Author: Paul Deaton

Categories
Writing

Zucchini Days

Zucchini from the Ice Box
Zucchini from the Ice Box

LAKE MACBRIDE— Yesterday zucchini came in from the garden, a lot of them. Knowing the CSA share would include more, I called a friend who manages the local food bank and arranged to donate freshly picked vegetables. Posting on Facebook, I encouraged others to do likewise,

Just donated ten pounds of organic zucchini and yellow squash to the local food bank. They really need our help. If you have garden extras, I hope you will pick up the phone and call the nearest food bank to see if they could use it. Willing to bet they will.

A commenter on this blog wrote,

It is the only time of the year you have to lock your doors when you go to the local drug store, grocery store or funeral parlor in a small town so you won’t receive the “bounty” of someones inexperience of planting way to many summer squash! If you aren’t cautious, they will hunt you down and fill your back seat in a New York minute!

It may be possible to have too much of a good thing, although I won’t admit it. Even though ten pounds was donated to the food bank, there is an abundance in the ice box and plenty more growing in the garden. Soon the recipe for zucchini chocolate cake will come out of the arsenal to be deployed in a last ditch effort to deal with the proliferation. Maybe I need to deescalate.

This is the first year zucchini growing has been an unmitigated success in my garden. It is attributable to working at the farm and seeing how professionals do it. In past years, I planted squash in mounds with a number of seeds in close proximity to each other. They grew in a tangled mess and never produced very well. This year was different.

Using some plastic trays provided by a friend, I planted the seeds in individual soil blocks. They germinated and grew well, and when the plot was ready, I transplanted them in tight rows next to a big patch of radishes. Once the radishes were harvested, the squash vines had room to grow. It may seem simple, but the results were dramatic.

As long as we repeat the same behavior, change is unlikely. More than anything else, a gardener should be a tinkerer with cultivation. Trying different tilling methods, considering shade that falls on the garden when planting, seed variety selection, row arrangement, and adjusting every possible variable in the garden. Most importantly, a gardener should let the seed genetics do their work after creating a suitable environment. If we sometimes hit the zucchini jackpot, then we learn from that and adjust next year.

With a bit of thoughtful work, it is much more likely to succeed in gardening than in winning the lottery of a random life.

Categories
Sustainability

Nuclear Neighborhoods: 11,000 Generations

Bikini Atoll Nuclear Test
Bikini Atoll Nuclear Test

SOLON— The Iowa Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility will be returning to the Solon Public Library for a display titled, “Nuclear Neighborhoods: 11,000 Generations.” This multimedia exhibit will be available for viewing from Aug. 6, the anniversary of the Hiroshima nuclear bomb explosion, through the Labor Day weekend.

On display will be art and artifacts exploring the major themes of today’s nuclear age. Included in the exhibit will be photographs, period newspapers, personal writing and other items showing how the nuclear age affects us all today. Also included will be items related to nuclear power and nuclear medicine, both of which are in the Solon neighborhood.

The Solon display will be part of a multiple site event, with additional exhibits at the University of Iowa Hardin Medical Library, the Kendall Gallery at the Iowa Memorial Union, the Iowa City Public Library and at area businesses.

The display will be informative for all ages and will be available during normal library hours. Click on this link for more information.

www.psr.org/chapters/iowa/nuclear-neighborhoods-11000-generations.html

Categories
Environment

Anaheim Peppers and the Cucumber Plants

Lake Macbride
Lake Macbride

LAKE MACBRIDE— The advantage of a kitchen garden is when a cook needs something, it is a short walk to the food supply… and it’s ultra-fresh. While making red beans and rice for lunch, I remembered there were large Anaheim peppers in the garden so I went to pick a couple to dice and add to the dish. While there, the cucumber plants were droopy, meaning they wanted water in the hot sun. My policy is watering cucumbers and squash twice a day is all I’m willing to do. If they can’t make it here on that— well tough toenails.

