The many reasons why I love NYC.

It's been six months since Val and I made the move to NYC. While it hasn't all been easy (anyone who saw how our apartment looked before we moved in knows how much work we took on) but it has been truly amazing.

While I haven't taken on full-time employment yet, I have found my internships/apprenticeships/volunteering quite fulfilling. Tomorrow I get to teach free hands-on weaving classes at the NY Botanical Gardens, after spending all day today researching organizations that fit the Eat Well Guide's criteria for sustainability and talking to passionate people about my favorite thing: food.

NY is very much one of the epicenters of the Local Foods Movement (along with SF). While there are many people who don't care, there are enough who are working to advocate for humane farm practices and environmental protection.

And the Greenmarkets.

And the access to CSAs. NY has not just any CSAs, but good CSAs, well-managed, well-established, and from excellent, diverse farms.

While we are living in our tiny cubby-box in a concrete jungle, it is an area lush with fresh produce and butchers regarded as rockstars. I can't wait to visit the Meat Hook and the Brooklyn Kitchen Labs this weekend! Sunday will bring an inspiring workshop from my girl Sarah over at Loop of the Loom on deconstructing and reconstructing clothing for fiber conservation and recycling. After that it's off to the Sourdough class at the Brooklyn Kitchen. With friends visiting from DC and Brooklyn-based birthdays, our life in New York is everything I hoped it would be.

Accepting Applications for R2R 2010

While the Ridge to Reef class of 2009 has gone back out into the world to explore what we can do with our newly-discovered knowledge, part of that mission is to spread that inspiration around to others. What did I learn from R2R and why do I think you should apply for the 2010 session?
Here is what I wrote about my experience in my recent application to graduate school:

I decided that political news was not the information I wanted to disseminate and that I had to find a way to live in line with my beliefs. After the excitement of the 2008 presidential election faded it was time to raise my voice as an advocate. I started a blog called “Unplugging Desdemona” and walked away from the world of corporate media. I enrolled in the Virgin Islands Sustainable Farm Institute’s Beneficial Farmer Training Program and went live on a farm for a season to reconnect with myself and with my true love for food, agriculture, and the culture of eating. At the farm we studied and practiced implementing the ideas of permaculture, agroforestry, water conservation, biodynamics, and slow foods. I am back indoors, but I continue to find ways to integrate my personal beliefs into my daily life through the Washington Square CSA, interning with the “Eat Well Guide”, volunteering with the Brooklyn Food Conference and other community-based organizations, and apprenticing at a holistic fiber arts studio.

What I didn't have space in the application to talk about what the beauty of the rainforest, the sheer fun of sunset on the west end of St. Croix, and the lifelong friendships that you cultivate through an intense experience with like-minded people.

Check back on my January - March 2009 blogs in the archive for the play-by-play.

My Love For Fresh Brussel Sprouts.

No, it's not my picture, nor even my kitchen. I can't believe I forgot to photograph my CSA this past week. If you haven't ever experienced the joy of fresh brussel sprouts, still on the stem, I challenge you to find a farmer's market, find a farm, or find a specialty shop that stocks these silly-looking things and taste the difference! These aren't your "eat your brussel sprouts or don't have dessert" kind of sprouts! They are spicy, firm, and steam to deliciously crisp but tender mouthful. Yum Yum!

These past few weeks I've been doing a lot of thinking about "the great what's next?" An opportunity to go back down to Creque Dam Farm came up and then had to be passed up due to my need to reconcile what I want to do, and what I need to do right now. I have a personal commitment to my apprenticeship at Loop of the Loom and November is not a good time to leave. As much as those warm island breezes, relaxed yet productive attitudes, and the positive energy of the farm, this is what I have to do right now.

I do have to ask thoug; do you or anyone you know hold Permaculture Design Certification?
Have you taken a design course or other intensive study? Have you found that it was enough to really get a hold of the material?
If you have only a few months of farming experience and your houseplants seem to die on you, is it really enough or is it better to keep plugging along with community gardening and get more practical experience first?

Thanks for any feedback!

Summer may be over, but tell that to my CSA!

This has been a summer truly rich with flavor and I am sorry to see it go. We have had our share of repetition, but this has been a wonderful "my first CSA experience." The "Cooking Away My CSA" Google Group has been a valuable resource for inspiration and I am so grateful to vicariously enjoy their experimentation and learn together. I hope that in the future because of the information that is becoming more readily available online, people will be more inclined to enter into a shared risk CSA agreement with a local farm. It's daunting when you first think about getting an unspecified quantity of unspecified vegetables delivered every week, but it has turned into an adventure.

