Tag Archives: hoco loco

Too Much To Do This Weekend

Posted on April 13, 2012 by AnnieRie

Like everyone else around here in the Howard County area, I am seeing lots of things to do every weekend now that spring has arrived.

It is funny how all the big events start clustering together in April and May and cluttering our calendars.

What to do? What to do?

Greenfest is where I will be, since I volunteered to spend three hours manning a booth for the Conservancy. The hike to the river is where I’d like to be, but can’t navigate treacherous hills until I have more mobility in my neck.

The Housing Fair is happening, but since we aren’t in that market, it didn’t make my short list.

HoCoConnect did a really good summary of what is going on at Greenfest, and I will add what I want to see. He also highlights two other events I missed.

Well & Wise has a list of upcoming events, too. They include the announcements of the Conservancy events this week and next.

At Greenfest, I will be attending at least two workshops, one on stormwater management in your yard, and one on backyard composting. We do compost some, but I can always use more tips and tricks. I wish I could do the watershed walks, but they conflict. Hubby is going to hear Cathy Hudson talk about raising chickens in the morning at 11am, while I am working at our table. And, just walking around talking to vendors is interesting. I applied last year for the lottery for a free energy audit, and won. We now know what we need to do to finish the weather proofing of our house, making it more energy efficient. As I said above, what to do, what to do?

Don’t forget, there will be a mini farmer’s market there too.

Sunday morning I may make the trek into Baltimore to check out the market for some herbs from Knopps Farm, one of my old favorite vendors when I went to visit family in Severn. If you have never taken a Sunday morning drive to this market, you are missing one of the largest and craziest markets around here. Worth the drive up I-95. There are 45 vendors registered for this year, some with crafts, some with food products, others with produce, meat and dairy, and we love the excitement.

Go early if you do want to find things. It is just an amazing array of food, people and good times. South Mountain Creamery and Zahradka Farms are there. My source of dairy most of the time, and my winter CSA. Both of these vendors will be at Glenwood in four weeks, but until then Baltimore is a good place to get their products, particularly for Elkridge and East Columbia Hoco residents. The market is set up under the Jones Falls Expressway.

And, then of course, I get to come home and file income tax. Not letting MD get those few dimes of mine until the very last minute. At least we broke even and get a few bucks back from the Feds. Hmm, I didn’t check, do we get an extra day or two? Yes, google my friend, says we have until Tuesday, so if the weather is nice, we can spend more time downtown.

I love spring!

hocoblogs@@@

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Posted in Community, Day Trips, Farmer's Markets, Food, Gardening, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, Nature, People, Volunteering, Weather and tagged community, day trips, farmer's markets, Food, gardening, hoco loco, Howard County, howard county conservancy, local businesses, Locavore, nature, spring flowers, volunteering, weather. Bookmark the permalink.

That Whole Grocery Store Avoidance Thing

Posted on April 12, 2012 by AnnieRie

Who knew you could put together a pizza this good looking without setting foot in a chain grocery store? Or by eating out.

A while back, I evaluated how much better I was doing by moving from processed to whole foods and declared an avoidance strategy when it comes to shopping the easy way at grocery stores.

I called it my GGSAC and only posted twice about it. So, how am I doing at avoiding the Giant Food and Safeway stores? For the past two weeks since I started, pretty well with an exception for Harris Teeter when I didn’t feel like running across the county to Costco or up to H Mart for fish.

I have spent more time and money in Boarman’s, Roots and David’s so far this month. I have been using up pantry items bought last fall, and have also put together a bag full of stuff to take to the Food Bank. If it makes me sneeze, it is out of here. If it has a long list of additives, same thing.

Thanks to Nicole at Hoco Loco for commenting that she saw Meyer Lemons at David’s. Yesterday we made it there to do some shopping that included locally made sausages and the aforementioned lemons. Looks like National Boh Brats on the grill this weekend maybe. Made in Baltimore.

