The Adventure Begins...

An opportunity has presented itself. For this growing season, I will be taking on a new gardening project. Although I won't be working at markets or attending weekly enrichment sessions like my last organic garden undertaking with EarthdanceFarms, this time is going to be just as challenging and just as enriching. This time, I will be in charge of EVERYTHING.

Through the generosity of a neighbor and my determination to be my own boss, I have taken responsibility for 1500 square feet (30x50) of prime farm land. I will be embarking on a personal journey filled with a lot of hard work, numerous trials and probably even more errors and hopefully, a lot of growth by both vegetable and human.

So, although I have a decent understanding of how to grow things and enough confidence to risk my time and money on my own plot, I only know a fraction of what I could about gardening. I'm a pretty normal gal that has gotten herself into something she knows she wants but will take some time to figure out. For example, I don't really understand the ends and outs of "amending the soil" or know when I should start my seeds without having to refer to the packets in which they came. I certainly don't have all the right tools, and I already know I bought way too many seeds, but that's part of the fun of it all. I'm giving myself permission to get caught up in the giddiness of making plans and the excitement of anticipating all the delicious treats to come(God willing). Knowing all the potential knowledge to be acquired makes me all warm and fuzzy which leaves no room for hesitancy or fear. Things are certain to happen that won't be ideal, but the hypothetical issues I foresee will, in themselves, be a blessing and next year, I'll try to prevent or fix those issues. If I succeed, I succeed. If I fail, I succeed...eventually.

However, I do take comfort in knowing that every gardener, no matter age, background, or experience has difficulties or issues that arise each year that have nothing to do with personal ability or personal effort. Weather, seed failure, poor soil quality(OK so, I suppose these can be controlled or corrected to some extent...but you get my point) all affect the success of a garden and the morale of the gardener and are things that can't be completely determined or righted with human efforts. I guess I like knowing that it's not ALWAYS going to be my fault if something goes wrong.

Thus, my plans for the plot...

To be continued...

Coming Soon

Coming soon will be a new category on our own adventure into sustainable farming.....

Countries Struggling

Countries struggling with new ozone restrictions:

Bonner Cohen from the Heartland Institute

Honest IPCC Scientist Tackles Climategate

Andrew Breitbart Blasts Rachel Maddow

Website

Revamping the Website. Daily updates should continue.

Bernanke Must Go

Currently, the Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke, is campaigning for himself by calling Congressmen in hopes to sway people's minds so he can get confirmed for a second term. The Scent of Freedom says no!

Bernanke has done some good but the bad is overwhelming. Many commentators believe Bernanke should be reconfirmed because he saved the country. Bernanke, did save the day, but he also caused the need for someone to save the day. It's kind of like breaking a window and then fixing it. You get all the credit for fixing it but what about punishment for breaking it? Bernanke with his loose money policy is destroying the dollar and needs to get the heave-ho!

God Bless America

Congratulations to Scott Brown for his election in the Senate race in Massachusettes. It is quite unbelievable that a conservative, albeit, a pro-choice conservative would even be competitive in one of the most liberal states in the Union.

2012 Candidates

Three guys come to mind...

Sen. Thune (SD), Gov. Daniels (IN), Gov. Perry (TX)

Just throwing it out there.

CO2's

I think we should pump more and more CO2 in the air. The more CO2 in the air, the better plants and trees grow. The better they grow, the more food there is. The more food there is, the less starvation occurring. Sounds like an idea. There is no evidence to prove that a rise in CO2 causes more ice melt. Even if it did, maybe beaches on Greenland wouldn't be so bad afterall. Some polar bears might die but more tropical fish would thrive. Just some thoughts...

Global Warming?

When the globe stopped warming recently, liberals stopped using the term "Global Warming." They changed the term to "Climate Change." They espouse ideas to stop "Climate Change." That's funny, I never knew the climate was supposed to be static. Who would have thunk it?

Another thing...How in the world did the Ice Age come to an end without humans polluting the environment to cause "global warming?" Could it be that the earth heated up with help from the Sun? Hrmm.....

Sustainable Government

One must be a conservative to believe in sustainable living. Think about it...First why does conservative and conservation share the same base word, conserve? Conservatives believe in conserving life...all aspects of life.

A conservative government is a sustainable government. A conservative government will not spend money the country doesn't have. Yes, some republican presidents have done that. Just because some one is a republican, it doesn't mean they are conservative. I say that but you must realize some presidents need to spend more money when wars are occurring (i.e. Reagan - Cold War, Bush I - Gulf War, Bush II- Iraq, Afghanistan). In order to win a war, you must provide the troops everything they need to be victorious. That means spending money.

A liberal government who doesn't care about spending money is not sustainable. They spend money they don't have. Our country and government is going bankrupt. To be sustainable, it is essential to be conservative...economically and environmentally

Definitions

Why is a liberal called a liberal and why is a conservative called a conservative?

