Author: louisaenright

I am passionate about whole, nutrient-dense foods, developing local markets, and strengthening communities.

Mainely Tipping Points 18

Mainely Tipping Points 18

 A New Kid on the Block:  Agave Nectar

 

In 2008, Rami Nagel decided to investigate agave nectar, a new kid on the sweetener block.  He discovered that agave nectar first appeared in 1995 at the Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, California.  Sellers were advertising agave nectar as being an organic, all natural raw food with a low glycemic index; as being kosher; as being  grown in nutrient-rich soils; as being fair-traded; and as being sustainably harvested (Rami Nagel, “Agave:  Nectar of the Gods?,” WISE TRADITIONS, summer 2008, ). 

However, it is now clear that despite advertising hype and mislabeling issues, all commercial agave nectar sold in this country is highly refined fructose syrup like high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).  It is also clear that commercial agave nectar is particularly dangerous for diabetics.  Finally, it is also clear that agave nectar contains high levels of saponin, a toxic steroid derivative which can cause miscarriages, and should have warning labels.

Agave is not a cactus, but a succulent in the lily family.  Agave syrup is made from either the large, starchy root, which is shaped like a pineapple, or from the sap that appears when its bloom appears and is removed.  Both processes happen when the plant is about eight years old.  Both processes use industrialized practices—though the Nekutli company, whose brand is Madhava Agave Nectar 100% Natural Sweetener, claims otherwise.  Nagel notes that Nekutli vacuum evaporates the raw nectar and uses enzymes to hydrolize it, all of which removes the natural salts and amino acids and creates a high fructose syrup (“Agave:  Nectar of the Gods?”). 

Nagel discovered that some traditional people in Mexico do make an agave sweetener, called aquamiel, by boiling down nectar collected from the agave plant, much as we boil down maple syrup.  Nagel writes that this mineral rich syrup is thick and has a “characteristic smell and strong flavor.”  Aquamiel, however, ferments into sour and smelly fermented pulque within 36 to 48 hours.  And, traditionally made pulque is difficult to find, even in Mexico, as locations of the rare sources are closely guarded secrets and as pulque does not transport well (Nagel, “Agave:  Nectar of the Gods?”). 

The commercial development of agave nectar, Nagel learned, may have begun as a way to use waste products from tequila production, which also uses the agave plant (“Agave:  Nectar of the Gods?”).  In any case, refining agave nectar produces very high levels of fructose:  up to 84 percent (“Sugar by Any Other Name,” NUTRITION ACTION HEALTH LETTER, Jan/Feb 2010, page 4). 

This manmade fructose, as is true for HFCS, is “unbound” because it is no longer part of a plant’s other components, like its fiber and nutrients.  And, this manmade fructose has a different chemical structure than natural fructose.  Research is showing that as our bodies do not know how to manage this unbound fructose, they are turning it into fat, particularly fat that settles unhealthily around the abdomen.  In your body, explain Sally Fallon Morell and Rami Nagel in a 2009 article, agave nectar “may cause mineral depletion, liver inflammation, hardening of the arteries, insulin resistance leading to diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and obesity”  (“Worse Than We Thought,” WISE TRADITIONS, Spring 2009, 44-52).

Morell and Nagel interviewed Russ Bianchi, Managing Director and CEO of Adept Solutions, Inc., which is a “globally recognized food and beverage development company.”  Bianchi says agave nectar and high fructose corn syrup are made the same way, by “ `using a highly chemical process with genetically modified enzymes.’ ”  The process also uses “ `caustic acids, clarifiers, filtration chemicals and so forth in the conversion of agave starches’ “ (“Worse Than We Thought”). 

Morell and Nagel also heard from Dr. Martin Stutsman of the FDA’s Office of Labeling Enforcement, who explained that while corn syrup which is treated with enzymes that enhance fructose levels has to be labeled HFCS, the FDA does not require the label “High Fructose Agave Syrup.”  Dr. Stutsman did note that agave should be labeled as “hydrolyzed inulin syrup.”  So, Morell and Nagel conclude that labeling what is clearly a syrup a “nectar” is a misnomer the FDA is ignoring.  They also conclude that the difference between starches in corn and agave, when each is processed the same way, means that “agave syrup labels do not conform to FDA labeling requirements” and that the result is a “deepening” of the “false illusion of an unprocessed product.”  They further conclude that “if a sweetener contains manufactured fructose, it is neither safe, nor natural,” especially at such high fructose levels.

On October 2009, the Glycemic Research Institute (GRI) halted all agave trials, delisted agave, and banned agave products for use in foods and beverages—which means, according to the GRI web site, that “manufacturers who produce and use Agave and Agave Nectar in products are now warned that they can be held legally liable for negative health incidents related to ingestion of Agave” (www.glycemic.com/AgaveReport.htm). 

These actions were taken because diabetics in the test who had ingested agave nectar had life-threatening reactions and had to be hospitalized (Laura Johannes, “Agave Syrup May Not Be So Simple,” “The Wall Street Journal,” 27 Oct. 2009). GRI researchers believe that the “refined fructose in  Agave Nectar is much more concentrated than the fructose found in High Fructose Corn Syrup” (www.glycemic.com/AgaveReport.htm). 

GRI had performed three earlier trials, but none had included diabetics.  The second trial used agave from Western Commerce Corporation in California and researchers discovered that the agave syrup was adulterated with high fructose corn syrup to increase profits.  When the FDA came calling, company officials had left the country with millions of dollars in assets (www.glylcemic.com/AgaveReport.htm).  In the fourth trial that was halted, GRI used agave nectar from Volcanic Nectar, and it included a “significant amount of maple syrup” (Johannes). 

According to Morell and Nagel, yucca species (in the agave genus) contain “large quantities of saponins,” which are “toxic steroid derivatives, capable of disrupting red blood cells and producing diarrhea and vomiting.”  The saponins in agave should be avoided “during pregnancy or breastfeeding because they might cause or contribute to miscarriage by stimulating blood flow to the uterus.”  At the “very least,” conclude Morell and Nagel, agave products should carry a warning label indicating that the product may cause miscarriage” (“Worse Than We Thought”).

Morell and Nagel also warn that “since the FDA makes no effort to enforce food-labeling laws, consumers cannot be certain that what they are eating is what the label says it is.”  It’s a good warning to heed.  Read labels, question advertising claims, google strange ingredients, and share learning.  Remember, too, that labels change, so keep checking them.   And, avoid using products with lots of ingredients with chemical names.  Instead, use local, organic, nutrient-dense, whole foods and do your own cooking.          

For me, Agave Nectar is too risky.  For something sweet, I eat and cook a lot of local, organic fruit.  Honey Crisp apples are here this week!  I grow and gather and freeze organic, local berries for the winter.  Raw, unheated honey (the label should say unheated) from as local as possible is my sweetener of choice, followed by organic maple syrup.  I choose label-specified unheated honey from away if I cannot get local unheated honey.  I use sugar very sparingly for celebratory baked products.