I got a few things necessary as well to make a killer pizza tonight. The cheese, oh, the cheese. My favorite Mountain Top Bleu from Firefly Farms, bought at the Silver Spring Market.

Pancetta, bought at David’s Natural Market. The pizza crust came from Roots. The fig butter was in the fridge, and from Trader Joe’s.

The greens, from my garden, the asparagus, the first delicate spear from that wild plant under the crepe myrtles. Finished with a drizzle of Ariston olive oil bought at Casual Gourmet, this pizza is so satisfying.

Dinner was served with a 2002 Linden Cabernet Franc, still hanging in there after ten years. Full of fruit, a hint of smoke, not tired or fading. No bell pepper taste that Virginia francs sometimes exhibit. This lovely wine balanced the sweetness of the fig butter, the saltiness of the pancetta, the earthiness of the cheese, and the tang of the greens. What a great combination and a satisfying meal, NOT courtesy of boxed supermarket pizza.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Food, GGSAC, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food and tagged cooking, farmer's markets, Food, foodie, GGSAC, hoco loco, Howard County, Linden Vineyards, local businesses, Locavore, real food, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

Choosing Community in Howard County

Posted on April 12, 2012 by AnnieRie

Last night’s bloggers party in Second Chance Saloon in Columbia reminded me of why I love living here, and wouldn’t change it without serious thoughts on what could possibly be better. I moved out here in 1975 to find a sense of community. In those early days, it was really small here, and felt like a small town with that sense of community. I mean, I still have my original ADC map from 1976, back when there were just a fraction of the number of people in Howard Couny than today. In 1975, less people lived in the entire county than there are now in the city of Columbia.

The Choose Civility bumper stickers miss the point, I believe. Civility isn’t enough. Community is.

The bloggers here are incredibly welcoming, friendly, willing to assist new bloggers, welcome readers and bloggers equally, and so much more. If you read hocoblogs, you can see that. Until you attend your first get together and are welcomed as if “Everybody knows your name”, you won’t understand the power of that community.

My hubby came with me last night. He was a bit worried that he would be bored by all of us talking blog stuff. He didn’t need to be. He came home and told me he had a great time. Everyone was friendly. Talkative. Mixed and mingled. No cliques. No awkward silences or sense of exclusion anywhere.

Ask Nicole of HoCo Loco, our newest blogger, who has been welcomed just like I was at my first party in February.

When I first contacted HowChow and got linked into his blog roll, the welcome was amazing. We exchange emails, and do pingbacks to each other’s blog. He told me he was helped immensely in the beginning by bloggers like Jessie Newburn who is behind the curtain at hocoblogs. Jessie helps all of us by keeping us out there, keeping us motivated. And for organizing the bloggers parties over how many years now?

So, last night I met Marshmallow Man, Sarah and Julia, who cohosted this party, Duane of HoCo Connect, Matt of the newly restored Lost in Columbia blog, Anne from Annethologie, Jeff from Green Floss, Frank from FrankHecker, and others whose names escape me at the moment. Ginger Breadgirl was there as well. Love the pic tweeted last night.

I missed talking to LisaBMrsS, I think I saw Dennis of To2C fame pop in but never got to say Hi, and I was surprised at how many people I remembered from February. As you can see, there are dozens of active bloggers in Howard County who turned out for this event.

One by one, we are losing papers and magazines around here. More and more, we turn to social media to stay in touch, but we don’t always connect. I think this community of bloggers here, connects. In a good way.

Hoping to attend many more get togethers and keep Howard County as great as I personally think it is today.

hocoblogs@@@

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Posted in Commentary, Community, Howard County and tagged commentary, community, hoco loco, hocoblogging, Howard County. Bookmark the permalink.

