The Valley - April 2011

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Serving Mifflin County and the surrounding area.

The Valley A free newspaper dedicated to agriculture, self-reliance, frugal living, and modern homesteading.

Volume 2, No. 4

I learned a new term this past week, Sugarbush, which according to my research is defined as, a stand of forest that is exploited for making maple syrup. Of course, that stand has to be comprised of many Sugar Maple, and to some extent, Red Maple and Black Maple as well. Red Maples are not used as often as Sugar Maple as they tend to bud out sooner in the season, thus imparting a bad taste to the sap, which is often referred to as “buddy sap.”

Being from New Hampshire, I thought that was the center of the universe for making maple products of any kind, until research for this piece proved otherwise.

Those woodchucks from over to Vermont (see how easy it is for me to slip back into that North Country vernacular?) often think they know something about maple syrup and such, but they don’t, and anything they do know they learned from us Granite staters anyway. Besides, would you trust someone whose state lies upside down on the map? Nah, I don’t either, and how about them downeast Mainiacs?...well, we can’t talk about such things in a family paper and all. Anyway, up

The Valley, April 2011

Pennsylvania Sugarbush

Complimentary grading system. This last system is used by Vermont and New Hampshire and requires a higher standard than the U.S. system.

Through my research here, I have discovered that Pennsylvania maple syrup has a higher sugar content than the trees further north, and although unproven, many say it is because trees growing out of soil and fertile ground are bound to be sweeter than trees which must grow from granite outcroppings. I don’t know about all that, but I know that so far in my half century on earth I haven’t found a whole lot of sweet syrups that are what I would refer to as “bad.”

To me, they ALL taste pretty darn good!

Now as I said, I found out this past week that Pennsylvania in general, and Mifflin county in particular, produce some mighty fine maple syrup and it rates right up there with New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York producing about 120,000 gallons of syrup each.

THAT is a lot of sap, as each 40 gallons of sap boils down to only 1 gallon of syrup. With that kind of production, one would think that we do pretty well, and we do. But as a comparison, Quebec produces 6,500,000 gallons of

in the north ground under the country, we spout. The colonists referred to developed wooden such places spouts, which were as a Sugar inserted in holes Shack, or a bored into the tree Sugar House, and from which hung and somea watertight wooden times in the bucket. These buckcrudest of ets were emptied into terms, the larger containers on operation was carts that were pulled referred to as by oxen from tree just simply, to tree. The buckets “Sappin.” were emptied and But, besides immediately re-hung. the fact that

In all honesty, I learned that the process hasn’t actually Quechanged all that bec, Canada much since it was John Long (l) and Bob Shellenberger (r) tend to their 50 is the biggest gallon per hour evaporator at their Sugar Shack in New first started. The same Lancaster Valley. producer of hard work has to be maple products put forth to achieve volume of sap to be refined into and collects by far the largest the desired result.

Sap is still colsugar and syrup, I also found out lected and then has to be boiled that we make maple syrup right down to evaporate the water out here in Mifflin County PA! Continued on page 9 leaving you, hopefully, with an

Maple sap has been cooked amber-colored down for the purpose of making syrup that is sweet syrup and sugar since the both delicate early times by American Indians and sweet. in the northeast part of North

There America. Verbal history passed are different down through generations and requirements archeological evidence to back it up, suggests that this is the earliest and terms to which maple period the practice took place, to syrup is graded the best of our knowledge. by the three

Early colonists to what is biggest grading now Maine, New Hampshire, systems now Vermont and New York improved in use. There is upon methods shown to them by the Canadian This photo shows a tree with two taps feeding the area natives who basically cut grading system, the tube which flows via gravity into increasa V shaped notch in the tree and Some of the many miles of tubing maintained by Bob and ingly larger tubes before dumping into a colthe U.S. system, then inserted a reed as a spout John along with a collection barrel where they retrieve the lection barrel. and one called that dripped into a vessel on the sap via a pump and into their collection tank in the back of the Vermont their truck.

The Valley, April 2011

In this Issue Contributing Writers

Editor’s Corner

Adventures in Homesteading --Dave and Ginger Striker Woods, Water and Wildlife --Bob Sleigh Roads Less Traveled --Lynn Persing Understanding the Constitution --Dave Molek Thots on...

--Lydia Adventures on Our Nourishing Journey --Sue Burns LZ Swanson --Shawn Swanson Grosze Thal Nachbaren --Jeptha I. Yoder Looking Out My Back Door --Mary Anna Chenoweth The Mushroom Guy --Bob Sleigh Ask Julie Mac --Julie MacConnell Modern Energy and Alternate Heating --Curt Bierly Recipes, Crafts and Gift Ideas --Debra Kulp Memories of a Dairy Princess --Rebecca Harrop Random Thoughts...from downeast!

--Rick Hanson

Wayne Stottlar

Man, we are close, can you feel it, or perhaps even smell the coming of spring? The land is waking up once again from its winter nap. We have winter acconite and crocus, daffodils and tulips already poking up through the ground. Just yesterday I saw the first group of robins to arrive working over the garden soil while announcing cheerfully their return.

Just this past weekend I pulled out the heating mats and starter trays and got my tomatoes started. I decided this year to stick with the same successful varieties I used last year. So once again it will be Amish Paste for sauce tomatoes and Prudens Purple for slicers. After harvesting over 1,000 lbs. last year by the third week in August, I am leaning toward a few less plants

this year. I honestly believe neighbors began avoiding me last season as I was trying to offload a serious over abundance of produce.

My eyes are now fixed on the long range weather forecast and the skies trying to figure out the soonest possible opportunity I will have to fire the tiller up and get ready for planting.

Spring is such a busy time of the year, but take a chance to reflect on the wonder of regeneration and the awakening we all feel as planting time approaches.

A barren grey landscape suddenly bursts forth with calming greens and uplifting colors in a way that proves the existence of miracles.

We are also asking for prayers for one of our writers Laurie Lowe

The Chicken AND the Egg! --Mike Flanagan Homeschooling on the Homestead --Andy Weller Contentment Quest --Joanne Wills Behold The Lamb!

--Sarah Hurlburt Easter is Coming!

--Pastor Pat Roller

Contact Info Editor/Publisher Wayne Stottlar

The Valley PO Box 41 Yeagertown, PA 17099 (717) 363-1550 E-mail: thevalleynewspaper@gmail.com Web: www.thevalleynewspaper.com

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the writer of the “Frugal Living” column. Laurie is a homesteader from North Dakota and is used to rugged challenges, but at the end of January she was dealt something no one should have to face. Laurie was in a horrific car accident which claimed the life of her husband and left her in very serious condition with severe head trauma and many broken bones.

Laurie did survive, and in talking to her recently, she is fighting her way back and hopes to return to the paper as soon as she is able.

She has a long struggle ahead of her and our prayers will mean a lot to her.

We have also been hearing the whispers that a new Farmers Market for Reedsville is being planned for this season, more word on that as soon as info becomes available. This will be yet another way to support the LOCAL economy and help keep your food close to its source, which is always safer and fresher.

While we are speaking about quality, I happened into the newest addition to the Burnham business scene. The Little Cupcake Shoppe & Bakery located right at the intersection of Freedom and South Logan. When you walk in to the cheery little bakery, you notice right away that this isn’t the same ole same ole. Your first thought is quality, which happens a split second before your mouth starts watering while taking in the scrumptious display. Oh and by the way, the first cupcake the owner gave me was incredible!

Lynn went back for more!

In closing, we will once again make the plea to tell our advertisers that you saw their ad here in The Valley, even if you aren’t buying, let them know their ads are being seen.

Here’s to hoping we all have dirt under our finger nails, muddy knees on our jeans and sore backs come next month.

Get out and witness the miracle of spring!

--Wayne a

The Valley, April 2011

Random Thoughts from Downeast with Rick Hanson

Greenhouse Dreams

My thoughts have turned to gardening, even though my hand is still wrapped firmly around my snow shovel. There is almost 30” of snow on the ground as I write this on March the first.

One of the big things on my to-do list is a small greenhouse.

I still haven’t decided whether to build a wood and insulated glass permanent building, or a metal tubing hoop house with a poly cover. Foundation, or a gravel pad? Maybe leave the topsoil to plant in the ground inside of it?

Both types of greenhouses have strengths and weaknesses. Let’s discuss a few, shall we?

My choice leans towards the wood and glass green house for many reasons. Insulated glass would trap more of that precious heat to extend the short Maine growing season. I could install one of two woodstoves that I already own, and it could easily be used year round. I own many glass panels from sliding doors that I saved from the dumpsters over the last 10 years, easy enough for the roof system of a 12’ X 16’ structure. I have also saved over twenty thermal paned windows from the same fate, so glass isn’t a problem. There are many more expenses to building this type of greenhouse as well.

A sturdy foundation is needed, so that the building doesn’t move around and break all the thermal seals, “racking” the building so that windows don’t close and doors can’t open. Frost in Maine can reach four feet if a deep freeze arrives before a nice deep snow pack lays down nature’s insulation. Then there is the expense of all that framing lumber that needs to be purchased. Pressure treated sills bolted down to the concrete, and probably kiln dried spruce and fir for the walls and rafters.

I’d be leery of framing it all with pressure treated southern yellow pine, myself. It has a tendency to warp and twist in the sunshine and high heat that it would be experi-

encing. Then there is the fact that I would need a building permit, with a quick follow up by the TAX MAN.

Then there is the kind that most intrigues me, what I call the “dugout,” or “banked” greenhouse. Dig out the dirt, after scraping off that precious topsoil, to be saved, of course. A nice foundation would be installed using concrete or stone. The one in my dreams has a tall north wall built of concrete. It has foam insulation behind all walls at least 2” thick, installed before backfilling.

The remaining dirt is built up to create a berm or slope behind that north wall, adding more insulation and thermal mass. It could be built on a slope, where for other greenhouses it wouldn’t be practical.

It would have stairs down to it, or maybe it’s built for a walk-out door to more level ground if possible, depending on the location.

It would have glass on the one sloping southward facing roof angle, and on the small triangle walls facing east and west. Maybe there would be room for a row of glass on the low southern wall, up under the eaves of the roof overhang. I would build mine as deep as five feet as possible.

Why? I would try to achieve some geo-thermal uses if possible. In Maine, I’ve read that the Earth’s temperature at that depth averages between 47 and 55 degrees. During the winter, that saves energy because you would have to raise the growing temperature a lot less.

Those temperatures may sound cold to you, but when it’s only 10 degrees outside, the differences are substantial. This is my favorite type of greenhouse, but also the most expensive. So, unless I win the lottery, this one is out for me.

It would be a miracle, as well—I haven’t played the lottery in years and years. If I feel like gambling, I’ll go over and help my brother load an unwilling 600 pound pig into the stock trailer.

That brings us to my favorite kind of greenhouse because it’s also the least expensive and the fastest to build. Did you know that a poly hoop house is considered temporary, and therefore not taxable? I was told this is a federal law, but when I went to research it, this here computer said, “I don’t think so, buddy!” So do some research of your area before you take the advice of some redneck from Maine. Basically, pipes are driven into the ground, slightly larger than your hoop pipe diameter. The hoops slide inside, you drill a hole, slide in a bolt or two, and there you go. On my broth-

wall is where the door for everyday use would be, and the big exhaust fan would be located there as well. A selfopening louver is usually installed on the opposite end wall for good ventilation. When I build a green house, part of this wall will be built right against the south wall of my tiny camp building I call home.

My place is called “No Manors Homestead” for good reason. At less than 600 square feet of living space, it is very tiny. It heats and cools very cheaply, and she’s all paid for, and for a frugal guy like me, that’s what’s most important. Where was I? Oh, yeah…I would use this attachment to my camp for quite a few reasons.

Convenience of access, and because part of one wall is already built (saving me some money), and the most important part for me, FREE cold weather HEAT. Open a door, switch on a fan if needed, and all that heat would flow. I could even store a cord of wood or two in there in the fall for winter use. “Twenty below zero?

A simple hoop house may be in my future. PVC pipe and heavy mil plastic and you are in business.

er’s greenhouse, there is a full 1”X 12” board running down the lengths of the sides, and that gets bolted as well. This may be called a batten board, or a toe board.

It may even have an intelligent, true name, therefore I wouldn’t know what it is! I’ve even seen people build hoop houses on big timbers, to be pulled by a tractor and moved as needed. Some hoop houses have one end wall made up of wooden framing and sheathing.

This can be attached by conduit clips, or the pipe can be sandwiched between blocks of wood and screwed in place, or it could be carriage bolted as well. In this

Think I’ll get the wood from that WARM greenhouse today instead of the frigid wood racks out front!”

If interested in growing in a winter greenhouse, I suggest you read something by Elliot Coleman.

I think I suffer from daylight deficiency during the short winter days. Being able to spend some time in the sun in mild temperatures would do me a world of good for my bald noggin’. I may not be able to travel to warm winter weather, but I could sure fake it in good shape! Again, by adding a woodstove, and maybe

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shortening the heated space with a plastic wall mid way, I could even put a table and chairs out there.

Imagine entertaining on a blustery, bitterly cold day out there in your shirt sleeves? Or, just sipping a coffee, sitting by the woodstove as the sun pops over the horizon?

Or watching a pastel colored winter sunset with a glass of your favorite? It puts a big smile on my face just thinking about it.

Maybe some small raised beds in one section with crushed rock walkways? Maybe a section of patio blocks, even some 2 X 4’s lying flat with some nice decking boards to hang out on? Maybe build in sections for easy removal for the spring planting? A wooden box to mix potting soil up in, right next to a workbench is all I would need. These would be setting on big barrels full of water, and they would be painted black. They would collect solar energy all day, and provide an enormous amount of heat all night long. Nothing fancy here, sturdy and functional is plenty good enough for me. In the fall maybe bring in plenty of soil to play in when it’s still freezing outside in the spring. Maybe you could just plant some grass in trays for the chickens to nibble on for a treat. Yes, I know I’m weird giving chicken’s treats, but I figure to do all I can for them now, so that they’ll provide better for me when the time comes. I was taught to raise farm animals with dignity and respect, and to process them with love as humanely as possible.

In the hotter months, after the gardens are planted the first round, I could stack a bunch of green firewood in there to season all summer long. Or I could put a shade cloth over it and make it into living space. It would be a nice spot to raise rabbits in the winter as well. The possibilities are nearly endless, only being limited by your imagination. If it wasn’t used as a winter getaway spot, or for heating your house for free, you could house animals of a smaller variety in it as well, with some pig panels installed as fencing. Chickens, goats, sheep, or whatever you like. How about rabbits in hanging hutches above chickens? Meat and eggs coexisting happily together. Toss down some cracked corn and table scraps, maybe some loose hay or straw every so often, even some vermi-compost on the rabbit pellets, and those chickens will scratch up some wonderful compost for you. Having some panels or fencing outside so they could get out in the fresh air whenever

Continued on page 22

The Valley, April 2011

Adventures in Homesteading One family’s journey from the city and modern living back to the land and self-reliance.

by Dave and Ginger Striker

Opportunity...

A few months have passed since we began working on the land with Pappy (our family tractor). We have made quite a bit of progress and actually could see many potentially good home sites; however, building a home on one of these sites would be another matter altogether. Sure, God managed to get us on the land but we weren’t expecting him to provide a home out of thin air, but obviously it was something Ginger and I both had on our minds.

There was no easy way around it. We have five kids and building

even a small home for our family would be expensive, when taking into consideration our budget, which wasn’t much to work with.

