I just finished needlefelting this wall hanging as a custom order wedding gift, and I think it is one of my favorites yet. A pair of farmers are taking a break from the day's work to cool off by the stream in the shade of the pear tree. The farmer is serenading his wife on the banjo, while she picks the golden ripe pears and dips her feet in the cool stream. All the while, ...
Turnip the Beet Burgers
Sometimes, you end up with a lot of root vegetables. Usually this is good news, but any food can get boring after a while. When roasting, raw grated salads and soups are not appealing, it's time to turnip the beet and make something different! Turnip the Beet Burgers 3 cups mixed grated beets and turnips 1 1/2 cups oats (or 1 cup oats and 1/2 cup wheat germ) 1 onion 8 oz. feta ...
Banjo Pickin’ in the Garden
My newest needlefelted wall hanging is a celebration of growing food, working hard, pickin' an old-time tune, and enjoying the simple things in life. In the heat of the afternoon, it's time to sit back in the shade of the pear tree for some banjo pickin'. The vegetables ripen in the field, the chickens scratch away in the orchard, and some fine old-time music floats on the breeze. It's a ...
The Melon Ball
When a local farm advertises a Melon Ball, with watermelon tasting and a melon eating contest, you take them up on that. Organic Redneck Growers is a wonderful organic farm down the road that we have been visiting for blueberry picking since my kids were little. We seemed to keep missing all their fun farm events over the last couple years, but one of our friends just moved out there this summer ...
Fresh, Healthy, Local, and Sustainable Fruit Year-Round
My latest article on harvesting and preserving fruit is published in Organic Lifestyle Magazine today: Fresh, Healthy, Local, and Sustainable Fruit Year-Round Read on! ...
Dahlias
"My advice to the women of America is to raise more hell and fewer dahlias." ~William Allen White. ...
Hiking Tenas Lakes
The Central Oregon Cascades are scattered with a multitude of high mountain lakes, and with our close proximity up the McKenzie, I have been enjoying getting out there and exploring them. This last Sunday we were on our way across the mountains for some live music in Bend, and since the show wasn't until later evening, we decided to do a hike along the way. I hadn't been up the old McKenzie Pass ...
An Agricultural Act
"Eating is an agricultural act." ~Wendell Berry ...
Just Peachy
Canning season is here, and things are just peachy in the farmhouse kitchen. Canning peaches feels a lot like capturing summer in a jar. There's nothing like opening a cheerful looking jar of peaches on a cold winter morning to enjoy with breakfast. They're also good to take along on off-season camping trips as a special treat. We decided to pick up our peaches on the way home from a family ...
Lady Lavender and Lady Rose
My latest needle-felting project this summer is making these lovely little ladies holding bundles of dried flowers from my garden. When we were hanging up the garlic and lavender to dry in the attic, I got a little dried flower crazy, and started hanging up bundles of whatever caught my eye, not really having an idea of what I would do with them. It just looked really cool. It looked so darn cool, ...