Some History of Mt. Pleasant

Posted on April 11, 2012 by AnnieRie

We recently took a guided walk around the Howard County Conservancy property looking at the buildings through the eyes of the historians. Much of the property is being preserved, in order to keep examples of agricultural heritage so important to Howard County. The farm was named Mt. Pleasant by the Brown family members who lived there. The family owned the land from 1692 until they donated it to the Conservancy almost 20 years ago. Parcel names and boundaries changed over the years either by marriages, or bequeathing of properties to the various children, and the 232 acres are what remained that Ruth and Frances Brown donated. Together the sisters taught school in Howard County for a combined total of 97 years.

Head up the driveway towards the top of the hill where many of the buildings still stand.

The farmhouse is the centerpiece of the property, and you can’t see it until you get far into the grounds. It sits high on the property with vistas in many directions. I can only imagine how peaceful and quiet it was before Waverly Woods and I-70 were added. You can hear the interstate traffic faintly these days.

It was built in stages, with the front of it, seen from the parking lot, a newer addition. New, being relative, that is. The original log cabin is still under the siding covered walls near the rear of the house, the logs were covered over as the family grew and expanded the house. Inside there are three separate staircases, and connections between the different parts of the home.

The front of the farmhouse is used for offices now, and the rear is the home of the caretaker’s family, so it is not open to the public. This view from the rear shows where one of the “front” entrances is located, which faced west-northwest.

There are numerous outbuildings as well. Many of these are in stages of preservation. Some are used for demos. Besides the ones I picture, there is a carriage house, a corn crib, a bank barn, and wagon shed. One of the two coops now holds the resident chickens.

The smokehouse and second coop, once used to house guinea fowl. No one knows why those cut outs are there.

When can you see much of the property used as it may have been used years ago?

At the annual Fallfest in October is one time. Including demonstrations in the blacksmith shop. Also this year, there will be a wonder walk in July that showcases what it was like to live and farm on the land.

The Montjoy barn, which is always a draw for people visiting, was moved to the Conservancy from Ellicott City and reassembled. It would have been torn down to make way for development in its former location.

There is also a three acre honors garden on the grounds, where you can find examples of plants native to this area.

Finally, stop in and get the arboretum guide, and you will find trees on site that are beautiful specimens like this American Elm behind the farmhouse, and while back there look carefully and find the outhouse and the foundation for the ice house. Lots of history on the property. So much to discover on your own, or on one of the Conservancy wonder walks. I volunteer here and never get tired of exploring the trails, walking the pathways, visiting the chickens and goats, looking for birds, or just chilling out.

hocoblogs@@@

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Posted in Community, Gardening, Hobbies, Howard County, Nature, People, Volunteering, West HoCo and tagged community, gardening, hoco loco, Howard County, howard county conservancy, nature, spring flowers, volunteering, West HoCo. Bookmark the permalink.

Second Chance Today

Posted on April 11, 2012 by AnnieRie

OK, when I moved here it was about to become the Last Chance when Claire Lea named it that. They already had JK’s in Wilde Lake, which we loved to frequent.

When it closed in 2004, many of us mourned the loss of another of our favorite watering holes.

Tonight at the Second Chance, in Oakland Mills, the local blogging community is converging to raise a pint or two (or 53) and share stories, tips, enjoy the face to face camaraderie of being local writers about All Things Howard County (and beyond).

And, for us locavores, maybe buy a pint of local beer. One of my favorites. Love the names of Flying Dog beers.

See you there!

hocoblogs@@@

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Posted in Community, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, People, Remember When, Restaurants and tagged community, hoco loco, hocoblogging, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore. Bookmark the permalink.

This Saturday: Hike to the Patapsco River

Posted on April 10, 2012 by AnnieRie

With all my talking about Greenfest, I forgot that this is the second Saturday, when the free wonder walks take place at the Howard County Conservancy.

At 10 am, join the leaders, two of the volunteer naturalists, as they lead you on a spring hike across the property and down a stream side trail in Patapsco State Park, to the Patapsco River. Last year, we did this hike in March, with little spring foliage or flowers. This year promises a real treat, with lots in bloom.

The hike starts at the Gudelsky Center, and there will be opportunities to turn around and return easily to the center, if the hike proves too strenuous or long.

