Adventures in Eco-Living

Here on our small hobby farm in Michigan, we use strictly wood stove heat in winter to provide our warmth. It’s now been three years since we’ve needed to turn on our furnace (when we first moved out here, we were using a combination of wood stove and propane furnace). All of the wood we burn is harvested as fallen trees in our own forest, minimizing environmental impact. In fact, there are more fallen trees from our violent summer storms then we can manage!

We are currently trying to maximize the efficiency of our heating system. We purchased a new wood stove in 2006 that was extremely efficient and does a great job of heating our house, despite its relatively small size. Still, we burn a lot of wood, and want to try and minimized the environmental impact of that burning.

Wood stove efficiency has come a long way. Newer EPA-certified models are about one-third more efficient than the old pot-belly stove models, and they produce about 90% less particulate matter (smoke) than the older models. Fires also ignite more easily and burn more completely in these new stoves. We added a blower that sits on top of the stove for better air circulation, and a ceiling fan directly above the stove that circulates the heat throughout the room.

But still, we constantly seek to maximize efficiency with our stove by asking the question, “What else can we use our stove for besides heat?” An obvious answer is cooking food and boiling water. A teapot resting on top of a roaring wood stove brings the water to a boil in no time at all! I am still mastering the art of cooking on the stove, since you can’t just “turn down” the flame when needed.

One of the things we’ve had to address is the extremely dry air that the wood stove produces. Without some sort of humidifier in the room, it quickly becomes very unpleasant. I can remember one night before we realized this, when my dad was visiting. He actually ended up sleeping with a damp washcloth over his face, because he was so unaccustomed to such dry air! Now we place a large pot of water on top of the stove, and let it slowly evaporate throughout the day.

We also realized that hang-drying our laundry would have a two-fold benefit. First, we would save on our very expensive propane bill by not using our dryer (we always hang-dry our clothes in summer, but used to switch to the dryer in winter). Second, as the clothes dried, they would contribute badly needed moisture to the air. A perfect solution!

The only problem was creating the space to hang the clothes without having them be constantly in the way. Our wood stove is right in the middle of our living room, and so the clothes would have to hang in the living room, too. The solution? Alex designed a simple but functional hanging rack, suspended from the ceiling along the side wall, and it has worked perfectly, saving us money and keeping the air humidified! When not in use, he made it attractive enough to not be an eyesore. It’s working so well, I might even ask him to build another!

Have any other uses for your wood stove? We’d love to hear about them!

As the ground quickly becomes blanketed in snow, it becomes harder and harder for the chickens to find anything other than their scratch and layer crumble to eat. In summer, greens and bugs galore filled their tummies, without us having to do much at all. Now, however, we have to make a point to help them find some healthy goodies.

We noticed at the end of summer, when we finally let the chickens in the garden to clean everything up, how much they liked plants in the brassica family (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower). So as we were cleaning out the garden and pulling up the debris, we purposefully left all cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower plants in the ground. You can see them reaching out of the snow here, their leaves amazingly still not totally frozen:

About once a week, I pull up a plant, roots and all, and toss it into the chicken pen. By leaving the plant intact, it is easier for the chickens to pull off the leaves. This time of year, these greens are a delectable treat, and they devour the whole plant!

By the way, we no longer let our chickens free range, as we have had a number of nights when the chickens did not return the coop, for some odd reason. We suspect that a possum may have gone in their, trying to bed down in the hay, and spooked them. Regardless, searching for chickens after dark with a flashlight, in over a foot of snow and freezing cold weather, is not fun, neither for us nor them. So they are currently remaining inside the pen.

We also make sure the chickens get plenty of scratch. The cracked corn in it is a bit like junk food for chickens, without a lot of nutrients, but it does help them to produce more heat, apparently, so is good for those bitter cold wintry nights.

I still make my chickens their oatmeal, yogurt, kelp meal, nutritional yeast breakfast once in while, and they just love it. The kelp meal is chock full of micronutrients and a wonderful natural supplement for just about any animals. If you are not able to find the kelp, please email us. We have some available for sale here at The Greater Green as a special order item.

