I rarely send political messages, but there’s a bill that went to the floor of the house today that will directly affect Athens Locally Grown, to the point of possibly making us stop what we do. -ericPLEASE CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE!
URGE THEM TO SUPPORT THE
KAPTUR-FARR FOOD SAFETY PROPOSALThere is no question: our food system needs to be safer. But Congress is currently debating food safety legislation (Food Safety Enhancement Act – H.R. 2749) that could hinder beginning, sustainable, and organic farmers’ access to markets, require expensive fees, and lead to the dismantling of important conservation practices and wildlife habitat.
HR 2749 is scheduled to go to the floor of the House TODAY under a suspension vote, which means limited debate and no amendments, but a requirement for a two-thirds majority for passage. With negotiations still underway, however, it seems reasonably likely that a vote could be pushed to Thursday.
Representatives Marcy Kaptur (OH-9), Sam Farr (CA-17), Maurice Hinchey (NY-22), Jesse Jackson Jr. (IL-2), Peter Welch (VT-at large), Chellie Pingree (ME-1) and Earl Blumenauer (OR-3) last week submitted a letter to the House Energy and Commerce Committee with specific proposed changes to HR 2749 that addresses many of the concerns raised by the sustainable and organic agriculture community.
At the same time, the House Agriculture Committee majority concluded negotiations with the sponsors of HR 2749 that secured one of the changes proposed in the Kaptur-Farr et al request – namely, a greater role for USDA in all the farm-related portions of the bill. That was helpful as far as it went, but it did not directly address other critical concerns.
It is important that you call your Representative TODAY and ask them to join the effort to protect small and mid-sized family farmers, the environment, and consumer choice by supporting the provisions in the Kaptur-Farr proposal to HR 2749.
PLEASE CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE IMMEDIATELY!
It’s easy to call. Please call or fax your Representative’s office and ask to speak with the aide that works on agriculture. If you don’t know your Representative’s name, please click here http://www.house.gov and enter your zip code in the top left-hand corner of the screen. Then call the Capitol Switchboard and ask to be directly connected to your Representative’s office: 202-224-3121.
The message is simple. “I am a constituent of Representative___________ and I am calling to ask him/her to support the Kaptur-Farr proposal to HR 2749, the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009. I am also asking him/her to vote against HR 2749 unless the proposals included in the Kaptur-Farr letter are included in the final bill.”
Showing posts with label gardening. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gardening. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
A real update coming soon, I promise...
In the mean time, one of my friends, who is a local food producer herself, forwarded this me. It also went out on the Moore's Family Farm mailing list this week as well. If you're passionate about locally produced, non-industry food, it would be a good idea to read up on this issue and make your opinion known to your representative. The representative for the 30076 ZIP code is Tom Price.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Tomato Sauce
I always seem to get behind on posts here, don't I? Let me reward your patience with some marinara sauce!
Tomato season is starting to wind down here. A few weeks ago, I had the half assed idea of making tomato sauce to freeze, so I could still enjoy locally grown food over the winter. Great idea, misses something in the execution. You'll see.
The tomatoes. A combination of from my garden and the farmers market.
Onion, garlic, green bell pepper and carrots. Yes, carrots. My mom made a recipe for Bolognase sauce a few years ago that used carrots as part of the base. Ever since then I've used them in tomato sauce and tomato soup. They add a different dimension of flavor to your dish.
With the tomatoes added. I used the box grater method, which is why it looks pureed.
After I added parsley and basil from my garden.
Pureed using my immersion blender.
LOOK AT THE SAUCE! LOOK AT IT!!!
The more astute of you have figured out why there is none in my freezer currently.
It turns out I made just enough for one lasagna. It was a great one. Feta cheese mixed with the ricotta, freshly made sauce, Italian sausage. We had leftovers for three days.
But it's gone now.
And I am sad.
Submitted to Grow Your Own.
Tomato season is starting to wind down here. A few weeks ago, I had the half assed idea of making tomato sauce to freeze, so I could still enjoy locally grown food over the winter. Great idea, misses something in the execution. You'll see.
 |
| From blog |
The tomatoes. A combination of from my garden and the farmers market.
 |
| From blog |
Onion, garlic, green bell pepper and carrots. Yes, carrots. My mom made a recipe for Bolognase sauce a few years ago that used carrots as part of the base. Ever since then I've used them in tomato sauce and tomato soup. They add a different dimension of flavor to your dish.
 |
| From blog |
With the tomatoes added. I used the box grater method, which is why it looks pureed.
 |
| From blog |
After I added parsley and basil from my garden.
 |
| From blog |
Pureed using my immersion blender.
 |
| From blog |
LOOK AT THE SAUCE! LOOK AT IT!!!
