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Posts by Patricia Bishop

Cabbage Recipe

Posted on by Patricia Bishop

LOVE the video updates!
 
and here's one more cabbage recipe for you.  actually, every cabbage we get is used for this recipe because mark & friends love it so very much.
 
gingered cabbage:
 
cabbage (sliced into thin strips)
medium onion (diced)
tomatoe (diced)
fresh ginger (1-2 inch piece, grated finely)
pepper (to personal preference)
soy sauce (around 1 tbsp)
maple syrup (optional and to personal preference)
plus, either meat or cooking oil  (just a little, its all about the veggies!)
 
either fry up a favorite ground meat or sausage in a pan OR omit meat altogether and just heat up some oil in a pan.  (sesame oil is lovely in this.)
next, toss in the onion, ginger, cabbage, tomatoe, pepper, soy sauce & maple syrup and stirfry until tender.
 
i love this recipe because of its simplicity...the amounts of each ingredient can be tweaked and substitutions are easy.  sometimes this is a veg side dish, sometimes the main meal.  sometimes we add other things, like grated carrot, etc, etc.  its very much like eating a fresher, healthier version of egg roll filling.  heck, i've made it into those in the past too.  and unsweetened & meat free, it is one of my diabetic father's favorites.




Opportunity to preserve a beautiful wilderness area on the North Mountain!

Posted on by Patricia Bishop




 
Opportunity to preserve a beautiful wilderness area on the North Mountain!
 
To all my friends, supporters, and Awakened Dreamers who are interested in protecting Mother Earth at a local level – PLEASE READ! There is now the possibility to protect 380 acres of land surrounding The Oasis.
 
Hi, I am Michel Palmer and this letter has been written to seek your support in protecting a beautiful wilderness area on the North Mountain near Middleton in the Annapolis Valley, N.S. Presently there is a 380 acre piece of forested land for sale next to my land, The Oasis, which I have first right of refusal to purchase. The final date to make this purchase is June 15th, 2012 (Money has to be in Trust Fund by June 05/12!!!), and currently there is a competing offer from a former owner who plans to create a Christmas tree plantation on this natural woodland. Every day I wake up knowing that I must do something – everything that I can to prevent this from happening. Mother Earth herself is speaking about the need to awaken other human beings so that we can come together and create a beautiful synergistic project of the human spirit.
 
My ideas include helping to create a caretakers society, an Eco-village, an association or shared ownership model to better steward this land. There are many possibilities for what this could look like and I am open to a range of diverse models. For this I will seek collaborative input and ideas from all stakeholders who want to participate. I envision a project based on organic and permaculture principles to create an ecologically sustainable place of healing; a creative, artistic space that will allow many people to belong, share and take part in protecting this land.
 
What can be done? Action plan
 
The first step is to purchase and to secure the land. The deadline is June 15th, 2012 (Money has to be in Trust Fund by June 05/12!!!). The price of the land is approximately $190,000, and I am now seeking investors able to extend a loan of at least $5000, with an annual rate of return of 4% interest for 2 years; Parker & Richter Law Firm in Greenwood N.S. has been retained to provide notarized promissory notes to secure the loan.
The next step will be to bring together all stakeholders into a formal Association, Executive Membership, or Board of Directors which would then purchase the initial loans and accumulated interest, ultimately creating a supporting membership of caretakers. These same people will come together with a shared vision for the future of the land.
          For those who want to invest less than $5000 or for less time than 2 years, arrangements can be made. For further information, please contact Michel Palmer at (902) 825-3954. Telephone is the preferred means for communication, I am presently still on dial-up Internet.
                                              openeyeswider@hotmail.com
                                 http://www.theoasisnovascotia.blogspot.com
                                 http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Oasis-lOasis

                          For those who want to make small contributions go to:
                                   http://www.indiegogo.com/tobelongproject


Thank you very much for your time and attention to this matter – please support this project.

-Michel Palmer
Procedure for Investing
 
For those that have pledged financial support, or those that are interested in supporting this project, the procedure is now in place to send your funds to the trust account that has been created. Working in conjunction with Parker and Richter Law Offices, in Greenwood, NS, we have developed a trust fund for all investments that are collected. The procedure is as follows:
1/ Please mail a certified cheque, bank draft or postal money order payable to “Parker and Richter In Trust” and write on memo line “for Michel Palmer.”(If mailed after May 25th/12, please send by Priority Post)
2/ Certified cheques to be sent to : Ron Richter, c/o Parker and Richter, PO Box 629, Greenwood, NS, B0P-1N0.
3/ Please make it very clear when sending funds whether or not you choose to receive the four (4) % interest option or the zero (0) % interest option that some investors have selected.
4/ When sending your certified cheque or bank draft please include your name, telephone number, a valid email address and a mailing address so that clear communication can occur.
5/Send an email to Michel at openeyeswider@hotmail.com letting him know, when it was sent, how much was sent and what option was chosen.
 
