The kitchen (life) change we made (Part 3 of a 3-part cooking series)

This is the final piece in a three-part series about making it easier to cook homemade meals. If you missed Part 1, you’ll find it here. And for Part 2, click here.

PART 3: THE KITCHEN (LIFE) CHANGE WE MADE

Our kitchen drawers and cupboards used to put up a fight every time we opened them. Plastic containers that had long lost their lids would topple to the floor when we opened the pantry. Pull one spoon from the utensil holder and two more leapt to defend it. Counter space was yielded to knife blocks, knick-knacks, and cupboard overflow.

While our kitchen (and home) always appeared tidy, it was a constant struggle to make it so. To me, a neat home should bring a sense of calm, and time to move on to pursuits other than housework, but this was just never the reality. I’d get everything put back together, and then turn around and start all over. It was exhausting and monotonous, and it definitely stole away time with my family, and time for more meaningful projects.

You start to wonder if you have a personality flaw. In this case, was I just too nit-picky? Or was I just super inefficient? Then, a few years ago, I picked up the now-famous little hardback with the dreamy blue and white cloud cover, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing. Marie Kondo’s years spent studying people’s homes and habits revealed it wasn’t a personality flaw at fault, it was a flaw in the systems of a house.

After letting her advice wash over me, and truly sink in, it was life-altering. It was a matter of too much stuff. Stuff we didn’t need, or even want. Yet it dominated our living space and my time.

Embracing the book’s ideas sent me down the road to freeing our family of unwanted and unneeded things, and pointed me in the direction of Becoming Minimalist, and, my favorite, The Minimal Mom.

The Minimal Mom’s kitchen advice pulled me in. In her videos, she opens her kitchen up to you, and presents how appealing and functional a kitchen is with only the things you need.

By applying the advice gleaned from these people, we, as a family, discovered that a work space where we can move fluidly is a productive space. This is especially true in the kitchen. When a space makes every movement a fight, you’ll come out on the losing end. If you want to be the kind of person who cooks at home, you need a work space that isn’t struggling against you.

Here’s how we did it

1.) Go through every kitchen cupboard, drawer, and pantry space.

This is the roll your sleeves up part, for sure. The hardest work is deciding what to pitch, donate, or keep. For my initial sweep of the kitchen, I did everything at once, and it took about two days. If that sounds overwhelming, then start with one drawer or one cupboard. Taking a small step may help you evaluate everything without wearing out physically or mentally. Some items will be quick decisions. Others may try to fool you with their attractive, shiny, never-used appearance. Kitchen gadgets like these seem like keepers at first. But ask yourself why you haven’t used this particular item? And ask yourself if you’ll ever actually use it. If the answer is no, then donate it. Forgive yourself for spending money on the gadget in the first place, and let it go. The same goes for gifts that you don’t use. It’s alright to let them go.

This next tip is a bit unusual, but it’s my favorite change in the kitchen. We keep only the number of dishware and utensils we need for the number of people in our house. For us, that means three plates, three cups, three forks, three spoons, and so on. I parted with a fair number of dishes, but I also opted to store some for when we have guests, or our farm open house. While this trick won’t eliminate dish washing and drying from your life, it will stop dishes from piling up. Our experience is that it forces discipline. If we don’t keep up with the dishes after each meal, there won’t be any dishes. (The dishes stored away are in an easy enough spot to reach for a special occasion, but they’re too inconvenient for casual use, so no one ever reaches for those instead of just washing a plate.)

When I clean out a drawer or cupboard or closet, a peculiar and satisfying nuance happens. Storage spaces with breathing room have a different feel when you open and close them. It’s not just that clutter is no longer toppling out. There’s a new energy. They open more easily in your hand, almost springing to help you now. There’s a lightness, an airiness. And when a drawer closes, it tends to make a satisfying, light click. It may sound silly at first, but look at it like this, when everything starts clicking into place, you’re gaining more peace.

2.) A home for everything, including what’s on the counter tops.

For us, this came more naturally after making progress with Step 1. We’ve also refined it over time, as we detect what movements are inconvenient as we cook. When the kitchen is free of all the things you don’t need anymore, intuition about where things should go kicks in. Just make sure you give everything you frequently use an easy-access home.

We emptied out a cupboard with a turntable-style shelf (a.k.a. Lazy Susan), and reserved that for pans only. Before, pots and pans were shoved together in one cupboard, and it was a struggle to free anything. The pans now have their home in the cupboard, and the pots have their’s. I definitely don’t miss clanging, lifting, and jamming pots and pans during every meal prep.

We also only kept the pots and pans we actually use. That almost completely eliminated the need to stack. Cookware now rests in a single layer, all partnered with their lids.

