Local diet update - August 31, 2009

After a very LONG, HOT summer (literally 10 weeks' of 100 degree temps), we got a bit of a break. Saturday was cooler with a beautiful breeze - perfect for lounging outside at the farmers' market.

I'm impressed that at this time a year, when it's hard to keep ANY plant alive in Central Texas, that we still have such an amazing harvest. And there's no better place to experience the thrill of the harvest than the local farmers' market.

So what was available at this weekend's Brazos Valley Farmers' Market?

Veggies: tomatoes, potatoes, bulb onions, green onion sets, carrots, cucumber, yellow squash, zucchini, eggplant, green beans, a variety of hot and sweet peppers, okra, spinach, herbs, purple hull peas, black eyed peas, tomatillos, yard long beans

Fruits: pears, dried apples, cantaloupe

Baked Goods: cheesecake bars, pecan bars, pound cake, cornbread, dog cookies

Canned Goods: jams, jellies, salsas, pickles, chow-chow, relish

Other Foods: cornmeal, wheat flour, eggs, olive oil, honey, locally-roasted coffees

Non-Food Items: jewelry, pottery, pot holders, decorative plants, soaps, roll-on perfumes, body cream, decorative hats

Of course, my personal haul wasn't nearly as vast, but still impressive. I came home with (whether bought, bartered, or given) whole wheat flour, seed potatoes (for planting next month), peppers, jalapeno oil, basil, carrots, tomatoes, pears, red potatoes (these ones are for eatin'), olive oil, and salsa.

When you add in the fact that we have local soups, pasta sauce, peas, corn, a variety of jams, and rice lining the pantry shelves, and local eggs and jelly in the refrigerator, we're ripe for another week of wonderful all-local feasts! But to find out what happens with all these goodies, you'll have to tune into Thursday's Market-To-Table post, so stay tuned...

If Saturday morning was an indicator (and we sure hope it was), there are cooler days to come. Days where gardens can again thrive and vendors can bring to the market an even greater harvest. Summer only slows us down. It doesn't stop the love of local food here in the Brazos Valley. The taste of whole, fresh, local food keeps us coming back for more and the land provides.

Have a great week, everyone. And as always, Happy (and mindful) eating!

Information Underground - My adventures in radio

I just got home from my interview with Teddy Wilson, host of Information Under-ground on local radio station KEOS 89.1 (that's Teddy there in the photo).

I had a BLAST doing the interview, sharing info on SGF, the farmer's market, and the locavores. A special welcome to today's listeners. Enjoy the blog and feel free to email me with any questions.

Unfortunately, there were some technical difficulties, so the interview didn't get recorded. Sorry to all you non-locals that wanted to hear it. We'll just have to do it again sometime :)

Finally, a big thanks to Teddy for having me on the show!

An opportunity to make a difference

I just received my assignment. In fact it's an assignment for each and every one of us in Bryan/College Station. Here are the details. Looks like we all have some homework to do. For those of you non-locals, do you have any tips on how to write something like this?

If you are interested in increasing mass transit, pedestrian sidewalks and bicycle paths in the Bryan/College Station area - please contact the BMPO before Septemebr 8th!!!

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release Contact: Linda LaSut

August 21, 2009 Bryan/College Station Metropolitan Planning Organization

(979) 260-5298 / llasut@bcsmpo.org

School is Starting. Here’s Your First Assignment.

(Bryan, TX) The Bryan/College Station Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) is a group that conducts short and long range transportation planning for Brazos County. The MPO works with representatives from the City of Bryan, City of College Station, Brazos County, Texas A&M University, Texas Department of Transportation, The District, the public, and a host of other supporting agencies... in an effort to ensure that there is communication across all these groups.

Currently, the MPO is updating its long range transportation plan. The plan covers different modes of travel, such as highway, transit, bicycle, pedestrian, transit, high speed rail, and aviation. It also covers related transportation issues, such as the development of intelligent transportation systems, movement of freight, safety & security and land use.

The goal in updating the plan is to ensure that Brazos County has a safe, accessible, and mobile transportation system, from now, through the year 2035.

The population in Brazos County, from the 2000 census, was recorded at 152,415. Over the next 25 years, the County is expected to add another 62,298 residents. How to continue to move people and freight effectively is a concern across the region.

Your Assignment

In an effort to support the update of the long range plan and to solicit input from the public, the MPO is asking you to write a line, paragraph, or essay on the following topic: “Needed Transportation Improvements for Brazos County”. Feel free to write about a particular mode of travel, transportation issues in general (as they pertain to Brazos County) or discuss areas of concern for current or future travel. Spelling and grammar do count! Feel free to doodle on the edges. Have fun and let’s see what you can come up with.

Information may be submitted by mail or email.

Mailing Address: BCSMPO

3608 E. 29th Street, Suite 113

Bryan, TX 77802

Email Address: llasut@bcsmpo.org

The due date for this assignment is Tuesday September 8, 2009.

If you have any questions, please contact Linda LaSut, Director, BCSMPO, at (979)260¬5298.

Bryan Compost Facility - A gardening adventure

Seeing that at this point, I can hardly move my body off the couch to do anything else, I thought I would blog about today's adventure...

My dad called a few days ago to let us know we could borrow his truck this weekend if we needed it to haul dirt (I had one raised bed that had not yet been filled). So Dave drove me over to my Dad's shop this morning to visit for a few minutes and pick up one of the work trucks. I was a little nervous about driving something so large (I don't drive often and when I do it's a Prius), but I soon felt perfectly comfortable for the easy ride out to our city's compost facility.

I've never been to the Bryan Compost Facility before, but I hear about it all the time. You can get wonderful compost for only $28 a ton or wood chips for absolutely free (I like free). And how can you go wrong with a slogan like "From Greenwaste to Greener Gardens." I want a greener garden...

With some mulch needed for the flower beds in the front of the house, we decided to take advantage of having a truck at our disposal and planned on getting both compost (for the back) and wood chips (for the front). Thus, two trips to the facility were planned.

Needing a little coaching on how everything worked, I checked in with one of employees at the office. Turns out, I was right where I needed to be. They weighed the truck on the way in and directed me around to the absolutely humongous piles of wood chips and compost just beyond the office.

In a matter of seconds, they had me all loaded up and ready to weigh back in. Well, that was easy! A few more moments, $20, and .7 tons of compost later, I was ready for the real work - unloading.

Despite rain over the last 4 days, the compost was still pretty light and once parked in my driveway, it was easy to shovel it from the truck to the wheelbarrow. I couldn't even begin to tell you how many loads I transferred from the truck to the raised beds in the back, but I filled an 8x10x1 foot raised bed as well as topped off 5 of the other 6 beds with fresh compost. Had I not been alone, perhaps I'd have a photo to share with you of what I looked like after hauling all that compost. Let me tell you. It wasn't pretty. But those beds sure are!