The challenge really troubled Ginger and I, since we were not in position to get a mortgage nor did we even want to do that, even if we could qualify. Everything we have learned leading up to this point was to make do with what we had and not go in debt over it.

The parameters of our search were hard. At first we felt a small wood frame house would be the way to go and for several

months we looked at small two and three bedroom designs which would be a tight fit but potentially within our budget if we built it slow over a period of a year or so. The amount of time it would take was also a concern since my work wasn’t extremely stable or regular so we were worried that this project could last for quite some time leading to a lot of frustration. Having been with my parents for more than a year at this point and a new baby due in the coming months really had us anxious to have our own space no matter how small. We considered renting a home in the area so that we could be nearer to the property for building our home, but with an extremely variable income we knew we shouldn’t spend any money at all unless it was directly related to the homestead.

Finally, the inspiration for a solution came in a passage from Proverbs 24:27 where God essentially says to prepare your fields and then worry about your home.

A continuing series.

Immediately, Ginger and I felt we should be considering other options that would allow us to work on our homestead sooner. We realized that being on the property regardless of whether we were in a home that we built was the most important, as it would allows us to begin the work in the fields. Once we became open to options that we were not initially considering, an incredible opportunity came out of the blue. A friend and I were talking about our personal situations after a meeting one day, when he mentioned he had purchased a commercial property that was previously used as a residence. A condition of the loan was that the residence (a 32x72 4 bed/ 2 bath mobile home) had to be moved within a certain period of closing. He had searched around quite a bit but wasn’t finding a great way to get rid of the mobile home. After hearing this, I asked if I could see this home and that I might have an option for him. He then gave me the address and told

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me where I could find a key to take a look.

Ginger and I, along with the kids, drove to see the mobile home and to our surprise, it was still in pretty good condition and quite a bit larger than we were expecting. Of course, this posed a challenge since it had to be moved over 100 miles away, BUT it was a solution to our need nonetheless. After Ginger and I talked it over and we slept on it, I offered a deal to my friend and he happily accepted! He was getting rid of the mobile home, making a little money, and we were getting a future home for our new homestead. Ginger and I were simply amazed–sure a mobile home wasn’t the first thing we considered, but after time, logic prevailed and the right solution was presented simply on our willingness to listen. Often times people get stuck on what they want, versus what is feasible or possible to obtain. Happiness doesn’t come from a mansion or a sprawling estate, but essentially your willingness to be content and happy with what you have or make do with like in our case.

Almost like when we got Pappy, new life was breathed in to our efforts. We finally had a solution that would make it possible

Continued on page 30

The Valley, April 2011

Looking out my Back Door Life on my Mifflin County Homestead

by Mary Anna Chenoweth

NOT Growing the unusual Vegetable Volunteers “A weed is a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Many of us in rural Mifflin County, Amish and English alike, comb our fields and lawns come spring, eager for the years’ first dish of dandelion. This is an annual celebration of sorts and even folks who do not partake find nothing unusual in the rest of us roaming about filling bags with, and discussing recipes for, a plant that less enlightened persons consider an eyesore and pest, Their loss! Our gain!

Even better, dandelions are merely a more visible and well known plant on a long, long list of wild edibles, both native and naturalized, that make for delicious and nutritious (not to mention free) foraging. An added bonus is that many of these plants love to grow in disturbed soil and pop up close to home, in our gardens, just asking to be harvested and enjoyed. This month, let’s take a look at three that volunteer in our garden every year - Amaranth, Lamb’s Quarters, and Curly Dock.

Back issues of The Valley are available while supplies last. $2.00 per issue covers shipping and handling. Send a check or money order and let us know which month you are looking for. Don’t miss out on those money saving tips from past issues!

A tall stalk of Amaranth

The Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines a weed as “a plant of no value and usu. of rank growth; esp: one that tends to overgrow or choke out more desirable plants.”

Looking beyond the understandable limitations of this definition, we can see that Mr. Emerson’s quote is quite apt.

Although those of us who grew up eating “weeds” will no doubt call them that ‘til the day we die.

Wild vegetables consistently score high in nutrition and this alone gives them high marks for value thereby removing them from the definition of weeds.

Yes, they are “of rank growth,” but this can be taken advantage of. It simply means that the plant does most of the work while we reap the tasty and nutritious results.

Yes, they can “. . . overgrow or choke out more desirable plants.” Boy, can they ever! Yet again, this is a trait that we can use to our advantage. These plants really WANT to grow. We just have to limit their spread and not begrudge the bit of work needed to keep them where they can be of use to us.

Before beginning, let talk safety. Descriptions and pictures are good but of course it’s best to find someone experienced to actually introduce you to new plants. That shouldn’t be hard in our county. We’re blessed with

gardening groups, foragers, scout troops, old farmers, hippie farmers, Amish farmers and all manner of people keeping the “Old Ways” alive and thriving. Ask around— you’ll find someone to help you to make sure you know what you’re eating.

Furthermore, you must, you absolutely MUST, make sure the places where you harvest edibles (wild or domestic), whether in garden, lawn or field, are free of harmful substances. No doubt the majority of The Valley’s readers are well informed and proactive when it comes to making positive and healthy environmental choices in their own gardens, yards or farms. This makes gathering and using what we raise, or what nature offers us, simple: gather, wash, prepare, enjoy.

Unfortunately, you cannot assume that an area is safe just because you can’t see or smell something. You should not harvest, let alone eat, anything growing in an area where the possibility of chemical use, or chemical drift, may make it unsafe to even take a walk let alone pick a salad.

Not everything washes off easily or at all.

It’s not just rural

fields, wooded areas and roadsides I’m talking about here. It’s also our gardens and lawns, especially in towns and suburbs. Ask questions. Do some sleuthing if necessary.

The neighbors next door, or even blocks away, may be unaware of, or indifferent to, the possible dangers of what they’re using to keep their gardens, lawns, walks and even homes bug or weed free. You need to know what you are dealing with.

If you are still under the misapprehension that the stew of synthetic (and even some naturally occurring) chemicals, which A young Lambsquarter grown indoors we are constantly during winter. encouraged to use and to which we are conFor those who may be rolling stantly exposed, are “necessary” their eyes at this digression, let for increasing the abundance and me point out that these concerns availability of affordable food world wide - WAKE UP! They are are based on hard science, lessons learned from a long history of “necessary” for the profit marabuse and some plain-old comgins of international corporations mon sense. READ the science, and their myriad of subsidiaries.

LEARN about the history of Anything else is pretty much a synthetic chemical use in agriculmanufactured dependency with ture and common sense will tell extraordinarily expert public relayou why so many of us choose tions attached. They really are to be what most folks refer to as expert at public relations, I’ll give environmentalists—radical or them that. otherwise.

I’m not anti-technology. I’m anti-misuse-and-abuse-of technology. At the end of this article are a few references that may help you learn more about gathering wild foods (or growing any food) A nice thick clump of

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Curly Dock

Continued on page 19

The Valley, April 2011

Thots on...Genesis

A Bible Study for the Lay Christian

by Lydia

In 2 Timothy 3.16, Paul tells us, “Every inspired scripture has its use for teaching the truth and refuting error, or for reformation of manners and discipline in right living…” [NEB] On the road to Emmaus, Jesus made the Scriptures come alive to his followers, so that they later said, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” [Luke 24.32*] It is my hope that the Thots on series will make your heart burn within you as God’s thoughts and purposes are revealed in a way that is easily understood by the seeking heart. *Unless otherwise noted, all Scriptures are quoted from the New International Version.

Genesis 3.1

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made.

He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

When Satan, in the form of the serpent, attempted to foment rebellion in God’s perfect creation, he approached the woman with a question that was designed to create doubt in her mind. “Did God really say…?” He then proceeded to misquote God.

Were you aware that our en-

emy, the devil, is not above quoting—and misquoting—Scripture to us in his attempts to lead us astray? In fact, one of his favorite tricks is to try to create doubt in our minds about the meaning, or even the reliability, of God’s Word and God’s will.

And so to Eve, he asked, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” Eve corrected the misstatement by telling Satan that only the tree that was in the middle of the garden was off limits and that they must not eat its fruit or even touch it or they would die.

Satan then tried to cast doubt on God’s motives in placing the tree of the knowledge of good and evil off limits, and he used pride to obtain his objective. “You will not surely die…. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

[Genesis 3.4-5]

“You will not surely die… you will be like God.” Satan was cast out of heaven for the sin of pride, for trying to be like God [Isaiah 14.12-14], and he lures man with the same temptation, the desire to be “like God”.

Does not the enemy of our souls use this same temptation today? We are lured by promises

Easter is Coming!

by Pastor Pat Roller

Easter is coming! The feast day of Easter was originally a pagan celebration of renewal and rebirth. Celebrated in the early spring, it honored the pagan Saxon goddess Eastre. When the early missionaries converted the Saxons to Christianity, the holiday, since it fell around the same time as the traditional memorial of Christ’s resurrection from the dead, was merged with the pagan celebration, and became know as Easter.

Easter is coming! Those very words hold within them hope and promise. Even for those who do not celebrate the religious significance, those words signal a brightening of

days and possibilities. With those words, many begin making a list and checking it twice. Oh, they’re not looking for who is “naughty and nice,” but for what new flowers or plants they want to try this year. They are looking for where to get the best seeds and seedlings. The coming of Easter indicates that we have survived another season of dark, cold, dreary, snowy winter. We have made it through –not quite to actual Spring because cold days and weather still come and go—but we have made it to the hope of Spring! WE even view the “winter weather advisories with a different point of view. Maybe this is the LAST snow; maybe this is the LAST day of cold; maybe

to expand the power of the mind, to “evolve” to the next level of consciousness, to harness the energy of the universe, to use the “power of positive thinking” and “visualization,” even to attempt to change the earth’s climate!

No matter what the discipline is called, the object is always the same: to become like God.

Have you ever wondered why man, in his quest for knowledge, never turns to the Giver of Knowledge? Instead, he turns to all manner of occult disciplines, from EST to Yoga to Nostradamus to “Bible codes” to astrology. It seems that the Bible is always the last place man is willing to look for wisdom, knowledge and truth.

“When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.” [Genesis 3.6] Satan does not tempt us with things that do not appeal to us. He knows our weaknesses and tries to use them against us. He offers us things that are “pleasing to the eye.” He appeals to our physical appetites and to our desire for knowledge.

The idea of becoming like God was a powerful temptation, and the fruit appealed to Eve’s fleshly senses, and so the woman disobeyed the single commandment God had given man. She ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And then, so that she would not be alone in her rebellion, she gave some to her husband, whom, the Bible tells us, “was with her.” [Genesis 3.6] this is the LAST dark dreary day.

Yes, it is possible to have more cold days. Yes, it is possible to have more snow. Yes, there will be days of gray skies and rain. Yes, it is possible that plants and trees that have started to bud will be frozen. Somehow, we never look at these possibilities because the more encouraging and exhilarating possibilities of warmth, flowers breaking through the frozen ground, and trees putting forth new leaves draw us forward.

The darkness of winter is being replaced by the lightness of spring. The sun rises earlier and is brighter. The cold dreariness of winter is exchanged with the warm excitement of spring. Birds have returned from their southward migration and are singing in the trees. Robins—harbingers of spring show up on our lawns.

Early spring plants—crocus and daffodil—slowly creep from their

Rev. Dr. Henry G. Covert

hgc7@verizon.net Dr. Henry Covert is an ordained minister with the United Church of Christ. After a tour of duty in the military, he worked in law enforcement for twenty years as both a patrol sergeant and county detective.

Toward the end of that career he began his studies for the ministry.

He has served several parishes, worked in therapeutic communities, was a state prison chaplain, and acquired adjunct faculty status in the criminal justice department at Penn State University. Dr. Covert was the chaplain for Pennsylvania’s first execution in thirty-three years.

He has a doctorate from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and has authored six books.

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“Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked.” [Genesis 3.7] They had indeed become “like God” in the sense that they were now fully aware of their sin of disobedience and of the rift that sin had created in their relationship with their Creator.

Their first act after having committed sin was to cover their nakedness. Their second act was to try to hide from God.

The fellowship had been broken. a

dormant winter states.

For Christians these possibilities of hope reflect our hope of Christ’s resurrection. We have observed the Passion Week already. We have experienced the darkness of Maundy Thursday.

They have lived through the darkest day of all time—that day we call Good Friday. We have held on through the clouds of grief and despair. We have kept vigil during the time of Jesus being in the tomb. Our hope is tenuous and uncertain. The possibility of newness of life, the possibility of abundant splashes of color and warmth on our faces is somewhere in the distance, but we can see the glimmer of certainty.

Resurrection Sunday holds the greatest hope of all time. Resurrection Sunday is no glimmer of hope. Resurrection is no “wait and see” holy day. Resurrection Sunday is no gentle awakening.

Hope explodes onto the scene.

Light invades the earth and our lives. Grace gushes from the newly found fountain of Christ in us.

Easter is coming! And with Easter the plants move toward the warmth of the light. With Easter we move toward the warmth of light found in Christ’s resurrection. The invitation is to each of us…to grasp the bold explosion of hope…to engulf the invasion of light in our lives…to drink from the fountain of grace. Easter is coming! Come join the march toward Spring and abundant life. a

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The Valley, April 2011

Adventures on Our Nourishing Journey

by Sue Burns

Kitchen Table Gardening

Ah, the glorious days of early spring! There is no mistaking the sights, sounds, and smells of this long awaited season. The forthysia are in bloom, robins are chirping, and the gentle rains are washing winter away. For many of us, it is now time to turn our thoughts and actions toward a new growing season. We wonder what the weather will provide; will there be an abundance of hot humid days or soggy cool nights? No one knows, but we do know that our harvest will be determined for the most part by Mother Nature. I say “for the most part” because there is one crop that is not weather dependant and it can be grown and harvested year round right on you kitchen table.

Check out this riddle and see if you can guess what it is.

What

* grows in any climate at any time of the year? * requires neither soil nor sunshine, but is still rich in vitamins and minerals? * has not been subject to chemical sprays while growing? * is extremely economical and in preparation has no waste? * rivals meat in nutritive value? * can be grown indoors within a minimum amount of space? * multiplies 400% or more in 5 days? *matures in 3-5 days...?

Have you guessed it? The answer is sprouts!!

When I first read that riddle it really caught my attention and peeked my interest in wanting to learn more. If you too are intrigued and would like to try your hand at kitchen table garden-

ing, read on. The process is easy, quickly reaping delicious and nutritious results!

The Power within the Seed

I am sure most of you have had the amazing opportunity to watch a seed awaken from its slumber and burst open its life force within. During my years of teaching preschool, I took great delight each spring in watching the children plant and care for their sunflower seeds. The look on their faces was priceless. Sprouting is a fun family project, enjoyed by the young and young at heart.

This germination process is nothing short of a miracle in my book; a procedure that man can not replicate or duplicate.

Why eat spouts?

Little things, like sprouts, can have a big impact on health, as they provide a high degree of vitality and rejuvenation to the body.

Here is why I call them a miracle food: * Sprouts are a powerful source of antioxidants in the form of vitamins, minerals and enzymes, which assist in protecting the body from free radical damage.

