Green Bay Farmers' Markets

One good post deserves another! Inspired by Di's posting of farmers' markets in the Appleton area, here are the farmers' markets up in Green Bay, and like Di I will post any additional ones I find.

Downtown Green Bay
Saturdays from June 7th - November 1st
7am - Noon
On Monroe St., between Cherry and Pine streets

Broadway Farmers' Market
Wednesday Evenings (I couldn't find the dates, but I know it started on the 4th of June)
3pm - 8pm
On Broadway, downtown Green Bay, between Dousman & Walnut

Oneida Farmers' Market
Thursdays from June 26th - October 9th
2pm - 6pm
Oneida One Stop
W180 Hwy 54, Oneida

Appleton Farmers' Markets.

To elaborate on the comment I left for Missy a couple of days ago, I'd like to pass on some addresses of Farmers' Markets in the Fox Valley area. Each has a variety of fruits and veggies, so wherever you happen to be you'll find a great selection.

APPLETON AREA:

Appleton Downtown Farmers' Market
College Ave. (Between Appleton St. & Morrison St.)
Every Saturday from June 21st - October 25th (No Market Sept. 27, 2008)
8:00am - 12:30pm

Festival Foods - Both Locations
1200 W. Northland Ave. (In front parking lot)
Every Wednesday from June 11th - October 29th
8:00am - 1:00pm

W3195 Van Roy Rd (In front parking lot)
Every Sunday starting July 6th - October 19th
8:00am - 1:00pm

Jim's Produce Farm Stand
5280 N. Richmond St.; Corner of Hwy. JJ & Hwy. 47 (Northside Citgo Parking Lot)
Open everyday from June 1st - October 31st
10:00am - 6:00pm


DARBOY AREA:

Sleepy Hollow Farm Stand
W6121 County Trunk KK (Kwik Trip parking lot)
Open everyday starting June 30th - October 31st
10:00am - 6:00pm


BLACK CREEK AREA:

Wagner's Market Stand
310 N. Main St. (Corner of Hwy. 54 & Hwy. 47)
Open everyday from June 1st - October 31st
8:00am - 6:00pm

There are probably a few missing, as well as in the Green Bay area which I am unfamiliar with, so if anyone comes up with other locations, please let me know and I will post them!

How come everything's a green trend?

I was listening to Wisconsin Public Radio last Saturday morning; a show called Calling All Pets.

The guest was author Hannah Holmes, who discussed her latest book Suburban Safari. The basic synopsis of the book is that there's a world of wildlife in your backyard, you just don't know about it.

It was fairly interesting, but I couldn't help but laugh when the guest mentioned that you could increase the wildlife in your backyard with a trend called "freedom lawns." A freedom lawn basically means you don't put any chemical insecticides or fertilizers on your lawn, and allow a natural variety of plants and bugs.

Freedom lawns? Seriously? Do you know what I call it? A YARD! My parents once again prove to be on the cutting edge of the trends! We never put anything on our yard. My mom's philosophy was that if you waste money making grass grow faster, you have to cut it down more frequently. (And she likes dandelions, thank you very much.) Apparently, not dousing your lawn with poisons is a new concept to some people. That's just too funny.

(A quick footnote: I believe that Holmes was mentioning freedom lawns in jest as well. Less chemicals=good for nature. That's not rocket science. She was doing it and discovered it had an eco-trendy name.)

"100 Thing" Challenge!

Are you up for it? A growing phenomenon has been attracting new believers since last July, when a blogger guynameddave came up with the concept on his site.

We actually came upon a reference to the article not more than a week ago through Time Online, after dave announced he'd be rebuilding the site to show his progress towards the 100 piece goal. I personally think it's a fantastic idea, though a little bummed that we haven't heard of it sooner. It seems to have fallen into our hands at the right time, as we are trying to make sense of unused items to make way for baby.

As far as our own personal revisions, clothing isn't too much of a clutter issue, it's the rest of our junk sitting in a closet that is. Realistically, we don't make use of most of the stuff. Those items have just been getting shuffled back and forth to make room for more junk that's never used. So with this in mind, I'm going to spend most of my time this week making a list of what's important to our family. Whatever doesn't fit on this list, well...it's going to be hard. I'll let you know what happens along the way.

Speaking of Gardens...

I should probably first share with you that we’re expecting in November! With this news, this awesome twosome decided to get back to our “roots”. Getting back to the way we were both raised, on garden-grown foods, living off the land more successfully and permanently. Not to say we haven’t been kind to the environment already, because we have both kept childhood practices in tow, but now that there’s someone else to think about, it’s about time we solidify our choices and stand by them for good.

With that in mind, we were able to discuss our options and secure one of the gardens at my parents’ house. In it, we will have a full selection of foods we can eat now and foods for baby! Squash, pumpkin, and sweet potatoes fill part of baby’s list, while we’re going for peas, green beans, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, and musk melons. Huge list, but I know my appetite will be just as large for these healthy home grown items once they’re ready. We will also provide some pictures along the way as the growing season develops.

In addition, I will be posting about the other various decisions we’re making about our little one before he or she arrives this fall. Yay!

My First Container Garden

I planted a container garden a few weekends ago. This is my first one, so I'm still learning about it. The plants didn't die yet, so I figured I could put up a picture.

The left is bell peppers, the center is chives and the right is grape tomatoes. I'm afraid I may have crowded the tomatoes too tightly, but we'll see!

I'll continue to post as the garden progresses. Here's hoping I'll be enjoying fresh veggies soon!

My Whole Family Has a Cold!

I haven't been posting for a while; my daughter, husband and I all came down with a rather nasty cold. It's been many nights of fevers, coughs, runny noses and body aches at my house.

Back in October, the FDA released a statement recommending that OTC cough medicines no longer be given to children under the age of two. Since then, there has been additional research that cough medicines aren't effective for children under six. The dosage is too small to do any real good, and a larger dose could be harmful to a child. With that information, I'm hesitant to give cough syrup to my two year old.

And for myself, I have unpleasant side effects from most cold medicines, so I rarely take anything.

But never fear! In the usual MSG fashion, I revived an old standby solution that my mom taught me. Chances are good you've heard this one, but it never hurts to repeat it.

Mix equal parts honey and lemon juice in a small container (I used an old baby food jar). You can warm it if you like, I usually don't. For a child, give a baby spoonful. For an adult, a teaspoon should do the trick.

*WARNING* DON'T GIVE HONEY TO CHILDREN UNDER ONE! Young children could develop infant botulism from eating honey.

The honey coats the throat, soothing the cough. The lemon juice helps break up the stuff in the back of the throat. As an added benefit, little ones who want "Doctor Mom" to treat them will get the comfort of medicine.

The best part about this is you can use this as often as you like, no waiting 4-6 hours. Plus, it tastes great (much better than artificial cherry).

For the cold I currently have, the honey and lemon works the best for when I wake up in the middle of the night with a dry, scratchy throat. I just love it when the simplest solution turns out to be the best!