Living In A Local Zone

Saturday CSA Share and Farmers’ Market Report: Week of June 30

July 4, 2009 at 6:44 am (CSA share report, farmers markets)
Tags: chard, collards, CSA share report, farmers markets, greens, jam, kale, peas, preserving, rhubarb, strawberries, sugar snap peas

I decided to split up and identify what I’ve been getting from my CSA share from George Hall Farm and what I’ve been getting from the farmers’ market so that I have a better sense of my local sources. Plus, I think it’ll help me identify how much (and what items) I’m getting from where, so I’ll have a better sense of planning/preserving etc. So:

From the farmers’ markets:

Large bunches of red and green chard, red and green kale, and some rhubarb stuck in the center - thank you to my visiting mother for the vegetable bouquet!

Large bunches of red and green chard, red and green kale, collards, and some rhubarb stuck in the center - thank you to my visiting mother for the vegetable bouquet!

A quart of strawberries

Starting to Bloom Again: Eggplants

July 2, 2009 at 6:09 am (2009 home garden)
Tags: 2009 garden, blooms, eggplant

On May 22 I saw my first purple bloom from my eggplant seedlings. Unfortunately, it never set fruit since its been so ridiculously rainy here this spring. But I transplanted them out a couple weeks ago and have been hoping for the best. We had a couple of dry – well, I can’t even say day, but maybe “dry afternoons” works. And here is what has become of those eggplants:

I counted 4 blooms when I went to bed Saturday night (June 27) and woke to find 12 blooms Sunday morning! Wow. The stems of the eggplants look very thick and sturdy. These are the small round Bambino Hybrid eggplant I planted, not the traditional ones seen in stores or markets. They grow in bush form, which is interesting to think of looking at them. They certainly are shorter and more rotund than the others. Interestingly, these have all given bloom but the Fairy Tale eggplant I tried didn’t make it past the “second-stage-seedling” point. Hummm.

4 Comments

Tuesdays Independence Days: Week 7

June 30, 2009 at 5:33 am (Independence Days Challenge, community)
Tags: community, composting, Independence Days Challenge, pomona pectin

Week 7 report for the Independence Days Challenge. And I think it was a pretty good week – well, except for the “build community” category – that is my needs-improvement area. Help? What do you all do for this? If you’re not doing the IDC, what do you think the category means to you and what would you try to do?

Plant something: I did finally move my okra out, and they are happily starting to vine over the supports I’ve got for them. I also planted more cilantro.

Harvest something: Harvested the last of the lettuce. I also enjoyed basil, thyme, garlic shoots/scapes, and a few handfuls of strawberries. If it weren’t so wet all the time, maybe I would have had more.

Preserve something: More peas were preserved, as well as some sugar-snap peas and lots of greens (collards, kale, chard). I just cook the greens down into a thick/chunky puree and freeze it for winter. The sugar-snaps and the regular peas were frozen. I also made some strawberry jam.

Reduce waste: My compost gizmo arrived! This should help me reduce my veg/fruit waste, although I do eat almost all the parts of the veg. Hopefully this will have its own post up soon.

Preparation and storage: I ordered Pomona pectin, so this means that I’ve started to prep for storing my summer fruits for the rest of the year. I don’t like the sugar in many fruit preservation recipes, so we’ll see how this works. I hope it gets here in the next couple days so I can start in over the long weekend

Build community food systems: As usual, nothing. This is a cry for help – anyone??

Eat the food: I’m eating from my stores once a week to try to make room for this year’s storage. And of course, its all the fresh food from the CSA and farmers’ markets: lettuces, various kinds of chard and kale, peas, sugar snap peas, the first zucchini (!) cucumbers, radishes, hakeuri turnips, strawberries….

1 Comments

Spotlight: One Local Summer Week 4

June 28, 2009 at 7:25 pm (One Local Summer)
Tags: basil, chives, green garlic, One Local Summer, pizza, recipe, salad, spotlight

Checking in with Week 4 of One Local Summer. This week brought something I’ve been sort-of-kind-of wanting to do, but never really getting myself to do it. This is making pizza. I’ve done it before, and I enjoy it – sort of. I love to make it (or any other kind of bread) but eating it is not a “lets go!” kind of event for me. Every so often I think, “It’d be nice to have pizza tonight” but then I end up not making it because I figure I don’t want it *that* much, so….

