Philly Farmgirl: a Jewish Mama's homestead in the city

My new flock of Virtual Sheepies!

Well, beings I am currently displaced with no land to put real sheep on I have now aquired a virtual flock. They are all the way to the left of the page here, at the bottom. Aren't they adorable?? Only problem is...virutal wool is virtually hard to spin. LOL!!

Just a pinch of garden envy

Today I was out and saw the loveliest garden. It called to me in such a way that I had to come home and weed a bit. I have not had time or finances to make the garden as nice I would have liked to this year. It saddens me to have to admit this. Since I do not have land as such, my small bit of earth has been a real labor of love the past couple of years. I really enjoy getting in the dirt and planting. The smell of earth can be quite relaxing, a gentle reminder to reconnect. Fortunately I do have a nice amount of lavender growing.  I enjoy looking at other folks gardens, they inspire and comfort me. But still, I can't help but wish, just a little, that I could have worked on mine this year. Oh well, maybe I will plant lots of mums this fall.

An Insider's Guide to Food Labels

Few people know that the food coloring listed as cochineal extract comes from female beetles. Food activists want to spread the word

When you dig into a strawberry Yoplait yogurt, take a moment to contemplate where the beautiful pink color comes from. Strawberries? Think again. It comes from crushed bugs. Specifically, from the female cochineal beetles and their eggs. And it's not just yogurt. The bugs are also used to give red coloring to Hershey (HSY ) Good & Plenty candies, Tropicana grapefruit juice, and other common foods.

You won't find "crushed bugs" on the list of ingredients for any of these foods, however. Companies have a bit of latitude in describing exactly what they put in our food. Many larger companies, such as General Mills (GIS ), the manufacturer of Yoplait and Pepsi (PEP ), the maker of Tropicana, identify the dye in their products as either carmine, or cochineal extract. Still, many companies simply list "artificial color" on their ingredients list without giving any details.

Food activists are trying to change disclosure requirements. The Food & Drug Administration has received numerous complaints over the issue and is now in the process of considering a proposal to require color additives like the cochineal extract to be disclosed on the labels of all foods that use them. "Hopefully we'll see something by the end of the year," says Michael Jacobson, executive director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a food advocacy group in Washington, D. C.

ALLERGIC REACTIONS. Jacobson says that consumers want to know what they're eating. Some are allergic to bug extract; others are vegetarians. "The food product should indicate that it comes from insects so that vegetarians at least can avoid the product," he says.

Carmine may be the least of food activists' worries. It is known to cause allergic reactions in just a small percentage of the population. Food producers sometimes add much more dangerous chemical additives to make their products look attractive (see BusinessWeek.com, 3/27/06, "Hershey: A Sweeter Bid").

Indeed, who would think that chicken, eggs, and salmon are often artificially enhanced to look more appetizing to consumers? The plump, juicy chicken sitting on the supermarket shelf is likely to have been fed canthaxanthin, a pigment added to chicken feed to enhance poultry's yellow color and make it look palatable. And egg-laying hens are also given a dye along with their feed, making egg yolks vary in color from light yellow all the way to bright orange.

IN THE PINK. Farmers can have their pick from a color chart that goes from the numbers 1 to 15, coinciding with colors from yellow to red. The yellow color comes from xanthophyll and carotenoids in the feed absorbed through the intestine, metabolized, and deposited in the egg yolk. In an article published last year, R. Scott Beyer, a poultry specialist from the Kansas State University, recommended different levels of xanthophylls, depending on what color of yolk is desired. He says 23 mg of xanthophyll per pound of feed results in a "medium orange" color.

The fresh, farm-raised salmon that shoppers buy also get their orange-red hue from eating the chemicals astaxanthin and canthaxanthin. Wild salmon are pink because they eat shrimp-like creatures called krill. But to achieve the same pink color, farmed salmon need chemicals, which are mixed with their feed. In the past couple of years, the European Union significantly reduced the level of such dyes that can be fed to salmon because of concerns that the dyes, at high levels, can affect people's eyesight.