Free radicals

are created in our body by some foods, some cooking oils, preservatives, artificial colors, flavors, additives, and other substances in our environment. Free radicals are highly unstable oxygen molecules that can travel freely throughout the human body in search of an electron ‘partner’ and steal electrons from healthy cells. In doing so, they have the ability to create a dangerous chain reaction, breaking down vital, biological structures; and they have the ability to alter the structure of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and RNA (ribonucleic acid). These are the vital blueprints required for the reproduction of cells. This change in the DNA structure is known as per oxidation. Once per oxidation has taken place within the cell, it

will only reproduce the altered version. * Sprouts have an abundance of oxygen. Oxygen is important for healthy cells to live and breathe. Dr Otto Warburg, twice Nobel Prize winner, 1931 and

1944, found the growth of cancer cells were initiated by a relative lack of oxygen, and that viruses, bacteria and cancer cells could not live in an alkaline and oxygenrich environment. When we cook food, the oxygen is destroyed. For

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this reason, eating raw sprouts, regularly, is valuable to health. * Sprouts are alkaline and have an alkalizing affect in the body. If we desire health, the body needs to be alkaline. The immune system is made strong by high alkaline and alkalizing foods. * Sprouts provide us with whole foods, full of living enzymes, a vital lifeforce. Sprouts can be growing on your kitchen table one minute, and transferred to the meal table the next; ready for eating...there is nothing else as fresh as this! Fruit and vegetables, which look so colorful and beautifully displayed on supermarket shelves, may have been picked for a week or more and the vital life-force can be much depleted. This life-force energy is believed to correlate with the level of power of the enzymes in living food... So, something we grow, pick, and serve fresh from our garden, or sprouts, growing in the kitchen, will definitely serve us with more nutrients, than food that has had a shelf life. * What we grow in our garden and in our kitchen can be controlled using organic seeds. Therefore, our food will not have been subject to synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, growth hormones or other chemicals. These chemicals can have a detrimental impact and an accumulative effect on the environment and our health. We cannot see the toxins, but they are around us and part of our lives.

Numerous scientific researchers believe they are the cause of an increase in the incidence of asthma, infertility, allergies, neurological damage, immune and endocrine disruptions, and many types of cancer. If we want to ‘outsmart’ cancer and other diseases that have accelerated in our modern way of life, we must reduce our exposure to chemicals wherever we can by looking for organic produce, or by growing our own. Sprouts in the kitchen are an easy way to start.

Continued on page 11

The Valley, April 2011

ASK Julie Mac’

Our very own food preservation guru Julie MacConnell

Submit questions by visiting www.thevalleynewspaper.com or mail to: The Valley PO Box 41, Yeagertown, PA 17099

Layering “Preps”

As I wrote last month, the importance of a food storage program is an important part of self reliant living. One only needs to look at the horrible calamity in Japan to realize how important this small component of independence is. Even those in Japan not directly affected by the earthquake and tsunami are finding their grocery store shelves bare. They are the victims of the “Just in Time” method of stocking grocery store shelves. This explained is “a production and inventory control system in which materials are purchased and units are produced only as needed to meet actual customer demand.” There is no warehouse stocked with food to replace the wiped out supplies.

Each item must be ordered as it

is sold and only those numbers of items are sent in their shipment.

This system ironically was originated in Japan by the Toyota Corporation. One of the great faults in this way of thinking is that during a major disaster, like what we are seeing on our televisions and on the internet, there is no way to order that missing inventory, so the shelves sit bare. Unfortunately, in the United States most grocery stores also use this method of keeping their inventory. We’ve all seen our own mini versions of this phenomenon in the Northeast and other regions before major snow storms hit. The problem, however, is soon corrected when the streets are passable and the trucks can deliver their goods. Almost every aspect of our society is fragile

in this modern age and relies on everything working exactly as programmed. The smallest monkey wrench thrown in the spokes of the wheel can send everything into a tailspin. Is it better to wait for the grocery stores to restock?

Or is it better to have an ample amount of life sustaining food at your fingertips for you and your family. Granted we may never get a 9.0 earthquake and corresponding tsunami in this Country, but we have had our own share of natural disasters, and I am quite sure we will not be spared from further ones in the years ahead.

This month, one of the things I wanted to speak to you about is layering your “Preps.” Preps is a loose term used by self sufficient people. This means all items you have put aside for a rainy day, whether it is food, tools, toiletries, seeds for the garden etc. What

I mean by layering is that you should have different aspects to your food storage program.

Once you have decided what length of time you want to collect for, say six months, you should plan for items you would use in the short term, versus things you are putting away for the long term. Shorter term items are usually things that have shorter shelf life, longer term storage items have expiration dates that are much broader in length. Some things, like canned vegetables, are often good for two years or more. Expiration dates can mostly be found stamped on the bottom of the can or towards the top or bottom of the label. I watch this pretty carefully myself because one of my favorite places to find goodies for the pantry is one of those discount, no frills warehouses. Not the big box stores, but the kinds of chains that buy closeouts

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and discontinued items. I often find that the expiration dates on their food is for a shorter amount of time than regular items that you would purchase at the grocery store. I have often put things back onto the shelves when I found that they were due to expire in the next few months after purchase. This may be true also at some of the dollar stores so be sure to look at what you are buying. The second thing to be aware of is buying dented cans. They may be fine for a short term approach, but I would seriously hesitate before putting them into the longer term area of my pantry. The seal may be compromised or the integrity of the can may be in doubt.

There may be some other items that you buy that you may wish to take out of their store packages and put into your own containers. This is mostly true if you are adding that item to your long term storage. The other reasons may be to keep moisture away from the food, or to keep the critters away-be it bugs or mice.

Choose your containers carefully, and make sure that they are “food safe.” Just because the plastic container has the #2 stamped on the bottom doesn’t necessarily mean that it is safe to store food in. If it doesn’t clearly say that

Continued on page 30

The Valley, April 2011 Sugarbush from front page syrup. Yep, that is MILLION and also represents 75% of the world’s production.

I was pleasantly surprised last week while trying to convince a really close friend to cover the sugar season up in NH for me, that I got a phone call from

valve it goes into another evaporator tank. This set up can process 50 gallons of sap per hour and that kind of production is needed as John and Bob have over 500 taps set. All of them are collecting as Native Americans called it, “sweetwater� or “Sinzibuckwud� (literally meaning drawn from trees), but most of us just refer to it as simply, sap.

New Lancaster Valley Rd. Milroy.

Syrup is also available at Bob and John’s residences in Thompsontown and Reedsville, respectively. John’s house is right at the entrance to the Reedsville Youth Park and you will see the Maple Syrup sign out front. They also sell maple sugar coated pecans and walnuts, which I sampled and can attest that they are out of this world delicious. The upscale Reedsville Seafood Restaurant in Reedsville also uses their Maple Syrup in their restaurant—further

testament to the quality of their syrup—Reedsville Seafood is known for using nothing but the best.

With the wet fall and winter and long period of snow cover, the sugar season is looking to be one of the best in years, and the bargain prices I saw posted at the sugar house should entice you out to beautiful New Lancaster Valley some afternoon to pick up a jug for yourself and maybe some to send to friends or family in other areas, who are not quite

so lucky as us to have local Maple Sugar production. By spreading our local treasures we are helping our local economy, and I am sure Bob and John would welcome the chance to chat and be more than happy to answer any of your questions dealing with the Maple Sugar business. I was saddened to have all of my illusions about Maple Syrup blown to bits, but I was happy to learn that I can still enjoy the same sweet goodness of local Maple syrup! a

Take Care of Farm & Home at PaulB Jugs of fresh Pennsylvania Maple Syrup are lined up ready for sale! Prices are great—come out and taste a quality local product.

Reedsville, and a reader wanted to know if I would be interested in a local “Sugarbush?� I wasn’t sure at first, but I gathered from the conversation that this call was indeed inspired as it came right when I needed it. The nice lady (who turned out to be John’s wife) gave me directions to the Sugarbush and plans to meet the guys there the next day at noon, so as they would have time to empty the collection sites in the morning for evaporating that afternoon.

Her directions were better than any GPS, and when I rounded the last corner and spied the steam and smoke, I knew I was there.

The guys, it turns out, were partners Bob Shellenberger of Thompsontown and John Long of Reedsville. The Sugarbush out in New Lancaster Valley was complete with a sugar shack that was put up two years ago and was very nearly identical to those I was familiar with up in New Hampshire. It is equipped with a 3’ X 8’ stainless steel evaporator that they also purchased two years ago.

The set up is constantly fed by a gravity and check valve system that begins at their 400 gallon stainless holding tank, mounted in the highest position of the set-up outside the sugar house. The holding tank is filled from the outside each day that sap is collected. It feeds from the tank to a specific level in the uppermost evaporator tank, from there via another check

John and Bob meet up out in the valley most mornings during the sap run and fill the huge holding tank in the back of the truck and then return to the sugar house to pump the holding tank up into the stainless holding tank and light the fire in the evaporator. The have a great system set up for this as well. They get all the small uneven slab wood that is generally discarded by a local mill as a by-product of the mill operation. Well, in a win-win situation for the mill and Bob and John, the guys go and bundle up all the wood they need for their sugar house operation and the price couldn’t be better—their own sweat.

The evaporator is scrubbed and cleaned constantly so as to work perfectly in transforming the collected sap into delicate sweet goodness that will delight the palate.

After both of these evaporation tanks have completed their job, the syrup is “pulled off� the evaporator and run through three filters. It then goes into a finishing tank where the syrup is “finished� by introducing evaporation at a very controlled rate to achieve a perfect density, which is measured by a sugar hydrometer using Brix and Baume scale. At 180 degrees and with perfect density achieved, the syrup is then bottled into plastic jugs or leaf shaped glass bottles, which are available for sale at the Valley Sugar House at 2693

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Services

Key Cutting, Tool Repair, Battery Charging, Tractor Parts, Agricultural Tire Repair

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The Valley, April 2011

10

to be conabout following the advice of The stantly buzzing Valley writer Mike Flanagan and around the perhaps start your own backyard store doing flock this year, call E&L now what needs or stop in to view the book and to be done. pre-order your chicks. Backyard I was quite chickens are the newest rage as impressed people are realizing the necessity with the way of keeping your food source close they both as to have more control over what approached you eat. E&L can help get you the door will The parking lot at E&L was full the job which started. be “WOW.” when we arrived Saturday mornprobably not

Do you have a pet that needs You’ll soon ing, and there was a constant flow too many years grooming? E&L does grooming figure out of people in and out of the buildago would on a by-appointment basis. Bring ing. that if you have been your pet in, shop for all your farm have a critter, male dominated. Trust me, after and homestead needs while you chances are that E&L Supplies seeing these two work, they would wait—one stop shopping for all has the feed you need and the put a lot of us guys to shame. your feed needs. knowledge to steer you in the

Julie teamed up with Purina

Julie also is a good listener, right direction if you need some Feeds and representative Cynthia if you don’t see something you help. But, feed is just one of many Robinson to offer incredible deals need or want, mention it to her. items that you can find at E&L on her open house day. Purina I am guessing that you will be Supplies. They have bird food amazed at how fast and feeders, as well as many other you get results. E&L birding accessories. They have does business the old horse tack and medicines, pet supfashioned way—atplies, hand tools for the home and tention to detail and farm, and landscaping supplies customer service are like mulch, gravel, stone, sand, what they feed on. So and straw. They also have welded if there is something wire, as well as poultry netting, you need, speak up! bulk seeds, onion sets...are you

Julie and E&L getting the idea? Julie has a large have lots of plans so selection of the stuff everyone “fasten your seatbelt” needs because her customers and make E&L a stop Representatives from Purina were on requested items and in true “can in your travels. a hand to help to answer questions and do” fashion, Julie fills requests for help customers with their purchases. items with incredible speed. She told me when I first met her that reps were on hand to answer her aim is to carry questions as well as help what her customcustomers carry their purers want, pretty chases out to their vehicle. simple concept, With buy 1 get 1 free on but how often Purina Dog foods we were ecome referred do people really there as shoppers as well ustomer odAy follow it to a T? as covering the story. High Many times in quality food at half price?

Join our FREE Preferred Customer similar establishThe trip actually paid me Program* for exclusive sale events, ments you get the money in the long run, and great decorating and how-to tips, feeling that someit must have for others as plus savings on paints and stains one is trying to well. One family was telling every time you shop. sell you something another they had come over instead of satisfyfrom Reedsville for the sale. ing your need. Not 224 North Logan Boulevard Others drove from Mifflinat E&L, they carry Burnham burg and State College. what you want.

(717) 248 - 3909

With her constant pur Julie has some suit of excellence, Julie has very important many new events planned support from her for the near future, Chick mother Diana Ask Sherwin-Williams.™ Days will be the next big Bierly who seems *Visit a Sherwin-Williams retail paint store or sherwin-williams.com event. If you are thinking

E&L Supplies Grand Opening!

From staff reports.

There was an event in Penns Valley on Saturday March 12 from 9AM till 3PM and if you missed it, you missed a truly GRAND opening of E&L Supplies and Purina Feed.

Although open for some time,

owner Julie Schultz Smith decided that she had her store close to what she envisioned and it was time to make a splash and invite the entire valley out to the store.

If you are like me, your first impression when you walk through

E&L Supplies owner, Julie Schultz Smith (center), flanked

by Mom, Diane Bierly, on the left and Purina Feeds representative, Cynthia Robinson, on the right.

B

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AP

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!

for program details. ©2010 The Sherwin-Williams Company.

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11

The Valley, April 2011 Nourishing Journey from page 7

* Sprouts are a good source of essential fatty acids (EFA). The average diet is generally deficient in EFA. These fatty acids are essential to life, perform many vital body functions and play a major role in immune defenses. * Sprouts are one of the highest food sources of fiber, essential for good health. High fiber foods make us chew more slowly and make us feel more satisfied. * Sprouts can perform the remarkable action of converting light energy into chemical energy, a process called photosynthesis.

The resulting green chlorophyll pigment of plants closely resembles hemoglobin, the pigment that gives human blood its color and oxygen-carrying capacity. The difference between the two pigments is that chlorophyll has a core of magnesium and hemoglobin a core of iron. Chlorophyll-rich foods are our most powerful blood cleansers and blood builders.

Sprouts grown to the chlorophyllrich two-leaf stage have been shown to be effective in overcoming protein-deficiency anemia.

Some women have found that including chlorophyll-rich foods in their daily diet has given relief from hot flashes of menopause, and also supported hormonal function. * Sprouts have a generous supply of vitamins. In fact the vitamin content of some seeds can increase from 100% to 2000% in several days of sprouting. Even soaking seeds overnight produces massive amounts of vitamin B complex and also vitamin C. * Sprouts have an excellent array of minerals that the body requires. During sprouting, the minerals are enriched and develop in chelated forms which are more easily utilized by the body.

Chelated means to “firmly attach” to an amino acid or other organic compound so the two don’t disassociate in the digestive tract. * Sprouts provide a good source of protein. Many people use sprouts as an alternative to meat protein because sprouts take less time to digest; they have no cholesterol or hormones and chemicals from animal farming practices. * Sprouts can be grown all year round to give a constant supply of food, in the very freshest form possible. * Sprouts are rich in digestive enzymes that go to work to predigest the protein into their constituent amino acids: this makes them easily digested and absorbed by the body. We can digest sprouts in less than half the time of cooked

foods. Cooked foods are acid forming. Continually consuming cooked food can be constipating, as the cellulose necessary for peristalsis has been broken down and softened in cooking. * Sprouts provide the best nutritional value for money.

