I cried in Walmart today~Kelly

I cried in Walmart today.

Let me back up...

We've had friends and family with good intentions sending us recipes and suggestions, all with well meaning intentions, which is GREAT!  HOWEVER, it's simply tempting me to "cheat the system."  For instance, I had a suggestion to buy non caffeinated herbal teas.  This is a GREAT idea, right?  So, I went to the tea section today and looked into them.  I called Kristin for backup.

Me: "Hey!  What do you think about buying non caffeinated herbal tea?
Kristin: "I've just been drinking hot water with mint in it."
Me: "Me, too...whaddaya think?"
Me:  "Actually, I'm just trying to find loopholes in our fast.  Nevermind.  I actually want some tea...ANY TEA...so bad right now I feel like I'm gonna vomit."
Kristin: "(laughs)  WE'RE HALFWAY THERE!!  WE CAN DO THIS!"
Me: "I know.  I JUST REALLY WANT TEA!!!  I WANT IT SO BAD!"
Kristin: "WE CAN DO THIS!"
Me: "I know.  I know.  I'm walking away right now.  I'm CRYING, but I'm walking away.  KRISTIN!  I'm CRYING OVER TEA!!!"
Kristin: "Good job."
Me: "Thanks.  Talk to ya later."

I cried over tea in Walmart today.

Kelly and Kristin's Great Farm Adventure~DAY EIGHTEEN

Tonight, Kristin "hooked us UP!"  She has old friends, Matt and Mary Harsh, who were educated at Virginia Tech in horticulture and biology (respectively).  Matt also has a Masters in Farm Management from Lincoln Tech in New Zealand!  Well, the good news, for you local folks, is that they are BACK IN TOWN and Farmin'!  BAM!

We visited their amazing greenhouse and farm tonight, and were innundated with new ideas and information to chew on...AND...they gave us REAL stuff to chew on as well (ie. their own lettuce mix, asparagus, and strawberries!)

We asked Matt and Mary about organic farming.  They made us aware that organic does NOT mean that it hasn't been treated and is "au naturale."  There is a list of organic approved insecticides and pesticides that will blow your mind, baby!

Matt talked about two kinds of GMOs (genetically modified organisms) tonight, "Round up ready" and "BT infused."  We found out that very nearly all corn IS "round up ready" meaning it is nearly impossible for corn and soybeans in the world to NOT include some form of "round up resistant" gene in it.  "Round up ready" gene is patented by Monsanto, which you may have heard of if you've watched the documentary "Food Inc."  The good news about this gene is that when round up is sprayed on the field to kill the weeds, it will not kill the corn.  Farmers no longer have to till their land in order to plant their corn or soybeans, which reduces soil erosion and sediment in the Chesapeake Bay (sediment being the #1 pollutant in the bay).  Since the round up ready gene has made its way into the general corn population, it is nearly impossible to get corn in America that does NOT have the gene.  Our question is, "Is this a BAD thing?"  Kelly watched a lecture a week or so ago that mentioned that food allergies have increased drastically since the round up gene was introduced, so we're at a loss right now.  So here's the deal.  Kristin and Kelly both LIKE CORN.  We're not going to stop eating it, so deal with it.  You kind of have to be okay with eating round up ready corn.  It's everywhere (except, apparently, New Zealand) !)

Onto the "BT corn gene."  BT is an insecticide that has been introduced into the DNA/RNA of the corn.  BT corn will kill any worm that bites it.  BT is also on the list of organically approved insecticides, meaning that some organic farms use BT.  So how do you tell the difference between Round up Ready corn and BT corn?  We will never know.  This also only scratches the surface of GMO corn, we realize, but it's all we could comprehend tonight, and we think Matt picked up on that.  By the way, we must put a disclaimer up:  We may have gotten this ALL WRONG.  !)