I slipped inside at 12:30 for a quick bowl of rice and veggies (and LOTS of water) before heading out for round two at the compost facility.

The same gentleman waited on me this second time and waved me on through to get my free wood chips. Did I mention I like free? I figured we didn't need a whole truck load of wood chips, but I had the truck and well, they were free, so they filled me up! By 1:30, I was back at home and ready for more unloading.

The wood chips were a little more difficult to get out of the truck so I had to use a pitchfork for most of the transfer. Of course this was made more difficult by the fact that it had started raining. Within no time, I was again covered from head to toe in dirt and sweat. Ok. It was more like mud at this point, but long since having given up the idea that it was important to look good, I enjoyed the cool rain on my skin, refreshing me from the hot Texas sun.

By 3:00, the front flower bed was finished. Looks good, no? I managed to clean out my dad's truck and get it moved to the street. I tried to clean off the driveway, but the rain we got made it kinda muddy and at this point, after 5 straight hours of physical labor, my arms and legs were threatening to detach. So I gave in and went inside with plans to finish cleaning the driveway later this weekend.

When I came in the front door, I realized that in the process of refilling my water bottle (and eating lunch), I had made a muddy mess of the floors. Well, crap! But first things first - a shower. And for the first time in my life, I actually got into the shower will all my clothes still on. Honestly, I've never had to do that before, but caked in mud, I saw no alternative.

With the last few ounces of energy, I managed to vacuum the floor, clean my shoes, start a load of laundry (including some VERY dirty clothes), and mop up some of the mud I'd traipsed through the house.

That's it. I have nothing left. I'm going to sit here on the couch and not move. Hopefully, someone will come home this evening to feed me 'cause I ain't goin' nowhere (but at least the yard looks awesome!)...

P.S. I forgot to mention - I guess I inhaled too much compost because my snot is black. Yeah. I think that may be taking gardening too far...

Tune in to KEOS 89.1 at 5PM Sunday

Be sure to tune in to local radio station KEOS 89.1 this Sunday at 5PM.

I'll be talking with Teddy Wilson, host of Information Underground about Simple-Green-Frugal, the Brazos Locavores, and the Brazos Valley Farmers' Market.

Here's the full scoop (note you can visit Information Underground to hear the show on-line):

This week on Information Underground our studio guest is Heather Duchscher, author of the blog Simple - Green - Frugal, and environmental activist who is involved with the Brazos Valley Famers’ Market and the Brazos Locavores. Topics of conversation will include the blog Simple - Green - Frugal, the Brazos Valley Farmers’ Market, Brazos Locavores, and local environmental issues.

Listen to Information Underground on 89.1FM KEOS on Sundays from 5-6pm after Tavis Smiley, for all the alternative news, politics, and commentary that you don’t hear in the mainstream media. To listen to Information Underground online and to listen to past episodes visit Information Underground on BlogTalkRadio. Tune in every week to hear headlines, interviews, and political and social thought to the Left of College Station.

www.informationunderground.net

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/informationunderground

Market to Table - August 27, 2009

Without a doubt, this was an exciting week in food. Rather than my normal eat-the-same-thing-everyday routine, I indulged in a little creativity letting the produce call the shots. So what made it from market to table this week at SGF. Let's check it out!

Whole Wheat Vegan Pancakes

After Chile posted about her pancake breakfast last week on McDougalling with Chile and Friends, I was seriously craving some flapjacks. And with a jar pear butter from the farmers' market sitting patiently in the fridge, pancakes were soon on the menu. They aren't 100% local, but the whole wheat and honey are both local, as well as the pear butter (instead of maple syrup) which is made with local pears. With a side of some whole local pears I picked up at the market on Saturday, I had a a few delicious and filling almost-all-local breakfasts this week.

Veggie Sandwich

It was another week off my regular stir-fry diet (ok, that's not really a diet, but I'm notorious for eating a stir fry almost every day), and quick and easy veggie sandwiches really hit the spot. With temps still soaring here in Central Texas, a nice cool lunch was just what I needed.

Although it's hard to see in the photo, there's some of the bean burger mix I froze last week on the top and bottom of the bun topped with spinach and tomato (farmers' market). On the side is a carrot and some cucumber slices (farmers' market); and that little pepper in the front is the very first pepper harvested from the backyard. It was small but sooooo good!

"Pasta"

As I mentioned yesterday, the neighbor girls came by with some cucuzza squash on Monday. Most of it found it's way into a couple big pots of soup, but not before I took a vegetable peeler and got some nice long squash strands from each of the cucuzza. The veggie strands ended up in a frying pan with some chopped mushroom and a little olive oil. Once cooked through, they make a wonderful pasta substitute. I added a little of my canned all-local pasta sauce and voila... Veggie Heaven! This was so good, I ate it for lunch again on Wednesday. Lucky me, there's enough for another meal. Delicious and all-local. Doesn't get any better than that!

Veggie Soup and Wheat Crackers with Bean Dip

Also as I mentioned yesterday, I made 13-1/2 quarts of soup with the rest of that cucuzza. Thirteen of the jars were canned and that last pint made for a wonderful dinner Tuesday night - all those veggie in a tasty herbal sauce and every last bit of it local. Mmmm!

On the side there are some whole wheat crackers I made, but instead of using my local wheat flour, I used the wheat grits (a by-product of grinding wheat berries into flour). I had to adapt the cracker recipe a bit to get the right consistency, but they made for a nice cracker that's just loaded with fiber (and local ingredients). Topping those crackers in my all-local bean dip - tomatoes, pinto beans, and salsa (all from the farmers' market).

So much for monotony. This was a really dynamic week on the culinary front. And the best part is I just make this stuff up as I go along - you know, whatever sounds good. Eating local doesn't have to take a lot of work or planning. Just jump right in and see where the food leads you!

Have a great Thursday, everyone. And as always, Happy (and mindful) eating!

Brazos Locavores - September Field Trip Announcement

Field Trip to Yonder Way Farm

One of the most frequent questions I receive as a locavore is where to find local, sustainably-produced meats. Join the Brazos Locavores for their September field trip and discover for yourself how and where sustainable beef, chicken, and pork are raised as we visit Yonder Way Farm in Brenham TX.

Situated 45 minutes south of town in Washington County, Yonder Way Farm began in 2006 when owners Jason and Lynsey Kramer were looking for the simple life; to farm the way nature intended. Today, they are expanding to include an on-site commercial kitchen and monthly market days starting in October. Join us for a tour of the farm to include a hayride through the pasture to see the many farm animals, a talk on how to raise your own backyard chickens, and a special treat: a dozen farm eggs for every family who attends.

