DELICIOUSNESS

Just a quick note for ya'll before I head out to the garden to pick the produce for this Friday's shares. As I was driving to work this morning I listened to the NPR - as I usually do - and they had on another story of their "Farmers Market Finds" series. This time Adam Hochberg was in Ayden NC, talking to the owners of "The Collard Shack".

You can find that story HERE. I suggest to listen to the story, to get the real southern flavor:)

As with many other things - Adam and I were introduced to The Collard Shack a few years ago by our friend, teacher and mentor Seo. That was before I knew anything about BALLE.

Now, talk about Local Living Economies. The Collard Shack is a great example of a smart small local business run by Benny and Vicky Cox. When asked if they have thought about expanding their business the answer was - they have their hands full just tending the roadside stand. I bet ya. That's what sustainability is all about in my opinion. Take a bite that you can chew, and leave the rest of the pie for others, instead of flooding the market and the culture overall with mediocre "good for all" stuff, and making a ----load of money in the process... allright. I won't get started here. I'll just leave you with an "Old Estonian Saying" - "Tee järele, või maksa kinni!" roughly translated as: "Do it by their example, or pay for it!"

HEAT OVERLOAD

Oh my goodness.

I came from the greenhouse about an hour ago... it was 110 degrees F in there. The plan was to move all the plants outside, as I'm not interested in frying them... but had to get out as I didn't want to fry myself either. So maybe I'll sneak back in there under the cover of the night, when it is a bit cooler. Here is the first onion I pulled last week - a beauty! kind of smallish still, but maybe also extra sweet?

Jalapenó's are starting to take shape. Yesterday I also discovered a few eggplants already on the plants! That's way earlier than I thought.
Here's a view to the greenhouse. There are plenty of little Pistou basil bushes to sell at our Flowerpot Fundraiser coming up this Saturday, June 6th, during the Star Heritage Day. 
I have sooooo much more to blog about! As I have mentioned in the newsletters - Nancy and I went to Denver, Colorado to a BALLE conference - I can't believe its already been 2 weeks since we went?! Anyway, we had a great time, and I will dedicate a separate blog entry to that. I also have several pages of notes and information to share with ya'll...  so, please be patient with me - as I try to juggle working in the garden, coordinating sales, keeping up with blogs and home life.

The Myths that have taken REAL food off our tables.

I listened to " The People's Pharmacy" on NPR today. They had a GREAT show about foods that have been demonized in our culture by the processed food industry. Like RAW milk. That's right. How many people reading this blog think of raw milk and shudder in fear?! 

I grew up on this stuff. We drank it with breakfast, lunch and dinner. We made our own butter and something we call "kohupiim" - a type of cottage/ricotta cheese. My mom usually had a 3 liter jar of milk on the cool end of the wood stove sitting out, on room temperature, until it curdled and turned sour. Oh boy, there is nothing better than "hapupiim" ("sour milk") on a hot summer's day... 

We also cooked with lard, and believe me, LOTS of meals were fried. Fried potatoes, fried eggs, fried bread, fried fat back, fried macaroni... pancakes... yet very few people in Estonia were overweight or had heart problems, until we started importing lots of processed, prepackaged foods from outside of the country. Same with allergies. Disease followed the change in diet from traditional to "politically correct".

"The People's Pharmacy" discussed REAL food with Sally Fallon, the president of Weston A. Price Foundation and an author of a book "Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats."

You can listen to the proadcast on "The People's Pharmacy" website, and HERE. (I hope it works - let me know if it doesn't!)

I am not going to repeat all that they discussed today, I strongly suggest you listen to this broadcast. It is crucial that we start thinking for ourselves and making some better decisions for our families. 

I have preached RAW MILK for years, and am glad to see science (and media) starting to come around and back up this common sense knowledge that people lived with for thousands of years... before the processed food industry started brainwashing us and controlling the lives of our farmers.

What's up in the garden.

Lots of weeds first of all!!! I spent a few hours going over the garden with a weed eater. Got most of the mess, but The eater ran out of string and I was overheated, so I gave up for today. I saw at least 3 toads while weedeating, so that's cool! 

CSA has gotten off to a good start I would say. The time of the greens is almost over, so we may hit a low point in a week... unless Chard carries us over. I have some red russian kale growing at home too, which looks pretty healthy. We'll see. 

I've planted most of the tomato, pepper and basil plants. Lots of Marygolds, some sweet alyssum, some squashes, parsley, cilantro... radishes... Radicchio looks good - it's been cool enough this spring, and we may tease a few carrots out of this weather too! Andreas insisted in planting carrots, and I'm not gonna stand in the way of a kid wanting to plant anything!

Still waiting to fill the Wonky Doo #2. I have a plan to plant eggplants under a row cover in that bed, along with more basil and second batch of cucumbers or something... We have lots of flea beetles in the garden. They have even sneaked in to the greenhouse, so I'm hoping that by using the row cover the plants will get chance to get established better before the beetles feast on them. I found a few jalapeno peppers on the 3 plants we have in the garden... the pepper and tomato time! Can't wait!

I also started potting some herbs for our planter fundraiser which is coming up June 6'th. There's this tiny basil that grows into a neat, pretty round bush called "Pistou" that I started this spring... Perfect for a pot.

I hope you will find the "Vegetable of the Week" to be an informative new addition to our blog. I'm still working out the format... It may end up in the right side bar, along with other info on this blog, although I don't think there is a way to archive entries in the Gadget Text block.?

 Also, I may not get to post a NEW vegetable EVERY week, but most weeks... I hope...

Adam and I are going to check out the Tour D'Coop this weekend in Raleigh also - there'll be plenty to relate! And we really need inspiration to build the coop for our girls at home - they are getting too big!

Wegetable of the week. Pak Choi.

Bok Choy (Pak Choi)

This graceful vegetable with Chinese origins has spread throughout Asia and beyond, developing a wide range of varieties. The most typical Pak Choi features dark green leaves atop white spoon-shaped upright stems. Stems vary considerably in thickness and shape, and in some varieties they are green. One variety produces a rosette of dark green leaves close to the ground. There are specialty pak chois that have frilly leaves to light yellow-green color. The slight mustardy flavor of Pak Choi makes it a delightful addition to stir-fries, soups, noodle and meat dishes, and salads, if the young leaves are used. In China, the coarser leaves are often pickled. Some Chinese cooks also dip the leaves in boiling water and hang them out to dry in the sun for several days. Drying enables this highly perishable vegetable to be stored for winter months. Asian cooks use the entire plant at many stages of development.

Information from Kitazawaseed.com