By Barbara Damrosch, published Thursday, June 28, 2007 in The Washington Post

I've never understood sportfishing -- the kind where hooking an inedible creature and throwing it back is the goal. No matter how much fun the day, I need to see a great seafood meal at the end.

The same goes for gardening. My husband, because he grows food for the local market (and possibly because he's a guy), takes another view. For him, growing cucumbers -- a vegetable he loathes and will eat only if it is hidden in gazpacho -- is strictly a catch-and-release game, one that has taken on the fervor of an athletic event.

It started in 1989 when he visited a French grower. In a greenhouse, this fellow had dug long trenches wide enough to hold rows of straw bales on edge and deep enough to bury them by two-thirds in the ground. Once placed in the trenches, the bales were soaked with dried blood and other organic, high-nitrogen materials to get decomposition going and to heat them up. After they had cooled to 80 degrees, the farmer covered them with four inches of mature sheep manure compost and set out cucumber seedlings. The bottom heat provided by the bale beds produced quick growth and a spectacular harvest.

Our farm's program for growing super-cukes in the greenhouse is a bit less extreme, but my husband does enrich his deeply dug beds with lots of composted horse manure. He swears by a cucumber variety called Socrates. The cucumber vines are trained to grow upward to a support bar seven feet above the ground. Fruits that form below three feet are removed, and above that one fruit is allowed to grow per node, where the leaf attaches to the stem. All suckers are pruned out as well, to eliminate side shoots. When a vine reaches the top, it is allowed to develop a second stem, and both then grow downward from the bar. They form a cucumber at each node all the way down.

If really vigorous, they can be trained all the way up to the top again! The rows of mighty vines, with leaves up to 17 inches across, look like a South American jungle organized by a German engineer. This year my husband is trying to duplicate his triumph outdoors.

Meanwhile, I'm in my little garden growing gourmet varieties and thinking about dainty cucumber-and-watercress sandwiches, Indian cucumber raita with yogurt and cumin seed, itty-bitty gherkins in vinegar and dill. I doubt anything I produce will come close in flavor to our farm's six- to eight-inch beauties, all perfectly formed and so sweet you can cut one off the vine and eat it like an apple. Almost good enough to convert a cucumber hater.

Article copyright of Barbara Damrosch. Reprinted with permission.
Photo credit: Found Drama

Posted by at 12:25 PM | Permalink

Description:
Kitchen Gardeners International is a 501c3 nonprofit founded in Maine, USA with friends from around the world. Our mission is to empower individuals, families, and communities to achieve greater levels of food self-reliance through the promotion of kitchen gardening, home-cooking, and sustainable local food systems. In doing so, KGI seeks to connect, serve, and expand the global community of people who grow and prepare some of their own food.

Goals:
-To provide a structure, virtual and real, for kitchen gardeners worldwide to: meet up with each other; share their passion for food, cooking, and organic gardening; and further their skills and knowledge in these areas
-To introduce new people to the joys and benefits of actively participating in one's food production and preparation
-To inform KGI's supporters and the general public about the many ways of participating in and contributing to a sustainable food system and planet
-To help individuals and communities to achieve higher levels of food self-reliance through education, projects, and charitable giving
-To promote fellowship, cultural exchange and international understanding via a shared love of kitchen gardening

Main Activities and Achievements in 2006:

1) KGI website and newsletter
The KGI website and electronic newsletter continued to be our main outreach and education tools and both showed signs of strong growth in readership. Traffic to our website averaged 56,000 unique visits per month by the end of 2006, double our 2005 traffic and on par with the websites of food and gardening organizations considerably larger and better resourced than KGI. Our newsletter readership rose once again by 30%, reaching 2800 people.

2) Media and public outreach
KGI continued added to its media portfolio in 2006 with coverage in numerous newspapers, magazines, and successful forays into new digital media such as YouTube. Highlights included a TV report on Maine's WGME news 13 and an article about us in the Washington Post. KGI was also invited to attend and speak at various food and garden related events during the year including Maine Fare and the annual Food and Society conference organized by the Kellogg Foundation.

3) International Kitchen Garden Day
KGI coordinated the fourth annual International Kitchen Garden Day on August 27th. The day was recognized and celebrated by a number of groups and individuals from different parts of the world, both large and small. In 2006, we still did not have the organizational capacity to track where celebrations were organized and what types of activities were offered. We therefore relied on participating groups to tell us how they recognized the day.

