Apples….

Right now I work at an apple orchard in Massachusetts, and currently trim Christmas trees. For three months I have thought about the apples I harvested and picked. As someone who has worked at several organic farms I wonder about how much round-up (herbicide)  has started to creep into my system…

The orchard I work at is not organic, and uses lots of chemicals to maintain their apples. Working at so many farms and on food justice campaigns in college, I have had a difficult time dealing with the non-organic practices of this orchard coupled with the kindness and passion of the owners. For so many different contexts I couple un-sustainable practices with a lack of kindness and passion as the earth and people suffer.

Ultimately, its apparently pretty difficult to grow organic apples, though some do and of course there seems to be a wealth of material on the web on how to do it…the orchard that I work at hires many locals and is not a large corporation, but a relatively small orchard that sells many apples at their stand and also to some stores and another local orchard for producing cider.

While not using organic or sustainable practices, this orchard adds to a certain economic sustainability of the community. Its always a lot easier for one to rant and rave on the unjust practices of corporations, but what about the amazing, small, local orchards that are a positive aspect of their community?

More importantly for me, is the question of how do I reconcile within myself the growing of a un-sustainable apples with all the efforts of sustainability I hope to accomplish. At the end of the day, I don’t know what to do with the chemicals I have witnessed causing mass injustice, and the orchard that I love. Perhaps make apple art.

maconlysource.com

Regenerating the Blog.

Sooo…..I have decided to get back on this blog and work to regenerate it into a more lively look at food justice and thoughts on that…

Working sporadically on it all summer i was constantly desperate to add meaningful posts while at the same time having doubts about blogs in general especially in a world that seems to need less of internet communication and more face to face communication.

However, I am trying the blog for food justice again, this time with my sister Camille, a hardcore health eater and runner. So tomorrow I will start more frequent additions to a blog that is going through regeneration….get pumped!

Milk!

I know I have mentioned milk before, but thought it might be worth bringing up again, as such a basic food item that usually requires a lot of resources to reach the consumer, not to mention a lot of machinery to pasteurize, and a lot of cows to keep well and healthy, often in artificial ways.

With this awareness, a lot of people have been more conscious about their milk consumption and have joined milk CSA’s, attempting to consume milk in the simplest way possible, which usually ends up being the easiest and most environmentally sound.

Fresh Milk!

The milk my sister and I have been drinking this summer undergoes a very simple process compared with where our milk usually comes from, and cuts out a lot of driving, machines, oil, middle-men, and of course any extra chemicals or anti-biotics we might otherwise be consuming.

Here is the path our milk takes:

First, the cows are milked by quite an attractive man with an array of attractive tattoos…many apologizes for the lack of photo documentation…

One of the milk cows

Next, my sister Eliza and I drive to this farm to pick up our two containers of milk that we pick up as part of a milk CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) that we share with the women who runs the farm we work at. She pays a certain amount of money at the beginning of the year, along with some produce from her farm.

The farm where our milk makers live

After our 7 minute drive, we pick up the milk in a cooler, enjoy the mountains and fields where the cows live, and bring home for drinking, baking, and cooking!

Cooler for delicious mooju...

Farm Girl Granola for the Road…

As my sister and I prepare for our road trip back from Colorado we are making preparations to maintain food justice throughout the trip. This first starts with our spray painted advocacy tool….

The "Grow" Kia

Next we go to snacks for the trip, a recipe for granola to not only munch, but to give to our friends who offer couches. We started with our dehydrated fruit…

Dehydrated peaches, apricots, cherries, and apples!

baked around 4 cups of thick oats till toasty with 2 cups of sunflower seeds, and two cups of almonds mixed with a cup of honey…local of course…

Local bee deliciousness!

1/3 cup of veggie oil, 3 tsp. of vanilla and some farm girl spunk. Then tossed all together with some chocolate chips and bagged it for our trip home and to sell at a farmer’s market.

Farmer's market where sold

Granola Process:

Granola mixing!

Toasting!

Final Product

Container Gardening…Contain yourself…

Rosemary in an Antique container

For those who are limited in gardening space or just want a few more window boxes, stop by a local thrift store or dump pick out some containers and start planting!

These particular container-wonders are created by my friend Ali, who has a business in edible gardening and have made these part of her enterprise:

Cauliflower Container

Swiss Chard

More Chard

Tomato plant

Most plants can be started in containers, but often need to be transplanted. If planting root veggies, make sure to get a deep container, and for other veggies make sure to watch when they are growing out of their space! If you are not into transplanting stick to herbs and flowers and a few root veggies if you do have nice deep dishes.

Also if you live the Aspen, Colorado area, make sure to contact Ali Wade for your own unique container or any gardening/container gardening advice or help!

Ali Wade

Edible Home Gardening

ediblehomegardening@hotmail.com

Swiss Chard

More Chard

Grow refreshment

If you have a lot of mint in your garden, trying using some to make mint tea, add to lemonade, ice it, and refresh all your friends and then inspire them to grow small sustainable herb gardens…or herb pots…or wild renegade mint…anywhere…

fresh, sustainable mint

Mint Tea

Time to Salad Party….

At Ute City Farm, we have events called “Weed and Feeds” where people weed and then we serve them a farm fresh dinner. For a variation on this concept, invite friends over and have them each weed a part of your garden or farm and then collect the produce in the bed they weeded. Have them weed and collect parts of a salad and then everyone can come together to make the salad.

Salad Greens

Creative Salad Ingredients:

* Pea Shoots

* Edible Flowers

* Sunflower Shoots

* Beet Greens

* Corn Shoots

* Pea Flowers

note on shoots: shoots of all kinds are very easy to grow in a living situation and grow fast and are pretty nutritious! for starting shoots fill a seed tray with potting soil, plant some sunflower seeds, peas, or corn, or whatever else you might want as shoots and cover them with damp newspaper. Then put the tray in a garbage bag in a warm place and wait for seeds to pop up. Let the shoots have a sunny place and water until they look healthy and a perfect height to pop in a salad!)

Salad with red lettuce, arugula, pea flowers, and mustard greens

Cook up these shallots for a delicious addition to your salad partay....

Add in Sustainability….

…to your oatmeal!

or granola by collecting delicious organic or sustainable fruit of the summer and dehydrating it! Just chop up your summer fruit into thin slices, invest in a dehydrator (usually you can snag a cheap one for $30 or $40 online or at a yard sale or borrow a friends) and then dehydrate and store!

The Fruits of Colorado Drying out for Winter use!

Local Granola...perfect for adding dehydrated fruit!

Vegetables of the farm…

yummy…radish…

Making Food Visible

Ute City Farm in the Evening

Working at Ute City sustainable farm, one thing both my sister and I have been thinking about is how to make such beautiful sustainability more visible.

We have been attempting to establish kid programs and run an “Open Farm Day” along with a “Weed and Feed” where people come out to the farm to weed and then enjoy dinner. So far its been difficult, and although such pieces of land hold lots of potential, true sustainability lies not only in the land, but in its role to the larger community.

Sign for Farm Tour