A Thanks to the Thanksgiving Goddess

I hope that everyone had an abundant and wonderful Thanksgiving. I was fortunate enough to travel to one of my favorite places, Boulder, Colorado to see my family for the holiday. It was a very special time, given that I have not seen this side of my family in a very long time. The weather was absolutely spectacular, never once dropping below 60 degrees. One of the reasons why I love Colorado so much is for the beautiful sunshine that it boasts, more often than not.

My trip was spent mostly relaxing and enjoying the beautiful weather, the mountains and many amazing things that Denver and Boulder have to offer. On Thanksgiving day, my abilities in the kitchen were put to the test and thanks to one of my idol’s, Martha Stewart, my sister and I banged out a beautiful feast for our family. I don’t know about the rest of you, but for my family, we have a tradition of going out and having one to many drinks the night before the big feast. So you can probably imagine how we were all feeling before we had to start whipping up vats of food for our family, thanks to a little Bailey’s and coffee we were ready to rock in no time. Luckily Dad called dibs on the Turkey, so we were responsible for the rest of the Thanksgiving menu which included, Garlic Mashed Potatoes (of course), Mushroom Walnut and Sage Stuffing, the classic Green Bean Casserole and Sweet Potato Casserole. Another thanks to Martha Stewart, we had no problem choosing recipes for our dishes, I have never tried a recipe of hers that was not good and up to my mothers standards. The biggest hits of the night were obviously Garlic mashed Potatoes and Stuffing.

Lucky for my family, our Mother owns a farm in New York (yes the one I always mention). My sister decided to road trip from there to Boulder, in order to stop and spend time with family on the way. This was a brilliant idea, because we were able to cook with free vegetables and dairy from our farm that my sister drove with her. Butternut squash, russet potatoes, onions, dried herbs and freshly baked breads were all provided to make our family feast. Remember when I told you there is nothing more rewarding than being able to eat foods from your own labor? This was one of those beautiful moments.

Farming is Important, Food is Important.

Take a moment and think… how many farmers do you actually know?

I’m going to assume that the number is quite low, you might know one or two actual farmers and spending on where you live you might not know any, heck you might have never even seen a farmer or a farm before. Before all of us were able to go anywhere and get the same white eggs, milk and bread we find in all supermarkets, before there were massive industrial farms to put the same looking tomato or avocado in your local produce isle everyday, you might have had to go visit a local farmer and trade or a co-op where you bought goods produced by the local farmers and artisans in your community.

In the United States, as of 2008, less than 2 percent of the population was farming or “directly employed in agriculture”. This could mean even less were actually farmers, meaning people tending to their own land and producing their own products from seed to harvest. With the abundance of readily available and inexpensive food products in all supermarkets across America, there has become less of a demand for humans to grow an produce their own food, or for that matter even know where the hell its coming from. 9 times out of 10 the food we find in a supermarket is grown on a gigantic industrial farm with little health and safety regulations, sprayed or injected with pesticides and/or hormones, shipped across thousands of miles and sometimes oceans all for your convenience at your local supermarket. Quite an oxymoron is you ask me. There seems to be hardly anything convenient about shipping produce from the Gulf of Mexico to a supermarket in Hudson Valley of New York, one of the most agriculturally rich regions in the Northeast.

If only there were a way to buy and consume food that was ten times as convenient, and a hell of a lot more natural for our bodies to consume. Before humans had the technological advances to store and preserve food products with chemicals and transport them around the globe, we simply grew it ourselves and if we did not grow it, we found it! Yes, we were provided with he luxury of having anything we wanted whenever we wanted it. You may be thinking, ‘how boring, growing and eating the same thing every day all year round’. However it is quite the opposite, the earth provides us with four seasons that have different climates depending on the region of the world you live in, these climates provide different growing seasons. Growing seasons are essentially responsible for what foods are able to survive in specific climates and weather. This is why we get watermelons in the summer and pumpkins in the fall (at least in the northeastern United States). My point being, that growing food is not mundane and it will definitely prove to be anything but boring and provide you with a richer and much wider palette that you might not even purchase from your local supermarket.