Turkey Tracks: Cream of Tomato Soup

Turkey Tracks:  September 29, 2010

Cream of Tomato Soup

Late blight hit our tomatoes over the weekend.  I went out Sunday to harvest and realized that the long row of plants were all infected.  If you didn’t know, last year infected  tomato plants from nurseries grown down south and shipped north–mostly by the big box stores like Home Depot and Wal-Mart–wiped out the tomato harvest in New England.  Maine was no exception.  And, late blight also infects potatoes.  The spores from infected plants travel on air currents for as long a distance as forty miles. 

Given the fact that it rained here every day last summer for all of June, July, and the first of August last summer, my tomato plants did not grow and did get the blight.  I was able to harvest my potatoes, but the plants did have signs of the disease.  I carefully bagged all the plants and hoped for the best for this year.  We did not have a really cold winter, so I crossed my fingers.  Mostly, I think I got away with it as we’ve had a bumper crop of tomatoes before last Sunday–though many on the plants were still really green.  I think I need a small hoop house for the tomatoes.  I saw this one at the Common Ground Fair this year.  It’s called a giraffe hoop house, and it does not take up much space:

 

My potato plants seemed ok, though the harvest was light.  It’s been dry here this summer, and I was afraid to water too much as our well might go dry.  The tomatoes, as I’ve written, have been glorious!  I cannot complain.  But, I’ve spent a lot of time putting up sauce, and now I’m out of freezer space–especially since we just got our annual lamb for the freezer.  Thus, I started looking at other ways to use tomatoes.  And, voila!  I fell upon cream of tomato soup.  It’s dead easy and amazingly delicious!  I’ve combined recipes from several sources, so basically, I think it’s just mine.

Cream of Tomato Soup

Three or four pounds of ripe tomatoes–skinned, which is basically simple.  Just dip them in boiling water for 30 seconds or so, transfer them to cold water.  Use some ice if you have extra.  Take out the core with a small, sharp paring knife, slip off the skin, and drop the tomato into your pot.

Add 5 to 6 tablespoons of organic butter and some salt

Heat the whole mass, covered, until the tomatoes break down.  Cook, covered, for at least an hour.  Two is better.  There should be lots of liquid, but keep an eye on the pot so the liquid does not cook off.

Next, you have a choice.  I mix it up with a hand blender, which is an essential tool in my kitchen.  You could also put the hot soup into a blender and risk burning yourself.  You could mix it with a hand mixer.  You could strain it.  With the hand blender, I’m not straining out the seeds, but I don’t seem to notice them after I’ve used it. 

Next, you had heavy cream to the hot soup.  I am lucky to have local, organic raw cream.  Adding more dilutes the tomato taste, but makes the soup creamy.  Find the balance you like, season with additional salt if you like.

Eat and enjoy.  It’s beyond delicious if you’ve got good tomatoes! 

***

When we were done ripping out and bagging diseased plants on Sunday, we had two big boxes full of green tomatoes and beginning to ripen tomatoes.  We threw out the tomatoes that obviously were going to get late blight spots while ripening.   (Yukko!)  We wrapped the big Brandywines in newspaper and put them into a dark, cool closet.  We put the tomatoes that were tinged with color in the kitchen windows.  And, I cut up the green, hard paste tomatoes and put them into the dehydrator.  We’re going to have “dried green tomatoes” AND “fried green tomatoes.”  I plan to try adding them to soups and stews.  And, I’m going to try to reconstitute them and roast them with winter vegetables.  They should add a nice zing.

Roasting Green Tomatoes

One of my favorite food combos and recipes  in the fall is roasting green tomatoes cut into chunks, with dense sweet squash (like a buttercup) or sweet potatoes, with newly harvested small potatoes (like red or gold)   small, whole onions.   I toss them with olive oil, salt, and generous amounts of rosemary and/or thyme.  I’m pretty sure this combo comes from Anna Thomas’s THE VEGETARIAN EPICURE.  It doesn’t hurt to parboil the potatoes.  Roasting at 350 for about 45 minutes is about right.

Try it!  You’ll like it.     

I still have a pile of ripening tomatoes on the counter to process.  And, all the tomatoes in the kitchen windows, assuming they ripen without being ruined by late blight spots.  So, I’m not done with tomatoes yet. 

FEDCO sent our fall garlic yesterday–the planting of which is the last task in the garden.  Though the cold frame is loaded with seedlings just emerging.  And, oh yes, I have to clean this year’s garlic which is presently drying in the top of the garage.

 

 

Mainely Tipping Points 17: High Fructose Corn Syrup

Mainely Tipping Points 17

High Fructose Corn Syrup

 Despite the food industry’s attempt to tell us so, all food calories do not have the same impact on our bodies.  Nor are all sugars equal.  Most sweeteners are formed from three different sugars (sucrose, glucose, and fructose), and each has a different impact on the body. 

 Sugars are carbohydrates, and, according to Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride in GUT AND PSYCHOLOGY SYNDROME (2004), all carbohydrates are made of tiny molecules, called monosaccharides, or monosugars.  Glucose and fructose are monosugars, so do not need digestion.  They enter the gut directly.  Sucrose is a disaccharides, or double sugar, and it and other double sugars (lactose from milk and maltose from starches) require “quite a bit of” digestive work in a healthy body to reduce them to absorbable monosugars.  Unhealthy bodies harbor these undigested sugars in the gut, and an unfortunate chain of disease begins as these sugars feed “pathogenic bacteria, viruses, Candida and other fungi,” which themselves begin to produce toxic substances that “damage the gut wall and poison the whole body” (79-81).        

Most sweeteners have different sugar compositions.  High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is typically 42-55 percent fructose and 45-55 percent glucose.  Honey is 50 percent fructose, 44 percent glucose, and 1 percent sucrose.  Only raw sugar is 100 percent sucrose  (“Sugar by Any Other Name,” NUTRITION ACTION HEALTH LETTER, Center for Science in the Public Interest, Jan/Feb 2010, page 4).  But, as Sally Fallon Morell and Rami Nagel explain in WISE TRADITIONS (Spring 2009), the type of fructose in HFCS is not the same as fructose from fruit and our bodies do not know how to process it into energy (“Worse Than We Thought,” 44-52).

Industry creates HFCS from corn starch, which largely comes from genetically modified corn.  For an amusing, but serious explanation of how HFCS is made, take a look at the movie KING CORN (2007).  A not-so-funny fact surfaced recently according to Morell and Nagel :  nearly 50 percent of samples of commercial HFCS contained mercury, which was found also in nearly one-third of “55 brand-name food and beverage products where HFCS is the first- or second-highest labeled ingredient” (47).

