November 5, 2015

This is an emergency 2…

Emergency Preparedness, Homegrown, Pacific Northwest, Seattle

OK, getting out of Europe trip recap mode and back to reality for a minute. Check out part 1 of my emergency preparedness brain dump here.

So we’ve got all of the supplies in order. What else are we missing? Ahhh, that’s right: food and water.

WATER.
We recently purchased a Berkey water filter. Seattle water is great, but our pipes and/or water heater aren’t in the best shape so we bought this bad boy for uber water filtration. It will come in handy if we have to snag water from an alternative water source like our Water Bob 🙂 We also have 25 gallons of water stored with this cool boxed water kit. The general rule of thumb is to have one gallon of water per person for two weeks, which we don’t quite have, but hell, it’s better than nothing! I also plan on adding iodine pills to the mix down the road.

FOOD.
Out of everything that needs to be prepped, food is where I’m the weakest. I’ve never been able to figure out a good system for rotation and end up wasting a lot of items that I don’t catch before they expire. There are also items that have a great shelf life that I’d rather not eat on the regular. Here’s a list of what I try and keep on-hand.

Rice and beans – I like the Vigo brand
Peanut butter
Oatmeal – Trader Joe’s carries one that rocks
Nuts – Costco has an assorted, no salt mix that’s handy to have around
Pasta
Power bars – Larabars are my jam
Rice
Instant tea and coffee
Sports drinks
Soup and chili
Booze!

I like to think that my gardening skills could come in handy too if there happened to be some sort of food shortage, but I can only count on that for four or five months out of the year right now. I do plan on winter gardening next year though so that could help stretch that length of time.

Oh, and I can’t forget Miss Stella! I always pick up the largest bag of dry dog food possible to keep around. She mostly eats wet food but I can never keep up with buying enough – it’s darn expensive too. At least I know she’d be OK crunching on some dry stuff if it came down to it.

OK folks, what am I missing?

August 7, 2015

summer eats.

Frittata, Green Salad, Homegrown, Summer Dinner Idea

Tomato frittata with spring green salad - cultivatedrambler.com

Man, it’s been hot around here lately. I know, I know….I shouldn’t complain because it’ll just turn around and rain for the rest of the year then I’ll be complaining about that too. Such is life as a Seattleite! We aren’t exactly known for 90+ degree days so when it stays hot like this, I try and be extremely strategic when it comes to dinner. There’s nothing more crappy then having to be in the kitchen so I try and make things that will last a few days and be OK if they are served cold. In comes this frittata – add onions and feta cheese too! What’s your go to dinner for hot days?

July 10, 2015

garden update.

Homegrown, Pacific Northwest

Organic gardening in Seattle, tomatoes, green beans, blueberries, squash - cultivatedrambler.com

I’d like to think that we’ve hit phase two in yee old garden these days. Ya’ll know just how crazy hot it’s been in Seattle and the garden definitely has responded to those 90+ degree temps (so has my water bill). I pulled the lettuces and peas last week as they were either bolting or dried up. We had a great pea harvest this year so I didn’t feel too bad yanking them up though Stella was sniffing around for them. Spoiled dog.

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June 21, 2015

imperfect.

Garden, Homegrown, Organic, Pacific Northwest, Pests, Weeds

Common Pacific Northwest garden pests and diseases

Our garden is good from afar, but far from good! Trying to keep it real here folks. Yes, I work my butt off to try and keep things tidy in the garden but time and time again, I’ve been shown that no matter what I do, the garden gods will do as they please. And as they please means disease, pests, seeds that don’t sprout…you name it, I’ve witnessed it. I try and not take it too personally, but man, it can be a bummer sometimes! Here are the few issues I’ve been dealing with as of late:

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May 10, 2015

therapy.

Garden, Homegrown, Lettuce, Organic, Pacific Northwest

Organic gardening, Seattle, Lettuce, Lavender, Crimson Clover

Oh golly, things are starting to look real nice-like out back. Most days, I come home after work and throw on my super sexy gardening overalls plus my ole crocs and it’s out to the garden I go! No matter how tired or lazy I’m feeling, my energy level immediately picks up and 2 hours later, I’ve spruced up another section of the yard. I swear, gardening is therapy to me. And it’s free.

Stella usually comes and hangs out while I’m out there. That dog has to sniff every weed and blade of grass I touch and it’s funny watching her be so curious. Bees are doing their thing – pollinating our berries and happily bobbing on the lavender stems. Birds are singing all sorts of songs….you’d think we were living out in the country! Then a 747 lands on Boeing Field and you realize that you are living smack in the middle of a city 🙂 Ahhh, such is the joy of urban farming!