Eating Local

Inspired by the bounty of shining produce at the farmer's market, we had our first strictly-all-local meal of the season.



The recipe for the Mushroom Asparagus Bread Pudding is originally from Deborah Madison's Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating from America's Farmers' Markets, reprinted in Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, and available free at Kingsolver's website.

We served the dish with swiss chard sauteed in a bit of butter with land cress (spicy) and sorrel (sour). We also enjoyed some sweet, cool summery wine from a local vineyard. The only non-local ingredients we used for this meal were salt and pepper.

For more about eating local, see the inspiring blog Pocket Farm, the 100 Mile Diet, Mulch, and the Eat Local Challenge. Other favorites include Farmgirl Fare, Life Begins at 30, Jennifer Jeffrey's blog (a new find), I Heart Farms, and Slowly She Turned. Anybody else have some favorite local food blogs?

Seraphim

I'm in heaven!





As I said the other day, this shawl was not my favorite to knit. By the end, the rows seemed unbearably long. The stitch pattern utterly failed to keep me enthralled. But I've never knit a shawl I thought I would wear more than this one. It will be warm, soft beyond belief (cashmere yarn), and simple enough that my plain-jane self won't feel like I'm wearing a costume. Thanks again to that marvelous designer, Miriam Felton.

Saving the Earth...

...one bag at a time.

In honor of Simple Living's "Bring Your Own Bag May" and originally inspired by More Hip than Hippie's plastic bag challenge, we came up with a variation.





Our son decorated an old coffee can and we put in a dollar every time we use a disposable bag (plastic or paper) instead of one of our reusable ones. At the end of the year, we'll donate these fines to one of our favorite environmental organizations.

* * *

You wonder what our first screw-up will be? Um..., you know us. YARN. The cashier put our skeins of Paton's Classic Wool in a plastic bag and we were carrying it out before we realized it.

This yarn will become a Knitty Satchel for David's brother.



* * *

When we get in the habit of always using our reusable bags, we'll start fining ourselves every time we forget to use our reusable coffee mugs!

Celebrating our CSA

Our CSA held a potluck muffin get-together to start the season. What a joy to be out at Red Wiggler's farm on such a beautiful day, meet some of the farm managers and workers (developmentally disabled adults), get to sample some of their tender new asparagus, and eat assorted delicious muffins.









Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a simple way both to support local farmers and provide your family with healthy, fresh, locally grown vegetables. In a CSA, individuals purchase a share of a farm’s coming crop. To become a shareholder, one pays up front for the entire season. In our area, the cost of a CSA share ranges from about $20 to $40 for each week of the harvest. CSA members receive a share of each week’s crop. Share size varies from farm to farm, usually providing enough vegetables each week for at least two adults.

Through a CSA, community members and farmers enter into a partnership. Pre-paid shares provide the farmer with the working capital needed to get the season started at a time when revenue might otherwise be slim. CSA members share the risks and rewards of the season with the farmer. Cool spring nights may lead to a bumper crop of strawberries and a slow start for the corn.

By working directly with the farmer, CSA members improve the sustainability of local farming both economically and environmentally. Most CSA farms practice sustainable non-corporate farming styles such as organic, "ecoganic," and biodynamic farming. By eating foods produced locally, CSA members further promote sustainability by cutting down on the distance their food needs to be transported.

CSAs build community as they encourage us to develop a relationship with the people who grow our food. Many CSAs hold pot-luck suppers, produce newsletters, and encourage members to visit the farm.

You can learn more about local CSAs at Local Harvest and Future Harvest.

Wool

I continue to slog through the slow-going Seraphim. The rows are unbearably long and the stitch pattern has utterly failed to keep me enthralled. On the other hand, I don't think I've ever knit a more wearable shawl. It will be warm, soft beyond belief, and simple enough that I won't feel like I'm wearing a costume.

What do I have left? Only three monster rows and then the bind-off. I hope to have it finished and blocked by my knitting group on Tuesday night--but perhaps I should just hurry and finish it today. The weather is cool enough right now that I might even get to wear it this season.



* * *

I spent yesterday afternoon knitting with a friend and chatting as our children played. Her youngest is about 16 months--walking predictably now, playing pretend (house and family) and dress-up, and saying her first words. 'Mama' and 'Dada' were words one and two. She said her third word to me as she walked into the room carrying a bag of carded fleece almost as large as she is: "WOOL?"

Where Have All the Flowers Gone?

Have you heard about BAE Systems, supplier to not only the British defense but also the US Army and the US Coast Guard, and their new plan to provide eco-friendly weapons?

As Orion Magazine sarcastically writes, "No longer will BAE's finely tuned apocalyptic machines of death and destruction simply kill people. In the future, BAE's weapons will kill people and protect the environment. After all, if you have to kill somebody, there's no reason it can't be done in an environmentally responsible way."

