Thursday, February 18, 2010

The Farmgirl Movement~~~The need to know where your food comes from people


Mary Jane's Outpost~~Tick the title to redirect to Amazon~this book is one you can read a page or two on. I love those kinds.

MaryJaneFarms~PO Box 8691~Moscow, Idaho836843
(888)750-6004 toll free~iris@maryjanesfarm.org
$20 membership fee. FYI; She's on book tour and such, so no B&B this summer.
I was thinking that'd be great, and so would starting a chapter or such here in the PNW. Just thinking~~~

My personal favorite 'Mary Janes Outpost' excerpt;

..You pull up in front of the town’s general store, grab your hat off the seat, and step out and into…your next fantasy.
“Got any night crawlers?” you ask the young gal who’s already seriously wondering what you’re about. Everything else you already have in tow behind you-the beauty of a trailer (or a pickup truck with a camper or shell). Your stuff is always packed and ready to go.
Now you’ve just planted another seed, this time in someone else-the young gal who checked you out and spied your rig out front. Here’s what she saw:
Either a woman completely unafraid of being alone or doing her darndest to contront head-on her “alone-out-there” fear. She sensed your strength. She envied your spirit. Your gumption. She asked, “Where you from?” She wanted to know more….
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meet Mary Jane; article from Mountain Rose Herbs

If you have not yet visited Mary Jane's Farm, let today be the day!
Mary Jane Butters pioneered the Farmgirl movement, which focuses on organic farming with a do-it-yourself attitude. Articles in her magazine, as well as the beautiful videos on her website, will inspire you to harvest green garlic scapes, sew a garden apron, or bake fresh biscuits from your own home milled flour.
Mountain Rose Herbs has been working with Mary Jane for over a year now and we continue to draw inspiration from her story and her efforts to spread the message that choosing organics will lead to a healthy future for all of us.

Check out her website. The title redirects to amazon. This link goes to her own website. Just cut and paste, if need be...
http://www.maryjanesfarm.com/
here is her video bio
http://www.maryjanesfarm.com/video-library.asp
Posted by
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Banana This; Recycle Old Peels~ fertilizer or silver polish

There are things you can do with that old peel.

1. Do you have a green thumb? House hold plants and outside gardens require fertilization. A great way to give your plants nutrients is with a banana peel. The banana peel is very rich in potassium and phosphorus, which give that added boost to your plants soil, especially so with roses. Here is how to use a banana peel to fertilizer your soil for your plants. Remove the peel from the banana. Place the banana peel on a cookie sheet to let it air dry. Grab a paper bag or envelope. Crumble the dried banana peel and place it in the bag. Let the banana sit at room temperature for about two days. When your caring for your plant, give it a potassium treat of crumbled banana peel. Mix well in the soil to ensure the roots are fed evenly.
2. Have you been thinking about pulling out that old silver? Well there is no time like the present. Bananas peel can also be used to polish silver. Yes, polish silver. Take the old peels and place them in a blender. You want the peels to become smooth and creamy. Once they have, grab a cloth and small amounts of the creamed banana peel and begin polishing your silver. The shine will be breath taking.

SOURDOUGH STARTER with WILD YEAST

SOURDOUGH STARTER with WILD YEAST
Wild yeasts exist in the air around you and to some extent on the wheat berries. There are wild yeasts on grapes (unsulphured) and apples and other fruits. It is those wild yeasts which are 'captured' to make a sourdough starter. The process takes from 3 to 5 days. I wish I had specific amounts for you, but you could start with 1/4 to 1/2 cup of flour and mix in enough warm (not hot) water to make a thin paste. DO NOT make it too soupy. That, in fact, is the trick to a good starter, according to the French bread makers, and I think they should know. And after you've fooled around with the flour and water thing, you might wish to branch out into adding those unsulphured grapes, apples, sour milk, etc as a catalyst in order to capture other strains of yeast. Each of these strains has a slightly different taste. In fact if you move to another area, you might end up with a starter that produces an entirely different flavor. For instance, San Francisco sourdough bread is well known and has a distinct taste due to the wild strains in the air there. On day one you mix the flour and water (and add any catalysts to encourage fermentation) and place in a warm spot. After 3 days, the dough should be moist, inflated, and slightly sour. More flour and water is added (mixed in) and left to sit in a warm spot. After 2 days the process is repeated. Then the next day it is done again. Note the order: 3 days, 2 days, 1 day. At this point you should be able to make a loaf of bread using part of the starter and adding back what you took out in the form of more flour and water. Rule of thumb: Use about 10% starter to size of loaf. In the case of a 2 lb loaf this is a bit over 3 oz of starter (3.2 to be exact). For a 1 lb loaf 1.5 oz would be used. A book that describes this process in great detail is The Village Baker by Joe Ortiz, copyright 1993, published by Ten Speed Press, Berkley CA. If it's not still in print, try the used books stores, that's where I got mine. Or try your local library. If they don't have it, they might be able to get it for you. ©2008 by Ernestina Parziale

Thank You For Visiting!

Thank You For Visiting!
Have a Great Day!