Answer:

Liberals want a "liberal" amount of government in their lives.
Conservatives want a "conservative" amount of government in their lives.

The more government in people's lives = less freedom individuals have.

Past Month

Afghanistan - I support the President and his plan. Give the generals what they want and need so we can be victorious. We're not their to build up Afghanistan. We're there to fight for our national security.

Jobs - Job summit = joke! President Obama is just acting like he cares about jobs.

Health Care - House passed their bill late on a Saturday night. The Senate is working through amendments as I type. They are currently debating the abortion language in the bill. This bill is a job killer not to mention a disaster for American health care.

Climate Change - Most countries are convening in Copenhagen for the summit. It's a giant sham. The leaked e-mails just proves that the "deniers" are right. Liberals are using the environment to push their agenda. If they really cared about the environment, they wouldn't have a giant convention that will put more CO2 in the air than the whole country of Morocco in one year.

WHAT??

When was it the business of the United States Congress to do business at 2100 hrs on a Saturday night? This is ridiculous!!!

Thank God we live in a great country and have checks and balances. Hopefully the senate will have more sense and reject this monstrosity.

Election Results

Va Governor:
Bob McDonnell is victorious. Great to see. Creigh Deeds is a good guy but just overmatched in this election. Four years ago, Deeds and McDonnell squared off in the Attorney General election and McDonnell won but a mere 650 votes or so. This time, McDonnell won by 17%. Is that a referendum on President Obama? Is it that Creigh Deeds was not eloquent in his points? Is it that McDonnell was a better candidate? I believe it was a combination of all three. McDonnell is one heck of a candidate and he can be penciled in as a potential presidential nomiee in the next few Presidentail elections.

NJ Governor:
Chris Christie is victorious. Great to see. Christie used his weight to squash Corzine. Corzine raised too many taxes in and the people had enough. I believe this was more about NJ than national politics. President Obama made several trips to NJ to campaign and Corzine embraced him but I still believe this was NJ saying no to Corzine. Looks like Dagget supporters wised up and voted for Christie.

NY district 23:
Disappointed in the results. I believes Dede Scoffaracvae took votes away from Hoffman. The republican candidate, Scozzafava, drops out right before the election and endorses the democrat? Come on, seriously? Hoffman should have won. If the district would have had a primary, Hoffman would have faced Scozzafava and the issue would have been settled between the two of them. Since there wasn't, Scozzafava took votes away from Hoffman. Oh well, there's always next year.

Endorsements

The Scent of Freedom has the following endorsements for today's election:

VA Gov: Bob McDonnell - Has the better plan - Jobs, transportation, education
NJ Gov: Chris Christie - Won't raise property taxes amongst other things.
NY District 23: Doug Hoffman - Fiscally conservative - Won't attempt to spend taxpayers dollars for nonsense

Potato Eggplant Curry

I recommend making this before fresh, local eggplant succumbs to the first frost in your area and potatoes are still readily available and delicious! I ate this savory dish with toasty sliced bread but think naan (Indian flat bread) would be more appropriate and better compliment the flavors. It would also taste good with rice if that's what you prefer.

-2-3 cups eggplant (chopped bite-size)
-2-3 cups potatoes (chopped bite-size)
-1 medium onion (diced)
-1-3 medium tomatoes diced (fresh or canned)
-3/4 cup green peas
-1/2 cup diced carrots
-any other veggies of choice
-2 TBSP olive oil

-2-3 tsp chili powder
-2 tsp turmeric
-1-2 TBSP curry powder
-handful of feenugreek leaves (fresh or dried)
-2 tsp ground mustard
-1 tsp dried cilantro
-1 tsp ginger
-1-2 tsp cumin
-1 tsp ground fennel seed
-salt and pepper to taste

1) heat oil in large pot- add in curry, mustard, and fennugreek
2) add onion & sautee until translucent
3) add potatoes-sautee 5 mins.
4) add eggplant and carrots-sautee 5 mins.
5) add tomatoes, peas, and remainder of spices
6) add oil or water as necessary to prevent burning
7) cover and let cook until veggies are done and mixture has thickened-checking and stirring often (less time for a crispier veggie)
8) add a little flour if needed to thicken
9) add salt and pepper to taste

Olympics part deux

Chicago was the first out. Tokyo was second. That's great news!

I bet the IOC (International Olympic Committee) didn't appreciate the Obamas coming to save the day for Chicago. The Obamas thought if President Obama could speak to everything, then Chicago would get the Olympics in a heartbeat. To his astonishment, not everyone is wooed by his words. Good for the IOC. Good for Brazil.

Olympics

Give them to Rio! They need to be in South America.

Japan recently had the winter olympics. Spain had the summer olympics in Barcelona not too long ago. The US also recently had the winter olympics in Salt Lake City not to mention Canada and this upcoming winter olympics. They need to be somewhere new.