Eat Close To Home

I just had a lovely belated Mother’s Day dinner with my mom, and I’m so excited by what she’s doing I had to share.

Mom and Dad run a bed and breakfast in Jonesville, Michigan, called the Rooms at Grayfield. The building is the 100+ year old Lakeshore and Michigan Southern railroad station that I grew up in - it was converted to a home in the mid-70s and the garage and most of the station converted to a B&B in 2005.

Mom cooks the gourmet breakfasts and also caters private parties. I have to brag a little about my mom…bragging and the local food connection after the jump… Read the rest of this entry »

I almost never look at circulars, but this week I happened to flip through the pages of coupons that came in the mail this weekend. I found an ad for Hiller’s Market, and the fish section caught my eye. Every fish on the page was clearly labeled with specific type of fish and country of origin. No “Fresh salmon, $6.99/lb” here - no, instead they list “Wild caught Alaskan Red Sockeye Salmon Filets, $8.99/lb.”

Comparing these to Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch, we find the following: Read the rest of this entry »

The garden 2008

Originally uploaded by espring4224

Sorry for the lack of blog posts lately; like most garden bloggers in this part of the world, I’d rather be outside! The weekend was gorgeous; I think I spent over six hours outside on Sunday building the screen house, planting wheat, and tidying up the yard. See all pics here.

This is a view of the garden taken from the SE corner of the house (by the rain barrels) and looking NE toward the garden and the neighbors’ house. You can tell which are the new beds, yes? I just about doubled the size of the garden this year. All last week I took my morning exercise shoveling and wheeling dirt from the big pile in the back to the new beds.

I don’t think I’ve rhapsodized about the screen house in this venue before. It’s my favorite garden tool ever. We’re big brassica fans here - kale, broccoli, etc. but it’s tiresome searching every leaf for tiny caterpillars the same color as the leaf. This is made out of 6 used 3′x4′ wooden window screens, two 2″x2″x8′ poles, hinges, and some additional window screening. Each of the side panels lifts up so you can get inside and work (the ends are fixed to the raised beds). Best of all, it baffles the cabbage moths so they can’t get in to lay their eggs on the brassicas - which means no caterpillars! Simple, effective, no chemicals, and cost about $30.

It fits most of my beds, so I can move it each year as I rotate crops. I also have plans to sheathe it in plastic this fall to try to overwinter some kale, which I’ve never been able to do past Thanksgiving.

Gina, who’s been working on the emerald ash borer problem in Indiana for a few years, left such a helpful response on my original EAB post that I thought I’d repost it here so more folks would see it. Thanks, Gina! There is some very hopeful news here!

I have worked with the dreaded EAB for many years in IN. First, eradication (tree removal) is no longer practiced in most states (although I can’t speak for all as they are continuing the practice in Maryland for one), mainly due to cost. Many of us biologists working on the program said the very same about natural resistance and it is believed by some to eventually reach a peak and the trees left standing (so-to-speak) will start to pass those resistant traits along to their offspring. As an aside, ash trees in China are resistant. Scientists planted American ash trees over there and the insect attacked the trees readily, killing them 100%.

I love the idea of coppicing ash trees. Ash trees are prolific at sending up epicormic shoots. It is a very good firewood (one of the best and it does burn green easily). Unfortunately, EAB does indeed attack young trees (generally above 1-2″ inches in diameter or the size of an adult thumb); I’ve seen very small trees infested with EAB larvae (the life stage that does the damage). However, in areas of heavy infestation (like MI, OH, or IN), this may be an excellent way of preserving the tree (as you said) until preventative measures catch-up. They have imported a parasitic wasp and are doing experiments in MI and a new chemical is going to be on the market soon (reported to be 99% effective against EAB; however I have no idea how environmentally friendly it is).

Sadly, black ash (one of the major species in the Great Lake region) is used by the Potawatomi’s for making baskets. It is a tradition that is already endangered and now their material source is severely threatened. Your coppicing idea may be good for them as well!!!

Thank you!

Some of the prayer flags

Originally uploaded by espring4224

We had an Earth Day party last weekend - actually just an excuse to have folks over, eat good food, and play. One of the things we did was to make prayer flags for the earth. These were made from cut-up shirts that succumbed to the Iron Well Water demons. We decorated with colored Sharpie markers - nothing fancy. See the full set of flags…I’m blessed to know some pretty artsy folks!