The more I found things in the cupboards and drawers that no longer served us (or never did), the more space I had to put things away, and clear the counter tops. (Ye be warned: From here on out, I dive into some major kitchen minutia. If this is all making sense to you, you’ll likely want to read on. If this all sounds nuts to you, it only gets nuttier from here.) For years, we kept two big utensil holders on the counter. They were constantly splattered in food from the stove, and the seldom-used tools were even dusty. Most of the utensils were duplicates, in sad (even gross) shape, or were never used. We went through them, keeping only our favorites, and then laid them in an empty drawer, within reach of the stove.

It’s been my experience that the kitchen is like an onion. You’ll go through one layer, and feel a sense of increased comfort and peace in the space, and, then, after a time, you’ll discover new ways to make it more efficient. The decluttering habit forms like a muscle. When you use it, and it gets stronger, you’ll start seeing potential improvements all around. This was the case with our compost bowl (as promised, minutia). For years, it sat on the counter, often looking - and smelling - entirely gross. After all the decluttering, there was a deep drawer in our island that was nearly empty. I found a new home for those few items, lined the bottom with a mat, and tucked the compost bowl inside. It’s just as easy to get to, and always hidden - sight and smell.

3.) Fridge and freezer inventory.

For this one, it’s best to just dive in and get it over with, and be ruthless about what you keep. I took everything out of the fridge, wiped it out, and then pitched what we would just never eat, and, of course, what was expired. This step is kind of embarrassing, but it’s eye-opening as far as how much food you waste.

There are three keys to making this step stick:

  • First, don’t buy groceries on a whim. Buy your groceries with intention, and then actually eat them.

  • Second, organize the fridge in a way that’s logical to you.

  • Third, treat the fridge like any other space in the kitchen. Give it a little care daily, or once a week. If something’s gone bad or expired, get rid of it right away. Give the surfaces a quick wipe. An organized, clean fridge that only holds the food you truly eat, lets you assess your ingredients and cook more easily.

4.) Go through non-perishable items.

For some reason, our cupboard contained about four big boxes of raisins. Some were older than our son. We opened that cupboard a dozen times a day, but apparently never looking for raisins. The same was true for plenty of other products. Just like with the fridge, this was a lesson in food waste. On the bright side, ridding yourself of stuff you’re just never going to eat will free up space.

5.) Keep the kitchen a place for food prep.

Our house has an open concept design. The kitchen, dining area, and living room are all basically one space. Like most homes, the kitchen table is used for more than meals. Silas regularly sets up shop with art projects and road systems. But the actual kitchen area is off-limits. No toys on the counters, no mail, no paperwork. Those all have their own home. The kitchen counters are for food prep.

6.) Reset and refine.

The reset is a daily process. But, the wonderful news is that after all this work, a daily reset takes just a few minutes. You never need to block off a big chunk of time to clean the kitchen. Part of this reset process for us is to wash, dry, and put away the dishes right after a meal. Look at it this way, you’re going to have to do it eventually anyway. In a short time, I became so accustomed to the clean look of open counters that I now prefer putting things away.

As for the refining, every few months, I get in the mood to go through kitchen things, and make sure we haven’t collected anything that isn’t serving us, or reevaluate items we’ve held on to, but still don’t use. Refining optimizes your space.

Now, if photo tours of trivial kitchen details are your thing, please, follow me right this way. To everyone else, thanks for reading. If you’re looking to cook more, I hope at least something written above helps. When you reduce the friction in the kitchen, you’ll make it easier to take care of the space, and to take care of you.

Since we’re a three-person household, we keep three of most dishware and utensils. At one point, this cupboard was home to probably about 15 mugs. We kept six of our favorites, and got rid of the rest. As for wine glasses, we keep out two, and store…

Since we’re a three-person household, we keep three of most dishware and utensils. At one point, this cupboard was home to probably about 15 mugs. We kept six of our favorites, and got rid of the rest. As for wine glasses, we keep out two, and store the rest in a less-used cupboard. Reducing our dishware created space in this cupboard for other items, like vases.

We used to own a large collection of disgusting teas that no one wanted. For some reason, we clung to them like they were savings bonds. We also previously stored tea, which we drink all the time, in a cramped, hard-to-get-to space. Now, we keep onl…

We used to own a large collection of disgusting teas that no one wanted. For some reason, we clung to them like they were savings bonds. We also previously stored tea, which we drink all the time, in a cramped, hard-to-get-to space. Now, we keep only the tea we actually drink, and store it in a convenient spot. We also created a home for our glass mixing bowls and measuring cups. We use them them all the time, so it’s handy to have them within easy reach.

