Green Eats

Exciting news! I’ve been working with the organizers of FoodCorps over the last few months to help get a new national FoodCorps Americorps program up and running. Specifically I am helping with the Site Selection committee, and today FoodCorps has released a call for letters of inquiry from groups interested in becoming a FoodCorps site. Letters are due in by 5pm on Friday, September 17th. Click here for information on FoodCorps and the guidelines on submitting a letter of inquiry.

Please forward this information to any organizations you know of that might be interested!

Orren Fox is officially the coolest kid in school. I learned about him, his chickens and bees, and his advocacy through an article that he wrote for Civil Eats. I won’t rehash the article here, but suffice it to say this kid rocks. In a world full of Happy Meals and Lucky Charms, it is incredibly refreshing to find a young person who takes the time to think about where food comes from.

Check out Orren’s blog, Happy Chickens Lay Healthy Eggs, and follow him on Twitter: @happychickens & @happyhoneybees.

Photo by Libby DeLana

There are thousands of us out there, I know it. Frustrated, would-be gardeners who live in urban areas without yards, or rent and cannot start a garden. Container gardening only scratches that itch for a while, but eventually you need your own piece of earth to rip up and bring to life. Enter Hyperlocavore, A Yardsharing Community. This online group connects those with extra land to those with a green-thumb and a desire to garden. You can search the group for local yards to share, post your own yard, join in discussions, and more. Take a minute and check it out! (If you decide to join Hyperlocavore, please check out my Triangle Region Yardshare group – I’d love to start developing an active yardshare community here in the Triangle!)

If you haven’t been to one of Carolina Farm Stewardship Association’s wildly popular farm tours, here is your chance! Check out this press release from CFSA’s Amy Armbruster for more details:

The skinny on the Tour:
The 5th Annual Eastern Triangle Farm Tour
Sat. & Sun. Sept 18 & 19, 1 to 5 PM.
http://www.carolinafarmstewards.org/etft2010.shtml

This year we have a record twenty-four sites on the tour, including eight
new farms!

We will be showcasing ten farms with sustainable and humane livestock
operations, getting the word out about healthy, local meat options. Several
are Animal Welfare Approved and all have beautiful animals!

We will have mushrooms again (Spain Farm) and honeybees for the first time
(Betsey’s Bee Farm.)

On the urban scene, we are happy to welcome an urban mini-farm in Durham
(Two Ton Farm sponsored by Bountiful Backyards) and the farm of the Inter
Faith Food Shuttle in Raleigh. These farms, along with the SEEDS Garden in
Durham, highlight how to grow a lot on small acreage in the city and how
youth can be engaged in the movement.

Another newcomer to the tour this year is Durham County’s newest goat dairy;
located in Bahama, Prodigal Farm has 65 goats and a brand new milking parlor
and cheesemaking building. Very cool.

And, of course, the tour includes a strong collection of vegetable, flower
and fruit producers, where foodies and growers can learn about organic and
sustainable horticulture practices.

The tour brochure, an interactive Google map of all the farms and ticket
information are available at our website.
http://www.carolinafarmstewards.org/etft2010.shtml.

Buttons are $25 per carload in advance and $30 the day of the tour.
Single farms are $10 per carload.

Just a head’s up – posts will be sparse for the rest of July and into August. Between work, projects, and a pending vacation I’ve decided to go easy on the blogging. There will be a few posts here and there, but expect more regular posting starting in September.

As much as I hate the heat, I love summer’s bounty. Over the past month I have been gorging on peaches, tomatoes, corn, and blueberries. In North Carolina we are lucky enough to have all four grown locally, and they all are available at the same time of year! I thought I would take a moment and share four of my favorite recipes for making the most of these delicious summer staples.

• Tomato Tarte Tatin – Bon Appétit
• Grilled Corn on the Cob with Chipotle Butter – Bon Appétit
• White Peach Sangria – Bobby Flay’s “Boy Gets Grill”
• Blueberry-Ginger Pie – Martha Stewart

Make your way down to the South Estes Farmers Market on Saturday, July 17th, from 8-12, for the 3rd Annual Tomato Festival. There will be tomato tastings, demonstrations, and a workshop for kids where they can learn how to build a solar pizza oven!

South Estes Farmers Market is located at 201 S. Estes Drive at University Mall in Chapel Hill, across the parking lot from A Southern Season. Market hours are Saturdays from 8-12 and Tuesdays from 3-6.  For more information, or to volunteer, e-mail farmersoforange@gmail.com.

Last week I made my way to Cohen Farm in Silk Hope, NC to attend a pasture walk with renowned farmer and sustainable agriculture rock star Joel Salatin. I’d never been to a pasture walk, so I wasn’t sure what to expect; in the end it was just as it sounds, we walked through a pasture.

There were 50 or so folks in attendance, a mix of students, advocates, and farmers, and Salatin spent about an hour and a half answering some of the farmers’ questions on things like pasture-siting, water issues, and herd maintenance. One thing you cannot call Joel Salatin is shy – the man likes to speak! Luckily for us he is a fount of sustainable farming knowledge, and a great advocate for small farmers everywhere.

Click through for more photos from the pasture walk.

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I got this prayer from one of my best friends, David, who had it passed to him from a friend. I think it is particularly poignant for those of us who strive daily to find value in what we eat.

Innumerable labors have brought us this food; we should know how it comes to us.

As we receive this offering, we should consider whether our virtue and practice deserve it. As we desire the natural condition of the mind, to be free from clinging, we must be free from greed.

To support our life we take this food; to attain the Buddha way we take this food.

We offer this food to benefit all beings, to save all beings that are sentient, and to attain the Buddha way.