barefoot in the orchard: What's In Season

Monday, January 9, 2012

What's In Season - January 2012

Priorities
.

Happy 2012, everyone!! I hope it is off to a wonderful start!! My little ones just returned to school today from winter-break -- so... I consider today "my first official" day of the New Year!!

I've had to adjust some priorities and work obligations over the past few months as I have been caring for my father, who turned 80 in December. If you have ever experienced a family member with the beginnings of dementia, you will understand what a challenge it is. I've missed posting to barefoot in the orchard daily and reading all my favorite blogs -- all you wonderful people really do inspire me!! Now, let's get this New Year started!!

Slow Food Movement
.

I've mentioned this before on my blog but I thought I would share information about this movement once again. What is Slow Food you ask? Slow Food is an idea, a way of living and a way of eating. It is a global, grassroots movement with thousands of members around the world that links the pleasure of food with a commitment to community and the environment.
Learn more about our work from Plate to Planet and Good, Clean and Fair.

Northern California

Vegetables
.
•asian greens

•avocados

•beans
•beets
•bok choy
•broccoli
•brussels sprouts
•cabbage
•cardoons
•carrots
•cauliflower
•celeriac
•celery
•chard
•collards
•cress

•dandelion/chicory

•endive
•fennel
•garlic

•gourds
•kale
•leeks
•lettuces
•mushrooms

•nettles
•onions
•parsnips
•potatoes
•radish
•rapini
•rutabaga
•scallions
•spinach
•squash, winter

•sunchokes
•turnips
.

Fruits and Nuts

.
•avocados
•dates
•dried fruit
•grapefruit
•guavas
•kiwi
•kumquats
•lemons
•limes
•mandarins
•oranges
•pears
•persimmons
•pomelos
•tangerines
•walnuts

(Photos Courtesy of Jupiter Images)

5 comments:

Meg the Wild Child said...: Sabina, what an amazing idea - a Slow Food Movement! I love that! But my heart goes out to you and your father and your family. Please keep us updated, and please know that you are all in my thoughts and my prayers :)

with love - xoxoxo; January 13, 2012 3:38 PM
Gail, in northern California said...: Apparently, your life was created to help others. First, three children courtesy of your sister-in-law after your own boys were grown and now your 80 year old father. It never ends, does it? Perhaps, someday you'll have more time for blogging but for now I just wanted to say how much I enjoy your "What's in Season".; January 13, 2012 5:01 PM
Sabina said...: Thanks Meg - xoxoxo's - right back at cha!

Thanks to you also Gail!! :)

Lots of wonderful, Happy New Year wishes -- thanks for stopping by!!!; January 13, 2012 6:59 PM
Content in a Cottage said...: Sabina...Your father is the lucky one to have such a caring daughter and it's so sad to hear about his challenge and yours. My heart goes out to both of you.
xo, Rosemary; January 16, 2012 5:02 AM
pve design said...: Sabina,
Yes, I completely understand the challenges you are dealing with. My Father-in-law is also living with the same disease and it is very sad to witness the slow process. My son was just visiting him and I am anxious to hear his reaction to his Grandfather's state.
I think your list of slow foods sounds inspiring. I am off to the green grocer early tuesday morning.
pve; January 16, 2012 1:54 PM

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A Special Phone Call From - Now - President Obama

I had the wonderful honor of speaking with Senator Barack Obama (now President Obama) in March of 2007. He had seen a note I had left on his website with a small donation - this was at the very beginning of his campaign -and called as he was leaving his office for the evening.

I still have the original recording of the message he left for me. I actually missed two calls from him -- if you can believe that -- before we were able to talk on the phone a few days later.

That amazing moment in my life is one that I will always treasure -- as was the night he was elected the 44th President of the United States of America!! Go Obama!!

Barefoot in the Orchard

One of my favorite memories was walking barefoot in our apricot orchard. That was some 30 years ago, and it's still one of the first things that comes to mind when searching my life's memories.

Now it is unbearable for me to think about how that orchard, and the others that surrounded it, have long since been replaced with homes. I prefer to keep those images in my mind as if it were only yesterday...

It's a beautiful summer morning. I'm 12 years old. Outside my cat Peewee, a big yellow tabby with a bobbed tail, greets me. I head straight out into the orchard. The branches overhead hang low, and heavy and the sweet smell of apricots fill the air. Running faster and farther with each step - the seemingly never-ending rows of trees stretch out before me. I can feel the warm sun on my face and the cool feel of the dirt under my feet.

A Few Facts About Me

I am a stay at home mom with five children - six if you include my husband (all the women will immediately understand this joke). You really could not call my oldest two sons "children", since they are 23 and 21, but there are days when it seems as if they are. Both are in college and I am very proud to call myself their mother.

My other three children came to me courtesy of my sister in law, who developed a problem with methamphetamines, and lost them all to Social Services (of course there is more to the story than that but in a nutshell that's what happened). Their ages are 13, 10, and 9.

The oldest one came to us at just shy of 3 years old, the second one at 3 months old, and the third at 3 days old. These three little people in my life - despite all the work, and dealing with social services for 3 years (three does seem to be the magic number here) until we were able to adopt them - have taken my life on a turn I never would have expected. Now I can't imagine a day without their smiling faces - even if some days they aren't smiling as much as I'd like. Occasionally someone will tell me how lucky they are to have me, but I know that I am the lucky one.

I guess you could say I feel blessed even if things aren't perfect. I've been married to the same guy for 23 years (Mark Couchot) but I like to count all the time we have actually been together, 26 years (I think I deserve the extra credit for those years too), and we were friends before that for few years. We both went to the same high school, but he was a couple of years ahead of me. We actually met because my first boyfriend had known my husband since kindergarten. That's the simple version of the story - as the actual version could fill many pages. He is simply "the sweetest guy with the best heart that I've ever known" - even if I do take him for granted now and then.

We picked up the keys to our house 17 years ago on my 31st birthday, and we love it more than ever. It's become a lot smaller over the years, but it's our home, and we wouldn't trade it for any other. Our kids heights are recorded on the inside of the pantry door, and each time we measure - " just one more time" - because maybe someone has grown in the last few days -- I just can't imagine having it any better than this.

Favorite Quotes

_
"It's never too late to be what you might have been."
George Elliot ~

"To effect the quaility of the day, that is the highest of arts"
Henry David Thoreau ~

"Difficult times have helped me to understand better than before how infinetly rich and beautiful life is in every way and that so many things that one goes worrying about are of no importance whatsoever."
Isak Dinesen ~

"Motherhood Is Not For Wimps."
A Very Wise Woman ~

"No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars or sailed to an uncharted land or opened a new doorway for the human spirit."
Helen Keller ~

"What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you."
Ralph Waldo Emerson ~
_
"Choose well. Your choice is brief, and yet endless."
Geothe ~

Monday, January 9, 2012

What's In Season - January 2012

5 comments:

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