Our Natural Life » Garden http://ournaturallife.com/blog Provocative discussions about leading a holistic, sustainable, and healthy life Thu, 24 Jun 2010 19:01:32 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=6257 Searching for accurate information and provocative discussions about living a holistic, sustainable, and healthy life? Join hosts Jon and Cathy Payne for informative interviews with local and national experts, authors, farmers, filmmakers, and chefs. A bimonthly podcast of varied length that focuses heavily on the principles of Weston A. Price Foundation, Slow Food, sustainable agriculture, and buying local food. Reported through the lens of the hosts lives in rural Georgia. Jon and Cathy Payne no Jon and Cathy Payne jppaynesr@gmail.com jppaynesr@gmail.com (Jon and Cathy Payne) 2009-2010 - Alchemy New Media LLC Provocative discussions about leading a holistic, sustainable, and healthy life Weston A. Price, sustainability, sustainable food, holistic health, farming, organic, nutrient dense food, slow food, biodiversity, locavore, pastured meat, raw milk Our Natural Life » Garden http://www.ournaturallife.com/logo/ONL144x144.jpg http://ournaturallife.com/blog/category/garden/ ONL057 OMG, We Bought the Farm! http://ournaturallife.com/blog/2010/01/onl057-omg-we-bought-the-farm/ http://ournaturallife.com/blog/2010/01/onl057-omg-we-bought-the-farm/#comments Sun, 03 Jan 2010 02:16:11 +0000 Cathy R. Payne, EdD http://ournaturallife.com/blog/2010/01/onl057-omg-we-bought-the-farm/

Once in a blue moon, something amazing happens that changes everything. Jon and I have been going through a lot of changes since our last recorded Podcast in November. As I write this on the eve of the last day of the first decade of the 21st Century, we are only hours away from a blue [...]]]> http://ournaturallife.com/blog/2010/01/onl057-omg-we-bought-the-farm/feed/ 6 413 Once in a blue moon, something amazing happens that changes everything. Jon and I have been going through a lot of changes since our last recorded Podcast in November. As I write this on the eve of the last day of the first decade of the 21st Century, (http://www.OurNaturalLife.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/DSCF4252.jpg)Once in a blue moon, something amazing happens that changes everything. Jon and I have been going through a lot of changes since our last recorded Podcast in November. As I write this ... Jon and Cathy Payne no 24:08 ONL052 Preserving the Harvest Tips from Karen K. Brees http://ournaturallife.com/blog/2009/09/onl052-preserving-the-harvest-tips-from-karen-k-brees/ http://ournaturallife.com/blog/2009/09/onl052-preserving-the-harvest-tips-from-karen-k-brees/#comments Mon, 21 Sep 2009 02:39:25 +0000 Cathy R. Payne, EdD http://ournaturallife.com/blog/?p=79

Karen K. Brees , Ph. D., author of The Complete Idiot’s Gude to Preserving Food is the subject of Cathy’s interview today. Her book is a great beginner’s reference on canning, freezing, pickling, and more. The Podcast interview can be played on the device below or downloaded from iTunes, Zune, or Stitcher.