After our "lesson," we got a tour of their (Kelly) "FABULOUS" (Kristin) "AMAZING" greenhouse!  They have it ALL!  Flowers, herbs, veggies, lettuces, even llamas (though they were NOT in the greenhouse, and you may not want to eat them).  Matt let us taste his tasty lettuce (and then GAVE us a whole lotta lettuce!).  Kristin is going back to buy her herbs to grow at home soon!  They even sell their bell pepper to WEGMANS!  Well, Wegmans, we can one-up you now!  We're goin' straight to the source!

After that, Mary gave us some asparagus from their market stand, which...listen up, folks: YOU CAN BUY FROM, TOO!!!  They are not an organic farm, but they do not (knowingly~remember, the round up ready has made its way into the general American corn population) use GMO seed.  They are very environmentally conscious, which is a perk!  They do not currently use manure because of the risk of infection, and if he does use it in the future, he told us that he will apply it in the fall.

13220 Edgemont Rd

Smithsburg, MD 21783

(if you live in town, it's just down past Cool's Pond on the right)



We met up with Matt "down on the farm" after that and picked strawberries that were amazing!  Matt came up to us and said, "If you're REALLY committed to this, try THIS ONE!"  ("THIS ONE" was a strawberry that was littered with worm holes)  Our reply? "WE have Young Life in us.  We'll try anything once.  Your worm hole strawberry doesn't scare us."  Chomp, chomp...oh, baby...SO...GOOD.  Matt said the worms eat the GOOD ONES, and he...was...right.

Then, they gave us a tour of the farm, and we chatted it up for awhile in under the cover of the barn, and we were on our way!  We found out that WALMART does what they can to buy their produce locally (better than Weis and Martins), however, they don't do a good job marketing that!  How are we supposed to know it's local, WALMART?!  We'd love to see them clearly display when they buy locally.  TIP:  If a fruit or vegetable is not in season...it is NOT LOCAL.  Matt also mentioned not to buy pears from the Northwest (he would not feed them to his own children)...cuz they spray those suckers somethin' fierce (emphasis-ours).  His big tip was this:  "KNOW YOUR FARMER!!!"  Your farmer knows exactly how the produce is grown.  He knows exactly what he treated the crops with.  That's important, folks!

All-in-all, we will both be hittin' them up for fruits and veggies ALL summer long, and they even pointed us in the direction of a book that will help us cook with produce that is in season.  We can tell y'all more about this after we figure it out, but we're EXCITED!

Our "painful" next field trip will be to Misty Meadows to learn more about milk, hormones and antibiotics..."PAINFUL" because they also sell ice cream.  And, you know...we're "VEGAN" right now, so pretty much everything they sell will be "painful."

Kelly's DAY SIXTEEN

 This morning did not go as planned.  My alarm clock (my two-year-old) went off just before 7am.  I forgot to reset my REAL alarm for 6:15, my normal waking time.  That threw me off.

Anyhow, I had some grapes, peanut butter and OJ for breakfast.

Lunch was a couple carrots, more grapes, and a can of Amy's organic soup.

Dinner was a can of Amy's organic soup and a bag of "French Green Beans" from Walmart's new "Marketside" line.  I sauteed them in olive oil and garlic.  On the bag, it says, "ALL NATURAL."  I scoff at things that say "ALL NATURAL" these days.  That's a bunch of bologna, folks!  DEFINE..."ALL NATURAL."  This Marketside stuff is NOT organic.  It's probably blasted full of GMOs (genetically modified organisms), but I can't just assume that, so I wrote an email to the people at Walmart who deal with produce related inquiries:

