Thursday, June 26, 2008

It's been a loooong time...

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Wow, I've realllly neglected this blog. Getting ready to return to teaching, and then working full-time threw me for a loop. This summer I'm going to work on developing a posting routine that will allow me to update this blog at least semi-regularly... maybe once or twice a week.

Maybe I'll even work on extra postings to save for the school year so I can just c&p them.

That said, I will be working on developing a more healthful lifestyle. I just got a copy of the book Nourishing Traditions. What a lot of information!! I've skimmed through it (got it two days ago, and skimmed through most of it). I gleaned a basic understanding of a lot of it, but definitely need to go back to it and go over and over it. One thing I definitely want to try to incorporate is some of the lacto-fermented foods, as well as soaking grains / flour prior to cooking them. They taste better, are easier to digest, and are better for us when we do that.

I'll be documenting my progress. I also want to switch to raw dairy (although at this point we'll have to travel to the next state in order to do that - it's illegal to sell raw milk in our state, although there is legislation pending that will finally allow it - not that the government has any business regulating agriculture, but they don't seem to get that), and pasture fed meats / eggs. There is a farm in the next state that is about an hour from here. If we can swing purchasing an extra freezer, it may work out to be worth a trip out there once a month... or better yet, every other month. The prices for their raw dairy and meat products are not that much higher than for conventionally produced (and nutritionaly more bankrupt) products from the grocery store. The improvement in our health may offset the additional cost.



Blessings to you,

3 comments:

Janette said...

Aren't you a bit nervous over raw dairy. As a history buff it seems there were lots of problems with raw cow's milk. Now if you could get some raw Nubian goat milk....:>)

I am excited to hear about your progress on a natural diet. I love having Kansas beef!

Michelle said...

Judy, I'm glad you had time to update. I've mised you!

We're fortunate that there are farms nearby where we buy our produce. It tastes soooo much better than what is found in the grocery store chains.

Have you checked into picking your own fruit? Here's a website: http://www.pickyourown.org/

Judy said...

Janette,

Part of the problem with raw milk happened when the industrial revolution hit and there were fewer small "family farms", more people in a city type setting, and so larger dairies sprung up that had too many cows to properly care for. The dairies ended up feeding these cows contaminated food, sanitation practices were very poor, and so the milk was contaminated.

The milk at this farm gets tested by local officials every other week, by the state every 3 months, and by a dairy processing plant they sell to every other day. All tests come back exemplary.

One day, we would love to have a small bit of land where we could have our own cow, a couple of goats, some chickens, ducks and turkeys, and maybe an alpaca or two (they are SOOOOO soft, and I love to work with alpaca yarn).