 Fructose in fruit, report Morell and Nagel, is “part of a complex that includes fiber, fatty acids, vitamins and minerals.”  The fructose in HFCS is a free, unbound fructose with an important chemical difference.  Most fruit fructose is D-fructose, or levulose, but HFCS fructose is L-fructose, an artificial compound which has “the reversed isomerization and polarity of a refined fructose molecule.”  Thus, the fructose in HFCS is “not recognized in the human Krebs cycle for primary conversion to blood glucose in any significant quantity, and therefore cannot be used for energy utilization.”  Instead, HFCS, like all refined fructose sweeteners” is “primarily converted into triglycerides and adipose tissue (body fat).”  

Indeed, report Morell and Nagel, a new study published in the “Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, “found that obese people who drank a fructose-sweetened beverage with a meal had triglyceride levels almost 200 percent higher than obese people who drank a glucose-sweetened beverage with a meal.”  Chronic, high triglycerides, remind Morell and Nagel, cause increased insulin resistance, inflammation, and heart disease (47).

Nancy Appleton and G. N. Jacobs, in WELL BEING JOURNAL, reported that two published studies (2010) from Princeton University demonstrated that HFCS causes obesity in rats The researchers think that HFCS is more fattening than sugar because it is not bound to anything, which, in turn, allows it to be processed in the liver into fat—substantially abdominal fat—a risk factor for high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.  Sucrose is” metabolized by insulin from the pancreas and is more readily used as an energy source.”  Additionally, HFCS bypasses the body’s ability to create satiety, or feeling full (“High Fructose Corn Syrup and Obesity,” WELL BEING JOURNAL, Sept/Oct. 2010, 9-10).  Morell and Nagel note that since all fructose is metabolized in the liver, the livers of test animals “fed large amounts of fructose develop fatty deposits and cirrhosis, similar to problems that develop in the livers of alcoholics (48).”

Rats aren’t humans.  But epidemiologist Devra Davis in THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE WAR ON CANCER (2007) notes that industry has been very adept at both decrying and promoting animal studies:  “Where animal studies on the causes of cancer exist, industry faults them as not relevant to humans.  Yet when studies of almost identical design are employed to craft novel treatments and therapies, the physiological differences between animals and humans suddenly become insignificant” (xii).  So, Davis argues, dismissing animal studies is a type of reasoning that is both “morally flawed” and “ignores one simple fact:  the same basic structure of DNA is found in all mammals (8)”  Davis writes that she has witnessed in her professional life “the maturing of the science of doubt promotion,” or “the concerted and well-funded effort to identify, magnify and exaggerate doubts about what we could say that we know as a way of delaying actions to change the way the world operates” (xii).  Thus, “treating people like experimental animals in a vast and largely uncontrolled study,” while ignoring data from animal studies showing direct cause-and-effect data, is ”morally indefensible” (8).

Morell and Nagel report that HFCS entered the market in the early 1970s, but the FDA did not grant it GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) status until 1996, “after considerable pressure from the industry” (mainly Archer Daniels Midland and Cargill) as negative research begin to emerge.  Nevertheless, “HFCS represents the major change in the American diet over the last forty years” as it has replaced more expensive sugar in most soft drinks and is “increasingly replacing sugar in baked goods, bread, cereals, canned fruits, jams and jellies, dairy desserts and flavored yoghurts.”  This substitution is occurring despite research showing that while refined sugars have “empty, depleting, addictive calories,” HFCS is “actually worse for you” (44-45).

 The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CPSI) notes that industry has added so many sugars to processed foods that “the average American swallows 350 to 475 calories’ worth of added sugars each day,” all of which are empty calories (“Sugar Overload,” NUTRITION ACTION HEALTH LETTER, Jan/Feb 2010, 3-8).  Dr. David A. Kessler, a former FDA commissioner, in THE END OF OVEREATING (2009), focuses on how industry has added sugar, salt, and bad fats to processed foods, which is changing a pattern where “for thousands of years human body weight stayed remarkably stable” (3). 

The HFCS story gets worse.  A team of researchers at the University of California Los Angeles Jonsson Cancer Center released a study on 2 August 2010 revealing that pancreatic tumor cells use fructose to divide and proliferate.  Dr. Anthony Heaney said that tumor cells thrived on glucose, but used fructose to proliferate.  He specifically referred to Americans’ use of refined fructose consumption.  Our use of HFCS has increased 1000 percent between 1970 and 1990 (Maggie Fox, “Cancer Cells Feed on Fructose, Study Finds,” 2 Aug. 2010, Reuters).         

HFCS can cause high blood pressure.  A study from the University of Colorado Denver Health Sciences Center recorded the eating habits of over 4,500 adults to determine that amount of HFCS each was consuming.  Those consuming “more than 74 grams of HFCS (the equivalent of 2.5 servings of soft drinks) exhibited `significantly increased risk of developing hypertension.’ “  Indeed, “the study concluded that HFCS consumption can raise blood pressure in adults with no history of hypertension, independently of any other causes” (“High Fructose Corn Syrup = High Blood Pressure, WELL BEING JOURNAL, March/April 2010, 6).   

 Connections are being made between HFCS and gout.  Fructose increases uric acid, and uric acid causes gout.  A study of about 46,000 men who got “at least 12 percent of their calories from fructose” were” twice as likely to be diagnosed with gout” (“Sugar Overload,” NUTRITION ACTION HEALTH LETTER, Jan/Feb 2010, 7). 

 I found much more information showing that HFCS is a dangerous product that is causing humans significant harm.  It’s also likely that industry knows how dangerous it is, but uses it anyway because it is sweet and cheap.  Remember that industry is legally organized to behave this way.  What you can do is to eat nutrient-dense, organic, local foods to maintain your health.

Turkey Tracks: Bottled Sunshine

Turkey Tracks:  September 7, 2010

Bottled Sunshine

Fall is here.  The light is changing again, and it is unlikely we’ll feel like swimming any more with the arrival of cooler weather.  The trees have not really started to change much, though a few are tinged with color.  The beans and summer squashes are slowing down, but the tomatoes are coming in.  In Maine, September is the red month.

Our solo chickie, Orphan Annie is 2 months old this week.  Here she is, perched on her inside box, which she is rapidly outgrowing.  I put a screen over the top, and we are up to two books now to weight it down.  She was “OUT OUT” to be with us, but she is NOT reliable about pooping.

 

 She still looks like a female.  And, she scratches like one.  There are some little bumps where spurs might grow, so I have to get one of the big hens down and see if they have marks there.  I’m letting her loose more now with the big hens, as long as John or I are there to run interference.  The Wheatens are not aggressive with her, but her mother and the others are.  Especially if she is eating something they want.  She spends the day outside in a smaller pen that Rose lent me, and she hates it.  Maybe I’ll try penning her under the big coop later today.

