Saturday, April 23, 2011
Harvest Market - Spotsylvania County Eat Local!
People of Spotsy County no longer have to wait until Saturdays from April - October to find local foods! A new business has opened at Spotsylvania Courthouse called "Harvest Market". They have meat and vegetables from local sources and many organic and whole food brands as well. We had some Pop Weaver's pork last week that was fabulous! Food from small local farms tends to run more expensive than large chain food, but you know the source and reduce the cost to our environment, while keeping your dollar in our community! In a recent article in the Free Lance Star ( http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2011/042011/04142011/619642 ), the owners cited health as their main impetus for opening. There are so many long-term reasons to eat local, whole food. I sometimes have sticker shock, but I've made a goal to buy a certain amount of my groceries from them each week - helping them stay in business while staying within my own budget. Harvest Market actually seems to be doing well - they are on the way to everywhere for anyone at or south of Spotsylvania Courthouse! Check out their link below and happy eating!
Friday, April 22, 2011
Everyday is Earth Day
I heard a story a few days ago about a new day of recognition, "Whole Food Day". My gut reaction to this compartmentalization of concepts that should be innate and organic is puzzlement and frustration. I suppose it is all well and good to draw attention to the cause but inevitably the commercial agendas creep in, in fact probably created this false focus to begin with. The people who truly support these concepts try to live them consistently even when no one is looking. I'm sure there are well-meaning participants who wish to pass along the practices of stewardship and nutrition to their offspring. What's wrong with a little fun and celebration of precious natural resources? Nothing, as long as we don't lose the awareness and the effort the day after. Usually the worthwhile result eludes the easy fix. So when the soy banners come down, the fumes from the food vendor trucks settle and the grass grows back from all the foot traffic, we must remember to revere Mother Nature in the small hours of each and every day.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
One of the first books I read going into the quest for whole food. This family endeavored to buy only local foods to eat. Interesting and informative! Go to: http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/
Monday, April 11, 2011
Farmers' Markets Opening Everywhere
Our local farm market has been open here in middle Virginia for a few weeks now. Find a local farm market or farm store in your area and take the Eat Local Challenge! (See "String Bean" links below for resources).
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Oh yeah, I'm human...
So whole food and the quest for it is a rewarding journey but, as with anything worthwhile, it isn't always easy. Last week I got the inevitable blister from raking a garden bed to prepare it for planting (yes, I was wearing gloves - they were loose - so "wear snug work gloves" should be the warning, I guess)and today I got stitches. I was making a dish for a potluck and, being out of an ingredient, was attempting to make my own. While I thought I had proper control of the food processor blade (it was on its way to the sink) it slipped and grazed my hand. Knowing how sharp these things are I backed up but my feet didn't get quite out of the way. 10 stitches later I have my foot propped up and never did make it to the potluck! In this case, homemade was NOT best!! :)
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Farming Friends
Not only am I making new (and edifying) friends all the time as we get our place up and running, but I have discovered that many friends I grew up with are pursuing efforts fostering nature as well. Susan writes grants to endow the nature center where, as a youngster, I first held a snake, encountered a three-legged opossum, and observed an owl up-close. Jeff is delving into catfish farming among other agricultural pursuits. Beth keeps sheep and horses and border collies (see her blog too at ewechicksandallama.blogspot.com ). These are fun,intelligent people helping to sustain their families and communities. The best part? There is always room at the table for more!
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Black gold
Found a lovely horse farm with tons of "black gold" - nicely composted, thank you! Better yet it is complimentary (thanks, horses!) - this year is the year of the pumpkin patch at our house! Let the soil amending begin!
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
The Beauty of Creation
Tried to remember who wrote this poem today - it is often used jokingly but after a reread I am in awe of its simplicity - no wonder it has hung around all these years.
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
Joyce Kilmer 1886–1918
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Bean There, Done That
Admittedly, fathoming all the political impacts and tangled webs can be, as one astute gal commented on FB last evening, "daunting". We can't all be renowned activists or moneyed lobbyists (or their insatiable prey). What we all ARE is consumers. We can vote with our dollar - or the withholding of it. Did you know Hunt's now makes a ketchup free of high-fructose corn syrup? Try finding products that don't contain HFCS. It is a challenge! These are empty, non-nutritional, man-made calories. Choose 100% fruit juice or better yet, whole fruit, which gives you sugar-soaking fiber. Being informed about the origin, both biologically and geographically, of your food can make a huge difference. It can improve the marketplace while, most importantly, building up your health.
Magic Beans
We are living in a world today where lemonade is made from artificial flavors and furniture polish is made from real lemons.
Alfred E Neuman
Alfred E Neuman
Monday, April 4, 2011
A Bean in a Cup
So whether you are ready or not you enter school at age 5 (or if you're like my prodigiously clever husband, age 4) and are swept up in the bricks and mortar, meeting another 20 (if you are lucky) little learners just like you. Really - exactly like you - same age and roughly same background. If we walk out the door on any given day will the first 5 people we interact with be this homogeneous? At 5 you begin to learn the prescribed curriculum and, since most teachers manage to be creative and nurturing despite this, one day you will be given a cup and a bean. You will play (briefly) in dirt and water and nestle this little miracle in its misty-moisty nook. The next day, and hopefully the next, you will arrive and pass the plastic chairs and the trees, unrecognizable now as blocks and shelves and counting beads, and rush to the window to see if the sun and soil have coaxed the life forth from that tiny seed. One day you will be rewarded! As the green shoot gains momentum and leaves, you wrap and decorate the cup and make a Mother's Day card from grainy construction paper and tired magic marker and you carefully chauffeur it home. Once you proudly present it to Mom it may eventually be transplanted to a garden but chances are it will be finished off by summer, forgotten by the promise of fireflies and popsicles and trips to the pool.
But what if we didn't forget the bean in the cup? What if we did transplant all of them into our earth? What if we took that little bit of natural from a world of man-made and brought it (and ourselves) back to its own kind - the outdoor surroundings that embrace it. What if, in our world today, each of us (not just kids but everyone) sought out the little bits of natural in an increasingly artificial world and sought to immerse ourselves in them and foster growth from the inside out? Could we reunite the shrinking islands of mother nature like the bean with it's earth? Could we root ourselves in whole food, oxygen-producing environments, equipped with the gently-used and informed with the truth? We have a very convenient world today. We have such ease as we never have. We also have increasing depression, chemicals, environmental concerns and a dangerous monoculture. We have tried faster, bigger, shiny and dependent. Are we uplifted? Strong? Restored? Self-sufficient? Let's get back to the bean in the cup and take up where we left off.
But what if we didn't forget the bean in the cup? What if we did transplant all of them into our earth? What if we took that little bit of natural from a world of man-made and brought it (and ourselves) back to its own kind - the outdoor surroundings that embrace it. What if, in our world today, each of us (not just kids but everyone) sought out the little bits of natural in an increasingly artificial world and sought to immerse ourselves in them and foster growth from the inside out? Could we reunite the shrinking islands of mother nature like the bean with it's earth? Could we root ourselves in whole food, oxygen-producing environments, equipped with the gently-used and informed with the truth? We have a very convenient world today. We have such ease as we never have. We also have increasing depression, chemicals, environmental concerns and a dangerous monoculture. We have tried faster, bigger, shiny and dependent. Are we uplifted? Strong? Restored? Self-sufficient? Let's get back to the bean in the cup and take up where we left off.
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