Autumn in Central Park

by: Eddie C

Sat Dec 07, 2013 at 16:32:32 PM PST

The photo below, my personal favorite of the year, the view is the path that runs alongside the Turtle Pond and leads to Belvedere Castle. Not very impressive as a blog sized photo, so please click on this photo for a much better view.

This next one is not from this year but the Bow Bridge and a touch of autumn romance makes it one of my favorite Central Park autumn photos. I couldn't leave it out.

Below is a meander through the park this autumn that actually follows a path and is mostly focused on the less visited sections of Central Park. You are cordially invited to help me remember the autumn of 2013.

Book Recommendations

by: Jill Richardson

Thu Dec 05, 2013 at 14:09:19 PM PST

Wild Flavors
Wild Flavors: One Chef's Transformative Year Cooking from Eva's Farm by Didi Emmons is a real winner. It's based on the author's experience on Eva Sommaripa's Eden-like farm in Massachusetts.

It's a cookbook with recipes, but it has so much more. It's organized around four of Eva's core principles: Community, Bartering, Preserving and Conserving, and Salvaging. Four things we could all do with more of.

In addition to the recipes, it also has full pages on vegetables, explaining how to grow, buy, store, and prep them, and why they are good for your health. And it tells how to use parts of the plant that many Americans just toss out - like beet greens.

Another bonus of this book: It's beautiful, with lots of colorful photos.

Cooking Close to Home
Cooking Close to Home: A Year of Seasonal Recipes by Diane Imrie and Richard Jarmusz is another cookbook full of gorgeous photography. As its title suggests, it's about eating local food. I'm not usually a cookbook fan because I prefer to improvise in the kitchen, but I find my mouth watering over Savory Apple Cheddar Turnovers and Garlic-Roasted Cherry Tomatoes with Fresh Basil and Goat Cheese.

The book is divided into typical cookbook sections like salads, soups, desserts, and so on, but each section is subdivided by season. (Of course, these seasonal divisions are less helpful if you live in California, where fall is the season of tropical fruit like passionfruit, guavas, and sapotes and winter brings on greens, peas, and carrots - but for most of the country, it works just fine. We Californians will just have to adapt.)

I would say more, but I think I need to go make the Kale and Fennel Salad with Apples and Cinnamon and then stuff my face with it...

Permaculture Design: Passive Rainwater Harvesting

by: Jill Richardson

Thu Nov 14, 2013 at 15:46:07 PM PST

I knew this man had coaxed lush green plants and lots of food out of the desert in Tucson, AZ, before he moved to San Diego - without irrigation! - but I had never really seen him in action until this weekend, when I attended his workshops on passive rainwater harvesting and pond construction in Escondido, CA. All I have to say is: WOW!

This is a good read no matter where you live. Permaculture is applicable to all climates, not just those of us who live in bone dry areas like San Diego.

Chicken vs Chicken

by: Joanne Rigutto

Wed Nov 13, 2013 at 12:47:25 PM PST

Americauna (left) and Cornish Cross (right) pullets. Phots by Joanne Rigutto

A Powerful Family Ranch Story

by: gleasonfilm

Tue Oct 29, 2013 at 11:56:33 AM PDT

This inspiring documentary film-in-the-making, Gleason Ranch: Risking Everything, tells the story of two sisters in Bodega, California struggling to keep their 5th-generation family ranch going after the sudden death of their parents. Filmmaker Morgan Schmidt-Feng has been documenting life on Gleason Ranch for over four years now. His inspiration for this project came from his desire to understand more about his own family's history. Morgan's mom, grandmother, and great-grandparents grew up on a 3rd-generation family farm in Badger, Iowa.

Every day, more farmland is being taken away from farmers. The future of family farmland is at stake. This film shows the human side of a much larger process, asking us what this means for our environment, as well as our humanity.

We believe that if we don't stand up for family farmers and their stories, our rural economies will fall apart beneath us. Help us complete the film and bring this incredible story to you. To learn more about the project and support our effort to complete the documentary please go to: http://www.indiegogo.com/proje...

Thank you so much.

Nicholas Carter

"The land is our identity. The animals we raise are our livelihood. We care for the land the same way our ancestors did. This is our home, and these are our children, our neighbors, our community we provide for." -Nancy Prebilich, Gleason Ranch

For more information: http://gleasonranchfilm.com/

Last Chance for Kiku at the NYBG

by: Eddie C

Fri Oct 25, 2013 at 20:03:52 PM PDT

The photo above is an overview of the the look of the Enid A.Haupt Conservatory until Sunday. Below the fold is text and photos to explain this Japanese living art.  