We also added a brighter light on a timer in the coop, in an effort to keep our chickens laying a bit longer. As the days shorten, the internal clocks of the hens signals that it is no longer a good laying season. By setting a light to go on early in the morning, and stay on for at least 14 hours, we “trick” the hens into laying throughout winter. It is not good, however, to leave the lights on all night. That is what they do in factory farms, and it causes the hens to overlay, shortening their life and stressing their bodies.

I have a weakness…. on a hot summer’s day, there is nothing I enjoy more than an ice cold glass of Coke. I can remember lazy afternoons at my grandma’s house when I was little, with a chilled glass of Coke so cold you could barely hold on it to it. It was our special late afternoon treat.

But now that we’re all grown up, and we are on a journey of sustainable living, we are trying to cut the “junk” out of our diet, and that means first and foremost high fructose corn syrup (recently suggested to be linked to liver damage and diabetes, among other things). I guess soda pop, for me, was a tough one to give up. I would say, “OK, that’s it, I’m going to give up pop for good now,” but then, inevitably, I would be somewhere and would find myself with a big fountain drink in my hand.

Part of the problem was that I find juice a little heavy and sweet to drink all day long, but sometimes I need something more than water. So I started experimenting with creating my own special tea-based iced beverage, and I think I am onto something fabulous…. (disclaimer: OK, I cheated…. I based my recipe on a Tazo drink I was had that was delicious, but contained high fructose corn syrup and was pricey).

This drink is based on jasmine green tea, which is full of cancer-fighting anti-oxidants, and is absolutely superb served chilled over a glass of ice. In fact, I find it much more enjoyable cold than hot. The jasmine adds a delicate floral touch that is just heavenly, and the ginger makes it warming enough to drink in winter. It is smooth, refreshing, clean, and crisp, and I now drink this organic, healthy, full-of-antioxidants drink all day long! And at about 20 cents per quart, you just can’t get more economical than this!

RECIPE

1 Numi Organic Jasmine Green Tea bag

1 quart water

honey to taste (I suggest about 1/8 – 1/4 cup, but use your own judgment)

small piece of chopped ginger (optional)

1 stick lemongrass or 1 tbsp shredded lemongrass (optional)

mint leaves (optional)

Directions:

Boil the water, then pour into a glass jar with the tea bag and the honey. Let steep for approximately 5 minutes, but go longer if you want your tea strong. If you are using the ginger and lemongrass, add them to the steeping tea. You can either just throw them in, and then strain the tea when it is finished steeping, or you can add them in a spice bag or tea infuser, so they are easy to remove.

Let cool, then refrigerate. Serve chilled over ice. Throw in a mint leaf for even more yumminess and enjoy!

The wintry wonders of November are settling in, the last of the leaves have lost their will to hang on, and mornings are chilly enough to make me wish I didn’t really have to get out of bed. This can only mean one thing. Yes, the holiday season is approaching, and once again we are spending much time here trying to figure out how to make it more meaningful (and less hectic!).

Gone for us are the days of gadgets and gizmos, last minute frantic shopping to buy, something, anything, that could be given as a gift. We’ve started to focus on more handmade, more personalized gifts, and when that doesn’t work, we go green. Recycled, Fair Trade, organic, natural- gifts of these nature are so much more meaningful because they benefit our planet, too. We are baking, putting our organic sun-dried tomatoes into decorated jars of oil, making necklaces, making cutting boards, and making photo gifts. And when that doesn’t cut it, or when we just run out of time to go homemade, we are giving some awesome green gifts to our loved ones.

We’ve put together our 2009 Holiday Green Guide with some of our favorite green gifts this season. We’ve searched far and wide to carry a wide selection of gifts that will fit everyone on your list. Some of them are available on our main website, while others are only available on our eBay World of Good store. (But don’t worry, if you want items from both places, just shoot us an email and we can combine your orders with a shipping discount!).

So here goes. Happy Holidays to all, and here’s to keeping it simple, keeping it meaningful, and keeping it green!

The Give Green Holiday Gift Basket

A wonderful selection of our most popular eco-friendly items, in a reusable holiday gift bag, and wrapped in biodegradable cello, too! Includes an aluminum water bottle, Aubrey Organics Spray Cleaner, a Wrap-nMat reusable sandwich bag, Maggie’s Soap Nuts, and a BumbleBar Organic Energy bar.

