Watch FRESH Online for Free

I have been traveling a lot lately, so haven't been keeping up as well with my blogging. However, for those interested in the issue of good, healthy food, you can watch the documentary, Fresh, online for free through February 1. Sorry for the late notice, but hope some of you will have the chance to watch it. To watch the movie, here's the link: http://action.freshthemovie.com/p/salsa/web/common/public/signup?signup_page_KEY=6608

Red River Sierra Group

The Red River Sierra Group is small, but important organization. If you are a member of the national Sierra Club, you are a member of the local group. The local organization receives no part of the dues paid to national, so operates on a shoestring.

The group decided to Adopt-a-Highway. We will do our first clean-up on Saturday, January 21, preceded by a short meeting to conduct business. You may attend either or both.

The business meeting will begin at noon at Atlanta Bread on Midwestern Parkway. We need to elect new officers and notify state. The group chair position is open and committee chairs are also needed. About 12:45 the meeting will adjourn for members to meet up for the clean-up, beginning at 1:00 PM. Those willing to assist will meet at FM 369 and Sisk Rd. Bags will be provided, but you may want to bring gloves. We have a 2-mile stretch to pick up.

Hope to see some of you there. If you are not a member of Sierra Club, but would like to learn more about the organization, feel free to come to the meeting or the cleanup.

Change the World; Grow a Garden

I came across this short little video encouraging people to plant a backyard garden to address the major environmental issues of our time. Just 2 minutes.

Miscellany

I have several short things today, so thought I would just spit them all out in one post instead of doing separate posts for each.

I bought some garden seeds this week. I am still harvesting food from my garden from the fall planting and am getting ready to start some plants for the spring garden. It won't be that long before the chance of frost is pretty low.

Spinach still going strong

Small green tomatoes ripened nicely

Broccoli almost ready for harvest

It sure is nice to make an omelet using fresh spinach picked just that morning with tomatoes from the garden (in this case, ripened on the counter from green tomatoes picked just before the one freeze we've had.) I still have parsley and kale producing from the plants I harvested from weeks ago. Cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower heads are still growing.

Green leaf lettuce

Kale about ready for a second harvest

Lettuce and spinach are also still producing. Interested in starting some seeds yourself? Here is a basic how-to from Mother Earth News.

Although I have some herbs still in the garden and one lone basil plant on the windowsill in the laundry room, I will be starting several more plants this weekend and next week. Some to incorporate into the landscape and some to put into pots. Although this author is in a snowbound location, her hints for growing herbs indoors are pertinent to everyone, so I thought I would share the link.

Remember I said before I wasn't able to find alfalfa seeds for sprouting in town? I did find a good online source for sprouting seeds and ordered some alfalfa and broccoli seeds. The seeds arrived within a couple of days, even though I didn't pay for special shipping. I am getting ready to start some. The seed price was very good--the shipping doubled the price. However, when compared to the price of buying the sprouts at the grocery, it's still a super bargain.

I like loose leaf tea. If you're a tea drinker, you know how much better the flavor is. Wichita Falls is not a mecca for tea drinkers, so if you like good tea, you have to order it from somewhere else.
I also like nice, fresh herbs and when experimenting with different foods, sometimes the herbs and spices from the grocery don't have enough variety. Although  I usually buy my teas from Harney and Sons, I came across the Frontier Natural Products Co-op web site recently that has bulk herbs and spices and loose tea, as well as some neat cooking gadgets. The tea prices are less, but I haven't purchased any teas from them yet to determine the quality.

Hope some of these articles and web resources will be useful to you.