The more astute of you have figured out why there is none in my freezer currently.
 |
| From blog |
It turns out I made just enough for one lasagna. It was a great one. Feta cheese mixed with the ricotta, freshly made sauce, Italian sausage. We had leftovers for three days.
But it's gone now.
And I am sad.
Submitted to Grow Your Own.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Oh Deer...
Well, I'm finally back and recovered from DragonCon and I have a backlog of posts to make here. I'll try to address that this week.
The most pressing issue is the garden. The last few weeks its been sorely neglected as I've been back at work and preparing for the convention. I had to move my basil plant to the other side of the driveway, because the tomatoes were killing it. I still think it's doing poorly. The worst is the tomatoes though.
Apparently the deer in our neighborhood have been sampling them. The last few tomatoes have had big bite marks in them, and were thrown out. The tops of the plants have been sheared off. I've been looking up non-chemical solutions to deter the deer and I've found one I think will work: spraying the plants with diluted hot sauce. However, given that its the end of the season and the last tomato I picked was the size of a ping pong ball, I think its not worth the effort. I'll just rip up the plants and let it go fallow for a week or two while I decide if I'm going to plant a fall crop. Or I can concentrate on composting.
The most pressing issue is the garden. The last few weeks its been sorely neglected as I've been back at work and preparing for the convention. I had to move my basil plant to the other side of the driveway, because the tomatoes were killing it. I still think it's doing poorly. The worst is the tomatoes though.
Apparently the deer in our neighborhood have been sampling them. The last few tomatoes have had big bite marks in them, and were thrown out. The tops of the plants have been sheared off. I've been looking up non-chemical solutions to deter the deer and I've found one I think will work: spraying the plants with diluted hot sauce. However, given that its the end of the season and the last tomato I picked was the size of a ping pong ball, I think its not worth the effort. I'll just rip up the plants and let it go fallow for a week or two while I decide if I'm going to plant a fall crop. Or I can concentrate on composting.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Heeeey!!!
So this morning, I went outside to get my newspaper and glanced at my kitchen garden, as I always do when I'm outside. "How cute!" I thought. "A fat, little monarch caterpillar is on my parsley. I wonder if caterpillars like parsley?"
A little later today, I go outside again and look.
Not one, but TWO Very Hungry Caterpillars have decimated my poor parsley plant. GAH!
So I did what any self respecting organic herb farmer would do: Scream like a girl, then pout and whine until her husband pulled them off and threw them into the side yard.
Jimmy is convinced that they were on a hot, caterpillar date.
My poor plant will recover (Just as it was getting nice and bushy too...I had plans for that parsley. PLANS!), and now I know what to plant if I ever decide to make a butterfly garden.
A little later today, I go outside again and look.
Not one, but TWO Very Hungry Caterpillars have decimated my poor parsley plant. GAH!
So I did what any self respecting organic herb farmer would do: Scream like a girl, then pout and whine until her husband pulled them off and threw them into the side yard.
Jimmy is convinced that they were on a hot, caterpillar date.
My poor plant will recover (Just as it was getting nice and bushy too...I had plans for that parsley. PLANS!), and now I know what to plant if I ever decide to make a butterfly garden.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Oh, and one other thing...
I'm really proud of tonights dinner. Other than a few pantry ingredients and chicken from the freezer, it was all local ingredients.
I stir fried chicken with pole beans and jalapeños from the Farmers Market (we are still positively swimming in beans around here), and the Thai basil in my garden. I served it alongside steamed brown rice, which my picky Chinese husband has grudgingly agreed to eat occasionally.
Ingredients:
Chicken breast
Corn starch
Soy Sauce
Garlic
Onion
Fresh green beans/pole beans
jalapenos
Thai basil
Chicken broth
The first thing I do is cut up the chicken into smallish chunks that will cook quickly over high heat. Put em in a bowl, then toss with soy sauce and cornstarch. The cornstarch is going to coat the chicken and give it a velvet texture. If i have it on hand, I'll also add ginger and sesame oil to the mix.