Perhaps it’s a little harsh, but drought is an ever-present reality in Iowa. The pattern of average annual rainfall makes it possible to grow crops in abundance without extensive irrigation like they have on Nebraska’s Ogallala Aquifer. It’s part of what makes Iowa Iowa, but that may be changing.

While early summer has been as good as it gets, we need rain now. The few extra gallons I may sprinkle on squash and cucumber plants will not deplete the Silurian aquifer, yet frugal dispensation of water is one way I am adapting to climate change. The county actually studied the aquifer and found there is plenty of water to meet current and future needs.

There have been and will be plenty of cucumbers. I started my third fermentation of dill pickles this morning, and yesterday planted new cucumber seeds in trays for the fall harvest. Schedule permitting, I’ll plant a couple more rows directly in the garden as July wanes. These actions, with a supply from the CSA, and there is no need to preserve the current cucumber plants by abnormal watering. In any case, they still might make it.

Black Raspberries
Black Raspberries

It has been a busy day in the kitchen. In addition to dill pickles and red beans and rice, half of the black raspberries were made into a thick dark syrup to use on biscuits, toast, pancakes and other applications. If I had pectin on hand, I would have made jelly. The syrup is so good and can be used in other applications, so the pectin was not missed.

One other item for my wheat-free friends. We had a pint of pasta sauce on hand, and instead of pasta, I got out the mandolin, purchased for a buck at a household auction, and using the finest blade, cut a long yellow squash and zucchini into “noodles.” I brought a pot of water up to a boil, cooked them four minutes and served like pasta. Very tasty and gluten free. Also one more thing to do with the abundance of squash.

Now off to the kitchen for the perpetual cleaning up.

Categories
Environment

Letter to the Solon Economist

the-climate-reality-project-logoLast week was arguably the best summer weather we have had in many years. Temperatures were moderate and humidity low; some rain, but not too much; and glorious partly cloudy skies coupled with a light breeze. A bit of imitation vanilla extract on the nose, and even swarms of gnats couldn’t spoil the enjoyment.

Everyone I know who has a garden is having an abundant year of produce. Foragers can find plenty of black raspberries, and while the Iowa DNR sprayed the lily pads on Lake Macbride, one more toxic substance in the water won’t kill us— we hope.

Climate change is real. Any question that greenhouse gases are warming the planet, and are caused by human activity has fallen away to leave the more appropriate one, “what will we do about climate change?” The crazy weather we have been experiencing recedes from view on days like last week, while coal and natural gas power plants continue to dump CO2 pollution into the atmosphere like it was an open sewer to air-condition our homes. There are two issues: protecting what we hold dear from the effects of climate change, and doing something to address the causes of greenhouse gas emissions.

While addressing climate change is complicated, things we can do to help are not. Reduce energy use at home by turning off lights after leaving a room and unplug your computer and mobile phone chargers when they are not in use. Change how we think about transportation by consolidating errands. We should be doing these things anyway.

The point is not to radically change how we live, but to join the vast majority of Americans in acknowledging that climate change is real, and poses a tangible threat to how we live. Then take steps to personally do something about it. You will be glad you did.

Categories
Writing

First Tomato

Lake Macbride Beach
Lake Macbride Beach

LAKE MACBRIDE— The first two cherry tomatoes were ripe in the garden, so I picked them, along with three meals worth of green beans, two cucumbers, a bunch of kale, two stalks of broccoli and two kohlrabi. In addition, I planted more cucumbers and Swiss chard. There remains plenty to eat in our household.

It’s time to review the seed packets and plan the rest of the year’s planting. July 25 is the traditional day to plant fall turnips, and more radishes, green beans, cucumbers and spinach are in the works. The lettuce seedlings I planted about a week ago appear to be taking, and I’ll plant more before the summer is over. Because of succession planting, the salad days, where we can have fresh salads with dinner, may extend the whole summer. Here’s hoping.

