Our arrival in New Zealand went smoothly. It's warm and moist, actually raining today. People are very sympathetic to the earthquake victims and up-beat about their future. Despite the shock of recent events the good ole' Kiwi optimism is the predominant feeling. It feels good to be home!  

We hope you can get down to the store. Katie is picking up broccoli and cauliflower from the coast as well as spinach and other goodies.  She'll be including a trip up north for more of those carrots. We'll have real farm eggs with yellow yolks from Tuolumne County farmers this week.

This is one of the last week's for kiwi fruit. As you know, New Zealand is one of the largest exporters of kiwifruit and it's name although not native to this country is named after the fury flightless national bird, the kiwi. The fruit has many beneficial qualities including antioxitants and not only is it eaten as a dessert in creations like pavalova it's compounds are used in the creation of moisturizers and skin tonics! 

CSA/Grain Shares - we are continuing our campaign to bring grain to our region both in the form of food and seed!  

UPDATE: So far we are about a third of our way to our goal of 30 committed supporters to participate in our CSA/Grain share. We need more supporters to make this thing really fly and have decided to lower the $ amount of the shares to $250.  

We have a unique opportunity to partner with John DeRosier of With The Grain, a certified organic and bio-dynamic grain farmer, and bring local grains and beans to our community.  (See his bio below). 

We are really excited to bring this important component of food security and sustainability into Outer Aisle. We hadn't realized until this past weekend with John how crucial and important it is to act now! We hope you will respond with enthusiasm too and trust that our judgment alone will be enough of a guarantee. To demonstrate our commitment to the success of this relationship Outer Aisle is purchasing 10 shares! 

Here's how it works:

Following in the footsteps of our recent success in community financing, where we raised enough upfront capital to put solar on our store by selling "futures" and paying participants back in Outer Aisle purchases, thereby creating a win-win situation. 

The CSA/Grain Shares will cost $500 (or special offer $250). This will buy you a $200/$100 share of grain seed and beans received in 3 increments over the next three years. The grains that would be included would be a combination of heirloom wheats, oats, barley, rye, millet, corn, lentils, peas, and dry beans in 10, 20 and 20lb increments. The other $300/$150 share will be in Outer Aisle purchases with no time limit. This is available to existing CSA delivery customers, CSA members that shop at our store and the general public. 

Win-win-win benefits for all:

• You receive the full $500/$250 back in food (a portion in grain over a period of time and the other in Outer Aisle purchases with no time limit)
• John receives upfront money during a time of difficulty
• Outer Aisle receives your continued commitment
• We together create a model financing system.

Multiple benefits abound:

• Pioneering a micro-loan financing model that will not only help John continue his important work, but provide a sound model for future projects/businesses.
• Establish a direct supply connection between Outer Aisle and With the Grain. We'll have his grains and beans on our shelf and other customers get the health benefits too.
• Provide a local source of hard-to-find heirloom varieties of grains and beans that are adapted to human scale  production (ie. home gardening) and adapted to our regional climate. These seeds will be used to increase local production of grains and beans on a larger scale bringing back this important crop closer to home.
• Provide a source of bulk seeds for distributing through our store and seed share events for everyone in the community to grow.
• John's extensive knowledge will bring an important educational element to our community.   

Recipe of the Week: NZ style

Browsing through my Mum's cooking magazine I came across this recipe using all of the ingredients available at our store. To make things easier I translated metric to imperial and switched garlic to shallots cos we are out.

 Beetroot Salad

1 lb baby beets or beets cut into wedges, washed and trimed (skins are removed after cooking)

1.5 lb Butternut squash, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces

3 shallots, peeled and chopped 

2 red onions, peeled and cut into wedges

3 TBP olive oil

sea salt

2 cups of spinach leaves

Dressing

1/3 cup olive oil

1 TBSP each: fresh squeezed orange juice, balsamic vinegar, wholegrain mustart, liquid honey

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Wrap 3-4 wedges of beets together in a foil parcel and repeat until all wedges are parcelled. Place the parcels to one side in a baking dish.

Place the pumpkin, shallots, red onion and olive oil in a plastic bag. Season with sea salt and shake the bag to coat the veges in oil. Remove the veges fro mthe bag and place them in a single layer in the baking dish.

Bake the vegetables for about 40 minutes (turning them once or twice) until the beetroot is cooked.

Allow the vegetables to cool. Remove the skin from the beetroot.

Place the spinach leaves onto a platter and deocratively top with the roasted vegetables.

Combine the dressing ingredients and drizzle over the salad.

Serves 4.

Beetroot & Kumara (Sweet Potato) Soup

2 lbs medium-sized beets

2 TSP each: butter and oil

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 medium-sized kumara (NZ for sweet potato), peeled and thinly sliced

1 thumb ginger, grated

1/2 tsp each: ground cumin, coriander

2 TBS tomato paste

3 cups chicken or vegetable stock

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Wash and trim the beets. Place them in a saucepan of salted water and bring to the boil. Cook for 45 minutes, or until tender but still firm.

Remove the beets from cooking liquid and reserve 2 cups of

liquid for later use. Allow the beets to cool a little before removing the skins and cutting into thin slices.

Melt the butter with the oil over a medium heat in a large saucepan. Add the onion, garlic, kumara and ginger. Cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes.

Add the beetroot slices, spices and tomato paste, and continue to stir for a further minute.

Add the stock and the 2 cups of reserved beet juice. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bring to the boil and simer for 40 minutes until the vegetables are tender.

Allow the soup to cool slightly and puree. Reheat, adjust the seasoning if necessary and serve.  Serves 6.