Showing posts with label Gardening. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gardening. Show all posts
Thursday, October 16, 2008
The Last of the Heirlooms
I should confess, I have been updating my blog by posting into the future. Mid-October is no time for heirloom tomatoes. We actually ate this beautiful little specimen in early September. It was worth its own post!
Friday, October 10, 2008
Blueberry Redemption
I really wanted to go blueberry picking after discovering that I bought berries from California and Canada to make a fruit salad. There are berry picking places throughout the Berkshires, and I truly felt guilty for not giving them my business. Unfortunately, I had just missed berry-picking season.
Foreign Berry Salad:
Other opportunities for picking my own local produce began to present themselves to me, however. My boss owns a farm share at Caretaker Farm in Williamstown. When he and his family went out of town for a weekend, they let us collect their share for the week. We filled their canvas bag with greens, a pumpkin, beets, onions, a cabbage, herbs...and then we picked our own edamame, kale and raspberries. It was awesome. (My camera was acting up that morning, so the image below is from the farm's website.)
We also recently went apple-picking at Lakeview Orchard in Lanesboro. We arrived early on a Saturday morning to beat the crowds. It was my first time ever picking apples, and I made sure to enjoy some mulled cider and a cider doughnut, too.
I am also proud to say that John and I just became members of the food co-op in Williamstown. I hope I've made up for my berry mishap!
Foreign Berry Salad:
Other opportunities for picking my own local produce began to present themselves to me, however. My boss owns a farm share at Caretaker Farm in Williamstown. When he and his family went out of town for a weekend, they let us collect their share for the week. We filled their canvas bag with greens, a pumpkin, beets, onions, a cabbage, herbs...and then we picked our own edamame, kale and raspberries. It was awesome. (My camera was acting up that morning, so the image below is from the farm's website.)
We also recently went apple-picking at Lakeview Orchard in Lanesboro. We arrived early on a Saturday morning to beat the crowds. It was my first time ever picking apples, and I made sure to enjoy some mulled cider and a cider doughnut, too.
I am also proud to say that John and I just became members of the food co-op in Williamstown. I hope I've made up for my berry mishap!
Friday, September 12, 2008
King Corn & the Heirlooms
I have been struggling to read, Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle for about a year. This is not because I don't love the book, it's because I have experienced a life-long struggle to sit down and read. So, I've read it in small, memorable chunks.
One of the most eye-opening parts of the book (so far) talks about the genetic modification and homogenization of foods to the point where we no longer have species variety. Delicate, interesting and nutritious crops have been replaced by durable, but flavorless crops that are able to withstand long truck- and plane-rides across state and country borders. She offers the example of heirloom tomatoes in this case, and mentions the efforts of determined people to preserve and promote the many delicious varieties that have slowly been replaced by grainy, nasty supermarket tomatoes.
I was thrilled to come across a vendor on Saturday selling about 10 varieties of heirloom tomatoes for $3/pound (the same price as the disgusting potato-flavored Fuji apples I bought at my local grocery store — potapples, I'm calling them). The colors are amazing, and some of them resemble other fruits altogether. One looks like a tiny watermelon. Sliced and sprinkled with some salt and pepper, they each have a distinct and wonderful flavor.
We recently watched the documentary King Corn, which follows two young men from Somerville (John recognized the street view at the start of the movie) to Iowa, where they plant an acre of corn, talk openly (and non-judgmentally) with local farmers, and follow their grains of corn as they are distributed throughout the country. The corn they (and the other farmers) are growing in the area is inedible. Like my potapple, the corn contains a huge amount of starch, and absolutely no sweetness or flavor. (It is also genetically resistant to certain herbicides used to kill crop weeds.) The filmmakers show that the colorful varieties of corn that once grew in the Midwest have been entirely replaced by this corn, completely subsidized by the government, which primarily makes its way to either livestock feed (which it slowly kills due to its unnatural acidity) or high fructose corn syrup factories. The chemical process used to create high fructose corn syrup (which is a main ingredient in almost everything on a grocery store shelf) from this high starch corn seems so elaborate and unnecessary, particularly when the end product has zero nutritional value. On the contrary, it is easy to conclude that it is the cause of many health problems. So, why is our government encouraging this process?
Again, the filmmakers did a great job of letting the viewer make his/her own decisions about the current agricultural laws and this crazy corn process. They allowed a corn syrup factory spokeswoman to share, uninterrupted, what was clearly heavily rehearsed propaganda. It was creepy.
What if, instead, the government subsidized these corn crops for the purpose of creating something both useful and timely, such as "plastic" biodegradable products made from corn. Friends and I were thrilled to see that one of our favorite places to grab lunch started using biodegradable corn-based 'plastic' for their to-go beverages. Why is there a high cost for this uncommon eco-product, while overly sweetened sodas are overly affordable and excessively promoted?
One of the most eye-opening parts of the book (so far) talks about the genetic modification and homogenization of foods to the point where we no longer have species variety. Delicate, interesting and nutritious crops have been replaced by durable, but flavorless crops that are able to withstand long truck- and plane-rides across state and country borders. She offers the example of heirloom tomatoes in this case, and mentions the efforts of determined people to preserve and promote the many delicious varieties that have slowly been replaced by grainy, nasty supermarket tomatoes.
I was thrilled to come across a vendor on Saturday selling about 10 varieties of heirloom tomatoes for $3/pound (the same price as the disgusting potato-flavored Fuji apples I bought at my local grocery store — potapples, I'm calling them). The colors are amazing, and some of them resemble other fruits altogether. One looks like a tiny watermelon. Sliced and sprinkled with some salt and pepper, they each have a distinct and wonderful flavor.
