And the flu came and went . . .

Hello all! Well, the stomach flu officially ripped through our household last week. Unfortunately, I was unable to eat any of the wonderful Chicken Noodle Soup I had made. According to my family, however, it was quite wonderful, so try the recipe!

Since starting this blog, I have had a few questions regarding CSA farms, what that means, and what that entales. I thought I would take this time to discuss the wonderfulness (is that a word?) of CSA farms. My family and I recently joined one in our area and will start receiving produce from it in mid-May. I can't wait! Basically, a CSA farm is a farm that has decided to take on "investors." You pay for your produce up front (at the beginning of the season) and thus take on the same risks as the farmers. If there is a drought or some sort of disease that harms a certain crop, then you won't get as much. However, if there is a bumper crop, you get more! By paying at the beginning of the year we have purchased a "share" of produce that their farm will generate during the growing season. In addition, our farm asks that you volunteer your time to help with the harvest and to help distribute the produce among all the families involved. That is where I hope to learn some more about gardening! It's a great alternative to going to the farmer's market each week. It's a little cheaper to do it this way and you get to help support your local economy while getting great, healthy fruits and veggies in return. If you are interested in doing something like this, you can find participating farms in your area by visiting this national website: www.localharvest.org/csa

I also wanted to draw everyone's attention to a very thought provoking documentary called Food, Inc. If you have or haven't heard of this documentary, I strongly suggest you put this into your Netflix list. It is a great movie. It takes a look at our country's food industry and really delves into the corruption of both the industry itself and the FDA - the association that supposed to be protecting us! Watching it really added some steam to this journey I've decided to take! I've many people tell me that it was life changing for them.

On a final note, I wanted to ask all of you if you had any suggestions on some good devotional books, or bible studies. I have been working really hard at becoming healthier in many areas of my life, but feel like my spiritual life still needs a lot of work. While my family and I attend church each week and are diligent Christians, I still feel like we have a lot of growing to do. I, in particular, need to work on my private time with God and my daily devtionals. So, if any of you have any suggestions I would REALLY appreciate it.

I hope you are all doing well and stay healthy. That stomach flu is ruthless!!!