All of our cupboards and drawers have breathing room, and you can easily grab items like olive oil or cooking sherry while making a meal. To keep a little excitement in our lives, those canning lids still have a 50 percent chance of raining down on …

All of our cupboards and drawers have breathing room, and you can easily grab items like olive oil or cooking sherry while making a meal. To keep a little excitement in our lives, those canning lids still have a 50 percent chance of raining down on you.

This here’s my pride and joy. I still get misty-eyed when I remember the day I finally eliminated my grimy utensil holders.

This here’s my pride and joy. I still get misty-eyed when I remember the day I finally eliminated my grimy utensil holders.

This cupboard used to be a mish-mash. Now, it’s for coffee-making items only. (That’s ground coffee in the container with the green lid.)

This cupboard used to be a mish-mash. Now, it’s for coffee-making items only. (That’s ground coffee in the container with the green lid.)

Here’s the pots drawer. It could still use some refinement, but it’s accessible enough that it doesn’t slow us down during meal prep. For the most part, we store pots with their lids. The same goes for food storage containers. We keep pans in a sepa…

Here’s the pots drawer. It could still use some refinement, but it’s accessible enough that it doesn’t slow us down during meal prep. For the most part, we store pots with their lids. The same goes for food storage containers. We keep pans in a separate space, and we also have a cupboard specifically for pizza trays and baking dishes.

Full disclosure, this photo was taken the day before a grocery store run, so normally this pantry is more stocked and less open, but this is the general appearance. We eventually decluttered our entire house, so this freed up a hall closet, which we…

Full disclosure, this photo was taken the day before a grocery store run, so normally this pantry is more stocked and less open, but this is the general appearance. We eventually decluttered our entire house, so this freed up a hall closet, which we now use as a second pantry. The food storage containers in this photo (plus two more containers pressed into service somewhere) are the only tupperware containers we own. You’d be surprised how few containers you actually need. In case you’re wondering, the glass jar on the first shelf is kombucha. And, as you can see, we have a weakness for seltzer.

This is the kitchen on a typical day. The routine is to wash and put away dishes after every meal, and wipe the surfaces down. It takes a matter of minutes. It’s not a fancy space, but we sure do enjoy it.

This is the kitchen on a typical day. The routine is to wash and put away dishes after every meal, and wipe the surfaces down. It takes a matter of minutes. It’s not a fancy space, but we sure do enjoy it.

Before & after of the Little Tunnel

The Little Tunnel is apparently a suitable home for several varieties of aggressive ground cover. After hauling the weeds out in buckets, we tucked straw around the tunnel’s other occupants: garlic, onions, Swiss chard, and claytonia. The straw works well for weed control. There’s a patch of carrots in the back, as well. We’re about to dig those up, so we didn’t bother weeding and strawing them.

In a few months, this tunnel will shelter our cucumber vines.

Yikes.

Yikes.

Ah, that’s better. The row on the far left is empty. We’re going to lay landscape fabric over it, to kill off the remaining ground cover.

Ah, that’s better. The row on the far left is empty. We’re going to lay landscape fabric over it, to kill off the remaining ground cover.

~ Stella

What we keep in the cupboards (Part 2 of a 3-part cooking series)

This is the second piece in a three-part series about making it easier to cook homemade meals. For the third part of the series, which we’ll publish, Monday, April 5, we’ll talk about the life change that streamlined ALL meals in our house. If you missed Part 1, you’ll find it here.

PART 2: WHAT WE KEEP IN THE CUPBOARDS

The easier you make any habit, the more likely you are to carry it out. The same is true of homemade cooking. Reducing the amount of friction in the kitchen will help you cook with greater ease.

You can pave the way to becoming someone who cooks by keeping a solid foundation of ingredients in the cupboards, fridge, and freezer at all times. When you do this, you always have appealing meal options, even when groceries are running low. The key is to know at least a few meals you enjoy, and then stock those ingredients. This also cuts down on last-minute trips to the store, or ordering take out.

Below is a list of what you’ll find in our cupboards on any given day. We combine these ingredients in different ways for basically all meals and snacks. Our grocery budget is about $100 per week, and we typically shop once every two weeks. Of course these items and brands are specific to how we choose to eat, and may not be a good fit for you (we eat in the vegetarian style, but we do prepare some seafood), but the basic idea is the same: stock your kitchen well for how you want to eat, and you’re more likely to cook with ease.

Our essentials …

  • Whole grain flour: Our preferred brand is Bob’s Red Mill. It’s whole grain flour that produces an extremely workable dough. Jason makes rolls out of this flour that are as fluffy as white flour rolls. We order a 25-pound bag online. This employee-owned company has a fascinating history. Worth a listen on the podcast, “How I Built This with Guy Raz,” on NPR.

