides from the market. It will require a complete change in the mindset and values of industry, and the regulators they hold captive. There is no force for change greater than that fueled by public outrage, so I encourage you to spread the word. Educate your friends, your family… your grocery bagger!

If the goal of pesticides is to increase food yield to more easily feed 7 billion human beings, this goal falls flat on its face if it leads to the collapse of our food chain.

As Tom Theobald says, we can eliminate this one product, maybe, but that won’t solve the problem. In a year or two, there will just be another equally dangerous chemical, unless we can change the conditions that lead to the problem. And this means we must yell loud enough to awaken our government from its stupor.

Some folks are doing just that. Honeybee sanctuaries are springing up everywhere, as the award-winning documentary Queen of the Sun shows. Many city dwellers are becoming smalltime backyard beekeepers. If you are interested in supporting the cause, you can check out some of the following websites to guide you in how you can help.

Vanishing of the Bees

Pesticide Action Network Bee Campaign

The Foundation for the Preservation of Honey Bees

Haagen-Dazs Help the Honey Bees

Bee the Change National Campaign

American Beekeeping Federation

References:

Prevent Disease November 22, 2011

Daily Camera November 24, 2011

Daily Green August 18, 2008

Bee Culture July 2010

Grist January 13, 2012

PLoS One 2010

      Krupke CH , Hunt GJ , Eitzer BD , Andino G , Given K , 2012 Multiple

      Routes of Pesticide Exposure for Honey Bees Living Near Agricultural Fields.

      PLoS ONE 7(1): e29268. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0029268

Question: What is one thing you can do to promote the safety of honey for your family? Please leave a comment below. Thank you.

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How To Make Jerky

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Making Jerky With Kids In The Kitchen.

Do you like Jerky?

My husband and I have made jerky every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas, for as long as I can remember. I don’t think we are very traditional folks, or have many traditions, but this would have to be one. Now we have passed this tradition on to our kids. They enjoy making, eating, and gifting jerky as much as we do.

Jerky is basically dried and salted meat. It can be seasoned with additional dried spices, or dried fruits to change the flavor or nutrient content. A lot of water/moisture is removed in the drying process. Drying the meat allows it to be stored or transported without refrigeration. By removing the moisture, and salting it, you greatly reduce the possibility of mold or bacteria ruining the meat, resulting in a long storage life.

The great thing about making it at home, in less than 24 hours, you have something delicious and nutritious you made yourself, and you can control the ingredients and the flavor too. I personally like to make my jerky preservative free. However, most jerky is made with preservatives to help prevent it from spoiling, and give it a longer shelf life.

I have made jerky in a simple process from roasts I cut into very thin strips, soak in soy sauce, salt, and sugar, and then letting them dry in a warm oven overnight. But by far, the jerky we like the best is made from meat we grind into burger before seasoning it, and dry with our dehydrator. Either way, after seasoning it, let it marinate for about 4 hours in the fridge to distribute the flavors, before drying.

I usually get about 1/4 lb of jerky for a pound of meat. Jerky in 1/4 lb to 1/2 lb packages makes a nice gift to give away at the holidays. My dehydrator will hold about 4 lbs of fresh meat at a time. But there are plenty of dehydrators on the market today that will hold a lot more.

History and Science:

This is a great learning opportunity to involve the kids. There is so much to learn about the history and science of making jerky. Questions to ask as you go along might include what is dehydration, why do we use salt to preserve food, what is the nutritional value of various kinds of jerky, etc.   The history of jerky and civilization is facinating. Jerky is packed so full of nutrients, that many generations of humans survived on it.

The Native American Indians would salt and dry the meat, then powder it, and add dried fruit and additional fat back into it, to make PEMMICAN. It was a very nutritional source of proteins, fats, and vitamins, especially vitamin C which helped them stay healthy and strong through the long winter months.   You can read here and learn more about PEMMICAN.

Dried meat can be soaked in water for soups, stews, casseroles, and other recipes. It is not just for Jerky.

We have made jerky from:
    Beef
    Buffalo
    Deer
    Goat
    Fish

Jerky can be made from a lot of other meats too, and in stores, I have purchased Turkey jerky as well.

Using Deer To Make Jerky

In the recipe below, I am using ground deer. My husband is a hunter and we often have wonderful deer in the freezer. But you can substitute beef, or other meat, for the recipe.