They are the most economical food we can eat, at just a few cents a serving. We all like good value bargains, and when we find one, we usually like to share the information by passing the details on to family and friends so they may get the benefits as well. For a few dollars we can purchase seeds that, when sprouted, will increase in volume 8-10 times and provide many meals. The sprouted seeds also increase in nutrient value in just a few days of growing. Anyone, even on a tight budget, can afford seeds to sprout and get the best of food value. * Seeds for sprouting store well and can be quickly utilized as food for emergency relief during times of calamity or scarcity, but make use of them during times of plenty, too, as sprouts provide essential nutrients in the freshest way possible. * Sprouts are low in calories, so they are good nutrient-dense food for weight watchers.

Are you now convinced that Sprouts are preventive medicine?

When we eat sprouts daily, we are providing building materials for the growth and repair of the body. Our health is very much related to our diet: our choice of foods determines the quality of our physical wellbeing. Over 2000 years ago, Hippocrates said, “Let food be your medicine and your medicine be your food.” Sprouts literally are super foods to build health and act as a prophylactic from illness. Hippocrates also said, “Each one of the substances of a man’s diet acts upon his body and changes it in some way, and upon these changes his whole life depends, whether he be in health, in sickness or convalescence.

To be sure, there can be little knowledge more necessary”.

And to think: Hippocrates said this long before refined processed foods were ever conceived!

Buying and Selecting

Before you

can sprout you must choose your seeds. The sprout which you may be most familiar is more than likely the alfalfa sprout. This is the sprout often served on salads and sandwiches. However, there are many other seeds that make excellent sprouts, each with their own flavor and nutritional composition. You can sprout barley, broccoli, buckwheat, cabbage, fenugreek, garbanzo, green peas, lentils, mung beans (found in Chinese food), radishes, red clover, wheat, soy beans, sunflowers and hundreds more.

Always use seeds packaged for sprouting. Buying bulk seeds and grains may seem cheaper than seeds packaged for sprouting, but they may not be worth it. Unless they are packaged as high-germination spouting seeds, only a portion of them will sprout on your kitchen table. The ones that do not sprout, will likely ferment and spoil the batch. Do not use seeds meant for planting. They are often treated with chemical pesticides, fungicides and mercury coatings. Also, do not use seeds that have molds growing on them.

Molds produce toxins which can cause food poisoning. Locally, good quality sprouting seeds and supplies can be found at Natures Harmony on Belle Avenue in Lewistown. Rose will be happy to assist you. In addition, a wonderful on-line source that provides a large inventory of lovely organic sprouting seeds and supplies is www.sproutpeople.com.

Now that we have our seeds, what do we do next?

6 Quick and Easy Steps to Growing Sprouts in a Jar

The easiest method is to grow sprouts in a glass canning jar. Any size jar will do. The more seeds, the bigger the jar needs to be. To provide plenty of fresh air, cover

the top of the jar with muslin, cheese cloth or nylon mesh screen and secure with a rubber band.

You can also buy specially sprouting lids designed for this purpose.

Step One: Soaking For a quart-sized jar, put 1 ½ to 2 tablespoons of small seeds (up to 1 cup if using larger seeds like green peas or garbanzo) in the sprouting jar. Cover top of jar with cloth or sprouting lid and rinse the seeds in warm (not hot) water. Drain and refill so that the water level is about an inch above the seeds. Let the seeds soak 8-12 hours (overnight). Protect from light by covering with a dish towel or placing in a cupboard.

Step Two: Rinsing Rinse 2 to 3 times per day for 2 to 3 days. Allow a strong stream of cool water to flow over the seeds. Following the rinse, drain by pouring, shaking, twirling, and tapping the jar to remove any excess water. After thoroughly draining the rinse water, lay the jar on its side to spread out the seeds. Do not expose to light. After 2 to 3 days the sprouts should be filling up the jar.

Step Three: Removing Hulls After 2 to 3 days the sprouts will have thrown off their hulls. To remove the hulls, place the sprouts in a bowl and run cool water over them. Most of the hulls will either float to the top or sink to the bottom making them easy to remove.

(Note: not all seeds have hulls.)

Step Four: Harvesting

Rinse sprouts in cool water and remove any remaining hulls.

Drain in a colander, but do not allow the sprouts to dry out. Place in an air-tight bag leaving room for air circulation. If your sprouts need to develop chlorophyll or carotene there is one final step.

(The seed package directions should tell you whether greening

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is necessary.)

Step Five: Greening

Once the hulls are removed, place the sprouts back into the sprouting jar or into a clear plastic airtight bag. Put the sprouts in indirect sunlight. It takes about a day for the chlorophyll and carotenes to develop. Once the sprouts are ready, rinse, drain, and eat, or refrigerate. Before refrigerating, allow the sprouts to sit for 8-12 hours at room temperature to assure that they are dry.

Step Six: Storing Sprouts will keep for about a week (or two) in the refrigerator.

Be sure to keep the sprouts from freezing as they are frost sensitive.

Sprouting seeds are easy to store. Put them in a glass jar with an air-tight lid and keep them in a cool, dark storage area. They will keep for a year or more; longer if kept in the freezer.

Delicious Ways to Serve Sprouts: Sprouts can be used in hundreds of ways; here are just a few suggestions:

* Add to tossed salads * Use in coleslaw (cabbage, clover, radish) * Try in potato salad (mung bean, lentil) * Try in wraps and roll-ups (alfalfa, sunflower, radish) * Stir-fry with other vegetables (alfalfa, clover, radish, mung bean, lentil) * Blend into fruit shakes or juices (cabbage, mung bean, lentil) * Replace celery in sandwich spreads (lentil, radish) * Mix with soft cheeses for a dip (mung bean, radish)

* Grind up and use in sandwich spreads (lentil, radish)

Continued on page 22

12

The Valley, April 2011

Roads Less Traveled...

by Lynn Persing

warm, sunny days and playing in the garden and flower beds. As the temps rose above 70 a week or so ago, I realized immediately how much it lifted my spirits. I wasn’t alone with that realization.

I heard many people mention how good they felt that day, just because the sun was shining and it was warm enough to roll down the windows in the car and stroll around outside without a coat.

A couple weeks ago my I love the winter season snowdrops bloomed, then came and the snow, but even I have the crocuses--the color is such a to admit...I’m ready for it to be welcoming surprise and lets me over. I’m dreaming of some know that spring is just around the corner. Last week, I noticed my miniature daffodils blooming, and this week, just a few of the regular daffodils were open. But now it’s cold again, and it looks like it will be another week or so until it really feels After an impressive display of crocuses and like spring daffodils, our yard bursts forth with the and I see more beautiful pastels and bright colors of our blooms. I can’t many species of tulips. wait!

Waiting for Spring..

remember a trip many years ago to Cape Cod at Easter time. It was very brown up there, but as I was driving home, the closer I got to Pennsylvania, the colors started to pop. By the time I reached central Pennsylvania, I was amazed at how bright green everything was. After spending a week looking at brown and sandy, bright green sure was a welcome sight! I didn’t even realize what I was missing until I saw it. I think there’s a lesson here...don’t go north in early spring!

Rather than write a lot this month, I’ve decided to share some pictures of our spring and summer flowers in bloom. Who doesn’t like to look at pictures? I’m sure the newspaper print won’t do the colors justice, but it’s still fun to see what we have to look forward to in the next few weeks and months. a

around the yard looking for new buds and blooms.

I am now seeing the hyacinth buds and lots of tulip leaves popping up everywhere.

It won’t be long!

Thanks to Wayne (the green thumb of this family), we have a couple unusual flowers in our garden. One of them is called a “Devil’s Tongue.” It’s a very weird looking thing, and we get lots of comments on it from passersby. And, it doesn’t just look Last spring I was lucky enough to catch weird, it this garden in just the right light for smells bad a postcard picture. The cool peacetoo. One ful colors, the sounds of the waterfall day our and birds makes this area right off the neighbor’s screened porch a treasured spot. son spent

As soon as it gets warm quite a while trying enough to work outside, I like to to discover where go out and clean leaves and other the dead animal was debris out of the beds, and start hiding in our flower breaking up the old mulch. Then, beds. Imagine his every day, either in the morning surprise when he disor evening, I like to take a spin covered that the smell was coming from the Devil’s Tongue!

Watching everything turn from brown and dingy The Devil’s Tongue, or Dracunculus to bright green and vulgaris makes a striking statement, just alive, is one of the try to keep people away when they are many joys in life. I attracting pollinators.

From the kitchen of...

Ellen Glidewell Easter Nests

This recipe uses the leftover chocolate from making chocolate eggs.

Combine with melted chocolate any cereal like Rice Krispies, Raisin Bran, Cheerios, Corn Flakes etc.

Stir until well coated then place piles of the mixture on a cookie sheet. Make a good size well in the middle and then place while chocolate is still wet, M&Ms,

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Jelly Beans, chocolate eggs, marshmallow peeps and candy coated eggs in the well of the nest.

After it cools wrap in plastic to place in Easter basket. These were always a favorite treat when I was young and I still make them today for my grandchildren.

One other idea is to make a large oversize model to use a an Easter centerpiece. a

13

The Valley, April 2011

Understanding the Constitution

by David Molek

Separation of Church and State

Today, many Americans think that the First Amendment says “separation of church and state.”

You may be surprised to learn that these words do not appear in the First Amendment or anywhere else in the Constitution.

Here is what the First Amendment actually does say: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof….” No restrictions are placed on religion except, perhaps, that a religious denomination cannot become the state religion. The mainstream media will often refer to a ruling

as being in violation of the “separation of church and state.” This reinterpretation of our Constitution has, in effect, become the “law” supposedly dictating the separation of church and state.

So where did the words come from? They can be traced back to a letter that Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1802. When you read the full letter to the Danbury Baptist Association of Connecticut, you will understand that Jefferson was simply underscoring the First Amendment as a guardian of the people’s religious freedom from government interference.

Jefferson simply quotes the

First Amendment, then uses a metaphor, the “wall,” to separate the government from interfering with religious practice. Notice that the First Amendment puts restrictions only on the government, not the people. The metaphor was used exclusively to keep the state out of the church’s business, not to keep the church out of the state’s business.

For all practical purposes, the courts have taken Jefferson’s words out of context and used them as a substitute for the First Amendment. Today, the government can stop us from praying in school, reading the Bible in school or having religious displays at Christmas. This is quite different from the wall Jefferson envisioned, protecting the people from government interference with religious practice.

At the very heart of Jefferson’s wall of separation is the notion that the government will not interfere with people’s right to worship God. The very fact that the government has ruled to regulate religious practices indicates that the government has crossed this wall of separation.

Former Chief Justice William Rehnquist said, “The metaphor of a wall of separation is bad history and worse law. It has made a positive chaos out of court rulings. It should be explicitly abandoned.”

The free exercise clause of the First Amendment states that the federal government will not interfere with the people’s

freedom to worship God. When the Supreme Court makes rules about the practice of religion or prohibits worship, prayer or Bible reading, then they have violated the free exercise clause of the First Amendment. It seems that when the courts prohibit prayer or Bible reading they act to establish a secular faith in our country, and in doing so, violate not only the free exercise clause, but also the establishment clause.

My reading of history indicates the religion provisions were added to the Constitution to protect religion and religious institutions from corrupting influence by the federal government and not to protect the government from the influence of religion. This wall has been used to silence people and communities of faith and to exclude them from full participation in public life.

Why should we care about this metaphor today? We should care because the wall is all too often used to separate religion from public life. This would have alarmed the Founders because they viewed religion as an indispensable support for social order and political prosperity.

Many constitutional scholars believe the wall dangerously exceeds the limitations imposed by the First Amendment. This wall excludes religious citizens and organizations from full participation in civic life on the same terms as their secular counterparts. The wall is politically divisive.

Federal courts have taken authority over religious issues, reinterpreting the First Amendment and applying it to the

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Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God —Benjamin Franklin

states by way of the Fourteenth Amendment. This argument says the Fourteenth Amendment makes applicable to the states all of the protections of the Bill of Rights, including the First Amendment.

All of this has been done in clear violation of the actual wording of the Constitution, as well as the intention of its framers. The modern concept of “separation of church and state” cannot be justified using the historical record.

Religion was believed by our founders to be vital to the success of our government. After all, our national anthem mentions God; the Liberty Bell has a Bible verse engraved on it; the Supreme Court Building has carvings of Moses and the Ten Commandments; emblazoned over the Speaker of the House in the U.S. Capitol are the words “In God We Trust”; and our nation’s birth certificate, the Declaration of Independence mentions God four times.

We need to make clear that “separation of church and state” is not actually a law. It is a doctrine or legal concept that has been implemented by various courts over the last fifty years. Courts, at all levels, have ruled in ways that essentially guarantee the freedom from religion, instead of freedom of religion.

Don’t you believe it is time to go back to imposing the constitutional role of religion, faith communities and religious citizens in public life? I do. a

The Valley, April 2011

14

Joanne Wills’ Contentment Quest S.P.R.I.N.G. Transformation

Sabi is the Japanese art of finding beauty in imperfection. It is beauty that is imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete. Wabi Sabi is a mindset not a decorating style. Wabi Sabi pares down until possessions are only those that provide utility and beauty, evoking happiness from your own history and things that resonate deeply within you. As I cleaned and organized my home I was reminded of the art of Wabi Sabi and how many of my remaining possessions were imperfect yet beautiful to the eyes of my heart.

As I reflected on a hard day’s work cleaning and a job well done, I was reminded of a quote

by Marcus Aurelius who stated “Remember this, that very little is needed to make a happy life.”

The job of housecleaning was completed. I had finished spring cleaning our home, yet there was another “house” that needed order and tidied – the whole me – body mind and spirit. The quiet, repetitive art of cleaning gave me opportunity to reflect how I had been “keeping house” with matters of my habits Conveniently located along Route 655 in Reedsville and health. I decided that in addition to spring cleaning my home, I would take the time to evaluate my habits and my health, what’s working and what’s not, and then identify what I would *Open: M-F 7:00-6:00 need to do to change. It Sat. 7:00 –3:00 was time to spring clean Closed Sunday “me.” It was *Spring Hours April 1—June 30 time to say 717-667-2924 www.mfp.bz “enough al-

Spring has arrived, and signs of change and renewal are everywhere. The grass is getting greener, trees are beginning to bud, and flowers continue to emerge from their long winter’s slumber. Transformation is truly at hand.

For many people, the spring season also means time for spring cleaning. On a recent rainy day, I started my own spring cleaning. Every year, during the spring season, I choose a day to organize and remove accumulated clutter from our home. We do our best to keep the home tidied up throughout the year, but I’m talking about a once a year real overhaul – cleaning and de-cluttering from top to bottom including closets, the attic, and basement.

This year I decided to follow the sage advice of many organizing experts and connoisseurs of simple living who had suggested ridding the home of any item that you do not love or that does

not bring you peace and joy. As I moved throughout the house cleaning and organizing, I uncovered many forgotten treasures that had brought much joy to my heart in the past. Of course these items would stay. As I worked from room to room, and closet to closet, I also uncovered items that did not necessarily bring feelings of elation – like my skinny jeans that have been collecting dust in the back of my closet. Needless to say they were placed in the “to go” box.

As I worked around my home cleaning, decluttering and refreshing, I was reminded that many the objects in my home reflected my life’s chronicle. Some items had been passed down through generations to me, while others were new or slightly used, yet each was an artifact of my life – my story.

A few years ago I had been introduced to a term of Japanese origin called “Wabi Sabi” – the beauty of imperfection. Wabi

Metzler’s has a full line of spring supplies

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S – Serenity, rid pesky cobwebs from your mind P – Pause, rest a minute then review your work R – Revitalize, your home and your body, mind & spirit ready!” with the stuff that didn’t, doesn’t, or wouldn’t enhance “me” or who I am.

