Once upon a time there was a mommy with small kids who lived in the city. She read about scary things in processed food and how it was making rats sick when they ate it so when she went to the grocery store she read all the labels. She couldn’t understand what they meant so she decided not to buy them.
But her children wanted bread so she looked around and realized she couldn’t grow enough grain in her cool and cloudy front yard. “Who will help me grow grain” she asked? “I will” said the grain farmer from Methow Valley. So the mommy bought big bags of grain from the nice farmers who grew organically close to home.
The mommy looked at the grain and said “who will help me mill this grain into flour?” But no one knew how so the mommy bought a nice little grain mill to sit on her counter where the coffee grinder used to be. She milled the beautiful grain into silky flour bursting with fresh-milled nutrients, bran and germ.
The mommy looked at the flour and said “who will help me turn this beautiful flour into yummy bread, pretzels, pizza, cereal, crackers, pancakes and muffins for my little mouths to eat?” But no one knew how to use freshly ground whole grain anymore so she read and she read and she tested her recipes. Finally the mommy figured it out.
And when it was time to eat the crackers and English muffins and pancakes and pizzas and loaves of yummy bread the mommy said “Who is hungry?” And every mouth and tummy in the house came running and ate until they were full and nourished and happy.
And the next time the mommy announced she was going to make bread the little feet and hands came running and wanted to help so the mommy gave them dough and showed them how to make turtles and bears and bunnies and the little hands and hearts became just as happy as the little mouths and tummies had.
And the mommy smiled because she knew this is what her family had needed all along.
The Beginning.
13 responses so far ↓
1 Becky // Feb 4, 2010 at 5:29 pm
What a lovely “beginning”. Will there be more? It could be a wonderful children’s book
2 admin // Feb 4, 2010 at 5:47 pm
Hi Becky,
I’m shooting for a mommy’s book.
3 julia // Feb 4, 2010 at 8:49 pm
Well done! Though it is a children’s book already–The Little Red Hen. Am I right?
4 admin // Feb 4, 2010 at 9:15 pm
Julia, you are right! Wish I had a prize for you. Like a nice freshly baked baguette…
5 Becky // Feb 5, 2010 at 8:31 am
I feel silly now for not realizing that sooner *blush* I liked reading it none the less
6 kitsapFG // Feb 5, 2010 at 10:32 am
You could also do a variation of the little engine that could! “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can… I knew I could, I knew I could, I knew I could!
7 melissa // Feb 5, 2010 at 12:59 pm
I love this. (I wish I could get some locally grown wheat, but all our Texas wheat seems to be exported)
8 admin // Feb 5, 2010 at 1:38 pm
Becky, don’t feel silly at all! Until I had kids I hadn’t heard that story since 1971.
KFG – that would be a great one too!
Melissa, if you start at the farmer’s market and ask someone who grows dried beans if they know of farmer’s you may find one that also sells to individuals. You can also contact your ag school and ask, they typically know who is trialing and growing things. This is how I found farmers here in Washington state where much of the state’s climate is not at all condusive to growing grain.
9 Sara // Feb 5, 2010 at 2:03 pm
Now I want to get my hands on that book for my kids, I remember that story! and I also can’t wait to get my hands on your book…
10 admin // Feb 5, 2010 at 3:24 pm
Sara – that one and stone soup are my two favorite kid’s food books. I just love the simplicity of those old books that always had such clear morals.
11 Jess @OpenlyBalanced // Feb 5, 2010 at 5:00 pm
Ooh! It will be such a lovely humanized mommy’s book.
12 kelly orehovec // Feb 8, 2010 at 9:45 pm
I just love your website and am finding inspiration in every post since we are trying to do the same thing you are in Portland, Oregon. This post was especially interesting to me since wheat is so very hard for us to find. Here is a post I wrote about it.
http://kellyorehovec.wordpress.com/2010/02/05/tracking-food-is-messy/
Any tips on how we can find local (within 100 miles) of Portland?
Thanks again for your great blog!
13 admin // Feb 8, 2010 at 11:23 pm
Jess – I hope so! If I ever find the time.
Kelly, I just left a long winded comment on your blog. How creepy is that about black pepper? I have been buying stuff at PCC and I’m pretty sure I have some things from that same spice company. I used to order all my spices from Penzeys but I’ve been trying to use up what I have in the cupboard before placing another large order. I think I’ll just bite the bullet because I feel much better about buying spices from Penzey’s than some company I know nothing about, even if what they are selling is organic. I’ve really been wanting to make my own salami but I’m a little leary of the curing salt which my dh is insisting we use if we do it ourselves. My other option is to hot smoke it but then it won’t have that lovely fermented flavor. I’m sure the kids will still love it. Need to put hog casings on the “find” list!
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