But I decided after several weeks of the above dialogue in my head, that I would go ahead and make it. Maybe it was all that fresh basil that has lately started to give the garlic greens a run for their money in the ‘king of the garden’ competition that gave me the final push? I should add, I don’t eat cheese (lactose issues) and lately haven’t been having dairy at all (and am feeling much better for it). So my pizza is different than the norm. But it was delicious with fresh basil, chives, green garlic, and tomato sauce. I also added some zucchini on the top. My meal was rounded out with a lot of mixed lettuces (arugula, bibb, and Boston) tossed with radishes, fresh peas, and garlic scapes.

Here is the crust “recipe” I used – as I’ve mentioned before, I think, I’m not a big recipe person. Usually I’ll get a basic idea of the process and the role each ingredient plays, and then fuss with it randomly. This one is good because, while I do make longer-rise breads regularly, the quick rise on the dough makes it very handy for times when (like I’ve been lately) its hard to make up the mind on whether pizza will or will not be served. I used only whole-wheat flour this week. Next time I might experiment with some triticale in there to see if its a lighter dough, nuttier taste, etc. This one makes a thin crust, very crispy. I got two 8″-ish pies out of it, but of course this will vary depending on how thin you make the crust.

1/3 cup warm water (~120 degrees)
1 tbsp honey
2.5 tsp active dry yeast
1.5 cups whole-wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp cornmeal

Mix water, honey, and yeast and let it sit for 10 minutes. Once frothy, add 1.25 cups of the flour and the salt. Mix with a spoon until the dough forms and pulls away, and then knead by hand, incorporating the remaining 0.25 cup of flour if needed. The dough should be smooth, so if a bit more flour or a bit more water is still needed, go for it. (Here is where the ‘messing around’ comes in) Knead for 5 minutes. Cover and let rest in a warm place for about 30 minutes. Pre-heat oven to 435*F. Once the dough has risen, turn over onto a floured board, punch down, and roll out into a thin crust. Put it on the pizza pan/stone of your choice, dust with cornmeal. Top with toppings/sauce, and bake for 10-12 minutes. And eat.

Sources: Pizza = whole-wheat flour from Wild Hive Farm; cornmeal from Gray’s Grist Mill; basil, chives, and green garlic from my garden; tomato sauce (all their own ingredients too!) from Waldingfield Farms; zucchini from the farmers’ market last week… trying to think which farmer had it…. um… maybe this will be edited to fill in? Salad = all ingredients from George Hall Farm.

4 Comments

Preserving Peas

June 24, 2009 at 7:44 am (food storage)
Tags: freezing, peas, preservation, shelling

This past weekend my family and I went at it shelling the first batch of local peas. That is definitely one task that is meant to be done in group – it makes the time go faster, and its just fun to have little contests as to the fastest sheller. We ended up with about 17 lbs shelled, of which I froze about 15 lbs. The rest are for eating now, and they are the sweetest peas I’ve tasted. I can hardly bear to cook them (and haven’t so far) because they seem even more addictive just nibbling raw. Here are pics of the fun:

My father starting the shelling process

Delicious peas in a pod

Partway done

The batch we kept out for eating straight

These peas will be delicious in the winter, particularly with potatoes – that’s one of my favorite pairings.

9 Comments

Tuesdays Independence Days: Week 6

June 23, 2009 at 7:42 am (Independence Days Challenge)
Tags: 2009 garden, eggplant, Independence Days Challenge, questions

Week 6 report for the Independence Days Challenge. It was a little difficult this past week since I was feeling sick, but here are my efforts:

Plant something: Nope. I’m waiting for the rain to let up so that I can get these okra outside. Even in the cold-frame I think it’d be too much for them. But they are vining beautifully (and deserve their own post later this week). Luckily the weather forecasters say this weekend should be warm and sunny (well, starting on Thursday actually) so I am once again planning to get them out there. Maybe next week’s IDC report will actually have them planted!

