Archive for June, 2011

Fresh Local Foods

Posted on June 17th, 2011 by Tonia 9 Comments

A couple of cool kids down the road from us, Alan and Alison, started their own organic produce company this summer: High Five Produce. They, together with a few other farms nearby, started the Washburn Farmer’s Market.

The next closest Farmer’s Market is a couple towns over, so we’re thrilled that they got one started right here in our town! It’s so much fun to be able to walk or bike over to their stand on Friday afternoons and chat with them and check out what’s good. We usually leave with a bag of salad greens, or a bunch of rhubarb {grown by the kids at the elementary school}, or a bar of soap.

We’re SO lucky to live in an area where fresh, organic, local food is plentiful. It seems like there is a farm around every corner, and we can get just about any kind of meat, dairy, and produce we want from a local source. Eating local is the greenest way to eat- the closer to home your food comes from, the less impact it has on the environment.

Al & Al grow their produce in their front yard currently, and they’re searching for a piece of land in the area to expand to. Someday High Five Produce might be High Five Farm! We’re happy and excited to see their dream growing into reality.

Maybe when our fruit trees are big enough and producing enough, we’ll join them at the stand and sell preserves and fresh fruit! It is going to be exciting to see the Market grow as more and more folks get involved.

Behind them is the studio of another cool kid in town, Jesse Woodward, who makes sculptures out of scrap metal. It has really been fun to get to know the kids our age in town. They’re doing some really cool things, they’re interesting and fun and have been extremely welcoming and friendly to us. High five to that!

Thank you all for making this a cool place to live!

Washburn Farmer’s Market members: High Five Produce {produce} / Maple Hill Farm, Washburn {whole wheat flour, soap, yarn, produce} / Northwind Farm , Bayfield {fruit jams} / Wild Girl Farm, Washburn {raw honey} / Washburn Elementary Farm-to-School {produce}

P.S. If you like the shirts they’re wearing, I could score one for you. Alison printed them herself on reclaimed t-shirts from the thrift-store and they’re selling them at the stand for $5.

I Can’t Stop Taking Flower Photos!

Posted on June 16th, 2011 by Tonia No Comments

They’re just too stinkin’ pretty. And they get prettier every day. I didn’t Photoshop any of these images…the colors just really are that amazing {it helped that it was a rainy, cloudy day}.

I am so anxious for the peonies to bloom…if they’re this pretty when they’re buds, they’re going to be mind-blowing when they’re blooms! I can’t wait!!!

Line Drying

Posted on June 15th, 2011 by Tonia 5 Comments

I may have mentioned before that laundry is my most despised house chore.

But that was before I had a clothesline outside. Mike set this baby up yesterday, and now I can stand out in the sunshine and watch the hummingbirds fight over the feeder while I hang clothes up to dry.

Ok, this ain’t so bad.

Are you line-drying your clothes this summer? It’s such an easy and wonderful way to reduce your energy use, by not running the dryer. And it’s downright pleasant.

If you don’t already have a clothes-line, you can head to your hardware store and pick up two pulleys and a length of good nylon rope {make sure to get double the length you need for it to reach from one end to the other of wherever you’re hanging it}. The total cost will probably be around $40, but it depends on how much rope you get {I got 50′ for a 25′ line}.

Fasten the pulleys to a tree, the side of the house, or any other sturdy object at either end of the line. Loop the rope through the pulleys and tie the ends together with a knot that allows you to release it and tighten it later on, because over time the rope will stretch from the weight of the clothes. We used a figure-eight-knot, but there might be better ones {I had to rack the old rock-climber brain, but didn’t really come up with anything.} You want the rope-loop to be taught, not hanging loose, but not so tight that it won’t give when you hang clothes on it {or you’ll risk busting the pulleys!}

Start hanging your clothes on the line with the knot right next to the pulley closest to you, and push the line away from you as you go. When the knot reaches the other pulley, you’re done. I got a whole load on my 25′ line. It was sunny out, so they dried in just a couple hours!

Extra awesome bonus of line-drying clothes: they smell great after they’re dry, like fresh air and sunshine.

Gardening Attire

Posted on June 14th, 2011 by Tonia 2 Comments

My mom is visiting, and in typical mom-style she can’t just come and relax- she needs to feel useful. So, we’re letting her weed our flower beds {a project I have been chipping away at for a couple weeks now, but with plenty more left to do.}

Isn’t she cute? I loved her wide-brimmed hat and yellow garden clogs. And her worn-in carpenter jeans had a nifty loop for a hammer or a garden trowel to hang from {she’s been wearing this pair since she was my age!}

In case you’re searching for good-quality, nice-looking gardening attire for the summer:

Cap-sleeved tee with sweet embroidery / Last-forever-jeans / A few different clog options: if you have tiny feet like me, if you’re a lover of vintage shoes {and happen to be a size 7}, or if you want something water-proof and long-lasting / wide-brimmed gardening hat / Tweed gardening gloves / Handmade claw cultivator {a must-have for tough weed-pulling!}