The TV's officially left our house on Saturday. I think my favorite part is the quiet in the evenings after the kids have gone to bed. Who knew our house could be that quiet? We aren't even a week in yet, so I know better than to be too bold in assuming what a great job we are doing, but so far, things are going smoothly. Our bank account is seeing noticably less transactions, the kids aren't begging for TV, and some organization is starting to get accomplished. Oh, and our trips to the library have already increased exponentially. We have also upped the amount of cooking, baking, and eating. Sadly, while I have been without my soft drinks for days now.... I miss them. A lot.

I am daydreaming about fresh summer produce on a regular basis now. Sauteed squash, tomato sandwiches, cucumbers with Ranch dressing... be still my stomach. Heart. Whatever. We are also counting down the day until the Old Town Farmers Market opens back up (and crossing our fingers that our garden doesn't decide to make a laughing stock out of us our first year in!!).

I took pictures of the house. I planned to post them. They are a little insight into why I am so dead-set on de-cluttering. They are slightly (more than slightly) embarassing. That's why I don't feel too bad not to be uploading them with this post. Maybe later! Or maybe I'll just declutter and invite you all to come over for dinner.... Thanksgiving dinner.... might be decluttered by then.....

Simplify

sim·pli·fy
verb \ˈsim-plə-ˌfī\
sim·pli·fiedsim·pli·fy·ing
Definition of SIMPLIFY
transitive verb
: to make simple or simpler: as a : to reduce to basic essentials b : to diminish in scope or complexity : streamline c : to make more intelligible : clarify


Simplify: an on-going conversation between Allen and myself since the beginning of time… Living the sustainable life. Providing for ourselves and not partaking in the commercialism. And we’ve done ok. We live in a small house. We don’t go out to eat often. We don’t have a million TV channels. We provide a good portion of our own veg and all of our eggs. We pat ourselves on the back because compared what we consider "the American Standard," we live a fairly simple life. But, we want to hold ourselves to a different standard. Our own standard. And so the simplification beings….

Step one: Our lowly basic cable and Netflix plans have both been cancelled. Over the weekend we will be moving our TV’s out of their comfy homes in our den and bedroom and out into the cold, cold garage. Television…you will be missed!

Step two: A lowering in our consumer intake – buying less (especially if it creates much waste like individually packaged drinks or foods). We plan to stick to the basics buying only what we need and cooking at home. There is no clear-cut plan for what we will/won’t buy, just the question of whether or not we can do without it. And I for one am really hoping that I can do without High Fructose Corn Syrup. Goodbye, my friend, goodbye…..

We don’t expect all of this to come about overnight. It’s a process. I’m hoping by putting it in writing, I am making myself accountable. Please – hold me accountable! We look to turn our energy away from TV, away from the clutter, and to the family and the farm. And the blog, of course! That’s right – internet is staying (we can’t go crazy with this whole simplifying!) My hope is to weekly update on how we are doing. The next week and a half will be phasing things out – we aren’t throwing out those lovely sugary cereals and my lone Dr Pepper in the fridge. But we aren’t replacing them when they are gone. Back to the basics, here we come!

My version of farm work

Although it hasn't much felt like it for the past week, it is still winter time. And what does one do to pass the time when the farm isn't really in full swing? Baking. Yes, lots and lots of carb-tastic goodness coming out of my kitchen. As we speak (read: type), there is a double batch of pizza dough rising on the table One for Farmer Big Al's pizza dinner. One for either mini-pizzas for lunch tomorrow, or, and this is where my vote lands, cinnamon fry bread. What's that, you may ask. Well, pizza dough cut into thin strips, deep fried, then topped with cinnamon and sugar. Heavenly.

Also freshly made on my kitchen counter are Cheerio treats with peanut butter and M&M's. Not technically baking, but still oh-so-good.

Finally, and the reason I will have to cut this post short, are the sour cream blueberry scones I am making next. Thanks to the Original Farmer (my mom) we have bunches of lovely, home-grown blueberries in my freezer calling for me to make them into crumbly, baked goodness to go with my breakfast coffee.

So what's missing from this post? Pictures. And why? Because I let my camera battery completely die (luckily not until after snapping a few Build-A-Bear shots of Emma and Mary Claire on their Valentines excursion thanks to Aunt Ashley). Anyhow, the battery is charging. Chances are, the baked goods will not last long enough to be photographed once the battery is ready. So then I will have to bake some more.

The beginning

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day from the Gryder Farm!!

Last night we prepped homemade cinnamon rolls to give our V-day a sweet start. Of course, I will have to learn to pay closer attention to my recipes since I made enough to feed a small army. But, how could eating fresh, yeasty cinnamon rolls all week long be a bad thing?

Emma headed off to school with her homemade Valentines for her classmates - salt clay hearts, painted and glittered, hung from a ribbon. She is very proud of her presents for her friends. And I must say, I do feel slightly Martha-Stewart-y representing the working moms! Emma and Mary Claire both loved playing with the salt clay for quite a while before we actually turned it into the hearts. Then, when that fun is done and the clay has cooked/hardened, it provided the second art project for the girls - painting and glittering! I am a big fan of this homemade dough and it's many possibilities. Yes, you will be receiving ornaments for Christmas made from the same concept! And I should probably start working on them now since production of everything else in our lives comes to a hault for the summer garden months.

A hard days work

Just an update.

This Saturday Farmer Allen will attend a class taught by the Clemson Extension Agent, our informal kick off to a summer market garden. After his class, we (Farmer and family) will immediately head out of town for a little extended-relative time in Lake City. I imagine this will mark the last trip for us for awhile. Allen has started prepping the soil. He has set up a special table in front of the large window in the "play room." He has pulled egg cartons to double as seed trays. All that is left is to start planting. And so it beings!

This summer we hope to start everything from seed (and by "we" I primarily mean Allen)... and given the size of the orders arriving daily in my mailbox, Farmer Allen seems to have made darn sure we will have ample seed for every kind of produce our hearts may desire. There are seeds for things I've never heard of, much less tasted. I guess as long as he's willing to cook it, I'm willing to eat it. Don't know if the same will be true of our blond-headed hellions though...