Eating Local with a Yellow List Guest

Last night we had a fabulous dinner inspired by our CSA share recipe suggestions this week. We bought some tuna and committed to Grilled Tuna with Fresh Tomato, Cucumber and Dill Relish, Rosemary and Garlic Roasted Potatoes, and a side of lettuce greens and strawberries. The weather was perfect for grilling and dining on the deck. The results were delicious.

While celebrating the successful employ of our CSA share, I cannot help to be a bit disappointed in myself. The recipe called for 4 - 8 oz tuna steaks, so that's what I ran out and bought. Here's where I failed in sustainability. I did not consult the seafood watch list. Today after enjoying my leftovers, I finally faced the music and looked at the watch list. There it was.

Yellowfin tuna =

• Green, if caught via troll or pole from the U.S. Atlantic,
• Yellow, if caught via longline from the U.S. Atlantic, and 
• Red, if caught elsewhere.

Since I live four hours inland from the Atlantic, my hopes are that it did come from the Atlantic. The fish was labeled "wild". With my limited knowledge of fishing and fish labeling, I don't know if this means caught via troll, pole, longline, or purse seining. Either way, I think I hit a green or yellow fish. With further exploration of the Monterrey Bay Aquarium site, I found this gem, "A notable exception is longline-caught yellowfin from the U.S. Atlantic or Hawaii, where strict bycatch regulations result in a "Good Alternative" ranking." 

Indigestion is resolved. I made a call to the headquarters of the grocery store where I purchased the tuna and know the questions to ask the staff next time. The Seafood Watch pocket guide is handy for future shopping. I'll look at the list next time and keep working to find a trusted seafood supplier.

Good Food Good People

Tomorrow begins a new journey. I will be picking up our first Veggie Advocate Share from Good Food Good People at the West End Community Market. Good Food Good People is farmer-owned and farmer-operated community supported agriculture (CSA). All of the food is grown within 100-mile radius of Floyd, VA which is about 35 miles from where I live.

Community Supported Agriculture - Yay!!

I just received our first newsletter which includes a list of food we'll receive and some suggestions for recipes. 

May 8, 2012
Your box this week will contain:
Baby Lettuce Mix—Fertile Crescent Farm (BIO)
Kale, Red Russian—Full Circle Farm (BIO)
Baby Bok Choy—Fertile Crescent Farm (BIO)
Tomatoes, hydroponic—Yoder’s Farm (Low-Spray)
Green Garlic—Fertile Crescent Farm (BIO)
Rosemary—Virginia Klara’s Farm (BIO)

Strawberries—Yoders’ Farm (CONV) 

Recipes included: Baby Bok Choy with Green Garlic, Greens and Green Garlic, and Green Garlic Pesto. 

We love going to the farmers market and supporting our local food sources. This year we'll be embracing what is in season and eating whatever comes our way each week. I look forward to the challenge with containers for freezing and canning, food dehydrator, and compost bins standing ready for action. 

Next week we'll pick up the next Veggie Share and our first Fruit Share. My little fruit-lover, a.k.a. fruitarian, will be thrilled. 

Picking, Freezing, and Preserving Goodness

This past weekend was the opening of the season for you-pick strawberries at Scott’s Strawberry Farm. My son and I beat the Saturday crowds and picked in the coolness of Friday evening. Sampling the irresistibly sweet goods as we went along, we managed to bring home about a five-gallon bucket full of strawberries. The smell of fresh strawberries wafted through my house and smiles abounded.

In attempt to eat more local, I am going to put some effort into taking advantage of produce when it is in season this summer. Instead of driving and buying frozen organic berries from the grocery store in mid-winter to make my yummy smoothies, I will skip downstairs to my chest freezer and pop open a bag of frozen strawberries.

I also made my first attempt at making strawberry preserves. The air was humid and sticky sweet in my kitchen last night as the sugar, water and strawberries simmered and I patiently waited for that magical moment that the syrup thickened. The mixture is setting for 24 hours before it is scooped into delightful little jelly jars and simmered in their warm water bath for longer term storage.

The humidity of last night had lifted and night air had done its natural thing and cooled my house overnight. The preserves had set up well while I slept and breakfast was a welcome treat – cereal topped with fresh strawberries shared with my little dude.

The grass is long and my seasonal allergies (grasses) came back in their tried and true way on Saturday. I usually do not mind cutting the grass, but today I know it will involve much sneezing and eye-watering and an immediate shower afterwards. This is where I share my final employ of the strawberries – ice cream! I made two quarts of mouth-coating, calorie-laden, Ben & Jerry’s strawberry ice cream. It is my reward and incentive for cutting the grass today. Off to do some mowing!

No Paper Towels

In moving to my "new to me" house last year, I was happy to return to one of my habits of yesteryear. I ditched paper towels and went back to cloth napkins and cloth rags.

Cloth napkins are so easy to do and make for a colorful, if not seasonal, addition to dining. I started collecting cloth napkins many years ago, often catching them on sale or receiving them as a gift. My three-year old son knows to put his cloth napkin in his lap as we start to eat a meal. It does my heart good to see him fumble with a paper napkin, scowl at its comparable roughness, and use a cloth napkin properly. Hint: if you're managing cloth napkins with young children, patterned cloth napkins are much better at hiding the inevitable marinara sauce or blueberry smear.