My family loves to use deer. It is naturally lean, tender, and tastes great in everything I make with it. We typically will use a doe or young buck for our food. I usually have the whole deer ground into burger, but we also like to keep the tenderloin steaks and grill them up just like I would a beef fillet. Besides eating them as steak, they are great for fahitas, or in any dish you would use with beef steak.

I usually use ground deer just like we would use ground beef or ground turkey:
            tacos,
            chili,
            burritos,
            enchiladas,
            spaghetti,
            sausage for biscuits and gravy,
            sausage for sausage, egg, and cheese burritos
            summer sausage,
            and of course JERKY

I do not like eating an older “trophy” buck. Forget it. The meat is rank with his scent. However, you can still make jerky or sausage with an older buck, and it will taste good, as the spices hide the scent.

Kids In The Kitchen
How To Make Jerky:

Here are some recipes using different cuts of beef (you can substitute other meats) from around the web:

Flank Steak Jerky

Eye Of Round Jerky

Hamburger Jerky

Smoked Hamburger Jerky

Brisket Jerky

Pemmican

Pemmican with fruit

Here is the process my family uses to make our deer jerky:

My family really enjoys the ground meat version of jerky better than using roasts or brisket. Our next choice is to use a very tender and lean cut of steak, either sirloin or new york strip. Most folks would think that is a waist of a good steak, but it really is up to you what cut of meat you want to make your jerky from.

To make the process easier, have your butcher grind or slice the meat for you. Most butchers at the grocery counter will do this for you if you ask. Or if you have an animal butchered at a butcher shop, they will process the meat however you request it.

Also, when making jerky, remember that each dehydrator, or oven, is
different and times needed to dry the meat can vary according to the appliance you are using.

For our jerky, we start with ground deer burger (you can use beef or whatever you choose). We have our whole deer ground and packaged by the butcher shop. He puts the meat in 1 lb packages for the freezer, and we just pull meat out of the freezer whenever we need it.

Measure spices and salt according to how much meat you are preparing.

Look around the web to find a recipe you would like to try. Be sure to measure everything well.

Mix ingredients, according to your recipe, by hand to distribute everything evenly.

Cover with plastic wrap and let the mixture marinate in the refrigerator for about 4 hours if using ground meat, and longer according to recipe if using sliced meat.

When ready, if using ground meat, put ground mixture into jerky gun and fill your trays or cookie sheets. If you are using sliced meat, then lay the slices out flat on each tray or cookie sheet. My dehydrator holds 1 lb of meat per tray. Cookie sheets will hold more.

Put the cover on and set the timer on your dehydrator. Or follow directions for using an oven.

For my dehydrator, I plan 6 hours, plus an additional 20 minutes for each additional tray. So for four trays of ground meat, it takes approximately 7 hours and 20 minutes, or a little more.   Sliced meat takes longer, depending on how thick it is sliced, and the temperature you use to dry the meat.   If using an oven, follow directions in the recipe, as ovens usually take longer. Dehydrators work faster because they are blowing hot air around the product they are drying, so it greatly reduces the drying time.

When done, remove the jerky from the trays and place between paper towels to absorb any fat or moisture that might remain on the outside of the strips of jerky.

Package in zip lock bags or in jars. It will keep longer if packaged in air tight packages. We store our jerky in the refrigerator or freezer until ready to use.

And there you have it.
DEER JERKY ready to enjoy, take to a gathering, or give away as gifts. And a great “tradition” to pass on to your kids!

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Hendersonville Tailgate Market

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We had a great family adventure today. We shopped from local producers at the Henderson County Tailgate Market in Hendersonville, NC. There were three rows of venders, and there must have been about 40+ venders there today.

Here are the details about the market from the Henderson County website:
Henderson County Tailgate Market – Local, organic and conventional produce, bedding plants, flowers, herbs, baked goods, canned goods. Henderson County Building parking area- 100 N. King Street (between First and Second Avenues) in downtown Hendersonville, Hubert Barnwell, Mgr. (828) 693-7265
Saturdays: 7AM – 12Noon, Open April – October

I believe it is very important to teach my children about local producers, and to buy as much as we can from the local economy. I love to introduce my children to the people who grow the food we eat, and expose them to the business and farming skills these folks need to raise and market their products to local buyers. This was my life for many years. I used to be a local producer of meats, eggs, produce, and hay and sell grains and other items in a healthy food store on our farm.  I learned a vast amount of knowledge from that experience that still helps me in my life today. I want my children to also benefit from meeting others who have this lifestyle. I want them to appreciate those who produce the food we eat.