Price: $39.99

Recycled Paper Cutting Board

We just love this awesome board! It is made from 100% recycled paper, pressed into a product that Preserve calls “Paperstone”. It is a gorgeous, durable, stone-like material that looks sleek and stylish in any kitchen. Perfect for that eco-someone who loves to cook!

Price: $24.99

Fair Trade Color Splash Bags

These gorgeous bags are handmade by a Fair Trade cooperative in India, using recycled cotton scraps from a fabric mill. Beautiful patterns make these bags a sure hit. Because of their handmade and recycled nature, each one is totally unique, so you will never see anyone with an exact copy of your bag!

Price: $38.99

Handmade Wooden Airplane

Back to basics with this simple, beautiful, wooden airplane. An airplane for two made from wood, with a propeller that spins and wheels that actually turn.Hand made by a Fair Trade artisan co-op in India, this toy will provide delight for years to come. The plane is 6 inches long with a 6.5 inch wingspan.

Price: $16.95

“Drink the Drops” Stainless Steel Water Bottle

OK, so have you ever wanted to put ice in your water bottle, but the cubes wouldn’t fit? Those days are over, with this awesome, wide-mouth water bottle. Don’t forget that stainless steel is THE safest, BPA-Free choice for water bottles these days. And who wouldn’t love the funky, artsy designs?

Price: $12.99

Tree of Life Aluminum Water Bottle

We love these beautiful bottles as a more affordable alternative to SIGG. Besides, we weren’t thrilled this year when SIGG admitted they knew their bottles contained trace amounts of BPA all along.

Price: $12.99

Wanna see more bottles? CLICK HERE to view all of our reusable water bottles.

Natural Shaving Kit for Men

This stylish little kit comes with the most wonderfully moisturizing sassafras, all-natural shaving soap, a natural boar’s hair bristle brush and a classy hardwood soap box. For that eco-man in your life! We’ve received rave reviews about this kit!

Price: $23.99

Fair Trade Handmade Shanzu Lamu Bag

Made by the young women at Shanzu Transitional Workshop in Mombasa, these brilliantly colored bags are very well made, practical, and are a great accent to any outfit. Lamu bags are approximately 16″ X 13″, have a wide strap and a zipper closure.

Price: $36.99

10-Stage Home Water Filtering System

Keep it meaningful, and give them a gift that will really benefit everyone who uses it. This filter removes along list of contaminants, including chlorine, pesticides, and heavy metals, making it easy to “take back the tap”. Say good-bye to bottles, and hello to clean, sparkling, delicious tap water.

Price: $109

Natural and Exotic Handmade Soap Sampler

Mmmmm…. our very favorite soaps, bundled together in this cute soap sampler. All-natural, handmade, and heavenly. These delicious soaps are a pure indulgence!  Price: $10.80, on sale

Mmmm….natural soaps make a heavenly gift. CLICK HERE to view all of our incredibly indulgent natural soaps!

Recycled Silver and Fair Trade Glass Necklace

Handmade by artist Josie Lamb Williams, this is a beautiful and elegant piece of green jewelry. Hand-crafted sterling silver, accented by Fair Trade, recycled glass, this unique gift will be cherished!

Price: $62.00

We have lots of eco-friendly jewelry ideas! CLICK HERE to view our line of eco-jewelry.

“Little Yogis” DVD Set: Yoga for Kids

Now this is cute! Instead of all the plastic toys and video games, how about a fun way for kids to learn how to stay healthy and fit. This DVD set teaches youngsters easy, simple stretches that make yoga fun.

Price: $21.95

Organic Merino Wool Socks

OK, I know what you’re thinking. Socks for Christmas??? Isn’t that what your mom gets you? But, wait, honey…. if you’ve never tried these socks, you just don’t know what comfort is. The warmest, most comfortable socks you will ever wear, and softer than you thought wool could be. And they breathe, too, so your feet just don’t sweat. Amazing! My husband won’t wear any other socks now.

