"Never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." -Margaret Mead
Hi P2P Friends!
We hope you are enjoying the flavors of our local organic summer produce. The berries have been especially yummy!
By eating locally we eat seasonally, but there are ways to enjoy your favorites year round. Right now is a great time to freeze berries.
Strawberries, blueberries and blackberries are the easiest fruits to freeze. Here's how:
Rinse (then hull strawberries and blackberries). Pat them dry, removing as much moisture as possible. Spread on a baking sheet and freeze. When the berries are frozen, seal them in zip-top plastic freezer bags, removing all the air, label and date. Some sources say they'll keep for up to a year.
Enjoy!
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| Fresh Ideas and Fun Facts |
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-Used coffee grounds make a great fertilizer for plants that thrive in acidic soil, like rhododendrons or azaleas. Sprinkle coffee grounds and eggshells around the base of plants to repel ants, snails, and slugs.
The Green Life, Sierra Club
-According to a recent study published in Hypertension drinking beet juice may bring down your blood pressure. Nearly one in three American adults has hypertension, a major heart disease risk factor that is on the rise in women. Within an hour of drinking 2 cups of beet juice volunteers showed a significant blood-pressure drop, an effect thst peaked as a chemical called nitrate entered their bloodstream. Body and Soul, June 2008
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| Food for Thought |
John Breen had two lofty goals: help end world hunger and prepare his son for the SATs. For this computer programmer, the solution was simple. He created Freerice.com, a non-profit online vocabulary quiz that gives 20 grains of rice to someone in need for every word defined correctly. (The rice is paid for by the site's advertisers and distributed by the United Nations World Food Program. The more you get right, the more you help one of the 25,000 people who could potentially die of hunger each day. Don't expect it to be easy, though. Breen wrote the program to get more difficult with each correct answer, making the donations you do achieve that much more rewarding. Body and Soul, June 2008 |
| Still Talking Compost |
Earth Friendly Measures Make a Difference
Do you know that if you composted just a fifth of your garbage a year you would save 832 pounds of CO2? The effect if every household in the United States did the same for one year would be equal to taking 7,906,246 cars off the road for one year. How easy is that?
Putting less trash on the curb reduces the amount of fuel required to haul it away. Plus, composting food scraps, like apple cores, keeps them out of the landfills, where they can break down to release a potent greenhouse gas.
Real Simple, April 2008
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| Recipes |
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Tomatoes Stuffed with Squash, Feta, and Olives
Gourmet Magazine
4 small tomatoes (about 1 1/4 pounds)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 pound zucchini, scrubbed and trimmed
1/4 pound yellow summer squash, scrubbed and trimmed
1/4 cup Kalamata or other brine-cured black olives, crushed lightly with the flat side of a knife, pitted, and sliced thin
3 tablespoons crumbled feta
1 large egg yolk, beaten lightly
Vegetable oil for brushing the tomatoes
Preparation:
Cut a thin slice from the stem end of each tomato and with a melon-ball cutter or small spoon scoop out the seeds and inner pulp, leaving a 1/4-inch-thick shell. Sprinkle the tomatoes with 1/4 teaspoon of the salt, invert them onto paper towels, and let them stand for 20 minutes. In a food processor fitted with the grating blade or with a hand-held grater, grate the zucchini and the summer squash coarse. In a colander toss the squash with the remaining 3/4 teaspoon salt and let it stand for 20 minutes. Rinse the squash under cold water, squeeze it dry in a kitchen towel, and in a bowl combine it well with the olives, the Feta, and the egg yolk. Stuff the tomatoes with the squash mixture, mounding it, put them in an oiled small baking dish, and brush the outsides of the tomatoes with the oil. Bake the tomatoes in a preheated 450 degree F oven for 10 minutes.
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Warmly,
The Plow to Porch Team
Plow to Porch Organics
PO Box 2514
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
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The World's Best Diet....Boost the Planet's Health--Not to Mention Your Own--with Essential Strategies for Eating Well Every Day
Excerpts from Christie Matheson
1) Eat local and organic foods
2) Wean yourself off bottled water
Americans go through an estimated 70 million-plus water bottles a day, and a mere 14% get recycled.
3) Drink organic, too
4) Ask for sustainable seafood
5) B.Y.O. bag
In the United States alone, we go through 100 billion plastic bags/year , less than 1% of which gets recycled.
6)Grow your own
7)Be takeout savy
Next time you place an order, say you don't want any paper napkins; if every American gave up one paper napkin a day, we'd save a billion pounds of paper from going into landfills each year.
8)Become whole
About 30% of the energy used by the food industry goes into processing the stuff we eat. Eliminating all processed foods could cut your food-related carbon footprint by almost a third.
9) Eat less meat
Just to produce enough meat for one hamburger emits the smae amount of greenhouse gas as a 6-mile car ride.
10) While you're at it...eat less of everything
Obesity is a major problem in the United States. Reducing portion sizes is a move in the right direction. |
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