I love this photo. Aren't they cute?

Every year, the kids and I (and often our friends) head to local farms for pick-you-own fun. This past weekend, that meant apple picking. The apple picking season generally starts in September and goes through early November here in Connecticut, so we are more than half-way through the season (and late by our standards). Fortunately, the day we chose was sunny, but neither too hot nor too cold. Read the rest of this entry…

A few years ago, I fell deeply in love with beet greens. They have a similar taste to beets, though far milder — like a beet-tinged spinach. And they are lovely served raw in salad, sauteed and more. Until learning that they were edible, I had always been in the cut-and-toss camp, though.

A similar situation popped up recently. While making roasted veggies the other night, I was left with a particularly beautiful bunch of radish greens. These looked so fresh, so green, so inviting. I couldn’t dream of tossing them away or sending them to the compost pile. While I contemplated using them, I noticed the vibrant carrot tops from a recent trip to the farmer’s market. Again, I couldn’t let them be wasted.

I did a little research to confirm that both radish greens and carrot greens are edible (answer: yes). So, then it was just a matter of how to cook them — or not. I initially planned to saute the carrot greens and radish greens, but after some contemplation, I decided to just make a salad with a lovely sundried tomato vinaigrette.

I just couldn’t stand the idea of wasting the greens. I mean if we don’t at least try to eat then, how can we know if we like them? And furthermore, if we do like them, then we are totally missing out by not eating them.

So I made a Carrot Green and Radish Green Salad with Sundried Tomato Vinaigrette.

We ate it, but the dish wasn’t a winner (mostly the fault of the carrot greens — the texture is similar to frisee and isn’t a favorite around here). Nonetheless, I was happy that we at least tried to eat them.

While we probably won’t be tossing carrot tops into our salads again anytime soon the pleasant flavor does make them prime for pureeing (hello, carrot top pesto!) or finely chopping for dips, soups and sauces. As for the radish greens? Those could be fab tossed with some Bibb lettuce in a salad.

We will definitely eat these greens again … There’s no need to just cut and toss.

PS – I need to retest the vinaigrette recipe before sharing it. It will be up soon!

This is the garden I have always dreamed of having. So excited that my efforts last year are paying off this year.

Next week … a look at the veggies.

That is a palmful of some blissfully juicy, sweet-tart wild blackberries. So tasty.

Last week, I noticed something red in a bush along my driveway while pulling out to go to the store. I didn’t stop at the time, and I mentally wrote it off as some inedible red berries like the perfectly round and frosty-exterior ones I used to squash between my fingers growing up.

Then, while I was walking up the driveway to get the mail yesterday, the spots of red caught my eye again. Except this time, I had the wherewithal to actually take a closer look. Those red berries that I wrote off? Turns out, they were not-yet-ripe blackberries. Wild blackberries. Read the rest of this entry…

As I sat down to write this, I learned that Walter Cronkite has died. Cronkite was an amazing journalist and newsman who inspired many young people to research harder, write better and dig to present the public with the clearest picture of the news they could. Tonight’s post is wordless, as it’s the closest to a moment of silence that a blogger can give. May he rest in peace.

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For the better part of June, and too much of May, we had a little problem: rain. It has rained almost every day for a month. Seriously. Sure, we had a good day here and there, but it’s been a crazy wet season. And what comes with the overabundance of wetness? As my cousin, Farmer Jim, told me recently: slugs. And boy, when I went to take these photos yesterday, did I see what he meant. There were slugs all over my cabbage. It took a good 10 minutes to get them all off of my plants.

I hate slugs. So I Facebooked my frustration and a friend of mine immediately offered a solution: place a bowl of beer under the plants and the slugs will naturally be attracted … and then they won’t be a problem to anything any longer. That sure beats the salt method I was threatening them with. So, I am going to try this ingenious slug removal technique. I’ll report back next Friday on the success of it.

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I might be a little obsessed with the word “staycation.” It’s so inventive. And it perfectly describes what we are doing this summer. As much as I would love to whisk the kids away to a house on the Jersey shore or drive up to visit my husband’s family, it’s just not in the cards with two small kids, two dogs and one big mortgage . . . and the breath-taking bill from my dog’s recent wellness checkup at the vet didn’t help anything either.