Two years ago, in the U.S., Seattle law firm Smith & Lowney filed two class actions against grocers Kroger (KR ) and Safeway (SWY ) in Washington and California, contending that they should disclose that their salmon are dyed pink. Both lawsuits got thrown out of court. However, Knoll Lowney, a partner at the law firm, says that the lawsuits raised enough public awareness that many grocers voluntarily use "color added" labels to their salmon.

Still, Lowney says that such dyes are totally unnecessary. "This is a growing problem because the food companies are using more artificial means to enhance the appearance of the product and make it appear like something that it is not," he says. A walk down the grocery aisle for processed food is an eye opener—the bacon and ham get their red tint from sodium ascorbate, an antioxidant and color stabilizer, and the Betty Crocker icing gets its bright white color not from natural cream and egg whites but from titanium dioxide, a mineral that is also used in house paints. Betty Crocker manufacturer General Mills didn't return phone calls seeking comment.

Reprinted from Business Week

Thanks for asking, I am awful tired

My home is certainly bustling I must say. Bustling is a very polite word for what feels to me like a whole lot of chaos! Right before my children came home from Israel, we were given quite unexpectanly a foster son. It was an emergency so what could we do, obviously this was from G-d. He is a dear toddler, B"H, so it sure makes it easier. Our home is filled to what feels like capacity. My own children, a nephew here for the summer, my other baby nephew who comes once a month for a visit, and lots of people who float in and out, not to mention the dog and the cat. Sometimes I have to tell you, it really gets to me. I feel quite overwhelmed at times. My home has always been a sanctuary for me, a place of refuge. I am feeling a little invaded right now. But what are my issues in the light of what is happening in my real Home? I am not living in a bomb shelter as my friends in Tsfat are. I did not have to leave my home as some of my other friends have had to do, traveling from family to family. So what am I complaining about? All the opportunities for mitzvot (acts of goodness and kindness) that Hashem has set before me? Rough life, huh? My children are, B"H, safe. We are all in one place. Sure things are tough...in fact they are downright squeezing the daylights out of me. Too many needs, not enough resources to fill them all. Somedays, I feel so spiritual and so close to G-d, on top of the world that nothing gets to me. Other days, fuhgetaboutit! I feel utterly alone. I know feelings are not facts, but being a very deeply feeling person, they can be pretty over powering. I don't feel like I have a haven, a refuge or a place to run. 

I have to laugh now, as I just remembered two things I have learned and been reminded of recently. One was from a teaching of the Lubavitcher Rebbe (it may have been the previous one so forgive me all my beloved Chabad friends) and one from my own Rebbe. The Lubavitcher Rebbe asks what is the City of Refuge nowadays? Our City of Refuge is our Holy Torah. That is where we can run and hide. My own Rebbe tells me, "Never despair! Never lose hope! It's is forbidden to give up! Begin again! All beginnings are hard!"

Oy...did you ever just get so tired though? That is how I am feeling, really tired. Nonetheless, I know G-d is my strength and my stronghold. My Rock. I can hide in this Rock, or stand on it knowing either way I will be sheltered or held up. This is why tehillim (psalms) and our own personal prayer time are so important. They are truly like weapons in your hand, swords and arrows, helping you to fight in the battle. Helping you to win the real war, that we are constantly beign reminded is really a spiritual one.

Oy, Abba, help me to be a good soldier. I am so tired right now. You have given me so very much, too much that I can never begin to thank You for all the blessing and opportunity You have laid before me. But Abba, you know I am so small and I am only a child before you. I feel so overwhelmed, so weak and overpowered by all that is happening in my world and the world around me. I am so utterly ignorant of You Holy Ways, that I cannot even see what is truly before me, what the reality really is. Please help me, Abba. Forgive me where I have failed you. Forgive me where I have given up, throwing my hands in the air, running from the battle field. Forgive me where I have left my post unattended. Forgive me for not being so very careful with the many treasures you have given me. Oy, Abba, I do so love You and want to please You in all my ways. Please, Abba, stengthen me. Please help me to do real teshuva. Draw me so close to You. Help me to do all that I need to do, all that you have set before me to do and help me Abba, to do it with a heart filled with simcha (joy). Abba, help me to not despair, to never give up. Abba, help me today to begin again, knowing all beginnings are hard. Help me to beging today as if I have never begun before. Help me to turn to You and only You, knowing that You alone are ultimately there. Abba, please hold my hand. I need you so much.

