As it turns out, I AM getting a cold. This calls for extra good food! Breakfast is the smoothie with various dark berries, superfood, pollen and hemp. Lunch is pumpkin soup leftover, and dinner will be homemade sauerkraut with organic sausages and organic taters. Homemade blackberry wine may accompany that, in moderation. Alcohol and colds don't seem to mix very well, I just get too stuffed up.

I love fermented foods, and they love me. I also love the fact that they require no electricity (no pollution!) to make. Our favorite is sauerkraut. We use a three-gallon crock and 10-12 heads of cabbage. Our crock has a lid with a water seal, so gas can escape, but outside air can't get in. We shred the cabbage (I'm so old-fashioned I just use a knife) and put a layer in with some kosher salt and smash it down, then another layer with salt, etc... When you have enough, put a stone weight on… Continue

We just finished building our hoophouse, which is tall enough for me to walk through without bending, and has doors on both ends. It's really big! Now we can start our greens much earlier, as well as get better harvests and extend our season after summer. We're getting close to growing all we really need, though it is nice to buy wonderful cheeses and fancy foods once in a while.