It will take at least two hours, total, to do the hike and explore the area where the railroad tracks border the river. There is much to see down there, including some ruined remains of old structures.

You can do the hike in the morning and come hit Greenfest for its final few hours, if you are ambitious.

If you can’t make it to the Conservancy this Saturday, never fear. The Earth Day celebration, bird walk, and clean up is scheduled for the 21st. Or, stop in at Greenfest this Saturday, at the Conservancy’s table there, and pick up the event flier for the rest of 2012.

hocoblogs@@@

Simple Pleasures: A Local Dinner

Posted on April 9, 2012 by AnnieRie

After the holiday meals, sometimes a simple dinner is the best. We wanted a quick meal before my husband went off to his evening teaching position. Even though the Dark Days Challenge is over, I am still cooking locally when I can.

Today was a simple meal from almost 100% locally sourced items. Only the white chard, Herbs de Provence, salt and pepper were not from MD or VA. The chard was bought at Roots, though.

We had stopped at Roots so I could get free range chicken to make soup tomorrow, and some Aranciata to make Meyer Lemon Basil Fizz cocktails for a get together this weekend. Roots didn’t have Meyer lemons though. I need to find a source, maybe Harris Teeter or Trader Joe’s.

I had scallions and garlic from the CSA. Leftover VA country ham that my brother sent home with me as a care package last night. Eggs run wild, from the CSA, that need to be used. Goat cheese from Firefly Farms. I roasted beets from the CSA the other day. And, I bought some local hydroponic tomatoes at Roots, from Hummingbird Farms.

The makings of this meal.

Served with an award winning Viognier from Breaux Vineyards just south of Harper’s Ferry (but in VA not WV). Lovely restrained Viognier, which is one of those wines that just does very well in this part of the country. Crisp, acidic, but not too much, a perfect glass to accompany a rich omelet.

Later this evening we may indulge in another local treat, Rhebs Easter candy. My mom always gives us a box of Rhebs, from Baltimore. Their butter creams are to die for.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in CSA, Family, Food, Local Businesses, Locavore, Wine and tagged cooking, CSA, Food, hoco loco, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore, tomatoes, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

Spring Cleaning: Visiting the Landfill & Getting Ready for Greenfest

Posted on April 9, 2012 by AnnieRie

Mondays are my favorite day to hit the landfill. No lines. Things are cleaned up quite a bit. Since we have had less rain than normal, there is no mud back in the yard waste dumping area.

We were up there today dropping off invasive plants we pulled, plus I don’t know how many bags of shredding. I noticed that the hazardous waste collection site opened last Saturday. That means, though, to us we need to brave the large number of county residents who come up on Saturdays. We will at least be able to get rid of all the CFLs in the bag in the garage. Now, if they would just take batteries. We never remember to take them to Radio Shack.

For those with pickup trucks, the county has mulch, top soil and compost for sale at better prices if you need large quantities to do yard work.

For small wood projects, you can also wander into the pallet drop off area and look for scraps. There is no one there today, but many days I see people looking for materials to do wood work, or make bird houses, or frame compost bins. Amazing what you can find there.

I also noticed on the way out, that the 55+ housing is pretty close to the landfill property. Not my idea of a great view. But, they will be close to the Goodwill truck that comes twice a month to that location. Good for spring cleaning and downsizing.

This week, though, we will be taking things on the 14th to Greenfest as part of our cleaning. The boxes of old homeowner association records to shred, some clothing too big to wear anymore for Goodwill, and lots of shoes for the Nike recycling.

If you can’t make it to the landfill to do spring cleaning, don’t forget Greenfest at Howard County Community College.

hocoblogs@@@

Baby Chicks at Tractor Supply

Posted on April 7, 2012 by AnnieRie

This weekend is baby chick weekend at Tractor Supply. The ad came in the mail the other day. Last year was the first year we were up there when the pens full of little fuzzy ones were set up in the back of the store.