4) Garden visibility project
KGI launched a new activity in 2006 to increase the visibility of kitchen gardens and gardening in various communities. KGI supporters were asked to come up with creative ways of advertising their gardens which resulted in a garden sign competition. While some people entered yard signs into the competition, the grand prize of a gift certificate to Johnny's Selected Seeds went to KGI member Jennifer Love who painted her minivan with gardening slogans and images.

5) KGI Mini-grants program
KGI program of offering financial and technical assistance in support of kitchen garden projects began on a small scale in 2006 through two projects, one in Scarborough, Maine, the other in Guyana, South America. In the case of the former, KGI provided technical assistance to the Pleasant Hill Elementary School in the design and execution of a new school garden. The project now has the participation of 30 families and has succeeded in securing funds for an expansion. The Guyana project is being carried out by a faith-based NGO called DepTrad that is helping 300 poor families to become more self-reliant through kitchen gardens. KGI provided technical assistance and $300 worth of seeds.

Staff and board updates:
KGI welcomed new board members in 2006: Jan Maes, David Buchanan, Maya Howard. Our six-fold increase in revenue in 2006 allowed us to take the first step in hiring paid staff. It was decided at the July board meeting that Roger Doiron, KGI's founder, would be hired on a part-time basis to help maintain and grow KGI's activities and membership.

Financial Report:
KGI carried out a diverse program of educational and awareness raising activities in 2006 which seems all the more impressive when one considers that our yearly expenses remained under $3000. We saw strong growth in the number of individual and institutional donors, along a new revenue stream coming from KGI's website. What isn't reflected in this report however are the countless hours of volunteer time and other in-kind contributions that made these activities possible. KGI gratefully acknowledges all those who helped our cause in one way or another in 2006.

Beginning Balance (01/01/06) 561

Uses of Cash
Activity and event-related costs 2427
Office and administrative costs 571
Sub-total 2998

Sources of Cash
Member dues and contributions 3582
Website related revenues 217
Grants 3000
Sub-total 6799

Ending Balance (12/31/06) 4362

Report Approved by KGI Board on March 8th, 2007

Roger Doiron
Jan Maes
David Buchanan
Maya Howard

Posted by at 2:41 PM | Permalink

by Anitha Pailoor, Published in the Deccan Herald

Every house in Malnad boasts of a kitchen garden. However, with the change in lifestyle, native recipes have disappeared. Before everything is lost, a few groups and organizations are attempting to bring back the lost legacy in tune with the present trend.

As rain poured outside the hall, women farmers participating in the fair cheered in joy. Monsoon had supported their efforts to spread the green word. Happier was Suma who found khadga avare, a vegetable variety, which was her favourite during childhood days. Most of the consumers who attended the Malenadu Mela (Malnad Fair) recalled their days of 'eating fresh and staying healthy'. Vegetables and wild variety seeds which were in good demand at the event spread the scent of local treasure. The fair held in Sirsi reflected the efforts of women's collectives in rejuvenating indigenous food diversity.

Uttara Kannada, known for its biodiversity and traditional recipes, has changed its pace in the last few decades. As easy-to-cook market vegetables entered the kitchen shelves, diverse home-grown recipes took a backseat.

The Malenadu home garden and seed exchange network started in 2001 by development activist Sunitha Rao, aims at rebuilding the concept in this region. Concrete steps like training, exposure visits and seed exchange programmes have helped many women farmers in this region to earn their livelihood. Now there are twelve self-help groups under this network.
Ganga Mohan Channaiah is one such woman whose vegetable garden brings home a major share of the family income. “I had a passion for growing vegetables. I have been doing this for the past 25 years. Still, by practice, some market vegetables were also used. After I came into contact with this network, I started growing vegetables in all the available space around my house.”

Ganga has a little more than an acre of land where her husband grows paddy during monsoon. But she finds place in her backyard and the surrounding hillock to grow her vegetables. Post monsoon, she grows more than ten varieties of vegetables from radish to palak and cucumber. A mobile vendor, Ganga sells four to five quintals of vegetables in a year. This has helped her stop working as an agricultural labourer.

