With no further ado. . .Ta Da!

Aren’t Jo and Zach adorable??? And Domino, a 4 month old trouble-making Border collie with boundless energy. So perfect.

The novel releases in just six and a half weeks!!! The past month has been a bit of a whirlwind. I’ve been through the manuscript twice—before and after my publisher had a round with it—and sent it to the editor yesterday. I’ll get another peek at it in a couple of weeks, then it’s off to galleys and, from there, a printed book.

Zoooooooom.

The second novel, Sweetened with Honey, is off to two critiquers. It, too, should be back around the end of June.

Don’t worry, I have a lot to do while both manuscripts are out of my hands. Not only am I planning out the third book, but I have about 28 blog posts and interviews to write for various sites in August and I’m open to more. If you’d like to host me to talk about Farm Lit, Farm Fresh Romance, or Raspberries and Vinegar, leave a note in comments and I’ll get back to you (I can see your email address, so you don’t need to write it out.)

Would you all like a post about the process of creating this cover? I’m pretty sure one can be arranged…

Read the first chapter here.

Psst. If you were on my newsletter list, you’d have seen this cover a few days ago! Sign up?

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Whenever I say a blessing at meals, I thank God for our food and family and often add “and please watch over those who are not so blessed.” A lot of children go hungry in our neck of the woods. There are a lot of lonely souls too. I’ve seen what the lack of food and companionship can do to the body AND the spirit.

Verses are sprinkled through the Bible about feeding the hungry. Solving the hunger problem is that important and basic. It’s hard to do anything good in your life when the sides of your stomach are touching or your children are crying for something, anything to eat. Look at the Gospel of Matthew, “I was hungry…” is the first thing mentioned on the famous list of what we are to do for others. (Chapter 25:35). My husband and I made the decision years ago to contributing to food ministry charities first and foremost for scriptural reasons as well as knowing our money would give “more bang for the buck” when it came to making lives better.

My personal relationship with food and how my faith plays into it is much more complicated. I grew up using food or lack of food as a way to deal with my troubles. I used junk food as a way to feel better about situations. I couldn’t talk to about my life, much less my troubles. I didn’t trust God enough to pray. It was so much easier to eat a bag of M&Ms. I am talking the pounder bag here. Sugar high! Or I would deprive myself of food as punishment for my lack of control. Starvation low! Talk about a seesaw of pain.

Over time, I developed allergies to corn and wheat. What a blessing in disguise. Banning junk that could threaten my life made me realize how dependent I was on comfort food. I didn’t know what a high could be produced by highly processed, sugared, chemically loaded food – until I had to give it up. Talk about misery. Withdrawal symptoms made me cranky. Real life problems still happened. What was there left to do?

I thought about those people I know in recovery programs and set about doing my own sort of 12-Step program, relying on God and prayer to get me to a healthier place and help me deal with life in a healthier way. I worked out in nature, constantly reminded about God’s creation. I appreciated fruits and veggies in their natural state. I prayed when I was tempted to backslide (still do!). I saw results and thank God daily for the help.

Grandbabies are good reminders

Now I have grandchildren. My daughter-in-law does an excellent job of feeding them in a healthy way. Sugar and refined carbs are a treat, not an everyday thing. I thank God for giving my grandbabies such a wise mama. Our bodies are created by God. Sometimes we forget that. I know I did. But grandbabies reminded me in a very profound way. Pesticides, preservatives and other things don’t belong in those cute little bodies that are already perfect. And we all started out as those perfect-created-by-God babies!

In a strange way, thinking about healthy food led me back to thinking about others. I started going to our local farmers market. I ran into a retired minister friend who had taken over the family land and turned it into an organic farm. I learned about what it takes to grow organic and the faith it takes to make a go of a new venture. I started tithing my farmers’ market purchases so food bank clients would have fresh produce rather than just canned goods.

From other friends, I learned about the damage pesticides do to the people who work in the fields, the lack of fair trade and labor being taken advantage of. I was back to those scriptures about helping those who are poor and downtrodden.

These days I really look at what I eat, where it comes from, and how my purchases and donations affect the greater good in the world from a faith, as much as health, viewpoint. I do better some days than others but I pray I will continue to make the world a better place for all. It’s what we are called to do.

As a former pastor, Christian educator and non-profit staffer, with degrees in microbiology and Divinity/Christian Ed, Julie Hilton Steele developed a keen interest in social justice and personal spirituality issues, often the focus of her published non-fiction devotional articles. As an unpublished writer of medical historical romance, she now enjoy pondering the intersections of faith and the world’s challenges through her fictional characters and their stories set in WWII era Washington DC. She only sits still long enough to research, write or make custom cards. Otherwise, this hiker, eclectic reader and lover of all things Benedictine and in nature is off on her next adventure.