You have to buy a minimum of six. You also have to give them information when you check out. I took a couple of pics but they weren’t clear enough to post. I know that some people believe the chicks are there for Easter pets, but they aren’t. There are pullets if you want egg layers and there are also meat chickens.

There were four black wyandottes left. I really wanted to buy them, but I need a sturdy coop to keep the fox from getting to them. Maybe next year.

Tractor Supply was hopping today. Lots of folks buying seeds and plants. Trailers, too. And, lots of equipment being demonstrated.

I buy much of my bird seed there, too. They have the best prices for basic seed, and not a bad price on the shell free seed that I put up near the patio. Don’t want husks up there. Particularly, since the birds like to shove things off to get to their favorites.

Saturday at Tractor Supply. A West County destination.

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Posted in Birds, Community, Howard County, Local Businesses, West HoCo and tagged birds, community, hoco loco, Howard County, local businesses, West HoCo. Bookmark the permalink.

Revisiting My New Year’s Resolutions

Posted on April 6, 2012 by AnnieRie

Well, it has been three months since New Year’s. I revisited my post made on the 30th of December to see if I actually am doing what I said I wanted to do this year.

Resolution #1:

I do resolve to be more creative and expand my culinary boundaries to include more baking, and more ethnic foods outside our European heritage. I do intend to continue being more and more of a locavore, and use up as much processed stuff in the pantry, and not replace it.

Well, the Dark Days Challenge was a way to expand what I eat locally. I haven’t been baking much, unless you count those black bean brownies a few weeks ago.

And, the pantry is still pretty full of processed stuff, because I am eating mostly CSA and local meats. I need to continue to clean out what is in there, and not replace it with more of the same.

As for ethnic foods, haven’t done much there either. I will challenge myself from the spring/summer CSA to use those Asian vegetables in ethnic dishes, not simple stir frying, but really trying something new. Not chicken chow mein with the bok choy. And, I resolve to not swap the peppers, like the habanero or jalapenos we get. Make my own salsas. Attempt a mole sauce, too.

Resolution #2:

I intend to can more things, pick more veggies and fruits, and process them. I need to get a freezer and buy something at the fair, from the 4H’ers. Maybe lamb, or goat, or part of one of the steers or hogs. Our friends’ children raise animals to bring to the auction. We want to support them more by making it worth their efforts.

Not there yet. This is a summer time thing. I do need to get off my butt and buy a freezer if I want to do this. Larriland for strawberries isn’t that far away. The auction at the fair is on our list to do this year as well. Last year we just observed.

Resolutions #3 and 4:

I want to build a cold frame. Will I find the time?

Not gonna happen, due to my health changes. Recovery from surgery got in the way of doing these. Plus, I need to make sure we don’t have problems with predators, and research the best coops to buy. We have a new addition to our predator community.

Not the best picture of the red fox who has been hanging around. I took it through the screen so as not to spook him. He was hunting something in the meadow and paced back and forth many times. Yesterday I wasn’t fast enough to grab the camera as he ran through our yard carrying something large in his mouth. I think it may have been one of my neighbor’s chickens. It was just before sunset, and if you leave the chickens free range too late in the day, they become dinner for the fox.

As for the cold frame, it will get put off until fall.

Resolution #5:

We still need to clean out the stuff we accumulated at our jobs, which sits in boxes in the attic and garage. That is a priority.

We are making some progress here. The shredder is working overtime. And, at Greenfest I will be getting more out of the house and garage. I have been going through old pictures and keeping those I want by scanning them into the computer. Less paper around here will be a good thing.

The Summary:

do new things including expanding what I do in my volunteering, like geocaching and giving presentations. Another priority. Looks like I have enough to do, and I’ll see how it turns out in my second year of retirement.

There are numerous programs at the Conservancy this fall where I will be doing presentations, and where I will be using the geocaching skills I am learning.

All in all, not a bad start to doing what I want in 2012. Putting them down in writing here in the blog makes it harder to ignore them, or lose them. Let’s see if I do more in the next three months.

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