Don’t know what to do with all the fruit on your plum trees? or apple or pear trees? Today’s Seattle Times has an article about City Fruit. Volunteers from this amazing group will pick the fruit from your trees and donate the harvest to food banks. Not only that, City Fruit offers instruction in pruning, pest management, and even helps you find workshops to learn canning and preserving. You can also register your trees on a city fruit tree map, “an important but often overlooked element in the urban forest canopy.” Where did all those fruit trees in our backyards come from? Some people think they were planted as part of Victory Gardens during World Wars I and II.
An interesting op-ed in Sunday’s New York Times promotes the idea of creating vertical gardens as part of urban high-rise buildings worldwide.
A tweet from food writer Jonathan Kauffman brought this article from the Journal Star to my attention. Finally, changes in the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) federal supplemental food program allow particpants to purchase fruits and vegetables. Until now, cereal, milk, 100% fruit drinks, eggs, peanut butter and dried beans could be purchased, but not fresh fruits or vegetables or bread. The changes are consistent with American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations that diets contain less cholesterol and saturated fat and more fiber, fruits, and vegetables.
August 25th, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Just got back from vacation in Nashville. Never spent more than ten bucks on a meal thanks to all the great places like this! The sign made me laugh! What a great town.
August 24th, 2009 | 3 Comments »
Ballard. It’s so hot!!!! (hint of sarcasm) It is, but we forget about why. It was hot before it got hot. Hattie’s Hat is still doing it. It’s not the food nor the drinks or just the room, but the combo of it all that makes Hattie’s great. There is so much to hype about Ballard Ave, but let’s not forget about the places that still shine and give Ballard character.
(Editor’s note: photo is of Hattie’s Hat Corned Beef Hash and Poached Eggs.)
August 24th, 2009 | 1 Comment »
While at the ID night market this past Saturday, I spied this snack shop. I am so curious about it and wonder what type of snacks they serve or sell there. Does anybody know? As curious as I am, I never happen to be around when this shop is actually open.
August 24th, 2009 | No Comments »
I don’t often find something to enjoy while paying my bills, but when the “@ Your Service” customer newsletter slipped out of my Seattle Public Utilities Bill, the heading, “Planting Strips Make Great Gardens” caught my eye and made me smile. The city urges you to go ahead and plant a garden in your parking strip- just make sure you don’t cover the meter box.
Later in the day, I picked up a copy of “Real Change” and read an article about Cascadian Edible Landscapes. The goal of this group is to “supply plant starts to people so they (can) transform their yards into gardens” and “put a spin on the concept of community gardens by havng neighbors come together as a collective to share their bounty with each other.” For a sliding scale fee, Michael Selig Soulseed, Jake Harris, and Stephanie Snyder-Soulseed will help teach you how to grow your garden. They can help get you started raising chickens in the backyard too! The group also turns city median strips into “horns of plenty.”
August 23rd, 2009 | No Comments »
First I had to build up the soil in this old flower bed. I dug in chicken manure and Cedar Grove compost. Then my boyfriend, Tom, and I planted 5 tomato plants- too close together as it turned out. The tomato plants grew like crazy. Tom poured the remainder of a keg of beer over the plants, which he thinks made them grow so well. I say it was all my hard work and toil and all that chicken manure!
The tomato plants grew so tall they were hanging over the sidewalk. Tom put in some stakes and chicken wire to keep them up, but they’re still falling over.
Nothing better than going out there, picking a tomato and eating it right there. That’s the best!
August 20th, 2009 | 3 Comments »
Here’s a photo of our Tibetan chef, Dekyi, making tingmo (filled and steamed Tibetan dumplings) which will be offered for sale at the concession stands during the Paramount Theater’s show, Wicked. These beauties are filled with a mixture of eggplant, raisins, dried apricots, currants, onions, garlic and spice and they are delicious! Dekyi is making 1,600 tingmo for the show, which will be sold along with some scrumptious Dahlia Bakery items, including the infamous Triple Coconut Cream Pie!
