Fort Fun Families

FAST FACTS
* Gohan Time is located at 706 S College Ave in Fort Collins.
* Phone: 970- 221-0049 (they deliver)

A few weeks ago I made a claim about Noodles & Company being a great spot for kids and having wonderful noodles and a reader said I should try the Udon at Gohan Time Japanese restaurant, right down the street. They call themselves ‘Japanese Cuisine’ and I’d honestly thought it might be a bit upscale, but once you walk in it feels like a typical college hangout spot. The setting is very casual, one that a couple of toddler boys wouldn’t disrupt, anyway. You order at the counter and they bring food to your table. With just mom and pop working in the back, the food was a bit slow in coming but it was worth the wait.

How was the taste? I don’t think I could put into words what the following photos articulate: delicious!

So, you know the kids will probably like it. For a more formal review, with suggested menu items from Gohan Time, check out this review by Coloradoan Newspaper.

My family went to pick out our pumpkins yesterday. We found this patch last year and vowed to return this year.

As we entered the patch, we met their pigs, llamas, sheep and would have met their turkeys, but my youngest wanted to avoid them (?).

We went out to the field, looking for THE perfect pumpkin for each of us (and the dog). While my four year old enjoyed finding “dinosaur tracks” (wheelbarrow tracks) and huge clumps of dirt, my two and a half year old enjoyed creating adventure walking through the tall vegetation and looking for the biggest/greenest/smallest/pumpkins he could find.

We got all of our pumpkins for $25, which I think is a bargain for one HUGE pumpkin and 3 smaller ones. (By our estimations we thought we’d be spending $35 or more!)

Several years ago - before we found Lucky Bucky’s - we went to a “patch” set up in a parking lot where we had a coupon and spent over $30 for a few medium sized pumpkins, with no ambience and far fewer pumpkins to choose from.

The family who runs the patch is very friendly, which is always a perk!

Interested in supporting a local family and having fun choosing your pumpkins?

Go to Lucky Bucky’s 5428 S. CR 3F, Fort Collins, CO 80525

They are located just east of I-25 and a mile south of Harmony Road (look for their sign on the right side of the road after the Swetsville Zoo).

Their hours are Monday through Friday by appointment, Saturday 9am to dark, and Sunday noon to dark. If you have questions, give ‘em a call at 221-5212.

My family recently had the wonderful opportunity to learn from some Master Naturalists about the ecology of the Fort Collins prairie.

Along with some others from our homeschool association, we met the Master Naturalists at the Cathy Fromme Prairie on a beautiful October day.

We split into two small groups, each being shown some different things about the area.

My group first learned about the animals in the area. Mice are the most common animal on the prairie, but there are many other animals including

• hares
• meadowlarks
• prairie dogs
• coyote
• hawks
• harvester ants (we call them red ants or fire ants)
• bats
• and

We learned what these animals homes look like, and also to stay on the trail because you never know which animal you might bump in to.

Here’s a prairie dog burrow, which occasionally gets used by a few other animals on the prairie (like the rattlesnakes - don’t get too close):

and a harvester ant nest (by the way, their venom is as strong as a cobras!)

If you look really closely in the photo below, you can see that there are a bunch of the ants; once I noticed them, I started seeing them further out from their nest than expected. WATCH OUT!

I was really hoping to see a meadowlark nest, as they build them on the ground, but we didn’t stray far from the cemented path (we didn’t want to startle any rattlesnakes!).

I was personally most enthralled by the yucca moths, although we didn’t see any of those either. I’m amazed that there is only one moth who can pollinate the yucca, and only one kind of moth for each kind of yucca! It’s amazing that the yucca continue to thrive.

I took some pictures of the yucca pods showing the holes that the moths used for laying their eggs inside; the moth larvae eat only a few seeds from each pod, ensuring the survival of both species.

A shot from the outside:

One from the inside:

We didn’t get to see many of the animals that are common on the prairie, other than grasshoppers. We did get to see some prairie dogs, of course, although they were being particularly quiet.

After learning about the animal homes - for about an hour - we got to learn about the plants in the area.

It was obvious that the younger kids were tiring of the presentation, and because my own 5 year old was talking to me a bit (ready to play… or leave), I missed much of what was said.