We visited Rose and Pete last Sunday.  I wanted to see how the Barbanter chicks were developing.  They are about 3 weeks older than Annie.  Rose has mixed them into her flock, but they have a protective mother–the large Copper Black Maran to the right.  There are 4 chicks:  the fourth is in the upper right part of the picture.  Look for the speckles.  The red hens are Red Sex-Links.  And, they are egg-laying machines and very sweet.  Their beaks have been cut though; I think I wrote about that in an earlier post.  They lay a dusty rose-brown egg.

Rose and I first saw the Barbanters when we picked up the Marans and the Americaunas last March.  They are clean-legged and long and slender, with fluffy top-knots on their heads.  They lay a white egg, which in an egg box, can just bring the other colors alive.  Rose thinks one of these four chicks is a rooster.  Yeah!!  That means there will be more next spring… 

Here is a close-up of one of the chicks so you can see the coloring better.  The top knot is not yet fully developed.

 

I spent most of yesterday processing food.  I had enough tomatoes to make 2 quarts of sauce.  I have to freeze my sauce since it has oil in it.  The recipe mostly comes from Anna Thomas’s THE VEGETARIAN EPICURE. 

Tomato Sauce:  Bottled Sunshine

I scald the tomatoes, skin them, cut them into chunks and throw them into a WIDE stainless steel skillet that’s about 5 inches deep.  You want to spread out the sauce as much as possible.  I add a good 1/4 cup of REALLY GOOD olive oil, some salt (I only use minimally processed sea salt), and turn on the heat.  When the tomatoes have broken down, I add 5 or 6 garlic cloves–just smashed or cut into big pieces and a handful or two of fresh basil leaves.  Cook down the mixture until the excess water has cooked off and the olive oil is starting to pool on the top.  At the end, you have to stir more frequently.  Spoon into canning jars, turn upside down on the counter until cool, then freeze.  Remember to leave enough room for freezing expansion.  Now you have bottled some sunshine for a cold winter day. 

 

We don’t eat pasta very often, so it’s quite a treat to reheat one of these quarts, spoon it over penne pasta, and top it all off with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.  It’s a complete meal with some French bread to sop up the sauce and a salad.  But, perhaps a better use is to add one of the jars, especially pint jars, to a chicken bone-broth soup. 

 

Roast Chicken Bone Broth

Bones have disappeared from American supermarkets.  But, bones are full of fabulous minerals.  It’s one of the healthiest things you can make.  And, it’s dead easy.

I roast a chicken about once a week.  Remember that we raised our current chickens with Rose and Pete Thomas, and we got a slower-growing type that we didn’t slaughter until they were 12 weeks old.  That meant that their bones had fully developed–unlike chickens raised to be 4 to 5 pounds in 6 to 8 weeks.  Having seen this process first hand, I can tell you that raising a chicken to be that big in that period of time is so not ok on so many levels besides the obvious one involving what nutrients they possess. 

I use about a 3-inch high roasting pan, and I make a layer of chunked vegetables:  celery (not too much; it’s strong), onion (the more the sweeter), carrots, and garlic.  I salt it and drizzle fat over it.  I used to use olive oil, but I’m moving toward using coconut oil or rendered duck fat, or chicken fat since they take high heat better.  (I’m saving the olive oil for colder uses.)  Put the chicken on top–after drizzling it with salt and pepper inside and out.  You can put some lemon and herbs inside the cavity.  Use whatever seems good to you and what you have on hand.  Sometimes I sprinkle dried herbs over the top, though I vastly prefer fresh herbs.

After you’ve roasted the chicken and eaten your first meal, take the meat off the bones and put ALL the bones (yes, the ones you’ve gotten from people’s plates), the roasted veggies, and the juices into a bowl for overnight storage.  Put some water into the roasting pan and scrape up the dark bits and pour that into your bowl of bones.  The next day, or the day after that, put the bone mixture into a kettle, fill it with water, salt it, and simmer it for 6 to 8 hours or so.  Replenish water from time to time.  Pour off the liquid through a strainer.  Pick out the used-up meat bits and carrots for the dogs, and throw out the bones.  Let the broth cool before putting it in the refrigerator.

You’ll have enough for a delicious soup, for drinking as a hot drink, and/or to freeze. 

You know, the other thing that is missing from American supermarkets is something that Europeans take for granted.  When they buy a chicken, they get the head/neck and feet attached.  In other words, they buy the WHOLE bird.  We butchered our chickens this way, and let me tell you, the broth made with the neck, head, and feet added back in insanely delicious.  All the neck bones have so much good stuff in them, and the feet are full of gelatin that makes the broth chill out as thick as jello. 

Start asking for slower growing chickens from your LOCAL farmers (Silver Cross or, even better, Freedom Rangers, which are better foragers).  And, ask for the WHOLE carcass.  And USE IT ALL.  The cost of an organic chicken only seems prohibitive until you start using the whole thing.  John and I get–from about a 4 1/2 pound whole chicken–4 meat meals and 6 soup meals.  The cost of the chicken divided by 10 meals makes it seem more reasonable.  It’s definitely healthier, which subtracts from the cost of chronic illness.

Green Bean Overflow

We had at least 3 pounds of beans to process this week after picking up our food from Hope’s Edge, our CSA, and picking our own garden.  I have Dragon’s Tongue beans–the seeds were a gift from Mike and Tami last year.  They are a colorful, lavender and cream striped bean that is big, flat, and very nutty sweet.  I also have the old green, bush bean standby, Provider.  From Hope’s Edge, we got purple beans (they turn green when cooked), yellow beans, and a tender green bean.  Here’s a picture of a mixture of all these beans ready to be steamed.

   

 Aren’t they pretty?

But, it’s a LOT of beans.  So, after we eat some steamed and with fresh lemon juice and fresh butter, I freeze some in smaller packets.  They are not great to eat as they tend to get a bit mushy.  But, they are great in soups in the winter.  I throw them in a few minutes before the soup is ready, just to heat them through.  I save a few handfuls from the batch, refrigerate them, and use them to make a cold salad that’s quite delicious and that I discovered while combining leftovers with fresh produce.

Cold Green Bean Salad

Combine the cold beans with some freshly cut-up cucumber, some halved SWEET cherry tomatoes (we have Sun Gold here), and some garlicky, mustardy herbed vinaigrette.  The dressing is simple:  smash a garlic clove with some salt  in a mortar with a pestle or a bowl with the back of a spoon.  Add in some Dijon mustard (I’ve grow to love the extra bold kind)–say a tablespoon–some red-wine vinegar–say 3 tablespoons–and slowly stream in some REALLY GOOD (extra virgin, first cold pressed) olive oil while whisking with a whisk or a fork.  When the mixture thickens, taste it to see if you need more olive oil.  Add herbs–whatever you have–and pepper.

