I remember reading about it years ago, in Eat Here, Reclaiming Homegrown Pleasures in a Global Supermarket.  Among hundreds of interesting insights into our food system, Brian Halweil revealed this tidbit:  Britain’s National Collection features of 2000 varieties of apples!  What’s more, spread among this diversity is an almost continuous harvest, with some varieties ripening … Read more

I once had a job opening envelopes.  All day long.  I quit after four days.  It was either that or take up a drug habit to survive the mindlessness. I thought about that experience today, as I was sautéing plums to freeze for winter.  I did this last year and the plums were divine.  But … Read more

It was a mad day.  Although a balmy 80 degrees by 10 in the morning, nightfall was predicted to bring a hard frost, i.e., the kind that extinguishes plants on contact, especially the more tender summer crop plants.  So I headed out early to bring in the last of the tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, basil and … Read more

It’s not surprising that we think of vegetables as inanimate objects.  After all, we generally buy them in gigantic stores where, displayed in the next aisle over, might be anything from beauty products, pharmaceuticals and miscellaneous hardware items to winter gloves, engine oil and even laundry baskets. While it’s not hard to see a distinction … Read more

How many times in a day do we touch something that’s alive?  I can think of plenty of non-alive things we come in contact with:  the steering wheel of a car, packaging for a breakfast bar, computer keyboard, coffee machine, coffee cup, gym equipment, machine-made microwaveable lunch, elevator buttons, chairs, clothing, silverware, plates, portable electronic … Read more

Parsley.  It’s all over my garden. That’s because parsley is one of those re-seeders. Plant it once and thereafter, wherever there’s the smallest patch of unoccupied soil, parsley will take up residence. Could be an example of abundance.  But it could equally be viewed as a weed problem. There’s only so much parsley a person … Read more

Yesterday’s post talked about extravagance–something we get to indulge in because autumn is such a generous season. There’s a flip side, however:  Autumn isn’t bountiful with everything, only produce that ripens at this time of year.  While the collection of autumn-ripening produce is definitely the biggest, it doesn’t include things like asparagus, queen of spring, … Read more

Autumn is such an extravagant time.  Take red peppers, which come into season in the fall.  At any other time of year, organic red peppers can cost $3.50 a piece and should I buy one, it would be frugally parceled out into at least three dishes. In autumn, however, a gigantic organic pepper, as sweet … Read more

“That’s a lot of work!” Put up a couple boxes of tomatoes, pick my neighbor’s plums so they don’t go to waste or spend a Saturday morning stocking up at the Farmers’ Market and there’s a good chance I’ll be met with exclamations about how much effort that must have taken.  I even feel dogged … Read more

Food Day is my kind of day–a day to celebrate food that is safe, healthful, affordable, local, seasonal and most of all delightfully delicious.  All over the country, there will be potlucks, film screenings, talks, food drives and other events in honor of Food Day.  Despite my best intentions to help organize some events, time … Read more