  • Rice: We keep a 50-pound bag of Jasmine rice, for nutrition and apparently exercise. Jason measures the water, and times his rice. I eyeball the water and don’t really pay attention to the time. Neither one of us can switch methods without ruining the rice.

  • Rice noodles: These are super fast (about 5 minutes), and they’re delicious in soups or with cooked veggies and sauces (or even just liquid aminos or soy sauce).

  • Whole grain pasta noodles: As with all products, check the label and make sure you actually see the words “whole grain” in the ingredients. Here’s a good guide by the Whole Grains Council for finding true whole grain products.

  • Taco shells

  • Whole grain wraps

  • Whole grain bread: If you make your own bread - that’s awesome! We go through bread-making phases, but it’s definitely a convenience purchase for us.

  • Eggs

  • Whole grain oats: We like Quaker Oats 100 percent whole grain oats. We buy either the 5-minute oats or the 1-minute oats. We love hot oatmeal with frozen peach slices, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger, plus a pinch of salt. Jason also likes to make “overnight oats.” COOKIE + kate has really delicious ideas for these.

Bob’s Red Mill whole wheat flour is our favorite. It’s easy to work with, and turns out just as light and fluffy as white flour.

Bob’s Red Mill whole wheat flour is our favorite. It’s easy to work with, and turns out just as light and fluffy as white flour.

Favorite ingredients …

These items can be used in countless combinations, and transformed into just about any style of cooking.

  • Tomatoes: Fresh during CSA season, of course! But we also freeze cherry tomatoes in freezer baggies so they can be cooked down or popped on pizza. Cooked-down tomatoes also store well in freezer baggies. And canned tomatoes are super helpful. Diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and tomato paste make frequent appearances in recipes. On nights when we’re hungry, but tuckered out, we saute minced garlic in olive oil and add a few splashes of wine and balsamic vinegar, then add diced tomatoes. When you add salt, fresh or dried basil, and sugar, to taste, you have a delicious sauce over whole wheat noodles. Tomatoes are a wonderful source of Vitamin C, as well as many other boosts to your health.

  • Beans: We always have black beans and garbanzo beans in the cupboard. They’re fantastic for super quick tacos. We also love to make curry with garbanzo beans. Just saute any veggies you want, add garbanzo beans, and pour in coconut milk. Stir in curry powder, salt and pepper, and serve over rice or rice noodles.

  • Coconut milk: We buy it for the curry recipe above, and it’s quite pleasing in coffee. There are also many delicious and easy Thai soup recipes that use coconut milk.

  • Fresh or frozen veggies: The growing season is an exciting time, with so much fresh produce. But we do keep a supply of frozen veggies, like corn and peas. We also enjoy a lot of greens, shoots, and microgreens from the farm. Carrots, potatoes, and sweet potatoes are always in our kitchen.

  • Onions

  • Garlic

  • Fresh or frozen fruit: We love fresh fruit, and typically buy what’s in season. Now, apples, those we eat year-around. A lot of apples. In the freezer, we keep: blueberries, peaches, cherries, mango, and pineapple. These can be added to many dishes, and are also great snacks.

  • Cheese: We keep mozzarella for homemade pizza. We also love a buttery grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup for lunch, so we stock a lot of cheddar. Queso sauce is also a favorite over rice and roasted poblano or jalapeno peppers.

  • Salsa

  • Olive oil

  • Butter

  • Cooking sherry

  • Liquid aminos (We use this in the place of soy sauce.)

  • Balsamic vinegar

  • Worcestershire sauce

To create an array of flavors …

  • Salt & pepper

  • Sesame seeds

  • Fresh or dried basil

  • Fresh or dried parsley

  • Cilantro

  • Curry powder

  • Cumin

  • Paprika

  • Fresh or ground ginger

  • Cinnamon

  • Nutmeg

  • Bouillon: We like the brand, Better Than Bouillon. Bouillon is useful for soups and gravies.

  • Mustard

  • Lemons and/or limes

Other useful items …

  • Milk

  • Cream

  • Peanut butter

  • Honey

  • Red Hot

  • Anything pickled (pickled peppers, actual pickles, etc.)

  • Sugar

  • Cocoa powder

  • Coffee

  • Tea

  • Occasional seafood

For snacks …

  • Apples: We eat so many, they made the list twice. They’re terrific as a quick fix between meals.

  • Saltine crackers: These are multi-purpose for us. A snack when we want something salty, and also enjoyed cracked over chili and other soups.

  • Granola bars: Lately, we’ve leaned toward KIND bars.

