An Ity bit of effort goes a long way...

Well here we are for the 1st January 2014.  And while i'm a fan of resolutions/sankalpas I think its all too easy to say you will do something, and not follow through.   I, you, we all need accountability to help us stay the course and follow through on something.  So you, this blog, is my accountability for my sankalpa.

This year I thought it would be great to take a journey through Sw. Sivananda's 18 Ities starting with today, and having a new one every week until i'm through all 18.  You too are welcome to join me, in fact, it would be great to compare notes at the end of the week (Wednesdays) to see what our experience is.  After all, its not about getting something right or wrong in your life, its about bringing more awareness to qualities that can aid us in our development as humans, as evolving souls.

So i have a set of Ities, much like angel cards.  and this week I have pulled SIMPLICITY.

Simplicity, to me, is about paring down an intention, an experience, until all that is left is what is really important.  Most of the time what is important to start with isn't what we think it is when we start.

It can mean being more present, in the moment,  only doing one task at a time.  (hard for a mama sometimes).
It can mean pulling out the quality in a task (kindness, compassion, honest...) and putting all our energy into fulfilling that quality. Watching in the process how many of the actions we thought that task needed just melt away...

Ive often watched at how the mandates of spiritual life simplify as we walk further down the road.  We start with all these techniques, ideas... only to find that to SERVE, LOVE, GIVE is the way.  It simply is that...  not saying that it is always easy.  but it is simple.

Do you make tasks more difficult, more complicated than they need to be?  for one week, can we shine a light on it? make new choices and see what happens?

So heres to a week of simplicity.  Simple eating, simple actions, simple intentions...

Say Cheese!

Its been a dream, a passion, ok lets be real, an obsession in our family to be able to make really good homemade cheese.  I come from a dairy rich country, New Zealand, where cheese and milk is really good quality, and for the most part fairly affordable.  So coming to north america were "american" plastic cheese is the norm is extremely disappointing.

Eating cheese that is any good in Canada and you will need a small line of credit just to keep up, especially at the rate that we eat it.  So making it, is really one of the only ways we can really guarantee what we are eating.  Over this summer we mastered Mozzarella.  Served with Niwas grown tomatoes, and basil, drizzled with balsamic reduction... it was heaven on a plate.

Yesterday thanks to the great people at the New England Cheese Making Supply Company ,  which I learnt about after reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, (Can you imagine lying on a 2 inch mattress in rural India dreaming about the first home grown asparagus of the season?) we decided to jump in and give it a whirl.

So yesterday the parcel arrived.   Everything we will need to make Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Mozzarella, Feta, Kefir and Goats Cheese, which is going to be our main cheese come February when Poppy gives birth!

So today is no longer known as Thursday, but cheddar day.  Apparently its going to take about 2 months to be ready,  so come February first, (about the same time the Goats milk will start flowing) we will be ready and waiting to bite into our first Niwas Cheddar Cheese...

Vege Starts - Planning for fundraising and crops.

So for better or for worse, its not even christmas and i'm already salivating over the potential crop and starts fundraiser at Niwas for next year.

Dan at Saltspring Seed Co.  comes across as a real genuine walk the walker.  Dedicated to preserving NON GMO, Organic and Heirloom crops, he has once again showered us with a wonderful variety to produce to be grown in the East Kootenays.

For all you locals with gardens,  these are the starts we are planning on having on offer for sale late april/early may next year. (depending on frost)

TOMATOES.
*Italian Stallion Paste Tomato. - very dense and heavy fruits, worthy of their name.
*Gardener's Delight Small Cherry  - crack resistant, 6 - 12 clusters, heirloom.
*Elizabeth  - family heirloom from Mike Stefancsik, 2 ounce red tomatoes of great flavor.
*Cheesmanii - very old and rare North American heirloom.  prolific.  small orange pear-shaped gems.
*Black Krim Novelty Tomato - heirloom from Krim on the Black Sea. Unique looking 6-12oz, deep      red/purple fruits have dark mahogany shoulders. Rich, sweet, juicy and delicious.
*Cuatomate - Unique Zapotec Indian heirloom.  Orange currant tomato with lots of flavor.
*Early Latah - usually the earliest tomato to ripen. Abundant red plum-shaped fruit on compact plants.

GREENS
*Laurels Freilly Kale
*Red Ursa Kale
*Nutri-bud Broccoli
*Rainbow Chard
*Slo Bolt Cilantro
*Darki Parsley

GRAINS
*Amaranth Mix
*Hi Yield Quinoa
*Gary's Hulless Oats

FLOWERS
*Sunflowers
*Taj Mahal Marigolds - actually collected from the Taj.

And this is not everything we will have...  its going to be great!

What is your favorite vege/flower to grow in the East Kootenay's?

Is it February yet?