Price: $17.99

Hybrid Solar Flashlight

We have finally found an affordable, solar flashlight! And it’s not just any flashlight, wither- it’s waterproof, it floats, it’s shatterproof, it can hold a charge for three years, it can charge in sunlight AND room light, and just in case, it has a back-up lithium battery. Besides that, it’s lightweight, and a convenient size. Once again, my husband the Gadget Guy, has thoroughly tested this flashlight, and he enthusiastically gives it a double thumbs-up! Perfect for camping, hiking, fishing, boating, biking, and as an emergency light in your car that is always guaranteed to work.

Price: $19.95

Organic Cotton “Bikefish” T-shirt

We love this fun shirt! Besides the fact that it is organic cotton, the message is awesome: a school of bicycles eating a hummer. Available in olive green with a yellow screen print (eco-friendly dyes, of course). Yes!

Price: $28.99

Fair Trade Cruelty-Free, Tree-Free Leather “World” Journal

Only from India, land where cows are revered for the beautiful animals they are, could we get a cruelty-free leather journal! The leather used to make this classy journal is from cows that died of natural causes. Additionally, the paper is tree-free, made from recycled cotton scraps from fabric mills.

Price: $25.95

Handmade, Fair Trade Wood Top

It’s back to basics with this simple, beautiful, hand-carved wood top. There is something about old-fashioned toys that is making wooden creations so popular once again. And with all the problems in plastics and with lead paint on toys, wood is seeming to be such a simple, green solution. Who doesn’t remember playing with a top when they were little?

Price: $8.99

Make Your Own All-Natural Chewing Gum Kit

This is an educational, fun gift for children of all ages. Not only will they learn the art of making chocolate, kids will also learn the fascinating history and economy of chocolate, as well as learning about raw materials an dhow they are sourced from around the globe.

Price: $9.95, on sale.

Handmade, Sustainably-Harvested Cutting Board

A beautiful, elegant cutting board makes the perfect addition to an eco-kitchen! Additionally, this is truly a gift that will last many years, and when necessary, can be re-finished for many more years of use, making it a truly sustainable product. The maple and walnut have been sustainably harvested right from our own forest, and then crafted by my husband Alex into beautiful and sturdy boards. Custom boards are available, too!

Price: $31.99

“Think Green!” Children’s Book

This awesome green book is geared toward teaching youngsters about green issues, from recycling to taking care of our planet. beautiful illustrations make this an enjoyable read, and printed environmentally friendly, too!

Price; $14.95

PLA Corn Plastic Water Bottle with Filter

A reusable water bottle with it own filter, free of petroleum plastics! ALthough there are still many possibilities for improvements on these new corn-based bio-plastics, we believe it’s a great start for getting away from petroleum forever!

Price: $7.99, on sale.

Fair Trade Handmade Cotton Batik Swirl Scarf

We love the delicate intricacies of batik. This cotton scarf is funky, stylish, and eco-friendly, supporting a Fair Trade artisan co-op in India.

Price: $23.99

It came early this year. Cool, damp weather, chilly nights, blazing red and orange foliage, the need to light the wood stove and sip on hot cocoa while the wind howls outside…. There is no doubt now, with November steadily approaching, that winter is coming.

As easy as it is to forget about the garden this time of year, there are a few things you can do to help overwinter your garden and make life a bit easier come spring. Many of you may have already done these things, but if you haven’t, it’s not too late!

