Maria's Farm Country Kitchen

March 27, 2009 • in Environment

Turn Out the Lights!

Tomorrow, March 28th, at 8:30 pm local time, wherever we are, we are all supposed to turn out the lights for Earth Hour. An hour of darkness will save us all a lot of energy–and it might actually bring us …

My Day at the USDA

Maria goes to Washington…again. 7:20 am This time it’s at the request of the Secretary of Agriculture himself! I will be attending a forum for expanding people’s gardens across America and the world! Not sure what that really means, but …

Healing Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Naturally

I have suffered from mild carpal tunnel syndrome for years. I tried yoga. I tried all the stretches. I tried pretending it was just a part of getting older. But what started as a little tingle in my right hand …

Time to Plant the Peas!

For gardeners, this week is like the start of the Indy 500, with the announcer saying, “Gentlemen, start your engines!” (Wait, do they still say that now that Danica Patrick is racing?), and the subsequent revving that signals the beginning …

5 Reasons to Travel Now…If You Can

I know we all want to hunker down and stay home. But in the last 3 weeks I have traveled quite a bit more than usual—mostly for business—and it reminded me that travel is especially important in down times. Here’s …

Why I Love Country Music

I am a latecomer to the country music scene. I grew up on progressive radio and worked my way through all the alternative and pop scenes—always keeping an edge and never going straight into the mainstream. I was milk-fed on …

What the Hex?!

You may be wondering about my beautiful logo at the top of the page. It’s a hex sign. What’s a hex sign? It’s a traditional form of decorative art of the Pennsylvania Dutch (who aren’t Dutch at all, but German …