We learned that quite a few animals make their homes in the trees on the outskirts of the prairie, and the kids got to look through this interesting contraption to focus on the holes in a large tree kind of far from us.

The group that had done this part first actually got to see a raccoon pop its head out of one of those holes, which our guide stressed was because they were watching.

We miss so much because we’re not paying attention!

It was a really rewarding experience and I was glad that my oldest son was asking to go back with just our family, so that we could explore further and on our own terms.

I highly recommend visiting the prairie to see in person just how beautiful it is!

Just stay on the path and freeze if you hear some rattling sounds; rattlesnakes can only strike half the length of their bodies, but if you don’t know where they are, that information isn’t going to help you (if you do know where they are, take two giant steps away from them and RUN!).

And be sure to pay attention to your surroundings and use all your senses (er, except taste )… you might see something that amazes you.

FAST FACTS
* Morning Fresh Dairy Farm is located in Bellevue and can be contacted by e-mail at morningfresh@morningfresh.com or by phone at 970-482-5789.
* Website: http://morningfreshdairy.com
(You can also get dairy delivery from Royal Crest Dairy)

When we moved to Colorado three months ago, I quickly noticed the ‘dairy coolers’ sitting on doorsteps and porches around town and vowed to investigate.

I looked in the phone book and found that Morning Fresh Dairy delivers to my area from Bellevue, only about eight miles west of where we live. We started off with an order of whole milk, which we use for our coffee, and 1%, which we use for cereal and sippy cups.

We’ve been thrilled with the milk so far. Maybe it’s because the milk gets to us in about 24 hours after it’s left the cow, maybe it’s those wonderful glass bottles…we’re not sure what it is, but the taste is fresh, crisp and delicious. Since last week, we shifted from the regular whole milk to the cream top and it is wonderful.

So, the pricing works out like this (info below from the MFD website). Not the cheapest milk in town, but I can tell you that I’ve saved in gas money and extra shopping that I do when I run out of milk and have to make a trip to the store. And if I have guests or find that we’ve used up more milk than planned, a quick phone call puts me in touch with the dairy directly and with a day’s notice they add to my Tuesday or Friday delivery.

Morning Fresh Dairy also carries whipping cream, half & half, butter, cottage cheese, sour cream and eggs. I’m not sure all of those come from the dairy, but most are relatively local, at least from around the Longmont area. And, in a couple of weeks, there will be eggnog for the holiday season. You bet we’ll be adding that to our order!

My sister’s husband’s family has a long-standing tradition of staying at the YMCA of the Rockies Estes Park Center every fall.

It is a tradition which my sister has kept up with her husband – usually they use the time to reconnect with each other as they are both busy doctors, but this year they decided to invite the rest of the family along.

I’m so glad they did!

The campus is in a gorgeous valley, just south of Estes Park. A sundial in front of the administration building (where one checks in for a stay) shows the names and elevations of the numerous surrounding peaks visible from the valley.

They usually get a cabin, which includes a kitchen, but being at the height of the season, the same weekend as the Estes Park Elk Fest, and also the Yoga Journal Convention which was happening at the Y, we had to be satisfied with staying in a lodge, which we were.

The lodge was eerily familiar – within seconds of entering, both DH and I, who had grown up in the Denver Metro area, knew we had been there before. In each room were two bunk beds (to accommodate four people) as well as a full-sized bed (for two more), a sink, toilet and shower.

I brought a cooler full of food that wouldn’t need heating (hard-boiled eggs, string cheese, fruit, veggies, homemade granola bars, and kombucha), though the lobby area has hot water (with tea and coffee) and a microwave available for guest use (so next time I’ll bring some organic cocoa mix).

My parents, sister and her DH ate in the cafeteria (which was serving tofu burritos in honor or the Yoga Journal conference-goers), and one time we took the short drive to Estes Park for a dinner together.

On the first day, my mom and sister spent quite a bit of time in the Longhouse, making jewelry. The assortment of beads is really insane!

The area is divided up by gates so that areas which are unsafe for children are protected.

T here are things to paint for the kids (wooden toys), leather working, ceramics, knitting, basket-weaving and silk painting, in addition to the jewelry-making.