We found lots of farmers and growers selling seedlings and starter plants of every size and variety. Most of the plants were organic.   There were hundreds of plants being offered anywhere from $2 to $4 each.

I have had my garden started for over a month, but I found some wonderful plants I wanted to include. One special find were day lilies that stood about a foot tall and had about four or five blooms (not yet opened) on each plant. These plants were selling for $3 each. I love day lilies because they bloom several times between early summer and early fall and they are so bright and colorful.

I selected some borage herb plants to add to my herb garden. I love borage for many reasons. One, it makes a delicious tea, or addition to tea. It is also useful in salads. I love the beauty of the small blue flowers it produces.  The humming birds and butterflies always seem to visit this plant when it is in my garden. I buy borage oil capsuls as a super food to boost my GLA intake, a very important fat from the borage oil seed. This oil is very useful for women and supports the ovaries and reproductive cycle. So borage is a very valuable plant to grow and benefit from.

Another wonderful display of plants was at the Hill Farm display. She had several items for sale from her gardens. She also had the cutest farm boots turned into herb gardens, and wonderful full grown mini gardens for sale in planter containers. She said she has a lot more fun gardens planted in wagons and things you wouldn’t think of back at her farm. She also had containers of “The World’s Smallest Tomato” and said she had been raising this product for nearly 10 years.   She told us she would be selling lots more of her unique planter displays next Saturday and Sunday for the garden festival on Main Street. So we hope to go to that and see all her wonderful displays.

There were many venders at the market selling their farm fresh eggs from $1.50 a dozen to $3.50 a dozen. I spotted no less than 7 venders selling farm fresh brown eggs.

However, I was drawn to an elderly man, sitting on the edge of his tailgate with his beautiful brown eggs. The children and I approached him to buy his eggs, and to learn his story about selling at the market. He gave us permission to take his picture and share his story.

His name is Marvin Lowe. He is 83 years old. He has sold eggs, and garden produce at this market off and on for over 10 years. In addition to eggs, when the produce is ripe, he sells potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, squash, and several more fresh garden products. But today it was just him and his eggs. You could tell he enjoyed meeting people and selling this fresh local item. He sells his eggs for $2 a dozen. His chickens run free in a fenced lot. He has to keep them behind the fence due to dogs in the area who would try to kill them. But he happily states his chickens roam as freely as possible. He currently has 43 laying hens.

Marvin is a native of North Carolina, however he lived for 30 years in Michigan. When I told him we were from Indiana, he told me he went to the farmers market every Wednesday in Shipshewanna, Indiana for many years. He loved going to the market and visiting with all the Amish farmers, craftsmen, and bakers there. I told him that we also shopped the Wednesday flee market that was full of Amish venders not far from where we used to live in Indiana. He exclaimed that he loved the Amish people and “thems good people.” It was really interesting to visit with Marvin today, and hear about his time he spent at the Indiana farmers markets with the Amish for all those years.

We also met a family of sellers who had two vending spots. The parents were looking after a display of plants and seedlings, and about five of their seven children were several vending spots down, looking after another display of a table full of baked goods. The children have their own baking and canning business. They had cookies, bread, pie, and jams and jellies for sale today. We bought a couple bags of their cookies for a snack for later.

The last couple of venders I wanted to tell you about were selling locally raised meat products from coolers on their tables. They had big signs explaining the cuts of meat they had and the prices. They also had mailing lists you could sign up on to get news of when they were butchering or to place custom orders.

One family was selling whole dressed chickens, eggs, and pork products. And another family was selling beef products. Both of these families raised their animals in a humane way, and allowed the animals large areas to graze and roam.   The farmer with the chickens grinds corn and soybeans together to feed their chickens, and they rotate the chickens on fresh pasture each day.  The beef farmer raises angus cattle and has pasture for the cattle to roam, and they also fed around 3lbs + of grain a day to their cattle to help them put on weight in addition to allowing them to graze on grass.

However, I did not find any beef producers that were strictly grass fed, or poultry producers that were soy-free in their feed.   I think it is really important to buy local, but to also buy according to what you believe. I look at how it is raised, and if it is the way I believe it should be raised.

