Sustainable agriculture initiatives

I've been attending a Carolina Farm Stewardship Association annual conference this weekend (my first time attending). This year, it's nearby, and it's been quite interesting. The CFSA's focus is to promote local food producers, sustainable agriculture, and local food (of all sorts). This is their 23th annual conference -- remarkable, really for our region, which is just now getting on the local food/sustainable agriculture/local farm & tailgate market 'bandwagon.'

But it's welcome, to be sure, and I'm heartened by the numbers of younger people involved, as well as passionate folks of all ages.

I haven't thought a great deal about food security issues, but it's an important thing to consider. Why not support local farmers when we can and grow more of our own vegetables and fruits, if we can? Or Plant a Row for the Hungry? (This is a Garden Writers Association initiative). Many of us have space to do so. Or, why not participate in 'gleaning' networks, which harvest otherwise unpicked produce for food banks and 'soup kitchens'?


There are so many possibilities for those of us who are gardeners to reconnect to producing more of what we eat.

I'm envious of this wonderful native persimmon tree that we saw on a local farm tour (to Greenbriar Farms) this afternoon.

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Happy Birthday Romas .

Today is Romas' birthday.!

His brother gave him 30 bars of chocolate and by request I made 12 of them into a giant chocolate brick. He, Jake and Linas started on this for breakfast accompanied by chocolate icecream and coffee in various combinations. I can think of worse things a 19 year old could be doing. He has the rest of his band staying over, (they are doing a photo shoot with Gemma tomorrow), and they have spent the day shooting each other with air rifles. I cooked an enormous pasta bake, followed by a chocolate gateau which hopefully will have lined their stomachs for the drinking session I know they have planned for this evening outside in the barbecue area.

Gemma and I had fun looking through Romas' photo albums and I managed to narrow my selection down to just a few to share with all of you out there.

Aged 27 weeks, in our garden in London.

Not quite 2 years old out on Wanstead Flats with ...... Sprite?

2 years old and absolutely gorgeous.

3 and a half and full of mischief.

4 years old with little puppy Zulu.
I wonder how the front door got so muddy?

7 years old with Zulu.

15?

16? looking a little exhausted after several hours surfing.

19 today!
All grown up into a handsome young man.

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Perfectly Pretty

Happy Halloween!! I saw this image by photographer Emily Followill on Desire to Inspire yesterday and tried not to drool on my keyboard. The colors are just perfect. I love everything about this room!

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kitchen design photo gallery

take some ideas from our kitchen photo gallery

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Guerilla Gardening.

First a couple of photos that I took in the garden. This waterfall has decreased in size over the years as the stream has gradually filled up with stones washed down from further up the valley. I thought this photo almost had an oil painting feel to it.

This osteospermum is definitely flowering out of season.

These are not guerrillas, just the boys all togged up for an airsoft session. The guerrilla is in fact me, there is a phenomenon in some cities of guerrilla gardening where concerned citizens creep out under the cover of darkness and plant up featureless traffic islands with something more inspiring than grass. Next to my garden is a piece of wasteland about 50' x 50' belonging to my neighbour. We have asked him several times , if we could buy it but the answer has always been no. Initially he wanted to keep the option open of access to a neighbouring field which he hoped to buy but that is now woodland. A massive bramble thicket grew up with trees on his field boundary that have grown 20' and 30' high. Bad for me because I like the view but good for prospective buyers who might prefer privacy. He then used this ground to dump heaps of rock and subsoil from some building work so I have taken advantage and used it as a bonfire site for brambles and branches. There is also a handy ditch which I have been filling with garden waste. In return I have cleared most of the brambles and whenever I am pruning or clearing garden plants I take the effort to plant them in the hope that some will grow. Naughty I know but it's so much nicer than a bank of brambles and bindweed. I also put in, just for fun, a thicket of raspberries which I'm sure the birds appreciate. And if he drives over it all with the digger then it won't matter anyway.

Part of the waste ground with 2 kinds of hardy geraniums, nasturtiums and garden lilies.

It was a grey windy day with the wind blowing from the east, .... down from Siberia? I fixed up a curtain over the inside porch door to stop the draughts, usually the new part of the house shelters the front door from the prevailing south westerlies and the front door is open most of the time. Gemma came down last night and the youngsters all went to have lunch at The Honeymoon, a local Chinese restaurant which does an all you can eat buffet lunch for £6. It's very nice food and with my boys' appetites it's excellent value. They did invite me along but as I'm watching what I eat it would have been too much temptation. I ventured into the garden to take some photos and then decided that it was time for the nasturtiums to go as they were looking rather wilted from the cold. Better now than when they go all slimy from the frost. The nasturtiums and as many seeds as I could collect went 'next door'.

Last night there was some freak weather at Ottery St Mary, just east of Exeter. They had 5ft of snow and hail as well as 4ft of flood water. Follow the link below for more details.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/7700167.stm

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Clean and Simple Living

I love the clean lines of this breezy aqua living room. It all feels so fresh, so simple. -Martha Stewart

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kitchen design photo gallery

take some ideas from our kitchen photo gallery

kitchen 1

kitchen 2

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Kitchen Island and Kitchen Cart

Solid hardwood construction in Natural finish
Solid end cut hardwood butcher block top
Round front utility drawer on metal drawer glides for easy movement
Heavy brushed steel handles on the sides for double as towel racks on top and hold your accessories in place on side shelves
Open storage in center
9-Bottle wine rack on bottom is removable
Heavy duty locking rubber casters for easy mobility and safety
Rubber is quiet and easy on floors

Solid wood construction in Red finish with Granite top
4-Utility drawers
2 cabinet doors open to storage with adjustable shelf inside
Handy spice rack with Towel bar
Paper Towel holder
Heavy duty locking rubber casters for easy mobility and safety

Solid wood Natural finish with Zinc coated steel legs and accents
Top comes fully assembled
Extra thick angled wood top
Two easy open drawers on glides
Two metal side bars / towel hangers
One slatted wood shelf
One steel basket shelf
4 Industrial grade rubber casters, 2 locking for safety and mobility

Two spacious rattan drawers organize your kitchen utensils
Lower shelf provides plenty of storage space for larger items
Kitchen towels hang neatly on the wooden towel holder
Casters for easy mobility
Easy to assemble

This casual contemporary, generously sized, kitchen cart is finished in a rich brown mindy wood tone finish on solid rubber wood
Features storage for 10 bottles, a full storage shelf on the bottom, 2 drawers, industrial casters (2 that lock), 4 end pegs for towels and kitchen implements and a large black marble top for easy food prep and cleaning.
Some assembly required.

This Kitchen Butler® with rich "Marquis Cherry" finish is designed to give you the space to prepare, the storage essential for gourmet food preparation, and the option to use it as a breakfast bar.

This Kitchen Butler® is your all-in-one kitchen storage and food preparation center. Designed to give you the space to prepare and the storage essential for gourmet food preparation. Now you can have the same full function food prep area as the professionals use.

"Cottage White" finish
Designed to give you the space to prepare, the storage essential for gourmet food preparation, and the option to use it as a breakfast bar
Wood top with inset and lift out granite cutting board and food prep surface
Removable knife block

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