2013 Resolution Review
Posted: July 6, 2013 Filed under: Local, Paleo, Wellness | Tags: chicken, choice, clothing, coop, failure, fitness, garden, line, paleo, paleolithic, produce, resolution, success, sugar, whole30 Leave a comment
It’s July, we’re half way through the year! Let’s take a look at how I started 2013, shall we?
2013 Resolutions:
- Produce Garden
- Flower Garden for Giving
- No white sugar
- Chickens (shh, don’t tell anyone)
- Proper Clothing Line
January specific Resolutions:
- Whole30
- 30 days of Fitness
January. Now to review, we can start with January. I was almost spot on with a Whole30 AND 30 days of fitness. However, I know I skipped 2 days and then I konked out at 24 days. So really, I completed a Whole 25, give or take, and only 22 days of fitness, but it was an admirable start! If I do say so myself.
1. Now for the year’s resolutions. *Sigh* My produce garden is/was an epic fail. So sad! However, a good farm takes lots of care, planning, work, and attention. I have teamed up with a soil-expert friend of mine, Seppi Garret from Your Garden Solution, and I am confident that I will wrangle this yard yet!
I was able to get a few salads out of my heritage greens before they became too bitter and I do believe I’ll get some more in the ground for the later half of the harvesting season. Nothing like a fresh salad! We also had success with carrots and onions this year, which we eat a ton of. I suppose is wasn’t a complete fail. Seppi and his son, Ben, were kind enough to help add a new bed by bartering a few pieces of wood, some vermiculite, cardboard and sweat for some video work documenting Seppi’s amazing yard built on the designs of permiculture. I love a good barter! We hope to continue to expand throughout the next year. Our yard is large and full of sun. We just need to work on good soil to bring forth a bountiful crop.
2. There is NO flower garden. Over zealous is not a new addition to my list of characteristics.
3. SUGAR! I try, I really do. I go in spurts with it, and it’s usually because of the lack of fresh food when I get home from work at 11pm and just feel hungry and drained. Of course, I realize fresh food will replenish my body, and the most exciting evenings offer me leftovers from my family’s dinner. However, they do not always enjoy something I would consider nutritious and sometimes I eat it anyway. Any kind of pasta is a direct offender. I don’t even like pasta. I vow to try harder.
4. The chickens have been an ongoing topic of discussion and planning. At this rate, I can feel a community of advocates growing stronger where I live. Perhaps we’ll change policy and break in new habits for our neighbors to learn and adopt. I’m also waiting to meet new, over-the-fence neighbors before I surprise them with our (sub)urban petting zoo. But we have a great location place, I know a guy with a coop and my research is hefty!
5. I turned 33 the other day and guess what I got for my birthday? That’s right! A clothing line. My family loves me.
I sense a theme in my posts this week and it’s that I’m not perfect. I think we all knew that, of course, but I want to impress that this is reality. Success and failure are relative and I feel very successful in my choices pertaining to a simpler life, a healthy diet and being fit-enough. Does that mean I’m gung-ho, 100%, on my game all the time? Hell no. But it certainly doesn’t mean I’m not doing a good job. Every new moment presents an opportunity for a better choice. Choose best as often as possible.
Oh, did I mention; I’m back at Crossfit717 as of Monday. Say hi, I’m too nervous to speak!
RESOLUTE!
Posted: December 29, 2012 Filed under: Local, Paleo, Uncategorized, Wellness | Tags: 2013, chicken, family, fitness, garden, goal, house, non gmo, paleo, paleolithic, plants, resolution, sugar, whole30 7 CommentsI am a BIG fan of resolutions. Clear, focused goals that will allow you to become a better person or adjust your lifestyle positively; something that is within reason, yet breaks you out of your usual mold; a goal which allows you to feel successful.
I am proud to state that my #1 resolution for 2012 was to get houseplants. More importantly, though, it was to keep them alive indefinitely. Guess what? I DID IT!!! Allow me to introduce a few…
I adopted the bulk of my plants from my mother’s lush collection. Most of the little fellers live in our Play Room.
I think this tall guy is a Jade. My cousin-in-law’s mother-in-law gifted me a sprig after I admired her beautiful tree.
This guy has grown 4xs his size, has been re-potted twice and is due for another. His little brother has a home in our Living Room and is, thankfully, much less work.
The plants have brought new life into a house that I keep as stark and modern as possible with children and a collector husband living within. They’ve grounded me during a whirlwind year where I closed a business, started school and changed my career. A simple watering schedule provides routine to my week and breathes life into something. Instant gratification. Plus, my plants don’t shout for “Mama!” all day or fight with their sister. They are calm.
‘ Viva la Paleo! ‘ Robb Wolf
Alas, not all resolutions survive, as starting a blog (THIS blog) was one of them. Well, I started it…and then maintained it…and then I ignored it. I believe my last post was made in July. Half way through the year isn’t too shabby, but no prize. I have received a lot of feedback from the Pushups and Carrots page on Facebook and I appreciate all the love and support, the questions and comments you’ve provided. I felt as if I hit on many of the topics that were a struggle for me as I began my Paleo lifestyle and that was my purpose in starting the blog. I am now finding new purpose through conversations with friends, old and new, and a year of go-go-go wrapping up. I am more than ready for a new year, a new me, and a new purpose!
