We haven't done a Whiteboard Wednesday post in a while, and with the mercury rising, we wanted to bring back a couple dry-erase masterpieces from Don.  We don't know about you, but these make us happy to be on the warm end of winter!

We hope you're having a wonderful week. It's just about time to start plating our crops in the Skagit Valley, and your gardens wherever you are!

Born and raised in Vancouver, BC, I am thrilled that the world got to discover our close-to-perfect corner of the world during the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games.

I grinned with pride, as if I had made the clouds disappear myself, when the sun soaked our visitors and warmed them as they walked our streets.

I cheered inside when I traveled effortlessly through the Vancouver airport three times immediately before and during the Games. In fact, my experiences in the Vancouver International Airport in February, 2010, were the smoothest I have experienced to date!

And I applauded with gratitude the tens of thousands of volunteers who lined the streets of Vancouver giving directions and assistance to visitors and even residents like me. They were the oil.

But perhaps what stood out the most for me during of the Olympic Games here in Vancouver, BC was the quiet on the roads. The city and its visitors were indulging in the transit system put in place for the Games. I tasted it first hand and it was good – so very good.

When my son and I hit the downtown scene for a hockey game, I marvelled at the empty streets and the packed sidewalks. We moved with the crowds to board the skytrain and walked the final blocks to the venue.

Once we arrived at Canada Place for the game, even the security lines moved quickly and effectively. The whole experience was a lesson in efficiency.

Now that the Games are over, I hope those good lessons will not fade. I hope our government, and other governments, will recognize what can be achieved and will work to implement such strategies long term.

When transit is readily available, cost-effective, and reliable, people will use it. It worked for the world’s party. It can work every day too.

March is here and spring, my favorite season, is right around the corner. I have garden fever and am anxious to get my hands dirty again! I am starting to think about what I want to grow in my vegetable garden this year. I know the thought of gardening seems really far off to those of you still covered in snow, but you can actually start sowing seeds indoors for certain plants months before the last frost.

But how do you know which plants to start when? Or when you’ll be able to plant directly into the soil? If you’re like me, it’s a relatively new concept to actually plan these things and not just pick a random warm weekend to get started. Well, I found a great online Vegetable Garden Planting Calendar that takes the guess work out of planting. All you do is plug in the date of the last spring frost in your area and it gives you the start date for everything from onion and broccoli to tomatoes and corn.

So how do you know when the last frost is? You can get a good idea from this growing zone map on Burpee’s site which divides the country by average lowest winter temperature. These zones are used in many gardening guides and nurseries to let you know the right time for planting in your area. However, you need an actual date for your city to calculate your planting calendar, which I found here. Now all I have to do is decide what I’m going to grow and mark those date on my calendar. This y ear I want to try a few new things like cucumber and eggplant. What veggies are you going to grow in your garden this year?

Hey Friends!

This is the last of my DIY art supplies posts. If you haven't checked them out already, check out the Finger Paint, Colored Glue, and Homemade Crayons. (Psst - some of these links haven't been working in Facebook, but you can view these posts at: http://blog.cascadianfarm.com)

 

Ingredients:

1 c. flour

1 tbsp. veggie oil

1 c. water

1/2 c. salt

2 tsp. cream of tartar

natural food coloring

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in saucepan. Heat, stirring constantly until ball forms. Divide into smaller balls, knead in natural colorants and form into balls.

Thanks for trying these out with us. I hope you enjoyed making these with your kids!

Photo Credit: Play Dough: eyeliam @ Flickr.

As we head (hopefully) into the spring thaw, have you sowed your spinach seeds yet? Spinach grows very quickly, and you can even sow seeds over snow cover as it thaws for early spring germination.

High in protein, calcium and iron, quinoa (say: keen-wa) is also gluten-free, making the seeds a fantastic choice for vegetarians and those with celiac disease or on a gluten-free diet, as well as everyone else. When cooked, it is fluffy like rice with a mild, nutty flavor and uncooked can also be ground into a flour for use in baked goods.

