A Celebration of Courage

At our son’s school on Friday we had the pleasure of observing and participating the Michalemas festival, which is a celebration of courage, reflection and conquering fears.  Also known as the festival of strong will.  We watched a magical play that depicted the slaying of the dragon by St. George.  There was a slight deviation from the story as this version had the 1st graders taming the dragon as opposed to actually slaying the creature.  It was quite an adorable adaptation.  After the theatrics, we were treated to “dragon bread,” organic handmade bread baked at the school.  Then came time for the games!  Children challenged themselves on the wooden obstacle course with such challenges as a teeter totter balance beam and varying balancing and crawling obstacles.  On the hillside children could be observed chasing hula hoops while running between through the center.  Fresh organic fruit kabobs provided refreshing nourishment between the challenges.  It truly was a joyous festival.  If you would like to read more about Michaelmas, click here.  If you would like to learn more about Waldorf education, click here.

 George taming the dragon

Farm Fresh Eating

Last week, my wife and I decided to sign up for a couple of local CSA’s (community sponsored agriculture.)  We signed up with J.R. Organics for our produce and SonRise Ranch for our meat.  We were already purchasing a good portion of our produce from J.R. Organics from the farmers market, so they seemed the most fitting and logical when decided on which farm to go with.  We like SonRise Ranch because their animals are all pastured, including the pigs and we agree with their farming practices and methods which includes not engaging in the use of GMO feed, pesticides, antibotics.  They also use sustainable methods which is refreshing in this age of resource depletion.  We signed up for the weekly CSA box and the veggies provided will be enough for our family for the week, along with what we can supplement from our garden.  The meat totaled 14lbs, 7lbs beef and 7lbs pork.  If you eat organic or clean, then you know how hard it is to fine pastured, grass-fed pork.  We received various cuts from pork chops, roast and pork ribs to New York steak and ground beef.  I haven’t had ribs or pork chops in at least 2 years since I committed myself to eating a GMO free diet.  Needless to say, I am stoked and we are cutting our grocery bill almost in half.  If you would like to locate a CSA in your region, click here.  Below are some pictures of our CSA treasures: