Winter Worries

February 6, 2011 By Nourishing Words in Food, Gardening, Healing and Wellness Tags: chronic illness, low-maintenace gardening, Lyme disease, winter, worrying 19 Comments

It’s that time of year, when gardeners’ thoughts turn to spring planting. Sorting through last year’s leftover seeds, leafing through seed and plant catalogs that seem to arrive daily and maybe even placing orders all offer the hope of hastening winter’s retreat.

This year, in these parts, it could be a long retreat. With somewhere upwards of 28 inches of snow on the ground, my garden sleeps, enjoying protection from the winter winds. My house is cozy and warm, too. Winter offers the opportunity to focus on other things that aren’t so easy to get to during the long days of summer, when the list of outdoor chores grows as fast as the garden weeds. Continue reading →

Forming an Agricultural Commission in Concord, New Hampshire

October 27, 2010 By Nourishing Words in Farmers Markets & CSAs, Farming, Gardening, Local Food, Sustainability Tags: agricultural commission, agricultural resources 3 Comments

My city of Concord, New Hampshire, is built on land in the fertile valley of the Merrimack River. Like cities and towns throughout the country, farms have disappeared at an alarming rate, giving way to houses, strip malls and office parks. Throughout New Hampshire, at the peak of its agricultural history, 50 percent of the land was in agricultural use. Today, only 5 to 7 percent.

Once built upon, that fertile soil is likely lost to farming forever.

Spearheaded by the Capital City Organic Gardeners, a group of concerned residents are looking into forming an agricultural commission in the city. Continue reading →

Putting the Garden to Bed and Expectations to Rest

October 24, 2010 By Nourishing Words in Food, Gardening, Herbs Tags: carrots, compost, garden chores, garden dreams, kale, no-till gardening, raised beds, winter 11 Comments

The work of putting my garden to bed this year has been less than efficient. I’ve plugged away at it, in fits and starts, focusing first on the tasks that simply had to get done before snow flies. Which, by the way, has (technically) already happened.

Gardening, for me, is all about adjusting my expectations as I go along. Prioritizing.

In the springtime, my dreams are spectacular—health and vitality, variety, neat and tidy—my garden has it all. A couple of months later, by late June, I’m running to keep up with dividing perennials, transplanting, thinning, composting, mulching and, yes, the weeding. Always the weeding. Continue reading →

Lessons of a Summer’s Locavore Adventures

September 20, 2010 By Nourishing Words in Farmers Markets & CSAs, Food, Gardening, Healing and Wellness, Local Food, Northeast Kingdom Tags: basil, CSA, eggplant, farmers market, Local Food, Northeast Kingdom, oyster mushroom, Peaches, tomatoes, Vermont 10 Comments

At the beginning of the summer, high on the excitement of my newly invigorated little front yard kitchen garden, farmers markets exploding with local produce and another summer CSA share kicking off, I speculated about the need for grocery stores in my life. At least, during New Hampshire’s relatively short growing season.

What need, if any, would I have for my local grocery store and food coop? With plenty of vegetables and fruits available, what would be on my shopping list, and how often would I shop? Would I need to shop at all? Continue reading →

Living with the Land or Changing It Forever?

September 14, 2010 By Nourishing Words in Environment, Gardening, Northeast Kingdom, Sustainability Tags: cluster development, common nighthawk, karner blue butterfly, New Hampshire, Northeast Kingdom, pine barrens, pitch pines, scrub oaks, Vermont, white pines, wild blueberries 8 Comments

I live on land that used to be a vast expanse of pine barrens. That vast expanse is now broken up by urban sprawl and totals only a few hundred acres of fragmented pieces of native habitat. Most of that land is zoned for commercial development and will disappear someday, when the economy recovers.

Driving down the main road in my part of town this evening, en route to cast my vote in the New Hampshire primary, I flashed back to the same road more than thirty years ago, before it was developed. I recall it as wide, open scraggly land, rather harsh, really. The road cutting through it was dotted with little camp-type houses and a few mom and pop businesses. Continue reading →

Making It Yourself

September 9, 2010 By Nourishing Words in Food, Gardening, Healing and Wellness, Local Food Tags: CSA tips, making things, natural skincare, pesto, strawberry jam, time 13 Comments

I’ve given a lot of thought lately to why I like to make things myself and, why the busier I get, the more I seem to gravitate toward these simple, productive activities.