While that's doing it's thing, snap the beans. Make sure you get that nasty little string off of them. Cut them into small pieces that will cook quickly. A stir fry is fast food. You want everything to cook fast. Put those aside and chop your onions and garlic.
Heat oil in your pan. When its rocket hot, put the veggies in and give them a quick cook. Keep them moving. When the beans are almost, but not quite done to your liking, pull them off the heat and pour into a bowl.
Add a little more oil to the pan and heat it up again. Add the chicken. I think I needed to drain it first, because I had issues with it sticking to pan. Oh well, it still tasted good. As with the veggies, keep it moving. Once it's mostly done, add the veggies back to the pan. Stir them around together. Add some chopped jalapeño and the Thai basil. It should smell really, really good right now.
Pour it off into a serving dish and set aside. Now, we like a good sauce to flavor the rice when we have Asian style food. If you don't, then go ahead serve now. But we like sauce. I added enough chicken broth to cover the pan, then scraped up all the tasty brown bits stuck to the pan. Let that simmer down and reduce by half, then pour over the chicken and veggies.
What you get now is a beautiful, quick dish that reminds me of very good Thai food.
I stir fried chicken with pole beans and jalapeños from the Farmers Market (we are still positively swimming in beans around here), and the Thai basil in my garden. I served it alongside steamed brown rice, which my picky Chinese husband has grudgingly agreed to eat occasionally.
Ingredients:
Chicken breast
Corn starch
Soy Sauce
Garlic
Onion
Fresh green beans/pole beans
jalapenos
Thai basil
Chicken broth
The first thing I do is cut up the chicken into smallish chunks that will cook quickly over high heat. Put em in a bowl, then toss with soy sauce and cornstarch. The cornstarch is going to coat the chicken and give it a velvet texture. If i have it on hand, I'll also add ginger and sesame oil to the mix.
While that's doing it's thing, snap the beans. Make sure you get that nasty little string off of them. Cut them into small pieces that will cook quickly. A stir fry is fast food. You want everything to cook fast. Put those aside and chop your onions and garlic.
Heat oil in your pan. When its rocket hot, put the veggies in and give them a quick cook. Keep them moving. When the beans are almost, but not quite done to your liking, pull them off the heat and pour into a bowl.
Add a little more oil to the pan and heat it up again. Add the chicken. I think I needed to drain it first, because I had issues with it sticking to pan. Oh well, it still tasted good. As with the veggies, keep it moving. Once it's mostly done, add the veggies back to the pan. Stir them around together. Add some chopped jalapeño and the Thai basil. It should smell really, really good right now.
Pour it off into a serving dish and set aside. Now, we like a good sauce to flavor the rice when we have Asian style food. If you don't, then go ahead serve now. But we like sauce. I added enough chicken broth to cover the pan, then scraped up all the tasty brown bits stuck to the pan. Let that simmer down and reduce by half, then pour over the chicken and veggies.
What you get now is a beautiful, quick dish that reminds me of very good Thai food.
"The internet gets kind of boring after awhile..."
As my summer vacation draws to a close, I find myself getting squirrelly. While I've still been cooking every day, I haven't been bothering to update here or any where else. Plus, my camera was on the fritz so I had a slight backlog of photos I haven't posted. So to make up for my silence lately, and hopefully get back into the swing of things, I offer you a few pictures.
Cinnamon Swirl bread, toasted and buttered. I ate this for breakfast every day for a week. Divine.
This was the first tomatoes from the garden a few weeks ago. Tomato cucumber salad, with fresh pesto over fettuccine noodles. The cucumbers come from the farmers market, the basil from the yard.
A blurry shot of some french toast I made last Saturday with my homemade bread. One of these days I need to write about french toast.
Cinnamon Swirl bread, toasted and buttered. I ate this for breakfast every day for a week. Divine.
This was the first tomatoes from the garden a few weeks ago. Tomato cucumber salad, with fresh pesto over fettuccine noodles. The cucumbers come from the farmers market, the basil from the yard.
A blurry shot of some french toast I made last Saturday with my homemade bread. One of these days I need to write about french toast.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008
More Garden Pictures
I took more pictures of my modest kitchen garden this week. I find the more time I spend outside, the more I like my yard. It has a certain wilderness flair to it. I'm thinking of having it certified as a wildlife habitat, since there seem to be so many critters in it.