  • Plain yogurt: Another multi-purpose item. We use it as a sour cream substitute on Mexican-style foods. We also enjoy it as a snack with whole grain oats, frozen fruit, and honey.

  • Dark chocolate

Total convenience foods …

  • Whole wheat bagels (We have a soft spot for bagels!)

  • Frozen pierogies

Meals don’t have to be complicated. It’s amazing what you can create with a little knowledge and a few ingredients. Know your tastes, stock your shelves, and you’re well on your way.

~ Stella

PART 1: Check it out here.

PART 3 (Monday, April 5): We’ll share the kitchen (actually life) change that streamlined the meal prep process.

The farm has a deer fence!!!!!

After two long days of hard work, BASH Contracting completed the farm’s deer fence.

We wandered around, doing the work of the evening in somewhat of a daze, taking in the vision of neat rows of poles and gleaming wire.

Thank you so much to those who donated to this project, and thank you so much to the Crawford County Commissioners.

fence.jpg
all of us.jpg
me and fence.jpg

The deer won many battles, but the farm won the war tonight.

Signed with much hope for the future,

~ Stella

Food for your future self (Part 1 of a 3-part cooking series)

This is the first of a three-part series about making it easier to cook homemade meals. Check back, March 31, for Part 2, when we’ll share what we keep in the cupboards to ALWAYS have easy meal options. For the third part of the series, we’ll talk about the life change that streamlined ALL meals.

PART 1: FOOD FOR YOUR FUTURE SELF

As a freshman at Edinboro University, a political science professor gave a piece of advice that changed how I approached just about everything in life.

His class required a good deal of reading. And as we crafted our approach to the material, Professor Gerry Gendlin suggested we keep our “future self” in mind. He spun a vision of this future self, sitting in the same room at final exam time. Would they be bleary-eyed from a miserable night of cramming, stomach churning at the thought of inevitable failure? Or would they be rested and confident, having taken a proactive approach to the semester? Think of this person, Gendlin advised, and do what they’d want you to do now. Put in the work, do the reading.

Like most 18-year-olds, my future self wasn’t given much thought. But envisioning her as an almost separate being from myself, someone deserving of my time, care, and compassion, changed my approach to the present. When you think about your future self, and how they’ll feel, you’re bound to make better choices that might be a harder in the moment.

One of the most important ways to take care of your future self, is how you eat. When you do the research, and eat food that’s good for your body, or you take a step like joining a CSA, you cast a vote in favor of your future self.

The myth of ‘I can’t cook’

While many CSA members are perfectly capable home chefs, ready for anything that might arrive in their weekly share, others are completely new to cooking, at least when it comes to fresh ingredients. I relate to these people. Cooking used to intimidate me, too. I was convinced it was a skill I just didn’t have. “I can’t cook,” or “I don’t cook,” were my top phrases when it came to the kitchen. At the time, the latter was a statement of fact, I didn’t cook, but the former was something I told myself to avoid the responsibility altogether.

That past self of 10 years ago, the one who didn’t cook, feels a bit like a stranger. Now, I find immense joy in taking a few ingredients and turning them into a delicious, hot meal. It feels like working magic. Just like magic, learning a few simple tricks is all it takes to begin practicing the art yourself.

Before I learned to cook, I also didn’t think I had time to cook. I’ve since found that if you care about something, you make time for it. It’s also true that home cooking doesn’t have to take all night. Meal prep absolutely does not dominate our nights. The main reason is we’re creatures of habit when it comes to food, and that’s quite alright. Even though articles are always trying to give you “new” dishes to spice up dinnertime, it’s OK to enjoy a simple selection of tasty meals on repeat.

As for us, we eat homemade pizza (easy homemade pizza dough recipe below), stir fry, and Dan Dan noodles all the time. Other favorites are chickpea and rice tacos, and creamy vegetable soups made with the help of an immersion blender. We make these meals so often that we always keep the ingredients on hand, and we can whip them up in minutes without really thinking about it.

When you learn how to make your own pizza dough, and you keep a few staple ingredients on hand, you’re always just minutes away from a delicious dinner. You’ll find the pizza dough recipe we use below.

When you learn how to make your own pizza dough, and you keep a few staple ingredients on hand, you’re always just minutes away from a delicious dinner. You’ll find the pizza dough recipe we use below.

When we do want to try something new, I like to search for “comfort foods” in other parts of the world. That’s how we discovered our love of the spicy tomato, egg, and feta bake known as shakshuka (our favorite is the New York Times Cooking version, which can be accessed online). If you find a traditional food from another culture that sounds appealing, give it a try. It’s likely stood the test of time because it’s delicious and fairly simple.