Here's the Scoop:

What: Brazos Locavore Field Trip to Yonder Way Farms

Who: Everyone is invited and be sure to bring the kids!

When: Sunday, September 27th (1:00 - 5:00 PM)

Where: Meet up at Brazos Natural Foods to carpool out to the farm

RSVP: To Heather at brazoslocavores@gmail.com by Wednesday, September 23 (I need to prepare the farm for the number of attendees)

For more information about Yonder Way Farm, visit their website.

See you there!

Want to learn more about the Brazos Locavores? Visit our website at http://brazosgrows.org/brazos-locavores/

Or to receive field trip announcements directly to your inbox, join the Brazos Locavores Google Group at http://groups.google.com/group/brazos-locovore-adventures.

Delicious Excess

Once upon a time, I was easily overwhelmed. Not that I didn't absolutely LOVE receiving gifts of farm-fresh fruits and veggies from family and neighbors, but being someone who hates waste, it always stressed me out to have to reconfigure the week's meals in order to incorporate all the new food (on top of what I had already bought for the week) without any of it going bad. Eek!

Not any more. Between downscaling my purchases at the market each week (making gifted food a welcome supplement to our meals) and learning to preserve foods, I've finally found a beautiful balance.

So when the doorbell rang on Monday night and the two neighbor girls presented us with four enormous cucuzza squash (that's only two of them in the photo there), I was far from overwhelmed. In fact, the first thing out of my mouth was "Soup's on! It's time to can!" before sending them home with one of my jars of homemade blackberry jam, of course.

Pulling some goodies out of the pantry like pinto beans, corn, and salsa (all local), as well as making veggie broth from steamed local carrots, pulling some leftover okra and mushrooms from the fridge, and (of course) the four cucuzza squash; I was able to make two large pots of all-local vegetable soup. That's 13-1/2 quarts of soup (if anyone is countin jars, the half quart I ate for dinner...)!

Those soups will come in handy during a week when we're a little short on veggies. In the meantime, we've not let anything go to waste while keeping some sanity in the fridge. Excess never tasted so good!

How do you handle food excess? Have you preserved anything this summer?

P.S. A special THANKS to our generous neighbors!

Revisiting Priorities - Voluntary Simplicity

Somehow, no matter how much effort I put towards following a life of voluntary simplicity, I find I still need to periodically revisit my priorities. And despite having taken the Voluntary Simplicity discussion course earlier this summer, I have just in the last two weeks come to the point of creating action items to get myself back on track - because as we all know, having a plan is one thing... doing it is quite another.

Using the same method I used when I first started this path eleven years ago, I created a table, listing the things that bring me happiness (things I want more of in my life) on the left; and things that don't bring me happiness (things I want less of in my life) on the right. It sounds simple, right? Well, it is and it isn't. Eleven years ago, it took me about a year to put the original list together. These days, I know myself far better, yet it still requires some serious soul searching and meditation. But within a matter of a few days, I was able to pinpoint 6 things I want more of and 6 things I want less of in my life.

The hard part, of course, is in implementation. But keeping those 12 things in mind, I created a list of 12 action items that would help me get my life back in order; back to the life of simplicity I crave. Now the list is pretty private and I'm keeping the details to myself, but I will share the bookmark I made for myself a few years ago listing more general goals as well as some photos to remind me of what's important. Since I'm always reading, my bookmark is always there as that gentle reminder.

How often do you reevaluate your path? Do you create cues to remind you of your priorities? What helps keep you on target?

Local diet update - August 24, 2009

Saturday marked another amazing morning for the Brazos Valley Farmers' Market. But before we checkout all the local goodies, I have a story to share...

A woman arrived with her son, who was perhaps 5-6 years old. The son promptly presented himself at the veggie booth just next to me, waved his dollar bill in the air, and announced boldly, "I'd like 2 carrots, please!" Lois Vaughn, the vendor, greeted him with a smile as the mother proudly watched from behind. The child selected two of Lois' plump and wonderfully sweet carrots and allowed her to weigh them. "That's just the right amount of money for these two carrots," she told the boy. The carrots were tucked into a grocery tote and the boy continued to make his purchases around the market. Ok. Seriously, parents, does it get any better than that? What an opportunity to get kids interested in fruits and veggies than to select them themselves? Even better, where else other than the farmers' market could an exchange like this happen that was as reinforcing for the child? This has to be the most adorable market moment I've experienced thus far and a memory-maker for everyone there. In the words of MasterCard... Priceless!

Ok. So without further ado, here's the scoop on the harvest available at this weekend's Brazos Valley Farmers' Market:

Veggies: tomatoes, potatoes, bulb onions, green onion sets, carrots, cucumber, yellow squash, zucchini, eggplant, green beans, a variety of hot and sweet peppers, okra, spinach, herbs, purple hull peas, black eyed peas, tomatillos, yard long beans

Fruits: pears, dried apples, cantaloupe

Baked Goods: sweet breads, pies, fruit tarts, cheesecake bars, pecan bars, dog cookies

Canned Goods: jams, jellies, salsas, pickles, chow-chow, relish

Other Foods: cornmeal, wheat flour, eggs, olive oil, honey

Non-Food Items: jewelry, pot holders, decorative plants, soaps, roll-on perfumes, body cream, greeting cards, photo frames

So obviously, I didn't end up with even anywhere near the bounty available at the market, but I did bring home a wonderful spread of purchased, bartered, and gifted goodies: eggs, grape jelly, whole wheat flour, pears, carrots, wheat grits(?), and black-eyed peas. The flour will quickly be turned into homemade whole wheat bread, crackers, and vegan pancakes. The rest of that wheat (wheat grits?) is a by-product of grinding the wheat berries. I'm told they can be made similar to oatmeal and enjoyed for breakfast. I don't like prepared oatmeal, but I'm willing to give it a shot and experiment with it further if necessary.

As for the other goodies, you'll have to tune in to Thursday's Market to Table post to see what good things we'll end up eating this week. Keep in mind, I also have plenty of local cucumber, okra, pinto beans, rice, tomatoes, and a few potatoes (from last week's market), as well as all-local canned soups, pasta sauce, and corn to help fuel some wonderful all-local meals this week. In the meantime, I hope you're enjoying fresh local food in your neck of the woods. You might even consider getting the kids involved next time...

As always, Happy (and mindful) eating!

Composting - Our Garden Goes Full Circle

With some serious planting scheduled for the first of next month, it was high time to dig into that compost pile to pull out enough dark, beautiful soil to replenish our raised beds.

Yesterday was hot and humid, but I managed to spend the 1-1/2 hours needed to get the job done. Thankfully, the compost pile gets turned at the same time killing two birds with one stone (am I breaking some vegan protocol by saying that?).