Despite the odd number, 2013 is being met with zest! I’ve been inspired by so many of you and others who garden (another 2012 resolution which was successful…for most of the harvest) This year, I will grow AS MUCH of the produce we eat as possible. The pay-off is amazing, delicious and creates an immense sense of self-satisfaction to walk outback, cut a few things into a bowl and walk back inside to enjoy it with your family. YUM. More to come on the crops I plan for 2013. I started my spreadsheet last night! I also look forward to using the results of my Mother’s Day gift from 2012, fresh COMPOST!
Keeping with the gardening theme, my 5yo (the once 4yo who named this blog) came up with a great idea: a garden meant for giving. She would like to bring flowers to people “so (she) can help them”. Adorable and doable! We’ve been gradually planting wildflowers for a number of years now, with a few additional cutting flowers planted, I’m certain we’ll have plenty of bouquets to give out and people to meet in the process.
I pay anywhere from $4-6 a dozen for non-grain eggs.
While the garden is my main focus for 2013, I’d also REALLY like a few Rhode Island Reds. My brother, who has his own brood, offered to help with the coup. Although I’m up against a few pesky laws, I have confidence in my plan. (Keep your fingers crossed!) That being said, I’m also resoluting to hang a proper clothing line and start my year off with a Whole30 as well as 30 days of fitness. Now for the Big Daddy of resolutions, and one I’m not fully confident in (much like the feeling I had about the houseplants, which were a major success, if-I-do-say-so-myself) a year with absolutely NO white sugar.
That shit creeps its way into everything.
All in all, I’ll choose to live by this little mantra I found attached to this afternoon’s tea: “To be great, feel great, and act great.”
2013 Resolutions:
- Produce Garden
- Flower Garden for Giving
- No white sugar
- Chickens (shh, don’t tell anyone)
- Proper Clothing Line
January specific Resolutions:
- Whole30
- 30 days of Fitness
BAM! What do you think? What are your resolutions?
I wonder which resolutions will be my biggest successes of 2013 and which will perish amidst the chaos of my new career… Exciting.
My Farm(s) – Buy Local
Posted: January 20, 2012 Filed under: Local, Wellness | Tags: buyers club, csa, farm, grade b, honey, local, north mountain pastures, paleo, paleolithic, pennsylvania, sunset valley farm, syrup 3 CommentsLast night, as the pork loin had just reached perfection and salads were almost complete, I realized it was 5:58pm! I turned off the oven, grabbed my keys, shouted “I have a farm pickup!” and ran out of the house to the car. I pulled up to another house, about 10 blocks from my own, where Brooks Miller was well bundled in front of a truck filled with coolers containing packages of pasture-raised meats and eggs as well as raw, grass-fed dairy products and more. Beside him stood a man I wasn’t familiar with yet, but am presuming was Emanuel Smucker.
North Mountain Pastures is spread across 84 acres in Perry County, Pennsylvania
Brooks and Emanuel, along with their wives, are local farmers. Their families’ own and operate North Mountain Pastures and Sunset Valley Farm respectively. Specializing in complimentary products, they recently teamed up by offering the North Mountain Pastures Buyer’s Club new items like raw, pastured milk, cheese, yogurt and honey as well as a super delicious grade b syrup (seriously, I had my first taste this morning). I’ve participated in both the Meat CSA and the Buyer’s Club with North Mountain and can’t emphasize enough how humble, generous and inspiring the Miller’s have been during our brief interactions or email exchanges.
We first participated with a medium ‘everything’ share which includes cuts of beef, poultry, lamb and pork. The packaging was by portion and sometimes offered a new challenge by introducing us to a cut of meat that I would not have otherwise chosen. Cooking was fun and interesting and the Millers offered recipes in their newsletter and on their website to help with culinary inspiration. Our family, however, is not a huge fan of the pastured pork. Next time we join the CSA, we’ll elect a pork free share instead. The medium-sized meat share fed our family of two adults and two small children almost an entire month.
More recently, I’ve chosen the Buyer’s Club option with North Mountain Pastures, which allows anyone to purchase as little or as much from their store as they’d like. I enjoy the ground beef, roasts, ribs, whole chickens and parts the most. The lamb has always been delicious, but more of a treat and less of a monthly staple. Their once monthly deliveries to Harrisburg and Camp Hill always include eggs for us, as well.
Sunset Valley Farm is operated by Emanuel and Barbie Smucker
Of their newest offerings through Sunset Valley, I was most excited to see pastured butter and grade b syrup, which I have a hard time finding in the average grocery market. Another exciting purchase was local, raw honey. I first learned of the benefits of local honey from the Fredricksen Library’s Bee Local Festival last September. The immune boosting qualities of local honey alone had me hooked before I even found a source. I typically use honey as a sweetener in place of refined sugar, but may start adding a bit to tea for more frequent exposure. Sunset Valley Farm products are also available in the same building as Nino’s Bistro and Italian Market at 18th and Market Streets in Camp Hill, PA every saturday from 9am-2pm.
As I look forward to our next meal, provided by local farm(s) I also look forward to the expansion of North Mountain Pastures’ facilities. Check out their video in the link below (since I can’t figure out how to embed it, yes I pasted to HTML) for more information about their background, the work they do and their plans that will impact our community. You could help.
North Mountain Pastures’ proposed expansion project – CHECK OUT THE VIDEO!
Pushups and Carrots 