Ganga says that her husband has a share in her success. He has backed her in all her activities, from preparing soil bed to packing seeds. There are also instances of seed movement bringing families together.

Sugandha Sahadeva Gavade, a tribal woman in Yellapur, earns twenty percent of her family income from growing vegetables. Observing the prospects of growing vegetables, she works full time in the vegetable garden. Her group has clearly understood the health and economic aspects of non-chemical food produces. A few members have left tiresome jobs like brick making and have taken up vegetable farming. Sugandha says, “The variety of vegetables in my farm increased as we started participating in seed exchange programmes.”

Initially, the programmes were held at the village level. Later, seed exhibition and exchange fairs were held in Sirsi, Yellapur and Kumta. “Hundreds of varieties at a place naturally make visitors take home a few seeds. In 2006, we organised seed exhibition and exchange along with sale. The event was rechristened as Malnad Fair,” says Manorama Joshi, one of the frontline members of the collective.

Remembering last year's overwhelming response, organisers made it a two-day event this year. Even the array of things on sale increased.

Value-added food products like jackfruit chips, papad, appe midi pickle and sweets refreshed the taste buds, while products like dry banana, dry cocum, organic turmeric and tamarind powder were sold quickly. Ornaments made of vegetable seeds, paddy designs, hats made of areca leaf, colourful cotton bags, cotton wear and designer bedspreads like kaudi and pagadi added a touch of folklore to the entire fair. However, the most popular items that were sold in no time were Neernalli group's maghekayi dosa (a dosa unique to Sirsi region) and jackfruit idli. This fair truly taught the essence of biodiversity to hundreds of visitors.

Around 35 different groups, including the Halakki community in the south and the Kuluvadi Marathe in the north participated in the fair on invitation. Apart from women's collectives, Snehakunja, TEED, Namma Bhoomi, BAIF, Green Foundation, Prakruthi, ATREE and Charaka also took part.

Women showed that biodiversity conservation begins in the kitchen. Each of them played the role of a seed bank, storing tens of varieties and spreading it across. Meeting people in such occasions has helped them develop new ideas and learn growing methods. This is not all. Earning money has made a huge difference to their status, both within the family and in the society. Coming out of the house to take part in public functions was not easy earlier. The movement has sown the seeds of change even at the family level. Women are now key decision makers. A strong social relationship has developed among these women for a good cause.

Sunitha Rao, the person who dreamt of such a start, has many more to be groomed. “Though we have developed a good reserve of seeds, fields have acted as banks. We now need to develop a small store for seeds, which would cater to those who are interested. An outlet for native produce may also boost the interest of farmers. We don't want to grow in number, but we want to strengthen ourselves. Being a local group, we want to respond to larger issues,” she says.

Training, trade and exposure visits are the key activities of this movement. Research is another aspect the network wants to focus on along with documenting available diversity. With more than 200 varieties of seeds grown in the gardens of these women’s collectives, The Malenadu home garden and seed exchange network has developed a reliable conservation model.
Sunitha Rao can be contacted at Karkolli village, Hulekal: 581336, Sirsi; Ph: 9480299200; Email:malnadseeds@gmail.com

Posted by at 2:38 PM | Permalink

By Yaeko Abe, printed in the Asahi Shimbun, June 22, 2007

Across the world, backyard vegetable patches have traditionally been the preserve of bearded baby boomers.

In recent years, however, a rustic urge has been catching on in Japan. People of all ages and interests have been getting down on their hands and knees to cultivate the earth.

Some do it to put fresh, pesticide-free vegetables on the table. Others simply want the satisfaction of growing their own produce.

In response to booming demand, allotment gardens that make use of fallow farmland are cropping up everywhere. There are up to 3,000 across the nation--the little "kitchen garden," it seems, is making a comeback.

Urban vegetable gardens that cater to members only are being created in front of railway stations in major cities. Tokyoites are now able to grow vegetables in patches that straddle railway lines.

Agris Seijo is a members-only rental farm that opened May 4. The location is prime: the upmarket, residential west side of Seijo Gakuen-mae Station on the Odakyu Line in Setagaya Ward.

The "field," which is 20 meters wide and 250 meters long, consists of 300 plots that cover 6 square meters each. The project became possible after the Odakyu Line was relocated underground, freeing up a new "rooftop" space.