Anyway, contrary to my assumptions about composting when I first moved into our house 4 years ago, composting is so easy! As you can probably tell from the photo above, there are two spots in the yard reserved for compost, one beside the other. When I'm ready to turn the compost (or turn AND sift), I just pull up that fencing, move it to the second spot and start tossing all those decomposing goodies into the new fenced area.

Thanks to my hubby and his sifter-building skills, sifting is easy and doesn't take much more

time. Rather than tossing it directly from one pile into the next, I first toss the compost debris into the sifter a couple pitchfork scoops at a time, letting the readied soil fall through and dumping the larger debris into the fenced compost area. Easy cheesy!

Truly, the cool part of all this is that much of what's in this compost are plant and food scraps that were grown right here in our backyard garden. That means all those veggies we grew in our garden are now composted and again replenishing the beds with their nutrients - full circle, the way nature intended.

By the time I was done, I had about 3/4 of a wheelbarrow full of compost. Isn't that gorgeous soil? I was too exhausted yesterday to apply it to the beds right away, so I let the birds have their fill of the bugs crawling around in it. But today, you can bet I'll be giving our raised beds a very special treat.

Food Infrastructure Awareness - Time Magazine

Is awareness of the dangers of our food infrastructure finally going main-stream? Check out this article in Time Magazine, "America's Food Crisis and How to Fix It," which concludes that each and every one of us have the power to change this system, each and every time we eat.

Check it out!

Market to Table - August 20, 2009

I have to admit, after eating almost nothing but stir-fries for a couple months, I'm actually tired of them. Go figure. Or maybe I was tired of cooking. I mean, we are in the middle of our 10th week of 100 degree temperatures. Seriously. Who want to cook?

Meals this week took on a twist here at SGF with a special focus on SIMPLE. Not that the stir-fries are quick and easy, but does it get any easier than snacks, salads, and sandwiches? Ok. I suppose eating out would be easier, but not so frugal.

So what made it from the farmers' market to my plate this week? Let's check it out...

Salad - Ever since we got back from California, where I was downing sometimes 2 salads a day, I've been craving them like mad. One problem - we're still about two months away from local lettuce (it's just too hot here).

Thankfully, I had just the thing to replace lettuce in my own backyard: lambs-quarter. More of a weed than anything, lambs-quarter is a great substitute for spinach. I've been using them in my stir fries and combined with some of the spinach I bought from the farmers' market this past weekend, it made for a great salad base. In addition to the greens, I added cucumber, tomato, and carrot from the farmers' market; okra and asparagus beans from local Dogrun Farms; and avocado (so not local, but it's organic and I couldn't resist) and Texas pecan from our local grocery. Topped with some olive oil (farmers' market) and vinegar dressing, the salad was just what I was craving.

As a little side, that's one of my homemade whole wheat rolls (made with local wheat and honey) with some of the pear butter I bought at the farmers' market last weekend. Mmm! Lois makes a mean pear butter!

Pesto Bean Burger - Ok. So it gets even better! I had some leftover pinto beans and rice in the fridge, but was SO not feeling the whole stir-fry vibe this week. No problemo! I knew just what to do. I tossed the beans and rice (both local) in a large mixing bowl and added another jar of my home-canned local pinto beans, making sure to mash it all up. Next, I added some seasonings and nutritional yeast to add flavor and help hold things together. A few minutes on a skillet to brown on each side and I was ready for a vegan veggie burger.

Slicing another of my homemade whole wheat rolls, I layered spinach (farmers' market), tomato (farmers' market), and mushrooms (local but from the grocery), added the bean burger, then last but not least, slathered the roll with homemade vegan pesto (made with basil and olive oil from the farmers' market). This was the first time I've ever made pesto, but thanks to our new house-mate's blender, I've now made it twice. Blender, where have you been all my life?

Because I can never get enough of those fresh veggies, I added as a side some of those asparagus beans and some sliced cucumber from local Dogrun Farms.

Evening Smorgasbord - In the evenings, I've felt more like snacking so I've been making my own personal smorgasbord out of random containers in the fridge. Pictured here is Tuesday night's meal: Texas pecans, homemade hummus (again thanks to the new blender), steamed green beans and carrots from the farmers' market (I don't bother heating them up - it's so hot here in Texas, I prefer to eat them chilled at this point), and a couple of dried dates (not local). I love dipping the pecans in the hummus. Definitely drool-worthy!

But seriously, it takes all of 60 seconds to set this all out on a plate, then I'm free to nibble to my hearts content. And when it's 100 degrees outside, a nice cool snack is exactly what I need.

Ok. So I left out breakfast. I don't have a photo handy, but I have been having serious cereal cravings lately, so I made my own granola. The latest batch has rolled oats, brown rice flour, pecans, cinnamon, ginger, dried cherries, honey, and canola oil. The honey (farmers' market) is the only thing that is local, but this is definitely what my taste buds have been asking for. With a little rice or almond milk on top and some local watermelon on the side, breakfast fuels this old bod with enough energy to get all my errands biked around town before the heat become unbearable.

So that's what made it from the farmers' market to my table this week. What wonderful local foods have you enjoyed?

Until next time... Happy (and mindful) eating!

A new adventure - Welcome Allie

As I mentioned in the Temporary Downsizing post last week, we have a new addition to the SGF household! This weekend, Allie, our new housemate, has joined us, renting out the two bedrooms and adjoining bath that until now had been left empty since I moved in 4-1/2 years ago.

So how did this come about?

Well, after drooling over fellow bloggers Beany and Jennifer's food porn for the last year, I've been teasing them about moving on down to Texas and cooking for us in exchange for those two empty rooms. I even went so far as to offer installation of a kiddie pool to meet Beany's husband's desire to live near the ocean. Sadly, it wasn't enough. Geez, work with me people!

Anyway, I hosted a NWEI Voluntary Simplicity discussion course at my house this summer, and I guess I'd gotten so good at my sales pitch that after a meeting, one of the members asked me if I was serious.

We talked about it, gave her the 2 cent tour, made plans for her move-in date, and remodeled the back of the house. Ok. So we just did the floors, but it looks fabulous and we would probably never have gotten around to it without this wonderful incentive.

Living with us gives Allie the flexibility of not having a strict lease. She's planning on staying about a year, but will head out when she's finished her current work contract and found her next job. It also gives us a little rental income which is great in this economy, especially considering I'm no longer bringing in a paycheck. Best of all, however, we're doing the "green" thing in sharing our home and reducing our carbon impact. Now that's simple-green-frugal for you!

Be sure to give Allie a big SGF welcome. In the meantime, we're well on our way to our next adventure!

