Cat's Quinceañera

If you wonder where I have been...

We have been getting the farm ready for my daughter's

Quinceañera.

My daughter and her Abuela have been planning this for months.

Coming up with a guest list, menu, ceremony...working on

it as a "Grandma/Granddaughter" team..a special time to share just

Cat and her Abuela.

It was decided that it would not be a big formal affair but a simple,

meaningful event more like how it would be in my mother in law's village

in the South of Mexico.

We decided early on that the rich Oaxacan culture of my mother in law would be purposefully imparted to our children.

  This was a learning curve for this midwestern girl who was raised on tuna noodle cassorole,white bread,

and in a sea of suburban homogeneity.

This meant I had to learn to speak Spanish, how to

make salsa, guacamole, tortillas, tamales...even pozolé

How can you teach it if you don't know it?

in the spirit of Ruth..."your people shall be my people"

and this journey of learning keeps growing.

The Quince was a success and I would love to share the day with you...

This is the Quinceañera chair

My dad walked her down the aisle, as David and I waited for her

There were 15 coral roses given out to our relatives, dear family friends and her best friends.

Each one would present her with a rose and give her a blessing and share some advice on her

transition from a girl to womanhood.  This was such a blessing to me as a mom to be able to

listen to the precious, encouraging words of friends towards our daughter and it reminded me

that it does take a village and I am so thankful for the community that we have been given.

her aunt Marlene and her Abuelita

Our dear friend Charity, who has known Catherine for her whole life gave her the sweetest

blessing, full of wisdom, I scarce could hold it in.

we prayed for her and her future

David put on her high heel shoes,

which symbolizes her transition from a girl to a woman.

then he presented Catherine

she gave a beautiful speech...

Our little girl is growing up.

The Mariachi's played

we ate and ate

drank

danced

and danced

hung out

had cake

took pictures

It was a beautiful day where memories were made. 

 Memories our daughter will remember for her whole life.

She has crossed over the bridge from a girl to a lady.

We love you Catherine Grace and are so proud of the women you are becoming

and sharing in your bright future, as we send you out to be a blessing to the world!

Love,

Mom and Dad

Thank you to Karina from Capturing Delight Photography for taking all these lovely photos.

Sweet Salvage: What A Day!!

Oh boy!  What a day! 

From the moment the "garage" door opened...people...non stop people.  It was amazing!

This Sweet Gang is so very talented.  There was beauty everywhere and green...

lots and lots of beautiful greens.

Look at all this green loveliness!

our limited edition "Make Eggs Not War" T-Shirts

fresh baked Madeleine cookies, organic greens, radishes, lemons

our seasonal lemon and blood orange curd, made with our own BOHO eggs.

Trish from Vintage Bliss was also a featured artist...

her jewelry is made out of old ceiling tiles.

Also, thank you Trish for all these great photos.

Thank goodness Stephanie took a bunch of  photos before all of the craziness began!

Sweet Salvage was jammed packed all day from the minute the doors opened. 

But don't worry if you didn't get there yesterday...they are bringing in new treasures everyday.

I got to see so many friend and also make some new ones...Thank you for coming down and

meeting me.  What a treat...it made the day so sweet!

All our BOHO product will be there throughout the weekend to purchase if you weren't

able to get down Thursday.  I am planning to go Saturday and Sunday to shop!

So maybe we'll see each other there!

Have a wonderful weekend!!

 

Sweet Salvage and BOHO Farm are having a Rendezous

That's right...Sweet and I are having a rendezvous for four whole days.  

BOHO Farm + Home is SO excited to be the featured artist

for Sweet Salvage's February sale "Raw and Re-Find".

A perfect match!

We'll be there with all our urban farm fresh goodies:

Marmalades

Curds

Jellies

Organic Produce

Seeds

Salad and herb boxes

Garden accessories
 
 Celebrating Raw and Re-Find!

February 16-19, 2012

Thursday 10:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Friday 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Saturday 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Sunday 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM

Located downtown in the Melrose District

 4809 N. 7th Avenue,

Phoenix, Arizona 85013. 

If you haven't been, you need to go...

