MitchaRachia Farmhouse Salsa

It's good. Real good. It definitely rivals any of these other salsa companies coming from Vermont gardens. And, as I love sharing my vibes, I will share with you! Check it!

Please note two items of importance in regards to MitchaRachia Farmhouse Salsa:

1.) Before you attempt - get your canning supplies and get someone who has canned before to give you a lesson in canning. Not me though, I charge $100 an hour.
2.) You can switch the veggie items around as you see fit and also also mix up the spices a bit for your taste, but the other ingredients must remain for the sake of how to preserve without chemicals.


# denotes directly from my garden! (this made about 4 quarts)

8 cups of chopped, seeded, peeled, and cored red and yellow tomatoes (this is MESSY!!!) #
2 cups of chopped, seeded, and peeled cucumbers #
3 cups of chopped and seeded green and yellow peppers #
1 cup chopped hot peppers (wear gloves so you don't get burned) #
1 cup chopped green onion #
1 cup chopped leeks #
3 cloves minced garlic
1/2 cup minced cilantro #
1/4 cup chopped chives #
2 tablespoons marjoram
2 teaspoons of salt
3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons lime juice

After you spend several hours chopping, peeling, de-seeding, etc., combine all ingredients in a large sauce pot and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for ten minutes. Ladle hot salsa into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Adjust two-piece caps (meaning lightly screw on just as the first bit of pressure can be applied). Process 15 minutes in a boiling-water canner.

YUM!!!!!!

Fried Green Tomatoes!

I have been meaning to get more posts up here regarding all of the fabulous food Mitch and I have been making directly from the garden. We are so localvoring it - pick and then plan the meal - it's so fun! For instance last night I had some big mushrooms in the fridge almost ready to go bad. So, I took the stems out and chopped 'em up. Then I picked some carrots, tomatoes, peppers, rosemary, thyme, parsley, chives, leeks and chopped them up. I did some veggie sauteing, binded them all together with some flour, cooking wine, and water, and topped it off with some mozzarella, Parmesan, and bread crumbs and stuffed those mushrooms right up. I also stuffed a few peppers as well. Then I baked 'em and have leftovers today for a lunch meeting with an old friend. How fab is that???

Today I wanted to share with my favorite Vermont Vibers about the fun of Fried Green Tomatoes. I actually didn't ever see that movie until a little over a year ago - sometimes I am not sure where I have been. It is a most excellent movie and I think I actually blogged about it last year as the best movie to watch after creating a spa night for oneself.

As I watched my garden grow this summer, I found while I was waiting for the veggies to show up (now I am swimming in them), there were an awful lot of green tomatoes and hot damn - what would I do with them all once they ripened? So, I looked to my trusty Betty Crocker Cookbook I bought for my mom as a birthday gift when I was in the fourth grade and then stole when I left for college (although now is when it's really started to get a workout). Sure enough there was a recipe and with some tweaking - I offer you:

Farmhouse Friend Green Tomatoes:

~ Pick green tomatoes off vine
~ Cut into four slices
~ Place four bowls on counter and fill:
Bowl 1:
milk
Bowl 2:
Flour, salt, pepper, and garden herbs (I use parsley and thyme)
Bowl 3:
Beaten eggs
Bowl 4:
Bread crumbs
~ Dip tomatoes in each mixture in order above
~ Place tomatoes in heated veggie oil in frying pan
~ Fry 3-5 minutes per side, depending on heat level of oil

Fried Green Tomatoes are the one fried food approved by Vermont Vibes - and while it's traditionally a southern thang, I think they should be the official fried food of the Green Mountains! They're green and Vermonters grow lots of tomatoes!