Karen, a master food preserver, [...]]]> http://ournaturallife.com/blog/2009/09/onl052-preserving-the-harvest-tips-from-karen-k-brees/feed/ 0 Karen K. Brees , Ph. D., author of The Complete Idiot's Gude to Preserving Food is the subject of Cathy's interview today. Her book is a great beginner's reference on canning, freezing, pickling, and more. The Podcast interview can be played on the dev... (http://www.OurNaturalLife.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/preserving_150.jpg)Karen K. Brees (http://practicalpreserving.blogspot.com/) , Ph. D., author of The Complete Idiot's Gude to Preserving Food (http://astore.amazon.com/ournatlif-20/detail/1592579167) is the subject of Cathy's interview today. Her book is a great beginner's reference on canning, freezing, pickling, and more. The Podcast interview can be played on the device below or downloaded from iTunes, Zune, or Stitcher. Karen, a master food preserver, lives on a ranch in Idaho where she raises South African Boer goats (for meat) and vegetables. In spite of a small growing season, she manages to produce a large bounty of produce for her family. By preserving her harvest, she and her husband enjoy local, sustainable food year round. Food preservation techniques used to be handed down from mother to daughter, but many of these traditions have been lost over the last 40 years as modern, processed, convenient foods filled the supermarket shelves. (http://www.OurNaturalLife.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/images-11.jpg)With the recent interest in eating local foods, eating seasonally, and home gardening, there is an increased need to learn these skills once taught at home. Karen's book is a good beginner text that gives newbies the basics in a wide variety of skills including food safety, freezing, canning, pickling and fermenting, relishes, jams and jellies, drying, salting, smoking and root cellaring. Learning to preserve your sustainable, seasonal food can save you money, as well! I've used a couple of recipes from the book and they were easy to do from her clear directions. I put up 7 pints of Wilma's Bread and Butter Pickles using my own homegrown cucumbers. Karen describes these as "the best you will ever find," and I have to agree. They include 3 ingredients I haven't used in bread and butter pickles before. I've also put up a beef brisket from Natures Harmony Farm using her corned beef recipe. I've made this once before from a Julia Child recipe. I need to wait another three weeks to see how it stacks up, since the corning process takes 4 weeks. (http://www.OurNaturalLife.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/images-2.jpg)If I'm ever successful in growing more cabbage than our cabbage worms can eat, I'd like to try her sauerkraut recipe. One reason I've been hesitant to attempt this is insecurity about what might go wrong at each step. Karen includes a thorough troubleshooting section to address these concerns, detailing what to expect when things are going right and how to know when it has gone wrong. In the interview, Karen discusses some helpful tools and hints that are helpful to know. The supplies and gadgets she discusses can be found at our Amazon Store (http://www.ournaturallife.com/blog/?page_id=22). (http://www.OurNaturalLife.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/images-31.jpg)Chapter 6 is devoted to the freezing of meat, poultry, seafood and game. This includes tips for wrapping, identifying cuts of meat, definitions, and more. We'd love to hear about your favorite techniques for preserving the harvest and your experiences with them. Leave comments below. Write in any questions you have for Karen. New Products Please check out our new products page (http://www.ournaturallife.com/blog/?page_id=340) to check out CDs from some of our popular interviews on sustainable food. We hope you will consider purchasing these for your self or as gifts to support our work for the sustainable food movement. Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund We recently issued a Call to Action to demand clean, sustainable real food sources in your products. Current laws and regulations to not reflect the growing respect for sustainable family farms, according to the Weston A. Price Foundation's Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund (http://www.ftcldf.org/). Check out their website to see all the hard work they are doing to help your local farmers. Jon and Cathy Payne no 48:39 ONL049 Sustainable Farmer Lynn Pugh http://ournaturallife.com/blog/2009/08/onl049-sustainable-farmer-lynn-pugh/ http://ournaturallife.com/blog/2009/08/onl049-sustainable-farmer-lynn-pugh/#comments Sun, 09 Aug 2009 02:43:54 +0000 Cathy R. Payne, EdD http://ournaturallife.com/blog/?p=82

In this Podcast we interview Lynn Pugh. She and her husband Chuck are proprietors of Cane Creek Farm in Forsyth County, Georgia. You can download the show on iTunes or Zune or listen from the website below.