Gather Ye Acorns While Ye May

by: Jill Richardson

Tue Oct 22, 2013 at 00:06:09 AM PDT

Details and photos below.

Acorns from the California Black Oak

Pot Luck

by: JayinPhiladelphia

Sat Sep 28, 2013 at 20:35:12 PM PDT

A Day on the Owen Farm

by: Jill Richardson

Wed Sep 25, 2013 at 17:19:24 PM PDT

And yet, all of the work comes with beauty, love, joy, and plenty of good food.

An apple tree in front of the Owens' house

The Owen Farm: Newborn Piglets

by: Jill Richardson

Sat Sep 21, 2013 at 10:00:05 AM PDT

If all had gone as planned, there would not have been any cute baby animals present during my visit. But Emily the Pig did not cooperate with that plan...

New Hampshire Farms Photo Diary

by: Jill Richardson

Thu Sep 12, 2013 at 05:17:26 AM PDT

More below...

Froggy Fun in New Hampshire

by: Jill Richardson

Tue Sep 10, 2013 at 19:00:22 PM PDT

More photos below.

New Rule: Coca-Cola Doesn't Get to Tell Us To Exercise

by: Jill Richardson

Fri Aug 23, 2013 at 13:27:34 PM PDT

New rule (as Bill Maher would say): If you make billions of dollars a year selling unhealthy food, you don't get to tell us to work out.

It was one thing when Cookie Monster began telling kids to eat vegetables. Cookie Monster doesn't earn a living by selling cookies, and vegetables are a fantastic alternative to cookies.

But it was a totally different story when Ronald McDonald went all Richard Simmons on us, visiting schools to tell kids to work out.

Exercise is a great idea, but it's not diet advice. Yet this is a frequent tactic of many of the corporations that rake in profits by selling us junk.

Take Coca-Cola's shameless new fitness campaign. "Are you sitting on a solution?" asks a photo on the company's website, depicting two people cuddled up, sitting on a beach. The thing is, they're drinking the problem: Coca-Cola.

Let me translate Coke's new campaign into plain English: "Don't blame us for America's public health crisis." The company is also asking you to not notice that while the American Heart Association recommends no more than six teaspoons of sugar per day for women (nine for men), a single can of Coca-Cola has nearly 10 teaspoons of the sweet stuff.

Or maybe this is what the ad campaign is really saying: "Please ignore the fact that, over the years, we've sold our flagship product in larger and larger containers. Just exercise a bit more - here, we'll even help with some tips - and then you won't notice that our product is terrible for you. Keep drinking Coke, and don't regulate us."

That's the message, anyway. And what's more pathetic is that some folks are falling for it.

The BlogHer conference enthusiastically announced that its sponsor, Coca-Cola, will help attendees stay fit by giving out free pedometers as well as other prizes like yoga mats and jump ropes. (Yeah, and I bet Coke will help attendees get Type II diabetes by serving them Coca-Cola.)

As far as our bodies are concerned, eating well and exercising are not an either/or thing. Nor is avoiding smoking, managing stress, getting enough sleep, or brushing your teeth. A healthy body requires all of the above.

So let's leave exercise out of it and talk about diet. The average American drank 401 servings of Coke products in 2012. Sure, that includes juices, sports drinks, and water, but Coca Cola's top four brands - each bringing in more than $10 billion in sales per year - are all soft drinks.

McDonalds' top sellers worldwide are french fries and Big Macs, but even the fast food giant's "healthy" offerings tend to be terrible for you.

Many Americans enjoy these unhealthy foods and beverages. And yes, drinking a soda or eating some nachos once in a while won't kill you.

But these days, eating anything but junk can feel like an uphill battle. Healthy food is often more expensive, more perishable, and, well, less addictive. Not to mention less available 24/7 through a drive-thru.

Unhealthy diets have reached the point of a public health crisis. And while there can be debate over the role food companies have played in causing the crisis, it's clearer than Sprite that they've profited from it.

The purveyors of junk food and fast food know they have some responsibility too. That's why they are so worried.

These companies are trying to shift the blame. They want you to believe that it's your fault that you didn't run a marathon to burn off the calories from your meal at Taco Bell.

Botany for Foodies: The Cucurbit Family

by: Jill Richardson

Tue Aug 20, 2013 at 12:01:10 PM PDT

As usual, knowledge of some botany is useful in dealing with diseases and pests. In the case of cucurbits, it's also essential for seed saving.

Pot Luck

by: JayinPhiladelphia

Thu Aug 15, 2013 at 16:00:00 PM PDT