Maia turns 2

A quick post about Maia's second birthday, before I start unloading my camera. I've got some recipe posts lined up. :-)


































If you can't tell from the
pictures, Maia gots lots
of Hello Kitty for her
birthday. I'd been saving
the Hello Kitty building
block (kind of like Lego)
for quite a while. I had
picked it up while in
Tokyo and it has both
English and Japanese characters, and the completed set makes a Hello Kitty scene.
Most of her gifts came from her two grandmothers, with plenty of Hello Kitty among those as well.


































There were many outfit changes to accommodate new dresses. I just realized I have more pics on my phone that haven't been unloaded. But I ended up buying a Moo Cluck cake because our oven broke!

before she was 2

Yep, this is an entire post dedicated to Maia shortly before her birthday. I couldn't resist. Sorry!














































Check out the retro dress thingie below on the right...I wore that when I was the same age! Maia wore it for the first day of summer.

























The lilies in the back yard didn't stand a chance against the wrath of Moo!











































Maia's first snow cone at the preschool picnic...

ahhh...the farm

Now that the tomatoes
are doing well I have to
blog about the farm again.
CSAs are just the best
most satisfying way to
obtain local organic produce.
You know the farmer, help
work the fields, have a say
in what gets planted, know
the water source that irrigates the soil, harvest a lot of your own produce (unless it's a delivery style CSA like some farms), and have the kids learning about where their food comes from hands on.


Sometimes I feel bad
talking so much about
our local farm, Stearns
Farm CSA, because it's
just sooo good. There's
a several hundred person
waiting list. Yeah. It's that wonderful. And if you don't renew by January you're outta there! But almost everyone does. 95% of familes this year returned. Considering that people move and such, that's really impressive.
Here's Nate toting 2 quarts of purslane on his head. Purslane is essentially a weed to most people in the U.S., but one of the most nutritious and delicious weeds you've ever tasted! It's growing among the crops, shading the root veggies, free for the taking.

Before the basil is even
out of the greenhouse,
there is purslane popping
up among the rows. I
topped some whole wheat
pita pizzas with purslane
pesto, then added Daiya
mozzarella. Perfection.

The good news is there
are new CSAs opening
every year. In fact the farm around the corner from ours began offering shares 2 years ago, and now they are utilizing the field adjoining Stearns Farm for organic crops, instead of hay as they did in the past. I'm sure the Community Supported Agriculture model will only continue to grow.