Forest in the City

Recently we traveled up to the Chicago area for a weekend conference. To my surprise, there is a great amount of outdoors space next to the hotel. The area is called the the Potawatomi Woods (http://goo.gl/maps/3eup).

One early evening we decided a nice walk in the woods would be refreshing. We first walked by a pond with fountains, then turned into the woods and crossed the historic Des Plaines River via. footbridge. Did you know that if you tossed your canoe in the river here you could be in New Orleans before long? It's all downhill.

We were even greeted by a couple curious deer.

As we walked along the trail, we marveled at the sights and sounds of the woods, mostly the sounds.

I captured a little audio for your listening pleasure.

 Aaah.. the peaceful sounds of the woods... in Chicago...

BONUS PIC!

 We even ran into a local Chicago politician.

What to do with those tomatoes.

Even though we're in a drought of which hasn't been experienced since 1988...  oh yes... football practice doubles... I remember that year well...  I have a lot of tomatoes. Because of the limited moisture I haven't lost them to the variety of mildew and fungi that usually end them prematurely.

A great treat is bruschetta. Here's my process:

• First I get a mini loaf from our local Schnucks.
• Slice it just shy of a 1/2". 
• Mix up some olive oil, fresh pressed garlic and fresh ground black pepper.
• Brush both sides of each piece of bread with the oil mix.
• Bake it at 350 for 10 minutes. 
• Turn over all the bread.
• Bake for another 10 minutes or when the bread becomes just a bit crispy.
• Take it out of the oven and set it aside.

• During the baking you should be working on your tomatoes.
• Slice up your tomatoes. If you're using Roma's, just slice them into 1/4" thick slices. If you're using some beefsteaks or something big you'll need to slice them and at least half them. It really depends on your bread size.
• Go out to the herb garden and pick some fresh basil.
• Separate the leaves from the stem and wash them if needed. Who knows, you may have just watered them??
• Get out some fresh mozzarella. I like mine in 1/4" thick slices.

Now, take a piece of the crunchy bread, place a piece of mozzarella, followed by a basil leaf followed by a piece of tomato. Feel free to mix up the order depending on your current mental state.

Nice.

Visit wikipedia for you favorite pronunciation here.

Welcome to the Infinity Farms blog. Don't read too much into the name. It will become apparent somewhere down the line.

This is simply my "Hello World!" statement. Some of you now know what I might do for a living, but that is all about to change.... or is it?

Keep in touch and we'll live and learn a lot about specialty crop farming, curing and smoking meats and other viddles, working outside and playing like there is no tomorrow.

Again, welcome.