Dreams, Moments, Travels
Took Jutta out to Tonopah Rob’s Vegetable Farm so we could pick up some veggies, talk with some folks, tour the farm, and spend a lazy morning amongst the birds and lizards. We have been taking home a lot of collard greens lately and would like to call them our current favorite veg from Tonopah Rob’s, but the carrots, broccoli, and radishes have been awesome, too. My mother-in-law is no help figuring out if there is a favorite amongst all the veggies we drag back to Phoenix, she loves them all.
After only a brief 11 months away, my mother-in-law, Jutta Engelhardt is back for another vacation. Arriving in January allows her to avoid some of the worst winter weather back home in Frankfurt, Germany. This trip will be her longest in America at a grand total of 85 days, just 5 days short of what is allowed on a tourist visa. Jutta’s first visit to the United States was back in 1996 for a brief couple of weeks and then in 1997 for 21 days. The next visit was in the year 2000 for 30 days, followed by 2003 – 21 days, 2005 – 57 days, and then 2006 – 65 days. To date and including the days she will spend on this vacation, Jutta’s time in America adds up to 293 days. Maybe we’ll consider 2 more vacations for her here, each being 36 days to bring her to 365 days of vacationing in America.
The closest thing to my cheek is my beard, after that the closest thing is my wife’s cheek, the beard is there for her comfort as she finds it absolutely cozy. Next up is my pillow, this is my pillow where my cheek and headrests – I find it absolutely snuggly. It was made for me by my wife, next to it is a matching pillowcase on her pillow. Caroline and I still find delight in so many little things that make our lives simply wonderful.
Told you that I was at the farm, well it was from that farm that tonight’s dinner came from – most of it anyway. The previous weekend we bought a bunch of kaleidoscope carrots, beets, potatoes, mazuna, onions, spinach, broccoli, and turnips. We still had some of those leftovers this weekend and so into the pot they went. Dinner was steamed carrots, steamed broccoli greens, steamed beets, and southern style collard greens over brown rice and barley. This was our first time ever eating broccoli greens; I never even knew they existed. You will probably never find them in your grocery store, and for good reason, their smell is not a nice one. But once cooked, wow, they are terrific. As for the collard greens, they went into the crockpot with garlic, chipotle, plenty of onion, and some stock – yummers.
These tomato plants are growing in a hoop house waiting for the frost danger to pass so Tonopah Rob can get them in the ground and start growing us some tomatoes. I visited the farm early this morning to pick up some collards and broccoli greens. While on the farm, I meandered about looking for photo opportunities. That moment was best had in Rob’s greenhouse, in this case, a hoop house. It was nearly raining from the humidity but was nice and warm compared to the frigid air just the other side of the plastic covering. You can get an idea of what time I was out on the farm by looking at how low the sun was in the morning sky seen through the plastic sheeting.
Caroline’s second attempt at dyeing was with pre-reduced indigo. This is an easier process of preparing indigo instead of the traditional cumbersome method. While she’s learning this stuff at home, another workshop in Harveyville, Kansas is coming up this spring. Nikol Lohr organizes and hosts the event, this year being held in both spring and fall. Plane tickets and a deposit have been taken care of. While in Kansas, I’ll be scoping farm properties. Eastern Kansas is hilly with lots of trees and just beautiful. This will be a busy crafts year for the wife, in March she and her mom will be attending a weekly Navajo Weaving class, then in April, the two will venture south to Tucson for a three-and-a-half-day workshop to learn all about felting. In late April is the aforementioned Yarn School in Kansas, August is the Fabulous Fiber Fest in Santa Monica, California, and in October we are off to Taos, New Mexico for the Wool Festival. If you are interested in the Spring Yarn School visit Nikol’s website at www.harveyvilleproject.com.