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.

Usually, holding the bag is a big source of contention. Everyone wants it (even though I really find it to be the worst job while picking — that bag gets seriously heavy). But, I must be getting smarter in my old age or something, because I stemmed the dispute before we even arrived at the orchard. How, you ask? Well, I told the kids the order in which we’d hold the bag … and explained the logic (the person who can hold the most weight holds it last; the person who can hold the least holds it first). As a result, passing the bag was without a single cry or screech. I can’t tell you how happy that made me.

As for the apples, usually I cook with them right away, but this time, we’ve just been eating them. Will wants to make an apple pie, which we will probably do sometime this week. But other than that, we’re snacking on them (we found some tiny apples that are the perfect size for the kids — those have been in lunchboxes all week). Turns out that I forgot how good an apple can be.

Notice Paige double fisting ... she ate so many apples.

Typically, we apple pick twice in a season (last year was an anomaly with three trips to apple orchards). I can’t say whether that will happen this year, given our late start. It’s possible that we might go again in November, if the weather is nice like last year.  But whatever ends up happening, it’s okay. The kids and I had an awesome time together at the orchard. Ultimately, that’s all that matters.

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.

I couldn’t be more excited. A few years ago, I discovered black raspberries at a family member’s house and made a delightful jam from them. I cannot wait to transform these blackberries into blackberry butter (food mill recommendations, anyone?).

Triumphant, I picked a few ripe ones to sample, sharing with the kids and Shawn. They’re pretty stoked too.

Honestly though, there is one thing bugging me. I have lived here for quite a few years, and this is the first I have ever seen of these bushes of blackberries. This isn’t one little bush, this is many bushes. They will produce pints and pints of berries this season. But why have I never seen them before? Was I so blind to my surroundings for all these years? Seriously?

Have you ever discovered something unexpected on your property? Maybe it’s time to go looking …

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.

The blueberries are just starting to turn into that deep blue that signifies when they are ready to eat. Hopefully they will hold out until Monday, as the kids and I are away for the weekend. It would be awesome to return to two bushes full of berries. A friend warned me this week that after we pluck all the berries, we should test the soil to ensure that it’s the ideal level of acidity for the berries. Good to know … Sounds like there might be some soil treating in my future.

Elsewhere in the garden, my New Girl tomatoes have quickly flowered and started to develop. The Sun Golds are thriving too. Hopefully they will start to ripen very soon. I am anxious for fresh tomatoes. I want to mix them up with fresh mozzarella, fresh basil and a bit of extra virgin olive oil and sea salt… mmm. Sometimes the simplest things are the best.

That’s all for this week – I am in a location with low connectivity so uploading is a little more challenging than usual. Have a fantastic weekend, and be sure to share what’s happening in your garden in the comments!

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.

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.

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 . . . The plan is simple:

1) Design and build raised beds for the vegetable garden. Install in the far, unused portion of our back yard. The designing portion of this is done. I am planning on 4′x8′ boxes (3-4 of them) that will be lined with that black garden fabric. We will install an inexpensive garden fencing for now to protect the garden from animals, pests, etc. I will be bringing in screened soil to fill the boxes because my home is built on a former rock quarry (I kid you not).

2) Plant tomato starters (the tomato plants that are already growing) and a variety of seeds for radishes, beets, spinach, cucumbers, peppers, basil, carrots and more. Some fruits too. Use organic fertilizing methods and ensure a chemical free planting environment.

3) Start a compost pile to create nutrient-rich soil at home to mix in with the bed soil.

4) Design and implement a rainwater collection system to sustainably keep the garden watered.

5) Regularly weed, water and care for the fruits and vegetables in the garden.

6) Can and/or freeze excess produce for winter.

This plan gives me some sense of relief. If my family could do it one hundred years ago, so can I today.

What are your thoughts on urban and suburban farming? Should people start growing some of their own food again?

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.

I am scared that my children won’t have fresh water when they grow up. I am scared that our advanced society has out-priced itself so it can no longer prosper. I am scared that food prices could soar suddenly the way gas prices have. I am scared that one day we will wake up with no electricity, no gas and only the food in our pantry to sustain us because the country has overused everything.

What can we do? What can I do?

Those are questions I ask myself a lot.

I don’t have the answers. I wish I could say I did, but I don’t. All I know is that in the past year, and particularly in the past few months, I have been more and more driven to leaving less of a carbon footprint. I can’t stand the thought that I might contribute to my kids having a less-than-perfect world.

In some ways, I feel like we should all watch Monsters Inc. and take notice of an important underlying message: in the movie, the monsters pursue the source of energy they know — screams. But the screams are running out and becoming harder to come by. There is an energy shortage. Pressure is on at the plant. The owner of the big Monsters Incorporated company works with one of the less savory employees to find a better way to get screams. But their way poaches little children and sucks them dry. Meanwhile, there is a far more powerful source of energy out there: laughter. And better yet, it doesn’t run in short supply.

Ultimately, I think we need to find our laughter and harness it so that we no longer have to live in a world of short supply. Can you see the parallels to the situation we face right now with skyrocketing oil prices and a post-peak oil supply?

All I know for sure, is that something has to change. For me, that means less driving, more homegrown and local food and watching the budget with a keener eye. To make change, we need to be the change.

What do you think? What kind of a world are we leaving for our kids? What can we do about it?