I planted some more pots this week. My parents brought me some plants last weekend when they came up for Father's Day. My mom works from home now, so all that time she used to waste sitting in traffic, she now spends gardening and birdwatching. This is what she couldn't plant in her own yard. It's a cherry tomato bush and some peppers. I'm not sure what type, but I am assuming green bell.
Another view of the pots. I have very little plantable space that the Homeowners Association will allow me to use for food. Also? I just don't feel like tilling half my yard. I'm a hobbyist. So any further plantings from me will be in pots.
The tomatoes, they tease me so. I think there's another two weeks or so before they ripen. My husband and I both stare at the plants when we walk past, looking for signs of redness. I'm hoping to be able to eat them by the 4th of July.
I planted some more pots this week. My parents brought me some plants last weekend when they came up for Father's Day. My mom works from home now, so all that time she used to waste sitting in traffic, she now spends gardening and birdwatching. This is what she couldn't plant in her own yard. It's a cherry tomato bush and some peppers. I'm not sure what type, but I am assuming green bell.
Another view of the pots. I have very little plantable space that the Homeowners Association will allow me to use for food. Also? I just don't feel like tilling half my yard. I'm a hobbyist. So any further plantings from me will be in pots.
The tomatoes, they tease me so. I think there's another two weeks or so before they ripen. My husband and I both stare at the plants when we walk past, looking for signs of redness. I'm hoping to be able to eat them by the 4th of July.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Garden Pictures
I came home from work a little early today, so I did some work in my extremely modest kitchen garden that I'd been putting off. I had the idea of gardening this summer a few months ago. It'll be good exercise for me in the summers and it'll make my yard more attractive than the overgrown weedy hell we've been living with for several years. It's a small start, but I'm new at this. I'm sure it will get bigger and better as I learn how to maintain it.
My first tomatoes! This plant was the first to show fruit, but now all three have tiny green buds dangling from their vines.
My Thai basil. I only learned that I needed to pull the blossoms off AFTER a good portion of the stems had gone woody. I saved most of it from going to seed though and I can still harvest from it.
The full view of my tiny garden. Three tomato plants, a basil ans a parsley. The marigolds are for pest control. I'm shooting for as organic a garden as possible. Which means I'll have to learn decent composting techniques soon.
And my poor parsley plant, which has never done well. I've only harvested from it once, because it just seems cruel to rip it's leaves off. I think it's getting too much sun.
Isn't it pretty?
My first tomatoes! This plant was the first to show fruit, but now all three have tiny green buds dangling from their vines.
My Thai basil. I only learned that I needed to pull the blossoms off AFTER a good portion of the stems had gone woody. I saved most of it from going to seed though and I can still harvest from it.
The full view of my tiny garden. Three tomato plants, a basil ans a parsley. The marigolds are for pest control. I'm shooting for as organic a garden as possible. Which means I'll have to learn decent composting techniques soon.
And my poor parsley plant, which has never done well. I've only harvested from it once, because it just seems cruel to rip it's leaves off. I think it's getting too much sun.
Isn't it pretty?
Monday, May 19, 2008
Today's grill-venture
First, my apologies. I forgot the batteries yesterday.
We did boneless pork chops on the grill tonight. I was doing a Mediterranean theme with the food, so I soaked them in a bit of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper and parsley straight from my garden.
I had forgotten how awesome balsamic vinegar could be on meat. Seriously. Just wow. I was worried that the vinegar wouldn't be any good, since we've had that bottle since before we got married, but it's just as good as always.
Oh! And I'm excited about my garden. My husband pointed out to me this afternoon that I've got an actual, tiny green tomato growing on one of the plants. Score!
We did boneless pork chops on the grill tonight. I was doing a Mediterranean theme with the food, so I soaked them in a bit of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper and parsley straight from my garden.
I had forgotten how awesome balsamic vinegar could be on meat. Seriously. Just wow. I was worried that the vinegar wouldn't be any good, since we've had that bottle since before we got married, but it's just as good as always.
Oh! And I'm excited about my garden. My husband pointed out to me this afternoon that I've got an actual, tiny green tomato growing on one of the plants. Score!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)