Bumper Crop

If you see me, you'd know. We're having a little bumper crop in September - our fourth baby boy!

Any advice on raising so many boys is heartily welcome.

I always think of an old coworker who told me, "My mom always says mothers of all boys are crazy."

Bring on the crazy!

Good Dirt

This week we've been dealing with our dirt. I mean that literally and figuratively. We're testing our soil in one of our garden beds. The seeds aren't coming up as fast in one section of new soil as they are in a more established bed that's been worked with compost for two years. We bought a home testing kit from the Flower Bin in Longmont so we can check pH, nitrogen, potassium and other levels. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next day or two and determine what we need to add to balance it all out.

We're also dealing with the figurative nitty gritty "dirt" of kids growing up. There's a balancing act going on around here about three boys pushing boundaries and consequences. Must be an end-of-the-school-year catharsis. It's exhausting, dirty business, but hopefully - can't help myself with the metaphor here - the seeds of a good groundwork will pay off.  If it were only as simple as adding a little nitrogen to even things out ...

This week's garden crop was French Breakfast radishes. They're longer and bit thinner than their traditional counterparts. Serve them sliced on toast with a little salt and butter for a real treat. We've also got more lemon cucumber plants per many requests from market goers. We won't be there next weekend for Memorial Day, but come down the following week and pick up a plant.

The market was cold and rainy this weekend. Not as many shoppers. We needed to pack a more robust lunch for our kiddos. They were all starving when the market ended. Need to address that Maslow hierarchy of needs. Take a moment to HALT -  address whether you're hungry, angry, lonely, tired. That would help with all of our moods and behavior.

Jack's exhaustion and hunger in the car threw him in to a tailspin of an existential crisis asking, "Is God even real? How did he know how to make the world? What does he do all day?"

We need some radishes stat.

Whey Good Weekend Food

Working at the farmer's market has its advantages. We got the spicy green salad mix from Aspen Moon Farm and a roasted red pepper and onion flatbread from Breadworks for dinner.

The salad was delicious because we topped it with the Creamy Green Goddess Dressing recipe from chef Mara King of Esoteric Foods. We used basil and it's spectacular.

Creamy Green Goddess 
Makes about 3/4 to 1 cup of dressing
by Chef Mara King

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 Tablespoons or more of white wine vinegar
3 Tablespoons fresh or sour cream, yogurt, mayonnaise or pureed soft tofu
1/2 to 3/4 cup tender, milder herbs like parsley, tarragon, chervil or basil
1 small garlic clove
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a blender and turn machine on; a creamy emulsion will form in 30 seconds. Taste and add vinegar a teaspoon or two at a time until the balance tastes right to you. If the mixture is too thick (it probably will be), add water one tablespoon at a time until the consistency is right. Taste, adjust the seasoning.

We also had a coupon from Live Well Moms for yogurt called, Better Whey of Life. We picked out the plain vanilla, and Dirk said, "What is this? It's the best yogurt I ever had." I liked it, too. The vanilla bean gave the yogurt an authentic flavor. There's whey protein in it to balance the protein and carb ratio. I would definitely buy this product again.

Next week, we're getting more greens from the market and we'll play around with the dressing variations.