The silk-painting was breathtaking, but 3-8 hours were needed to complete a project, and the area was closed that weekend. Guests can charge their materials to their room and pay for them upon checkout.

The men-folk  (my DH, brother-in-law and dad) took the kids to play mini-golf, while my mom, sister and I did a little crafting.

When we were done, we met by the sundial, and enjoyed the creative YMCA sculpture of children, done by Jane DeDecker of Loveland (DH drives by her studio every day).

The next day, it was too cold to do any of the outdoor activities, so we hopped in the cars and drove to Rocky Mountain National Park. The entry fee was not too steep to get a year-long pass instead of just a day pass, so we took the plunge.

We drove as far as we could go (it had snowed the night before, so Trail Ridge Road was closed), enjoyed the overlook, and then drove down to the Moraine Park Museum, which we all enjoyed very much.

The bookstore had a wonderful selection for children, so this bibliophile couldn’t resist making a purchase.

On the way back home, we stopped for some Mexican food at The Grumpy Gringo, locally-owned on the west side of Estes Park, and then hit the Estes Ark, a locally-owned enormous collection of stuffed animals, right on the other side of 34.

Afterward, we went to a big sale at an outdoor outlet just down the road.

Almost home, we failed to resist the temptation of the Colorado Cherry Company, which was a heaven full of jars! I brought home a cherry pie and a gallon of black bing cherry juice (which I used to make delicious kefir)!

In just over twenty-four hours, we had a wonderful time in Estes Park, and we didn’t do a fraction of the available activities, even if just the ones available at the YMCA are considered! I should also mention that unlike a certain other resort on either coast, this one actually is affordable!

Did any of you check out the Just Between Friends (JBF) consignment sale that was mentioned in this post? After reading through their website, I found that as a first time visitor, I could shop ‘early’ on Friday evening by registering online in advance (the sale is open to the public Saturday Oct. 13 - Monday Oct 15) and so I grabbed my wallet and my camera and went to check it out.

Overall, it was a good shopping experience.  The selection is pretty good, the equivalent to a few consignment shops combined or three or four multi family garage sales. The goods were clean and in good working order, no junk to rifle through.

Prices were average; I found long sleeved shirts from $1 - $4 and some really nice jackets in the $5 range. It’s clear that each individual consignor decides the price because this really varied, and you could find strings of outfits that were high. Perhaps those will be the ones remaining on the last day, Monday the 15th, when you can get 70% off the ticket price.  Check it out and you might get lucky.  Here’s what I found on Friday:

Racks and racks of clothes, arranged by size.

Two tables of shoes.  I found a pair of snowshoes for the big boy and a pair of Birkenstocks for myself.

Toys, including ride-ons and play structures.

High chairs, bouncers, swings and across the aisle,  strollers, joggers, cribs, etc.

On Saturday, September 15^th, and Sunday, the 16^th, we traveled to two local farms which both participate in the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model of farming.

This means that the farms, rather than selling to distributors or at farmers’ markets, sell directly to member consumers. Typically, the produce is delivered to several local locations, once every week or two (depending on the season), and members pick up their produce shares at the local distribution center (typically the home of another member).

Saturday was the day that Cresset Community Farm held a spaghetti dinner auction and fund raiser. We had visited the farm before, as it is really the closest farm to us now that Guidestone Farm has moved to Buena Vista.

Cresset has a special mode of operation – it is operated biodynamically, meaning that it is operated sustainably, where very little, if anything, goes to waste.

Besides the home-cooked spaghetti (including vegan and gluten-free options), the celebration included

• a hay ride pulled by horses,
• a nature walk through the marshy part of the farm,
• live music,
• ice cream making,
• and the ability to explore the farm, getting to know the animals.

We got to help make ice cream, pet a chicken and new puppies, and get our toes in some truly nutritious soil in the cat-tail maze while enjoying a gorgeous sunset.

We were having so much fun doing those things that we missed the hay ride altogether!

The next day, I woke early to prepare the potato salad we would bring to Monroe Farms’ Harvest Festival. Monroe Organic Farm is currently operated by Jacquie and Jerry Monroe, Jr.