Brazos Locavores - Visit to Dogrun Farms

Another hot Texas day meant an early morning visit to Dogrun Farms, the Brazos Locavores August field trip host. David Elsik and his daughter Jenna greeted us with big smiles and a wonderful tour of their farm just 20 minutes from the TAMU campus, complete with a drawing for fresh veggies to three winners!

Elsik, having worked on his family farm since he was a small child, is a natural at farming. He remembers his first experiences with planting and how amazing it was to plant cotton, corn, and watermelons on his family's farm, observing them spout and grow.

Later in life, he concentrated his efforts hay baling until just a few years ago when he was diagnosed with leukemia. It was then Elsik returned to his love of gardening, and organic gardening at that, because of the danger of chemical pesticides and fertilizers to his health.

What began as a small garden, has grown year by year to become a much larger operation. In fact, Elsik is one of the two largest produce vendors at the Brazos Valley Farmers' Market, selling an amazing variety of greens, herbs, and summer produce.

Currently, although he owns 130 acres, he is farming only 1.5 with plans to expand it to 10 next year. As the locavores toured the gardens, I was struck not only with the variety of plants (zucchini, eggplant, okra, hot peppers, sweet peppers, tomatoes, beans, yellow squash, and cucumbers), but also at the beauty of plants I'd never seen before (particularly the okra flower). As he regaled us with stories of battling both the heat and pests, we were invited to sample fresh okra right off the plant as well as yellow squash flower which turned out to be absolutely delicious and perfect for salad (who'd have thought?).

From a distance, Elsik pointed out 10 bee hives beyond the house, owned by ET Ash, one of the honey vendors at the farmers' market. Elsik provides the fuel for the honey and the bees pollinate the produce for a beautiful and very natural partnership. Water is a trickier matter. Soaker hoses cut down on water evaporation, but they tend to distribute unevenly and the well water is simply not as healthy for the plants are good old fashioned rain water, nor does the current well pump enough water at a time, making watering a bit more labor intensive. Elsik hopes to eventually relocate the extensive gardens to an area with better water access.

At the end of the tour, three names were chosen to receive those fresh garden veggies. The grand prize winner picked a cantaloupe from the melon patch and the second and third prize winners selected cucumbers right off the vine. The rest of us had the opportunity to purchase any of the fresh produce - either picking it ourselves or from the harvest earlier that day. It just doesn't get any fresher!

You know, the power of these locavore trips is truly is connecting the meals we eat with the farms where they are grown, witnessing for ourselves the hard work of the farmers combined with the magic that is nature. It may not earn a lot of money, says Elsik, but "I love it!"

Thanks to all the locavores who visited the farm and a very special thanks to our gracious host.

Stay tuned for next month's field trip announcement. In the meantime, check out some of our other field trip reports at the Brazos Locavores website.

To receive an email for each field trip announcement, subscribe to the Brazos Locavores Google Group.

See you next time!

Local diet update - August 17, 2009

Wow! Another amazing farmers' market on Saturday! We had 18 vendors with all kinds of wonderful goodies. I brought home a few more things than I had planned - in addition to what I bought, I bartered for a few items and found an extra bag of veggies lurking in my bag when I got home (from a very generous market vendor, no doubt), but how can you pass up good food? Trust me, it won't go to waste!

So here's the scoop. At this Saturday's Brazos Valley Farmers' Market, you could find:

Veggies: tomatoes, potatoes, bulb onions, green onion sets, carrots, cucumber, yellow squash, zucchini, eggplant, green beans, a variety of hot and sweet peppers, okra, spinach, herbs, purple hull peas

Fruits: dried apples, watermelon, cantaloupe

Baked Goods: yeast breads, sweet breads, bagel bites, cinnamon bites, cakes, rolls, dog cookies, wheat and white egg noodles

Canned Goods: jams, jellies, salsas, pickles, chow-chow

Other Foods: cornmeal, wheat flour, eggs, olive oil, locally-roasted coffees, honey

Non-Food Items: jewelry, aprons, pot holders, decorative plants

What a spread! No wonder I came home with a full bag. I picked up a watermelon, honey, pear butter (one my favorites from my childhood), onion sets (to plant in the garden this fall), spinach, red potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, cucumber, green beans, and basil.

On Sunday, I took the Brazos Locavores out on our monthly field trip (more on this tomorrow) to Dogrun Farms where I picked up some fresh okra, asparagus beans (aka yard long beans), and a cucumber right off the vine (Mmmm).

So plans for all these goodies? Well, with the local rice, home-canned corn, soup, and beans (all from farmers' market and backyard garden), eggs (farmers' market), and lambs-quarter and green peppers in the backyard, I'm planning on feasting on salads this week. But don't worry, I'll let you in on all the goodies in Thursday's Market to Table post, so stay tuned.

I should admit at this point that I haven't been eating a totally local diet lately. I was having serious cereal cravings so I bought ingredients for homemade granola (which at least uses local honey and pecans), then of course the almond milk to go with it. And I've picked up a few pieces of non-local fruit just to supplement the steady supply of watermelon. Eating local is still the way to go, but in an effort to live a middle-way kind of life, I'm trying to have compassion (for myself) in my culinary lapses. The moral of the story is to be mindful of the way we consume, not necessarily perfect.

Ok. Enough confession time. I'm signing off for now. Have a great week, everyone! And, as always, Happy (and mindful) eating!

For all you BCS locals, don't forget you can visit the Brazos Valley Farmers' Market on Wednesday too, now year-round at Village Foods in Bryan from 4-7.

Be Green in Bryan Offering Free Workshops

The Be Green In Bryan team is offering free Green Living workshops from now through December. The workshops are as follows:

August 24 - Rainwater Harvesting 101

September 15 - Worm Composting 101

October 5 - Greening Your Home 101

November 5 - Home Energy Efficiency 101

December 1 - Green Living 101

All workshops will be held at the Bryan Library (201 East 26th Street) from 7-8PM.

For more information, email Mary Strauss or download a PDF of the signup sheet.

See you there!

The Choices We Make - APLS August Submission

I was 24 when my world fell apart. Or at least, that's what I thought at the time. Eleven years later, I realize that the anguish was a necessary step in bringing me to where I am - who I am - today. It was eleven years ago that I began my life of voluntary simplicity, making mindful decisions about what was and was not important to me, and eliminating the "fluff" from my life, the needless distraction.

Through years of soul-searching, I discovered more about who I was and what I wanted. And in the process, things started dropping off the radar - I cancelled cable, refused to replace my car after it was totaled because honestly I only drove it once or twice a month anyway. I started checking out books and movies from the library instead of buying them. We started doing our own lawn work instead of hiring a service. Slowly but surely, I eliminated expenses and was able to reduce my work hours to part-time and later, when my health failed me, I was able to quit my job.