I began my evaluation and determined that many of my habits were already good habits and ultimately working very well in my life, but a few would require change to improve my overall health. The word “change”, it can pose a challenge and a state of discomfort for many of us.

Change can also create or pose questions within us. I realized that if I really desired an enhanced and healthier state of being I would need to make a few changes.

Change is the foundation for achieving unlimited possibilities. When we desire “more” and choose change, we step out into the unknown – into unlimited potential – and we begin a journey of transformation.

The late anthropologist Victor Turner determined that there are three classical stages of change that constitute a rite of passage – also known as transformation.

First, change entails separation from the old life and familiar frameworks. Second, change ushers in a period of not knowing what’s next; Turner described this stage as “the time between no longer and not yet.” It is during this stage that we reach higher levels of development by moving on to new situations and opportunities. The third and final stage of change paves the way for a return to the world strengthened and transformed.

Spring cleaning had transformed our home and the result was a wonderful, Wabi Sabi – beautifully imperfect – abode.

Spring cleaning also offered me the opportunity to reflect on small changes that could improve my health and enhance my overall life. Would the small changes produce perfection? Certainly not, but the slight alterations in my lifestyle might cultivate a new level of acceptance and appreciation for the beauty of imperfection that is Wabi Sabi – me.

This year, for me, the term “spring” had a revised description:

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I – Intention, polish your purpose to high shine N – Nurture, nurture your nature by embracing your life’s passion & living your purpose G - Give, cultivate your altruism and discover a place to give help.

In closing, I leave you with a few pearls of wisdom regarding spring and the journey of change & transformation.

“First comes thought; then organization of that thought, into ideas and plans; then transformation of those plans into reality. The beginning, as you will observe, is in your imagination.” ~Napoleon Hill

“He who rejects change is the architect of decay.” ~Harold Wilson

“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” ~ Victor Frankel

“Growth is the only evidence of life.” ~ John Henry Newman

“Spring makes its own statement so loud and clear that the gardener seems to be only one of the instruments, not the composer.” ~ Geoffrey B. Charlesworth

“I am thankful for a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning and gutters that need fixing because it means I have a home… I am thankful for the piles of laundry and ironing because it means my loved ones are nearby.” ~ Nancie J. Carmody

“Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling.” ~ Margaret Lee Rumbeck a

15

The Valley, April 2011

The Mushroom Guy Tasty fungal morsels and other wild edibles.

by Bob Sleigh

Magical Morels

April in Pennsylvania means only one thing when it comes to wild mushrooms, it’s Morel season.

There are few things in the world that would cause supposedly mature, sane adults to crawl through thickets on their hands and knees like children on an Easter-egg hunt quicker than the appearance of Morel mushrooms every spring. You can call it an obsession, call it crazy or even comical, but if you have ever tasted fresh Morels, sautéed in butter, straight out of the pan, you would call it delicious.

A fact not lost on fine-dining chefs throughout the world.

Morels are beyond a doubt the most sought-after and most elusive springtime mushroom around the globe. Communities in many states across the U.S. hold festivals and competitions solely dedicated to Morel mushrooms and anything related to Morel mushroom picking. One of the oldest events, held in Boyne City, MI., celebrated fifty years in 2010.

Attempts to grow Morels commercially have met with varying results, none of which could be considered successful. This resistance to cultivation and the elusive nature of Morels keeps them high in the price range of marketable wild mushrooms.

So now you want me to tell you how to find them right?

Where to look? That’s an easy one, in the woods.

Just out of sight of a well used ballfield, the motherlode! This bag is one of those large green laundry bags. There are well over 100 morels here.

Seriously folks, in the beginning don’t drive yourself so crazy trying to find “perfect” spots that

you hardly spend any time in the woods. I see novices doing this all the time. Get in the woods and look because even if you are in that perfect spot, unless you have found them before there is a good chance you will walk right by and never see them.

I have been hunting Morels all my life and still miss them occasionally.

You will definitely develop an eye for them once you start finding a few. It also helps to look for just part of the mushroom; many times that is all you will see.

As with anyA tip from a friend and permission to thing new, if you can hunt his land, yielded this in the first 20 find a mentor willing minutes of hunting.

to share their knowledge it will greatly accelerate the learning curve. Most Morel hunters learned their craft as a right of woods. My dad used to say that passage from parents, grandpareven a blind squirrel could find a ents and/or other relatives. nut once in a while. Nothing can

One other word of advice replace time in the woods when it when it comes to finding spots, comes to learning about Morels. It don’t bother asking other pickers is not unusual for me to cover 6 to where to go. Many will be happy 10 miles a day on foot during the to tell you, but I doubt there will peak of Morel season. be a Morel within 5 miles of the

The odds are with you; spot. I say that with a touch of sooner or later you will stumble sarcasm, but I do want to emphasize that most Morel hunters are very similar to fishermen.

So, if Morels may or may not come up in any given year, if they can be difficult to nearly impossible to see, if no one is ready to divulge a few likely spots, how are you supposed to find them?

Be patient. Get in the woods. Be persistent. Get The publisher’s better half, Lynn, in the woods. Be observant. after a successful hunt for late And did I mention, get in the season yellows. on to your quarry, but there are a few tips that can help cut down wasted time.

In general any predominantly Oak or Pine forests are mostly a waste of time. There are exceptions, as there always is with fungi, but for now just write those areas off. The number-one tree to be looking for is Elm, followed closely by Ash, Poplar, Apple and, at least for me, Black Cherry. I have also had luck around Sycamores, although I am not sure if it is the trees or their prevalence to frequently flooded areas that is coming into play.

You are looking for trees because Morels form a mycorrhizal association with them, meaning that the fungus connects to the trees roots in a mutually-beneficial partnership.

The adage “find the tree, find the Morel” was born from this fact.

Another important factor to consider is moisture since

What’s with That answers. 1. Lowest Point in N.America, 282’ below sea level 2. Borax 3. Two

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Continued on page 22

16

The Valley, April 2011

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17

The Valley, April 2011

LZ Swanson From Iraq

by Shawn Swanson

Handling Business

You have played it smart your whole life. You have a decent job, built a decent home, you live in a quiet community tucked away from the mainstream, the utilities and municipal services have always worked with little interruption; entertainment and communications with family and friends is at your fingertips 24/7. You even take full advantage of the growing season in your area. Life is good. …But, adversity can still unexpectedly touch you.

You have to be able to not only handle the everyday dramas that come your way, but sometimes even the unanticipated troubles that invade life as we know it and alter everything we once thought was normal.

Adversity can intrude at anytime and alter life’s circumstances in drastic ways. Look at Japan and what natural disaster alone can spawn. Have you taken the time to ponder the possibilities

disruption, disaster, and unrest can deliver to you by slow march or sudden encroachment? What will it take for you to handle business if your normal expectations of the day are upset by adversity and sudden surprise?

In today’s world, it is a necessity to weigh risks and manage outcomes at a level and pace we have never seen before let alone dealt with on a daily level. The impacts of interconnectivity and the speed with which the greater world can impose its circumstance on even the most stable of community members cannot be ignored.

Here are some ideas about how to build a framework to be better prepared for the trials put at our feet in uncertain times.

BUILD A SURVIVAL TRIAD

Examine your present circumstances, take stock of yourself, and develop a survival triad to form a useful framework to

trouble.

2. Skills

Life’s normal demands require you to have a set of even boastful skills to survive well, but being adept during a moment of crisis can really test your mettle.

“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly.

Specialization is for insects.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

Take a hard look at yourself and decide if you are fit to fend off troubles and advance yourself in the face of adversity. If not, take a hint from Heinlein and learn some useful talents.

3. Preparation

If you see trouble coming, have taken the time to develop your faculties to face life’s more interesting predicaments, then having the tools and a stockpile of what’s needed to weather hard times is just plain common sense.

Decide in advance to have what you need to manage the less subtle moments man and mother nature can throw at you, and ride out troubles or turmoil with the best planning possible.

The bottom line – you can coast through life ‘til it catches up to you. Be ready when it does.

Know how to handle business and have a clear mind and the tools to do it. a

make do and even do well during troubled times and events. Here are the three pegs of the triad: 1. Mindset

Your frame of mind is crucial to you weathering life’s more harried moments and is central not only to your survival but prosperity and success.

Stay positive, keep motivated, and challenge yourself to think outside of the box for solutions and fixes when you run into problems. Develop your understanding of the forces at play in your life, Phone (717) 667-6556 141 Three Cent Lane and acquire the Toll Free (888) 567-6556 Reedsville, PA 17084 knowledge and frame of mind you need to carry on against any odds. Without this peg firmly in More than just a feed store place, you’ll fall over the moment you encounter

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18

The Valley, April 2011

Woods, Water and Wildlife with Bob Sleigh

Growing Anticipation

Ok, now what are you doing sitting there reading this? It’s April, the sun is shining and the streams will soon be full of fish.

Get off your butt and get your fishing gear checked over, if you remember where you put it last year. April in Pennsylvania means trout season and all that goes with it.

Well all right, you can finish that cup of coffee first and since you got this far here’s a couple things to keep your buddies laughing at something other than you not catching fish. ****

It was a cold winter day, when an old man walked out onto a frozen lake, cut a hole in the ice, dropped in his fishing line and began waiting for a fish to bite.

He was there for almost an hour without even a nibble when a young boy walked out onto the

ice, cut a hole in the ice not too far from the old man and dropped in his fishing line. It only took about a minute and WHAM! a Largemouth Bass hit his hook and the boy pulled in the fish.

The old man couldn’t believe it but figured it was just luck. But, the boy dropped in his line and again within just a few minutes pulled in another one.

This went on and on until finally the old man couldn’t take it any more since he hadn’t caught a thing all this time.

He went to the boy and said, “Son, I’ve been here for over an hour without even a nibble. You have been here only a few minutes and have caught about half a dozen fish! How do you do it?”

The boy responded, “Roo raf roo reep ra rums rrarm.”

“What was that?” the old man asked.

Again the boy responded, “Roo raf roo reep ra rums rarrm.”

“Look,” said the old man, “I can’t understand a word you are saying.”

So, the boy spit into his hand and said, “You have to keep the worms warm!”

I know it’s an old one but still a good one. ****

Henry’s son David burst into the house crying. His mother asked him what the problem was.

“Daddy and I were fishing, and he hooked a giant fish, really big.

Then, while he was reeling it in, the line busted and the fish got away.” “Now come on, David,” his mother said, “a big boy like you shouldn’t be crying about an accident like that. You should have just laughed it off.”

“But that’s just what I did, mommy.” replied David. ****

A couple of young guys were fishing at their special pond off

the beaten track when out of the bushes jumped the game warden!

Immediately, one of the boys threw his rod down and started running through the woods and hot on his heels came the game warden. After about a half mile, the guy stopped and stooped over with his hands on his thighs to catch his breath and the game warden finally caught up to him.

“Let’s see yer fishin’ license, boy!” the warden gasped. With that, the guy pulled out his wallet and gave the game warden a valid fishing license. “Well, son,” said the Game Warden. “You must be about as dumb as a box of rocks!

You don’t have to run from me if you have a valid license!”

“Yes sir,” replied the young feller. “But my friend back there, well, he don’t have one...” ****

Here’s a few sure fire ways to get a bite on those seemingly fishless days.

*Hand the pole to your wife, girlfriend, son, daughter etc…. * Lay pole on ground beside you to help someone else. * Dig that sandwich out of your pack. * Forget your landing net. This works particularly well if you want to hook the largest fish you have ever seen. * Get a call on your cell phone, a relatively new technique that is becoming more prevalent. * Last but not least is the tried and true strategy of simply reeling in your line to go home.

Have fun on the water and take some time to enjoy the scenery around you. Springtime on the streams is a magical time of the year. a

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19

The Valley, April 2011 Vegetable Volunteers from page 5 safely. PLEASE USE THEM. Here endeth the sermon, bring in the plants!

Amaranth, Amaranthus retroflexus, is one of the most delicious members of a large and useful family: some amaranths were grown in ancient American cultures, and are still grown, for their grain like seed, another - called Love-Lies-Bleeding - is grown for its drooping blood-red blossoms, others, such as ours, for their tasty leaves.

Amaranth is one of the first “weeds” to appear after we till each spring. In rich garden soil our plants grow three to five feet high and in maturity branch out with a shrubby appearance. The leaves are long ovals, slightly wider at the stem and tapered at the tip, a bit crinkled and what could be called “medium green.”

By mid to late summer the brushy upright clusters of small greenish flowers appear. They produce great quantities of tiny, very shiny black seeds which are easily collected by bending the dry flower clusters over a container and shaking them. Use the usual drying techniques before storing the seed.

Unless you are trying to start the plant elsewhere, harvesting the seed may not be necessary. Each year we allow several Amaranths to mature here and there at the edges of the garden and the plant seeds itself readily.

As mentioned, Amaranth can take over if it gets the chance, often sprouting as evenly over dug soil as if it had been broadcast, so it’s necessary to take a firm hand once it appears in your neat rows of beets or peas or whatever.

Unless the Amaranth is crowding the domestic vegetables (if they are too close we weed them back a few inches) we let them get to the four or five leaf stage to begin harvest. Simply grasp the plants in one hand and cut slightly below the bottom leaves. Often the young plants grow so closely together it is possible to hold and cut bunches at a time. Scissors speed the process along nicely.

Springs first growth yields the most tender greens though the plant will continue to sprout over most of the growing season providing conditions are right. As the plant bushes out the new tips can be used as well as older leaves stripped away from their tougher ribs.

After harvest any remaining stems should be pulled so you can mulch your vegetables well to help keep them “weed” free.

Notice this particular Amaranth’s

tap root are a distinct pink color which will darken as the plants grow, giving this species a common name of Red Root. Another common name, Pigweed, comes from a grazing swine’s particular enjoyment of Amaranth. Smart pig!

Lambsquarters, Chenopodium album (also known as pigweed) usually sprouts around the same time as Amaranth and can be harvested in the same manner.

It is a botanical cousin of spinach, Swiss chard and red beets and just as tasty. The plants branch out and mature between two and three feet: the leaves are triangular with scalloped edges and a milky-green, slightly powdery look to them. Indeed, when you wash Lambsquarters the water will seem to roll off of the leaves and rubbing them will cause this powdery film to float on the water.

The flowers are small and greenish, lying along the stem tips and can be harvested, when dry, the same as Amaranth.

Both Amaranth greens and Lambsquarters can be eaten raw in salads or used like spinach in most cooked recipes. If desired, they can also be steamed lightly and frozen for winter time use.

Now Curly Dock, Rumex crispus, is a horse of a slightly different color and a good example, by the way, of why we continue to use Latin when we refer to plants.

Most references refer to this plant as yellow dock; “Curly” is it’s common name. The plant I call yellow dock, Rumex obtusifolius, is called round leaved dock in the books. Who knows why I confused the names when first learning about these plants decades ago, but now they are so stuck in my head they still pop out even though I know better. Some plants have dozens of different common names, heaven help us!

That’s why we stick to the Latin for accuracy and enjoy the common names for their “local color”

Curly Dock is a weeds’ weed.

A perennial that grows from a taproot often a foot long and an inch thick, it is nearly impossible to eradicate. Dig it out and the tiniest bit of root left in the ground will pop up in a year to retake its place in the sun. All docks do this and although I keep after them in the garden we always leave a few Curly Docks here and there, letting them snitch our compost and water in exchange for quantities of greens.