In a BBC News article, BAE's Director of Corporate Responsibility states that "no company, regardless of what they make, can now just make a product, bung it out there, and then forget about it." Instead, "we all have a duty of care to ensure that from cradle to grave products are being used appropriately and do not do lasting harm."

No lasting harm? As Orion says, "Indeed."

In addition to fuel-efficient jet planes and low-fume bombs, BAE is designing explosives that eventually turn into manure rather than landmines--and lead-free bullets. No joke.

Orion suggests they develop cluster bombs impregnated with wildflower seeds. Each blast could sow new life in the killing fields.

Starting Fresh

Inspired by the Yarn Harlot's return to "Tuesdays are for Spinning," I did a bit myself yesterday:



The Interlacements silk roving is in the colorway "Turkish Carpet"--and right now I'm planning to 2-ply it with itself so the colors will become more mixed. Anybody want to weigh in or give some advice?

The first 2-ounce package came from Rhinebeck and I bought a second pack in the same colorway last week at MDSW. If I have enough yardage, I may knit a very simple (seed stitch?) triangular shawl with the finished yarn. Other ideas?

Silk

After spinning a silk cap on a spindle, I had only a small amount of yarn for a project.

I came up with this little treasure bag, one I hope my mother will use to store her father's gold pocket watch or perhaps her wedding pearls.



Knitted on size one needles, I cast on 40 stitches, ribbed in a 2x2 pattern for about 10 rows, and then continued knitting in the round for a few inches. I decreased just as I would for a sock toe.

I love how soft it is! I think I'll try pretty much the same thing for myself sometime, possibly with a little I-cord chain so I can wear it around my neck.

There is something so special about seeing even the tiniest thing you've made with your own hands....

Spring

On the drive home from a wonderful Mother's Day dinner Saturday night at the vegetarian restaurant Great Sage, we were treated to the sound-and-light show of the season's first thunderstorm. The humidity and heat of the last few days broke and Sunday was glorious.

We spent much of it outside in the garden, admiring our broccoli...



...swiss chard...



...and little fig trees.



We took turns reading aloud at the picnic table, enjoying sherry and knitting while we listened to each other. Son spent much of the time half-listening and half-digging in his old sandbox.



We treated ourselves to some luscious sheep's cheese:



...some roasted asparagus from the farmer's market:



...and some perfectly-ripe local strawberries:



P.S. Many of the pictures were taken by now 8yo Son.

World Fair Trade Day

Yesterday was World Fair Trade Day, an annual global celebration. We celebrated by purchasing and consuming wonderful Fair Trade Certified tea and chocolate.

Around the second Saturday of May every year, fair trade organizations, stores, consumers, and supporters based in 70 countries campaign for justice in trade and host events promoting fair trade. The days and weeks around May 12 offer the opportunity for people worldwide to help to spread the word about fair trade. People around the world host events, such as fair trade breakfasts and talks, house parties and music concerts, photo exhibitions and crafts sales, fair trade soccer games, etc.

Others use World Fair Trade Day to launch longer-term initiatives. This year in the United States, some fair traders will launch campaigns in their communities to bring fair trade to their schools--through fundraisers using fair trade chocolate, buying fair trade uniforms, or playing sports with fair trade soccer and volleyballs. Others will use WFTD as an opportunity to open new fair trade retail locations or inaugurate efforts to make their municipality a Fair Trade Town.

The theme of this year's celebration is Kids Need Fair Trade.

Fair trade aims to change the economic and social structures of our world, and empowers marginalized people to avoid or escape the poverty trap. If adults are paid a fair price for their work, their children are able to go to school and live a healthy and full life, rather than having to work. Fair trade not only benefits adults; it helps their children, too.

In 2004, 246 million children aged between five and seventeen were child workers, 73 million working children were less than 10 years old, 180 million worked in extremely dangerous conditions and 6.4 million children were trapped in slavery, trafficking, debt bondage, prostitution, pornography and other illicit activities.

Governmental programs to stop child labor and bring children back to school are having some impact on addressing these issues. But these cannot be effective without addressing the root cause of child labor: poverty.

The unfair terms of trade for raw materials, crippling import tariffs in industrial countries, and heavily subsidized goods from industrial countries are all practices that exclude and marginalize millions of people in the rural South. Fair trade makes a concrete contribution to the reduction of poverty and therefore has the potential to significantly reduce the incidence of child labor.


What Is Fair Trade?