"In the quest to make sure I'm serving my family healthy ingredients, I have recently researched GMOs and organic produce verses "regular" produce.  I decided that I was "food dumb" before my recent research.  What bothers me is the fact that Walmart stores do not have a wide selection of organic vegetables and meats.  On top of that, they allow labels to charm their customers into buying them with slogans such as "All Natural."  What vegetable ISN'T "All Natural"?  To the "food dumb" consumer, that slogan probably works, but I'm not buying that slogan anymore.  I refuse to feed my family produce that has been intoxicated with GMOs any longer.  Why would I want to feed my family something that has been genetically altered?  I understand that Walmart in other countries has catered to the consumers when faced with tough decisions, but that the "food dumb" Americans have not caused enough hype to make any change in our nation's food supply.  I want you, at Walmart, to know, that as for me and MY family, we're choosing to purchase the slightly higher cost organic produce, be it from Walmart or a local farmer.  I believe there has been a shift in our society ongoing for some time now, and it would benefit Walmart to be proactive in stocking their shelves with organic certified produce and meats."

We went to a local ice cream place tonight and got ice cream (I should say, I sat there and watched them eat ice cream).  Oh...ice cream...one day we will dance again!

On top of my "food stuff" today, we've been praying, praying, praying about adoption related stuff that would be more relevant for me to post on our family blog than here, so I will do that as soon as I can sort through my thoughts on things related to our adoption.  However, I have made Psalm 63: 1-8 my "Battle Cry," and my soul will cling to Him!

He will satisfy me as with the richest of foods, that passage tells me.  So, I continue on, eating only fruits and veggies, and cling to that hope.  That, though I'm eating carrots...again.  Though I eat yet another apple...again.  Though I have gone through 1 and a half jars of peanut butter in the last 16 days... Though I have only just 16 days ago started to eat avocados as they stand...GOD is, to me, the "richest of foods!"  HE is my "steak!"  HE is my "yogurt!"  HE is my "ice cream!"  HE is my "spaghetti!"  As much as I crave the foods that everyone else in my house, and most people in America can eat, I should be craving HIM with as much enthusiasm!  I make that my prayer, that I would crave GOD with a steadfast heart...more than I crave ANY food or thing on this earth.

So, I wouldn't exactly call myself a "Farmer"...

Hey! It's Kelly!
Happy Monday, Everyone!
Monday is my meal planning/grocery shopping day for the week.

After taking little Darby to look at the fish in Walmart, I passed the gardening center area. The display with all the seeds caught my eye, so I went to check the back of the seed packs to see what they had to say. Things like "drought resistant" and "insect resistant" were printed on the labels. These sort of things, to a "farmer" sound...GREAT, right? But there's more to those words than meets the eye! See, I watched this video the other day where a lady explained exactly what "genetically engineered" means. Basically, they have taken pesticides and morphed them into the actual DNA of certain vegetables in our food supply. Corn, for instance, now gives off it's OWN insecticide when it is growing. Then WE...eat it. On top of this, our government makes it nearly impossible for organic growers to stay afloat! They are taxed to pieces. In America, we eat meat and vegetables that are grown using practices that are outright ILLEGAL in most other countries! Consequently, in America, 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women are expected to get cancer...the HIGHEST RATE IN THE WORLD.

I talked to Kristin last night, and we both are dumbfounded. We don't know where to even start with all this new knowledge we have come upon. I actually told Kristin that "I'M FOOD DUMB! I'M A FOOD DUMB CONSUMER!"

So, after I saw the seed display, I decided to look a little further, when what to my wondering eyes should appear? Oh! AN ORGANIC SEED SECTION! At $2 a pack, that was too good to pass up! So, I'm officially a "farmer." I bought bell peppers, cucumbers, spinach, cherry tomatoes, San Marzano tomatoes, cilantro, basil and parsley. I plan to plant these in containers on my deck. If I can do this, then maybe I will plant a garden in the backyard next year. We'll see how it goes! Oh, and in case you're wondering, I used organic soil, too (they sold ALL of this at Walmart).

I passed Kristin in the Jelly aisle (looking for jelly we can eat). Haha! She just texted and told me she thinks she's going to make her own jelly this summer!

We're still looking into CSAs, organic milk, meat and poultry suppliers, and we'll keep ya posted, but I had to share with you my exciting new find!!