In spring, Curly Dock grows from the root into a plate-sized rosette of long narrow leaves, an inch or two wide and some eight inches long, tapering to a rounded

tip. The long sides actually are curly, like old-fashioned petticoat ruffles.

They start out pale reddish-green and mature to a deep green color with tiny hints of red.

We harvest them by simply gathering the entire rosette in a bunch and whacking it off with a knife.

It will grow back in a few weeks.

One wet spring we • Reliable Propane & Heating Oil Delivery got three pickings • Budget Payment Plan from one plant.

Call today Any grass or other to learn about our • 24/7 Emergency Service unwanted bits can NEw CustOmER • Heating Equipment Service Plans easily be picked sPECiAls! out during clean• Safety Trained Professionals ing (which you • Over 80 Years Experience should not skimp on, by the way; do at least three separate washes and lots of vigorous Our Business is Customer Satisfaction “swishing”).

The younger leaves, with the 717-248-5476 • 1-800-PROPANE (776-7263) edges still rolled under, are the best to use raw. Larger leaves cook up well and work in ing The Valley for the past few most recipes that call for greens. months, you’ll have noticed that Older leaves, including those that many of the articles, whatever grow along the stalk, whose stems their topic, rest on a foundation are a bit tough are still usable. of self-reliance and community: Hold the tip and tear down; it’s the idea that doing as many of the alike unzipping the leaf from the things we are capable of doing, stem. for ourselves and our neighbors,

In late spring or early sumis better in the short AND long mer, Curly Dock sends up a seed run than letting others, often very stalk, which can top out anywhere distant others, do those things for from two to five feet or so. The us. stalk branches out into long

Far from being isolationism, upright clusters of green flowers. as many critics claim; self-reliThe flowers, in turn, become maance is vibrantly inclusive: a conhogany colored bunches of what stantly changing mix of frugality look like seeds. They are really and abundance, of time-tested tiny dry fruits (with three paper wisdom and forward thinking thin wings) that contain the seeds innovation, steps back and steps (which, are also edible in a pinch). forward, all stirred together with

As mentioned, Amaranth, our cultural differences and our Lambsquarters and Curly Dock, shared humanity. like most wild vegetables, pack

It may SEEM a small thing, a nutritional wallop. Looking at harvesting weeds, but remember the “numbers,” they sometimes that old adage: an ocean is made leave the usual cultivated vegup of small drops of water. The etables in the dust when it comes simple act of learning how to to vitamins and minerals. In no identify and use wild vegetables, way does this mean we abandon which can begin in the comfort of one for the other, rather that they our own gardens no less, adds yet compliment one another. Indeed, another strand to our shared safety garden vegetables tend to gain in net of self-reliance and THAT is nutritional value as we enrich the no small thing at all. soil by working with nature rather Now, for that list of references. than against her. “Weeds” are just

For some classic light readone more great addition to the ing: larder.

“Stalking the Wild Asparagus”

Here’s one last thought to ponder on. If you’ve been readContinued on page 22

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The Valley, April 2011

20

Dairy Princess Memories

by Rebecca Harrop Mifflin County Dairy Princess 2010-2011

Hi, I’m Rebecca Harrop, Mifflin County Dairy Princess, with more Dairy Princess memories.

Spring is here with all the beautiful flowers, trees bursting with buds, and all the lawns turning green. I can’t decide which smell is the best, the spring flowers, the first mown lawn, or after the haybine mows that first field of hay. They are all smells that bring back memories of running around barefoot the first warm day of spring. Of course I also remember my mom and gram yelling at us because we were going to catch our deaths of cold because the ground wasn’t warm enough yet.

My sister and I could hardly wait until the snowdrops and daffodils would bloom so we could pick handfuls of flowers for Mom. Our Gram always had a flowerbed

full of tulips and daffodils, and we would always pick some for her while we were at the barn. I remember when we were real little we didn’t understand that you needed a little stem to go along with the blossom so it would go in a vase. Mom tried to explain it, but she usually just ended up floating the blossoms in a bowl.

One spring we pulled the blossoms as fast as they opened. I don’t think there was one left ‘til we were done.

A little later in the spring we would pick the wild flowers Gram always calls sweet rocket. My Dad always brings Mom a big bouquet as soon as they are out.

After Dad gave Mom his bouquet of sweet rockets, he would take Rachel and I out in the back fields so we could pick some also.

While we were always enthusiastic flower pickers, we weren’t always the most careful. Sometimes the flowers were a little worse for wear until we got home.

I know we often presented some pretty sorry looking bouquets.

Mom always put them in a vase anyway and gave us a big hug.

There are lots of wild flowers

that grow around the farm. To us they are as some of the most beautiful flowers anywhere. If

you have little ones, why not take a walk this spring and see how many different kinds of wild flowers you can find. How many can you name?

Spring is also the season of every kid’s favorite thing in the entire world. MUD! Mud, mud puddles and kids just go together.

thevalleynewspaper@gmail.com

No self-respecting kid can walk past a mud puddle. It doesn’t matter if you have your scruffiest pair of cloths on or your Sunday best, if there is a mud puddle in sight a kid will be in it. Some just walk through while others, like

Continued on page 30

The Valley, April 2011

Modern Energy and Alternative Heating

21

with Curt Bierly

How About Pellet Stoves?

of the stove. With the use of corn to make ethanol and the reduction of the price of wood pellets, the corn stove rage only lasted a couple of years.

that a pellet stove was the answer. by the bag or by the ton (50 bags your home much like an oil truck If you are looking for an This threw the industry into a per ton).

There are approximately would deliver oil. alternative heat source a Pellet backlog for stoves and pellets, and 8000 btu’s in a pound of pellets That said, it appears Stove is a good option to consider. prices increased.

Presently stoves and the current cost is approxithat pellet stoves A pellet stove is clean burning, and pellets have decreased and are mately $225.00/ton ($1.406 per are here to stay makes “burning wood” more more stable as there is an ample 100M btu’s).

Compare that to worldwide. convenient and there is money to supply of both.

Pellets are put up heating oil at $3.69/gallon ($2.636

When pellets be saved compared to oil. We’ll in 40# plastic bags and are sold per 100M btu’s) and electric at were expensive check into a little history then .12/kwh ($3.514 per 100M btu’s). during the period of bring you up Our customers that are serious high demand, burnto date with about reducing their annual heating corn became the latest ing cost purchase three to five the rage due to its technology. tons of pellets per year ($675 to lower cost. So, the

In 1984 $1125/year). industry scrambled the first pel A few years ago, my son and to develop stoves let stove was I traveled to Italy to attend a heatto burn corn. The developed ing show that displayed primarily same concept as and introwood and wood pellet stoves, a pellet stove was duced into furnaces and boilers.

There were used, but special the residenover 500 manufacturers at the mechanisms had tial market show displaying their product to be added to deal

by Dr. Jerry line.

We were amazed how many with the removal of The Enviro Empress, featuring a beautiful Whitfield, The Cascade pellet stove, one of the first on the people in Europe burn wood the “corn clinker.” brown porcelain finish. a former market for residential use, invented by Jerry pellets.

Not only can you buy This could be done Boeing en- Whitfield. bagged pellets in Europe, but you automatically or gineer from

Burning pellets is clean, can also have pellets delivered to manually, but increased the price Burlington, green, and uses a renewable Washington. Pellet stoves burn energy source. The big draw back small cylinders of compressed 100 Stine Drive is the fact that it uses electricity sawdust and operate with high Lewistown, PA 17044 to operate.

When one thinks of fuel consumption efficiency (up to 717-248-6400 an alternative heating appliance, 90%) and low emissions (5 times use during a power outage is Toll Free 877-248-6405 lower than EPA-certified woodcshockey@StoneArchRealEstate.com considered important.

Electricity burning stoves). The wood pellets is used to operate an auger motor, are produced in a high pressure a blower motor, a draft inducer extrusion process that uses the and electric ignition. All this is natural lignins in the wood to controlled by a very specialized bind the sawdust into a pellet; printed circuit board. This unit is therefore the pellet is 100% wood very much “electric”; therefore, with no binders or glues added. I using it during an extended power can remember my mother making Call Claire or outage is cumbersome. Wood and hamburger with a meat grinder Stephanie Today! coal stoves use no electricity. A Beautiful South Hills Cape Cod On 3 Acres she hooked onto her mixer. She Claire Shockey: 717-994-0786 The best of both worlds here...one floor living if you’d like + 2 BR and full bath definite advantage. Choose what stuffed chunks of beef in the top Email:Cshockey@StoneArchRealEstate.com upstairs. So many windows let the light pour in, spacious living & dining, profesfits your lifestyle. and hamburger was forced out the sional landscaping, private screened porch and so much more. If you’ve had your Stephanie Koenig: 717-513-8999 end through a perforated grate. eye on this one now is the time to take a look and make an offer! $259,000 Email:Stephanie@StoneArchRealEstate.com Curt Bierly is president of the With wood pellets you shove bierly group incorporated of sawdust in one side and wood Commercially Zoned Brick Victorian which Stanley C. Bierly is a divipellets come out of the other side.

Charm and character await you here! 4 Bedroom 1.5 bath sion. He graduated from Penn Sprout-Matador, a division of home has so many possibilities. Use it as a residence or have State with a BS in Mechanical your own antique shop. Kitchen and Dining with original built Andritz Inc. from Muncy, PA is a -ins, large double living room, bay windows, enclosed rear Engineering and is a member of large manufacture of pellet mills porch and so much more. the Penn College HVAC Advisory that are used to produce wood pel$149,500 Owner will look at reasonable offers Board. You can contact him at lets. cbierly@bierlygroup.com a

I can recall when heating oil went to $4.00 per gallon, it seemed that everyone decided

www.StoneArchRealEstate.com www.thevalleynewspaper.com

The Valley, April 2011

22

Recipes-Crafts-Gifts With Debra Kulp Strawberry Pie 1-pie crust, bake according to directions 4 cups strawberries 3/4 cup sugar 3/4 cup water 3 tbsp cornstarch 1/4 tsp salt

Crush 1 cup strawberries, add 3/4 cup water and bring to a boil.

Simmer 3 minutes. Strain juice from cooked strawberries and add water to make 1 cup.

Combine sugar, cornstarch and salt in same pan. Slowly add

Vegetable Volunteers from page 19 and “Stalking the Healthful Herbs” by Euell Gibbons. These books are jam packed with useful information, from the real world, concerning wild foods - nearly one hundred of them. If these books aren’t in your home library, they should be!

If our “plants of the month” haven’t shown up in your garden or you can’t find a wild source, here’s the next best thing: Seeds of Change Marketing Concepts PO Box 152 Spicer MN 56288 1-888-762-73 33 www.seedsofchange.com Amaranth seed (different varieties but just as good), Lambsquarters (the pretty green and magenta kind!)

Greenhouse Dreams from page 3 they wanted, and you would have some happy animals.

Well, I still don’t know what type of greenhouse I will build, I only know that when I do, it will bring me many blessings and much happiness. a

juice, stirring until smooth. Bring to boil, stirring until clear and thick. Cool slightly.

Put whole strawberries into baked crust. Pour cooled mixture over berries. Chill. Top with whipped cream and fresh strawberries.

Stained Glass Candy Makes 2 1/2 lbs.

4 cups granulated sugar 1 3/4 cups light corn syrup 1 cup water 1 tbsp desired flavor extract

Food color as desired

Line a 15” X 11” baking pan with foil, lightly sprinkle evenly with a light coating of powdered sugar, set aside

In a medium pan combine sugar and corn syrup with water and cook over medium heat. Stir to dissolve sugar. Increase heat and bring to a boil.

With a brush dipped in water, wash down any crystals that form on the sides of the pan. Boil rapidly until candy thermometer registers 300 degrees. (hard crack stage) Immediately remove from heat and stir in flavor extract and food color.

Pour into prepared pan. Let cool completely.

When hard, remove from pan.

Break into pieces with a kitchen

Johnny’s Selected Seeds 955 Beaton Avenue Winslow, ME 04901-2601 l -877-564-6697 www.johnnyseeds.com Both leaf Amaranth and the cool flowering kind; they call the Lambsquarters spreen.

Here are a few web sites to get you started:

Seed Saver Exchange 3094 North Winn Road Decorah, IA 52101 1-563-382-5990 www.seedsavers.org

Rodale Institute www.rodaleinstitute.org These folks have been working the “hard science” for over sixty years. Listen up: SIXTY YEARS. When in doubt check them out!

Give a call or check out the web site to learn about the great work that’s been going on for 35 years to maintain our seed heritage.

They do have a seed catalog for the general public. The bulk of the seed is available to members: 57 varieties of Amaranth, 3 Lambsquarters, 1 Curly Dock

National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service www.attra.org This is loaded, just loaded, with usable information

Center for Food Safety w.w.w.centerforfoodsafety.org a

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.”

—Thomas Jefferson

HONEY CREEK GREENHOUSE Hanging Baskets-Bedding PlantsVegetable Plants Monday- Friday 7:00AM - 7:00PM Saturday 7:00AM - 4:00PM Closed Sundays Take East Logan Street from the lights in Reedsville ( becomes Honey Creek Road) after 2nd one lane bridge look for the sign on the right.

Excellent Plants-Great Prices!

mallet. For multiple flavors and colors, divide candy mixture after cooking, flavor and color each as desired.

Hummingbird Cake An Easter Favorite 3 cups all-purpose flour 2 cups sugar 1 1/2 tsp each baking soda and ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp salt 3 large eggs 3/4 cup oil 2 tsp vanilla extract 1 can (8oz.) crushed pineapple in juice 2 cups mashed bananas (3-4 large) 1 cup pecan pieces, finely chopped Cream Cheese Frosting 2 bricks (8oz. ea.) cream cheese 1 stick (1/2cup) unsalted butter

Morels from page 15 to consider is moisture since mushrooms are mostly water.

I’m not talking about bogs and swamps here, although … never mind that’s for advanced class … but hillsides and valleys with lots of underground springs are good spots to investigate. Sometimes just a shallow depression in a seemingly flat area is enough.

Follow the moisture; that statement works for virtually all fungi.

Now that you have some idea where to look, it would be nice to know when wouldn’t it. Well here are a couple tips about ground temperature that can help the when and the where.

Morels begin to fruit when ground temperatures reach 50 degrees. You can check this easily with a probe thermometer or use the daily average air temperature.

Simply put if the daytime high is 62 degrees and the nighttime low is 38 the average is 50 degrees and it’s time to start looking, maybe.

Factoring into the rise in ground temperature is the orientation of an area to the sun. South and southwest facing slopes will warm up first and conversely north oriented areas will be the last to warm. Deeply sloped east to west valleys may have Morels fruiting in them somewhere throughout the entire season. Aha, got your attention there, didn’t I?

Hopefully this is enough to at least put a few Morels in your kitchen this year and many more there in the years to come. Just remember, in the long run Morels grow where they want when they want, and most often that is “in the woods.” a

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2 tsp vanilla extract 3 cups confectioners sugar 2 cups sweetened flaked coconut

Divide oven in thirds with baking racks. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Using three 8” X 2” cake pans, coat with cooking spray

In a large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt until well mixed.