Not only does growing your own food allow you to live sustainably, but it is extremely rewarding to plant, harvest and eat things that were created by the earth and your own two hands. It also should encourage you to travel more to see what other farmers are growing in different regions of the world and to try new food and meet new kinds of people. If you only go to one place to get everything you ever needed, how will you ever experience all of the awesome people, places and food that the world has to offer.

Participating in growing, purchasing and eating local food products that you know the origin of, not only supports your local economy but also your health.

The Fruits of Labor

I am a creative from Upstate New York looking to share my passion with people in the hopes that they will do the same. Living on a farm in New York, there isn’t a shortage of tasks to get your hands dirty. However, my mother sister an I love to get down in the garden! Regardless of what it is, we love to plant, grow and harvest our own food, animals and flowers. On the other end of the spectrum, the three of us cannot help but obsess over fashion, interior and floral design. My mother having a background in interior design, has influenced our tastes and hobbies more than we like to admit sometimes! Growing up, Ive been surrounded by what some would describe as “womanly” or “homemaker” hobbies.  Gardening, knitting, sewing, crafting and cooking are things I grew up learning and exploring how to do.

Growing up in Martha Stewart’s household (aka my mother) my deep appreciation for craft, culture and cooking were established. As I shared with you in the last post, I got my hands in the dirt at a young age. Not a season has gone by since that I have not been working with plants or at least surrounded by them. In 2012, my parents decided to purchase a farm in Upstate New York. Coming from the west (Colorado), starting a life on an old dairy farm was a huge change for my family and I. Let alone the culture of rural New York itself was a shock.

It took months for my sister and I, 15 and 16 years old, to stop having a bitter attitude about the culture shock that we were enduring. To this day I still have my doubts about New York, however through the long 6 years I have lived here, our little nook in the world has developed a deep, loving place in my heart. My appreciation for rural life made way when we began to work the earth of our new farm. Planting a two acre vegetable and flower garden is hard work for some rookies like us. We were sun-burnt and sore day after day that summer. But finally we were able to harvest the first fruits of our labor. Several zucchini, some small and delicious tomatoes and some gorgeous pink peonies seemed like not a lot of yield for the work we were doing. Come August, it seemed so sudden that we weren’t even able keep up with all the food we were harvesting. That summer many of our friends, family, neighbors and even strangers benefited from the hard work we did. Before those three months, I had never felt a more satisfying feeling than growing and harvesting our own food.

This blog is here for you to learn and indulge with me in the beauty of cultivation and design.

Aspiring Designer and Floral Farmer

Hello and welcome to Flora Farmer! My name is Eloise Bruss, I’m a liberal arts student from New York who is aspiring to be a lot of things in this life, though there is one thing that makes my heart throb more than anything else in this world…Thats flowers! My love for flowers blossomed when I was in fourth grade and had no clue what I loved in this world. At this time, my family was living in a suburb in Columbus Ohio, where my only concerns in life were riding my bike to the pool in the summer time and not flunking out of math class.  It took years of my mother constantly introducing me to new activities and hobbies in the hopes that something, anything would stick. Being the loving mother that she was, she bought me a drum set, a pottery wheel, a painting easel, piano lessons, put me in sports… you name it, she tried it! I would try a new activity for a week or a month and then quickly become uninterested. My family, especially my mother and my older sister have always had an unending love for animals. And my family as a whole, my mother being a former chef, was raised to have a deep appreciation for food.

Because my sister was into equestrian, my immediate family always had ties to agricultural communities and 4-H, which is an organization that allows youths to network, whose mission is, “Engaging youth to reach their fullest potential while advancing the field of youth development.” This statement is quite broad, though typically many 4-H youths are interested in agriculture, livestock or equestrian fields. The organization has clubs, which allow you to meet other kids and teens who are interested in a wealth of different hobbies. To get to my point, my mother suggested to me that I chose something that sounds fun to me and join (I was so indecisive it was up to her to sign me up and chose). So it was flower growing and table setting! You’re probably thinking, “table setting?! Thats even a thing?”. My answer to you, yes its a thing.

As a result of joining this young agricultural club, I become a young flower farmer. I tended to, harvested and used my own flower garden for arrangements that I created for club competitions. The growing was fascinating to me and allowed me to be outside and establish a deep connection and understanding to the earth and the beautiful things that we can create together.