How this Trust Fund Works
 
All monies received by Parker and Richter Law Offices (www.parkerandrichter.com) will be deposited into a designated bank account that can only be utilized for the purchase of this land. When cheques are received, they are cashed and deposited into this account. When this occurs, Parker and Richter will issue a receipt of the deposit and send an electronic copy of the Promissory Note to the email address supplied by the investor. At this point, the funds and the original Promissory Notes, are held in Escrow, which means they can only be used for the purchase of the land.
When the land is purchased, the original Promissory Note will be mailed to the address supplied by the investor. It is at this point that interest will start to accrue.
If for some unforeseen circumstances, the land is not purchased, Parker and Richter will issue a cheque for the value of the original investment and return it to all investors.

Thank you for your attention and participation in helping move this project forward. -Michel
 


michel's land pics 957 (640x425).jpg


 

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land map.JPG




Thai-Style Spicy Cabbage Slaw with Mint and Cilantro

Posted on by Patricia Bishop

Thai-Style Spicy Cabbage Slaw with Mint and Cilantro
(Makes about 4 servings, but recipe can easily be doubled; adapted slightly from Thai-Style Cabbage Slaw in Sunset Magazine Easy Party Food.  (I could not find the recipe online.)

Dressing Ingredients:
1 1/2 T lime juice
1 T fish sauce
2 tsp. sugar
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. dried red chile flakes

Ingredients:
3-4 cups thinly sliced and chopped red and/or green cabbage (we used more red than green, which made a pretty salad)
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
1/2 cup chopped mint leaves
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/3 cup chopped salted peanuts (or more)

Instructions:

Stir together the lime juice, fish sauce, sweetener of your choice, and red chili flakes to make the dressing.  (You might start with the smaller amount of chile flakes and taste on your finger to see if you want more heat.)

 

Thinly slice and chop enough red and green cabbage to make 3-4 cups of sliced cabbage.  Put the cabbage in medium-sized bowl and toss with the dressing.  Let the cabbage marinate while you prepare the other ingredients.

 

Slice the green onions.  Wash and spin dry the mint leaves and cilantro, using a salad spinner or drying with paper towels, then chop enough to make 1/2 cup each chopped mint and cilantro.  Coarsely chop peanuts with a chef's knife.

 

Add the green onion, chopped mint, chopped cilantro, and most of the peanuts to the cabbage and toss to combine.  Serve right away, sprinkling a few peanuts on each serving of salad.

 



Monday May 7th on the farm

Posted on by Patricia Bishop

Today I took one of those long over due mothering/spouse days where I took care of our space and the people in it. Tonight everyone is bathed, well fed and in bed on time. (plus the kitchen is clean and the floor swept) Phew!

Since the start of the new  CSA year I've been doing deliveries on Saturdays and that on top of a full plate of social activities I have really missed having time at home. Today Izaak had a sore throat and Frank was still asleep at 9 AM so I called it a home day. (Lily headed off to school). And quite relevant I think  I started reading a book  called Power, Freedom, and Grace: Living from the Source of Lasting Happiness written by Deepak Chopra. Jem lent it to me and it is really good for me. I am the type of person who very easily can start spinning and worrying about time and running out of it to the point where I don't do days like I did today because I am thinking I don't have enough time.

During my day of calm domestic purpose, the farm was raring with activity. Three of the pigs were moved on Saturday and the space where they were all winter was prepped and is now ready for planting tomorrow. All of the fields around the house got ready today.

Josh was having some major stress today with the manure spreader breaking and needing a fix and finding out that about 60% of the strawberry plants have been killed by a pest. That along with a few other hard to manage events left him in a bit of a 'zone' today.

Now that everyone is in bed, I have started work. I plan to be at it until about 12 to be ready for tomorrow. I am driving to the city tomorrow because the TapRoot van has to go to Moncton to have the crazy expensive reefer unit fixed because it doesn't work. Yikes!!. Anyway, Justine and I will be driving around the city tomorrow in Josh's 'big ass truck' and a trailer. I am slightly nervous but it will all be okay:)) His truck is good for hauling the heavy loads he hauls but I much prefer my little car or the narrow Sprinter for city driving. Oh well - I am just thankful to Dad for lending me the trailer and Josh for his truck.

Okay - off to catch up on emails, accounting and database.

And just to close - today the farm was so alive - and raw - the shift happened today - the shift of growth in a 2012 season kind of way.

Have a great sleep and a wonderful week!