This site is an archive of ChiotsRun.com. For the latest information about Susy and her adventrures, visit the Cultivate Simple site.
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I Couldn’t have Said it Better Myself

August 27th, 2008

Kim Carlson wrote a great article on Slow Food Nation about eating locally. This is exactly why Mr. Chiots and I do it.

Colorful Local Meals

August 27th, 2008

When it comes to eating locally, summers are easy here in the north. Our lunch the other day was just abut 100% local and super healthy (as well as delicious), check out all the different colors.

So what is this meal made of? Local sweet corn with a little homemade butter (made with cream from a local dairy farm), braised red cabbage (cabbage, onions, and apples from the farmer’s market), tomato (sliced heirloom tomato from the local farmer’s market) and whole grain seeded sourdough (made with freshly ground local organic wheat). The only non-local ingredients were the flax, sesame & oats in the bread (even the yeast was local since it’s my own sourdough starter).

What are you eating that’s local and in season this week?

An Apple a Day

August 26th, 2008

The other day while on our way home, Mr Chiots and I spotted an apple tree beside the road with a bunch of apples on it. There is a small orchard down the road, so probably years ago someone bought an apple, ate it and threw the core out the window.

We stopped the car and picked one and tasted it. They were delicious, so picked as many as we could reach (it looked like someone else had been picking them as well).

So what are my plans for these apples? I’m thinking of cooking them down with some transparent apples I bought at the farmer’s market to make some apple butter.

Have you ever picked fruit from the side of the road?

Great Gardening Books: Front Yard Idea Book

August 25th, 2008

Lately I have been reading a bunch of books to get ideas for my front yard. We eventually are going to need to redo our driveway (it’s a terribly graded gravel driveway that turns into a river every time it rains and all of our gravel ends up in the road) I came across Taunton’s Front Yard Idea Book: How to Create a Welcoming Entry and Expand Your Outdoor Living Space (Idea Books). What a great book. There is a chapter on driveways and it explains all the different types of driveway material. This book is a great reference and would be great to read before you do any kind of driveway/hardscape installation. There a tons of great photos (which always make a great book better in my opinion). This book is a definite read if you’re looking for front yard ideas!

More Volunteers Please!

August 24th, 2008

This year I have volunteer petunias growing up throughout my flowerbeds. I don’t know if they’re coming from my compost or some that I bought. I don’t really mind them though, they are beautiful. Here are a few of the different colors I have popping up.


I may try to save some seeds from them for next year. I also have squash vines and tomatoes that sprout up throughout the gardens as well as this butterfly bush that sprouted in my driveway (when it’s finished blooming I plan on moving it).

I actually don’t mind the volunteers and usually leave them where they are or occasionally I transplant them somewhere better suited for them. What kinds of volunteers sprout up in your gardens?

About

This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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