Soup, Salad, Soul, and Soil

1. After watching the videos below, I felt inspired to discover a recipe for pumpkin beyond your typical pies, muffins, and such. Joseph and I are having a great time working together, building a very deep mulch over our back 40 garden and rear flower beds. Since we began studying permaculture, this idea of hands-off gardening is appealing to us more and more. Like Ruth Stout and Patricia Lanza, I am in no shape to double dig garden beds especially in heavy clay. Joseph simply doesn't have the time. Geoff Lawton reminded us of this method in one of his videos, which I tried once before with some success. Anyway, using these very successful ideas in my back 40 (or where ever we end up), we might have a great garden again. I loved the part in the video, where Mrs. Stout bragged that she hadn't been in a grocery story in 15 years and grows all her food. Since my goal is to emulate this ideal, I need to learn to cook things like pumpkin in a variety of ways.





2. The following recipe was drastically modified from one I found on the internet. Because it is altered to the point of being a totally different product, I don't feel compelled to link the original. Serve this with the usual mega-huge salad, perhaps buckwheat lettuce, romaine, lentil and alfalfa sprouts, shredded beets, shredded carrots, julienned jicama lightly dressed with balsamic vinaigrette.

Pumpkin Tomato Basil Soup
Serves 10-12

1 small sugar pumpkin, seeded, peeled, and cut in chunks.
7 tomatoes, chopped or 2 pts. diced tomato
4 c. onion broth
8 carrots, peeled and sliced
3 cloves garlic
1 onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
12 oz. mushrooms, sliced
2 T. minced fresh basil
1 bunch kale, chopped finely
2-3 small zucchini, chopped
pinch cayenne pepper
1 c. almonds  soaked for 8 hours

Put all ingredients except mushrooms, kale, basil, chia seeds, and soaked nuts in a crock pot on low heat for 4-6 hours. When pumpkin is very soft, put nuts, a small amount of the broth, and chia seeds in the blender, and puree. When this is smooth, puree the rest of the soup in batches, returning it to the pot. Add basil and kale. Dry saute mushrooms and zucchini cvered with 1 t. dried basil until golden. Ladle soup into bowls and top with mushroom mixture as you would croutons. Soup freezes well without kale, mushrooms or zucchini. Add them fresh, after thawing and warming

Balsamic Vinaigrette

1 1/4 t. light miso
1/4 t. dry mustard
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 C. balsamic vinegar
1/4 C. lemon juice
3/4 C. water
2 T. soaked sunflower seeds or almonds

Combine all ingredients in a magic bullet and process until utterly smooth. Put in cruet and keep refrigerated, shaking well before each use.

3. So last winter I yelled at a boy, who threw a snow ball at my wind shield. Although I was justified in my fright, I wasn't justified in anger or contention. I knew it then and the thing has haunted me with guilt ever since. Yesterday, that boy brought me a huge load of fall leaves for my new project. He could have used them on his family's garden. Instead, this peace offering was extended by a 12-year-old. I'm humbled and filled with joy.

4. Where Can I Turn for Peace is my new piece. I've worked on it before but not fully memorized it with violin, piano, or voice. However, each time I have a crisis in my life, this hymn pops into my mind. It is the loveliest prayer for those striving for joy and peace.

5. I'm changing the way I work my indoor farm. I've been very successful, if I don't leave town for more than a day or so. But if it's any longer the whole thing is dead, when I get back. I read a permaculture book this week, Lasagne Gardening. Inside she talks something about container gardening, which made a light bulb go off in my head. So.....after we get back from Nikki's wedding next weekend, I'm going to experiment with 12' shallow terra cotta pot saucers, pea gravel, cotton clothes line, and a 1 gallon glass juice bottle. I'm hopeful that this will allow me to continue to enjoy micro-farming even if we have to tend to business elsewhere.