We recently watched the documentary King Corn, which follows two young men from Somerville (John recognized the street view at the start of the movie) to Iowa, where they plant an acre of corn, talk openly (and non-judgmentally) with local farmers, and follow their grains of corn as they are distributed throughout the country. The corn they (and the other farmers) are growing in the area is inedible. Like my potapple, the corn contains a huge amount of starch, and absolutely no sweetness or flavor. (It is also genetically resistant to certain herbicides used to kill crop weeds.) The filmmakers show that the colorful varieties of corn that once grew in the Midwest have been entirely replaced by this corn, completely subsidized by the government, which primarily makes its way to either livestock feed (which it slowly kills due to its unnatural acidity) or high fructose corn syrup factories. The chemical process used to create high fructose corn syrup (which is a main ingredient in almost everything on a grocery store shelf) from this high starch corn seems so elaborate and unnecessary, particularly when the end product has zero nutritional value. On the contrary, it is easy to conclude that it is the cause of many health problems. So, why is our government encouraging this process?
Again, the filmmakers did a great job of letting the viewer make his/her own decisions about the current agricultural laws and this crazy corn process. They allowed a corn syrup factory spokeswoman to share, uninterrupted, what was clearly heavily rehearsed propaganda. It was creepy.
What if, instead, the government subsidized these corn crops for the purpose of creating something both useful and timely, such as "plastic" biodegradable products made from corn. Friends and I were thrilled to see that one of our favorite places to grab lunch started using biodegradable corn-based 'plastic' for their to-go beverages. Why is there a high cost for this uncommon eco-product, while overly sweetened sodas are overly affordable and excessively promoted?
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Vermont Garlic & Herb Festival
Apart from the long and scenic drive to the Adams Recycling Station, John and I took our first day trip today to attend the 13th Annual Southern Vermont Garlic & Herb Festival in Bennington. Mostly, I was on a mission to try garlic ice cream (as promised in our local newspaper), but my taste buds were useless by the time we found the ice cream after having tried countless varieties of garlic in all its forms (raw, pickled...). The garlic ice cream, then, just tasted like vanilla.
In our 2007 CSA farm share, we received a bag of locally grown garlic. It was small and dark and a bit difficult to free from the garlic head, but it was really wonderful. I roasted it, and made Chicken and 40 Cloves, and used it in everything I cooked. It had never occurred to me before today that there are different kinds of garlic. In retrospect, this seems stupid, but I got to taste the different varieties today, jabbing a toothpick into tiny (spicy!) raw pieces of cloves. I decided to take home a bunch of the larger Porcelain variety, which I purchased from Mud Road Farm (of St. Johnsville, NY).
Aren't they cute?
In our 2007 CSA farm share, we received a bag of locally grown garlic. It was small and dark and a bit difficult to free from the garlic head, but it was really wonderful. I roasted it, and made Chicken and 40 Cloves, and used it in everything I cooked. It had never occurred to me before today that there are different kinds of garlic. In retrospect, this seems stupid, but I got to taste the different varieties today, jabbing a toothpick into tiny (spicy!) raw pieces of cloves. I decided to take home a bunch of the larger Porcelain variety, which I purchased from Mud Road Farm (of St. Johnsville, NY).
Aren't they cute?
Sunday, July 27, 2008
I Made This!
Following up on an earlier post about my first tomato plant, I am delighted to report that my first tomato was ready for picking today. AND, there are three more on the way!
The title of this post is just a nod to the new X-Files movie...which I plan to rent in a few months. I really take very little credit for the success of my plant.
The title of this post is just a nod to the new X-Files movie...which I plan to rent in a few months. I really take very little credit for the success of my plant.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
While I Was Out
I'd like to take credit for this in some way, but I can't. However, I am very excited to report that a tomato sprouted on my first tomato plant while we were on vacation last week! (Many thanks to our landlords who watered my new food-plants while we were away.)
Now, if only we had a small yard...
Now, if only we had a small yard...
Friday, February 1, 2008
It's Aliiiiiive!
Our lovely friends sent us a package with two Amaryllis bulbs for our 1st wedding anniversary on November 11th.
My first thought was - uh-oh. I just can't seem to keep anything alive. I have a small "un-killable" ivy plant at my office desk that I have watched drastically decline in health since I removed it from its happy place at the greenhouse:
Still, I planted the little bulbs and watered them (maybe twice?), the leaves grew tall, and a couple of days ago, it happened:
Maybe I don't have a black thumb, afterall?
ADDENDUM (2/26):
As my work plant continues to decline in health, my coworkers increasingly try to come to its rescue. My boss, however, cut to the chase and got me a cute little desk plant/kinetic sculpture that will live on (and flap it's little leaves) as long as the sun continues to shine on its little solar panel:
My first thought was - uh-oh. I just can't seem to keep anything alive. I have a small "un-killable" ivy plant at my office desk that I have watched drastically decline in health since I removed it from its happy place at the greenhouse:
Still, I planted the little bulbs and watered them (maybe twice?), the leaves grew tall, and a couple of days ago, it happened:
Maybe I don't have a black thumb, afterall?
ADDENDUM (2/26):
As my work plant continues to decline in health, my coworkers increasingly try to come to its rescue. My boss, however, cut to the chase and got me a cute little desk plant/kinetic sculpture that will live on (and flap it's little leaves) as long as the sun continues to shine on its little solar panel:
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