When the morning garden work was finished, I cleaned up and drove to Lake Macbride State Park to sit on a bench and write. On an impulse, I stopped by a friend’s home where he was returning from a neighbor’s home with a bucket of just-picked Lodi apples. Lodi is one of the earliest producing cultivars, and the fruit is used in baking, applesauce and cider making. He offered and I took four to make a dessert. We chatted for a while, and then made arrangements to go foraging for black raspberries after supper.

Black Raspberries
Black Raspberries

With the sun heading for the horizon, we met up and drove a few miles to a mutual friend’s acreage. We spent about 90 minutes trolling the wood line, where all kinds of produce was evident. Wild plums, hickory nuts, blackberries not ripe yet, and plenty of ripe black raspberries. We filled two gallon jugs and split the proceeds.

We toured the property owner’s garden and the apricots were ripe, falling from the tree. Like many gardens in the area, this year it is doing well.

On the drive home, we talked about the Michigan cherries due in at a local orchard on Saturday. I plan to stop by and participate in the summer cycle of fresh produce and the social life surrounding it. Not sure which I like better, and both seem inextricably intertwined.

Categories
Social Commentary

Reggie’s Weenies is Gone

Reggie's Weenies
Reggie’s Weenies

SOLON— Word is out that another Main Street restaurant is gone. Reggie’s Weenies of Solon shuttered their doors last week. I noticed the for lease sign, then it was taken down, then the lights were off during the breakfast service and people started talking. Telltale signs of the end in a small town.

Partly, the restaurant never took off. Every time I dined there, either mine was the only table with customers, or maybe one other. The menu may have been part of the problem. One morning while I was having breakfast, Reggie mentioned how popular biscuits and gravy are among the breakfast crowd. He had no wait staff but himself, and had to tend to the gravy, so he couldn’t elaborate.  He sold a lot of biscuits and gravy— but not enough.

While “weenies” is in the name of the place, and Reggie got his start selling Chicago-style hot dogs at Nile Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City on game days, he expanded the menu beyond hot dogs and was a skilled chef. The dishes I tried were tasty and had plate appeal. Word about the menu didn’t get around town, despite Reggie’s marketing efforts.

Part of the problem may have been a dispute with one of his original business partners, which caused people to line up on sides. There was an informal boycott of the place for a while, but that wasn’t the reason for the problems.

When Smitty’s Bar and Grill closed before Reggie remodeled the space, the cook and wait staff moved to a new breakfast operation at the American Legion down Main Street. The legion became the place to have breakfast in Solon, leaving Reggie and his investment in the lurch.

Since we moved to the area, there have been at least six different restaurants in that space. Maybe the building has a restaurant curse on it. Reggie tried to make it, as entrepreneurs with an idea do. The new microbrewery opening this summer across the street, with chefs trained in culinary school, may have been the final straw. No one was at Reggie’s Weenies when I knocked.

Reggie was a friendly guy. I hope he lands someplace good. Good people usually do.

Categories
Milestones

On Toshi Seeger

SeegerLAKE MACBRIDE— One of the few letters I received from a celebrity was from Toshi Seeger. During the early 1970s, while seeking where to purchase a copy of Pete Seeger’s book, “How to Play the 5-string Banjo,” I sent him a note. She wrote by return mail, “Peter returns your greetings and thanks— he’s off giving benefits and I’m left with six months of mail.” She sent me five copies of the book to use in music lessons. It was an unforgettable act of generosity. Toshi Seeger died this week.

Singout published an obituary which can be read here: http://singout.org/2013/07/10/toshi-seeger-passes/. Whether you are a fan or not, you should read it. There were not many people like her in our history.

When we talk about the progressive movement in the United States, there is no better example than Toshi Seeger. She will be missed.