Zucchini

The zucchini are finally slowing down.  I’ve got at least one more pile to grate and freeze today.  Like the beans, small grated batches are good to throw into winter soups.  Grated zucchini can also be used to thicken a soup, much like the French use potato to thicken their vegetable soups.

 

 

  

 

Turkey Tracks: Swimming Through The Heat Wave

Turkey Tracks:  September 4, 2010

Swimming Through the Heat Wave

This week has been sooooooo hot!

I know we’re spoiled in Maine with regard to heat.  When heat and humidity strike, we are wimps.  We wilt, and we wilt fast. 

Our personal strategy is to don swimming suits, drive down to the river (4-5 minutes), swim until we’re cool, go home and keep our swimming suits on until we have to go back to cool off again.  Some people bring chairs and just sit in the water, forming groups of people who visit and laugh and splash water.  Others bring blankets and books and picnic lunches and spend the day.  There always seems to be room for everyone.  You can swim as far as you want upriver, which is a good workout.  Or, you can just get deep, tread water, and visit with a friend you’ve called and said “I’m soooo hot; meet me for a swim.”  I put a picture of Shirttail Point in some posts back, if you want to see our swimming hole.   

The river is glorious.  It’s clean and clear; you can see all the way to the bottom all the time.  The top few inches are warm, but not far down, the water is deliciously cool or, even, cold.   The water feels silky on your skin and leaves it soft and supple.  It does not dry you out like a chlorinated pool.  It’s living water.  I’ve thought a lot about swimming in natural water this summer.  I’m reading more and more about the dangers of all the chemicals we use.  And, how our skin is not a barrier at all, but a tremendous absorber of all these chemicals–which are not mediated by the body, but go right into our bloodstreams.  Our bathing and drinking water, for instance, is loaded with chlorine and fluorides.  Both are deadly for humans.  And, I don’t think anyone really knows how much is too much with repeated exposures.  Or, what the impact is on children who are still developing. 

I’ve just finished Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride’s GUT AND PSYCOLOGY SYNDROME–or, GAPS, which is primarily about the connections between gut health and neurological disorders.   But, it’s also about the connections between gut health and food allergies, which is, apparently, a big part of my food allergy issues.    McBride argues that swimming in chlorinated pools is dangerous on two levels:  immersion in poisoned water and the layer of gas just over the water that we breathe into our lungs when swimming.   I’ve had two bad, foolish exposures to cleaning in an enclosed environment with chlorine, and I know that I injured my lungs both times.  It took months for them to heal.  McBride also argues that we are not getting access to needed bacteria–such as is found in natural water, around pets, on farms, etc., that we need to develop strong immune systems and to populate our guts.   

I love to swim.  I love everything about being in water.  I am a Pisces, after all.  And I come from a family of swimmers.  But, I don’t think that I’m going to swim in any more chlorinated pools.  I don’t like the way they make me feel.  I can never get the chlorine off of me, so I smell it all day.  It dries out my skin and hair terribly.  And, I seem to have a constant running nose and cough when I use a chlorinated pool.  I’ve learned mucus production is a clear sign of a struggling body. 

In the little town in Georgia where my mother grew up, they swam in a pool fed by three artesian wells–so that the pool had new water every 24 hours.  And, we’ve found enzymes for our hot tub that work just fine.  Surely, with all our technological abilities, we can figure out ways to clean water without dumping poisonous chemicals into them.  Meanwhile, I’m going to enjoy swimming in season and finding other ways to exercise off season.

Hurricane Earl backwashed through here this morning, so things have cooled off a little.  I hope we get more swimming time though, before it gets too cold.

       

Turkey Tracks: The Union Fair 2010

Turkey Tracks:  September 4, 2010

The UnionFair 2010

The local agricultural fairs begin in mid to late August.  For us, the Union Fair kicks off the season, followed by the Windsor Fair and The Maine Organic Farmers and Growers Association (MOFGA) fair, better known as The Common Ground Fair.  Union and Windsor have TONS of food, carnival rides, entertainers, 4H competitions, serious oxen and horse pulling competitions, pie throwing and pig chasing contests, and all sorts of produce demonstrations and contests–from food to handwork like quilts.  MOFGA celebrates the union of man and the earth and glories in its abundance.  It falls in late September, and I’ll likely post about our trip there this year.         

One highlight of the Union and Windsor Fairs is the harness racing.  Usually, there are 8 to 9 races, and you can place $2 bets.  We go, take healthy food for snacks, and no more than $20 each, and spend a lovely afternoon contemplating racing horses.  John’s sister Maryann loves to come from Boston and go with us.  Usually we go early to see the farm animals, but this year, with one thing and another, we got there nearly at post time.

Here’s the first picture I took, as it is emblematic of one side of the fair:

We did pass the chicken house before the races.  We saw a new heritage turkey breed called Royal Palm–quite a gorgeous fellow.  You can see more information on this breed at http://www.efowl.com/Royal_Palm_Turkeys_p/1302.htm.   He is “displaying” and his head is showing blue, if he’s like wild turkeys, because the thinks the female next to him is a real charmer.  Turkeys are quite social and will talk to you as long as you stand and talk back. 

 

   

And, from last year, a picture of local celebrities:  Belted Galloway cows, or the “Oreo” cows.  They are a meat cow, and every single one has these exact markings.

 

 

 

 Here’s a pair of the most amazing pair of horses we watched win the pulling contests from last year.  You can’t imagine how determined they are, how they work together, how they want to do the job.  Sometimes I can hardly watch, especially when they get to weights that they cannot pull. 

Here is a picture of one race, seconds before crossing the finishing line:

We didn’t make any money.  We never do.  But we didn’t lose all that much either.  And, we had a glorious, sun-filled afternoon, fun afternoon.

We’re not going to Windsor this year as, sadly, due to the economy, they are not running live harness races, but are showing “simulcast” races piped in from somewhere else.  For us, the races are about much more than the betting, so we aren’t drawn there just to bet.

Mainely Tipping Points 16: WOLF TOTEM

Tipping Points 16

WOLF TOTEM

 Millions of Chinese have purchased Jiang Rong’s novel WOLF TOTEM (2004), published in the west in 2008.  The novel, according to its English translator, sparked a heated debate about the national character of the Chinese people.  I would argue that Rong’s metaphors apply to Americans as well.

 In 1969, student Rong took part in Mao’s Cultural Revolution where up to 20-million young city dwellers relocated to rural areas.  Rong went to a remote grassland, Inner Mongolia’s East Ujimqin Banner, and for 11 years lived with and grew to love deeply the traditional herdsmen.  Called Olonbulag Banner in the novel, this grassland produced Genghis Khan and the famed Mongol hordes of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries who overran Rong’s Han ancestors. 

