Monthly Archives: June 2008

What Does Grass-Fed Beef Taste Like?

By Ang Jordan | Published: June 22, 2008
This week at the farmers market someone asked me what grass-fed beef tastes like. I’ve had it before from vendors at the farmers market in Bloomington, but frankly it’s been a few years so I’m not sure I can accurately summarize the differences between grass and grain-fed. And beyond that, I don’t eat a lot [...]
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I Can’t Believe I Bought the Whole Thing

By Ang Jordan | Published: June 18, 2008
“I Can’t Believe I Bought the Whole Thing”:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/17/AR2008061700562.html?hpid=smartliving, an article in the Washington Post about renewed interest in buying meat in whole animals, sides, or quarters. In our area, you can get pastured beef at “Hastings Farm”:http://www.localharvest.org/farms/M16893 in Bay Minette. There are other farms within driving distance; find them at “Local Harvest”:http://www.localharvest.org/ (do a 100-mile [...]
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Farmer Connect, a New Service from Alabama’s Farmers Market Authority

By Ang Jordan | Published: June 15, 2008
The “Alabama Farmers Market Authority”:http://www.fma.alabama.gov/ is excited to announce a new web-based program connecting farmers with local chefs, restaurants, other farmers and/or other potential consumers wanting Alabama grown produce. The new program is appropriately named “Farmer Connect”:http://www.fma.alabama.gov/connect/. We encourage you to visit our site and register as a seller, buyer or both. (All participants are [...]
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Mobile Farmers Market Update

By Ang Jordan | Published: June 15, 2008
I arrived just after 7:30 and the market was the busiest I’ve ever seen it. Items included: baked goods, beans, blackberries, blueberries, candles, collards, cucumbers, corn, eggplant, eggs, flowers, goat cheese, herbs, honey, melons (cantaloupe and watermelon), okra, peaches, peppers, pillows, plants, potatoes, seafood, soap, summer squash, tomatoes, vinegar, wine. I was pleased to see [...]
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Make a Trip to The Illustrated Garden

By Ang Jordan | Published: June 15, 2008
I was recently contacted by reader Val Webb, a Mobile resident who blogs about organic gardening and sustainability at “The Illustrated Garden”:http://www.ghostrabbitgarden.blogspot.com/. The real treat is that Val, a professional illustrator, uses her own work throughout the site. It’s gorgeous. Be sure to check out the archives at the “blog’s previous address”:http://valwebb.wordpress.com/, since that’s where [...]
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Putting Meat Back in Its Place

By Ang Jordan | Published: June 15, 2008
Via “Culinate”:http://www.culinate.com/, a link to New York Times food writer Mark Bittman’s latest, “Putting Meat Back in Its Place”:http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/11/dining/11mini.html?ex=1370923200&en=8ffda17d995d2228&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink, providing tips on how to eat less meat (as opposed to arguments in favor of). As he points out, many cultures regard meat as a luxury and use it as a “condiment or a treat,” where [...]
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Wasted Food

By Ang Jordan | Published: June 15, 2008
“Wasted Food”:http://www.wastedfood.com/about/ isn’t about local food, but it is food-related and timely, given our rising food prices. From the blog’s About page: bq. Americans waste more than 40 percent of the food we produce for consumption. That comes at an annual cost of more than $100 billion. At the same time, food prices and the [...]
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Do We Really Need a Few Billion Locavores?

By Ang Jordan | Published: June 15, 2008
At the New York Times Freakonomics blog, Stephen J. Dubner asks: “Do We Really Need a Few Billion Locavores?”:http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/09/do-we-really-need-a-few-billion-locavores/ It’s a good question, and a persistent one. When you start to think about economies of scale you do begin to wonder whether all that work, and possibly freezer space if you’re going that route, makes [...]
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Outdoor Cooking – The Sustainable Table Way

By Ang Jordan | Published: June 15, 2008
At Sustainable Table, a “guide to grilling with sustainable ingredients”:http://www.sustainabletable.org/features/articles/campingandgrilling/. So many of the summer vegetables in season now are wonderful when thrown on the grill. I’m in love with sweet, carmelized grilled summer squash. Add some eggplant, peppers, and tomatoes, throw it on a nice roll with cheese and balsamic vinaigrette, and you’ve got [...]
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To defeat weeds, show no mercy

By Ang Jordan | Published: June 15, 2008
At Kitchen Gardeners International and The Washington Post, “Barbara Damrosch writes about weeds”:http://www.kitchengardeners.org/2008/06/defeating_weeds.html. My own personal weed challenge comes in the form of dollarweed, also called pennywort. (If you’re not familiar with what it looks like, “here’s a photo and description”:http://www.weedalert.com/weed_pages/wa_dollarweed.htm.) Since it spreads by runners, it’s virtually impossible to eradicate; it regrows from any [...]
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