Everything I need or want, I could probably buy. Our whims are indulged by creative people who take the time to transform ordinary things into special products so that we can buy them. Sun dried tomatoes. Pesto. Goat cheese. Yogurt. Soup stock. Jams and jellies. Granola. Flavored vinegars and oils. Natural skincare products. Herbal tinctures. The list goes on and on. Continue reading →

Celebrity Farmers

September 1, 2010 By Nourishing Words in Food, Gardening, Local Food, Northeast Kingdom, Sustainability Tags: celebrity farmers, Joel Salatin, organic farming, organic gardening, Pete Johnson, Pete's Greens, Polyface Farm 5 Comments

Human beings, by nature, seem to create idols. We’re drawn to those who know more, do more and accomplish unusual things, especially those who share themselves openly. In my relatively quiet, mostly television-free daily existence, I manage to stay mostly out of the fray of pop culture and its never-ending cycles of celebrities rising to and falling from stardom. In my choices of music, I like to think I support lesser known artists, but I waiver. Just a couple of nights ago, I reveled in the sweet sounds of Natalie MacMaster’s fiddle. A star, by any definition.

Even in the world of food and farming, where the popular sentiments of the day are all about everybody planting a plot (or a pot) of vegetables of their own and buying locally, celebrities arise. Stars are born. Fans soon follow. Continue reading →

Polyface Farm Philosophy: Healing Ourselves and Healing the Land

August 29, 2010 By Nourishing Words in Environment, Gardening, Healing and Wellness, Local Food Tags: Polyface Farm 8 Comments

A little inspiration from Joel Salatin, of Polyface Farm in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley:

In the face of all that’s gone so terribly wrong with our industrialized food system, how lucky we are for the individuals who work so tirelessly to get it right. Whether each of us is a consumer, a farmer or a backyard (or front yard) gardener, it’s so important that we maintain our focus and rebuild a food system that can feed this planet in a way that’s healthy for us and for the planet as well. We’re all in this together.

Support local farms. Shop at your local farmers market. Grow some food. It’s really important.

Grilled Tomato and Corn Soup

August 23, 2010 By Nourishing Words in Food, Gardening, Herbs, Local Food Tags: crispy sage, grilled corn, grilled tomato and corn soup, grilled tomatoes, Polish linguisa tomato 9 Comments

I enjoyed an unusual and delicious soup Saturday night at Claire’s Restaurant and Bar in Hardwick, Vermont, while visiting the Northeast Kingdom for Kingdom Farm and Food Days. Claire’s is famous for its creative cuisine, prepared from mostly local, farm-fresh food. The Grilled Tomato and Corn Soup was so delicious, and so seasonal, that I had to try to recreate it while the memory was fresh and corn and tomatoes abundant.

With only the name and my memory to go on, recreating it was a tall order. Having a deceptively simple name, the soup I enjoyed was puzzling in its complexity. It was brownish red in color, roughly pureed and served topped with crispy sage. Slightly smoky in flavor, it had lots of black flecks throughout and spices I couldn’t identify. Continue reading →

An Abundance of Peaches

August 15, 2010 By Nourishing Words in Food, Gardening, Local Food Tags: Brandied Peaches, dehydrated peaches, Peaches, Spiced Brandied Peaches 15 Comments

Peaches come on fast in August, here in New Hampshire, and they exit just as quickly. For those lucky enough to have a few peach trees of their own, keeping up can be a challenge.

I was invited to a friend’s small peach orchard to pick my fill, and I’m sure I picked at least 15 or 20 pounds—a heaping box full. Some were juicy, fragrant and ready to eat that evening; others would wait a day or two, but no more.

Peaches are a controversial fruit, I’ve found. People either love them or hate them, and it seems to come down to that fuzzy skin. I work around this by just slicing them, rather than biting into them. If I felt any more strongly about the skin, I’d take the trouble to peel them. Fresh peaches are so very worth that tiny bit of work.

Continue reading →

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