If you believe in organic, then buy organic. To me, organic doesn’t mean
as much if it isn’t raised the way I believe the animal was created to live. I believe cattle should be grass fed. I believe no animal, even chickens, should be subjected to the horrible side effects of soybeans added into their feed. So for me today, these venders were not on my list of places to buy from. I took time to talk with them and support their efforts. I took time to appreciate them and encourage them. I let them know I appreciated how hard it is to raise these animals and they seemed to be doing a very good job. Then I planted the seed about grass feeding and its benefits, and the dangers of using soy. We all had a very good conversation and no one left offended. The seed was planted and hopefully these wonderful farmers will look into the research about these important methods of farming to maximize the nutrient quality for their consumers.

Where are the local farmers who produce these nutrient dense products?     Though I support local producers, these are two very important values to me in buying meat products for my family.

The reason I look for meat that has not been fed soy, is because soy has a lot of negative effects on the animal’s body and the human body.    Check here if you would like to read articles about the effects of soy:
http://westonaprice.org/soy-alert

One amazing article in particular is a summary of scientific studies done from 1939 to 2008 on the effects of soy on animals (mice, rats, chickens, turkeys, and cows, etc.) and effects on humans. This is truly an eye opening summary of the facts from these science experiments.
http://westonaprice.org/soy-alert/667-studies-showing-adverse-effects-of-soy?qh=YToxMjp7aTowO3M6NToiZ3JhaW4iO2k6MTtzOjY6ImdyYWlucyI7aToyO3M6NzoiZ3JhaW5lZCI7aTozO3M6NzoiZ3JhaW5lcyI7aTo0O3M6NjoiZ3JhaW5lIjtpOjU7czozOiJmZWQiO2k6NjtzOjQ6ImZlZHMiO2k6NztzOjQ6ImJlZWYiO2k6ODtzOjc6ImJlZWZpbmciO2k6OTtzOjU6ImJlZWZzIjtpOjEwO3M6OToiZ3JhaW4gZmVkIjtpOjExO3M6ODoiZmVkIGJlZWYiO30%3D

Also, giving any grain to cattle basically eliminates:
the CLA in the meat and milk, http://westonaprice.org/component/finder/search?q=CLA
eliminates the vitamin K,
and also changes the Omega fatty acid ratios in the wrong direction.

When an grazing animal is fed grain, Instead of a healthy balance of Omega 6 to Omega 3, the Omega 3 almost disappears and the animal is then has predominantly Omega 6 fatty acids. Humans desperately need a balance of the Omega acids and when we eat food products that are out of balance, then we become even more out of balance in our own bodies.   To learn more about Omega fatty acids, please read the article here http://westonaprice.org/know-your-fats/2021-precious-yet-perilous?qh=YTo3OntpOjA7czo1OiJvbWVnYSI7aToxO3M6NToiYWNpZHMiO2k6MjtzOjQ6ImFjaWQiO2k6MztzOjc6ImFjaWRpdHkiO2k6NDtzOjY6ImFjaWRpYyI7aTo1O3M6NToiYWNpZGUiO2k6NjtzOjY6ImFjaWRlcyI7fQ%3D%3D

Another reason I choose meat from grass fed beef, instead of meat from producers who feed grain is because the meat has a much reduced (or almost 0 chance) of being contaminated with E-coli and other pathogens. But when you give a cow grain, you increase the amount of E-coli in their system, thereby increasing the human exposure to this horrible bacteria at the time the animal is processed for human consumption.

In addition, when farmers tell you they feed their animals grain, they most likely are also feeding GMO grains (genetically modified). GMO grains are something we really don’t want to put into the human body.   They also usually need to feed supplements and antibiotics mixed into the feed to compensate for the increased health problems the animal faces from consuming grain.  Cow’s stomachs were intended to process only grass and herbs, not grains. Grains cause their stomachs to become too acidic thereby giving an unhealthy place for E-coli and many bad pathogens to live. It also causes bloat, over production of gasses, and digestive discomfort.   Because of the stress on their digestive system, cows who are fed grains have an increase in disease and a greatly reduced life span.

A wonderful book to read on this whole situation that has happened to cows from farmers changing their food from a grass fed animal to a grain fed animal in the production of cattle as a food source, is a book written by Michael Polan called the Omnivores Dilemma.   Michael Polan is a very well known author, and you will be amazed about the history and research that went into this wonderful book.

You can also freely read the hundreds of articles and scientific studies about this subject on the Weston A Price Foundation website. http://westonaprice.org/component/finder/search?q=Grass+fed+beef

I love supporting the local economy, and helping these wonderful farmers and growers to be successful in their business.    But I have yet to find a local producer of meat products that farms and practices grass feeding the way I believe in.

