Carlisle Central Farmers' Market

Last Saturday, I went with my family to the Carlisle Central Farmers' Market. We had a great time. It was great to finally meet and talk with Sandra from Painted Hand Farm. If you haven't checked out their website or blog, definitely take a look. I think they had goat meat, veal, a lone turkey, and some greens from their garden. They also had an assortment of cheeses from Keswick Creamery. We bought the "lesher" and "wallaby" cheeses which quickly disappeared at our family's Thanksgiving dinner.

Otterbein Acres also has a stand at the market and we picked up some of the "Ewe's Dream" from them, a very strong Romano that I love on some pasta dishes and salads. Otterbein Acres also has some beef and lamb available.

Latimore Valley Farms was also there with a wide selection of organic produce. I was able to do some more stocking up on squash and root crops at their stand. Latimore Valley Farms is a large organic farm about halfway between Gettysburg and Carlisle on Rt 15.

Be sure to check out the Market this weekend. They're having a special Holiday Market this Saturday, Dec. 8th. Check out the market's site for a list of the special holiday vendors. There's really too much for me to list here. I'm looking forward to going again and doing a little Christmas shopping.

Dairy Labeling Changes

See Painted Hand Farm's comment under the earlier post on this topic. The essence seems to be that the State wants to prevent dairy producers from putting on their labels whether or not the milk was produced with the use of hormones, antibiotics, and other chemicals. It looks like yet another attempt by our government and big agribusiness to blur the difference between local, sustainably produced food and food produced using conventional means.

Public Radio On-line

I listen to a lot of public radio on-line while I'm doing work around the house. In my virtual travels I've run across a few good programs.

Speaking of Faith, interviews/conversations about faith, religion, ethics, and culture. The two shows that I listened to and enjoyed immensely were the interviews of

Harvey Cox, a professor of Divinity at Harvard, topics included the recent atheism vs. religion debates and the interplay that can exist between faith and other forms of knowledge

Barbara Kingsolver about her book, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life," in which she writes of her family's decision to eat only local organic foods.

I also discovered Mike McGrath's "You Bet Your Garden." Mike used to be the Editor of "Organic Gardening" and now has his own weekly radio show.

Consumer Culture on Public Radio

I hope everyone has had a chance to hear some of the series about American consumerism on NPR. It started last week and will continue through the end of this week. Topics include a town in the midwest that is attempting to become energy self-sufficient, where our garbage and recycling go, consumer debt, greed as a disease, and many others.

American Public Media Sustainability Be sure to check the archives for stories from a few days ago.

News from PA Dairy

The past two days I've been hearing that the state is requiring some milk producers to cease labeling their milk as free of hormones. I don't really have time to research it this week. Does anyone who is better informed than me want to fill us in on what's going on?

The news bites I heard were on WITF 89.5 fm.

Native Landscaping

I just thought I'd post a couple resources as I've been researching landscaping with native plants. Everyone knows what a waste of time, energy, space, and resources the typical American yard is, and they are generally pretty boring to look at. I've become tired of trying to maintain my yard, so I'm researching how I can landscape with native plants that will need little maintenance and no watering once they are established.

Here are a few resources that I've run across:
Landscaping with Native Plants in Pennsylvania -- Perfect place to start! I've been cross-referencing their lists with "National Audubon Society, Field Guide to North American Wildflowers"

There are also links to a few other places on the DCNR website.

I also found these videos on Treehugger.com with similar ideas about making better use of space:
Edible Estates
Urban Homestead

Since what we're talking about is really a part of the whole concept of permaculture here is a great video series about permaculture featuring Bill Mollison (who is credited with originating the idea of permaculture):
The Permaculture Concept is a series of videos. I'm only linking to the first one, but I think there are 6 parts total.

New Discoveries

Last Saturday I went to Carlisle to find the Old Pomfret Farmers' Market. Instead I found a street street festival. There were a few farmers selling produce on the square, and I ran into Thom Marti, owner of Broad Valley Orchard - one of the very few orchards in the region that is certified natural (organic - just not USDA certified, which might be even better considering the way this administration has been trying to tinker with the organic standards).

Be sure to check out Thom's website (linked above). Lots of info there. The farm is about 15 miles north of Gettysburg, and from what Thom told me on Saturday the pick-up point for the CSA is at a Lutheran Church in Gettysburg. The amazing coincidence is that this CSA is one that I helped start about 8 years ago. I stepped out after I found myself in over my head without enough gardening experience to provide the food that we needed. I was overjoyed to hear that Thom took over the CSA and that it appears to be thriving.

I ran across a vendor at the fair who makes wooden toys. So I bought this grasshopper for our son. The vendor was "Sew 'n Saw, quality handcrafted items made from wood and fabric" Julie and Tom Pasker 125 Jeanel Ci, Lititz, PA 17543. 717-626-2797. sewnsaw@dejazzd.com

I finally stopped at Appalachian Whole Foods Market on the corner of High St. and Pitt St. in downtown Carlisle. Map of 100 W High St Carlisle, PA 17013-2924, US It's a corner grocery store that carries a wide range or organic and natural foods, body products, and health supplements.

They carry Big Sky Bread which appears to be baked in York, but is a national franchise. The wheat is grown in Montana, and all of the ingredients are simple -- no preservatives, no corn syrup, nothing that you can't pronounce easily. So it's not 100% local but it's a lot better than many of our alternatives. I bought a loaf of whole wheat multi-grain bread that was incredible. One of the best breads I've had in the U.S., and I have a loaf of French peasant bread in the freezer waiting for just the right meal to accompany it. I'll definitely be back for the bread.

They also have some dairy products from Trickling Springs Creamery which I've written about before. For those of you catching up, it's a great local dairy that has local organic dairy products.Apparently there's also a learning center there at Appalachian Whole Foods. There was really too much to try to absorb in one short visit, so I'll get more info next time I go

If anyone has more info on Appalachian Whole Foods or Big Sky Bread Company please post a comment.

While I'm writing about bread, I thought I'd mention the Gettysburg Baking Company. They have two locations in Gettysburg and Biglerville. I've heard good reports, but I've never been there myself. Again if anyone has been there, post a comment.

Other than my adventure in Carlisle, I've been busy putting food up for winter. In addition to the usual squash and root crops, I've been taking advantage of this unseasonably warm fall weather to get in more tomatoes. I freeze some whole for sauces and soups in the winter. I just put them in a big container in the freezer and then grab some whenever I want. I've also been drying some tomatoes and storing them in canning jars. In anticipation of getting a heavy frost someday, I've also been picking some green tomatoes to ripen indoors. I wrap them in newspaper and lay them on a sheet of newspaper on the cool basement floor. They will gradually ripen, hopefully not all at once. I've also been freezing sweet peppers. We also got some organic free-range chickens through our CSA from Village Acres Farm in Mifflintown, PA.

And I have one question for Finnegans Wake (who posted a comment earlier); have I run into another James Joyce fan? I've never had the courage to attempt "Finnegans Wake" but I love "Ulysses."