Thursday, March 24, 2011

Menus and Greenhouses

This past weekend we spent some time at our farm.  We almost finished our greenhouse.  All we have left is a small part of our roof and the shelves to build on the inside.  Our goal is for it to be done by the end of this month.  Our seeds should be here in a few days and we will immediately get some of those started in starter trays!  We have added two other families to our co-op farm this season.  We now have 6 families total and very excited for them to be joining us.


The greenhouse plastic use to be huge industrial plastic bags.  One of the families we work with on the farm had it stored in their garage for a long time, so we decided to cut the huge bags and use the big plastic sheets for our greenhouse!  I am proud of ourselves for keeping the plastic out of the landfill and thinking of a great way to reuse it!!!!  We have been so conscious about our carbon footprint and impact on this earth, that it is starting to just come natural to us.  Reducing our impact on this earth has fit its way into our daily rhythm, that it is just a part of our lives now.  That is how it should be and what I hope for everyone on our earth.  It's not hard work to nurture our planet!

Our neighboring farmer's bees!  They are working hard!
Our neighboring farmers torn down their shed and told us we could use any of the wood!  We got way too excited over wood!  This wood is perfect for making shelves for the inside of our greenhouse!  Again, we were happy to be recycling and reusing this wood! 
My husband being cute!


Ready to drill!!!

It was quite muddy out there!  I am surprised I could get this picture around my big pregnant belly!
Meet Chalo!  He is awesome!  He works for the farm we lease land from.  He is always stopping by to chat, see if we need any help, or take the kids for a ride! 
The kids exploring and having fun in the mud!

Bringing me the pitch fork!  Yes, I know he is barefoot!  Have you ever walked in mud barefoot?  It feels so good!  Don't worry I made sure there wasn't anything dangerous he could step on.
 Our greenhouse almost done!  Just need to finish the roof and put up shelves!  

More farm adventures to come!

On to our menu for this week.  We are doing so well with our menu planning and continue to try new things!  We do everything we can to eat healthy, organic, local, and sustainable food!  It is harder in the winter months but we are getting better and better at it.  I am glad my son is growing up learning the value of healthy food and knowing where his food is coming from!  This is a big life lesson that I am glad he is learning now!

MENU:

MONDAY:  Vegetable & Barley Soup with a green salad (moved from last week.)

TUESDAY:  Angel hair pasta bake

WEDNESDAY:  Vegetarian Cobb Salad and leftover pasta bake (*recipe to come)

THURSDAY:  Creamy Spinach Asparagus Soup and baked lemon-pepper salmon (substituting the chicken broth with vegetable broth)

FRIDAY-  Dinner with some good friends!

SATURDAY-  SOLV's Beach Clean-up! Eating at one of my favorite little restaurants on the Oregon Coast.

SUNDAY-  Polenta & Vegetable Bake and a green salad

What are you cooking this week?

For more meal planning inspirations, visit I'm an Organizing Junkie every Monday.

Happy cooking,

Alyson

"We have forgotten who we are, we have lost our sense of wonder and connectedness, we have degraded the earth and our fellow creatures, and we have nowhere else to go . . . " - Earth Charter

5 comments:

  1. Wow ... it looks like everyone was having such a great time!! And how great that you were able to reuse items for your greenhouse. I absolutely love what you said about living green coming natural and being a part of your lives. Wish everyone felt as you do!!

    Great post! Thanks for sharing it all with us! :-)

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  2. Love the pics Aly! Can we throw some on the farm blog?? :)

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  3. A greenhouse, how wonderful! I agree about mud feeling so great on bare feet! The neighbor kids come over in the spring and have fun tromping around in our muddy garden, much to their parents dismay;)

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  4. How cute are those wellies!!!! :)
    I would LOVE a greenhouse like yours. Fantastic! What are you putting in?

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  5. What a wonderful and inspiring post. I LOVE that you saved all that stuff out of landfill and that someone's trash became your treasure. Well done you!

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