Tall Tales & Falsehoods

A while back I discovered I had a food allergy. Not really knowing why – I would break out in hives in the middle of the night. The hives would originate where I had restricted blood flow (ie. ring finger, waste band, etc) and eventually spread throughout the rest of my body. The hives are not serious, (at least not that I know of) but can last up to 12 hours. The main drawback (besides the swelling of my pretty face) is the itchy sensation that the hives cause. After about the third time of breaking out in hives I wanted to find out why. I knew that it had to do with the food that I was eating so I started to keep a journal of everything that I digested. At one dinner party that my wife and I attended I stressed to the guest my concerns over the nights meal stating that I would most likely breakout latter on that night. Low and behold I did. However this was the turning of the tide in my new fond war against my food allergy. One of the dinner guest compared some of list from my food journal with the contents of our dinner menu. After some investigative google searches we both arrived at the conclusion that the allergy had to do with preservatives found in certain foods.

It all became an amusing story due to the fact that I would mostly breakout when I ate store bought bbq sauce. (The irony of the fact that I am so into the bbq culture didn’t escape me.) I would commonly get teased on the fact that the foods that I hold dear are also the ones that I am allergic to. So I started to really analyze the way in which I interacted with food.

Now I try and eat fresh meals. I buy local. I try my best to eat non-processed food. The more and more I research the more I find myself questioning the way in which we all interact with food. Food is a staple of life and I have become dependent of other people to produce substance for me to live. Not only that, the same food that I rely on other people to provide for me is also making me sick. So this year I am taking it one step further and I am going to try and produce my own food.

Welcome to my garden, welcome to be becoming more self relient.

This year my family and I are planning on planting our own garden. We are very fortunate to have access to some land and equipment that most do not. For the past few weeks I have been planning the garden out with my Father. This is what we have decided.

The garden will be approximately 18 rows with a length of 84 feet per row. Each row will be spaced out four feet (the width of our plow) for a total of 72 feet. The total area of the garden should be 6,336 square feet. This is little over 1/8 of an acre. While we have plenty of land that we could plant more I want to make sure I can personally attend to this amount of space in my limited amount of time. An additional 1/2 of an acre will be plowed for planting space if needed. We will be setting aside 1/4 of an acre for fruit trees and bushes that take two years to germinate.

Below you will find a list of the vegetables that we plan on planting and the anticipated planting date harvesting date of each:

Peppers (Bell): P-March 5 / H-May 21
Onions (Yellow): P-March 5 / H-June 11
Broccoli: P-March 5 / H -May 21
Beans (Snap): P-March 12 / H-May 7
Cantaloupe: P-March 12 / H-June 4
Sweet Corn: P-March 12 / H-June 11
Cucumbers: P-March 19 / H-June 18
Squash (Summer): P-March 19 / H-March 11
Tomato: P-March 19 / H-June 4
Watermelon: P-March 19 / H-June 25
Okra: P-April 1 / H-July 2
Lima Beans: P-April 1 / H-
Potatoes (Sweet): P-April 16 / H-July 30
Peanuts: P-April 16 / H-Aug. 13

*For more information on harvesting and planting dates check out Clemson Corporative Extension, specifically this article.

While I understand that this will be quite an undertaking I am hopeful that my crop will yield a bountiful harvest. I am planning on using all heirloom seeds from the Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company. This is very important to me. And while everybody tosses around the buzz word “Organic” I am not so wrapped up in that. I will use all natural products, hard work and sweat to make my garden work, but don’t want to bank on such a buzz word. By no means does this encompass the reason why I am planting my own garden. My crops are meant for a means of being more self sufficient rather than necessarily eating health. I am hoping that eating healthy will be a by-product of working hard.

I hope to blog more about the progress of my garden as time goes on. Please write in and drop some comments on how you think I am doing and what I may need to look out for.

The other day my wife and I were at the bookstore. I was looking for Memphis a birthday gift. One book that caught my attention was Star Wars ABC . Memphis is a bit old for an ABC book, so I settled on Marvel Super Hero Squad: Infinity Sword Quest instead. However the idea behind the book stayed with me.

On our drive home I challenged my wife to see if we could come up with characters, vehicles and planets from the Star Wars universe that started with the letters of the alphabet. It turned out to be a blast. We got stumped for a bit on the letter “F” and then on the letter “U” but we pressed on and came out victorious. I guess the force was with us on this one. It was so much fun I called up my brother to see if he and his wife could complete the task. Sure enough he did and we discussed the letters that gave us trouble.

Fifteen minuets of fun has turned into an idea that my wife and I enjoy on a regular basis. We have played “From A-Z” using the Marvel and DC universe, Harry Potter and even attempted a J.R.R. Tolken. Part of the fun is thinking of new universes that we can try this with (maybe next time we can do it with the Kevin Bacon film library).

Go ahead and give it a try, you’ll like it. Please leave comments letting me know the different types of “From A-Z” that you tried.