This all happened before the economy began to suffer. Before the economic crisis, we paid off our house. Before the economic crisis, we paid off our car. Before the economic crisis, we lived off little and saved every penny we could.

At one time, people thought we were crazy - biking and walking instead of driving, rubbing baking soda on my pits for deodorant, refusing to buy something in a container that wasn't recyclable, cleaning with vinegar and baking soda instead of those overpriced cleaners and sprays, saving our shower water to water the yard, leaving half of our house completely empty (because I refuse to buy stuff just to make a room look used), and foregoing the newest technologies (we don't have a tv, a radio, or even a cd or dvd player other than our the drive in our computers). I mean, we had the money, so why "deny" ourselves any pleasure?

Why? Because being green - because doing the right thing for the environment, for our health, for our happiness turns out to be the same thing. It doesn't mean breaking the bank and it doesn't mean denying ourselves of life's true pleasures.

But it does require being focused, setting goals, and remembering that happiness is in doing, not having - snuggling with a loved one, noticing the blue of the sky or a single flower, a family picnic, a long walk with a special friend, volunteering time to someone less fortunate, a cup of tea and a good library book.

This life of "voluntary simplicity" is not about giving anything up. It's about greater happiness, greater peace, and greater security. Here's a passage from the Northwest Earth Institute's discussion guide on Voluntary Simplicity:

To live more simply is to live more purposefully and with a minimum of needless distraction. The particular expression of simplicity is a personal matter.We each know where our lives are unnecessarily complicated. We are all painfully aware of the clutter and pretense that weigh upon us and make our passage through the world more cumbersome and awkward. To live more simply is to unburden ourselves - to live more lightly, cleanly, aerodynamically. It is to establish a more direct, unpretentious, and unencumbered relationship with all aspects of our lives: the things that we consume, the work that we do, our relationships with others, our connections with nature and the cosmos, and more. Simplicity of living means meeting life face-to-face. It means confronting life clearly, without unnecessary distractions. It means being direct and honest in relationships of all kinds. It means taking life as it is - straight and unadulterated.

Ok. This all sounds well and good, but the economy is suffering. How does this help you now?

I believe it is in times of crisis that we discover what we're truly made of. Eleven years ago, it was my own crisis that started me on this path and you can make the same mindful deliberate choices right now, for your family. Get out of your comfort zone - bike some of your errands, conserve to reduce your energy bills, cook more and eat out less, go to the park instead of the movies, take advantage of city services like children's book hours at the local library, and check your community calendar for free activities like festivals and fairs - and find freedom in simplicity.

Life is beautiful without all the stuff (does it get any "greener" than that?), regardless of whether the economy is up or down. As they say, the best things in life are free. But don't believe me. Experience the joy in simplicity yourself. Start today, start now. Because the choices we make today (for ourselves and for our world), make all the difference in our future.

This post, "The Choices We Make," is my submission for the August APLS Carnival, "Green on the Cheap" and will be posted at Going Green Mama on August 19.

For more SGF posts on Voluntary Simplicity, click here.

Market to Table - August 13, 2009

Ok. We're going to have a serious dose of reality in this week's Market to Table:

Not all meals work out the way you intend.

It's not that I didn't have some really delicious foods this week like heaping bowls of fresh yellow watermelon from the farmers' market (seen here) or yummy Texas pecans with the last of the farmers' market dates I picked up in California, but I realized I talk endlessly about all the delicious meals that I just make up as I go along, and rarely about the mishaps. Granted, I don't have a lot of mishaps, not because I'm an awesome cook (far from it, to be sure), but rather because when ingredients are this fresh, it's hard to screw it up (yep, even for me).

So what were my adventures in culinary disaster this week? Well, believe it or not, it was stir-fry. Yeah, I know. I eat various forms of stir fry just about every day, so what went wrong? The stir-fry in this photo looks very similar to the stir fries I've enjoyed all summer: squash and eggplant from the farmers' market, chard from the backyard garden, brown rice from just outside of Houston, and my home-canned farmers' market produce like local pinto beans and corn.

The stir-fry pictured here was lunch on Monday. In addition to all the goodies listed above were basil from the farmers' market, collard greens from the backyard garden, and (check this out) corn cob jelly. What?! Yeah, that was my response when my Dad gave me the jar of jelly made by a local friend of his. Corn cob jelly? Seriously?

I tried the corn cob jelly on a piece of toast (with my homemade partly-local bread) last weekend. Kinda weird. I mean, when you eat jelly, you have a fruit in mind and you can taste it, right? Corn cob jelly doesn't taste like corn, but it doesn't take like anything else either and so it ended up just being sweet. Sweet what, I have no idea. Ok. So I'll pass on the jelly and toast. How about in stir-fry like I did with the sweet onion glaze earlier in the year (that was AWESOME)?

Well, I hate to say it, but the stir fry was just off. I was thinking the collards were too long in the ground and had gone bitter, and there was something about the basil that I just didn't like in the dish, so Tuesday, I tried the same ingredients minus the collards and basil... Enh. Maybe the chard has seen it's last days too.

Finally, by Wednesday, I used only the newest chard leaves in the stir fry and again left the collards and basil completely out. What did I end up with? Corn, pinto beans, zucchini, lambs-quarter, the tenderest chard I could find, brown rice, and a heaping tablespoon of corn cob jelly (every last one of those were local). Hmm. Ok. A little better.

Obviously, I don't plan on buying stock in corn cob jelly or anything, but I am impressed that you can pretty much make jelly/jam out of anything. What are the strangest things you've used to make jam/jelly?

Just one other question: Are you willing to let me in on some of your own culinary disasters? I promise, I won't tell...

For more of my culinary misadventures, check out a post I wrote last year, "Oops, that ain't right - Culinary Disasters."

P.S. Re: last year's post, I did manage to find a whole wheat bread recipe that I love :)

New Flooring - Buy Local

Ok. A little more about the renovation drama I blogged about yesterday:

Step 1: We knew we wanted to get rid of the carpet. After 10 years and up to 4 animals at a time, the carpet was nasty. Ok. It was beyond nasty. But we didn't know quite what we wanted: bamboo, cork, wood, tile...

It took some serious research (thankfully, Dave likes looking into to these kinds of things), and in the end, we decided to go with the porcelain tile

1. because pet "accidents" (in our house they aren't always accidents) would not damage the tile; and
2. because I'm cheap (I mean frugal) and lazy, and if we're going to spend money on the floors, that floor better still be there when I'm cold in my grave

Yeah, so tile it is!