Harvest something: More lettuces and green garlic scapes…. Also my strawberries! One patch is doing really well and yielding quite a few new berries each day, enough for a good couple handfuls as a snack or with dessert. Another patch, however, seems to have been traumatized by the wet and cooler weather. Not sure what is going on, since the leaves look very healthy, but they are not flowering. The eggplant also seems in shock, they aren’t flowering even though the leaves and stems are strong. I guess this is something out of my control. Or is it? Any way to help them?

Preserve something: I froze about 15 lbs of peas (with another couple pounds for eating straight or using now). The shelling was a lot of fun, as my parents came over for the weekend and we just put out a huge tray of the peas and went to it. I saved the shells, pureed them, and froze that as well to use for stock.

Reduce waste: Cloth bags to the farmers’ market, recycled paper. Still haven’t received the compost gizmo, but it is on track for delivery this week.

Preparation and storage: I worked on replenishing my cleaning supplies. I’ve been using a lot of homemade cleaners, so that’s a bit of learning (prep?) there, and then the making of it.

Build community food systems: Nothing. I planned to go to Varney Farm to help weed…. its one of the gardens for Foodshare. Unfortunately, the weather had other plans and I was rained out on Saturday. Sigh. This post is a lot of weather complaints.

Eat the food: Still here with the lettuces, chard, kale, collards, radishes, hakurei turnips, cucumbers, and strawberries from the farmers’ market and my CSA farm. This week I added fresh peas into the mix too, and they are really addictive. Still eating down my stores, particularly the umpteen pounds of potatoes and apples I froze not trusting that they really do keep through the winter in the cool dark place It helps that I am now also putting things in the freezer, as it becomes more clear what needs to make room for what, and what I can keep through next winter and not worry about preserving.

So that’s the IDC Week 6 roundup. I wish it would stop raining.

4 Comments

Spotlight: One Local Summer Week 3

June 21, 2009 at 7:11 pm (2009 home garden, One Local Summer, Weekly meals, spotlight)
Tags: bread, One Local Summer, spotlight

Week 3 of One Local Summer. This was a tough one for me since I have been feeling ill over the past couple of days and have not felt like eating much of anything, let alone anything exciting. I am feeling somewhat better today, however, so I decided to tackle the challenge and take time to make a nice meal. While eating local is not a difficulty, often my meals during the week are very basic: flatbread, some type of veg dish, and some fruit. A good variety in type of veg/fruit/etc, but not too different in structure. During the weekend, I’m trying to find ways to stretch myself beyond just the “arrive home and get something easy/staples on the plate and eat” mentality.

Since I bake bread anyway, this time I tried something new, yet more involved than what I’d normally do. I picked a lean baguette from from “A Year in Bread”, posted in 2007 by Susan from Farmgirl Fare. Part of the Summer Bread collection, it seemed appropriate, and sufficiently versatile. My only change was using all whole-wheat flour. It came out wonderfully, with a nice open crumb.

Twice risen, shaped, and now resting in the "cradle"

Baked, cut, and ready to serve

Along with the bread, I had a lovely dish of navy beans with peas, cucumber, basil, green garlic leaves, and some dried red pepper from last year’s garden. Usually I go with cooked veg, but this one really let the basil and garlic shine. Plus, it was my first taste of peas this year! (a post on that episode to come)…. Dessert was a big bowl of strawberries with mint.

Sources: Whole wheat flour from Wild Hive Farm; peas from Dondero Orchards (I believe – I’m blanking a bit here); basil, green garlic leaves, mint, and red pepper from my garden; cucumber from Rose’s Berry Farm (yes they have veg too!); navy beans from Cayuga Pure Organics (bought through Wild Hive); strawberries from George Hall Farm.