We’re also drawn to foods that have a lot of leeway when it comes to ingredients. This is one reason homemade pizza is a staple. The other night, we were low on groceries, but we had whole-wheat flour for dough, garlic, olive oil, tomato sauce, mozzarella, and dried basil. These simple ingredients were enough. We also made salad using claytonia, microgreens, and carrots from the farm. Complex salads, with lots of tastes and textures are delicious, but simple ones satisfy, too.

The best way to make a habit stick is to start small. Pick the simplest recipe you can find, perhaps a pasta pomodoro, and give it a try. Maybe you commit to one homemade dinner a week. Don’t think of your present self as someone who “can’t cook.” Take it from me. You can cook. Your future self will thank you.

Look at me here, just cooking up a storm.

Look at me here, just cooking up a storm.

PART 2 (March 31): See what we keep in the cupboards all the time.

PART 3 (Monday, April 5): We’ll share the kitchen habit that streamlined the meal prep process.

HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE PIZZA DOUGH

This pizza dough is adapted from Mark Bittman’s recipe. Bittman is a noted food journalist, and he can teach you to cook just about anything. Check him out at markbittman.com.

You’ll need the following:

3 cups flour (We LOVE Bob’s Red Mill whole wheat)

2 teaspoons instant yeast (You can actually make pizza dough without yeast, it’ll just be a crispy, flat crust.)

2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

About 1 1/3 cups water, or as needed.

Here’s how you make it:

Combine the flour, yeast, and salt. You can mix it in a bowl with a spoon (I actually use the paddle from my mixer … I’m not sure why I started doing this, because it’s kind of weird, but it does work), or use a mixer or food processor. Add about 1 1/3 cups of warm tap water. Add the olive oil. (If you’re using a food processor, mix for about 30 seconds.) Mix until the dough forms a rough lump, and is slightly sticky. If the mixture is still dry, add another splash or two of water. If it’s too sticky, add flour one tablespoon at a time.

Turn the dough on a floured work surface. Knead by hand a few times to form a smooth, round dough ball. If you didn’t use yeast, or you want a thinner crust, proceed to roll out the dough. However, if you want a thicker crust, put the ball in a bowl and cover with a dish towel. Let it rise 1 to 2 hours. (If your house is warm, the dough will actually rise a lot faster. I usually let it set for about a half hour, while I put my toppings together.) After letting the dough rise, divide it in two. Work each piece into a ball, then roll out on a floured surface.

Time for toppings

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. The favorites on our pizza are tomato sauce or fresh tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, olive oil, and a sprinkle of salt. We also love fresh or dried basil. Anything goes; it’s your pizza!

Bake for about 10 to 12 minutes.

~ Stella

The seeding routine

A few warm nights and a little rain coaxed up green shoots all around. Many of you are delighting in snowdrops and crocuses. The daffodils across the road were slender, yellow slippers yesterday, and today we’ll reach the low 70s.

The ground is humming with new starts. Meanwhile, in our house, thousands of tiny lives are taking root, preparing to journey skyward. While Mother Nature is engrossed in her subterranean work, Jason has also gone underground, seeding in the basement.

While an early-to-bed schedule helps me accomplish farm work and other projects in the wee hours of the day, Jason is a night owl. With a full-time, off-farm job, he spends evenings in the gardens, and then seeds and cares for plants late into the night.

For the past few weeks, we’ve hosted a relative recuperating from a health emergency, so our room is temporarily in the basement. Curled under the covers, I listen to the comforting sound of Jason shuffling across the tile in his slippers, and smell the heavy “rainy day” scent of the potting soil that he keeps in a big bin.

For about an hour each night, Jason plants between 1,000 to 1,200 seeds. In the past, he used six-cell packs, but these were a complete pain. They’re flimsy, and need to be filled with soil one six-pack at a time. They’re also annoying to store, and never fit quite the same way twice in a seed tray. He’s converted to Bootstrap Farmer brand trays. They’re more expensive, but they’re one, solid sheet of plastic. He fills them quickly with soil from the bin. This switch to Bootstrap Farmer trays made a big difference in the ease of the task.

We purchase potting soil, but then Jason makes his own “soil-less” mix, which he sprinkles over the seeds for a light blanket. For this, he uses peat moss, perlite (volcanic glass), and vermiculite (minerals). After filling about six trays, he stacks them and presses down, making 1,200 “dibbles,” or indentations for the seeds. During this nightly practice, he drinks from a mug that’s flavored and further insulated by the residue of thousands of cups of past tea. He also listens to podcasts (currently, Binge Mode’s examination of Star Wars).

These are the trays Jason uses now. He purchases them from Bootstrap Farmer.

These are the trays Jason uses now. He purchases them from Bootstrap Farmer.