We got out of the house a little late for the forty-five minute drive to Kersey, CO. Upon arrival at the farm, we parked in the field along with around 500 other member-attendees. We checked in, got a map of the farm (as part of a self-guided tour, and for the purpose of picking fresh strawberries and peppers), and then decided to have lunch.

I was really amazed at all the delicious dishes the other members had prepared for the pot-luck. Most everyone had made something that clearly included vegetables they had received as part of their share.

While eating, an older gentleman sat next to me and asked us where we came from. After I answered, I asked where he had come from, and he said about three miles away… later, a very enthusiastic couple sat across the table from him, introduced themselves, and asked for his name, which was Jerry Monroe, Sr.!

He shared with us the story of how the farm had grown – they used to sell to a vegetable stand in Greeley, and folks kept asking to visit the farm. Eventually, they decided to move to a CSA model.

Afterward, we decided to go pick strawberries, since we had missed our window of opportunity in June.

The picking was not easy; at this time of year, there were many thistles with burrs in the patch, so I ended up picking burrs off the kids while DH picked the berries. Next year, we won’t miss the earlier picking!

We spent so much time doing this, that afterward, the kids were pretty thirsty, and what had started out as a hot day was turning into a very cool one.

DH took our son to go pick peppers while I took our daughter to get some water. When we met up again, we were tired and ready to take the hay ride to pick our pumpkins so we could go home.

Loaded up on the wagon, I saw many familiar faces from around Northern Colorado. The sense of community, and the magic by which sharing in this nutritious food brought everyone together really struck me at that moment.

After picking our pumpkins and heading back, a storm had rolled in, and the celebration was cut short by about an hour, but I felt that it was a full, inspiring weekend, nonetheless.

I had never been on a farm before. So when my friend suggested that we pick asparagus at Monroe Organic Farm as part of our Commmunity Supported Agriculture (CSA) share, I was excited!

The drive went quickly with all our kids loaded in her car, and it was the first time I got to meet Jacquie Monroe, my farmer. With a huge smile, she walked us to the field where the asparagus grew, and told us that each of us got a ‘row’ to ourselves.

My friend and I looked at the row and thought it was an insane amount of asparagus! We quickly got the hang of not picking the immature plants, and not picking the plants that would be allowed to go to seed.

Somehow, in that hot June sun, we did it – both rows – each getting over 10 pounds of asparagus.

Afterward, we walked back past the chicken enclosures (the chickens have more room than many people in this world), and the kids expressed desire to feed the chickens some grass. The kids were entertained by this simple activity for at least an hour, and it was at that point I realized how enclosed my own life had become.

I heard my dad’s stories of what he would do to help out at farms in his small town in upstate New York as a child, but growing up in Denver, with the busy streets surrounding our small bungalow, I became of creature of indoor habit. I watched my kids soaking up the sun and breathing the fresh air, and knew that I needed to break my habit for them.

Never before had I had so many vegetables of any sort in my possession, let alone more than a bunch of asparagus. Never before had I tasted raw asparagus! I like it better than the cooked variety!

My DH, whose mother did much gardening and preserving of vegetables when he was growing up, helped me break off the woody ends, blanch and freeze the asparagus. It took up nearly half our freezer when we were done.

Later in the summer, we would go back with the help of my in-laws to pick cucumbers, onions, turnips, beets, basil and dill. While there, we found all sorts of interesting bugs, and the weeds I found reassuring.

At home, we pickled cucumbers (both by canning and by natural brine, with everyone’s favorite being the ones I ‘rotted’), dehydrated onion tops, made sour beets, sauerruben (from turnips), and pesto from the basil.

Earlier in the year, I had begun fermenting vegetables, which is a natural means of preserving them, which adds probiotic value. I started out with a simple sauerkraut, and then worked my way to more elaborate combinations which make a sort of kim-chi.

Later, we would make a very large harvest of tomatoes. Again – Jacquie led us to the row of tomatoes that was for us – and we picked in the rain.

It was a wonderful experience, where we each felt the joy of being alive – and a loving experience to share with DH, who had missed the previous harvesting opportunities. We picked and picked for a half hour or so, filling two sedan-sized trunks with tomatoes, and still only picked half of the row we were allotted.

