newsletter, summer 2008

Summer Greetings Friends and Foodies,

It has been several seasons since we’ve written. Lenore has been on sabbatical, using the time to rejuvenate herself, reflect and renew her work. She is expanding her repertoire to include raw or “living food” dishes and developing recipes for her third cookbook. These foods can be prepared in less time and without the heat of cooking which destroys food enzymes. Summer is the perfect time to explore local edibles at their freshest and experiment with a palate of bright, colorful and live foods.

Our four seasons gardening continues. During the spring, we concentrated on our edible landscaping. We made investments in “fruit futures” by planting apple trees, ligonberries, blueberries, goji berries, raspberries, blackberries, paw paws, asparagus and Jerusalem artichokes. Mmmmm!  We learned a lot about this from Chuck Marsh. You can catch him at his booth during the Saturday morning Asheville City Market, look for one of his talks or visit his website at www.usefulplants.org.

Coming this fall, new classes with living foods! Stay tuned. You’ll get plenty of notice.

Book Recommendation

Looking for more motivation to start a plant or garden? Want to save fuel and live more sustainably? And, want to savor a great book?  Then you’ll want to read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver (author of the best sellers The Poisonwood Bible, Prodigal Summer, etc). It is truly an informative, inspiring and entertaining chronicle of her family’s one year of procuring just about all of their food from neighboring farms and their own backyard. She, and her family co-authors, cover bits of everything: modern and traditional food production, recipes, history, trials-tribulations-exhalations, harvest celebrations, homesteading and food cultures. They describe how each season reveals familiar food friends and new surprises. No better way to get into the cadence of Nature. It’s got it all, including the heartwarming MIRACLE ending! They live in Appalachian Virginia and you can find ongoing coverage, recipes and a seasonal farm tour at their website www.animalvegetablemiracle.com.

Movie Recommendation

For a unique look at what life might be like surrounded by compassionate, understanding people, we really enjoyed Lars and the Real Girl. The trailer doesn’t do it justice. As the story develops, you really get to know and care about the characters deeply…truly heartwarming.

On Tuesday, August 12, at 7:00 pm, the Friends of the Weaverville Library (with  Lenore as emcee) will show the 90-minute movie The Future Of Food. Join us there for this look at the effects of genetic engineering on our food systems and how to counter this trend. Also, participate in an optional seed exchange! There is no charge. If you cannot attend this event, the DVD will be available for loan at the Weaverville Library after August 12th.

Recipes

Do you have lots of zucchini yet? We planted the yellow-skinned “Gold Rush” variety this year. This variety, like yellow summer squashes, adds visual interest in salads, dipping spears and in spiral cut “noodles.”  One of the recipes in development is a creamy, vegan raw soup (shown is "Cool Zucchini" garnished with kalamata olives and a dill sprig). Other live foods recipes that will be taught will include fabulous, healthy salad dressings, delicious high protein breakfast puddings, sprouted and dehydrated breads and crackers, garden burgers, pate´s, juices and green smoothies, naturally-fermented pickles and guilt-free desserts.

If cool soups aren’t your thing, there are a lot of lighter, summer soups in Lenore’s Sublime Soups. Pair one of these up with a fresh salad:

Minestrone, Cauliflower and Red Pepper, Broccoli Squash Purée, Delicate Vegetable Soup, Fennel Bisque, Summer Vegetable Chowder, The Best Broccoli Soup, Silken Celery Soup, Classic Toscanini Soup, Thai Vegetable Soup, Moroccan Vegetable Soup, Dilled Broccoli Soup

For a Better World

Western North Carolina is under an exceptional drought designation from the U.S. Drought Monitor. Let’s all do our part by being conscious of water use and conservation. We’ve found that our outdoor plants love the used water that comes from washing our harvested vegetables in a bucket in the sink. While waiting for the showerhead water to heat up, we capture that water in a basin for plants. Finally, we follow this old adage in our bathroom: “If it’s yellow, let it mellow. If it’s brown, flush it down!”

Quotes

The act of putting into your mouth what is grown is perhaps your most direct interaction with the Earth – Frances Moore Lappe

Warmly,
Lenore and Joe Baum

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