Agris Seijo is no run-of-the-mill vegetable garden. Members of the urban gardening club pay an annual fee of 136,500 yen, for which they are given access to showers, a clubhouse with a lounge, gardening tools imported from Britain and rubber boots manufactured by a French outdoor goods brand. Fertilizer and other chemicals are also on hand.

Members can attend a variety of vegetable-themed lectures on topics as diverse as: baking cakes and confections with vegetables, and the art of vegetable carving. Those too busy to make it to the garden for an extended period of time can pay extra to get someone to tend their crops. An all-inclusive special membership package, which covers this service, costs 525,000 yen annually.

Tomoyasu Moriguchi, 42, an official at Odakyu Land Flora Corp., the company that manages Agris Seijo, said: "We hope to offer a wide range of services on the vegetable theme. Our goal is to create a new type of gardening culture."

When it comes to urban gardening, Osaka's busy Minami district is a step ahead. Namba Parks, a major shopping and business complex that opened next to Nankai Electric Railway's Namba Station, has a terrace-style garden, "Parks Garden," that reaches from the second to the ninth floors. Tucked away at one end is "Urban Farm," a small vegetable garden that contains 20 plots, each measuring 6 square meters.

The annual rental fee is 50,400 yen, which provides access to shower facilities and gardening tools. When it opened in 2003, there were 1,100 applicants for the 20 plots. The company does not advertise, but that didn't stop more than 150 people from putting their names down for vacated plots earlier this year as membership is renewed annually.

Almost all the "farmers" are novices. Masahiro Nishibane, 34, a Parks Garden official, helps with the cultivation planning and growing. Pesticides are not allowed. Nishibane said: "It is possible to grow vegetables right here in the middle of a bustling city. I want people to have fun with this."

"Igasan no Hatake" (Iga-san's farm) is a "farming-experience farm" in Nerima Ward, Tokyo, that gives citizens guidance and hands-on training.

Toru Igarashi, 47, who manages the farm, used to grow cabbages. But his business suffered under the onslaught of imported vegetables, and in 1999 he switched direction, carving his cabbage patch into 122 plots, each measuring 30 square meters, and offering a "farming experience" to people who rented them.

Nerima Ward was the first local government nationwide that introduced "farming-experience farms" in 1996.

According to the laws at the time, only local governments and agricultural cooperatives could open allotment gardens that leased plots on agricultural land to citizen farmers.

So a special system was devised where the farmer would be in charge of selecting the crops and devise a cultivation plan; while users would participate in the cultivation process and purchase the fresh produce.

The user pays 43,000 yen a year; ward residents 31,000 yen.

It is more expensive than a regular citizens' farm, where Nerima Ward residents can rent a 15 square-meter plot for 400 yen a month.

But here, the farmer will take care of all anticipated needs, including the preparation of saplings, fertilizer and garden tools.

Igarashi said: "For us farmers, it means we can look forward to a stable income. And I think we have a win-win situation that serves the local government and makes the users happy, too."

The "Nerima system" caught on. By the end of fiscal 2005, there were 167 similar arrangements nationwide.

Under measures implemented in April 2003, NPOs, corporations and private farmers were allowed to lease farmland in districts designated as special zones. Starting in 2005, the special zones were expanded nationwide.

According to data compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, there were 3,124 allotment farms, including those that use the "Nerima system" nationwide as of March 31, 2006. The number has almost doubled during the past 10 years.

But vegetables don't grow that easily--for amateurs. Several plots, left unattended by owners who have given up or lost interest, have gone to seed.

Satoshi Fujita, associate professor at Keisen University's Keisen Institute of Horticulture, commented: "Just because you sow some seeds, that doesn't guarantee a successful harvest. Farming requires a certain knowledge and technique in addition to some physical strength. The agriculture ministry should not only concentrate on increasing the number of vegetable patches but also try to train instructors who can teach the art of growing vegetables."(IHT/Asahi: June 22,2007)

Article copyright of the Asahi Shimbun
Photo credit: Lizwid

Posted by at 2:05 PM | Permalink

Dear Kitchen Gardener,

You are cordially invited to my house on August 26th to celebrate Kitchen Garden Day.  We'll be organizing a walking tour of some home gardens in my neighborhood, making a stop at the newly-planted kitchen garden at our local elementary school, and munching on some delicious food along the way.