In another bowl, whisk eggs, oil, vanilla, crushed pineapple and juice, bananas and pecans until blended. Add flour mixture. Stir until combined, divide batter into prepared pans

Bake 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool. Spread frosting and apply coconut. a

Nourishing Journey from page 11 * Top grilled cheese sandwiches after grilling (alfalfa, clover) * Stir into soups or stews when serving (mung bean, lentil) * Mix into pancake or waffle batter (buckwheat) * Eat them fresh and uncooked in a sprout salad (salad mixes) * Top omelet or scrambled eggs (alfalfa, clover, radish) * Combine in rice dishes (fenugreek, lentil, mung bean) * Sauté with onions (mung bean, clover, radish) * Add to baked beans (lentil) * Steam and serve with butter (mung bean, lentil) * Use in sandwiches instead of lettuce (alfalfa, clover, radish)

As you can see, no matter what the weather, spring can be sprouting year round in your kitchen table garden!

Blessings on Your Journey!

References: International Sprout Grower’s Association Shipard, Isabel. “How Can I Grow and Use Sprouts as Living Food?”

2005.

Sue is a holistic nutrition consultant and holistic health educator. Her office is located at 54 Chestnut Street in Lewistown. To learn more about her services go to www.mynourishingjourney.com.

She can be reached by email at sue@mynourishingjourney.com or give her a call at 242-3132. a

The Valley, April 2011

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23

The Valley, April 2011

24

Buckhorn Taxidermy and Sporting Goods has added a new addition of live pets and pet supplies to the store.

We also have a line of live bait and live crickets year-round for the fishermen and pet lovers.

The Pen and Thread Custom Calligraphy and Weaving

Mary Anna Chenoweth Proprietor

717-248-6079 131 West Market Street Lewistown, Pennsylvania

Tropical Fish Birds Lizards Frogs Snakes Spiders S corpions Hamsters Gerbils Rats Mice

We are a full time taxidermy shop with over 50 years combined experience. Big game, game heads, small game, fish and exotic animals.

316 N. Logan Blvd.

Burnham, PA 17009 Open 7 days a week (717) 242-4490

Monday, Wednesday, Friday 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Mon & Fri. 10am - 7pm Tues, Wed, Thurs, Sat - 10am 5pm Sun - 8am - noon

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25

The Valley, April 2011

Homeschooling on the Homestead

with Andy Weller

How The States Stack Up HOMESCHOOL COMMUNITY GIVES GRADES TO THE STATES

In Southern Arizona the weather is warming up and the desert is coming alive. On my mind is the garden and the garden expansion that my family and I are putting in this year. The new expansion will be mainly a container/raised bed garden where all of our herbs will be. Who knows what else will be in it, time will tell. I know, I know this is an article about homeschooling, I just can’t help but be distracted by what’s happening outside and what still needs to be done.

Back to the subject at hand; Homeschooling. In my first article, I urged anyone interested in homeschooling to check local and state laws in their area. The reason I did this is because from state to state, the laws are different.

Even within states homeschooling policy could differ from county to county or from district to district.

In the next 800 words or so I hope to identify the states that have oppressive homeschool laws, states

with moderate homeschool laws and those states with homeschool friendly laws that even welcome homeschoolers.

In the United States there are six states that have some draconian laws concerning homeschooling. The six states are North Dakota, Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. In these states there are pretty stringent laws that could require any or all of the following: 1. Achievement test scores (some states require professional evaluation of the tests.) be submitted to the state. 2. The state or a board appointed by the state could require that the curriculum used by homeschooling families be inspected for approval.

3. The state might require that the teacher(s) of the homeschool family present documentation that the parent/teacher is qualified to teach, in other words you have to be a qualified teacher in order to educate your own children. 4.

States could require that homeschoolers submit to home visits by state officials or other individuals appointed by the state. For you folks who in these states who home school, I salute you, personally I would be packing my bags and moving out of Dodge.

There’s another grouping of states that aren’t quite so bad.

These states have either gotten progressively worse over time or through legislation and the courts, the homeschool community and advocates have brought the laws to a place where the laws, at the very least, recognize the rights of parents to educate their children in the manner they see fit. They may not respect the parents’ right, but they have to recognize it and follow the laws of the state. These twenty-one states have many moderate regulations that include: 1. Parents need to notify the state, county or district of their intent to homeschool. 2. Parents must submit test scores to the authorities.

3. Many of these states require that student progress is evaluated by a professional. The following states are in this group: Washington, Oregon, Colorado, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Arkansas, Louisiana, Ohio, Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, District of Columbia, New Hampshire and Maine. The states in this group are friendlier to homeschoolers than the first group, yet they still exert control over families that I have not found in the US Constitution, or in any state constitution. The states are basically carving out power where none has been given.

There’s a third group of states that have low regulations where homeschooling requirements are concerned. The requirements for this group of states only require that the homeschool parents notify the state that he or she intends to homeschool their children. This is closer to my style; tell them what

you’re going to do then do it…

Yeah. I like it. Parents can use the curriculum they like, use any form of homeschooling they like and form the school environment that best works for their families, and most importantly, for their children. These states are: Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, and finally Utah. You might think these states have the least amount of regulations; however, that’s not the case. There are ten states that don’t even require that you notify them of your intention to home school. These states are: Connecticut, New Jersey, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Idaho, Texas and Alaska.

These final ten states infringe the least on personal freedom when it comes to homeschooling.

In the paragraphs above I’ve tried to give you a summary of what can be expected in the various states of our nation. If you’re looking to start a homestead and will be homeschooling, and if you’re willing to move to start that homestead, then I hope I have given you a starting point where you might want to take a closer look. To dig deeper into the laws and requirements regarding homeschooling in the various states visit www.hslda.org/. a

“A REPUBLIC, IF YOU CAN KEEP IT.” --BEN FRANKLIN

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26

A.J. Peachey’s—

The Valley, April 2011

Moving Mountains From Staff Reports

Photos courtesy of Dee Peachey

It is hard to believe that six months have passed since we all gathered on that little hilltop at the southwest end of the Peachey property for the ground breaking.

I remember the anticipation and pride that everyone present felt

that sunny, but windy, October Saturday.

Much has happened since then. That little hilltop where we were all standing, is gone! In fact, the hillside has been moved to the other side of the property.

The beginning of the long journey back. Ground Breaking Day, October 2010.

Many of those who attended the Ground Breaking ceremony probably had no idea that the very ground they were standing on was about to be moved.

If you missed a couple weeks at any point during the winter, you may have missed a bunch, depending on how much the weather allowed the project to progress. If you haven’t been out to the site all winter, prepare to be shocked. With the removal of the mountain and its repositioning to the northwest, the parking lot for the new building looks monstrous compared to what we once had.

Even with weather-related delays, the foundation has been poured and soon the new building will start rising from that foundation. The new building is sure to be the

talk of the valley when it is finally completed toward the end of the summer. With the artists rendering and a copy of Peachey’s ad from The Valley, you can stand above the construction site and visualize how this new building will be a jewel for Big Valley.

If you have an opportunity, head out to Barrville Road and see that Peachey’s has been moving mountains to once again bring their friendly service back to you and Big Valley.

Don’t forget Mystery Thursdays during the re-build and the scrumptious food at the restaurant that is now open until 7PM for their spring hours. It is almost time for ice cream—see you all down there the first warm night! a

The mountain is gone, the foundation is in! ”Here we Go!”

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The Valley, April 2011

Grosze Thal Nachbaren

(Big Valley Neighbors)

by Jeptha I. Yoder

Ein Grusz in Gottes Namen, der Himmel und Erde, und alles was darinnen ist Erschaffen hat.

Der 27, Hornung waren wir in der Gemein ans Jesse J. Hostetlers, Von Mcklur waren Esra Ss, Jesse (Amos), Ruth und Nancy (Iddo) alle Hostetlern.

Von ander gegend waren Isaak R. Hostetlers und Familie und Franey Yoder (Emanuel J.) Ich und andere Junge waren dort fϋrs Abendessen waren Eli S. Zugen und Mose R. Hostetlern und Familien.

Der 6 Marz, war Kirchengasse Gemein bei die (Emanuel B.) Franey N. Yoder. Eli S. Zugen und Familie waren ans Mose C. Yoders fϋrs Mitlagessen und ans Unckel Christs und der Grosdaardi Nachmittages. West Lang Leen war ans David R. Yoders.

Jesse J. Hostetlers und Familie von unser gegend waren dort.

Becky, Miriam, Ruth und Noämi Hostetler (Jesses’) ϋnd Maria A. Zug (Eli) waren in Mcklur in der Gemein ans Amos J. Hostetlers.

Ein Schneesturm Sonntag Nachts hielt ihren Chauffer auf, das sie später heimkommen am Montag den wie ausgemacht war.

Der 13, war Gemein ans Eli S. Hostetlers. Ost Lang Leen war ans Johannes M. Hostetlers. Singen war auch dort. Nord Milroy

war ans Noah S. Hostetlers. Eli C. Hostetlers von Winfeld waren in der gemein ans Noahs. Die (Salomon) Mareily blieb beim Grosdaddi. Auch dort waren Isaak Y. Hostetlers und Tochter.

Sie assen alle ans Mose C. Yoders mit ihr Besuch welche waren Mose N. Hostetlers und Familie.

Ans Unkel Christs und der Grosdaadi nachmittages waren Sam Ns und Christ Ds alle Yodern. Dort abends waren Jonas A. Hostetlers, Mose C. Yoders und Familie und meine Eltern. Nächst mol gemein ans Johannes Y. Hostetlers.

Der 20, war Kirchengasse Gemein ans M. Sieber Hostetlers.

Singen warauch dort. West Lang Leen ans Isaak Y. Hostetlers Von andere Gegenden waren die (Salomon) Mareily, Uria M. (Christ S. und Uria Ss und Tochter Lydia alle Hostetlern und Meine Eltern Isaak und Maria Yoder.

Lang Leen West ans Menno R. Hostetlers nächst mol so der Herr Will.

Elisabeth und ich waren ein wenig ans Unkel Christs und der Grosdaadi nachmittages, Meine eltern unds Eli S. Hostetlers und Familie und Maria A. und Chirstian E. Zug (Eli) waren dort abends.

Eli S. Zugen und zwei

Jungste waren in Mcklur in der Gemein ans Iddo M. Hostetlers.

Christian greetings! Spring has been a “moisture abundant” season so far. Farmers are plowing. Yes, it did dry off enough for some outside work at times.

Heavy rains the first full week of March brought high waters and flooding at places. Our coldest was 11 degrees on the 3rd and 17 degrees on the 7th. With so much variation in temperature and sunny days, it has been an exceptionally good year for those tapping maple trees. I planted some pea seeds. Will the rabbits allow them to grow?

Saturday a number of folks were to the auction in Mcklur at widow (Sam Y. Jr.) Emma Y. Hostetler. her newlywed son, David and Naomi, moved in to the same residence. Aunt Fronie (Noah D.) stayed with Grandad while Uncle Christs were to the sale.

Friday, April 8 is an auction along Siglerville Pike at M. Sieber Hostetlers, Lord Willing. This is to benefit hospital expense of baby Barbara, who was born with an open-spine and needed surgery.

She is the daughter of Joel E. and Salina L. Yoder of 10 Blu Hollow Lane, Milroy, PA 17063. The grandparents are David H. Sr. and

Elizabeth S. Yoder of McClure; Noah D. and Fronie K. Hostetler and the late Leah Z. Greats are Moses I. and Elizabeth L. Hostetler, Moses M. and Esther S. Yoder and widower Moses S. Yoder, all locals.

Aunt Mary, widow of Solomon C. Hostetler, is planning to sell items at this auction instead of having a sale herself, as had been previously considered.

Noah Speichers were still making weekly trips to Philadelphia with daughter Ruthie, going by train. There were expecting 2 weeks stay this time, going Monday, March 21. She was not doing so well with her white (platelets) blood cell counts too low. Their address is 200 Cedar Grove Lane, Milroy. Noah’s 32nd birthday was on March 11.

Hannes Y. Hostetler disabled son of J. Yost and Nancy Y. had his 43rd birthday on the 21st.

Even though this is late for his birthday, I am sure mail is still appreciated. Drop Hannes and his parents a line of cheer at 8107 East Back Mountain Road, Reedsville, PA 17841.

Our local weekly had the obituary of an older Milroy acquaintance, Evelyn (Knepp) Tressler (92) of Woodlawn Avenue. She suffered a stroke (or strokes) within the last year or so.

The family has our sympathy.

March brought memories.... twenty five years ago on the 14th I ended up with a broken arm, while hurriedly getting ready for school. Was a bad break and I

was absent the rest of the term.

Nineteen years ago a number of barns burned here in the valley. A year later, we had a snowstorm, like the younger generation had never seen at this date.

The latest arrival is a daughter, Barbara, on the 11th to Thomas S. and Emma Y. Yoder.

Grands are Sam R. and Barbara H. Yoder; Emanuel B. S. and Elizabeth B. Yoder. This little one joins three brothers and one sister.

Joining one brother is Esther on February 24 to Rufus M. and Malinda F. Yoder. Grands are Moses M. and Esther S. Yoder, local; Jonathan A. and Frona M. Yoder of Penns Valley. Greatgrandmother is widow (Rufus) Malinda S. Yoder of Winfield.

Great-grandfather is widower David B. Yoder, local.

By the time I write another letter for this paper, the Easter season will be a hand. Let us not forget the reason for these Holidays.

Also by then, lots of flowers will be bursting into bloom, Lord Willing. Early spring bulbs are blooming right now.

Excuse mistakes. God’s Blessings Wished to all!

Jeptha I. Yoder a

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The Valley, April 2011

Answers in an ad in this issue

28

Checking in at 134° F and annual rainfall of just 2"

Death Valley, CA is the hottest and driest place in the US 1. What other extreme does Death Valley claim?

2. This mineral used in soap making is found here?

3. How many years did Ronald Reagan host Quiz # 20022

Copyright © 2010

the 18yr. run of TV's "Death Valley Days"?

The Valley

is published the first Thursday of every month.

Deadlines for ads and submissions is the 24th of the preceding month for inclusion in following month’s issue.

Big Valley Bunk Beds And Mattress Sales 65 Stone Barn Lane, Belleville, PA 17004 from Belleville take Rt. 305 west, turn right at E. Back Mtn. Rd. 1/2 mile, then left at Stone Barn Lane 7 Styles in Stock L-Shape w/Dresser - Loft Beds - Stackable - Standard - Twin Over Full - Regular Bookcase - Captain’s Bed - Triple Stacker - Selection of stain on orders.

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29

The Valley, April 2011

The Chicken AND the Egg!

by Mike Flanagan

Da “Uber-Brooder”

OK, every man who has ever been saved from himself by his “better half” raise your hand, just like me. Whether you raised your hand or not, you know who you are. And if you didn’t raise your hand, you are only lying to yourself. My wife finally talked some sense into me. I called Meyer Hatchery to see if there was any way to “reduce” my order. No problem. They reduced my order from 36 hens/3 roosters to only 24 hens/2 roosters and gave me a choice of store credit or a refund to my credit card for the difference. I opted for the credit, since I know I’ll be going back again.

They are great people to deal with.

Das “Uber-Brooder” was born of my decision to start adding clean, drug-free meat birds

to my freezer. I have kept 24 chicks in 24 square feet for up to eight weeks without problems.

I’m going to increase the size of the “house” part to 4’x12’, or 48 square feet. The enclosed yard will be equal in size. Have I mentioned that my girls are spoiled?

The current flock enjoyed a dry, covered, sunny “patio” all winter long, although a few of the hardier ones did cross the snow to scratch in the compost pile. As I was writing this article, it occurred to me that this would make a peachy house for a small flock of up to 12 hens to live and lay in.