Step 2: Next we actually had to find the tile, which as it turns out, was surprisingly easy. We were wandering through Home Depot one day and there is was... the prettiest tile ever. We bought one to take home and check against our wall colors and furniture. Beautiful! We took it around town, trying to find something we liked better. Nothing! Even sales clerks commented at how gorgeous this tile was, saying "I WISH we sold something like that!"

So we had Home Depot give us a quote on installing it. Hmm, the whole kit-and-caboodle was kinda pricey, plus, how do we know they'd use a local contractor instead of bringing someone in from Houston?

We continued to look around, checking with other installers until we found David Guyton, a local contractor who came recommended by our friend and plumber. The best part is that he would most likely be able to do some of the other renovations we've been thinking about and we figured it wasn't a bad idea to start building a relationship with someone we could trust.

Mr. Guyton came to visit to give us a quote on laying the tile and suggested we check out "Carpet Installers," a locally-owned flooring supply house. That was when it happened. We found THE tile, better than the one we originally had fallen in love with, but of course at twice the price. Ouch!

We wrestled over the idea of spending so much money. Were we being wasteful? But in the end (noticing that both of us were trying to "make the numbers work" for this new tile), we decided to go with it. Especially after the sales lady at "Carpet Installers" told us she was able to get a quantity discount on the tile that put us right back into our price range. Sweet!

We immediately hired Mr. Guyton, contractor, who helped us by recommending ways we could save a little money - doing our own grout sealing, painting the shoe moulding ourselves, etc - and included advice on where to get the best quality and prices.

So what does all this have to do with buying local? Sure. We could have gone with the Home Depot tile and labor, but instead decided to work with a local installer, bought the tile from a locally-owned flooring supply company (although the tile is not local, obviously), and bought our supplies from a local hardware store.

In the end, not only did we support three local businesses, but we ended up with a tile we liked even better than the first AND we came in about $500 cheaper overall than if we'd have just gone through Home Depot.

Being mindful and buying locally not only paid off for us, but also for our community (don't forget 3x's the amount of money stays in the community when you buy local over big-box). And really, haven't they done an absolutely beautiful job?

Well, we're ready for our new housemate. She moves in this weekend, so I'll introduce you next week...

Biased Transmission - Local producer on the radio

Local community radio station KEOS 89.1 has announced this week's Biased Transmissions guest: CSA farmer, Brad Stufflebeam...

This week on Biased Transmission our guest will be Brad Stufflebeam. He will be discussing the "Food Safety Enhancement Act" (HR 2749) and how it concerns small farmers. This bill proposes greater FDA regulatory powers over the national food supply and food providers, namely granting it the authority to regulate how crops are grown. This bill passed the House a few weeks ago, and will come before the Senate when they return from the August recess.

Brad is the owner of HomeSweetFarm outside of Brenham, an organic community supported farm. He has been working to educate the public about this bill and how it may affect small farmers ability to provide fresh local produce and foods to their communities.

Be sure to tune in to KEOS 89.1 this Wednesday, August 12, 6-7 PM for "Biased Transmission".

This should be an interesting and informative show about an under-reported bill that slipping through the channels, and could have a profound effect on us all.

Check it out!

Living longer may result from a healthy lifestyle - Really?

Ok. Our local tv station just posted this article: Living Longer.

Please go read it. I promise, it's a short one.

No worries. I'll wait for you...

Back? Um, isn't this kind of a no-brainer. I mean, duh!

Why is this news?

Temporary Downsizing

As those of you who follow me on Facebook know, we're replacing the floors in our house. Yep, the entire house. Ten years and 4 pets later (with all manners of body fluid issues), the carpet is seriously nasty (you can only bleach it so much). Of course, all this work is a bit expensive (we're going for the floor that lasts forever - porcelain tile), so we're doing it in sections - bedrooms now (the back half of the house), living room and dining room, etc (the front half of the house) later.

Well, the trick with porcelain tile, is it takes time to cut, lay, dry, grout, and seal. Days for all this to take place, in fact; and that's with the professionals doing it. The contractor started last Wednesday and it's now Tuesday and we're just past half way through the back of the house). Clearly, that has resulted in an eviction from our bedroom. So what to do, what to do?

We could have slept on the couches in the living room (real comfy, right?), but nah. Instead, we downsized Heather-style - a.k.a. we moved into the dining room. That's right. We are currently living in our dining room, separated from the kitchen by a breakfast bar). Let me tell you, it's AWESOME!

You see, it reminds me of my single days when Dave and I started dating and I was living in a 350 square foot efficiency apartment. I LOVED it! Seriously, you could clean that place from top to bottom in 20 minutes. It was all so cute and compact. My kinda home-sweet-home (trust me, Dave worked really hard to convince me to move into a house, even longer before I was willing to call it my home). So here we are, although temporarily, living in just one room of the house. Doesn't it look cozy?

We've already rented out two of the bedrooms (house-mate moving in this weekend - more on this soon), perhaps we could rent out our bedroom too and just live here in the kitchen. Hmmm. Toilet and shower might be a problem... we're currently sneaking into whichever one isn't off limits at that particular moment. But the food is really close. It would take breakfast in bed to a new level...

Ok. Maybe not, but for this week anyway, we're camping out in the dining room (that's a photo of the kitchen as I'm sitting on the bed) and enjoying the sweet reminiscences of the simple life. Hmm. Sweet simplicity...

Local diet update - August 10, 2009

What a wonderful feeling to be back at the Brazos Valley Farmers' Market on Saturday morning, hosting my booth. I'd been gone for the last two Saturdays in California and although I loved vacation, it's always good to come home.

I pulled in at 6:30AM with all my booth supplies, and it wasn't long after, the customers began arriving (we don't technically open until 8AM, but who's gonna say no to a sale?). Before things got too busy and I was needed at my own booth (I host the information booth for the market), I made my way to each vendor's display while mentally reviewing what all-local supplies I already had at home: things like brown rice, honey, chard, collard greens, sage, and lambs-quarter (all fresh); as well as home-canned soups, pasta sauce, corn, and pinto beans in the pantry.

With home already a local food extravaganza, I picked up a few supplements: watermelon, zucchini, yellow squash, white eggplant (teeny tiny ones in the cloth bag), basil, grape jelly, and eggs. And with that we are well on our way to another local food week. Mmm, mmm!

The market Saturday morning also brought some wonderful news! We will now offer two year-round markets - our regular Saturday market (which is already year-round) and a Wednesday market (formerly April-August) at locally-owned grocery store Village Foods. Yeah local!

So what will become of all these wonderful local goodies here at home? Stay tuned for Thursday's market to table post to find out. Until then, have a great week. And, as always, Happy (and mindful) eating!

Local veggies, mark your calendars!

That's right. There's a growing community of vegetarians and vegans in the Bryan-College Station area and it's time to unite!