August 20th, 2009 | No Comments »
Browsing through my photos from our trip to Florence in early June has inspired me to put up one last post about Italy:
Florence’s large food market, the Central Market or Mercato Centrale, is located in a large, light-filled, two-story warehouse built of cast iron and glass. Meats, cheeses, prepared foods, and several cafes are on the first floor and the produce is upstairs. Every food market I’ve ever visited in Europe has been amazing and beautiful, and Mercato Centrale is no exception. The quality of meat in Florence looked extraordinary everywhere, form the neighborhood supermarket to the Central Market. As in other non-American markets, the meats and poultry tend to look more “real,” with feet and heads left on the poultry for example. I love the way many foods are semi-prepared and ready for you to take home and do the final cooking. So convenient! The produce was gorgeous, and I was surprised at the amount of mushrooms available in early summer, which I had assumed would be an off-season for mushrooms. The bottom photo is the sign outside our beloved “agritourismo” (a lodging where some agricultural products such as wine and honey are produced) in the suburbs of Florence, where we stayed with friends. Arrivederci, Italy! I hope to return soon!
August 20th, 2009 | No Comments »
Nice to wake up to an encouraging food-news story on the radio this morning. NPR reports that “Small Farmers See Promise in Obama’s Plans.” Here’s an excerpt:
“Since the 1980’s, American agriculture has become increasingly concentrated. Today, less than 2 percent of farms account for half of all agricultural sales. The new antitrust division of President Obama’s Justice Department has said that scrutinizing monopolies in agriculture is a top priority.
That shift is giving hope to independent farmers, who have complained for years that agriculture giants are shrinking the marketplace and paying farmers less for their products.”
What are the Obama administration’s priorities on this issue?
“The first is seed companies. The American Antitrust Institute asserts that in some markets, Monsanto controls 90 percent of the technology behind genetically modified seeds for cotton, corn, and soybeans. Monsanto disputes that figure.
The second segment is beef packing. And the third is dairy, where consolidation has been especially dramatic. Int he last decade, more than 4,500 dairy farms disappeared every year.
The decline, critics claim, is at least partly the result of collusive and exclusionary tactics by Big Milk.”
Read the whole article from NPR’s website here.
August 20th, 2009 | No Comments »
Two encouraging articles in this week’s papers:
An article called “Stars Aligning on School Lunches” by Kim Severson in today’s New York Times reports that ideas and money are flowing in the direction of improving nutrition in public school lunches, and notes the fact “that the nutritional state of America’s children is a priority for President Obama doesn’t hurt….” Congress will take up the Child Nutrition Act this year, perhaps as early as October. Ideas under discussion to improve school lunches: increase the free-lunch subsidy by at least 70 cents; ban trans fats in school cafeteria kitchens; equip school kitchens so healthier food can actually be cooked on site (”If they don’t give me a steamer, I can’t steam a vegetable… I have to deep fry it” said Katie Wilson, “…a Wisconsin food service director with 30 years of experience.”) Another big issue is changing the way the USDA “helps agricultural companies sell surplus foods (to public school lunch programs) like beef and chicken that is usually processed into packaged products like taco meat or nuggets.” Read the whole article here.
An article in last Monday’s Seattle Times, “Free for the taking….so take!” by Kyung M. Song, reports on a temporary produce stand, or mobile market, set up on “the main drag of a Southwest Seattle neighborhood so bereft of grocers that one local resident calls it a health food desert.” The produce stand is run by Delridge Produce Cooperative, set up this year with a $15,000 grant from the city of Seattle, which “aims to educate residents about adding green to their diets by seeking out fresh produce.” The grant includes paying two teens to work the stand. The co-op’s ultimate goal?…. a nearby store selling organic produce at affordable prices in the Delridge neighborhood. Read the whole article here.
August 19th, 2009 | No Comments »
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