The City Mouse in the Country

      The official first day of spring was roughly three weeks ago, although I think in most people minds, spring officially starts around Easter.   The last of the cold fronts have hopefully moved through and we are all waiting, anticipating, the growing season to start.     It's almost a palpable energy sweeping through this small community.  All around our small town; I see fields getting plowed, garden beds are getting readied, even our own.  Talk of what fertilizer to use and potting soils fill each and every store around us.  Weed killers, organic and otherwise, are quickly flying off the shelves.  The hum of lawnmowers and other equipment fills the air.           With each day that passes, another tree blooms.  Another flower sprouts.  Our yard is filled with daffodils and here and there, even a dandelion pops up.      Officially the first frost free day is around May 17th , but I don't think many people will wait that long to plant.  We are officially planting over this

 **edit - I received some feedback that the links I share are not always visible.  So I am going to try highlighting them for now to see if that helps.** Maybe an actual photo of me?        Spring is coming, there is even a countdown clock for it available on the internet.  So far the winter hasn't been as bad as I had feared.   We have only had a few days where the temperature has dropped below freezing and for the most part the snow has been manageable.   I've managed to only have to shovel my driveway a handful of times this year.  We are currently experiencing the coldest snap of the year but the day is sunny and bright and that helps.     I have to admit that I'm not happy at this moment, being wrapped up in sweaters and wearing thermal pajamas to bed each night.  However, I remind myself that this to shall pass.     I moved South to escape the cold and moved back up north to escape the every increasing heat in the South.  I do believe in Global Warming and remember m

 " We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” - Winston Churchill.      Winter isn't officially here yet, but we seem to be getting up in darkness and going to bed in darkness.  The nice weather we were having last week had disappeared and been replaced by...let's call them brisk...mornings and cloudy sky's.        Frost warnings and snow flurries are not on the agenda yet, but the days are counting down.        Up until this point, Sue and I had a vague idea of what we wanted to do come spring.  We knew that we wanted a garden; we knew that we tomato's, onions, a few herbs (Cue Simon and Garfunkel ), garlic and a few other things.     We also realized that, since it was just the two of us, any excess would either be canned or given away to family and the local food bank .  Sue was thinking that we might want to plant an abundance of pumpkins so that families that couldn't afford them would have something for their kids.  Which is jus

 First off, I'm a fan of history and food.  So when I found Tasting History on YouTube I was a fan right off the bat. In fact, I tried this dish below.  Although I was disappointed in it at the end of the day.  I didn't have two of the ingredients; lovage and caraway seeds (which Sue swore she had), so I ended up replacing them with celery leaf and cumin.  The chicken ended up being very moist and peppery but there was no "wow" flavor.  Nothing that unusual about it, even though it used several ingredients that I was unfamiliar with.  I don't mind being pushed out of my comfort zone in the name of good food. It did bring up an interesting question for me however.  If I'm serious about learning how to garden, preserving my food and other things...would I be willing to try and raise "forgotten" foods? This interest actually goes all the way back to collage, when I learned that Spirulina was used by the Aztecs in a type of dried cake.   Of course, th