A good friend put me on to “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” when she learned of my growing interest in seasonal and local eating. I’ve read a few of Barbara Kingsolver’s novels and enjoy her work. In this book, she shares her and her family’s adventure of deciding to grow and preserve most of their own food. What I like most about Kingsolver is how she always keeps it 100. Yes, she talks about the pleasures and beauty of local eating AND also the sweaty mess of canning tomatoes in August AND the eventual bloodbath of DIY turkey-raising. Her husband Steven. L. Hopp gives the low-down on food politics x environment x social justice and daughter Camille provides tasty recipes. (love that veggie chili) This book is a great read and who else but Kingsolver can wax eloquent about asparagus like this: “The fresh stems have the tight, shiny sex appeal of dressed-up matrons on the dance floor of a Latin social club..”
I am way behind on my CSA posts (considering my last pick up was 2 weeks ago) so without further ado, I bring you Week 17 aka Autumn has arrived. In Week 17’s share: big bunch of soybeans (yes!), turkish turban squash, apples, kale, mixed greens, rainbow chard, tomatoes, beans, carrots, potatoes, green peppers, pears, garlic and parsnips. The soybeans were a tasty treat, they are delicious raw. They reminded me of driving through Rajasthan where you could pull over and buy a big bunch from the local farmer’s kids.
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Photograph by Alice Alves