• Remove larger vegetable stalks and stems, diseased leafy material, and decaying vegetables. Diseased plant material should be either burned or put in a separate “dirty” compost pile- adding this material back to the garden might infect next year’s crop. Remove any weeds that have gone to seed (try to keep them out of the compost pile, too).
• Till under remaining plant material. This will add some organic matter to the soil, and it will have months to slowly decay, providing spring nutrients.
• Cover garden with a mulch. If you live in a warmer climate, there may still be time to plant a green manure cover crop, such as annual rye grass or clover, which can then be turned under in the spring. If it’s too late for a cover crop, consider adding manure and a mulch to your garden to protect and enrich your soil over the winter. Strong winds can cause serious erosion over bare gardens, and a top layer of straw, shredded leaves, or some other mulch can help tremendously.
• Did you plant garlic? Even if autumn snuck up on you, it’s not too late! Our garlic is just going in (though in truth, it should have gone in a few weeks ago!). Garlic is easy to grow, requires little maintenance, and provides early spring garlic scapes- the zesty green tendrils that are a great addition to any dish. Simply till up your rows, and plant cloves 1-2 inches below the surface, pointy end facing up. Cover loosely with soil, and then cover your rows with a layer of straw mulch about 2 inches thick. And voila! You will be so grateful you did come next summer!
• Remove any remaining stakes from the garden (we used a ton of t-posts for tomato and pepper support and for pea trellises). If any of your plants developed diseases (late blight, leaf spot, etc), then mix up a weak bleach dilution and spray the plant supports thoroughly to kill any residue. Doing this now will save you a ton of work come spring, and will prevent diseases from overwintering amongst your tools.
• If you didn’t do so in early summer, make a map of your garden and where you planted all your vegetables, so that you can start planning next summer’s garden, taking proper plant rotation into consideration.
• Move any small trees or shrubs that you’ve been intending to replant. Now would also be a good time to put in blueberry bushes or other fruit tress and bushes.
• Water any perennial plants. They won’t be getting much moisture from here on out, and will need it to store up energy for the winter.
• Rake up fallen leaves and put in a compost pile. If you are planting potatoes next summer, here is a great trick: potatoes grow well in composted leaves. We have chosen a new spot this year, just outside of the main garden, where we will grow our potatoes. We are piling the leaves there now, to smother and kill the grass beneath. Come spring, we will simply plant the potatoes in the giant leaf pile, about a foot or so beneath the surface. The beauty of this method is that not only do the leaves’ acidity create excellent growing conditions for the potatoes, but they will also be incredibly easy to dig up (remember “swimming” through leaf piles when you were a kid?). It’s so easy, it’s almost like cheating!
• Finally, order some great winter reading for the slow winter nights spent indoors. For beginners, some great books are Rodale’s All-New Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening and Burpee : The Complete Vegetable & Herb Gardener : A Guide to Growing Your Garden Organically. For more advanced organic gardeners, Eliot Coleman’s The New Organic Grower is wonderful.
  

(Note: This is a partial re-post about homemade gift wrap from last season, with some new ideas added.)

As the temperature starts to dip here in Michigan, thoughts hesitantly start leaning toward the upcoming winter months. Could it be that’s it time to start planning for the holiday season already?

It seems like people everywhere are trying to tone down the consumer feel of this most traditional of holiday seasons. Amidst the craziness of holiday gift-giving, we might stop to ask ourselves how we can make this holiday a little greener.

Every Christmas, I get this uneasiness in my stomach as the mega-clean-up after present opening begins…. usually we are at a large gathering of friends and family, and an enormous number of presents have been opened, wrapping paper torn to shreds, ribbon thrown to the floor in a mad scramble to see what’s inside. And, of course, after all that jubilation, no one wants to stop and separate the recyclable from the non-recyclable, and so it all just gets stuffed into garbage bag upon garbage bag full of paper, ribbon, and cardboard boxes.

But my friend Kim has come up with an eco-solution! Even if her family doesn’t recycle the wrapping paper (which I’m sure she would, but when you’re at someone else’s house, or not there at all when they open their gifts, it’s a little imposing to insist on recycling), she re-used old Trader Joe paper shopping bags, turned inside out, and decorated by hand, instead of new, used only once wasteful wrapping paper. And isn’t it cute, too?!

Other possibilities: get an old atlas from a thrift store, and wrap in the map pages. Or the funnies from the newspaper always make good wrapping paper, too. And if you’re into gift bags instead of wrapping paper, we now carry recycled paper gift bags at The Greater Green.

Here are a few of our new designs, now available through World of Good. Click on the name of the bag to view the listing and read more about each bag:

Dashing Reindeer 30% Recycled Paper Gift Bags

Fiesta 50% Recycled Paper Gift Bags

Ivy Lane 100% Recycled Paper Gift Bags

The idea is simply this: to avoid using new resources to wrap something. Reuse, recycle, reduce…. in any way you can, and the more creative, the better! Got a cool idea? Please share!

Could it be that Halloween is lurking just around the corner? Yikes!