There is no other shopping experience like it in the Valley.

It's not to be missed!

 We'll see you downtown Thursday and tell them BOHO sent you.

For more information please visit Sweet's website or blog.

Decisions, Decisions...Let's Talk Tile Backsplash

We are now trying to make a decision about what to do for a backsplash...

Here are some of my ideas

A Moorish tile backsplash. Ashbury mosaic by Walker Zanger.

In white?

Green or maybe blue?

subway carrara tiles laid in a herringbone pattern

Or just a running bond with Carrara subway tiles

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think plain subway tile might just be too plain for me

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

but...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe plain white subway tiles in a

 

 

 

 

 

 

harringbone pattern would be nice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is our kitchen to refresh your memory.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What do you think?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Farm Tour and Brunch Next Weekend!

Want to join us?  Sign up here...we only have a few spots left.

We will send out a map with your confirmation.

Come tour the farm, ask questions about compost, gardens, fruit trees, enjoy a fruit tree

pruning and planting demo and a farm to table brunch.

There will be BOHO Farm jams, jellies, marmalades and curds for sale,

plus local breads and other goodies.

Bring a friend and join us for a beautiful morning! 

This annual event is not to be missed!

Wishing you a lovely weekend!

Free Range Chicken Garden Book Review and the answer to did we do it...

I received a copy of "Free Range Chicken Gardens" by Jessi Bloom,

from the publishers at Timber Press and since I am a strong supporter of free

ranging chickens and gardens reading and reviewing this book is my pleasure.

This book is beautiful, accessible and a joy to read.  Not only do they talk about having and implementing a strong design plan but they also give great practical lists of plants

that our chicken friendly and also lists of plants that are poisonous.

The photography is beautiful too.  This would be a great book for anyone who lives in an urban or suburban environment and wants a beautiful and practical chicken set up.  If you are into utility only, this book is probably not for you but if you are a gardener who has been toying with the idea of integrating chickens into your garden plan this is your book!

They are giving away a copy of this book along with a bunch of other chicken goodies

on theire website.  Here is the info:

$50 gift card for chicken feed or supplies from McMurray Hatchery

One chicken coop plan from The Garden Coop (a $20 value)

1 lb. of organic chicken forage blend and seeds for chicken-friendly plants

from Peaceful Valley Farm & Garden Supply (a $20 value)

A copy of Free-Range Chicken Gardens

All you need to enter is an email address. The contest ends February 17!

Now on to the question everyone keeps asking me...did we or did we not send

our chickens to freezer camp.

Now if you are a vegetarian, veterinarian or only like my beautiful posts

you might want to come back later, but if you want to

be encouraged to truly know where you food comes from then read on.

I has been amazing to me how many people have asked us

if we went through with processing our chicken. 

 Husbands and wives making bets whether or not we would be able to do it. 

Just fyi...the wives took the odds with me going thru with it. 

I have to admit that the morning of d-day, I was thinking inside my head...

I can't do this, as we were gathering up the chickens and putting

them in the dog crate to take them over to our friends and experienced chicken

processors, urban farm.  Then, I had to say to myself, as I have to do many times with

our urban farming, animal husbandry issues..."Caroline, you can do this, your grandma

could do this and you are from that same stock. You just need to reach down into

yourself and face the reality that this is where your food comes from."

Then, I was ready to go.

We said a blessing and thanked God for these animals that are giving

their lives for our food.

It is so much easier to think that chicken comes in little sealed plastic

containers from Whole Foods, but we were ready to take the next step

in being organic and sustainable and not only grow our food but

raise it too.  And on that day between Christmas and New Years we

took that next step by processing 14 meat birds in 2 1/2 hours.

If you are interested in doing this too, I would recommend finding

some chicken processing mentors.  The whole day went so seamlessly

 because we were in the hand of pros who have had years of

experience and wisdom.  If David and I were on our own, it for sure

would not have gone as well--that is a fact!

The sense of accomplishment, knowing that I faced my fears and

in the end the fear of what might happen was greater than what

actually happened... is empowering. 

This will now be part of our growing sustainable lifestyle.