We’ve been buying produce from Lynn and Chuck since we discovered their CSA through Local Harvest 3 seasons ago. When [...]]]> http://ournaturallife.com/blog/2009/08/onl049-sustainable-farmer-lynn-pugh/feed/ 0 In this Podcast we interview Lynn Pugh. She and her husband Chuck are proprietors of Cane Creek Farm in Forsyth County, Georgia. You can download the show on iTunes or Zune or listen from the website below. (http://www.OurNaturalLife.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Lynn_sunflowers.jpg)In this Podcast we interview Lynn Pugh. She and her husband Chuck are proprietors of Cane Creek Farm (http://www.canecreekfarm.net/index.html) in Forsyth County, Georgia. You can download the show on iTunes or Zune or listen from the website below. We've been buying produce from Lynn and Chuck since we discovered their CSA through Local Harvest (http://www.localharvest.org/) 3 seasons ago. When we first contacted them, we were put on a waiting list. However, one shareholder had toddler triplets. The trip to the farm along with three sets of car seats was just too much for the young family. We were able to buy out their share mid season, when produce was at its peak. (http://www.OurNaturalLife.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/marketsm-1.jpg) It seems inconceivable now that we were uninformed about Community Supported Agriculture (http://www.wilson.edu/wilson/asp/content.asp?id=804) for so long, and we learned about it from a surprising source. My friend Tammy Billups (http://www.tammybillups.com/) told me about her favorite charity, Heifer International (http://www.heifer.org/site/c.edJRKQNiFiG/b.204586/?msource=kw4848&gclid=CKzmiNSelJwCFSBN5QodAx7rcw). It soon became our favorite charity, too. After donating to Heifer, we were subscribed to their wonderful journal, World Ark. World Ark is a wealth of information about sustainable food and how it can ease hunger world wide. It was one of their articles that informed me about CSAs and the Local Harvest website. World Ark also introduced us to Will Allen (http://www.heifer.org/site/c.edJRKQNiFiG/b.4993465/) of Growing Power (http://www.growingpower.org/), the urban farmer in Milwaukee who raised our red wigglers (http://www.ournaturallife.com/blog/?p=265). Lynn, a former science teacher, not only helps feed 75 families on 3 acres of her 17 acre farm, but is also the curriculum director for Georgia Organics (http://www.georgiaorganics.org/), leads educational field trips of her farm, and teaches classes in organic farming methods. She strongly values the camaraderie of these activities, which involve sharing the work, sharing meals, and building community. (http://www.OurNaturalLife.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/hoophouseworksm.jpg) I took one of Lynn's food preservation classes a couple summers ago and enjoyed the communal experience of working in the kitchen with several other women on July evening putting up tomato sauce using Barbara Kingolver's recipe from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (http://astore.amazon.com/ournatlif-20/detail/0060852569). We are proud to feature sustainable farmers on our show because they are our heroes. We support them any way we can. Our favorite means of support, is of course, to enjoy their food on our plate three times a day! Lynn talks with us about how she became a farmer, her various activities, and the benefits of eating organically raised food. We hope you enjoy listening to it. Weston A. Price Membership Drive and 2009 Conference News (http://www.OurNaturalLife.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/wapfbanner.gif) Help Jon and me get to the Wise Traditions Conference November 13-15 and become a membe (http://media.libsyn.com/media/ournaturallife/membershipform.pdf)r today! We will earn one registration for each 15 people we recruit. Be sure to contact us and let us know that you listed us as your referral. We hope to meet many of you at the conference. Scholarships are also available. This year's conference them is "Honoring the Sacred Foods." To hear Sally Fallon Morrell, president talk about reasons for joining the foundation, go here (http://tinyurl.com/kwdzzw). (http://www.OurNaturalLife.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/imarenegade_1501.jpg)Become a Food Renegade. Vote with your dollars 3 times a day. Purchase your food from local farmers using sustainable methods. Prepare your food nutritiously at home. Eat real, nutritious food, Jon and Cathy Payne no 57:12 Rainwater Harvesting Slide Show http://ournaturallife.com/blog/2009/05/rainwater-harvesting-slide-show/ http://ournaturallife.com/blog/2009/05/rainwater-harvesting-slide-show/#comments Tue, 26 May 2009 01:53:28 +0000 Jon http://ournaturallife.com/blog/2009/05/rainwater-harvesting-slide-show/

This is the very short slide show Jon made of how he built our rainwater collection system.

You can view it on the website or download it to your PC using the links below. To play it on your PC you might need Apple Quicktime (free) for either a PC or a MAC.

The diverter came from RainReserve.com The [...]]]> http://ournaturallife.com/blog/2009/05/rainwater-harvesting-slide-show/feed/ 0 This is the very short slide show Jon made of how he built our rainwater collection system. - You can view it on the website or download it to your PC using the links below. To play it on your PC you might need Apple Quicktime (free) for either a PC or... This is the very short slide show Jon made of how he built our rainwater collection system. You can view it on the website or download it to your PC using the links below. To play it on your PC you might need Apple Quicktime (http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/) (free) for either a PC or a MAC. * The diverter came from RainReserve.com (http://rainreserve.com/shop/) * The barrels came from Gutter Water LLC in Georgia (http://gutterwaterllc.com/default.html) * You can use this link to find rain barrels (http://rainreserve.com/locator/index.php) in your area. See the ONL043 bog post and podcast for more details. //Jon Jon and Cathy Payne no ONL043 Installing Rainbarrels to Harvest Rainwater http://ournaturallife.com/blog/2009/05/onl043-installing-rainbarrels-to-harvest-rainwater/ http://ournaturallife.com/blog/2009/05/onl043-installing-rainbarrels-to-harvest-rainwater/#comments Mon, 25 May 2009 17:03:30 +0000 Jon http://ournaturallife.com/blog/?p=256

