Author: Five Feline Farm

Reduce

*This is a repeat of the article originally published on December 12, 2018 and sent to email subscribers on December 13, 2018. Due to a wrinkle in the blogging universe, it did not display properly.*

In my last post I referred to three areas of focus for us to improve our sustainable life style. Reducing the use of some things is the first of those areas.

Have you ever thought about how many chemical compounds you ingest during a day? I’m not talking about things like water, salt, or other items that are technically chemical compounds but actual ingredients you recognize. Rather I’m referring to those artificially processed, scientifically named products with more letters than the English alphabet that read more like a lab experiment than a food.

For the past few years, we have been paying particular attention to chemicals in our diet, cleaning products and even skin care products. To this end, we made the following changes:

1. Limited use of processed foods like lunch meat and most canned or processed items. Yes, we use some canned soups, salsas, etc., but it is minimal. Whenever possible we choose brands with short, recognizable ingredient lists.

2. Changing household cleaners from chemically based products to home made versions. Most of the cleaning is done with vinegar, water, Dawn dishwashing liquid (they use it on wildlife after all) and vodka. Yes vodka. Alcohol is a great disinfectant.

3. Eliminating the use of petroleum based skin products. The most popular brand of lip balm can not even fit all of their ingredients on the label. You have to search the internet to locate the ingredients and the first one is petroleum. It is nearly impossible to pronounce any of the others. We make our own we have christened BEEk balm with four recognizable items: beeswax, sweet almond oil, vitamin oil and a flavoring agent. Our original flavor is honey from our own hives. The others are food grade essential oils.

It isn’t always easy to make these lifestyle changes.  We made small changes over time, not a sweeping change all at once. Food is the hardest both because it is the most frequently used of this list and because it often takes a little extra time to prepare fresh foods. But it is worth it. Our health is worth it and our environment is worth it.

What small change can you make?

What does it mean to be sustainable?

What does it mean to be sustainable? Is it just a buzzword with no real meaning? At Five Feline Farm, it means something.

What does it mean to be sustainable?

A lot of people are tossing around the word “sustainable” these days. It makes me wonder. Is this just a buzzword floating around the internet? Is it clickbait to entice us to read an article? Is it the latest fad? Does it mean something different to everyone?

Can we live sustainably?

What does it really mean?

To make an informed decision, I turned to two reliable sources.

According to Merriam-Webster “sustainable” is defined as:

a) relating to or being a method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged; and

b) relating to a lifestyle involving the use of sustainable methods.

The Wikipedia.com entry states, in part:

Sustainability is the process of maintaining change in a balanced fashion, in which the exploitation of resources, the direction of investments, the orientation of technological development and institutional change are all in harmony and enhance both current and future potential to meet human needs and aspirations.

I like a combination of the two definitions: A method of harvesting or using a resource in a balanced fashion so the resource is in harmony with both current and future potential to meet human needs and aspirations.

People and politicians may argue about which laws or practices are considered sustainable, but here at Five Feline Farm, sustainable embodies three basic tenets.

1. Reduce

2. Reuse

3. Recycle

We practice these three principles in our food, household management and improvements on the farm. Some days we hold tighter to these principles than others, but we always strive to do better.

Over the next few weeks, I am going to delve deeper into these three tenets; describe how we practice each one and where we foresee improving our adherence to the principle. Perhaps in our example, you will find ways to move a step closer to sustainable in your own life.

For a fun read and some background about how we started this Farm and moved from an isolated existence to belonging to a community; check out the book The Long Road to Market. It’s available through Amazon and the online Mercantile in both print and digital versions.

Make a Quick Nutritious Meal

Do you ever find yourself dragging in after work, tired, hungry and ready for a quick meal? Standing in front of the refrigerator, shuffling from one foot to the next, moving to the pantry and wishing for something to fly off the shelf ready to eat? The temptation to call for pizza delivery is strong.

This week I experienced one of those nights. I was wiped out and muddling around the kitchen, my brain was tired of thinking. Coming up with an idea for supper was almost beyond the remaining energy available.

For times like this, I have found the best solution is to always stock the ingredients for one or two simple meals. One of our Farm favorites is pasta with homemade marinara.

Pasta is a simple food, quick to prepare and easy to find a dried version that has limited mystery ingredients. Our marinara is made in the summer when tomatoes are plentiful, then frozen in one cup portions. (You can find the recipe in my book Simply Delicious, but if you stock canned crushed tomatoes and Italian herbs in your pantry, you can make an excellent version.)

On this particular evening I did not want to eat meat so used mushrooms sauteed with garlic in olive oil to give a meaty texture and extra flavor to the sauce. Pour over hot pasta and serve.

Pasta like this needs a green salad. We were blessed to have fresh late season garden lettuce and a few remaining tomatoes. The tomatoes were picked green just before frost and allowed to ripen in the garage. I added some crumbled home made buttermilk cheese, salt, pepper and a simple dressing of balsamic glaze and olive oil.

In less than thirty minutes a salad, pasta and bread were on the table. My desire for fast home-cooked natural food was satisfied.

The time it took to prepare and freeze the sauce in the summer made tonight’s meal warm, easy and satisfying.

You can do this too. Decide on a few meals with simple quick cooking ingredients that can be stored in your pantry or freezer. Keep those items on hand and you will be ready to fix a homemade meal at a moment’s notice. You will be glad you did.

Pasta with Marinara for Two

1 cup home made frozen marinara or 1 can crushed tomatoes + 2 tsp Italian herb seasoning blend

4 ounces diced fresh button mushrooms

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp olive oil

Pasta of choice cooked according to package directions

Heat olive oil in saute pan over medium heat. Add mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally for 3-4 minutes, then add garlic. Continue to cook for an additional 1-2 minutes. If using canned crushed tomatoes and Italian herbs, add the herbs and saute for 1 minute, then add canned tomatoes. If using home made tomato sauce, add to the mushroom mixture and cook until flavors are blended and heated through. Serve over hot pasta.

From Isolation to Belonging

It’s become easy to isolate yourself with the ever present cell phones, facebook and many of us living miles away from our families. We tend to go about our business; work and keeping up with our own chores, forgetting about our deep need for connection.

When this need to belong to a greater community than just ourselves became overwhelming, we found the 18th Street Farmer’s Market.

Below is an excerpt from Julia’s new book, “The Long Road to Market”, the story of how the women of Five Feline Farm moved from isolation to belonging.

The seclusion of country life can be a curse as well as a blessing. We moved into the new home at the beginnning of September, headed into the fall and then winter in a new place. The nearest neighbor is over a quarter mile away and someone we have never met. We are nine miles from town. It is not a great distance yet a long trek in the dark days of winter with snow piling up. We found our self-sufficiency skills would be tested in ways we were not expecting.

Slowly neighbors started dropping over to introduce themselves. They were surely curious about these two women who built such an enormous house. We struggled to remember who was who and how they all fit together. Many had been living in the area for a long time, some for all their lives. We were the new kids and didn’t have relatives or connections here. Until we could figure out who to trust in the new neighborhood, we retreated into our own world, working feverishly to reclaim the land from years of neglect.

So, for the most part, we were on our own with some help from our families. All of our spare time was consumed with various projects around the farm to make our dream a reality. It was a relief to be away from the loudness of 20,000 people vying for their place in the world all at the same time. When we could, we planned our shopping to get as much as possible in one trip, making it commonplace to pick up necessities before or after work.

It was glorious to be removed from town life, yet after a period of time lonely. We yearned for connection and belonging to a community.

The Long Road to Market is available in both print and digital formats by clicking here.