By now, I’m sure you’ve heard about the rising cost of rice and wheat around the world, and maybe you’ve noticed some of the price increases where you are from. Here’s a snapshot from my neck of the woods (Michigan, USA):

At the end of March, almost 1 month ago today, I bought some wheat, beans, rice, and such in bulk from a local organic farm. I went to their web site today and priced out the same order at today’s prices…and the total bill had gone up 19%. Imported beans were up the most; local beans and corn increased the least. Wheat and flour was up 14%, 19%, 33%, or 66%, depending on the type. (Soft white wheat went from $16 for 50lb to $26 for 50lb.

Please, folks, as you’re thinking about your household budget, keep in mind that these figures are real and you’re going to have to take them into account. Check in with your finances and be sure you’re really spending your money according to what you value - it’s not going to go as far as it used to so wise spending is ever-more important. It’s a great time to scale back and learn to love beans instead of beef.

And I really hope we quit raising corn to feed to cars and go back to raising food for people.

This weekend I visited a friend in Oswego, New York. You might recognize the name of the town from the winter of 2006-07, when Oswego got something like eight feet of snow in a week. Besides snowbanks, the area around Oswego also grows apples, onions, potatoes (usually consumed as “salt potatoes“) and other veggies, which you can buy at Ontario Orchards. (The orchard is a trove of local foods - pasta, Canale’s pasta sauces, honey, maple syrup, meats, and cheeses…)

We were there twice this weekend, and I finally caved and bought the beauty that had caught my eye many times before. I’d actually checked luggage on this trip to bring a now-delivered wedding present…so I had the room. And for five bucks? I couldn’t resist. So that’s why I hauled home a ten-pound bag of locally-grown sweet yellow onions.

Of course, I had to dive in as soon as I got home. I’d been thinking a French Onion soup is in my near future, but I didn’t have time to make stock tonight. Well, how about starting with a pile of melted onions and seeing what else I had in the fridge? Here’s what I came up with.

Onions and Asparagus

• Thinly slice one medium-sized onion into crescents.
• “Melt” the onions over medium-low heat with a good glug of olive oil until they are soft and sweet (10 minutes or more).
• Turn the heat up to medium-high and add half a pound of asparagus cut into 1-inch lengths.
• Add 1/2 cup cooked and rinsed black beans, and season with salt, garlic powder, and a little cayenne.
• Serve over brown rice.

Anyone have favorite things to do with an absurd blessing of onions?

Today I planted potatoes: two rows of Sebagos (a late variety) closest to the house, then two rows of Russian Banana fingerling potatoes, then two rows of Onaways (early round white variety), then finished out the bed with more fingerlings.

The fingerlings were potatoes I grew last year, dug up in late October (or early November?), and stored in a bucket of damp peat moss over the winter. They were in great shape until the last week or so, when they started to sprout. There were also a number of mushy/fermenting potatoes, but they didn’t affect the quality of the others in the bucket. The ones I didn’t plant in the garden got dumped on the ex-berm and tucked under some of the composting horse manure and straw spread out there. I’ve heard that potatoes do a nice job of loosening the soil. I probably won’t even try digging up a harvest out there; I’ll just let them do their work and winterkill.

And happy full moon!

When you eat out, how do you choose what to order? Most people would probably say “I just order what I want,” but is it really that simple? After all, there are many things we want from our food: good taste, nutrition, something that will “stick to our ribs” or something “light,” something within our budget or even something that will leave enough leftovers for lunch tomorrow. And I’m guessing if you’re reading this blog, food ethics also come into play: where was the food grown, how was it raised, and were people, animals, plants, or the environment unduly harmed on the trip to my table.

After the jump: the questions I ask myself when surveying a menu… Read the rest of this entry »

After much delay, I finally made my way over to the new Plum Market in Ann Arbor. My take? It’s nice, but I probably won’t be doing much of my shopping there; I guess I’m more a co-op gal than a Whole Foodsie. See after the cut for a department-by-department review. Read the rest of this entry »