Rong experiences the moment when the Chinese people, who are agrarians, occupy the grassland, try to farm it, and in the process destroy the delicate balance of shepherds, sheep (the right animal for the grassland), and the predator wolves that are the linchpin of this system.  In scant months, the wolves are hunted with military vehicles and slaughtered with rifles.  In a few years, a lush portion of the pristine grassland is fouled by farmers and turns to desert.  In a few decades, the whole grassland becomes a desert, and the herdsmen are penned into individually owned, fenced enclaves and a lifestyle that is a parody of their traditional culture.  

What has been lost is what one Chinese student in the Olonbulag, Zhang, calls “the middle way.”  The Han Chinese, he says, prefer extremes where the east wind overpowers the west wind, or vice versa.  But, the grasslanders use the contradictions inherent in their world, specifically the wolf, who controls the “big life” of the grassland by being a strong predator of the “little lives.”  What derives is a balanced, sustainable system where all within the system must be strong to survive (376).     

 The Han Chinese, says Zhang, “know nothing about life on the grassland.  All they care about is quantity, quantity, quantity.  In the end, they’ll lose everything by being single-minded.”  And, predicts Zhang, “millions of peasants keep having babies and reclaiming the land.  The population equal to an entire province is born every year.  Who can stop all those people from coming to the grassland?” (376).

Rong’s character in the novel, Chen Zhen, visits 30 years after his departure.  Zhen sees that the grassland can no longer support the life it once supported and that livestock numbers are being reduced.  The grassland cannot even support the horses whose “hooves once shook the world” (510).  Motorcycles have to be used instead.  “Mice,” says Zhen, “are kings on the wolfless grassland” (511).  

Zhen fears, when he sees an area supporting huge, penned sheep flocks, that what he is seeing is “a false prosperity,” experienced just before the Inner Mongolian grassland dies off (514).  He discovers that much pasture land is leased to outsiders by Mongolians who have become drunks.  One of the old-timers reports that these “outsiders” from farming-herding areas “don’t give a damn about capacity, so they raise two or three thousand sheep on land that can only support five hundred.  Their sheep graze the land for a few years and turn it into sand; then they get out of their lease, sell their sheep, and go back home to do business with the money they got here” (518).

 Zhen, whose career has been spent studying system models, economic politics and urban and rural issues in China, makes the following assessment:  “We’ve witnessed the `impressive victory’ of an agrarian society over a nomadic herding society.  Current government policy has developed to the stage of `one country, two systems,’ but deeply rooted in the Han consciousness is still `many areas, one system.’  It doesn’t matter if it’s farmland or pastureland, forest or river, city or countryside; all they want to do is mix them all up to create a `unified’ flavor.  With the `impressive victory’ has come a tremendous amount of subsidies, but the grassland could not return even if the subsidies continued for the next century” (510). 

Already, too, children are detached from the workings of nature.  A teenager riding a motorcycle is seen killing a hawk with a rifle.  He is oblivious to the fact that the hawk kills the mice whose overpopulation is helping to kill the grassland.  Once powerful and necessary hunting and guarding dogs, if they are kept at all, have become pampered pets (512). 

 In the spring of 2002, Zhen gets a call from his old friends on the Olonbulag.  Eighty percent of the pastureland is now desert.  The whole area, say the callers, will now be changed from “settlement herding to raising cows and sheep, more or less like the animal pens in your farming villages.  Every family will build rows of big houses” (524).

 Zhen did not know what to say.  But, Rong ends the novel with a “yellow-dragon sandstorm” that “rose up outside his window, blocking the sky and the sun.  All of Beijing was shrouded in the fine, suffocating dust.  China’s imperial city was turned into a hazy city of yellow sand” (524).  The sand storm embodies the national character of the Han Chinese:  they are destroying their habitat because they refuse to understand and live within nature’s mechanisms.     

Dan O’Brien, in an article for EATING WELL magazine (“Buffalo Are Back,” March/April 2009, 49-59), writes that Americans killed 60 million buffalo in the late 1800s.  By 1900 only 400 survived.  Today, writes O’Brien, “the Plains are broken up by fences that hold cattle destined for feedlots.  Most of the native prairie has been plowed under, leaving the land bare to the ravages of wind and water erosion.  Native grasses have been replaced with government-subsidized commodity crops, such as corn, cotton, and wheat.  These crops grow with the aid of petroleum-based fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides that run off into the water.  With less available habitat, native animals and birds are being squeezed out.  To complete the circle, most of the subsidized corn is fed to the cattle that replaced the buffalo” (the right animal for the grassland). 

Lierre Keith, in THE VEGETARIAN MYTH (2009), notes that 99.8 percent of our native prairie is gone, planted to industrially raised corn, wheat, and soy (40).  Nature, she writes, sees bared soil as an emergency and responds with quick-growing annuals (32).  Industrial agrarians plow the soil, creating long rows of one plant separated by bared soil, which results in topsoil loss and a lack of nutrients in industrial food. 

History shows clearly, writes Keith, that the repeated result of grain-based systems is population growth, topsoil loss, and the eventual collapse of a bioregion.  The “last people who know how to live sustainably—how to integrate themselves into the living landscape of grasslands and rivers—are [being] pushed off by the agriculturalists, to disappear into a hostile world where, like the [native] animals, they will surely die” (51).     

The world population is too great; there is no more “new” land.   Keith says, “we’re out of topsoil, out of water, out of species, and out of space in the atmosphere for the carbon we can’t seem to stop burning” (51). 

We are all in Rong’s space of “false prosperity.” The sand storm made by our national character has already arrived.  Minimize local impact by supporting organic (sustainably grown), nutrient-dense foods.  

If you’re looking for more information, see David Montgomery’s DIRT:  THE EROSION OF CIVILIZATIONS (2010) and DIRT!  THE MOVIE.

Mainely Tipping Points 14: Good Fats, Bad Fats

Mainely Tipping Points 14

Good Fats, Bad Fats

           

Since the late 1970s, Americans have been encouraged by nutritionists, doctors, the government, and industry to eat less fats, especially the saturated fats once traditional in the American diet.  Yet, according to Dr. Mary Enig, an expert in the chemistry of fats, and Sally Fallon, both of the Weston A. Price Foundation, saturated fatty acids constitute at least 50 percent of our cell membranes and are what give our cells necessary stiffness and integrity.  Saturated fats play such an important role in the health of our bones that at least 50 percent of our dietary fats should be saturated.  And among their many other benefits, saturated fats enhance our immune systems (“The Skinny on Fats,” http://www.westonaprice.org/know-your-fats/526-skinny-on-fats.html). 

Today, Americans are deficient in the healthy fatty acids which support the healthy functioning of their bodies.

