Green

Ah, St. Patrick's Day in Savannah. Half a million people flock downtown for the parade, fountains and beer are dyed green, endless porta-potties are brought into the city, and people fill the squares and bars with drunkenness all day. That's not really my style, so other years I've left the state. But this year, I went really green. The greenest I've ever gotten. No, I didn't join in with the River Street festivities, I prepped a garden plot and started a compost pile at my friend Erin's house! And this isn't just any garden, it follows the method of GROW BIOINTENSIVE® Sustainable Mini-Farming. It's a super-cool method that I won't go into details about here, but you should really check it out if you're interested in growing your own food. We prepped a 100 square foot bed in which we will grow cucumbers, pumpkins, peppers, basil, tomatoes, zinnias, zucchini, potatoes, onions, radishes, carrots, cabbage, beets, broccoli, peas, lettuce, bush beans, corn, chard, asparagus, and herbs . . . the first year. Then every subsequent year you add beds and crops until someday, you get to this:

 

According to this method, all food, clothing, and building materials for one person can be grown on 9000 square feet (or about 1/5 of an acre). Amazing. I'm so excited to have the opportunity to grow at my friend's house, but I really can't wait to have my own land!


The other thing that's awesome about this garden is that it's such a great way to build a stronger relationship with my friend Erin, who I really, really admire. She has such a beautiful relationship with God and is an amazing wife and mother. She's right up there on the admiration scale with my mentor, Gina, who is the most awesome woman I know.

Stay tuned for garden updates and photos if I ever get my camera working again.

Hello March!

How is it March 9 already? There is so much life to live every single day that the weeks and months just fly by! I'm really not sure what happened to February, or even what happened in February, but March is full of the promise of spring. It has been absolutely beautiful here. Temperatures in the mid-60s to high 70s and bright blue sunny skies. It's open windows kind of weather - my favorite. The azaleas are already starting to bloom, and I am behind in getting my gardens going at my two friends' houses! But more on that later; I should wrap up with things left undone from other posts . . .

I left off in the last post talking about bread, and on Sunday I successfully baked my first batch of whole wheat sourdough bread! It has great flavor, but the loaf is too dense and didn't rise enough. Not bad for my first loaf ever though. My favorite way to eat it so far is with a little honey drizzled on top. (I get the most amazing raw and local honey from some friends of mine. It's completely raw and unfiltered. Sooooo good.) I still feel pretty lost working with a starter and kneading the dough and just the whole process, so I got Nancy Silverton's Breads from the La Brea Bakery to assist me in this new bread making venture.

Let me tell you, Ms Silverton loves her bread, and you will too if you read this book. I'm going to try another loaf soon with some things I've already learned from the book, so expect more updates. If I ever figure our what's wrong with my camera you can expect some pictures too.

I also finished my review of the YU Test Drive™! The eBook is out now, and I seriously can't recommend it highly enough. (Some of my quotes from my review are on the YumUniverse blog!) Every single recipe was outstanding and I couldn't stop eating all the amazing food I was making. (Although that's not very shocking though to those of you who know me well.) It's only $13.95 and totally worth it in my opinion. As amazing as the Test Drive was, the reason I'm most excited about being a part of it and want everyone I know to buy it is that Heather Crosby, the founder of YumUniverse, is super cool. She is encouraging, positive, and enthusiastic about what she does, and I like to support people like that! I really enjoyed all of my interactions with her as I was testing the Test Drive.

Well, poor Clint isn't feeling well after I was sick-ish for 2.5 weeks and passed it on to him, and after working himself almost to death on this amazing video. He is so talented and amazing, and I'm so proud of the great work he does! Seriously watch it. It's well worth your time.