Weaving and learning to be in the Moment

Agricultural Mizvot for the Land of Israel

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D A I L Y   M I T Z V A H   (M A I M O N I D E S )
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Today's Mitzvot (Day 139 of 339):

Positive Mitzvot 125-135

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Introduction to Mitzvot 125 - 135:

Agricultural Laws Applying in Eretz Yisrael

HaShem gave us many opportunities to show appreciation for the
way He cares for us and enables us to live comfortably in His world.

When a person lives in Eretz Yisrael, G-d's hand is even more
apparent. Eretz Yisrael is our holy land, chosen by HaShem.

A farmer, delighted in the produce of his land, or any person enjoying
the fruit of the earth, must remember that it is HaShem who provides
us with all our needs.

The Torah commands us to set aside certain portions of our produce
to show our thanks for HaShem's generosity and goodness.

The Torah commands us to give these portions to our representatives,
the priests and Levites, who serve G-d in the Beit HaMikdash.

The priests and Levites dedicate their lives to carrying out the
service of HaShem, representing all the Jewish people.

They do not make their living as the rest of the people, working the
land or dealing in business and trade. Therefore, it is appropriate
that the people contribute to them in appreciation of their holy
service.

(These Mitzvot only apply in Eretz Yisrael.)

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Positive Mitzvah 131: Declaration for Tithes

-Deuteronomy 26:13 "And you shall say before the L-rd your G-d,
                    I have removed the holy things...and also have
                    given to the Levite..."

David's mother assigned him specific chores and responsibilities
around the house.

To be sure that David did not neglect his chores, his mother decided
that every Friday, David would have to report to his father when he
had completed his jobs.

The system proved effective!

David could not imagine himself standing before his father mumbling
some lame excuse why he had not completed his tasks.

A Jew is obligated to give various kinds of tithes from his produce.

He may be very busy, live far from Jerusalem, or possibly forget.

The Torah commands him to stand before HaShem in the Beit HaMikdash
and declare that he has fulfilled his obligations and given all the
tithes required of him.

This declaration is done on Passover of the fourth and seventh year
of the Shemitah cycle.

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Positive Mitzvah 125: Presenting the First Fruit

-Exodus 23:19 "You shall bring the first of the fruits of
               your land that ripen "

A farmer observes with pride and satisfaction the first-fruits
that ripen on his trees.

As he sees the first juicy grapes growing, he is very anxious to
taste them, but he knows that he must set them aside and bring them
to the Beit HaMikdash. There, he presents them to the priest.

This Positive Mitzvah applies only to those seven kinds of foods that
Eretz Yisrael was specifically blessed with.

They are: Wheat; Barley; Grapes; Figs; Pomegranates; Olives; Dates.

Brought to you by:

http://www.chabad.org

Positive Mitzvah 119, lest we forget who is REALLY in charge

My John Deere Blankie

Sometimes you just wanna whip something up to make you feel good. So here is something I did. Nice and easy but awful cute and warm. If you haven't figured it out, I gotta thing about John Deere...all you Case International fans, back off, you're just jealous.

PS. I also have a thing about calenders, I have them all over the place. I don't know why really. My family thinks it's an Amish thing I picked up in Lancaster. Anyway, a friend brought me two new ones...lighthouses and John Deere.

°Ü°

How could you resist?!

My only concern is, who does he want, Katie or Mary? °Ü°

Philly Farmgirl's Farmyard Fantasies