I am sorry that I will be out of town for the next two boxes from our CSA. I hope that my husband will find some use for the fresh veggies that will be coming his way. I will miss everyone while I'm visiting Japan!

Here are a few things that I've been up two for the last few CSA meals:

- Zucchini bread. As the late summer days grow long, so do the zucchini. This recipe is one that I found to be fairly bland and too heavy, but with a bit of doctoring it can be made to be quite delicious. I substituted the oil for applesauce, added 1/2 cup raisins, split the grated zucchini for some grated carrot, cut the sugar down, did 1/2 and 1/2 whole wheat flour, and added ground allspice and cardamom. It made great morning muffins as well!

- Sloppy Joe's. I haven't made these in so long, but the 1lb CSA beef was just calling me to think back to my favorite childhood recipes. Basic bolognese sauce with worcestershire sauce, but they are so much more. If one thing can transport me back to childhood it's that slightly sweet combination of meat, brown sugar, tomato sauce, ketchup (my mom's homemade ketchup), onions, green peppers, and worcestershire sauce. This meal (pictured above) was one that took me back to a time long passed but not forgotten.

- CSA Beef Pesto Burgers. This past Wednesday was our 2-year wedding anniversary. Val and I are not the type of people to get dolled up and go out somewhere we are going to spend too much money on a meal we will later was good, but over salted and heavy. Our anniversary dinner was just what we love, cooking together and eating together. This recipe inspired me to make a pesto using spinach, garlic, and walnuts to use both in the burger patties and in a meal the following night (recipe to follow). I can't think of a better way to spend the occasion.

- Zucchini Pizza Crust. In the bottom of my fridge had more zucchini than I could shake a.. well.. zucchini at. This recipe is a great use for those big veggies that look like they could feed an army. The last time I made zucchini pizza crust it was from the Moosewood Cookbook, so I must say that I got the inspiration from there. However, that recipe is very laden with cheese and it's really unnecessary when you see this simple combination. The zucchini are so moist, the egg holds it together nicely, and the right mixture of flour gives it just enough substance to not be zucchini omelet with pizza toppings. Roasted tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant with rosemary and just a little kosher salt did the trick for us as toppings. Also, grating just a tiny bit of fresh Parmesan on the top made it *pop*. Word of warning though, 8 minutes for the first round of baking (untopped) is not sufficient. Give it more like 20 if you roast your eggplant ahead of time.

I hope you do lots of cooking for me for the next few weeks! I can't wait to hear all about it.

Late Summer CSA Recipes

I'm still cook-cooking away my CSA(s), but apparently lagging on blogging it :-)

In this post:

- Kohlrabi - raw! What else do you do with it?
- Basil/Eggplant - Basil light appetizer and thai basil eggplant stir-fry
- Tomatillos - relish or roasted salsa
- Peppers - hot pepper jelly
- Kale - Sweet and Savory kale
- Summer Squash - Summer Squash Risotto

Due to construction of a new burger joint on the first floor of my apartment building we have had intermittent services. It's been nothing but frustration and the timing has been less than ideal. However, when is it a good time to have your gas cut off for a week and a half, your water off multiple days, and your electricity being shut off during your morning prep 8-10am? (That's what I have to look forward to for tomorrow.)

If ever there was a bad time to have no cooking gas, it's when you are the recipient of not one, but two bountiful late summer CSA boxes every week! My Washington Square CSA has been a great experience and I was so surprised when I was called and informed that I had won a membership to the West Village CSA for August. The produce from each has been different, so while I have had the regular doubles of cucumbers, eggplant, and summer squash, the two farms have provided enough variety to keep me guessing about recipes and searching the internet and the "Cooking Away My CSA" google group for inspiration.

Some of the items I've gotten over the last few weeks that have been particularly wonderful:

- Kohlrabi - Something I never think to buy but love the crisp hicima-like freshness. I gobbled it up raw before I even looked for ways to prepare it.

- Basil - I have killed two basil plants since moving to this sunless apartment, so receiving fresh, fragrant, bunches of deliciousness has kept me sane. The huge sweet basil leaves that I used fresh for a light app of roasted eggplant, feta, a think slice of heirloom tomato, salt, pepper, and a garlicky balsamic drizzle were to die for. Tonight I tried this recipe and despite its simplicity it is really delicious! Be warned though, I used one Washington Square CSA jalapeno with the seeds intact and when it hit the hot oil my lungs burned and I coughed and snotted for an hour. Good thing I like it spicy!