Beginning in 1980, the government recommended a diet which substituted carbohydrates for healthy fats and which has resulted in national obesity and chronic disease problems—as many scientists of that era feared.  The fats Americans now consume most often are denatured, highly refined, highly unstable, and are too rich in omega-6 fatty acids. 

So, what kinds of fats are healthy and necessary for humans?  Caroline Barringer, writing in the current July/August 2010 issue of WELL BEING JOURNAL and drawing on the work of Enig and Fallon, walks readers through the healthy fats terrain in a few short pages  (“Fats:  Safer Choices for  Your Frying Pan & Your Health,” 30-38).  You can buy a copy at Good Tern, Fresh Off the Farm, or online.  Enig and Fallon’s fully comprehensive information is available on-line.  See, especially, “The Skinny on Fats” and “The Oiling of America” at http://www.westonaprice.org. 

Understanding the chemical structures of fats and what industrial processing does to those structures helps one begin to understand which fats are dangerous and why.  Remember, Barringer reminds, that all fats are combinations of the following fatty acids.  For instance, beef tallow (which most of us use only to feed our birds in winter) is very safe for cooking and frying and is 50 to 55 percent saturated fat, 40 percent monounsaturated fat, and only 3 percent polyunsaturated fat.

Saturated fatty acid (SFAs) molecules are straight so can stack together tightly, which is why they are solid or semi-solid at room temperature.  The straight nature of SFA molecules makes them very stable, even at high temperatures, and they do not turn rancid easily.

Monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFAs) molecules have a slight bend.  They can still stack closely, but not as tightly as saturated fatty acid molecules, which is why they are liquid at room temperature, but semi-solid when refrigerated.  MUFAs are relatively stable and do not turn rancid easily.

Polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFAs) molecules have two bends.  They cannot stack together well.  They are unstable, even at room temperature, and are easily damaged by heat, light, moisture, and exposure to oxygen.  They require refrigeration and turn rancid quickly and easily.  Omega 3 and 6 essential fatty acids are in the PUFA category.  But, consume only small amounts of some PUFAs and only if they are organic, unrefined, first cold-pressed or cold pressed, or expeller pressed, or extra virgin. 

 Industrial processing methods affect radically the structure of fats.  Traditionally, Barringer notes, seed and nut oils were extracted by pressing.  Industry crushes the seed/nuts; heats them to 230 degrees or more; presses them using high-pressures to squeeze out all fats, which generates further heat; and uses hexane (a solvent) to extract the last bits of oil.  (Hexane, a petroleum derivative, may cause infertility and central nervous system depression.)  Industry attempts to “boil off” the hexane, but some remains.  If the seeds/nuts are not organic, the hexane acts as a magnet for the chemicals sprayed on the nuts/seeds.  So, the final product is rancid, refined so no nutrients remain, and poisoned. 

Further, Enig and Fallon explain that the damaged molecules form “free radicals” with edges like razor blades.  Barringer notes that these free radicals “wreak havoc on the body, attacking and damaging DNA/RNA, cell membranes, vascular walls, and red blood cells,” which, in turn, leads to further problems.”  

Some of these highly processed oils, which are mostly PUFAs,  then undergo hydrogenation, which transforms oils that are liquid at room temperature to solids, which extends shelf life.  Margarine and shortening, for instance, are hydrogenated PUFA oils.  (MUFAs and some SFAs can be hydrogenated.)  Tiny particles of nickel oxide are added to the oil, then the mixture is exposed to hydrogen gas in a high-heat, high-pressure reactor which chemically straightens any bends in the molecule.  These altered molecules are trans fats.  Now, the oil is thin, watery, and smells foul as it is rancid.  Multiple thickeners and fillers are added, and the oil is steam cleaned (more heat) to remove the odor.  The grey-colored oil is bleached.  The resulting substance is vegetable shortening.  Artificial colors and flavors can be added to produce margarine. 

Our bodies, Barringer explains, do not recognize these kinds of fats as foods.  If we consume them regularly, “we lose the ability to utilize healthy fats properly.”   Further, when healthy fatty acids are displaced by these highly processed fake fats, our bodies become subject to cascading, serious health problems, like cancer, diabetes, birth defects, sexual dysfunction, heart disease, and poor bone health. 

So, Barringer warns, avoid trans fats “like the plague”—which is not easy because the FDA allows industry to claim “zero trans fats” when trans fats are present.  Read labels and look for hydrogenated oils, which are trans fats.  Do not buy products where the following words appear on the label:  refined, hydrogenated, partially hydrogenated, or cold-processed (which is not cold- pressed.)

The safest fats for cooking are lard (pork fat); ghee (melted butter with the milky solids skimmed); tallow (beef and lamb fat); chicken, duck, and goose fat; coconut oil (organic and virgin); and red palm oil or palm kernel oil (organic and virgin).  You can, also, combine these fats.  Barringer likes coconut oil (92 percent saturated fat with powerful antimicrobial and antifungal properties and lauric acid–a medium chain fatty acid found in breast milk) combined with ghee or lard.  (I buy coconut oil by the case online from Wilderness Family Naturals.)  Barringer says red palm oil has a “pungent, paprika-like flavor” that is “best suited for roasting root vegetables,” like roasting red and white potatoes; red, yellow, and orange peppers; fresh garlic, and herbs.

Properly pressed olive oil, peanut oil, avocado oil, macadamia nut oil, and sesame oil are good for stir-frying.  Peanut oil should have limited use as it has a high percentage of omega-6 fatty acid. 

The following oils are unsafe for any kind of heat exposure:  vegetable/soybean oil, corn oil, flax oil, hemp oil, pine nut oil, pumpkin oil (roasted or raw), safflower oil, sunflower oil, and grapeseed oil.  These oils are almost 50 percent omega-6 fatty acids and should be consumed in moderation.  It is hard to find unprocessed versions.  Also, corn and soybean oil should be avoided as they are likely to be genetically modified and are grown with heavy pesticide levels.

Barringer, like Enig and Fallon, concludes that canola and cottonseed oil are unsafe to consume under any circumstances.  Canola is a highly processed industrial oil and does not belong in the human digestive tract.  Plus it is almost entirely a genetically modified crop.  Cotton is “one of the most genetically modified, pesticide-laden crops in America.”  And, asks Barringer, “when did cotton and its seed become a food?” 

Butter, especially real butter, is practically a medicine.  Butter, Barringer explains, is a cofactor that allows our bodies to utilize effectively calcium and other minerals we consume.  Butter contains omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in small amounts in a healthful ratio.  Butter contains conjugated linoleic fatty acids (CLA) for better weight management, muscle growth, and protection from cancer.  Butter contains the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K that help us absorb the trace minerals it also contains, among them zinc, selenium, iodine, chromium, and manganese.  Butter contains butyric fatty acids that provide “proper inflammatory and anti-inflammatory responses to help us heal effectively.”  And, the fat in butter “enhances brain function and increases cell membrane integrity.”    