Julie is a member of the team blog Yankee-Belle Cafe.

If you’re a Christian and believe it impacts how you view food, I’d love to hear from you! Would you like to guest post?

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We start out on the first of May eating asparagus up to three times a day. Some in the scrambled eggs or YUM Eggs Benny. Asparagus in pasta salad at lunch, and as a major side for supper. After a week or so we settle into enjoying it daily, and after a few weeks, it peters out to several times a week. That’s where we are now, with another week or so left in the season.

We like our asparagus “skinny,” an option you won’t find in a grocery store. It’s slightly more tender although, yes, there are more ends to snap off. Totally worth it.

I love it grilled the best. This is my default recipe:

Grilled Asparagus

1/2 pound asparagus, woody ends snapped off
A drizzle of olive oil
A drizzle of sesame oil
A drizzle of rice vinegar
A sprinkle of kosher salt
One garlic clove, grated

Massage the oils and seasonings into the asparagus. Grill over medium heat until slightly charred (or however you like it). I can’t tell you the time because it depends on how fat your spears are and how hot your grill is.

This is the simplest and THE BEST way to have the first major veggie of the year.

Soon we’ll turn our attention to other fresh veggies and forget about asparagus until we begin craving it again next April. But meanwhile, I have another week or so to enjoy this one.

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As you can see, you don’t need to take a lot of time, use rulers, or know calligraphy to create a useful reminder of where you planted what in previous years. The one on the left is from 1987, and the other is from 2010. Lots of my records are in pencil, so not sharp enough to scan. You can see that what I draw is quite general, and that the balance of my garden has changed over the years.

So it’s mildly amusing to look back, but why bother? Is there any real purpose?

Veggies hail from different families, which have different soil needs. Rather than add artificial amendments, let your soil do the work! By planting crop families in rotation, year after year, you can build the soil painlessly.

For instance, root crops such as carrots will do better in an area that has NOT been heavily fertilized. Here on the farm, that means carrots are planted in beds that have not had a dose of rotted manure or added organic matter for several years. The extra nutrients cause the tops to grow beautifully, but at the expense of the root. Which, you know, is the part we eat.

The brassica family contains all the cabbages, including cauliflower, kale, and broccoli. These feed heavily on the soil, so they are great planting where legumes (peas and beans) were grown last year. Legumes fix nitrogen into the soil, just the way brassicas like it!

And if you plant cabbage family veggies in the same place year after year, you’ll find your pests more firmly entrenched. Shake things up a bit; move them around! Make the cabbage moths go hunting for their food instead of spreading the platter in front of them.

We don’t do a perfect job around here. Nearly half of our garden (outside the raised beds) is dedicated to tomatoes every year. At the very least, I swap out the tomatoes from side to side for good measure.

Here’s a website I found with good information on crop rotation.

How about you? Do you grow a garden? Do you rotate your crops?

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The deal includes three contemporary romance novels in the “Farm Fresh Romance” series, formerly known as Green Acres. The first novel, Raspberries and Vinegar (previously titled Domino’s Game), will release in both paperback and digital on August 1, 2013.

It will be followed by Sweeter than Honey (formerly titled Check Mate) on February 1, 2014, and the still-untitled final book in the series on August 1, 2014.

Yes, I’m going to be busy! Raspberries and Vinegar has been written and polished for several years. It will be off to the editor in just a few days. The cover will be ready by mid-June.

Sweeter than Honey is written but needs a round or two of homegrown edits and critiques before heading to the editor in late October. And the third book needs to be written.

Breaking ground with the Farm Fresh Romance series, Raspberries and Vinegar finds Josephine Shaw and her friends renovating a dilapidated farm with their sights set on more than just their own property. Transforming the town with their sustainable lifestyle and focus on local foods is met with more resistance than they expected, especially by temporary neighbor, Zachary Nemesek. Jo needs to learn that a little sweet makes the tart more tasty.

Farm Fresh Romance is a series filled with sweet simplicity and a bit of zing.

If you were signed up for my newsletter, you’d have seen this news a few hours ago. Newsletter subscribers will also get first peek at the cover. You’ll get a link to the first chapter of the novel. You’ll get the chance to apply for my Farm Team to help get the word out. There will be more benefits as we get closer to the launch, including the possibility of review copies.

Won’t you please show your support by signing up? The form is at the bottom of this page (the sidebar link subscribes to the blog itself).

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