That means it is time to bust out the Halloween candy. As it turns out, we’ve been on the search for the ideal Halloween candy since last October. We had a number of criteria to fill:

• We wanted a candy that was as organic and natural as possible, and preferably even containing some healthy ingredients, as opposed to just sugary stuff.
• We wanted a candy that tasted delicious and would satisfy kids of all ages.
• We needed a candy that was securely, individually wrapped, so that it could be handed out at Halloween time without concerned parents having to question its safety.
• We wanted a candy that was affordable and would appeal to budget-conscious families.
• We preferred a candy that would be safe for children with allergies (nuts, soy, gluten, etc.)

After all our searching, we are sticking with the same candy we sold last year- YummyEarth Organic Lollipops.

Why?

We found some wonderful candies and chocolates, but none seemed to measure up to all of the criteria above.

We love Sweet Earth Organic Chocolates, especially their Very Scary Skulls, but at $1.50 each, handing out candy can quickly add up if you live in a busy trick-or-treating area. If they can fit into your budget, we strongly recommend them!

We also love the deep, rich taste of Equal Exchange Organic & Fair Trade Dark Chocolate Minis. You can buy a 12 oz. bag for $20.00- again, quite a bit more than many families are able to budget.

Organic Milk Chocolate Bug Bites are tasty and fun. A box of 64 mini-bars (for a total of about a pound and a half of chocolate) costs $32.00, so you’re paying about 50 cents per bar- not too bad.

Glee All-Natural Chicle Gum is also a big hit, and it comes in cute little individually-sealed boxes with 4 pieces of gum per box. With 21 individual packs for $6.25, you’re paying about $.30 per box for a cool gum that was chewed by the ancient Maya Indians!

But at around 10 cents per lollipop, we found YummyEarth Lollipops to be the best buy for parents who have to hand out lots of candy. They come in fun flavors like Blood Orange Cocktail, Chili Mango Mambo, and Tooberry Blueberry. And they are packed with real fruit goodness! Check out the ingredients:

Organic Evaporated Cane Juice, Organic Tapioca Syrup and/or Organic Rice Syrup, Non-GMO Citric Acid (from beet sugar – not corn), Natural Flavors, Organic Black Carrots, Organic Blackcurrant, Organic Apple

On top of those awesome ingredients, we can’t forget to mention all of the things that are NOT in these candies, which is great for kids with allergies or sensitivities:

Certified Organic              Gluten-free
100% Natural Colors          Wheat-free
No Chemical Dyes             Casein-free
100% Natural Flavors         Dairy-free
100% Vegan                   Nut-free
GMO-free                     Soy-free
Allergen-free                  Egg-free

Finally, don’t forget to join the Fair Trade Reverse Trick-or-Treat Program, which aims to help youth reverse the Halloween tradition to hand adults a sample of vegan-friendly, Fair Trade dark chocolate. Order your free kit by Oct. 13, 2009, which includes 25 Fair Trade chocolates with info cards, and is sponsored by Global Exchange’s Fair Trade Cocoa Campaign. Cool!

https://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/703/t/9669/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=5154

We love our animals here on the farm, and that includes the ones we will be eating. We treat them with respect, honor their sacrifice, and grant them the dignity of a life lived to its fullest (albeit a short life, it is a good one).

We have countless visitors here, many of them from the city, who question this way of life: “How can you eat an animal you raise and love?” My response to that is simply, “How could I eat an animal that suffered a miserable existence in a factory farm, where it couldn’t even turn around because conditions were so crowded, where it laid in its own excrement and was pumped full of nasty steroids, hormones, antibiotics, and chemicals?” (As of yet, not one of these remarks have come from a vegetarian. Having spent 15 years myself as a non-meat eater, I would not have much of an answer to someone who has made that ultimate sacrifice in the name of mercy towards animals.)

But I am at a moral crossroads in my life, having reverted back to eating meat: either I face up to where my steaks come from, or I don’t eat them at all. If I can’t stomach the idea of killing an animal for my dinner, then I shouldn’t be eating meat, plain and simple.

As millions of us file into the grocery store each day to buy our meat, it appears we have lost touch with where it comes from. That nicely packaged steak WAS a cow, and those delicious looking pork chops WERE once a pig, and unless you are buying free-range or organic meat, I guarantee you that animal probably had a miserable life in a factory farm (especially if it is cheap meat).