Fair Trade means that consumers have the power to improve lives by supporting:
• fair wages in a local context
• environmental stewardship
• equal opportunities and democratic decision-making
• long term trade partnerships
• cultural connections

According to the International Fair Trade Association, “Fair Trade is a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect, that seeks greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers, especially in the South. Fair Trade organizations (backed by consumers) are engaged actively in supporting producers, awareness raising and in campaigning for changes in the rules and practice of conventional international trade.”

* * *

Fair Trade Certified

The Fair Trade Certified label is the only independent, third-party consumer guarantee that companies have complied with strict economic, social and environmental criteria for particular products, thereby creating a more equitable and sustainable trade system for producers.

The principal criteria of Fair Trade certification are:

* Direct trade with farmer organizations, bypassing unnecessary middlemen
* Fair prices for farmers, and decent working and living conditions for workers
* Free association of workers and farmers, with structures for democratic decision-making
* Access to pre-financing, and additional premiums for community and business development
* Sustainable agricultural and farm management practices, including restricted use of agrochemicals and no GMOs

When consumers see a product with the Fair Trade Certified label, they are guaranteed that farmers received a fair price and all of the other benefits of the Fair Trade system. To date, sales of Fair Trade Certified products have supplied nearly $80 million in above-market revenue to millions of farmers, workers and their families in over 50 developing countries worldwide.

Be informed when buying products. By buying fair trade, you ensure that the artisans and farmers that make your food, clothing, and other goods are involved in a commercial exchange that is not exploitative. If you buy non-fair trade products, you may unknowingly be buying something made in unfair conditions or supporting the deterioration of the environment.

* * *

You can find out more information about Fair Trade and about World Fair Trade Day at Wikipedia, Fair Trade Resource Network (especially here), Fair Trade Federation, TransFair, and Global Exchange.

Spinning Kids

Son invited a 5yo friend over to learn to spin. She's a pro!



Inspired by watching her, Son decided to try spinning silk hankies on the spindle. What fun!

Angels on the Head of a Pin

The beautiful Seraphim shawl proceeds apace...

...in this very very very PETTY pace:




"Above God stood the Seraphim; each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew."
Isaiah 6:1-3

Right now it is just covering my lap. I'm hoping for take-off next week. That is, if I don't strangle myself first with this cashmere yarn, simply out of ennui....

Cover!

I'm so excited!

Sheep

You know that herb

I was wondering about in Pho?




It's ngo gai, or sawtooth herb! See this great post for more info about pho, or this one about the herb.

Knit One, Read One with Mrs. Teaberry

Mr. Putter & Tabby Spin the Yarn by Cynthia Rylant is definitely a must-read for knitters--especially knitters with young children or those in knitting groups.

Son especially loved the Mr. Putter and Tabby books when he was first learning to read because, due to the extensive illustrations and the controlled vocabulary, he could quickly read them to himself. A few years later, the whole family still loves the books because of the charming characters and the sweet stories.

After visiting a local yarn store, elderly Mrs. Teaberry (Mr. Putter's neighbor and love interest) starts a Stitch-n-Bitch group at her house. (Well--she just calls it a knitting club....) Mr. Putter decides not to join but offers to help serve tea during the meetings. "You can knit and I can pour," he offers. Mrs. Teaberry is thrilled.

When the ladies show up for the club, "knitting madly and talking loudly," Mrs. Teaberry's dog Zeke and Mr. Putter's cat Tabby get a bit excited. Tabby is overwhelmed by the balls of yarn. Mr. Putter tries to calm her down by petting her, but there were "about fifty pounds of yarn in the room" and "petting wasn't helping."

Gosh. With Maryland Sheep and Wool coming up this weekend, I may be in the same boat....

By the end of the book, the animals have caused all kinds of mischief--and in trying to make up for everything, Mr. Putter charms the knitters into knitting him an entire wardrobe. Be sure to check out the final picture!

On the Way Home from Home

Before we left Laurinburg, we walked around in my old neighborhood. The house I grew up in with its gorgeous yard looks beautiful...



...and my old swing-set is still in the backyard--with an adult swing now hanging from the structure:



* * *

We drove up to Chapel Hill to visit UNC where I received a master's degree in history.



Son is definitely a true Tar Heel:



He loved the amazingly large sundial in front of the planetarium. Turns out there is a geocaching benchmark at the sundial, too.



On this beautiful day, many students were lying in the grass studying, enjoying the sun and each other's company. The hand-holding skateboarders made us all smile:



* * *

Next we drove over a few miles to that other university where David went to college. (Yes, we have a bit of a mixed marriage.)



David and I actually met at Duke where we both taught at a summer camp for the "heinously gifted," as a friend of ours says. So before we left Durham, we visited a couple of spots special to us in our courting days:

Our favorite bookstore...



...and the world's best sorbet shop.



Yummy. Afterwards? The long drive back to Takoma Park.