Mixed Greens Blog

Mixed Greens Blog
Living Sustainably in the Pacific Northwest

Archive for September, 2008

Support Seattle Youth Garden Works

For some it is their first job, for others having a place to go at a designated time creates a sense of stability that may not be present otherwise in their lives…. (BTW, a great tip from Colin — the Center for Urban Horticulture has a wonderful and under-used library filled with all the best gardening magazines and books, available for check-out to the public as well as a knowledgeable staff available to answer your gardening questions).

Seed + Soil + Ingenuity = Genius

Seattleite David Montgomery has won a MacArthur Genius fellowship for his work in geomorphology, a study of geophysical forces and how soil and rivers, the landscape have been altered over time.

Joan Dye Gussow writes about loss of land in her book, This Organic Life: “Although the lands that feed us are disappearing everywhere, the paving [...]

Sweeten the Deal: Chocolate Zucchini Bread

In a recent article in the NY Times, Six Food Mistakes Parents Make , the first mistake listed was not involving kids in food preparation. Researchers at Teachers College at Columbia University found that the more kids are allowed to participate in cooking, the more likely they are to try new foods. Add harvesting [...]

Ratatouille’s Back in the Kitchen

. . . and he’s most welcome, cookin’ up seasonal vegetables with Isernio’s Italian sausage. Zucchini, sweet pepper, onion, tomatoes, eggplant, garlic, all still in season, and the sausage is made locally. While reading through Kurt Beecher Dammeier’s cookbook again the other day, Pure Flavor, I noticed the feature about Frank Isernio’s sausage making [...]

Scooters & Bicycles: Alternative Commuting

Now that fall is here what seemed so easy and natural during the summer may take more effort. Take commuting, for example. Walking, riding a bike or even a scooter makes perfect sense when the sun is shining and the days are long. Will all of our good intentions fade away once the days are [...]

On the Local Table: Fresh Corn Chowder

This chowder isn’t tricked up much, it has a little kick, but the familiar corn taste prevails, in this case fresh corn.
Autumnal equinox 24 hours ago. We’ve turned the corner seasonally speaking, but can consider ourselves on the cusp. This meal is full of summer’s sweet corn, yet chowdery and comforting.
When the weather turned [...]

Slow Food Coming-Out Party

Over Labor Day weekend San Francisco hosted a Slow Food festival that brought over 60,000 people together to celebrate and taste. 98 percent of the events sold out and 20 percent of the attendees were from outside of California. Alice Waters, one of my heroes, was a major force behind this event that linked the [...]

On the Local Table: Pears in Season

Many of our pears were ripe and on the ground when we returned home from vacation last week, but salvageable. Time for chutney, pear salad, poached pears, or simply sliced with a piece of cheddar. Unlike other fruits some pears diminish in quality when ripened on the tree – better to pick them just before [...]

On the Local Table: Fried Green Tomatoes

Let’s face it. Some of these green beauties will never ripen. Don’t despair because I’ve got a wonderful way to use them, even ones that are partially ripe. Leave it to the Italians to come up with the perfect pairing of fried green tomatoes with goat cheese on a bed of baby lettuces and [...]

One or Two More Things About Tomatoes

And then that’s enough about tomatoes for this year . . . maybe.  They’re abundant at the moment so I made Gazpacho and dried some.

Returned home from vacation a couple of days ago to find tomato plants, finally, laden with ripened tomatoes. They’re late and not as sweet as when they ripen earlier, but I’m [...]