Rainwater harvesting has several benefits to the home gardener and to the environment. First, it conserves a valuable resource by avoiding the use of potable water for your landscape or garden. Second, it reduces storm water runoff pollution. Additionally, it helps consumers save money by reducing water bills. It may also be healthier for [...]]]> http://ournaturallife.com/blog/2009/05/onl043-installing-rainbarrels-to-harvest-rainwater/feed/ 0 Rainwater harvesting has several benefits to the home gardener and to the environment. First, it conserves a valuable resource by avoiding the use of potable water for your landscape or garden. Second, it reduces storm water runoff pollution. (http://www.OurNaturalLife.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/rainwater-harvesting.jpg) Rainwater harvesting has several benefits (http://www.rainfilters.com/why) to the home gardener and to the environment. First, it conserves a valuable resource by avoidin... Jon and Cathy Payne no 39:41 ONL037 – Sustainable Food – Georgia Organics Conference http://ournaturallife.com/blog/2009/03/onl037-sustainable-food-georgia-organics-conference/ http://ournaturallife.com/blog/2009/03/onl037-sustainable-food-georgia-organics-conference/#comments Mon, 30 Mar 2009 01:36:15 +0000 Jon http://ournaturallife.com/blog/2010/01/onl037-sustainable-food-georgia-organics-conference/

We talk about the 2009 Georgia Organics Conference held at Agnes Scott College in Decatur Georgia. We discuss what we learned at the various breakout sessions, the famous person who sat with us, our new ‘livestock herd’, the great meals we ate, and highlights from Michael Pollan’s keynote address.

Show Links Slow Food USA High Mowing Organic Seeds Seed sales [...]]]> http://ournaturallife.com/blog/2009/03/onl037-sustainable-food-georgia-organics-conference/feed/ 0 We talk about the 2009 Georgia Organics Conference held at Agnes Scott College in Decatur Georgia. We discuss what we learned at the various breakout sessions, the famous person who sat with us, our new 'livestock herd', the great meals we ate, We talk about the 2009 Georgia Organics Conference held at Agnes Scott College in Decatur Georgia. We discuss what we learned at the various breakout sessions, the famous person who sat with us, our new 'livestock herd', the great meals we ate, and highlights from Michael Pollan's keynote address. Show Links Slow Food USA (http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/slow_food/) High Mowing Organic Seeds (http://www.highmowingseeds.com/) Seed sales are booming (http://www.greenrightnow.com/kabc/2009/03/23/the-roots-of-a-garden-phenomenon-seed-sales-are-booming/) Watershed Media: Dan Imhoff (http://www.watershedmedia.org/news.html) Vermont Feed Farm to School Program (http://www.vtfeed.org/) White Oak Pastures Grass Fed Beef is Better (http://www.whiteoakpastures.com/) Nature's Harmony Farm (http://www.naturesharmonyfarm.com/) Lasagna Gardening (http://organicgardening.about.com/od/startinganorganicgarden/a/lasagnagarden.htm) Square Foot Gardening (http://www.squarefootgardening.com/) Gutter Water LLC - Products (http://gutterwaterllc.com/Products.html) Growing Power (http://www.growingpower.org/Index.htm) The White House Blog - Spring Gardening (http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/03/20/Spring-Gardening/) Michael Pollan (http://www.michaelpollan.com/index.htm) (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61qxaE0-noL._SL75_.jpg) All New Square Foot Gardening (http://www.amazon.com/All-New-Square-Foot-Gardening/dp/1591862027%3FSubscriptionId%3D02E5W5871AJF7PMMMS82%26tag%3Dournatlif-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D1591862027) (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61DSBHYEXQL._SL75_.jpg) Lasagna Gardening: No Digging, No Tilling, No Weeding, No Kidding! (http://www.amazon.com/Lasagna-Gardening-Layering-Bountiful-Gardens/dp/0875969623%3FSubscriptionId%3D02E5W5871AJF7PMMMS82%26tag%3Dournatlif-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D0875969623) //Jon Jon and Cathy Payne no 51:04 Making Ketchup from our Surplus Harvest http://ournaturallife.com/blog/2008/07/making-ketchup-from-our-surplus-harvest/ http://ournaturallife.com/blog/2008/07/making-ketchup-from-our-surplus-harvest/#comments Sun, 27 Jul 2008 12:19:24 +0000 Jon http://ournaturallife.com/blog/?p=117