Fish Emulsion and Veggies

Ha! Another sneaky chance for me to write something while Rachel is not around!!! I wanted to comment on the crazy and prosperous time we have had with our garden this summer. As a first time gardener, I have had to learn many tricks and deal with many annoying details (i.e. - weeding, pruning, tying up tomatoes, bugs, etc). I also have been able to experience the pure bliss of the "fruits" of my labor. For all of those vibers out there who have a garden or want one in the future, I have two words for you....FISH EMULSION!! Man, this stuff is crazy!! It is smelly and for the most part, well, gross. However, it is an all natural way to make your garden explode with hearty, sweet veggies that are just amazing to eat. Depending on the size of your garden, just mix 2 to 4 teaspoons into a 2 gallon watering can filled with water, and then water your plants as normal. You only need to do this once a month. Just to clarify, Fish Emulsion is a liquid made from fish parts. There is no actual chunks or anything nasty to deal with! Just prepare yourself, because you will be swimming in vegetables!! Uh Oh....I hear Rachel coming back, so I will be back at some point with some sort of sneaky vibe!! Peace, Mitch

I LOVE CHARLOTTE!!!

Living in Charlotte, Vermont rocks! I do not miss anything about Burlington. Mitch and I are having so much fun living at the farmhouse and slowly getting involved with the community we live in. Last weekend we went to Spears Corner Store on the corners of Hinesburg Road and Spear Street for a free wine tasting of honey wines from Honey Gardens in Ferrisburgh. I bought some raw honey and have been using it in my garden fresh sun teas and on my toast. My friend Melissa, who owns Bee Well Massage - a massage and bee ally company - would be so proud. I wish I had a link to direct you to the store, because I urge all Vibers bouncing through Charlotte to stop by and visit our new friends. I love how every time I walk in there is some new handmade product, local produce, and fantastic beer and wine selections always catching my eye. Plus, the movie rental selection is top rate. I remember how much I loved Estes General Store growing up in Windsor, Mass and now I have a local store again to love (even though I did greatly enjoy my years supporting Dave's Deli and Grill in Burlington's North End).

A few weekends prior we went to the annual Charlotte Town Party. That was fantastic! We had many other activities planned that day so we didn't stay as long as I would have liked, but I guarantee Mitch and I will be in that parade next year with a band of hippies with blow up instruments in Mitch's new truck he's buying soon! I spent most of my time meeting folks in the community organization tent.

I learned about better ways to hay fields to promote the fantastic bird population I enjoy upon awakening every morning and have shared the info with my landlord to help encourage better haying procedures (our land isn't farmed so it's not affecting any livestock). This was courtesy of the Charlotte Conservation Commission. (of course I didn't tell them that moving to the country has caused my one cat Tela to turn into a bloodthirsty killing machine)

I chatted with the good folks on the Charlotte Trails Committee and learned about cool places Mitch and I can explore in Charlotte without the getting lost in our own backyard drama. More trail info for the Greater Champlain Valley can be found at www.localmotion.org/trails.

I spent a great deal of time learning about invasive species (and was pleased to know I was aware of a great deal of them already). There were some fantastic materials and alternatives to invasive species provided by the Vermont Chapter of the Nature Conservatory. I was still surprised to hear rumblings of long time gardeners talking about how they take care of their plants so the don't "invade" and I was sitting there thinking - "you are a huge part of the problem!" The thing is everything changes and at some point those people aren't going to be there to make sure the plants don't invade - not to mention that with bees hopefully coming back, pollen is being spread like baby mice to my cat's nostrils.

I also chatted a bit with the folks at the Lewis Creek Association, of which my first Charlotte afternoon tea outing, Kathy Blume, sits on the board.

I didn't have time to stop by the Charlotte Recreation Commission, but that's ok because both Mitch and I already have town beach passes and we have been enjoying our time there immensely - as you can see from the pictures!




Looking forward to much more Charlotte!

Gardening Update Photos!

I am so behind on my Vibing posts! There have been positive Vibes everywhere! Cousins coming to visit and enjoying the Honky Tonk band at The Old Lantern, canoeing and swimming at Kingsland Bay State Park, chillin' at the Charlotte Town Beach, attending the Charlotte Town Party, Vermont Mozart Festivals and Vermont Symphony Orchestra concerts, as well as phenomenal Charlotte Farmhouse cookin'! Mitch and I are starting to gather recipes for a cookbook! But, before I post further, I must report on my garden. It is insane. Today I will post a few pictures from the garden several weeks ago - you can only imagine where it's at now. Last night we had a full on harvest party - lettuce, green beans, broccoli, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, kale, and tons of herbs - the first sets are drying for winter use!