Since I'm assuming that some of you will not be able to make it (for example, those of you from Argentina, South Africa and Australia!), I thought I'd give you a quick virtual tour of my June garden through the picture above.  I've left out a few identifying labels (e.g. garden hose, kale, onions, misplaced toys, etc.) for lack of space , but it gives you a feel for what's planted.  For those of you who are curious, that's not grass growing in between my beds, but fresh untreated grass clippings that I put down as a mulch...very soft under summer's bare feet. I've posted a high resolution picture of my garden here without the labels if you want to see it in its natural state. 

As you can see, it's been a busy month getting plants and seeds in the ground and quite a few greens out and into the family salad bowl.  It's also been a busy month at KGI "headquarters".  We harvested a bumper crop of public awareness raising this past month due to an Associated Press article that featured our efforts to bring about a kitchen garden revival.  The article appeared in over 30 papers across the US and has attracted a number of energized people to our effort.  Welcome newcomers!

Speaking about reaching out to new folks, I continue to brainstorm ideas for reaching out to people, some old, some new.  In the new category, I've recently posted a new short video to youtube,com  which hopefully will get people thinking and, ultimately, eating in a different way.  If nothing else, it's good for a chuckle.  Please pass on the link if you find it worthwhile.  We're also adding prizes to our "Grow-Off Show-Off" competition, too, so be sure to check that out.  Grand prize is $500 and all the international celebrity one gardener can handle.  

For those of you who can't make it to Scarborough, Maine for our celebration of Kitchen Garden Day, why not throw a little garden party of your own?  That's the best way I know to grow the number of home-growers: by bringing new people into kitchen gardens  - whether big, small, urban or rural - to show them the quantity, quality, and diversity of crops a small plot can produce.  

I know this works because I just recently helped some neighbors who attended our Kitchen Garden Day party last year plant their first garden.   They're delighted to be eating their first home-grown foods ever.  If that's not cause for celebration, I don't know what is. 

Happy summer,

PS: Next month, I'll report from southern France: ooh la la, good things ahead!

Posted by at 3:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Aioli is a garlic mayonnaise made of garlic, egg, lemon juice, and olive oil. In Provence, aioli (or more formally, Le Grand Aioli) also designates a complete dish consisting of various boiled vegetables (usually carrots, potatoes, and green beans), boiled fish (normally salt cod), and boiled eggs served with the aioli sauce.

While modern cooks have taken to making aioli in a blender or food processor, the traditional method is to use a mortar and pestle which gives the sauce a creamier texture. The technique described below comes from J.B. Reboul's classic cookbook, La Cuisiniere Provencale, published in 1897 and widely considered to be the bible of Provencal cooking.

Take two cloves of garlic per person , peel them, place them in a mortar, reduce them to a paste with a pestle; add a pinch of salt, an egg yolk and pour in the oil in a thin thread while turning with the pestle. Take care to add the oil very slowly and, during this time, never stop turning; you should obtain a think pommade. After having added about three or four tablespoons of oil, add the juice of a lemon and a teaspoon of tepid water, continue to add oil little by little and, when the pommade again becomes too thick, add another few drops of water, without which it falls apart, so to speak, the oil separating itself from the rest.

An aioli for seven to eight persons will absorb something over two cups of oil.

In his similarly classic book, Simple French Food, Richard Olney recommends toning down the recipe for non-Provençal palates unaccustomed to such a heavy dose of garlic. He suggests four cloves of garlic for an aioli serving 8 people. He also recommends starting with two egg yolks before starting to add the oil.

Photo courtesy of Chris John Beckett

Posted by at 1:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

By Roger Postley

First of all -- lets get this straight!!! There is absolutely only one correct way to raise tomatoes! (And that is whatever method works for you.) I have used stakes, trellises, store-bought cages, 'post and weave', and homemade cages. The latter has worked best for me and allows me the greatest production in the smallest area. The disadvantage is cost, construction time, and required storage space.

I like tomato cages! Concrete remesh can be found at most major consumer lumberyards. It comes in 50’ and 150' rolls. The wire is very strong and can be difficult to handle. Three essential tools are a small pair of bolt cutters, a large pair of slip-joint pliers, and a screwdriver type nut-driver with an interior hollow shaft diameter just slightly larger than the diameter of the remesh wire. There is variation in the rigidity of remesh – choose accordingly; stiffer wire is stronger but harder to bend.