Eat organic butter!  Eat lots of it every day, especially if you can find raw butter.  (But, not with a lot of bread, which is a carbohydrate.)

Turkey Tracks: Blackberries

Turkey Tracks:  August 14, 2010

Blackberries

“I want that jelly with the berries in it,” Talula announced this summer.  She’ll be 4 in a few weeks, and she loves to be in the kitchen with me.  She loves to eat, is discerning about food tastes already, and asks to help cook at every step. 

The jelly with the berries was blackberry jelly–an older jar made before I figured out how to get rid of the seeds with a food mill.  So far, Talula only uses it on morning toast.  She has not yet discovered the way my grandmother and I eat it:  spread on pancakes with lots of butter.  Or, a dab of it on a hot, short biscuit dripping with butter.  (Southern biscuits are not high and puffy; they’re “short” and flat, more like a pie crust. 

I’m down to one jar of blackberry jelly, and today I went and picked 4 1/2 gallons of fresh blackberries.  It took about two hours.  I was ecstatic since you never know from year to year if you’ll get more.  Last year, for instance, we didn’t get any tomatoes, so we went for two years on what I had put up year before last.  (I used the last jar of roasted tomatoes this past week.) 

It takes a LOT of berries to make a pint jar of blackberry jelly–something most people who take jelly for granted don’t know.  Homemade blackberry jelly or jam, made from wild blackberries, is a thing of joy.  It bears no relationship to what you can buy in a store.  And, it has no added “help,” like pectin.  You just have to pick a red berry or two as you go along for the pectin.  In my family, blackberry jelly was prized, and one never wasted it or ate a lot of it at one time.  One conserved blackberry jam, one treasured it, one let each bite linger on the tongue, because one pint jar of it represented not only a lot of work, but the luck of finding a blackberry patch where one could pick enough berries to make a pint jar of jam.     

Blackberries are part of my childhood.  I learned BLACKBERRY in the summers when we were in Reynolds, Georgia, the home of my mother’s parents.  When blackberries were in season, the adults would organize all the visiting cousin children and would drive us to a patch one or the other of them had found.  We had to pick until there were enough for, at least, a cobbler for dinner, which was eaten in the middle of the day.  There was always great drama since copperhead moccasin snakes love blackberry patches, and we were always scared to wade too deep into the bushes.  After dropping off the berries at the house for the cook, the adults took us swimming in the local pool at the edge of the swamp where free-flowing artesian water that was ice cold cleaned us up, soothed scratches, and made us really hungry for dinner.  

I’ve never found a recipe for those cobblers.  The crust was more like pie crust, crunchy and flakey.  And I don’t think the cobbler was lined, like a pie.  I don’t remember the inside being too watery.  I don’t remember the kind of dish they used either.  I don’t think it was a pie plate.  They used either whip cream or ice cream, but mostly, whip cream.  My father loved blackberry cobbler, and he was always a chief organizer for picking them.

Because the family gathered in the summer in Reynolds, there could be a crowd at dinner.  I remember 10 or 12 people at the table.  And, sometimes the children had to overflow to the kitchen table.  There were probably not enough berries left after the cobbler for jelly making.  Grandmother’s cook made the dinner and the cobbler.  But grandmother always made the blackberry jelly and, at holidays, special cakes and fudge.  I think the recipe I’ve evolved is pretty close to hers.  When my mother was sick with cancer, I picked, cooked, and made two jars for her, which I mailed to her with special packing.  She knew how special they were, what a gift I was sending her.  She didn’t want to take the jars to the dining room in the home where she was living.  No one else would understand, but mother knew BLACKBERRY, and she was not going to share with anyone who thought they were eating plain old jelly.   

I’m so lucky to have access to a dynamite wild blackberry patch.  I’ve been checking up on it over the past few weeks, and today was the day where the stars aligned so I could go pick.  I donned heavy pants, found my wellie boots (I only tripped and fell down once in them this outing), found an old hat, organized a pail I could line with big baggies, a rope to tie the pail to my waist so I could pick with both hands–something Maine friend Margaret taught me–filled up my water bottle, and headed out.  The patch is about 40 minutes away from our house. 

I’ll make the jelly in small batches, starting tomorrow.  I froze 3 gallons so they won’t go bad until I get to them since the full bounty of summer food is pouring forth right now. 

Next summer, I’ll have to try to teach Talula BLACKBERRY.  It’s harder when she can’t learn to pick them.  Their school starts in mid-August, so they miss the full richness of the Maine harvest.   

 

Turkey Tracks: Hope’s Edge, Our Community Shared Agriculture Farm

Turkey Tracks:  August 14, 2010  

Hope’s Edge:   Our CSA (Community Shared Agriculture) Farm  

We’ve belonged to Hope’s Edge, our CSA farm, for at least five years now.  Our pick-up this year is on Friday, and I look forward all week to driving out to the farm.  It’s a beautiful, serene space.   

What’s cool about Hope’s Edge is that Farmer Tom does not own it.  The owner and her daughter live in the farmhouse, and they have allowed Tom to build a CSA and his own house on it.  There are horses, some rescue ponies, a milk cow and a new calf, and chickens.  Sometimes there are some sheep as well.     

Hills circle the fields, barns, farmhouse, the CSA sheds, and Farmer Tom’s house.   A pond nestles down the hill from the barn, providing a cooling off place for hot CSA workers.  This is a view of the barn and stables from the CSA shed.  Look at how blue the sky can be in Maine.  The old farmhouse is on the far side of the barn.  In the foreground are some garden beds and the first of a line of apple trees.  

  

Here’s the CSA shed where we pick up our food.  Inside are refrigerators, some cooking equipment, tables, and LOTS of food.  Behind the shed are more garden beds, a huge oak with a tire swing, and a frog pond that drove our grandchildren quite crazy.  To the right there is another small barn and the entry road.  Across that road are planted crops, including a strawberry bed that gets bigger each year.   

  

Here’s a bigger picture of the mural.     

  

We picked up over 12 pounds of food this past Friday.  I could not resist putting it in my garden/mushroom basket and taking a picture:  

  

Cukes, zukes, tomatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, two kinds of beans (regular and Romano flat), lettuce, herbs, potatoes, an eggplant, a cabbage, carrots, and garlic.  I could have cut a flower arrangement as well, but we were tired after a morning in Augusta, and we have lots of flowers in our own garden.  

It doesn’t get better than this kind of food, does it?  It nourishes our bodies and our spirits.  

Ratatouille, I think.  But with some of the mint I brought from Maine.  And, some basil from our herb garden.