So until this changes, I buy my grass fed beef from Tropical Traditions. Through Weiser Natural Foods discount ordering service, we can buy 40lb cases of 100% natural grass fed ground beef from Tropical Traditions for $5.91 a pound including shipping to our location. That is a steal of deal when you consider the nutrient dense quality of the food they are producing. These animals are raised on lush rich grass from start to finish, and never given any grain.  You can read about their grass fed cattle here http://www.grassfedtraditions.com/grass_fed_beef.htm

I would encourage everyone to search out the local markets in your area and find out what farmers and growers are producing that will meet your needs.  It greatly helps the local economy to put your dollar there rather than at Walmart or Aldi or the big chain stores.   One great resource to find growers and farmers is on the Local Harvest website. http://www.localharvest.org/

If you can’t find a local producer for the products you need, then find the next best thing. Find another farmer or grower somewhere else ! Find someone who cares about what they are producing, and has done the research to know how to raise it in a
way that maximizes human nutrition. Places like Tropical Traditions, and others listed in the Weston A Price shopping guide, who really are a step ahead of the rest and have the scientific studies to prove this is the best way (for both the animal, the land, and the human) to raise products for human consumption.

Happy hunting at the local level, and at the nutrient dense level!

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Garden Challenge Weeding Planter Boxes

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Today’s garden activities included weeding this planter box, and learning about two types of plants.

In the process of today’s activities, the children are also learning about annual and perennial plants.

Annual plants last for one year or one growing season.

Perennial plants return year after year.

I asked the children to come and see what lived in this box. They looked at each plant growing in the box.

I told them that one of plants in the box was supposed to be there and one was not. We were going to remove the one that did not belong.

Can you find the treasure hidden amongst the grass?

They looked all around, pushing the grass to the side. Finally they found the plants that belonged.

We quickly got to work pulling out the unwanted clumps of grass from the planter box. Dad had seeded the yard last fall, and some of his grass seed sprayed into the planter boxes. It grew very nicely in there over winter and this spring, but it was just about to choke out the plants that were supposed to be in the box. So its stay was not welcome anymore.

Did you figure out the perinial plants that belonged yet? It is strawberries.

Three years ago, we started strawberries in this box. We rented a house and we were not supposed to touch the yard. We missed our garden from the farm so much. So we got these planter boxes and set them on the patio. We grew our garden in four boxes that year.

We planted a mixture of annuals and perennial. We had combinations of vegetables, herbs, and flowers.
We had one box full of strawberries and flowers. One full of herbs and sweet potatoes. One with tomatoes and peppers, herbs and flowers. And the last one had lettuce, cucumbers, zucchini, herbs, and flowers.

Our garden boxes that year mostly provided us with fresh salads, culinary herbs for cooking and making fresh herb teas, gifts for neighbors, and lots of fun to care for them as we lived in a tiny little house after having just left our farm. These boxes provided a way for us to get our hands dirty so to speak.

A year later we bought a home with a big yard and now can garden as much as we want. But these boxes stand as a reminder of the year we made a planter box garden. Some of the plants still return three years later, such as these strawberries. There is also one with yarrow and some other herbs that return. These plants that return year after year are perennials.

It is so much fun for the children to discover the world around them. Here my eight year old son is pulling the weeds from around the strawberry plants.

We saved some of the weeds we pulled from the boxes for a science experiment. We examined the plants, shook off the excess soil from the roots, rinsed the roots in water, and took a close look at them. Our science experiment using these weeds will be posted here.

We will show you how the finished boxes look in a story posted here.

After weeding, we turned the dirt in the boxes. Next we topped off the existing soil with a little more dirt. Then we re-planted several of the boxes with more annuals and perennials. They look beautiful and the children are so pleased with their accomplishments.

One box remained for strawberries and flowers. Two boxes are full of herbs, lettuce, and flowers. And one other box is full of flowers. These will be lovely all summer long. The box in the bottom of the picture is full of pansy’s planted by my three year old daughter. She was so proud of “her” box. The box that is just above the bottom box has a large yarrow plant that you can see on one side in this picture. It is now three years old and looks lovely.

Do you have any plants that return each year? What ways have you taught your kids about annual plants and perennial plants? Please leave us a comment. Thanks.

This post will be linked up with
Science Sunday
No Time For Flash Cards
The Garden Challenge
The Handbook Of Nature Study
We Play

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