Saturday morning July 26, we went to our CSA and got about 4 pounds of tomatoes. Half of them were the paste and Juliet variety. I needed to use them quickly and we had just completed our broadcast on fermentation, so I decided to make ketchup using the recipe on page 104 of Nourishing Traditions. While [...]]]> http://ournaturallife.com/blog/2008/07/making-ketchup-from-our-surplus-harvest/feed/ 0 ONL003 – Anyone Can Grow Food at Home http://ournaturallife.com/blog/2008/07/onl003-anyone-can-grow-food-at-home/ http://ournaturallife.com/blog/2008/07/onl003-anyone-can-grow-food-at-home/#comments Thu, 24 Jul 2008 12:17:12 +0000 Jon http://ournaturallife.com/blog/?p=116

ANYONE can grow food at home – this podcast introduces listeners to micro gardening, a way to utilize small spaces to grow vegetables at home, even if only on a patio or deck. We include a history lesson on Victory Gardens from WWI and WWII in this country, and the Dig for Victory campaign of the [...]]]> http://ournaturallife.com/blog/2008/07/onl003-anyone-can-grow-food-at-home/feed/ 0 ANYONE can grow food at home - this podcast introduces listeners to micro gardening, a way to utilize small spaces to grow vegetables at home, even if only on a patio or deck. We include a history lesson on Victory Gardens from WWI and WWII in this cou... ANYONE can grow food at home - this podcast introduces listeners to micro gardening, a way to utilize small spaces to grow vegetables at home, even if only on a patio or deck. We include a history lesson on Victory Gardens from WWI and WWII in this country, and the Dig for Victory campaign of the UK in WWII. The new concept has been referred to as an Energy Garden, or E-Garden, as growing food at home is one way to reduce both trips to the grocery store and transportation of produce. We briefly introduce websites with videos that explore the ugly side of agribusiness. Micro gardening resources: * Urban Gardening Help (http://www.urbangardeninghelp.com/) * Wikipedia article on Urban Agriculture (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_agriculture) * Square Foot Gardening (http://squarefootgardening.com/) * ALL NEW Square Foot Gardening (http://astore.amazon.com/ournatlif-20/detail/1591862027/103-2457455-0055052) Other links we talked about: * The Meatrix (http://www.themeatrix.com/) * The World According to Monsanto (http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2008/04/01/the-world-according-to-monsanto-a-documentary-that-americans-wont-ever-see-full-video/) - the film most American will not ever see. * Other informative articles about Monsanto at Celsias.com. (http://www.celsias.com/articles/?q=monsanto&x=48&y=12) * The Future of Food - Rent from Amazon Unbox (http://www.amazon.com/Future-Food-Morgan-Spurlock-Presents/dp/B001AQLQ24) * The Future of Food DVD - Buy the DVD from Amazon (http://astore.amazon.com/ournatlif-20/detail/B000V5IOWK/103-2457455-0055052) Please watch these videos and email us with your reaction; we want to hear from you. Email us at ournaturallife@gmail.com (mailto:ournaturallife@gmail.com). -end- Jon and Cathy Payne no 34:42 Getting Started with our Podcasts http://ournaturallife.com/blog/2008/07/getting-started-with-our-podcasts/ http://ournaturallife.com/blog/2008/07/getting-started-with-our-podcasts/#comments Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:13:36 +0000 Jon http://ournaturallife.com/blog/?p=114

We have finished program number 3 on the topic “ANYONE can Grow their own Food.” Show notes and links will be available soon. We also discussed some DVDs on the topic of farming methods that we found to be very profound. We would really like to hear from our listeners about their reactions and hopefully share [...]]]> http://ournaturallife.com/blog/2008/07/getting-started-with-our-podcasts/feed/ 0