My technique for building cages sounds complex but is actually easy. Decide on the circumference -- I use 4', 4 ½” or 5'. Use bolt cutters to cut as many panels as you need cages. Cut down one edge of the 5' vertical wire roll so that there is a vertical wire on one edge and wire 'fingers' on the other. Place all the panels on end on a flat surface with all the 'wire fingers' pointed in the same direction. Cut the bottom ring off each panel (making the 'spikes' that will stick in the ground).

Slip the nut driver 1/2" over each side 'finger' and use the leverage of the handle to bend hooks on each wire. Starting at the top, bend the panel and hook the top 'finger' to the vertical wire under the top ring. Clamp the hook shut with the pliers. Continue down the cage this way. The bottom hook must go over the bottom ring. The cage will now be "heart-shaped". Place the cage on its side and, with judicious pushing and pulling, bend it into a cylinder. Plan on getting rust on your hands and clothes. After a few weeks in the garden, rust ‘hardens’ and is no longer a problem.

I make my cages in three different heights. The standard 5' cage is for determinate tomatoes. By cutting a standard 5' cage in half, you get two 2 1/2' cages which will slip into 5' cages making a 6 1/2' structure to support indeterminate tomatoes. Friction will hold the pieces together. For tall cherry tomatoes, two 5' cages make a 9' tower. I even use 3 1/2' circumference 2 1/2' tall cages for all my pepper plants.

I originally used low pressure 1/2" x 10' PVC pipe, slip fittings (not glued), and electrical tie-wraps (black only - UV resistant) to construct a cross-braced grid at the top of the 6 1/2' cages and through the sides of the cherry tomato cages, in effect, making all the cages into one big trellis. My plants and cages are set in rows 3 1/2'-4' apart in a staggered grid with 3 1/2 to 4' between rows. If you have more land, increase the spacing. The grid is tall enough that I can walk under/through it without stooping, for ease in tucking the vines in the cages and for picking. Birds use the grid for perches and dart for bugs on the plants - instant biological controls! The trellis is a ‘pain to build’, but it does work! By mid to late season, the taller cages are indeed top-heavy and would fall over during a thunderstorm.

This year, I used an alternative to my former ‘elaborate’ “grid”, which is to drive and fasten a wood or metal post next to every other cage.) I still use the ‘grid’ concept, run PVC pipe down the row, and lash everything together with PVC pipes and tie-wraps.

Using this 'vertical' growing method, I can fit 16-24 (or more, though crowded) tomato plants on a 12' x 16' plot. These cages also work for cukes, and pole beans! While there is an initial cost for materials, my tomato production is always heavy. Good luck.

Article copyright of Roger Postley, reprinted with permission. Photos courtesy of John Walker of Kitchen Gardeners Bluegrass and with sincere thanks to Warren Moore for his help and generosity in the making of this year's cages.

Posted by at 7:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Check out our new "food for thought" video on youtube.com. Please share it if you find it of interest.

Posted by at 11:55 PM | Permalink

So what do kitchen gardeners do during the lazy days of summer? Well, first on the list should be enjoying the fruits of our labors in the form meals made with delicious, seasonal ingredients. Those looking for sustenance of the literary sort might want to nibble on one of these recently released books (all of which are available for purchase in our online store or at your local independent bookstore, if you still have one.

Plenty by Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon (Crown Publishing). You've heard of Atkins, South Beach, and Weight Watchers, but have you heard of the “100 Mile Diet”? It's not so much a low-carb diet as a low carbon one. Co-authors Smith and MacKinnon came up with the idea after feasting on a delicious, locally-sourced meal eaten while on vacation in the wilderness of British Columbia. The experience raised a question: Was it possible to eat this way in their everyday lives back in urban Vancouver? Every day? For a whole year? What followed was a year long adventure in local eating. The two not only survived, but lived to tell the tale.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver (HarperCollins). If Plenty is an urban locavore's story, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is its country cousin. Kingsolver is perhaps best known for the Poisonwood Bible, her fictitious account of a missionary sent off to Africa. In her latest effort, she discovers that the truth is not only stranger than fiction, but tastes better too. Like Plenty, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is about a year-experiment in local eating, but approaches the topic from the producer's perspective as well as the eater's. Kingsolver writes about true flavors of the home garden and family kitchen and the hard, yet honest work that goes into creating them.