Some lessons I have learned the hard way. For instance, 2’ doors are NOT wide enough and standing headroom is a MUST. This design will have a full width 4’ door, which will make it much

easier to enter carrying bales of straw and to clean out between flocks. The low back wall will be 6’ high so I can’t crack my head on the rafters (It’s NOT funny! That hurts!) and can stand up straight while cleaning it out.

(Believe me, your back will thank you.)

Once again, I am assuming you have basic measure and cut skills. After leveling an area, build a frame on the ground measuring 8’x12’, divided into two 4’x12’ areas. Use 4x4 pressure treated lumber rated for ground contact. In one of those areas, place 4x4 floor joists on 2’ centers. You really want to make sure everything is square at this point. Measure the diagonals. If they are square you’re good to go.

If not, tap the long corner with a hammer until you get it square.

Cover with a layer of 1/2” CDX plywood over one layer of 1/2” pressure treated plywood, for a 1” thick floor. Alternate the layout

so the seams do not overlap each other.

Using regular 2x4’s on 16” centers build a wall, 6’ tall and 12’ long. Now build another wall, 8’ tall and 12’ long. Raise your two 12’ walls and secure them to the floor. Use spare 2x4’s to anchor the ends to the ground frame to hold them plumb. Frame the end wall by just coming across level with the short wall and installing studs on 16” centers. For the door side, just use the top plate level with the short wall.

Anybody who has ever tried to cut rafters, with those “birds mouth” notches to fit just right can tell you, it’s a bear. So let’s cheat. Cut a 2x6 to length 6’ and temporarily nail it to the end. It should be centered. At the front, it will just intersect the top edge of the top plate. At the back, it will just intersect the bottom edge of the top plate. Trace those birds mouths. Use a level to mark plumb lines at the ends of the 2x6.

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Remove it and you have a template for your rafters. Trace and cut 10 of them from 2x6 stock.

Install them on 16” centers. Now sheath those three walls with 1/2” plywood. (I happen to like the looks of T-111) Be sure you stop the plywood flush with the bottom of the flooring.

Before you sheath the roof you are going to install fascia on the rafter ends. You can bevel cut the top edges with your circular saw to around 27.5º. Now measure from end to end and cut three sheets of 1/2” plywood to fit. Nail them down. Cover with 15 lb tar paper. Apply a preformed drip edge all the way around. (That’s important to keep water from getting into the edges of your roof and sidewalls.) Instructions for shingling the roof are printed on the back of every bundle of shingles. You’ll need three bundles. That will cover your

Continued on page 30

The Valley, April 2011

30 Julie Mac from page 8 it’s FDA approved for food, you will want to call or E-Mail the manufacturer to make sure that it is food grade plastic. Under no circumstances do you want to keep your groceries in garbage bags—even as a liner to a bucket.

Garbage bags are treated with insecticides and they often have scents added to them which will leach into your food. Another alternative is glass. Glass is a wonderful container. If you have mason jars, they work great for dry storage. They come in many different sizes and the larger ones, ½ gallon and up, are a perfect vessel. An even better aspect is that the jars can be vacuum sealed shut thus eliminating most, if not all, of the oxygen from whatever you’re storing in them. Oxygen is the enemy of your food—the less of it around the better. The one drawback to glass is that it will also let in light-but we’ve talked about that before. You already know the importance of keeping things dark. One special note.

Please do not try and vacuum seal things such as flour in mason jars. The flour is too fine and will breach the seal, travel up the tube and clog the motor to your vacuum sealer….Ask me how I know this…..I have had better luck vacuum sealing flour in large bags, giving the head of the bag plenty of room so that if the flour does travel up a bit in the channels of the bag, it’s not going to get into your machine. If you really want to make sure that it’s airtight, you can purchase mylar bags and oxygen absorbers. If you are going to go this route, make sure you put the bags into another container like a food safe bucket.

It’s true that a determined critter might eventually chew his way through even the thickest plastic bucket, but the time it takes might allow you to discover his shenanigans and dispatch the little bugger before too much damage is done.

For shorter term storage, I have some very large Tupperware style containers that I keep in my upstairs pantry. It allows me to buy in bulk for every-day use, but keep things fresh in case I don’t consume all of it right away. For example I have a large container which will hold 15 lbs. of elbow macaroni. I have the same size for flour, sugar, oats etc. Although they can be on the heavy side to drag out when I want to do a day of baking, they are an invaluable resource to me. I have discovered a rolling bin type of container for the same purpose-but larger and on wheels. How brilliant is that!

It is at a restaurant supply store and quite pricey—but they made

me drool none the less. When you cook for a large family like I do, bulk ANYTHING can make your life so much easier! My little label machine spits out perfectly wonderful little label strips so that I can keep track of what is in the containers. That way if I want to change the use of my container I don’t have the impossible task of trying to get Sharpie off. I have also used standard Avery type labels with my word program on the computer. This can be fun as you can add pictures to the labels.

I find it helpful to do this as I am a visual person and can scan supplies much quicker if there is a corresponding picture.

All of these ideas may seem extreme, but I find having a large pantry is easy if you are organized, have the proper containers, keep lists, and have items laid out in a logical manner. I look forward to delving into this deeper next month as we discuss calorie requirements, and food storage lists to give you ideas of what to buy and how much. See you them, and have a most joyous Easter! a

Dairy Princess from page 20 my sister Rachel, splash, stomp and pretty much wallow in them.

What kid hasn’t made mud pies?

Although I think my Mom and her sisters may have put a new twist on mud pie making. Apparently they not only made mud pies, they decorated them as well.

Now how would you decorate a mud pie, you might ask. Well, they had several wild rabbits that frequented their yard and left rabbit droppings. I’m sure you can figure the rest out. They used some other berries and things that grew around the yard also. Before my Mom started working she always made lots of homemade Easter eggs. One spring while she was busy making Easter eggs, Rachel and I were outside playing. We must have been around 3 or 4 years old. We decided we were going to make “Easter eggs” also. There was a bucket of grease by the shed. We got some of that and some mud, mixed it together and we were having a grand old time making eggs. Pretty soon we were called into lunch. You should have seen us. We were a mess. We really got into our work because we had this stuff in our hair, all over our clothes, and our shoes were caked with it. It even soaked clear through to our underclothes. Mom tried to wash the clothes but that stuff wouldn’t

come out. She ended up burning clothes, coats, and shoes. Rachel and I still get the occasional comment about our “Easter eggs.”

I have been giving you a fun look at mud but on a farm the spring thaw can also be a real pain. Moving cows, working on machinery, or a number of other jobs can turn into a mud fest. I don’t know why, but once you get that first splat of mud on you, the rest doesn’t matter. It’s just the first one that does you in. There is no such thing as a little mud. One last word on mud, I have learned to keep my mouth closed working around mud.

In April I will finish up the 3rd grade school visits. I have been enjoying those. The kids are fun to talk with.

A new promotion we are working on is the “Pour One More” promotion. It is designed to encourage moms to pour another serving of milk for their family. Studies have shown that we are falling short of our 3 servings of dairy products every day, which means we aren’t getting enough calcium. We need Calcium to prevent osteoporosis and other calcium deficient ailments.

So when you sit down to dinner, pour a glass of milk for everyone.

Make sure you have one too.

Here is a recipe for a casserole that uses some of those spring peas from your garden. Serve it with a toss salad and a big glass of milk.

BAKED RIGATONI, WITH HAM, MUSHROOMS, AND PEAS 20 min.prep time 4 servings Ingredients 3 ounces (1 cup) uncooked dried rigatoni 3 tablespoons butter 1 1/2 cups fresh mushrooms, halved 1/3 cup chopped onion 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 2/3 cup Half & Half 1/2 cup chicken broth 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese 8 ounces (1 1/2 cups) cubed cooked ham 1 cup frozen peas 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/8 teaspoon pepper Directions Cook rigatoni according to package directions. Drain; set aside.

Heat oven to 350°F. Meanwhile, melt butter in 3-quart saucepan; stir in mushrooms and onion.

Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until onion is softened (2 to 3 minutes).

Reduce heat to medium; stir in flour until smooth and bubbly (1 minute). Stir in half & half and

broth. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens (2 to 4 minutes). Remove from heat. Stir in 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese and all remaining ingredients.

Spoon cooked rigatoni into ungreased 2-quart casserole. Add sauce; stir gently to coat. Cover; bake 15 minutes. Stir; sprinkle top with remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Cover; continue baking for 10 to 15 minutes or until heated through. a

Da Uber Brooder from page 29 72 sq ft roof and leave you a few spares. You may have noticed we did not enclose the soffits. I have found that ventilation is more important than holding in the heat. Without proper ventilation it will get humid and stinky in your shed/brooder. As long as you have at least three chickens there is no need for supplemental heat, as they will bunch together on the roost and share heat. But if it can’t dry out, you will notice a build up of ammonia, which will cause breathing problems for your girls.

Remember that other section of ground frame you laid? You have a decision to make now.

You can frame it with a 4’ tall fence all around and be done with it. (Don’t forget the clean out gate!) Or you can get crazy and follow in my footsteps. Frame it out just like you did the house section, with a 6’ outer wall. Run your rafters up to meet the side of the house under the overhang.

For the roof of the “patio” I use that corrugated plastic roofing.

Now sheath this half with fencing. Once fenced you can cut a 12”x12” hen door in the center wall. Save the cutout in case you decided to close the door at night.

One final caution. Raccoons, opossums, coyotes, or the neighbor’s dog will go through that cheap chicken wire like a hot knife through butter. Chicken wire is meant to keep chickens in, not to keep predators out. Use a welded wire fence for at least the first four feet of your fence.

Until next time, remember, support your local economy. Buy local, eat local, and live well. a

Opportunity from page 4 for us to move much sooner then we possibly could imagine, and better yet, we weren’t going to go into debt doing it.

A condition on taking the mobile home was that we had to have it moved in a relatively short period of time, which meant we

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really had to put our noses to the grinding stone. There is no other way to describe June in Florida other than HOT! With a six-month pregnant wife and four other kids we re-focused all of our efforts to make this happen. This was going to be no easy task, but as before, we were determined to make this happen.

First, we had to select a new site for this home and then find a reputable mover to transport our diamond in the rough, and get all the permits required. Luckily, one of my father’s old clients was a mobile home moving company and they’d forged a very strong friendship over the years. Since, along with real estate sales, mobile home sales had taken a dive and they were desperate for the work, they handled all of our permits on our behalf. They also brought their bulldozer to clear the site itself and make the pad up, as well as bring the mobile home down the sugar sand road.

At no additional charge, they even brought their trencher to dig the several hundred feet of trenches we’d need for our eventual water lines and the conduit to the well and the power pole.

To get the actual move-on permit, we were required to go ahead and drill the well, install a septic and drain field, apply for an actual address, do some additional clearing for our power lines to be brought in, as well as correct some minor and fairly major code issues with the mobile home itself. Ginger sold the camper we’d been using for our temporary lodgings for a small profit, which we then used to fund some of our expenses. Thank goodness God still provides and He was busy opening all sorts of windows near all the doors that we felt were closed!

Still factoring in the cost of the move, site prep and the cost of the mobile home itself, we couldn’t have built a new home for the kind of square footage we have now, and what’s better is that we were finished in two months.

With our funds temporarily depleted, and a baby on the way VERY soon, we took some time off before we would turn our attention to the interior of the home.

There was a light at the end of the tunnel and for once it wasn’t a train!

Take care, Dave & Ginger and Family a

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The Valley, April 2011

Behold the Lamb!

by Sarah Hurlburt

The most important thing that I have learned through my study of the Bible is that God cannot tolerate or be in the presence of sin. The Bible reveals creation to us in all it’s beauty, but very quickly shows us the rapid decline into sin because of our “selfish nature” and God did give us free will to choose. So, from the very beginning after the first sin, God kills an animal and sheds blood, then uses the skins to “cover” Adam and Eve. This was definitely an object lesson—sin must be “paid for” and covered over. The shedding of blood was required, I think, to show us how horrible sin and its affects are. We see the first lamb being sacrificed in Genesis 4:4 “And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings, of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his

offering.” So, then we see this ritual gain even more importance with the passover which the Feast of Passover continues to this day.

Exodus 12:3-5 “Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for a house: And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:” We see lambs being offered at the morning and evening sacrifices in Leviticus.

Lambs are a symbol of the consequences and payment of sin all

throughout the Old Testament.

So, when we get to the New Testament and Jesus has arrived on our “scene” we hear him being called the Lamb of God. In John 1:29 “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”

To me this would have been so amazing to a Jewish person who had lived their whole life hearing prophecy of a coming Messiah and having been immersed in the rituals of sacrificing lambs for remissions of sins, to hear Jesus Christ called “Lamb of God.” It would have had a much bigger impact on the people at that time, I think then it does on us. Even to the exact day that he offered himself, the imagery is undeniable. That is not to say that it should not have a huge impact on us, a life changing impact on us, but I just think in reality it would have been monu-

mental for them. There is at least 17 references in the book of Revelation to Jesus being the Lamb.

Revelation: 6:17 speaks of the wrath of the Lamb 7:9-10 speaks of the Lamb on the throne being worshipped 7:14 speaks of those that have “washed their robes” and made them “white” through the blood of the Lamb 7:17 “For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” ( one of the most beautiful things I can ever imagine is God wiping away tears from our eyes ) 12:11 “And they overcame him (who? the accuser of our brethren) by the BLOOD OF THE LAMB (just for emphasis), and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.”

13:8 talks about the book of life of the Lamb slain 14:1 the Lamb is standing on Mount Zion 15:3 “And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.”

17:14 the Lamb overcomes 19:7 talks about the “marriage” of the Lamb 21:9 again refers to the Lamb’s bride (this is used as a description of the beauty and glory of holy Jerusalem and speaks of it’s walls and gates and saved Israel but there is no temple) 21:22-23 “And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.”

21:27 speaks of the Lamb’s book of life again 22:1 “And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.”

22:3 “And there shall be no more

curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:” Revelation 5:6 “And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain...”

So as we see all throughout the Bible the role of the sacrificial lamb is awful, it is death. But to see a man, and not just any man, the Son of God, step into that role is something more beautiful then I can even imagine. To look upon him as he was slain will certainly bring me to my knees and leave me speechless and in awe of this man who loved me, and not just me, but the entire human race, enough to suffer and die and being “spotless” and perfect take on himself all the disgust and stench of our sins. Imagine with me for just a second how well we handle it when we get blamed for something we did not do and we know full well, we are innocent.

Personally, I immediately want to defend myself and cry out, “Hey, I’m innocent I didn’t do anything wrong, your blaming the wrong person.” Now take that feeling and multiply it by an unimaginable number and that’s what Jesus did except for he did not cry out “Hey, stop, I’m innocent, you have the wrong guy here, I’ve done nothing wrong.” He quietly took the punishment, took the pain, took the severe agony of sin and its affects on God and died for it, covered it with his very own blood. Behold the Lamb!

So as we approach Easter and Passover this month remember how loved and forgiven we are, all we have to do is accept it and let it change our lives. Jesus did not just die for our sins, HE rose again, HE conquered death once and for all. The mistakes in Eden were done, our perfect relationship with God was broken through sin, but God in HIS infinite and perfect love was not content to leave it at that. So HE made a way and that way is Jesus. My prayer is that we can be full of HIS love and forgiveness, so we can give that same love and forgiveness to every single person in our lives and make our part of the world a better place because of it! a

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