Check out these pics from a few weeks ago and I'll get some current ones soon and make them current!

Sunflowers, Marigolds, and Fresh Air

I wish I have been writing more. I actually have so much to share. Part of me wishes I could unite all of my fabulous blog readers and have them all magically appear at the Charlotte farmhouse for sun tea and garden walks and talks about life and the world on one of my six porches. I am trying to find balance between my crazy world of running a Vermont public relations company and actually enjoying some of the sweet, short, and lovely summer on a Vermont farm. And all while learning my trusty computer has crashed and I now need to purchase another one, transfer files, upload programs and all the fun that goes along with that. While trying to take Fridays off to enjoy my life but finding that very hard to do.

But, being out here with my tremendous garden and eating from it every day, working at home with my cats by my side, and watching love grow with my sweet Mitch make it all still very worth it. What comes around goes around and the energy I put forth will come back. Perhaps I should pick a weekend next summer and invite Vermont Vibers and enthusiasts from near and far to come for a weekend of reality, communication, and life at the farmhouse. Then I would be chosen for a Seven Daisies Best Blog for sure!!!


Today was a stress - between finding out my computer has been driven to its deathbed and discouragement in the world of public relations - as positive as I try to be. While driving back to Charlotte from a day in the big Vermont city, I passed a farm on Spear Street with a huge sunflower field and a Pick Your Own Sunflower sign - for free and by donation I believe. While I didn't stop, but almost turned around, I did smile and think had a tear in my eye at some of the simplest of beauty in the world. My cousin is visiting this weekend and I decided a pick your own sunflower was very in order for us gals.


It also made me think of something else. A little farther down Spear Street as you actually get into East Charlotte (my hood) is Trudi's Nursery. Yesterday I got a note on the Front Porch Forum that they had closed for the season and all leftover plants were outside for free to good homes. I didn't have a chance to go when the pickins were good and now I know why - I was meant to go after seeing the sunflowers to save a plant or two from possible death. (What I couldn't do for my computer?:) Sure enough were two withering six packs of marigolds and nothing else. And now I will save them - after I turn off my backup computer of course.

But before I do that - the remainder of my drive filled me with thoughts about an email I received a few days ago from the Fresh Air Fund asking me - as a popular blogger in the freshest and greenest state ever! - to help spread the word that they are in need of some host families for 200 children this summer. More info is at http://freshair.smnr.us/. I am a big fan of the Fresh Air Fund and I cannot imagine living in a city and not being in the fresh air we have up here in Vermont. And if I could actually pull away from work before 9 o'clock at night and not work so much overtime, I could actually consider it - one day as the cycle of energy comes full circle for me I can. Please consider and share with others - it's one of the better programs out there - nothing cures the blues like a blue sky, sunflowers, and marigolds.

Independent Vibes

I am sad for the 4th of July. I am sad that we live in a country that I am ashamed of. I think a lot of people must feel that way about the state of the nation. I want to be able to wave a flag and sing patriotic songs and wear red, white, and blue, but I cannot. And that makes me sad. While I love Vermont and our way of life here, I also know we are all contributing greatly to the concept of escapism that I also get so agitated at - primarily because I am a major proponent of escapism - me and my farmhouse lifestyle. Escapism is also a survival technique and one that I don't think is going anywhere anytime soon. That is until the population starts to be able to sustain itself on a local, national, and global level. I mean think about it, the major issues of the world all boil down to the raw fact that there are simply too many people. I encourage you to visit Vermonters For a Sustainable Population for more information and resources on this issue - www.vspop.org.

I wish everyone a safe, healthy, and most of all happy Independence Day. May we all someday be independent from depending on escapism - or at least see a a glimmer of this in our lifetime. My quote of my life, business, and love is "it's never too late to be what you might have been." Today someone actually said to me "it IS too late to be what you might have been." I guess I would rather live my life of escapism from the horrors of the world in beautiful, green Vermont where I can make a small impact of people sharing positive vibes then dampen spirits that are already soaked underneath.

For the record, I wholeheartedly support and endorse Barack Obama. I understand the traditional political issues with this choice, but I also know that tradition is a major part of the problem in this country's political mess.

Love and Light.