As for the cloth rags, they can come in any size that you find, save or cut them - old bath towels, old dish towels, old wash clothes, old socks, stained cloth napkins, old and stained whatever. With two dogs and a little dude running around, my cloth rags get deployed frequently.

Reflecting

I'm borrowing this picture of Mt Rogers from a friend. I imagine the snowy coat from a couple of years ago is similar to what Mt Rogers is wearing now. I backpacked up there for the first time in October of this year. It is truly beautiful. As I reflect back on 2010, one of my personal heroes comes to mind - Rachel Carson. Though the subject matter of some of her writings will unsettle the most stable person, her writings are eloquent, provocative and beautiful.

"Those who contemplate the beauty of the Earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts."

I have definitely tapped into those strengths this year. This winter I find myself pouring over seed catalogs and a book entitled Edible Forest Gardens yearning to turn the soil and plant new life. I will plant some old favorites: rosemary for friendship and remembrance; lavender for its calming smell and simple beauty; candy tuft as a nod to familial generations before me; sage for deserts of Oregon and its yummy addition to food; hellebores for a wonderful gardening friend. I'll also plant a tree or two - probably a dogwood and a redbud. I like to plant trees to mark significant years in my life. With inspiration from the Edible Forest Gardens, I'm pondering wild ginger and galax for areas of my yard that are in full shade beneath the maple trees.

I look forward to closing out 2010 settled into a local gem to enjoy some amazing food, have my ears tickled by the sounds of my roots, and smile at the prospects of a new year.

Bubbles. Tiny Bubbles.

The last week or two have proven to be an adjustment and dynamic experiment to living with single pane windows and an older home. Some of the steel windows downstairs don't seal as well as they used to seal. Weatherstripping on doors is deteriorated or non-existent. Cold air pours off the bottom of the windward windows. My thermostat is already set higher than I would like and I fear this month's gas bill.

On advice and generosity of a friend, I have taken action. It's action on a budget, but something is better than nothing. Over the course of a few days, I made a mental note of which window coverings I rarely open and which windows were not as important for views in the winter months. I narrowed it down to the all of the basement windows, the master bedroom, and the upper half of the second bedroom windows.

Bubble wrap installed pane-by-pane

While my inner interior designer went to war with my inner greenie self, I measured window lites, cut bubble wrap to corresponding sizes, wiped down windows with an old wet rag, and adhered the bubble wrap pane-by-pane to select windows throughout my house. As I put up the bubble wrap, the designer in me took deep breaths and knew that it could all come down in a quick flurry since it is only held up there with good ol' water. 

Bubbles installed - trash and recycling bin view impeded

The downstairs "bedroom" is used as more of a seasonal clothing and craft storage space so views to the exterior were not critical (especially since the current highlight of the view out the big window is my trash and recycling bins).

Stealth bubbles. Privacy at ground level. Glimmer of daylighting to admire Granny and Papa's handmade quilt. Eclectic.

With the makeshift window coverings salvaged from years gone by, the bubbles are not too noticeable. The unfinished basement windows are clerestory windows. In the winter their primary purpose is to provide daylighting when I happen to be down there to do some laundry, source a cardboard box, or grab a sled.

Bubble wrap installed.

The master bedroom is on the front of the house. Given the slope of the land, the "deluxe" vinyl 1" mini blinds that came with the house are always closed. The white plastic of the blinds glows in the morning so the bubble wrap only cuts the glow factor by a teeny bit.

Bubble wrap installed, the blinds still glow at 4 p.m.

I do not live in a neighborhood with a homeowner association so there is nothing forbidding me from putting bubble wrap, styrofoam, cardboard, plywood, etc. in windows other than sheer heinousness. Not wanting the neighbors to hate me, I had to take a look outside to see what I had done (again keeping in mind that a quick swipe of the hands and bubble wrap would be GONE).

Exterior view of installed bubble wrap

I am standing about 10' away from the window taking the picture. The sidewalk is a good 25' feet from the window. All-in-all I don't think it looks too horribly bad especially considering the payback I'll potentially get in my investment of time and materials. The master bedroom feels noticeably warmer. The basement feels less drafty. I am anxious to see what the gas utility bill says about it. Until then, I'm crunching numbers and looking at more energy saving options to tackle these single pane windows.

Bottled Up

A couple of my friends reminded me that I did not provide full disclosure to my water savings success in my last post. I totally forgot about working for a few days to maximize water displacement in the toilet tank. I fell victim to out of sight out of mind and have been letting the bottles do their thing.

Per the date inside the toilet tank, my toilet was manufactured August 24, 1970 - a verified water guzzler. I've heard of displacing water with bricks placed in the toilet tank. This is not a good option as the bricks may erode and leave sedimentation in the toilet tank (not that mine could look much worse). Since I don't typically drink sodas, I solicited a few polyethylene terephtalate (PETE or #1) bottles from friends. In addition to my mellow yellow practice and with a little finagling around moving toilet parts, I managed to wedge one - 2 liter bottle and two - 20 oz bottles into my toilet tank. The bottles are filled with water for ballast.

Bottled up toilet tank

I never promised that my photos would be glamorous. For that matter, I don't know that I've ever seen the inside of toilet tank that I would call glamorous - even the brand, spanking, new ones (my apologies the toilet manufacturing industry).