4 Comments

Saturday CSA Share Report: Week of June 16

June 20, 2009 at 6:13 am (CSA share report)
Tags: chard, CSA share report, garlic, greens, hakueri turnips, kale, scapes, spinach, strawberries

My CSA pickup from George Hall Farm is on Tuesday afternoons/evenings. So this being Saturday, it is a little late to share what I got, but I thought it would be good to see what I had to work with each week to make my Spotlight meal for One Local Summer. Whatever I get in my CSA and in the farmers’ markets dictate all my meals for the week, so it is always somewhat of a toss-up – not to mention fun to play with the ingredients! Since I post my Spotlight meal on Sundays, Saturday seems like a good day to post my CSA and any farmers’ market goodies for the week.

This past week, it is 90% from CSA – the other 10% or so I picked up from the same CSA farmer at the farmers’ market last Saturday. Here is what I picked up on Tuesday, June 16 – there is a lot of green! And I’ve still got pounds of it left – I’ll be making some soups to freeze today!

Assorted lettuces, arugula, mesclun, spinach - with some collard hiding under there too

Kale, chard, garlic, garlic leaves, and garlic scapes, scallions. I got more of these, but they didn't make it in the picture. This gives the idea.

Hakueri turnips

Strawberries!

I’ll just leave you with this note – If you haven’t tried hakueri turnips, please do so!!! Or at least make every effort to find them. I haven’t seen many farmers who grow them, but there are some, and its amazing. Although they look like white radishes, the taste is entirely different, and so sweet. I got my first taste when I was visiting George Hall Farm just to say hello, and picking them from the field and popping it into my mouth was a great experience. Here is some info I found just poking around the internet. And if you do or have tried them, tell, what did you think? (Even if you are not crazy about them like I am!)

3 Comments

Teaching Food Systems

June 18, 2009 at 6:33 am (learning)
Tags: awareness, children, community, learning

I was talking with a friend and she mentioned that many children don’t fully understand that food comes from the earth, that it takes time to plant, grow, mature, pick, etc. The supermarket is such a dominant food supply source that, while the concept of growing food is there, the mechanics may be somewhat of a mystery. This is why I was glad when this conversation sparked mention of an episode she had recently seen of Curious George, a children’s program on public television. Bear with me, this is going somewhere. The episode was entitled “The Magic Garden” (scroll to episode 9) and is described on the PBS website as follows:

“The Magic Garden: Chef Pisghetti is running low on fresh vegetables and George tries to help by weeding the Chef’s rooftop garden. George doesn’t know greenery, however, and ends up pulling out all of the vegetables right along with the weeds! Now the Chef must replant everything and wait for the vegetables to grow. But George doesn’t want Chef Pisghetti to have to close the restaurant, so he replaces the seeds with vegetables from his refrigerator at home. Will the Chef discover that what made his garden grow overnight wasn’t in fact magic fertilizer – but a hairy elf?

Educational Objective (Science, Math): To understand that the vegetables we eat are parts of plants and that plants may be cultivated for this purpose. Also to understand that plants are living things, and as such have survival needs like water, nutrients, and sun in order to grow and reproduce. Lastly to identify seeds as one way in which plants reproduce, that seed-bearing plants produce their own seeds, and to discover that the seeds from a plant will always grow into adult plants resembling the parent.”

In addition to the episode, the website (and I think the aired episode) has a “live action” video segment with children visiting a working farm, defining a CSA, learning about pea plants, planting seeds, watching the growth, and a month or two later coming back to eat the new peas. A good idea I think, especially if it sparks more inquiry. Of course, there are more nuances, but for the age, I think its a step in the right conceptual direction. (click here to watch the video.)

What do you think? Do the children you know have an understanding of their food sources? Is it something that is consciously taught, or something absorbed through just living in a particular way? Combo of these? Something else?

5 Comments

« Previous entries Next Page » Next Page »

Living In A Local Zone

Starting to Bloom Again: Eggplants

Tuesdays Independence Days: Week 7

Spotlight: One Local Summer Week 4

Preserving Peas

Tuesdays Independence Days: Week 6

Spotlight: One Local Summer Week 3

Teaching Food Systems

Take A Look!

Archives – Where I’ve Been

Blogroll

July 2009
M	T	W	T	F	S	S
« Jun
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30	31