U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack

My in box today contained a bit of good news,

instead of a letter asking me to sign a letter of complaint

against a company, or government official, I received this...
Dear KATE, (yes, that is my real name)

Less than a month after his appointment, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is already calling for policies that echo our efforts to stop the loss of agricultural land, support local food and conserve our land and water resources. Secretary Vilsack's openness to new ideas that promote a better understanding of where our food comes from—as well as his commitment to increased diversity in our food production system—will help lead to healthier citizens, a better environment and new opportunities for farmers.
Please sign a letter of support to Secretary Vilsack today and thank him for his strong start to addressing these important issues.
Last Thursday, Secretary Vilsack literally “broke new ground” by tearing up a tract of pavement at USDA headquarters that will be replaced with a green landscape. His pledge to establish gardens at every USDA office throughout the world—from window boxes to full-fledged plots—is a pledge we can carry to our own homes and communities!
In a monumental show of support for farmland protection, Secretary Vilsack also called upon fellow government officials and citizens to join him in replacing excessive asphalt with natural landscapes, along with building community gardens and protecting our natural resources. His fast action on making a commitment to protecting farms from development comes at a critical time for farms and farmland across the country.
Secretary Vilsack is also presenting a new vision for agriculture by proposing new ways to encourage and reward farmers’ efforts to protect the environment. His plan includes offering “green payments” for farms of all sizes that use their land to help absorb carbon and provide clean water and other environmental benefits. These incentives could reinvigorate the agriculture sector and reward farmers for the environmental benefits they provide.
We compliment Secretary Vilsack for his early and earnest commitment to healthy farms, healthy food and healthy communities. Please join me in sending a letter of support to Secretary Vilsack thanking him for the steps he is taking to protect our farm and ranch land and promote a greener future through American agriculture

Naturally, I clicked right over and did so.

My cold has me feeling pretty gloomy right about now,

and Farmer Dad moved a bunch of stuff in our "school room" to make way for

starting seeds, which did not make me happy. Yes, I am all for

starting seeds, but many,MANY,people do it in their basement...

why can't he? Oh well, I guess I can "take one for the team".

By the way, got the e-mail confirming our town's community garden plot.

Princess and I are very excited. Our very own little space. We'll grow what

we want how we want.We washed out our seed trays and got everything set up.

This week, we'll start some seeds.

Backyard Bird Count

How many did you count? just when it looked like we would have none, our bird feeder started getting busy..

many more flew away as we tried to photograph

Need more info?Great Backyard Bird Count
Farmer Dad and Princess got to play a bit, after we cleaned up all the

mess from the high winds the other day.

The 50mph+ winds toppled our hoop house. :-(

No real damage done, but this will surely affect my

early spring plans.

Hope you all had a lovely Valentines Day!

Rednesday

One of three vintage "Birthday" angels given to me by a friend

who is another lover of vintage, she gave us each one for our birth month.

This is February, for Farmer Dad

From my collection of pitchers....also vintage

Be sure to stop by Sue's blog to see her Rednesday post. I was hoping to include our

resident cardinal pair here today, but they are staying out of camera range.

Community Garden

We're getting one in our town!!

I'm very excited. We do not have

enough space in our yard, and we are limited by our

lack of full sun. The site is near my library, and full sun.

The plots will be 10' x 10'. Not much, but full sun.

Now I really have spring fever!

We have melted

There is no more pretty white snow here in

our corner of the Garden State.

Bits of green are coming up everywhere, although I could not

find a snowdrop anywhere. Farmer Dad and I took a long walk

out about the yard on Sunday after his Birthday Celebration

on Saturday. Did you hear the guys jamming out in our basement

where you live? I took Princess and vacated the premises for a few hours.

I came home to quiet and the house was still clean.

Men do grow up! Who knew? ;-)

We also spent some time trying to figure out what seeds we may need to order

for this year.There is a lot of activity on the fruit trees and my forsythia is wakingMy beloved Fig tree is growing up towards the sun and looking happy.

Why the Farming Crisis Has Everything to Do With the Economic Crisis

Read why some believe we need a 50 year farm bill.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_16680.cfm

This whole topic gets me a little hot under the collar.

I'm really wish I did not have to support FARM AID, there should

be (even in a not so perfect world) no need for it, I'd rather see advertisements

for AIG AID. Know what I mean? Yes, I have to support Farm Aid, it's really

quite simple, NO FARMS,NO FOOD.

I can't tell you how strongly I feel about this. There are many things we spend

our money on that we don't NEED, food is not one of them.

Remember, you are what you eat. Do you want to be a ripe, luscious, Jersey Tomato?

Or High Fructose Corn Syrup (with or without mercury)?

The choice is up to you.

Are you homegrown?

Rednesday is another Snow Day

in little corner of the Garden State.
Isn't it lovely?

According to my friend Sue

so I am going to join in. Here are two of my favorite

"red" things in my house. Both are in my kitchen.

The first is a painting of a barn in Freehold New Jersey, painted

by my Grandfather.

The second item, is a vintage pitcher I found right before the holidays
in a little shop on a rare "Mom's only" outing with my girlfriend.I'm still excited about finding it, it was on my "wish list" for a long time,
but I had only seen it in books.
Here is where we will be today...
it's one of those glorious days that just beg for a walk outside and a mug of hot cocoa!

To brighten up this dreary day

Little celebrations this past week,
Chinese New Year..

National Chocolate Cake Day

And a favorite quote...

Ralph Waldo Emerson
"To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children; to earn the approbation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived---this is to have succeeded."

I'll be back soon to post some garden plans..have you decided what you'll grow this year?

Down the Shore

Saturday found us driving down to the Sandy Hook area to pick

up some vintage linens a wonderful lady posted for free on Craigslist.

Because we were so close, we stopped off at Sandy Hook for a little

shell hunting. Princess was actually hoping to find some "Mermaid's Purses",
but we only found crab shells and such. It was gorgeous..and COLD.

Seriously cold. Fortunately there was a bathroom open, but we did not

stay long, you know because it was cold. Farmer Dad was really not dressed for it,

because it was quite warm up near us (50's).He doesn't like cold anyway..ever.

The wind was whipping us about, but we headed home with joy in our hearts.

that only comes from spending some time down near the water.

More snow!

As I sat inside, toasty and warm, it snowed again on Monday.

Not as much as we would have liked, but Princess and I did get

out in it while it was coming down. It was lovely.

We made snow angels, and I pulled her around on her sled.

We tried making a snow critter, but it was hard to photograph.

We went outside at 12:30 and when Farmer Dad got home around 4:00pm

we were still there. We had totally lost track of time out there.

I know many of you have had so much snow this year, you can't wait for it to end,

but here in our little corner of the Garden State we are still singing.."Let it snow,let it snow..let it snow!" (Just so you all know..when I type it it sounds like Dino is in my head!)

A bit of snow was followed by freezing rain

So instead of being able to make snowmen, and build igloos,
we could only scamper and skibble about over the bit of ice and
snow. We managed to have a bit of fun.
It was nice to get outside on this lovely sunny day.
It was 27 degrees, and the weather people say that is the
warmest we will see here for a while. Princess and I will be inside checking out
more seed companies and looking at This Old House Magazine which
I borrowed from our library. They spotlight a woman in Oregon and her
chickens and such and I want her chicken coop! I am green with envy over
her water cisterns as well. I had several people ask me here and at Blotanical
about which seed companies I prefer. We usually order from Johnny's
and Baker, although we keep our eyes open to new things we would like to
grow. We try to keep it organic and heirloom, and we're happy to say these
two companies help keep it that way.Who's your fave?