Food, Inc.

If anyone knows where this is showing in BC, please let me know.

Fun Carbon Calculator for what you ate today…

Eat Low Carbon Calculator

My lunch of local homemade sushi, a scone, and a club soda was within the “reasonable” range. How did you do?

Saturdays are my Favorite Day

I’m not attaching any pics to this post cause I want you to have the ability to fully envision my morning through words, not pictures…

Yesterday a friend sent me one of those quizzes that asks a million (okay, more like 30) inane questions, and one of them was “What is your favorite day of the week?”. I said I didn’t have one. Well, I totally take that back. Saturday rocks.

First of all, I get to sleep in.

Then there’s the organic Good Earth farm that opens at 10 am. The produce was AMAZING. There was a guy selling homemade bread and current scones (made this morning!) at the entrance of the garden. I bought a multi-grain and an herb load. Oh divine yumminess…

Then there’s the organic veggies… everything harvested within the day or so…

Two bunches of baby carrots. Not the kind of “baby” carrots you buy at the grocery store that have been stripped clean of their wholesome goodness. NO, baby carrots as in they are just barely ready to pull from the ground. Oh my… My son is going to think he’s in heaven when he gets a load of their sweet goodness. (I’m allergic to carrots, but I can still appreciate their goodness.)

Purple romaine lettuce… who knew they even came in that colour? Beautiful, crisp and ready for my salad.

A huge bunch of fresh basil and green onions. The sweet aroma filled my car and there’s definitely a arti-tom feta-basil rotini salad in my near future.

Beets with greens attached. Oh my. Sauteed beet greens in a splash of red wine. Oh my. Heaven!

Can you tell I’m a total “foodie”?!

After the garden I stopped by our farmer’s market and picked up 2 freshly-baked-this-morning homemade raspberry and white chocolate scones from Slow Rise Bakery. They will go very nicely with a cup of tea tomorrow morning.

I made a stop by Laura’s Moonshine Silver booth and dropped off some necklace pendants that need chains… Looking forward to wearing my pretties in a couple weeks.

On my way home I needed to stop by the bank, and a sign at Harvest Thyme, our local health food store and cafe, caught my eye. “Special Today: Sushi freshly made this morning”. Um, HELLO?! Like I could pass that by!

So here I sit eating my california rolls with a glass of mineral water with an organic lemon slice.

And that is why Saturday is my favorite day.

My husband’s father’s day card…

This year I bought my dh a nice father’s day card, and a couple small gifts. The night before I took the card out to write something sentimental and mushy in it, and imagine my chagrin when I saw the following… I had to share it with all my readers cause it’s just too funny. I didn’t say anything, but knowing he’s the type to savor every word of cards, I *knew* he’d notice. And he did. And we laughed.

A 5 year old with a sense of humor… oh me…

I’m sitting at my computer in the office, and called my husband in to feel my forehead cause I’m feeling a bit off, shaky, eyes burning, and wondering if I’m starting to run a fever.

My son comes in and wants to feel my forehead too and quips “mom, maybe you have a computer virus…”

He’s 5. He’s not supposed to be THIS funny already. LMBO

Gardening To-Do List

• Cut back parsley that is blooming and has a stem the size of a small tree trunk!
• Cut some sage, rosemary and oregano stalks to dry
• Cut lavender to dry
• Stake tomatoes
• Remove dandelion weeds before they go to seed
• Fertilize everything again (including pots on patio)
• Transplant starts – sunflower seeds, new lettuce (in a shadier spot), radish (yes, late, I know…). Dump beet start tray out on top of garden bed and hope for a miracle (one seed came up)
• Give everything a good soaking of water

Taking a bite out of Lovekin Rock (Long Beach, Tofino, BC)

Unrelated to the list above (no, it’s not a honey-do list… LOL), Happy Father’s day, hun aka molasses. You’re the sweetest, most amazing, kind, gentle, dad ever. My heart just melts with love whenever I see you interacting with our son. He adores you, and I couldn’t be happier to have you be his dad. I love your sense of humor and you make us both giggle with your constant goofiness. Don’t ever change. You’re perfect just the way you are. Hope today is the best ever!

Hugs and kisses,

Your wife

No Spanking Zone!

I generally keep this blog “on topic” with regards to organic gardening, an eco-friendly lifestyle, recipes, etc, and don’t make a habit of talking about my faith because it’s a very personal and often touchy topic. That said, lately I’ve felt very disturbed by how so many Christian parents are still parenting in the dark ages in regards to discipline. This is a topic that I’m feeling more and more passionate about all the time. I posted the following essay on my password protected private blog, but I feel it’s time to “go public” because it’s something that really needs to be said, especially within Christian communities, where spanking is still the norm. Anyways, without further ado, here’s what I need to say about gentle Christian discipline, otherwise known as the “no spanking zone”.