Join us at the Village Cafe on Tuesday, September 8th, 6PM to find out more about becoming or being a veg*n (includes both vegetarians and vegans), meet other like minded people, talk more about how we can support each other throughout our community (and educate others at the same time), and (last but not least) eat great food!

For more information or to become part of this group, contact Slyck by phone (979-777-6789) or email. See you there!

Zen Heart - A book review

This summer, I've been really drawn towards books on mindfulness and I have a review of another amazing book, posted today on the Blogging Bookworm: Zen Heart: Living with Mindfulness and Compassion (Ezra Bayda). Here's an excerpt:

After completing the book once, I took my time the second time through allowing myself to meditate on each chapter. Bayda engages and challenges us to look deep within and find our practice not only in formal meditation, but in each and every moment of each and every day. Most notable, for me anyway, was the continual insistence that we must also reform our way of thinking about life events we would normally label "bad" - Asking ourselves, "Can I welcome this as my path?" to heated disagreements, health problems, failure, etc; turning them into instruments of learning and personal growth.

Be sure to wiggle on over to the Blogging Bookworm to check it out!

Farmers' Markets Today - Getting published

It's out! I recently wrote an article for Farmers' Markets Today on how to start a Locavore group in your own town and it has been published in the July/August 2009 edition!

The catch is that the magazine is by subscription only, but they do have a page to request a free copy of the magazine. I'm not sure if you'd get the newest edition or an older one, but it's worth a try.

Check it out!

Market to Table - August 6, 2009

Although I'm really looking forward to this Saturday's farmers market, having missed the last two weeks while on vacation, my diet is still rich with color and flavor thanks to some serious canning earlier this year and a few goodies from my backyard garden.

The photo here is a wonderful combination of both. I started out cooking some stewed tomatoes (canned earlier this year) in a frying pan in nothing but its own juices, then adding some of the swiss chard and lambs-quarter from the backyard until cooked through. In the last few moments of cooking, I pulled out a jar of corn, a jar of pinto beans (both canned earlier this summer), and a jar of salsa from the farmers' market, adding a little of each to the frying pan. Last, but certainly not least, I tossed in about a cup of cooked brown rice (local from Houston area) and let it all warm through. SUPER easy, wonderful delicious (the salsa added some real zip!), and it combined the best of both worlds - fresh out of the garden and home-canned out of the pantry.

I've also been nibbling on that Texas watermelon we picked up Saturday night and the dates that I bought at the Aptos Farmers' Market - it was local when we bought it...

With so much food still in the backyard just waiting to be picked, I'll try to go light again at the farmers' market, concentrating on just what we need. But you know me, I get a little carried away on market days, so we'll just have to wait and see.

Check in with me on Monday to discover what farmers' market goodies we'll be cooking up next week. In the meantime, Happy (and mindful) eating!

Be Green in Bryan - Local food feature (including me)

A couple weeks ago, I did an interview with the city of Bryan's "Be Green in Bryan" team. The resulting video just came out today and is being featured on the TV show "Bryan Living and Learning" on both local channels 8 and 16 (see schedule here). As well as on the web (watch the video in the player here).

The "Be Green in Bryan" segment highlights our local farmers' market, the Brazos Locavores, and the Village Cafe.

Go check it out!

Garden therapy - A backyard garden update (August)

This is my very first summer garden. Yeah, can you believe I started that first 4x4 garden last October? Now we're up to 250 square feet!

As you can probably guess, summer gardens in Texas can be tricky. When others' tomatoes are starting to ripen, we're completely out of season. In fact, I tried to do some planting in the weeks before I went on holiday and just about everything died. It's just too darn hot.

Of course, other things are flourishing like weeds - the sweet potatoes, the greens (which are more of a cool weather veggie), and the lambs-quarter are all out of control (the lambs-quarter you can see in the above photo, way at the back. It looks like a big bush). And although I lost three of my 8 indeterminate tomato plants, the other 5 (having been cut back in early July) are now growing again and even blooming (although no fruit will set in this heat). Even the gogi berries are looking beautiful, although we've lost all but one of the apple trees.

Obviously, with it still so hot and no hope of it letting up for at least another month, I won't be planting for the fall until September. But we still have plenty of goodies to show off in the meantime.

Bed 1: Nothing but the sage and the lambs-quarter were doing well, so I ripped everything else out and am waiting for fall planting (probably green beans, cucumber, and spaghetti squash). But the plants there are still doing well. The sage, I've been harvesting and drying in the dehydrator for hot tea this winter. The lambs-quarter, I'm eating up as fast as I can. Anyone want some? I have plenty to share...

Bed 2: I've already pulled out the 3 determinant tomato plants who have run their cycle. I cut all the indeterminants back in July and as you can see, I lost 3 of them but the other 5 are beautiful! The green peppers in the front two rows are starting to grow up nicely and I'm planning on adding some "mexican heather" to this bed. We're desperate for bees (I think that's why the peppers didn't produce and the cucumbers produced poorly this spring) and the heather is supposed to be great for this climate, do well year-round, and are a great bee-attracter. Sold!

Beds 3 and 4: Of course these are our sweet potato beds. Looking healthy, no? At least we know they grow well in the summer. I just hope the potatoes are as healthy down in that soil as the leaves up top. If so, we're in for a wonderful winter of potato goodness - fried sweet potatoes, sweet potato pie...

Bed 5: I tried to put in green beans over the last month, but everything just dies. The sun and heat are charring them, no matter how much we water, so we've given up for now. But still alive and well are the green peppers (they're wonderfully healthy, but I sorely need some pollination), chard, basil, and green onions. (that's bed 5 in the foreground of the very first photo, up top).

Bed 6: Again, I was trying to grown green beans and black beans in this bed, but just like Bed 5, everything gets burnt by the sun. Maybe next month. In the meantime, I still have half the bed full of chard and collards. I just can't seem to eat this stuff fast enough. Anyone want to offer to help? I've tried the neighbors, but they aren't chard fans.

The Orchard: My poor orchard. Three of the four apple trees haven't made it, but I think we've learned a few lessons along the way and when the supplier replaces them next spring, I have no doubt they'll do better. In the meantime, we have a few bare spots where the trees were. The gogi berries, though, are doing wonderfully and I was happy to see, when I returned from vacation, that they had doubled in size. That just HAS to be a good sign, right?

Pshew! I have a lot of work ahead of me come September when I'll try to plant all those empty spaces in the garden, and a lot of eating to get done on the veggies that are flourishing now. Hope you're having luck in your gardens, wherever you may be. It's been a tough summer, but there's still nothing like heading out back to select the ingredients for a meal.

What are you growing this summer? Is the weather cooperating in your neck of the woods?