http://www.localgrain.org/fieldsandfire Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:13:37 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en A little of this . . . And stitches cast on for my first sweater for myself (the Shalom cardigan).Ben's World's Warmest Hat is halfway done (he tried mine on and had to have one of his own), and Ella's Provence sweater got finished before all the snow melted - hooray!  ... http://www.localgrain.org/fieldsandfire/2010/03/10/wip/ What a day!  Ben and our fellow farmer and friend Seth spent the day in Burlington at the Northern Grain Growers Winter Conference.  Ella and I started boiling our sap and took our first bike ride of the year.  We'd planned to boil sap in late March, but the weather ... http://www.localgrain.org/fieldsandfire/2010/03/09/barley-carrot-kugel-recipe/ Well, in truth, with all this unseasonal (and freaky but beautiful) warmth, we're sort of simultaneously in hunger moon and sap moon right now.  A little tired of the same root veggies perhaps, but when I think about the fact that usually this was the starving time - when winter ... http://www.localgrain.org/fieldsandfire/2010/03/08/monday-night-menu-from-the-hunger-moon-kitchen/ Alright folks, this is your last chance.  If you live in our beautiful Pioneer Valley, we have only a few spots left in the local bread share program.  If you didn't get a grain share this year, (or if you did but you're not a bread baker) this is a ... http://www.localgrain.org/fieldsandfire/2010/03/07/local-bread-shares/ This week, I'd like to take a few moments to be grateful for a daughter who's two and a half.  There's plenty of challenges at each age to be sure, and it is so easy to wish for things they did when they were smaller, or all the things they ... http://www.localgrain.org/fieldsandfire/2010/03/04/gratitude-friday-two-and-a-half/ Do you see how tantalizingly close this sweater is?  Must. finish. Even though truly warm weather is a ways off, and I'll probably still be wearing the occasional sweater in May, my little polar bear was already walking around in short sleeves yesterday. And also, some new words.  Definitely in progress, but ... http://www.localgrain.org/fieldsandfire/2010/03/03/wip-some-stitches-some-words/ Or at least, my dishes and laundry. First, let's back up to last month's pledge to say goodbye to the grocery store.   I was definitely tempted a few time, but once my mind accepted that there was not going to be any grocery trips this month, I didn't really think ... http://www.localgrain.org/fieldsandfire/2010/03/02/one-small-change-march-the-world-washed-by-hand/ Guilt is such a funny thing.  Sometimes it seems as though we can get ahead only by feeling guilty, trying to work harder, and trying to control our world more.  And then, driven to the breaking point, we break a little, and in doing so, we relax our white-knuckled grip.  ... http://www.localgrain.org/fieldsandfire/2010/03/01/todays-gifts-and-monday-menu/ This post started as thoughts mostly related to motherhood, but I think it applies to us all - mothers/fathers, wives/husbands, employees/employers, etc . . . I found this post of Nicola's on A Step Toward Balance last month, signed up to join, and then forgot about it (you can laugh ... http://www.localgrain.org/fieldsandfire/2010/02/28/note-to-self-the-blessing-of-imperfection/ Here at our house, Ben has been maniacally starting flats of seeds.  He decided that this would be the year to kick the plastic seed-flat habit (gross, breakable, disposable, ugly, totally un-environmental, and completely ubiquitous in the farming world). So Ben has starting using soil blocks, a la Eliot Coleman (check ... http://www.localgrain.org/fieldsandfire/2010/02/27/seed-blocks/