Jason fills the trays with potting soil, and then tops them with a dusting of homemade ‘soil-less’ mix.

Jason fills the trays with potting soil, and then tops them with a dusting of homemade ‘soil-less’ mix.

When the trays are seeded, he slides them into one of three homemade seed chambers in the basement. Each chamber is outfitted with six ordinary shop lights. Twelve trays fit under the lights in each chamber. When you rotate trays under the light, you can actually tuck 72 flats in each frame. As you can imagine, a heated propagation greenhouse is a future goal.

With the trays cozy under the lights, Jason gives the plants a drink with a watering can. (Another reason a propagation greenhouse will be helpful.) Then, he tends to his pea shoots and microgreens.

This work probably isn’t what most people think of when it comes to vegetable farming, but, as with most businesses, it’s the behind-the-scenes (or basement) work that’s needed to produce the results everyone sees.

~ Stella

Here’s one of three seed chambers in our basement.

Here’s one of three seed chambers in our basement.

The seed chambers use regular shop lights.

The seed chambers use regular shop lights.

What made Jason a grower?

Farming certainly wasn’t Jason’s lifelong dream. The notion had never even crossed his mind for almost the first three decades of his life. Now, at age 36, growing vegetables is as much a part of his identity as anything else. So, what made him start on this path?

His decision to become a grower surprised me as much as anyone, and we’ve been together constantly since age 14. To trace back to the true beginning, we start in 2012. After weathering several career-related disappointments in his 20s, Jay was offered a job in a field completely unrelated to his college degrees. While he was grateful for the opportunity, and what it meant to his feeling of self-worth, and to us as a family, he knew it wasn’t work he wanted to do for the rest of his life.

One characteristic of this new job was a lot of downtime, which meant time to surf the internet. Again and again, Jay returned to the social media page of a place called Village Acres Farm. It’s an inspirational and respected family operation in Cuba Mills, about an hour from State College, and it was also home, at the time, to Jason’s older brother, Dave, who worked there for several years. The beautiful photos of that farm called to Jason, and he poured over images of lush, green rows, and vegetables plump and juicy from the sun. Something in those photos communicated a way of life he suddenly and intensely craved. A short time later, opportunity opened a new door for him, with a job in his field of study. It was an exciting time, with big changes and a developing interest.

When Jay sets his sight on a dream or goal, he spends a good deal of time doing the needed research. But then he takes the essential step of turning all that research into action. That was the case in 2013, when he built a small high tunnel in the backyard of our then-home, just north of Titusville. He also tilled up his first-ever garden. It was on a small hill behind our house, nice and shady in the evenings, surrounded by the hills of a neighboring dairy farm.

This was in 2013. Jason built a modest high tunnel in the backyard of our former home on Bethel Church Road, north of Titusville.

This was in 2013. Jason built a modest high tunnel in the backyard of our former home on Bethel Church Road, north of Titusville.

As you know, he completely took to it.

The next year, he carried out a test run CSA. During this trial season, he experimented with what he needed to do to keep a weekly supply of produce for multiple families. While he tended this mock CSA, I was growing our son, who was born that August.

A few months later, Jay presented his plan to start a real CSA. It would be, he assured me, entirely his undertaking. And I believed him - ha! At the time, I was fully committed to journalism, and, of course, new motherhood. But while there was no room in my life (so I thought) for a new business, it was never my intention to discourage his gardening plans. It was clear how much joy the carefully-tended patch of vegetables in the backyard brought him. In my eyes, he was, and still is, absolutely radiant working among the plants.

In 2015, Jay started his real CSA. Eight households signed up. Most of those families stayed with the farm in some capacity for several years, and three original members are still a part of the farm today. Those original eight have no idea how much their decision to join the farm meant to Jason, and how they helped set him on a new course in life.

That year, as promised, Jason did everything himself when it came to the business. On Friday nights, I’d arrive home from the newsroom, around midnight or later, and he’d be in the garage, snipping, washing, and bunching. He handled all the paperwork, gardened with a baby strapped to his back, and set off on Saturday mornings with a trunk full of veggies.

On the stormy Friday evening before his first-ever CSA delivery, my mom and dad came over to watch the baby for him while I was at work. With the rain coming down in buckets on his head, Jay harvested the week’s share, drenched to the skin and happily on the road to his new dream.

When Silas was a baby, Jason gardened with him tucked in a pack on his back. Now, he can help carry watermelons.

When Silas was a baby, Jason gardened with him tucked in a pack on his back. Now, he can help carry watermelons.

WHAT WE DID THIS WEEKEND

Jason and Silas boiled their first-ever quart of syrup!

Jason and Silas boiled their first-ever quart of syrup!