My beautiful son riding a train

I was raised in a highly punitive home. Me and my siblings were spanked excessively as children and into our early teens. I knew I hated that feeling of constant dread when interacting with my parents, and I hated being unable to gain my mother’s approval most of my childhood.

Yet I never considered not spanking my own kids because I believed it was Biblical.

When my son was born I found a website forum called Gentle Christian Mothers and was shocked to discover there was a whole community of Christian parents who were taking a stand against spanking. It was a bit overwhelming at first, and I wanted to keep spanking as an option in case my child was just totally rebellious and needed a “good spanking” (talk about the worst oxymoron ever!). I quickly left the online community at that time because I felt offended by their firm stand against ALL physical punishment and felt they were not following the Biblical stance I was raised believing was true.

Of course I wasn’t spanking him when he was a baby, but once he hit 2, I just knew I wasn’t going to be able to spank him. It felt so wrong to consider hitting a small defenseless child who didn’t even speak English yet! In addition, it seemed so counter productive to hit my child when I didn’t like his behaviour, yet I was trying to teach him that hitting is wrong. Talk about crazy making.

I rejoined the GCM forum, and felt extremely validated the second time around.

Grace-Based Discipline is a model of discipline which, though it rejects the popular view that the rod references spankings, affirms the authority of parents as outlined in the Bible. Extending grace to our children is not permissiveness. We believe that parents are to set a high standard for behavior and children are to uphold that standard. Many gentle parents are prudent and selective about the type and number of rules they enforce. Many grace based parents enforce those rules using low coercion, cooperation, negotiation and compromise. However, GCM does not embrace the philosophy behind TCS (”Taking Children Seriously”) or non-coercive parenting. True, quality discipline combines knowledge of age appropriate behaviors, reasonable standards, clear expectations, proactive discipline and consistency. Grace is extended in a parent’s willingness to help their children meet that standard when needed and to forgive when the standard is missed. (GCM)

I learned about redirection, and the concept that kids who feel bad act bad. I was quite amazed when I realized, and saw in practice, that generally when a child is “misbehaving” there’s a root to the issue like hunger, fatigue, strange surroundings, illness, or other circumstances. When I addressed the root issue instead of the behaviour, the bad behaviour naturally disappeared in almost every case!

It’s such a simple concept, but I went from being completely frustrated with what I perceived to be out of control behaviour, to intuitively recognizing when my child was getting tired, sick, or hungry, and responding to that need instead of trying to treat the behavioural symptoms of these needs with discipline. This one lesson alone resolved most of our issues.

I also learned about age appropriate behaviour and normal child development. Behaviour that I had always believed was “bad” was actually part of normal child development, and with a little guidance and teaching, those behaviours could be transformed into an opportunity to guide and teach! Wow!

I found that parenting gently was a LOT more work than just punishing bad behaviour because it required I get off my butt and participate in parenting. Parenting is just another word for teaching in our home, and includes modeling the behaviour I want (no screaming, no hitting, speaking with respect, showing kindness, helping, loving, and affection). It required us acting the way we want our son to act! Novel idea…

I had to learn and practice speaking in a gentle but firm manner. If my child didn’t want to do something, it meant getting up and assisting him, showing him how it was done, and enforcing the behaviour I needed him to show. At first I thought it would nurture laziness in him, but I found the opposite was true. Using a firm kind tone of voice, combined with my willingness to help when a task was too overwhelming for him, actually served to make him more independent and nurtured a desire in my son to gain my approval by doing what he was told and it doing it well.

The more I practiced gentle parenting, the better I understood the grace that God extends to me as HIS child. God doesn’t berate me, he doesn’t yell at me when I fail, he doesn’t beat me when I make mistakes, he doesn’t punish me when I do something wrong. He works in a gentle loving manner that softens my heart and causes me to WANT to model HIS behaviour. When I’m unable to cope with a task, he steps in and helps me.

If God doesn’t use punitive methods to discipline me, an adult with free will, why would I use punitive methods on a developing growing child who is learning how to exercise their God-given free will in an appropriate manner?

God provides a model of grace-based discipline that we can reflect in the way we parent. His character is love. When we raise our children with grace and love, they respond in kind. My son is a typical 5 year old. He gets carried away sometimes, and pushes his boundaries. When I speak to him with respect and teach him how to be respectful and honor boundaries he responds positively and with a desire to please.

