In the Zone but Nothing Local

30 03 2009

Last week as we traveled across time zones for spring break, I started thinking about another kind of zone: hardiness zones. First developed by the USDA, hardiness zones help gardeners determine what plants will survive in their area, based on minimum temperatures and other conditions.

Denver is in zones 5-6, but the part of Florida where we spent a (soggy) few days is in zone 8, meaning warmer nighttime temperatures and a much earlier start on the growing season.

I thought it would also mean locally grown produce like chard and kale that we don’t have yet in Colorado. But it didn’t. At least not at the Winn-Dixie, Piggly-Wiggly and Bruno’s where we shopped. I couldn’t even find fresh organic spinach from anywhere, much less from within a hundred miles, at two of those stores. As a result, we ate a lot more canned and frozen produce than normal. Hey, it wasn’t local, but at least it was organic.

And then on the last day of our trip, as we wound our way from Florida to southeastern Alabama and then up through Georgia to get to the Atlanta airport, we saw signs for local produce. Pecans, direct from the grower! They didn’t help us with our recommended daily amounts of fruits and veggies, but they were certainly delicious.

And now that I’m home, I can share a favorite recipe for Southern Pecans, given to me by a friend with such a friendly Carolina accent that you wouldn’t mind if she talked all day.

PS Assuming you won’t be in Vienna, Georgia, anytime soon, you can buy pecans straight from the same family-owned company, Ellis Brothers Pecans, at werenuts.com.


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Southern Pecans

30 03 2009

1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground red pepper
3 cups pecan halves
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 300. Melt butter in a large saucepan; add cumin and red pepper and cook mixture 1 minute. Remove pan from heat; add pecans, sugar and salt, stirring gently to coat. Spread pecans in a single layer in a jelly roll pan. Bake for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.


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Beef Stew with Red Wine

11 03 2009

4 large carrots, or lots of little ones, peeled and sliced into rounds
3 large potatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 large onion, cut in half and sliced thin
3 pounds of beef, cut into 1-1/2-inch cubes
3 cups beef broth (I like Swanson organic beef broth, with less sodium and no MSG)
2 cups red wine
14 ounces diced tomatoes
2 large T tomato paste
1 tsp dried thyme
2 cups frozen peas
1-2 T cornstarch, if desired
Chopped parsley

In a slow-cooker, layer first carrots, then potatoes, onions and beef on the bottom. In a large mixing bowl, combine broth, wine, diced tomatoes, tomato paste and thyme. Pour this mixture over the beef and cover. Cook on low 8-9 hours or on auto for 7-8 (check instructions for your slow cooker). About 20 minutes before serving, stir in the peas, add kosher salt and pepper to taste and cover. Depending on how much broth you have left, you can thicken it with 1-2 T of cornstarch, mixed in a small bowl with a little cold water and then stirred into the stew. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve over brown rice or with crusty bread.


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In Fear of Getting Started?

7 03 2009

An article in the March issue of Fast Company caught my eye, and though it was written for a different audience, namely young, free-thinking entrepreneurs, the gist transfers to the rest of us who might not be so young or so entrepreneurial. (But who’s to say? Isn’t age a state of mind? And can’t we launch a start-up by changing the way business is done in our own kitchen?)

But back to Fast Company. The article, entitled Time to Aim Lower, motivates us to tackle projects we might dread, whether that’s filling out expense reports (their example) or making dinner when you’re tired on a Thursday night (mine).

The concept, as outlined by authors Dan and Chip Heath, is simple:

“We’re all used to hearing about stretch goals, and when you feel empowered, stretch goals are useful ambition teasers. But when you feel overwhelmed, stretch goals are a recipe for paralysis. Michael Phelps needed a stretch goal. Julie needed a whisker goal, a target that was a hairsbreadth away from the status quo. We need these more modest steps because they help us get past the “startup costs” — the apprehension and fear — that deter us from doing the tasks we hate.”

Not to say we hate cooking. Indeed, most of us really like to cook. But a lot of people I’ve talked to about eating seasonally and locally have told me they wished they had the time, but are too busy. Or they don’t know what they’d do with all the veggies from a CSA.

My suggestion? Make a “whisker goal.” If you normally eat out 3 times a week, then try cooking at home one of those nights, and pick a menu that features a local ingredient. If you normally eat at home but buy frozen food, pick up some fresh, seasonal veggies and use those for dinner. (Seasonal depends on where you live. I’m still cooking squash and potatoes while others are knee-deep in greens. More on that in another post.) If you cook a lot but rely on farmers’ markets, maybe it’s time to join a CSA.

It’s okay to start small. You never know where that little goal will take you.


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Personalities: Country Roots Farm

3 03 2009

Community-supported agriculture isn’t just about produce. It’s about community, too. So for the next few weeks I’ll be talking to the Colorado farmers who are bringing us the fruits and vegetables we’ve grown to love — before they get too busy in the fields to talk!

Ryan Morris spent his childhood in Pueblo just three miles from Country Roots Farm, but it took him years of working as an occupational therapist all across the West to realize that farming was his calling. Why make the switch? “You go to many less meetings,” he deadpans. Besides, he adds, “I love working outside and it’s a more well-rounded way to raise a family.” And a family operation it is. Morris runs the 13-acre farm with his wife Betsy, his son Reed and his mother Virginia.

Morris is a veteran when it comes to community supported agriculture. His CSA opened 15 years ago, the same year as the farm. For years interest grew steadily but after the publication of Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, he noticed a change. “When Kingsolver’s book came out a whole new type of person was interested…your average basic Joe walking around.” That’s when business really took off. The farm currently has more than 100 members, with distribution points in Pueblo and Colorado Springs.

The CSA lasts from June to October and, weather permitting, includes some 35 kinds of vegetables from beets to melons. But when you factor in all the different varieties the number is far higher. For example, Morris tries his hand at lemon and Poona Kheera cucumbers (which are the kind grown in Nepal, as he happily learned from a visiting Nepalese student). Morris also grows five or more varieties of tomatoes, peppers, winter and summer squash, potatoes, watermelons and basil. And while novelty is nice, he stresses that other factors go into his decision about what to put in the field. “It’s fine if it has the looks,” he says, “but taste is always more important to us.”


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