As winter meets spring, the warmth of the salad fights the still chilly breeze, and the freshness of the spinach foreshadows the bounty that will soon erupt from your garden. It's my favorite time of year, and can I feel myself get anxiously giddy at the thought of the breeze slowly shifting from cold and biting to warm and soothing. I'm ready to break out the lawn chairs and eat dinner on the grass…if only all this snow would melt.

This salad is the perfect accompaniment to an early spring gardening session, clearing out debris, moving leaves from atop the plants and mixing the winter's compost with the topsoil to get the earth ready for planting. Have you started thinking about your spring gardening plans yet?

Lemon Quinoa Salad with Feta and Wilted Spinach

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 cups fresh baby spinach

4 scallions, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups cooked quinoa

¼ cup feta cheese

Juice and zest from one Meyer lemon

Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a large skillet or wok. Add the spinach and scallions. Cook over medium heat until spinach begins to wilt. Add garlic, toss and cook for 30 seconds more. Add the cooked quinoa and continue to sauté until quinoa is heated through. Squeeze lemon juice evenly over the salad, add zest and feta. Stir to combine and immediately remove from heat. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

Makes 2 meal-sized servings or 4 sides.

With the Olympics going on, there has been a lot to watch, and read over the last couple weeks. We've been trying to keep up with all the good stuff coming through our Organic Feed at the same time, and wanted to share with you today!

The Proper Care and Feeding Of Cheese - Yep, you read that right. Caring for and feeding your cheese! Did you know that keeping cheese wrapped is actually bad? Check out the full story, if for no other reason to find out more about Cheese than anyone else you know! -simplegoodandtasty.com

A Simple Cabin In The Woods - Oh this looks nice! Jennie shows off some cabins in our beloved Washington State's Methow Valley. See you there Jennie! -mysweetgreens.com

Make Your Own Kids Art Supplies - Speaking of Jennie, she shared some great ideas with us this week on our own blog about DIY Art Supplies! This was perfect timing Jennie - with winter storms all around we needed some indoors activities to do with our kids! -blog.cascadianfarm.com

Daffodil Cake -  Cake is an easy way to win over my heart, and this one looked especially interesting and tasty! -makeitfromscratch.blogspot.com

How To Stock Your Pantry - This was a nice refresher, and Shaina is so right about one thing: "Having ingredients on hand means you're less likely to run to the nearest fast food chain." -foodformyfamily.com

Hope you all had a great week! Enjoy the closing ceremonies, and let us know if you try any of the recipes or projects that we posted on our blog! We'd love to see your pictures and hear how it went for you!

As I woke up this morning, my 3 month old was still asleep having spent his first night in his crib in the nursery (not in the bassinet next to my bed). I was struck by how quickly time passes. It seems like just yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital; filled with equal parts fear and excitement. Those first weeks were insane! Drew and I were so overwhelmed with our new roles as parents. Everything else took a backseat – gardening, cooking, and even eating healthy.

I suddenly found myself eating junk and fast food, choosing convenience over quality. This is something I’ve been known to get on my soapbox and preach against! I have stressed the importance of choosing healthy, organic, ethical foods to my friends, family and blog readers. Through a haze of exhaustion, I told myself that we’d eat better the next day, that once things settled into a routine we’d get back on track. Well, things still haven’t really settled down and from what my parents tell me, I have at least 18 more years before they do. So here we are 3 months later and while we’re not still eating greasy take out every night, we certainly picked up some bad habits and learned a few things about committing to your decisions. I realized that my choosing to live a sustainable and organic lifestyle is a choice I make every day.

Like all important, life changing decisions (like becoming a parent) you can’t just choose it when it’s convenient or easy. It’s the choices you make when you’re busy and stressed; the decisions you make when no one is watching that count. And that’s something I’d like to teach my son, by my example. I’m not perfect, but I’m trying to make choices every day that are aligned with my beliefs that sustainable and organic foods are essential.

"This is either every teachers Joy or nightmare"

Last week I showed you how to make crayons at home, here is another fun project you can do with your kids: making colored glue!

Let me know how it goes!