It took us over a week to “put up” (the term used for preserving) the tomatoes. The first batch or so was processed into two dozen jars of ‘raw pack’ tomatoes, using the method detailed in the Ball Blue Book of Preserving (which I picked up at my local Ace Hardware, along with supplies), by my experienced mother-in-law.

DH and I were left to do the rest on our own, as it was time for his parents to leave. We got creative after that – we made tomato sauce, salsa and ketchup, and I dried two dehydrators’ worth, making two gallon-sized bags of ’sun-dried’ tomatoes.

The kids loved the ketchup – a four-gallon stock pot made a quart of ketchup! The salsa became a delicacy on top scrambled eggs.

I spike the tomato sauce with chopped dried tomatoes when I make spaghetti, and the result is a very rich sauce. And, of course we had a bunch of green tomatoes, so I fried them in a mixture of masa harina and coconut flour with bacon fat. YUM! The rest of the green tomatoes became a fermented green salsa, which we’re currently enjoying with corn chips or on eggs.

It’s been a spiritual journey for me, getting out in the fresh air, picking veggies and then learning to make them last through the winter.

I’d highly recommend it for anyone who cares about their health or that of the planet.

Recommended reading:

Books

Ball Blue Book of Preserving, for general canning and some dehydrating information

Wild Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz

Dry It, You’ll Like It by Gen Macmaniman

Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon

Websites

Freshpreserving.com

WildFermentation.com

DryIt.com

WestonAPrice.org

It is critical that the citizens of Fort Collins make it known that we don’t want uranium mining in Nunn, CO. This website contains the information needed to defeat the plan to jeopardize our quality of life.  The following are just a few examples of how we would be impacted if the Centennial Project mining operation was allowed:

• Health
  • as uranium decays, it emits radiation.  Radiation exposure (which would occur if uranium was removed from the earth and pulled out of our soil, transported across our roads, and potentially leaked into our water supply during in-situ mining)  is linked to:
    • Increased cancer rates - leukemia, lymphoma, lung cancer, and organ tumors
    • Birth defects - Down syndrome, cleft palate or lip, congenital malformations, spinal defects, kidney and liver damage, and more.
    • Children are more easily affected than adults.  Even if we don’t see immediate effects, their children could experience these health issues.
• Economic future
  • The City of Fort Collins is building on a reputation on being named the 2006 best city to live in according to Money Magazine  How long can we continue using this as motivation to attract visitors and residents if our neighboring community of Nunn has a uranium mining operation that affects our water supply, local crops and livestock, and property values?
  • The Rocky Mountain Sustainable Living Fair and Tour De Fat are only two of the many events that make Fort Collins great.  Both emphasize conscious living choices, renewable energy, and taking care of our planet.  Uranium mining is in direct opposition with this, and sends a hypocritical message to people who are interested in our city.
  • Cleaning up the mess after uranium mining is completed will cost our state millions of dollars.
• Environmental resources
  • There is great potential for contamination of the water and ground at each and every step of the in-situ leaching process.  The Laramie-Fox Hills aquifer that will be used to supply the water for mining runs from Wyoming to Colorado Springs.  This aquifer is feared to be running low.  Why would we share our water with a mine when we are concerned with water shortage?
  • We have several options (wind being one, sun being another) for creating energy that do not involve hurting our planet.  Choosing uranium mining as a source for energy (that will not even power Colorado) is irresponsible.

 Please join the growing force, sign the petition, get involved, and maintain the integrity of our community.  By uniting now, we can make a beautiful difference for generations to come.

BirthChat is a wonderful place to share stories, ask about others’ experiences, and discuss ways to change our birth culture into one that encourages ownership of this opportunity for empowerment.

On October 15th Heather Janssen from get born magazine will be leading a workshop on writing your birth story. Decide on three key words that describe either the experience or what you drew from it. If you’ve already written your birth story, please bring it! Heather will be sharing several ideas with us for putting our memories into words.

Location: TreeTop Studio, on the upper level of Clothes Pony: 111 N. College, Fort Collins, CO 80524.

Date and Time: Monday, October 15th from 6:00 to 8:00 pm.

We love meeting new people and seeing new faces. Bring a friend (or three!) who wants to write or improve her written birth story.

For more information, see our website. We look forward to meeting you!