The Revolution will not be Microwaved by Sandor Ellix Katz (Chelsea Green). What do slow foodies, raw food advocates, seed savers, CSA farmers and dumpster-divers all have in common? For one, they all appear in Sandor Ellix Katz's inspiring new book. The book's title is a play on The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, a poem and song by Gil Scott-Heron about the political and social turmoil of late 1960s and early 1970s. Katz sees America in a similar state of social upheaval when it comes to food. An expert in and author on sauerkraut-making, Katz describes the bubbling ferment that is the alternative American food scene.

Real Food: What to Eat and Why by Nina Planck (Bloomsbury). You can take the girl out of the farm, but you can't take the farm out of the girl. That is one of the central themes of this popular book which challenges the conventional definition of health food. Planck left the family farm as a young woman in favor of the big city lights of New York and London. There she experimented with a number of “virtuous” urban diets (low fat, no fat, vegan, vegetarian, etc.) only to conclude that none of them made her feel particularly good. This realization led her back to her farmfare roots of real eggs, raw milk, grass-fed meats and fresh produce, traditional food roots which she argues we would all do well to rediscover.

Food Fight by Dan Imhoff (University of California Press). The Farm Bill is one of the most significant, yet least understood, pieces of legislation our country has. The Bill largely dictates who grows what crops, on what acreage, and under what conditions--all with major impacts on the country's rural economies, health and nutrition, national security, and biodiversity. As debate and wrangling over the 2007 Farm Bill intensifies, Food Fight offers an eye-opening and visually engaging overview of legislation that literally shapes our food system, our bodies, and our future.

Posted by at 4:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Rhubarb, a plant whose stalks can be used in a variety of dishes, is known for its tart flavor, and it makes a great accompaniment to strawberries in a pie or jam.

In this recipe for iced tea, however, the tartness is balanced by the sweet ginger sugar on the rim of the glass and the cool mint leaves in the tea.

Its vibrant pink color, contrasted with the green mint garnish, makes it a beautiful part of any summer meal.

Makes 2 quarts.

RHUBARB & MINT ICED TEA WITH GINGER SUGAR RIM

FOR THE ICED TEA:

20 stalks of rhubarb (as red as possible)
1 bunch of mint
1 cup sugar
2 quarts warm water

FOR THE GINGER SUGAR:
2 cups sugar
1 2-inch piece of fresh ginger

ICED TEA:
Wash the rhubarb well and chop into small pieces. Tear the mint leaves and add to the rhubarb. In a large bowl, coat the chopped rhubarb and mint with the sugar and allow to rest for about an hour. When the rhubarb begins to give off a little liquid, add the warm water (if the water is too hot, it will start to cook the rhubarb, which you don't want). Allow the tea to steep for a few hours, overnight if possible. Strain the mixture, being careful not to push any of the rhubarb through the strainer.

GINGER SUGAR:
Peel and grate the ginger, then squeeze the juice out of the pulp and add to the sugar. Mix well until fully incorporated. Spread the sugar out to dry on a cookie sheet for a few hours, or dry for about an hour in the oven at 200. When the sugar is dry, rub through a fine sieve or strainer to granulate it again.

TO SERVE:
Dampen a paper towel and dab the rim of the glass on it. Set the rim of the glass into the sugar. Carefully pour the tea over ice and garnish with a mint sprig.

CHEF'S HINT:
If the Rhubarb & Mint Iced Tea is not as pink as you'd like it to be, add a few sliced strawberries or touch of grenadine for color.

OPTIONAL:
Add a shot of frozen vodka to create a cocktail.

Recipe source: Portland Press Herald

Posted by at 3:09 PM | Permalink

Talk about making a media splash! That's what we did last month by pitching this article to the Associated Press which was picked up in the following papers as well as some others which don't have online editions.

Right out back, a practical bounty of crops
San Francisco Chronicle, CA – June 9, 2007

Grow it yourself
LaSalle News Tribune, IL – June 6, 2007

Take control -- grow your food yourself
Tuscaloosa News, AL - June 4, 2007

Home gardening: Americans are no longer saying 'not in my backyard'
Ventura County Star, CA - June 4, 2007