First Market

We started our Saturday at 6:00 am. The kids were up and ready to sell at the Boulder County Farmer's Market. Our learning curve was sharp. We hustled to get the tent up, our plants out and everything in place for the 8:00 am gong that rings in the market start time. 

There's no frivolity in market set up. We watched in admiration as Aspen Moon Farm set up a double tent space with enough fresh greens to feed the army of market goers. Patrick was thrilled to be there. He was careful with all of his seedlings that we took from the car, and he gingerly placed them in position on his display. His hand-written chalkboard signs advertised his prices. I love his youthful handwriting. 

The inventory for the day included four varieties of plants for heirloom tomatoes, gigantic pumpkins, pickling cucumbers and basil. The biggest sellers were the cucumbers and tomatoes. Patrick was so knowledgable explaining the different varieties. Aidan, his right-hand man, was eager to explain the fruit yields and types. He just had to move to the front of the table to get close to the customers. His favorite quote of the day, "How can I help you today?" 

It was a long day. Eight hours of standing and selling. We learned a lot about how to do it better so there was less of a physical toll on us. Next time, we're bringing stools for a break on our feet and more food. Selling food inspires an appetite.

The people watching was simply fun. Talking to customers was a treat - Patrick says that was his favorite part. Watching the kids total each person's sales and make change was a hoot. For two self-proclaimed math phobes, they did really well. 

At the end of our Saturday, the kids were so tired they all asked for bed. A small miracle. We all agreed it was an exciting and exhausting day and we can't wait to do it again. 

Forks Over Knives & Other Worries

Last night, I watched the documentary Forks Over Knives. It makes you think a lot about your diet. In fact, it makes you worry about your diet.

The thesis of the film is that a plant-based diet without meat and dairy is what is going to prevent you from going under the knife in later years. Your nutrition can trump disease - your fork over the knife or scalpel.

I loved the quote in one of the film's interstitials:

"One quarter of what you eat keeps you alive. The other three quarters keeps your doctor alive." - a hieroglyph found on an ancient Egyptian tomb

I think the underlying premise of the film is spot on. Diet is the determining factor in your overall health. I don't think that you have to go meat and dairy free as the two main doctors in the film suggest. Their numerous studies show significant success with patients who radically altered their diets, adopted a plant-based philosophy and reversed conditions like hypertension, diabetes and high cholesterol. They didn't eat any meat or dairy.

I finished the film with a few questions. They don't address the fact that patients changed their diets radically. They gave up highly-processed and fast foods. I think that was a huge determinant in their medical reversals. They also don't talk about fish as a health option. There were holes, but the film left me sleepless about my kids and my family. I would recommend watching it.

That's a picture of my oldest's lunch. Fresh challah with nut butter and berries. The berries were from the brand Driscoll's. I got a coupon from LiveWell Colorado for $5 off a Driscoll product. It was useful considering a small container of organic raspberries right now is $5.99. They were good, but not as juicy as they would be if it were more close to their season. Aidan loves them though so it was worth it.

Aidan's lunch wasn't bad, and wasn't great. I have been thinking I have to get my kids eating more greens. Dirk and I have to eat more of them, too. Fork over knife ...

We also went to the Boulder County Farmer's Market today. Patrick will be there with his produce in two weeks. The market was abundant with vendors which is great considering this is still so early season. We also drove by a few of the actual farms that sell at the market. There were hoop houses the size of our own home.

Worried that we needed more seedlings to compete with demand, we added more seeds under the grow lights, and all the boys started turning over soil in our garden plots to get ready for the first outdoor planting.

Onions were added to a few of the raised beds. The boys are so focused when they plant.

All of this food worrying is making us hungry. We stocked up on fresh salsa, seasoned nuts and lettuce at the market. We're all looking forward to dinner.

Patrick Loves His Vegetables

Here's a cool article on Patrick and Fresh Mouth Farm at the Boulder County Farmer's Market. He spoke to the reporter on his own. I was curious to see what he had to say! There's also a really cool chart on produce and seasonal availability for summer months.

The New Suburban Agriculture - No More Grass

This weekend we ripped up nearly 700 square feet of our yard to make vegetable garden beds. All that precious green carpet, that suburban commodity, taken right out.

We put an ad on Craig's List offering the free, rolled up sod, and we got about 30 calls in a single day. Grass is king.

Considering that the American lawn fuels a $40 billion industry and that there are about 26 million leaf blowers in this country, we felt excited to invest more in our dirt than our grass.

It was brutal work. The sod cutter whipped Dirk around like a

rag doll. Each roll of sod weighed about 50 pounds. The rototiller was easier to use, but transforming this small suburban plot gave us unbelievable empathy for farmers and their sprawling land. They might have machines for the work, but the larger scale brings other complexities.

We loaded, unloaded and spread eight truck loads of planting soil from Colorado Materials, Inc., and we still don't have enough. We'll need more for our rows of tomatoes, kale and other veg.

The kids were absolutely elated to be part of the work. Being in dirt was second nature.

Our seedlings are doing well

inside the house. We've already transplanted the pumpkin seedlings into larger containers. These are big pumpkins, roughly about 100 pounds each. They grow fast and big.

We are working as hard as we can to get seeds planted and growing under our grow lights. We all feel that farmer tug that we won't have enough or something may going wrong. I recently watched the documentary about the American apple industry called Broken Limbs, and one of the farmers says that you can do everything right. All the variables will be accounted for, but the only thing you can count on is crop failure. It happens to everyone and sometimes it's a mystery.

We're staying positive and the kids are talking to the plants. They even chose to leave the room where the plants are if they start arguing because Patrick insists, "It's not good for the seeds!"

So, we look out at our new plot of dirt, our new suburban ideal. And we fantasize about all that green that we will eat and not mow this summer.