Planting seeds of unknown future

So, we might be moving - nearby, but still. A move is a move. It's hugely exciting to think of having a house that works better for our family, but it means I'm not sure what to do about planting anything. I don't want to invest in creating a big raised bed (a la Square Foot Gardening) if we're going to be having to show our current house in the next month. Even if we didn't mind the look, could we move the garden to the new place? I don't think I'm up for the investment of time with so much else going on.

Still, I want to have my son see things come to life, so we'll at least do some container gardening again. We started some seeds a few weeks ago, and I decided to try some more after transplanting what I had. After a ton of rain the next day, I'm pretty sure we'll be starting over from scratch and hope the next batch of seeds take off in the yogurt cups as well as the first ones did. Not sure if these efforts will yield anything, but at least we're digging in the dirt and creating green.

Birthday happenings

Our birthday celebration this year was to have a bunch of friends over just to play on a Monday morning. It was a little too crowded (too cold to go outside), but it was nice. I did get balloons, but all the food was pretty natural/low-processed -- fruit, kale chips (baked kale), rice pasta with veggies, a few bags of Terra and veggie chips, hummus & veggies and my friend's homemade dosas -- soaked rice & lentil pancakes (she added shredded coconut this time, and they were a big hit!). The spread was almost all gluten-free and dairy-free (just some pita for the hummus). I'll share about the cake another time, but the images I like best were from the Waldorf-y aspects.

We only gave my son three gifts (which I don't think he would have missed after all the gifts from grandparents and the playdate, balloons and dinner out at the Afghan restaurant he requested to go to). The gifts were just two Melissa & Doug puzzles and an outfit for his Waldorf doll, a gift last year, from Joy's Waldorf Dolls. I wrapped them in plain paper and painted watercolors on them -- numbers, his name, balloons. And I placed them on a rainbow silk I got a long time ago from A Toy Garden. His response upon coming in the door after dinner was wide eyes and "ooh, look at that!" I was so excited that he responded to the natural looking stuff with as much or more wonder as he respond to the UPS truck and the stuff it brings!

I also liked the birthday ring I got for him at Nova Naturals. I just learned that Wooden Wagon has a lot more choices, but I like what we did this year, and he seemed to, too. Thanks to my friend Paula for the lovely centerpiece!

Experimenting with Quail Eggs

Last week at Whole Foods, we spent some time looking at the fresh, loose eggs, which I'd never purchased there. (We get our chicken eggs through a farm share, and I just placed my first order through Joel Salatin's Polyface farms). Quail was a new word for us, thanks to the one bit of TV I'd recently gotten my son: YogaKids ABCs video. (Tech disclaimer: The original Yoga Kids DVD we got a while back is the only packaged TV he's seen, and the only other TV he sees is occasional weekend sports). This video is very nature-heavy, and we were just learning that Q is for Quail. So I took the time to talk about the eggs. "I want to get some!" he said, so we bought four. They were two for a dollar.

The short version is that he loved them. After we made one and he ate it up in just a few minutes, he asked for another. I fried another one up (so fast!). Then his dad made him one and had just a bite. I got to have the fourth with breakfast the next day. It had no distinctive taste, but for some reason I felt a little funny eating it -- maybe because I didn't know as much about its background as I do about my pastured chicken eggs from our local farm.

A nutritionist had told me a long time ago that quail eggs are often more easily digested by people who have trouble with ovalbumin (the protein in chicken egg whites). I'm not sure why it took me so long to try them.

I haven't done a ton of research, but here are some links:

• Nutrition facts for quail eggs from nutritiondata.com
• Comparison data on different eggs from dietbites.com
• Pro-quail egg info from geniuscook.com
• Cooking quail eggs in a ladle instructions from lunchinabox.net blog
• Recipe with chevre from Diary of a Locavore blog
• Recipes from Rosi's Organic Quail Farm
• Lovely photos, info and recipe from The Well-Seasoned Cook blog
• Some info and tips from Recipetips.com