So, I am pulling together all my resources and planning at-home trips. (Psst! I just wrote about staycation ideas for families with toddlers at SheKnows, where I am a columnist. Check it out.)

Here are a few local ideas (in Connecticut) that I’ve come up with:

• The Connecticut Children’s Museum: This is a great hands-on place for kids three and up. They have all sorts of activities geared toward the younger set.
• Stepping Stones Museum for Children: This has activities both for toddlers and older kids. They can play with water, learn about rain forests, make bubbles and more.
• Walking with Dinosaurs: This is an awesome and breathtaking show that will be at the Arena at Harbor Yard later this month (it’s also going to be at Madison Square Garden in New York). Realistic looking dinosaurs take center stage . . . (In the interest of full disclosure, I learned about this one after being offered tickets to check it out . . .).
• Mystic Seaport: If you are in Connecticut, you can’t miss Mystic Seaport. There are tall ships, a museum, an aquarium and more to have a fun day . . . And rumor has it one of the ships is very haunted (but don’t tell my husband . . . he won’t want to check it out then).
• Discovery Museum: This one is more for older kids. There’s a planetarium and lots of space geared activities. Lots of fun — I went there as a kid and loved it.
• Earthplace: A coworker told me about this place in Westport. Apparently they do bonfires on Fridays and have lots of fun activities. It’s all geared toward nature education.
• Stamford Museum: With animals galore, this is a great place for kids. There’s even storytelling on Saturday’s at the museum farm.

Still looking for the perfect gift for your eco-friendly dad? I am running down some good options that you can get last minute this week . . . Click here to check out part 1 in this series.

1. Organic Style: Organic Style has a variety of eco-friendly suggestions from trees to journals to chocolates. They were nice enough to let me sample their Heavenly Chocolate Trio, which were delicious (especially those almonds). But do heed the warning on the site that although the chocolates are shipped overnight, weather conditions could cause them to arrive melted, as most of mine did. My husband was home when the shipment arrived, so the meltage happened enroute. If this is a concern, avoid the perishables.
2. Soda Club: Chances are, this one won’t arrive by Father’s Day, but they will end an email letting dad know it’s coming if you order. This is totally cool — it’s an easy, counter-top make-your-own soda kit . . . perfect for the gadget-loving dad.
3. Fair Trade Coffee: Does your dad love coffee? How about some fair trade coffee and a French press. With the French press, you just add hot water and let the coffee brew and then press it. Save energy and get a tasty cup of coffee. Check out this site for a list of where you can get fair trade coffee.

The price of baby food – the organic, affordable food that Paige eats – jumped 10 cents. Sugar has more than doubled in price for our small town. Gas is teetering on $4 a gallon. I talked about my fears last week . . . and they only seem to intensify as the days pass. Food is getting more expensive. Fuel is getting more expensive too. It’s frightening.

But this week, I want to get beyond the fear to the solutions.

This year, we will begin growing our own food. I’ve tried in the past without success, but after three years of experimenting, I think I am ready to really settle in and make it work. And for the first time, my husband believes that we need to as well.

We’re not alone in this quest. Urban farming is taking cities by storm. In New York, it’s caught the attention of the New York Times. It’s time that suburban farming made its comeback too. Connecticut used to be a mecca of farmland. These days, the houses still sit on two and three acres in many areas, but those acres are perfectly manicured lawns and sparkling blue pools. The potential for people in Connecticut to take back the land for sustainable home farming is tremendous. And just imagine what benefits it would have on the environment if we all farmed just a little corner of our land . . . Read the rest of this entry…

A deadly virus is attacking young children in China. A tidal wave has killed thousands in Myanmar/Burma. A woman held prisoner by her own father is finally free of her basement prison after 30 years and several children . . .

As if that isn’t enough, gas prices are skyrocketing to a point I never imagined for our country. I cringe at the pump every time I have to fill my small, fuel-efficient car that barely fits two car seats for the kids. I don’t know what I will do when gas gets more expensive . . . and we all know it will.

It’s a scary world we live in. As a mother with two young children, I can’t help but wonder what kind of a life I have birthed my babies into. Move over, I am scared. Read the rest of this entry…