Robyn Harrison's Blog
Posted by Robyn Harrison
Our local Farmers' Market unofficially opened on Tuesday of this week. It usually doesn't open until mid-July but a few enterprising farmers have been hard at work growing greens and harvesting asparagus. There were chard, kale, beets, beet greens and asparagus, as well as the perennial eggs and jams and jellies.
Advertising was word-of-mouth, and people were so excited to see fresh produce return to the plaza that the vendors sold out in less than an hour. Neighbors greeted neighbors, and those who were first in line took only a little so that everyone would have a chance to get a little something FRESH.
Though we have had no rain for 5 months, the river is full and the snow pack higher than usual, so there will be water for the gardens this summer. If Tuesday was any indication, the farmers' market will have plenty of customers all season long.
Eat Fresh
Eat Local
Eat Organic
Posted by Robyn Harrison
I'm nearly swimming in asparagus. We're picking 2-3 pounds a day and selling much of it at the farmers' market, but I'm keeping plenty for us to eat. I know asparagus season is short-lived and we won't see it in the garden again for a year, so we try to take full advantage of it when we have it.
Asparagus should be kept in the refrigerator, preferably stored in a jar or small bucket with the bottom end of the spears in water to keep them from drying out. The diameter of the vegetable doesn't seem to affect its taste, and if it is truly fresh, it shouldn't need to be peeled.
Freezing and canning asparagus just doesn't work, but you can stretch the season just a little bit by cooking the asparagus in a main dish that freezes well, such as pizza or quiche.
Eat up! Asparagus time is short.....
Posted by Robyn Harrison
Time to grab the bag, the bowl, the box,--whatever is handy--and head for the ditch banks: the asparagus are up. The little green spears that poke their heads up one day and are ready for picking the next inspire me to get outside and get re-acquainted with the garden.
When I was little, I thought asparagus were the limp, slimy vegetable that comes in a can. I didn't care for them, not one bit. When I was in my twenties, someone served fresh asparagus, lightly steamed, a little butter. I was in heaven. Now, I sneak out to the asparagus bed as soon as the temperature hits 70-degrees, hoping to be the first to find one of the little spears and pick it and eat it right then.
Asparagus season is only a few weeks, and during that time we eat asparagus nearly every meal because we know they don't can or freeze well: we have to enjoy them while we've got them.
Eat fresh.
Eat local.
Eat organic.
Eat asparagus!
Posted by Robyn Harrison
Rule Number One: Eat food.
Rule Number Two: Mostly plants.
Rule Number Three: Not too much.
Americans have fallen in love with super-sizing (mostly thanks to the fast food industry). Add this to the fact that many of us grew up with, "Clean your plate. You know there are children starving in ___ (fill in your choice of country)," and we eat much more than we need. Pollan suggests that westerners require visual cues to know when we have finished our meal: the plate is clean, the tv show is over. We've forgotten how to listen to our stomachs to know when to stop.
Eating should be about more than just food. It should be about our relationship with food--a cultural thing, if you will. Instead of mindlessly munching in front of the TV or (yikes!) eating at your desk, try to always eat at a table, and preferably with others--make it social. This will help change your relationship with food, and maybe with other people in your life as well.
There is so much more in Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food. I recommend that you read it--but not during dinner.
Posted by Robyn Harrison
First, we'll review last week.
Rule number one: Eat Food.
If that seems like a ridiculous statement to you, read last week's blog or, better yet, read Michael Pollan's whole book.
This week, rule Number Two is: Eat mostly plants.
I love this rule. It goes right along with eat local, eat fresh, eat organic. Grow your own garden, shop the farmers' market, haunt the produce aisles of the grocery store.
Notice Pollan says "mostly" plants. He says to eat like an omnivore, but be aware of where your meat comes from and remember that "you are what you eat" as well as "you are what you eat eats, too."
Local, fresh, organic goes for meat as well as produce.