Think about this. If a family came to visit, and was staying in your home, and the wife hit the husband, or the husband hit the wife, every time the other did something wrong, wouldn’t you classify that as classic abuse? Wouldn’t you feel obligated to step in and intervene? Possibly even call the authorities? If that is so… How is it any less abuse to hit a small child when they do something wrong in the name of discipline? Why aren’t we intervening more when adult parents are hitting their child?

Canada’s Laws on Spanking

http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/library/PRBpubs/prb0510-e.htm

http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2004/01/30/spanking040130.html

In its decision Friday, the court ruled that reasonable corrective force can be used against children between the ages of two and 12 years old.

The court said it was unacceptable to hit a child with an object, like a belt or paddle. Blows and slaps to the child’s head would also be unacceptable.

For corporal punishment to be legally acceptable, it must involve only “minor corrective force of a transitory and trifling nature,” the court ruled.

http://www.canadiancrc.com/Child_Abuse/Supreme_Court_Case_Spanking.aspx

I won’t be addressing the Biblical Questions because it has already all been said so much better at Arms of Love by Crystal Lutton. If you want a really great parenting resource, her book Biblical Parenting is one I would highly recommend.

Families on Bikes!

I have been following the Vogels family, John, Nancy, and their twin boys, Davy and Daryl, on their bike journey when they started in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska June 2008.  About thirty months and 20,000 miles later they plan to arrive in Ushuaia, Argentina. Their twin sons are making history – “Upon completion of this journey, Davy and Daryl will be awarded the title of “Youngest Person to Cycle the Pan-American Highway” by Guinness World Records.”

Through their blog I was introduced to the Pedouins family, who will be starting a 7,000 mile journey on August 1, 2009 from Mount Vernon, KY to Alaska on a quint bike! We were excited to discover they will be coming to Vancouver Island, and have invited them to camp in our meadow while they are in our neck of the woods. We have offered the whole family free haircuts in our hair salon, a hot meal, and use of our shower. I can’t wait to meet them! They should be arriving in May or June of 2010.

This is something I would LOVE to do. Hit the road with a bike, some packs, and your family. Wow… I’m in awe of these familys. My pie-in-the-sky dream is to start a trans-canada west to east bike trip from where we live (conveniently as far west as you can come in Canada) in the spring, then go down the east coast, into the USA, and across the southern states, back up the west coast and into Canada again. Because we don’t bike regularly, this is a very far-off dream, but we can start by biking around our little island and getting into shape. Who knows… maybe when my husband and I retire we’ll do it – with our grown kid(s) and their kids? It’s fun to dream… *sigh*

Rotini Arti-SunTom Feta Salad

These instructions are dummy-proof. One of my favorite recipes… Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 box cooked whole wheat rotini (I prefer Catelli)

1/2 cup sundried tomatoes packed in oil and herbs

2 cups marinated artichoke hearts

1/2 diced red onion

2 t diced garlic

6 fresh basil leaves – hand shredded

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar (or to taste)

1/2 cup feta

1. Cook a box of whole wheat rotini pasta and set aside.
2. Dice a red onion
3. Drain one half cup of sundried tomatoes by squeezing against the side of the jar with a fork when measuring.
4. Put diced red onion and sundried tomatoes in a large pot with 2 t crushed garlic, and saute on med-high (6 or 7) until onion is clear and sundried tomatoes ares lightly browned. There will be enough oil from the sundried tomatoes to saute, so no extra oil is needed. The sundried tomatoes and garlic burn easily, so flip (don’t stir) carefully until done.
6. Drain artichoke hearts (about 2 cups) and add to pan, with one half cup of balsamic vinegar and simmer until artichoke hearts are warmed.
7. Add pasta and stir gently.
8. Serve with feta crumbled on top and garnish with fresh basil. Serve warm or chilled.

I’m ignoooooooring you!

The garden, that is.

You may have noticed I’ve been conspicuously quiet about the garden lately. I have a confession. It’s not doing so great.

First the slugs viciously attacked all our baby starts. I did a bunch of beer and jam traps and caught a few… then decided to do an all natural slug bait pellet and haven’t seen one since, so here’s hoping that worked…

We were away two weekends in a row, which also coincided with the hottest days of the year. One of my basil plants succumbed to the heat (as mentioned in an earlier post)… and some seeds I started shriveled up.

We also lost a few of our marigolds to both the slugs and the heat…

Then the leaves on our pumpkin, squash and tomato plants started turning very yellow. I was told they were needing some nitrogen fertilizer, so I did that… but so far… no luck.

So I’m ignoring my garden.

It rained today. Yay!