Memphis, the joy of my life! She is beginning to really become her own person. A little sass, a bit of attitude and a bunch of cuteness make my little girl so special. She isn’t two yet but she has grown into something I never would have imagined. I am glad she is a part of my life and look forward to many memories that she and I make together.

Last weekend my family and I went camping. We took a short little drive down to Ridgeville, SC (just north and west of Charleston) to the SC State Park – Givhans Ferry . We met up with friends Jenn and Mikey Patsel (along with the kids) and rented out a cabin.

We stayed in a a two bed, one bath cabin that over looked the Edisto River. The cabin was originally built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the Great Depression, but now boast some minor improvements including central heating and cooling (however we did not partake in these modern day marvels). With a small kitchen this cozy little cabin was a great deal for the price. The park even provided all of the bed linens, dishes and pots and pans!

The park itself was small with little to do, but that was just fine with me. It was great to get away and be with friends. We built fires, talked, laughed and explored outdoors. We even got to go geocaching! We truly had a great time.

I highly recommend taking advantage of what your state parks have to offer. You can find some good deals at some wonderful places.

——————————–

If you missed it check out Eleanor’s blog of our visit to Sesquicentennial State Park a few weeks back.

This year I am getting off the bench and stepping onto the field of BBQ Competition. The weekend of March 26-27 (my birthday!) my newly formed team, The Proud Purveyors Of Pork, will be competing in the Bordertown BBQ Cookoff in Clover, SC!

For over three years I have honed my BBQ skills as both a SCBA judge and a backyard cook. Now I am putting it to the test. So far there are over 20 teams entered into the SCBA BBQ competition. At least five of the tames finished in the top 10 of the SC BBQ Comp series last year. This will make for a good stiff competition as well as a great way to make new friends. I have no illusions going to the cookoff. I do not expect to win or even place. For me it all about the friends and family that I will be surrounding myself with on my birthday. My wife asked what I wanted to do for my 30th and this is exactly it. With this I can make off yet another thing on my list of life goals!

The Proud Purveyors of Pork (website soon) will consist of my wife, Memphis, my brother his wife and kid, my father and cousin! I hope to be one of the best marketed BBQ cook teams there with t-shirts, hats, aprons, table cloths, stickers, and sauce bottles. (It pays to have the ability to be able to print this kind of stuff yourself!) I plan on tweeting about the experience while it is happening as well as documenting the whole experience.

This is a big step for me and I look forward to making it. Wish me and the team good luck!

Today marks Heidi and I four year wedding anniversary. I am so in love with my life and it seems to grow every day. Four years is such a short time to enjoy somebody so great as Heidi. I am looking forward to spending many, many more years with such a wonderful person.

Heidi if you are reading this, I just wanted to say: “Thanks for all the great times and memories. I love you very much!”

I hate cats, well that is not entirely true. I hate people who likes cats. Well that isn’t true either. I hate people who like cats and think they are caring for them by giving them food. (That doesn’t sound as good as I hate cats, but we will go with that.) All to often do I see people “caring” for cats. It is an easy thing to say and they feel all warm and fuzzy inside. But giving an animal food doesn’t mean that you are caring for them. Your caring shouldn’t mean my wife starting off a horrible day cause of it.

If you are “caring” for cats, look at the definition and ask yourself are you really “caring.”

At the very least remember waht Bob Barker used to say.

Back when I was in high school I ran cross country. That was over 10 years ago. Since then I have tried to get back to it but I haven’t succeeded. However I have found a workout program that is getting me back on track. It is call Couch to 5K. It is simple in nature. It works gradually to get you off the couch and to start running without jarring your system. It operates off the run/walk routine over a 30 mins.The program runs on one day on one day off schedule for 9 weeks. .

My wife and I have been doing this program for three weeks now. I am so proud of Heidi. She is really kicking butt. However I am not. I am doing the workouts but my knees are so week, it is tearing my body up when I run. I am more at a fast walk pace. However I am keeping at it. My goal is to be able to do a whole 5k in a total of 9 weeks even if it is at a slow pace. I am hoping that I will build up knee strength over this time to help me along the way, meanwhile pushing Heidi to achieve her goals. I have decided that I will do all of the family races and let Heidi do the competitive ones. This gives me time to run with Memphis as well as get in shape.

1. I am using the Couch to 5K iPhone application.
2. A little info about Runners Knee
3. A little info about Jumpers Knee
4. Tendinitis

A few weeks back my brother introduced me to a new album by Ziggy Marley, “Family Time.” He was looking for an album that was family friendly to listen in the car and somebody recommended it to him. Nakia in turned recommenced it to me. Ever since, it has been added to the nightly rotation to Memphis’ bed time jam. The other album added was Bob Marley‘s “B Is For Bob.” The two albums are penetrating my daughters mind as she sleeps on a regular basis. I am so pleased to be able to introduce my little girl to such great music at such a young age.