I am a pretty big believer in eating in season and buying locally grown produce. I owe most of that to this guy and this lady. Not that I don't still buy ridiculous amounts of bananas every week but still I try and what I can. And I KNOW a little makes a difference. Anyhow, on to the point. Here is a GREAT food that can meet all of the important criteria. This recipe is something like the one from this book. I love to eat it on cold afternoons or in the evening with I'm trying to refrain from the amazing cookies my husband always bakes. It's like a great mix of apple & pumpkin pie - except really healthy!
Mom's Baked Squash with Applesauce
1 acorn squash 2 tablespoons of cider jelly, apple jelly, or currant jelly(I use apple butter) salt 1 cup of applesauce cinnamon & sugar
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Half the squash from top to bottom and scoop out the seeds. Cut a small slice from the bottom of each half so the squash will sit flat as it bakes and place them in a casserole or baking dish with a lid. Brush the jelly over the flesh of each half and then sprinkle with a little salt. Cover and bake for 50-55 minutes or until the flesh is just tender. If liquid has settled in the cavities spoon it out and then fill with applesauce. Bake for 10 more minutes or until the applesauce is warm. Sprinkle with copious amounts of cinnamon and sugar and enjoy!
Michael Pollan was on Oprah yesterday. I got many calls and emails letting me know about it, I appreciate them all! I hope that by his appearance on such a widely known show, it can further this movement by educating so many Americans.
I thought he did a fantastic job. What did you think?
by Marisa In the past, just Michael and I have enjoyed browsing through the Seed Savers Exchange magazine together. This year I have found my kids picking up the magazine circling and making little stars or hearts next to the produce they want to grow this year. I couldn't be more proud!!! It has been so fun to include them in this stage of the process. I hope that this will help them feel even more ownership in the garden.
Where do you guys get your heirloom seeds? We collected many seeds from our produce last year, and will be planing many of those this year, but we also like to try new things.
Lauren has written asking about supports for her square foot garden, here is her question:
I'm new to blogging, and love what you are doing with your site. I have a question about the square foot garden. What types of supports do you like for heavy pumpkins and squash that can take up a lot of room? My garden space is about 4x10 and part of an urban organic garden. Any suggestions that you have would be greatly appreciated. I know it's early, but I'm so excited to start in the spring. Click here to see a picture of her garden.
Lauren, in my garden I have used 3 bamboo poles that I sunk into the dirt as far as I could and then tied at the top. I place one plant at the bottom of each pole and tie the vine up the pole as it grows. I have grown winter squash, pumpkins and melons in this manner. Click here for that article. In another article about peas, there is a diagram showing a few other options. Click here for that article. And now lastly, but surly not leastly, click here for a great video Dale put together about the trellis he made.
Does anyone have any other suggestions? Leave a comment if you do!
by Dale Johnson I encourage everyone to set goals to change or expand your backyard farm this year. Perhaps you can add a couple of more pots to your container farm. Expand your garden another 100 square feet. Put up some trellises. Plant some new vegetables or fruits. Add some layers or broilers.
Look over the seed and poultry catalogs. Place your orders. Establish your timelines. Dream and do.
Here are my goals for expanding my garden this year.
Who am I? Like Derek Zoolander looking into a puddle after his friend died in a freak gasoline accident I often question who I am.
Not who I am as a person, but who am I as a food consumer? I’m not a 100% locavore since I buy products from all over the world but I try to buy local as much as possible. I’m not a vegetarian as I really like meat . I wouldn’t consider myself a member of the slow food movement as periodically I am tired and the only way my family will eat is if we buy fast food. There are a lot of food movements out there and I wish I could say that I always buy locally and eat organic natural foods but I find it hard to do this all the time. Maybe I should start a new food movement called the amibetterthaniwasayearagovore movement. Here is an example of my mindset for this new movement.
Last Saturday we went to an Indoor Farmers market at Tony Caputo’s Deli in downtown Salt Lake City. The market had less farmer’s produce and more people selling their seasonings, and sauces that they made locally. While we were there I tried some Prosciutto di Parma which was amazing so I bought some. Then I thought that it would go great with pasta but Marisa was busy all day so I knew that she wouldn’t have time to make her wonderful homemade whole wheat pasta. I bought some locally made pasta instead. I needed a little cheese as well so I bought some parmesan cheese. I brought everything home, fried some prosciutto with butter and garlic, added some of the sun dried tomatoes we made from our garden, threw in some frozen peas from our garden and abracadabra we had a meal better than anything you can get at a restaurant.
Let’s talk about what I did that was both “positive” and “negative.”
Positives: Bought locally made pasta, added peas and tomatoes from last years garden, supported local farmers or food stuff sellers.
Negatives: Prosciutto and Parmesan were imported from Italy so definitely not local with a high carbon footprint. Garlic purchased at Winco not locally produced as well. Pasta was not whole wheat.
Verdict: As a amibetterthaniwasayearagovore I succeeded.Two years ago I would have gone out to eat at Macaroni grill. Instead, we bought some of our ingredients locally and used some of our own produce. I did better than I would have done in the past. We are improving our habits as consumers. We aren’t perfect but we are trying to do better and to me that is what is the most important. If we all improve we can make a big difference while taking small steps. Maybe next year I will grow my own garlic for the meal. Maybe 2 years from now I will raise my own pork for bacon. The key is that next year I am doing better than now.
What do you guys think of this philosophy? Am I just justifying some of the bad habits that I have? Or on the other hand am I making the process of improving my consumption habits more manageable so I don’t give up altogether?
Mom's Baked Squash with Applesauce
