This is you!

This is me.  Sometimes, we all need a reminder...

Chicken helpers in the garden

Bo Peep and Sussy

Atti Girl

Chicken butts

Little Red

And if you start working in the raised beds...

They will come to "help" and demand you find them some worms.

And peck at your garden work gloves, because they're green and they must be something to eat...

And get under your feet...

...and demand more worms!

Sussy is our little...

If you give a chicken...

From 1917...still true today!

2012 Mother Earth News Fair

This past weekend, the Puyallup Fairgrounds were filled with people making a choice to live lives closely connected to the earth.  Organic gardening, animal husbandry, bee keeping, solar, straw bale homes, earth ovens, composting toilets, organic foods, workshops on every possible subject, endless vendors and every type, age, and size of people one could imagine...  It was overwhelming to see how much this fair has grown in just one year!  

One of our favorite displays at the fair this year...  SolTrekker! 

This non-profit took a 1996 used RV and converted it into a green machine ~ solar electricity, solar hot water system, biodiesel, composting toilet, bamboo paneling, recycled glass countertop ~ a healthy, sustainable way to travel.

Couldn't you imagine yourself "on the road again" in this awesome RV?!

Bob Moore of Bob's Red Mill shared at the fair...  We hadn't planned to listen to his workshop, but got a seat prior to Ed Begley Jr's time.  Bob's talk was probably the BEST thing we did at the fair.  He has lived a life that should challenge all of us in our journey here on earth!  Check out the book about his life:  People before Profit.

It was fun to hear Ed Begley Jr share.  He is totally committed to living as sustainably as possible and explained how everything "little" thing we do makes a difference!

I met Brian and Crystine of Uprising Seeds last year at the show.  It was good to see them again.  For my garden, I purchased nearly all of my seed from them and have a very high germination rate (100% so far).  This company is passionate about growing organic and sharing organic seed with others.

As we chatted at the show, Crystine taught me something I hadn't focused on before...  They do not have permanent farmland (although if you do have land in Bellingham to sell, they'd like to talk to you).  They lease land each season to grow and harvest, but they do not always see the seasons cycle on a particular piece of land.  I have always looked at "farming" as the need to be in one place for a long time.  Yes, there are big advantages ~ but she helped me understand that we can always grow food, even if we're only in a place for one growing season.  Continued blessings on your awesome seed business! 

 I thank you for being an important part of my garden and my life journey.


This was a really timely word for me to receive...  

Dough Buddies ~ gluten-free donuts!

Yes, you read it correctly.  These ladies worked on perfecting a recipe for a year. 

The Mother Earth News Fair was the place they launched their new business.

Oh. My. Goodness.  They were delicious.  I would never guess they were gluten-free.

Seriously.

I was transported back to my childhood.

Blaine's favorite was the cinnamon sugar donuts.  Honestly, mine too.

BEST NEW FIND at the show this year!

Pepperjack Home has so many wonderful items for daily living ~ wool dryer balls (no more dryer sheets), cotton snack bags and wet snack bags, cleaning soaps, etc.  Check them out! They will soon be opening a retail store in Arlington, WA!

SO MUCH TO LOVE at The Mother Earth News Fair!