For awhile now, Jason and Silas have wanted to make syrup. Earlier this month, they finally assembled what they needed and tapped six trees. In about a week, they had 40 gallons of clear sap.

To boil it down, they attached a propane tank to a turkey fryer burner. Sugary steam rose from this roiling cauldron for about 14 hours before the first batch was complete. It took about 12 gallons of sap to produce one quart of the lovely amber. We enjoyed the fruit of their hard work over French toast Sunday morning.

Up on the farm, Jay spray-painted the boundary for the deer fence, and did some other construction prep. The project is expected to start at the end of this week.

As for me, I transplanted lettuce, weeded, and began my 36th year around the sun.

Enjoy this beautiful spring sunshine, and have a great week!

~ Stella

Lettuce get serious

While we don’t specialize in one single crop, and instead plant a rainbow every year, we do invest the most time and energy into greens. Lettuce, in particular.

On Wednesday, our first lettuce crop of the season went in the Big Tunnel. And for the first time in the farm’s history, we’re growing lettuce with the help of landscape fabric.

After working up the beds, Jay spread mushroom compost before rolling out the fabric and pinning it in place. Then, on Wednesday afternoon, I transplanted about 400 lettuces, all started from seed by Jay. This weekend, we’ll transplant another 400. This will be our second season of transplanting about 800 lettuce heads per week. We’ll continue this process through the end of October.

About 400 lettuce heads went in the Big Tunnel this week. Another 400 will go in the ground this weekend. We’ll transplant about 800 baby lettuces, every week, through late October.

About 400 lettuce heads went in the Big Tunnel this week. Another 400 will go in the ground this weekend. We’ll transplant about 800 baby lettuces, every week, through late October.

While 800 per week may sound daunting, it’s just a matter of routine. Jay built the weekly lettuce seeding into his schedule, and we know that every week we must commit to snuggling all those little, green babies in the ground. After all, lettuce is one of our biggest sellers. When we attended farmer’s markets, it’s what drew people to our stands. It’s what brings people to our farm cooler. And it’s a staple of our weekly CSA shares.

Homegrown lettuce is tender and refreshing. We begin and end the season with varieties that prefer cold weather, and then switch to ones that can withstand summer swelter. In total, we grow about a dozen varieties. Jay prefers the butterheads. His favorite is Adriana, with its thick, dark green leaves. For me, it’s the silky panisse. This oakleaf is the prettiest yellow-green, like spring leaf buds, and when you hold it by the stem, it looks like a ruffled taffeta skirt.

Jason loves the butterhead lettuces, especially Adriana (shown). Photo: Johnny’s Selected Seeds

Jason loves the butterhead lettuces, especially Adriana (shown). Photo: Johnny’s Selected Seeds

My absolute favorite lettuce is panisse, with its luxurious, silky texture.

My absolute favorite lettuce is panisse, with its luxurious, silky texture.

When harvested properly (in the cool of morning or evening), fresh greens have a lengthy fridge life. (Typically, a solid two weeks, if not three.)

In the first few years of the farm, we grew loose-leaf lettuce. When I think about those days, I still shudder. We struggled to germinate the seeds, and then the rows would be fiercely overtaken by weeds. At that time, our son was a baby, then a toddler, so my life ran on his feeding, sleep, and mood schedule. Without the option of harvesting consistently in the early morning or evening, I often cut lettuce leaves during the hottest hours of the day, then had to soak them to remove the field heat. A vivid memory of that farm era is a grouchy, sweaty, fed-up toddler, leaving shade cover to march over and reach his pudgy little hands up to his equally grouchy, sweaty, fed-up mother.

In those years, I hated lettuce. I could barely look at it when I didn’t have to. Our system back then was a bad one, and we knew it was holding back the farm’s potential.

So, a few winters ago, Jay took an online lettuce course. Since then, we’ve adopted many of the same methods as the wonderful, practical, and efficient Ray Tyler, of Rose Creek Farms. Tyler is the one who showed us how effective it is to start lettuce indoors, and commit to transplanting. We’ve eliminated the germination problem, with Jay carefully tending to the seed trays in our home, and, almost as importantly, we’ve optimized our harvests.

When we dealt in loose-leaf greens, hours were wasted picking through weeds and slicing practically one piece at a time. And all that toil yielded only a few pounds of lettuce. Now, we can chop hundreds of lettuce heads in a matter of mere minutes. Every week, during the CSA, it takes roughly a half hour to chop around 200 heads for the shares. If you made a timeline of the farm, our switch from loose-leaf to head lettuce would get an understated tick mark as a notable gardening development. But a little dash doesn’t even begin to convey what this change actually meant to us, on both the personal and business levels.

~ Stella