Look at the difference in photos. The one above is our pigs, hanging out in their pasture, with a sprinkler hose running so that they can cool off and wallow in the mud (a pig’s absolute favorite thing to do). Here is the typical way a factory farm pig spends its days:

No, it will not be easy to butcher our pigs. I love them. I wake up every morning and look forward to their antics. I talk to them, croon them, scratch their backs. And I also give immeasurable thanks for their sacrifice. They will die so that I may live. In return, I will give them fresh air and grass and room to wallow and roll and play, and all the healthy food they can possibly eat, and I won’t give them hormones or steroids or chemicals or antibiotics that they don’t need. And I won’t yell at them, or hit them, or denigrate them in any way. And when the end has come, I won’t force them into a truck and drag them to a cold and heartless slaughterhouse- instead, the butcher will come here and let them die in peace, in their home. It may not be much, but it is the least I can do.

I have come to realize our here in the country that part of my mission in life is going to be to help raise awareness of our food culture. I am not saying we should stop eating meat (although, in truth, I think that would be grand), because I realize there are many, many people who will not go that route for their own perfectly justifiable reasons (like me). But I do believe we need to open our eyes to the horrors of factory farming and stand up for our food, insisting that we treat the animals we eat with dignity and respect, if not for the sake of the animals’ well-being, then for our own health. Factory farmed meat is not healthy for us or the environment!

Here is a video that is not too gruesome (believe me, there are some horrible videos of factory farms out there that make me sob), but gets to the point:

Crate Confinement Video from the Humane Society

And if you need yet another reason we need to end factory farming, check out this article on the link between factory farming and potentially deadly disease outbreaks among humans:

Huffington Post Article About Swine Flue Outbreak and Factory Farms

Mrs. Korpak popped in the other day and has once again outdone herself. Just when I thought her corn couldn’t get any sweeter, any juicier, couldn’t possibly be anymore delicious, she has amazed me. The Korpaks’ corn this year is, bar far, the best corn I have EVER eaten. Ever, ever, ever, yum!

But no matter how hard I try, a girl can’t possibly eat three dozen ears of corn while they are at their peak of freshness (and boy, did we try). Even after giving quite a few away to our most recent visitors, we found we had more corn than we could reasonably handle, and it become apparent that it would have to be frozen.

Although relatively simple, I had never frozen fresh corn before. We usually eat our way through any and all fresh corn that comes our way (is there anything better??). Besides, I was under the impression that freezing corn is a lot of work (and to be honest, I wasn’t totally mistaken, though it wasn’t as bad as I thought). Once you get going though, you can get a couple dozen ears in the freezer in about two hours or so (and hey, you might be even faster than me- I’m not really known for speed!

Here are the steps:

First things first…. shuck the corn (remove husks). I grabbed a large cardboard box and shucked the corn on our back porch right over the box, to avoid a big clean-up later on (all those silky hairs could drive one mad if they ended up on the floor, on your shirt, in your dog’s fur…trust me!). The more organic your corn is, the more likely you are to find bugs under those husks, as well, so outside is definitely an all-around better place to do this! When I was finished, I simply carried the box out to the compost and dumped all the husks there.

Next, blanch the corn (still on the cob) in a pot of boiling water for just a few minutes. I barely blanched ours, as it was so tender and juicy and fresh. The color of the kernels turns a brighter yellow almost instantly, and it’s good to go.

Take the corn out of the boiling water and immediately immerse in ice water after blanching. This stops the corn from cooking any longer.

Now here’s the time-consuming part (for me, at least): cutting the kernels off the cob. I seemed to have trouble finding the balance between cutting too much into the cob, and not cutting off enough of the kernel… but I guess after awhile I started to get the hang of it….

And lastly, after allowing the corn kernels to sit and dry just a bit, we packed them into quart-sized freezer bags.

And – yummo!- you are ready to enjoy fresh sweet corn all winter! I suppose the whole process has the potential to get a bit messy (think: renegade kernels flying wildly around the kitchen), but well worth the effort- especially if you remember the starchy, tasteless corn that seems to turn up in the grocery store mid-winter!

Happy freezing!