- Tomatillos!! I am secretly plotting starting my own business selling my mom's famous tomatillo relish, but I just might have to make a little of this on the side. That roasted tomatillo salsa was just what I was craving. Dry sauteing the garlic, peppers, onions, and scallions while broiling the tomatillos takes only a short time and the smell as you trow it all in the food processor just makes your mouth water. I highly recommend this if you have a handfull of tomatillos around, we made only 1 lb worth, 1/4th of the recipe.

- Hot Pepper Jelly - Now, anyone who is friends with me on Facebook has heard me complain about what I call my habenero-induced stigmata, but it was well worth it. Because of a mix-up with some hot peppers and what were supposed to be sweet, Puerto Rican "ahi dulce" peppers, I ended up with my hands SOAKED in habenero juice. I tasted one pepper and it wasn't hot, so it wasn't until my hands BURNED that I knew that I was in for. It led to taking my marriage one step deeper and allowing my lovely husband to take my contact lenses out for me. That is definitely NOT something I expected to ask him to do for me until much, much later in life.

- Kale - As many people in CSAs experience, there are a lot of prolific cooking greens in the early to mid summer. While this is nice and everyone enjoys it for a little bit, it starts to get tiresome. Also, later in the season the stems are more woody and it's not those young, tender spring greens that are great in salads. I was losing steam with it and found myself in over my head with kale and chard piling up. I put my husband in charge of finding a recipe that would break the kale-with-garlic-and-sauted-onions monotony. This tangy and sweet recipe is definitely one worth trying. We used sour cherries, spicy brown mustard, and roasted almonds along with the red summer onion, garlic, and veggie broth. Surprisingly, the next day it tasted a little like sauerkraut and I served it with one of my mom's venison brats!

- Summer Squash Risotto - This was my first attempt at making risotto. I did not use that recipe exactly, but used it as a guide for the method of making risotto along with one of the recipe books from the shelf. It was not a total flop, but I would like to give it another shot. I only had red wine on hand and I think it was a little strong. I used veggie broth, lemon, garlic, onion, red wine, summer squash (pre-roasted in the oven with the garlic), and pureed some of the squash to improve the creamy texture. I also threw in some wild rice and fresh chopped basil at the end. I also got a little silly and roasted some "space-ship squash" hollowed them out, and served each person their own plate of stuffed squash with a light vinegarette drizzle. All in all, it was good, but I definitely made enough to feed an army!

I hope that message makes up for my slacking and I will try to keep the updates coming.

This week in CSA - Fava beans and plums

Oh CSA, how do I love thee? I opted for a 1/2 fruit share on top of my veggies and while the cherries and currants were OK in the last delivery this week's 5 lbs of plums and 2 lbs of peaches blew them out of the water. Oh! So wonderful.

While many groans of 'more chard' were heard, I was glad to see some cooking greens in the delivery. In the next few months I'm going to seriously miss those tender early summer leaves. Green smoothies are a great place to get rid of the excess. This evening I had a simple dinner of sauteed chard with ginger, carrots, garlic, green onions, soy, and the last of a nice bottle of red to deglaze the pan with a smoothie for dessert. I left the fresh greens out of the smoothie and I missed their earthy flavor.We may be getting a little tired of chard, but I may never want a smoothie of just fruit again.

This weeks adventures included Fava Bean Pesto and a little foray into preserving these delicious fruits: plum chutney.

Now, I had a little leftover pesto in the freezer from my garlic scape pesto, so I pulled that out and doctored it up with this little recipe:

Fava Bean Pesto

• 1 cup fava beans, peeled and blanched
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 cloves fresh garlic
• handfull of pine nuts
• fresh basil and parsley

I pureed the fava beans in the oil with the basil and parsley in the mixture. I like the pine nuts to add a little more texture, so I rough chopped those and added them once the pesto was the consistency I wanted. For a little extra moisture I used some of the pasta water. Sorry it's not more exact, I sometimes just cook by feel. Also, I think this recipe would be awesome with some sharp cheese, goat cheese, or even feta.

Plum Chutney (canned):

There were two wonderful recipes for Plum Chutney that I found online, and using my favorite Ball Blue Book as a guide for the processing, this concoction came out amazing!

