Monday Dec 6th

Here it is 10:31PM. I am catching up on the emails, the dishes are done and now it is time to write tomorrows newsletter. Ahhh, I will do it in the AM. I wanted to give the final report on our conference.
On Saturday morning I heard a presentation from a woman who owns a grain farm outside of New York (with her husband). She gave a great presentation on how to prepare and use grains and also her experience with self sufficiency. The local grocery store in their town closed down. At that point she and her family took on the challenge to feed themselves. I am all excited now to get a grain mill for the kitchen counter. The description of the corn meal muffins made with freshly ground corn meal sounded wonderful. I will post her list of food items needed for a year for a family of 4.
Overall the conference was a very good experience. I am glad we went. As with all things there were some contradictions. The focus wass about eco agriculture, treating the soil with respect and be conscious of our impact. But then our meals were offered in mountains of plastic (hotel service). And, in all of the places in the USA we were at - the airports there was no recycling or compost. Hard to really understand that things are so different just a few hours away. At our local organic conference, ACORN, there is great effort taken to ensure that the food is organic and that there is minimal waste. This conference was offered without meals, so it was up to us. It is hard to be thinking about great food - the production of it and then not have access to eating it. Anyway - all in all it was nice. Josh and I walked along the Mississippi river on Saturday afternoon. It looks like it is a lovely place in the summer. Many of the river boats were still in the water.

Night for now......