Farmer's Market Treasures

On Saturday, Dh and I spent a nice morning strolling around the local farmer's market.  Our mission: to spend at least $10 on locally produced goods.  The movie, Fresh, introduced us to the idea that if everyone would spend at least $10 a week on locally produced goods, we could sustain local farming.  So, we got out there and spent our $10.  First, I chose a small Borage plant to tuck into the last spot in one of my garden boxes with Better Boy tomatoes, mild peppers and Spicy Globe Basil.  Then, it was Dh's turn.  He chose a jar of locally produced Honey Jelly.  We weren't sure what Honey Jelly was, but it sure sounded good.  Turns out it is a delicious treat that tastes like honey, but spreads more like jelly - Honey Jelly (Duh!).

We were delighted to find that the farmer's market had grown since the last time we visited.  We enjoyed checking out all of the new and returning vendors, but we particularly enjoyed sampling the spreadable goat's milk cheeses, sniffing the goat's milk soaps and chatting in the Master Gardener's tent about the many uses of Borage. We are already looking forward to next week's treasures.

After the morning spent at the farmer's market, I was inspired to get my deck container garden planted.  This year, the deck is host to 2 Sweet 100 cherry tomato plants, 2 Yellow Pear cherry tomato plants, 4 Bonnie's Green Bell peppers, Oregano, Thyme, Parsley, Bee Balm and one lone Petunia.  We had very good luck with the plants on the deck last year, so we have high expectations for this year. What have you had the best luck with in containers?

An Evening with Joel Salatin

Yesterday, we enjoyed "An Evening with Joel Salatin" of Polyface Farm, courtesy of InJoy Foods.  It was a very interesting event and the first time Dh, Dd15 and I had seen Joel Salatin in person.  We first saw him when we watched the movie, Food, Inc., earlier this year.  Since then, his name keeps popping up and we feel very lucky to have someone pushing on this front right here in our own state. 

The flyer for the event says that Mr. Salatin is a "biodynamic farmer" who won the Heinz Award in 2009 for  “creating alternative, environmentally-friendly farming techniques, spawning a movement towards local, sustainable agriculture.” He has “developed a new paradigm for agriculture by successfully challenging the commercial production of chicken and beef by food industry giants." 

The evening started with a viewing of the movie, Fresh, which is sort of a continuation of Food, Inc.  It kept Dd15 on the edge of her seat with footage of tiny chicks being manhandled in a dark, cavernous industrial chicken house and the day to day existence of other sad, diseased animals.  In contrast, it showed scenes of happy animals busily munching away in the sunshine in a large field filled with a variety of grasses, herbs and flowers. 

After the movie, Mr. Salatin gave a short, but very entertaining talk about his philosophy and warned us that companies that experiment with animals to squeeze every last drop out of them and treat them as inhumanly as the large corporate operations in our industrialized food system do, might not hesitate to treat people that way as well.  Food for thought.

Mr. Salatin has published several books, which I have not read yet, but plan to add to my reading list.  He is expected to have a new book available this fall.