Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. It has been a year since I came to America.

A long and hard year, there was something new to experience everyday, so many new people met, most of whom friendly, not a lot of Polish jokes heard, maybe 2, I have learned how to drive, I forgot how to spell some Polish words, I think in English most of the time now, it is a strange feeling,

I still read Polish newspapers, though I lost interest in the politics, except spicy political dramas which are always interesting, I started Facebook and a blog, I got to try Indian food, Mexican food, German food, German-Russian food, French food, basically American food, I have seen corn and soybeans everyday for 6 months, I have seen tractors of size of ships, I have seen the Grand Canyon, and Elvis, I was in a tornado warning, heat advisory, frost advisory and wind advisory,  

I have seen new life growing, 

I was farming on a few acres,

wow, and I have never been out from home for so long. I should think: this is your new home.

This is what we have done so far on our new hoophouse assembly. We are going to have two of them for next spring. More pictures to come, when more will be done! Enjoy!

We added a small greenhouse to our operation!

This will help our seedlings in the spring to grow with natural light and to get a glimpse of how it is to be outside.

Thanks for helping us with putting these nuts and bolts together Ezra, and for the pictures Angel!

Our garlic has arrived so we planted it, according to the instructions: each clove’s pointed part facing up, and all covered with 6 inches of leaves. In the spring we should see some new garlic plants coming!

We chose an organic variety called Bogatyr.

Here are some pictures of this venture.

Having some empty spots in the field last summer we decided to experiment with cover crops. This so called green manure will bring beneficial nutrients to our soil, so next season we can use this space for planting vegetables, which require a lot of nutrients. We will make sure to include cover crops in our plants rotation every season.

To cover our soil we used milo-soybean mix, sudan grass and buck-wheat.

Buck-wheat next to corn

 Sudan grass

This fall we also planted some winter hardy hairy vetch, which is a good nitrogen fixing legume.

Isn’t it nice to know how to cook things?

I was never interested too much in cooking, but now, when growing food, I feel somehow connected to it’s life cycle, from the field to the table, through the kitchen of course. It’s not only nice to plant the seed, smell fresh tilled soil, then pull a beet, a carrot or cut some lettuce, or pinch a bean pod, but also to peal it, cut it in cubes, to let it boil or roast, look at it in an oven incubator, through a thick glass, and be proud.

“Dare to know” great philosopher used to say. I dare to know how to cook, dare to wear an apron and make something good, to this world.

I have just seen the movie “Food, INC”. It is a documentary about how most of our food is being made now and what are the global and individual consequences of this process. 

I am glad I have seen it, it gave me a boost to start some research on the importance of eating healthy products. 

One of the main people interviewed in “Food, INC” was Michael Pollan, the author of  “In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto,” a book which I have at home thanks to Kelly’s brother, thanks Ez! This might be a good start for me.

Happy eating.