I used this recipe for the helpful canning instructions and I used it for a guide on adding the red onion to the mix. I did not use the garlic, but the spices in this recipe from epicurious really called to me, so I stuck to the red wine vinegar, fresh ginger, mustard, pepper, star anise, cinnamon, sugar, red onion, and plums. Using 2 lbs of plums and 1/2 a red onion it made 7 4oz pints of chutney.

Pair it with farmer's market pork and put a jar in gift baskets to share the CSA flavor.

Washington Square CSA

During my time at VISFI they were not running a CSA, for them it was not quite sustainable at that time. I hope that in the future they can get back to CSA fulfillment, because it is a relationship-building mechanism as well as a way to bring fresh produce to people on the island. I know that the goal of Creque Dam Farm is to be a learning farm, but CSAs are a learning tool. Believe me, I'm learning about new vegetables every week! This week I have these small, yellow, super sweet "carrots" that look more like parsnips to me. At a farmer's market I probably would have walked away, but the challenge of the CSA is to roll with the curve balls and expand your cooking repertoire!

So far in my CSA box here are some highlights:

- garlic scapes - pesto, phenomenal and freezes well
- green garlic stems - korean pancakes (chijimi or pajang, depending on who you ask), fried rice
- beets and beet greens - roasted basalmic beets and beet greens sauted with spring onion and kosher salt
- turnips - sauted with onions and raisins
- Currants - scones, current syrup
- cherries - cherry vinegar, dried cherries (for cookies and granola), and cherry preserves (amazing over waffles)
- fennel - fennel salad with cherry vinegar-ette almonds, and dried sour cherries
- mint - mojitoes, sun tea, mint sauce
- napa cabbage - stuffed venison roll (leftovers went into the crockpot to make a tender pot roast)

Leftover greens and fresh eggs before I went out of town for a week went in here:
Pretty Darn Healthy Quiche
Like all of my recipes I made quite a few modifications to that one.
- minus the ham and all the cheese
- sub unsweetened soymilk for the dairy
- add more sauteed veggies (next time I'll cut them up just a wee bit smaller)
- Freeze until you come back from vacation, thaw and bake briefly with some fresh grated cheese of your liking on top (I usually choose small amounts of a very strong cheese)

The Current Scones for brunch recipe I also made my own adjustments.
- sub 4 of the tablespoons of butter for 1/2 an apple blended to make smooth
- soymilk for the whole milk and used a whole egg instead of just the yolk.
- dusted them with raw sugar and kosher salt for a little kick
- served them with cherry preserves to offset the tart currants.

More to come!

The Great Debate, new blog or old blog..

I haven't updated this blog because I intended it to serve as a chronicle of just my time at VISFI, and then I would return to one of my old blogs or start a new one. Of course, I've grown a little attached to this platform and my VISFI experience is one that has had a lasting effect on my decisions and directions since returning to the grid.

My next project is to collect recipes and ideas inspired by the vegetables that I get in my CSA box. Fresh cukes will always conjure memories of the Gaia garden in the sun; the bumpy, spikey little green gherkins and the mature, oblong splashes of summer. Does it still relate enough to keep the same blog? In a way, it's another segment of the monkey pod; synthesizing and continuing to learn.

Day 37 - Final Projects - Ben and Patrick

Renewable Energy



If there was one group that I felt took on a project that they had the most to learn in order to complete it, it was Ben and Patrick. Neither of them came from a science or mathematics background, but they chose an area to focus in that both challenged them and pushed them to learn something they felt would be valuable in their respective post-VISFI futures. Renewable energy is a buzzword these days, and for good reason. We cannot continue to rely on fossil fuels and an inefficient grid for our out of control energy needs. It is up to this generation to say enough is enough and seek healthier ways of living.




With the guidance of our instructors, Donald Young and Dan Glenn, Ben and Patrick delved further into the solar power lessons that we did as a group and worked with a client to design and install a solar energy system. I was often working on education plans and art projects under the deck of the community center and the level of math this group was engaged in was staggering. Just the part I couldn’t help but overhear was enough to make my head spin.

The video I did for them was my favorite. I wish that I had a better tripod for smoother panning, but this farm taught me a lot of things, one is to make what you have work. Always use what you have on-hand first.

This video is one that I will edit again later and work on when I have more hard drive space and some better equipment. However, I am happy that it captures some of the scope of the projects that we took on as individuals and some of the characters that made up our class.

As I typed this I looked at my toaster, working next to me to make me some lightly browned toast. How many watts is that machine drawing?