Categories
Kitchen Garden

Garlic Harvest on the Farm

Garlic Diggers
Garlic Diggers
Lining up Garlic on Racks
Lining up Garlic on Racks
Loading the Wagon
Loading the Wagon
Wagon Filling Up
Wagon Filling Up
Left Cut Scape, Right Scape not Cut
Left Scape Cut, Right Scape not Cut
Garlic Curing in the Barn
Garlic Curing in the Barn
Categories
Writing

Toward a Local Food System

Lake Macbride
Lake Macbride

LAKE MACBRIDE— Writing about gardening, farm work, fermentation, soup-making, canning and cooking is personally satisfying, but what is the connection to our broader society? Why does one person’s journey in life with friends and family matter in the broader scope of things? With a global population of more than 7 billion, and expected to hit more than 9 billion by mid-century, life on earth is changing in ways that test the limits of our ability to comprehend. Will the lives of individuals matter as Earth reaches its tipping point, pushing the envelope of its geophysical limits?

American society, founded in part on the cultural resonance of eighteenth century agrarian individualism, promotes the moral worth of an individual. Independence, self-reliance, freedom and the ability to work toward self-realization are core values of our society. The idea that we can own a plot of land, grow some of our own food and prepare it in ways steeped in process, learning and tradition, yet how we want, is as American as the apple crisp I make from my apple trees. What is often forgotten is that individual lives occur in the context of a society that was founded during the Age of Enlightenment, and that society is coming apart at the seams.

If romantic concern for the good old days is what drives people to work toward a local food system, the idea is bound to be abandoned. In Iowa, we created the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University. The center has conducted hundreds of grant studies and reported on them with an eye toward sustainable agricultural practices. The Leopold Center is key to understanding our food system and providing reasons and process to create and strengthen community-based food systems. It is uncertain their work will take, despite the fact that locally grown food produced with sustainable practices is highly cost competitive with the products of the industrial food supply chain.

What makes a local food system possible is not the development of practices and high level theory, but the support behavior change receives in society. Behavior that congealed during the post World War II economic boom that included development of our industrial food supply chain. With population growth, society requires an organized mechanism to produce, preserve and distribute food to a growing population. In that sense, the industrial food supply chain is as necessary to a local food system as are the practices developed by the Leopold Center. To choose between them is a false choice.

Based on my experience with local farmers who use sustainable practices, there is tremendous capacity for improvements in efficiency, fuel use, water management, labor practices and mechanization that are untapped because of capital constraints. What the local food system may need most is an infusion of capital to create business incubation centers, sustainable water management systems, efficient farm to market systems, and most importantly, a sustainable source of labor that pays a living wage. The industrial food supply chain, because of its strong capitalization, has essentially blocked out competition from sustainable local growers who struggle to pay bills each month.

The question comes down to what individuals do in society with others, and there is no template for it. Stories about dealing with excess zucchini, kohlrabi and leafy green vegetables serve as examples of how to live with the challenges of a local food system. My garden won’t grow everything we need to provide all of our own food, so we leverage outside entities. Whether it is electricity to run the stove, cheese and milk from dairies, veggie burgers from Morningstar Farms®, or cooking oil from California, Italy and Iowa, how and why we leverage these entities and others matters a lot to a local food system.

That’s why I write about local food systems, as an example in which I hope others find value. If we’re lucky, and with collective action, tenuous local food systems will be strengthened as we work toward sustainability in a turbulent world.

Categories
Kitchen Garden

Processing Cucumbers and Other Things

Refrigerator Pickles
Refrigerator Pickles

LAKE MACBRIDE— The dawn dew barely moistened my shoes while venturing to the garden to water the plants. Much needed rain failed to precipitate last night, and without daily irrigation, the produce yield would be reduced. The lettuce seedlings planted last week are surviving with twice a day watering. The morning shade of the locust trees protects them from the parching effect of the sun. The forecast is for zero chance of rain before noon.

Last night I made two quarts of deli-style refrigerator pickles. The brine is the same as the one processing cucumbers in the crock, just that in the refrigerator they will be ready in four or five days. There are more cucumbers on the vine, and one kept fresh for salads. The flow of cucumbers through the kitchen has been about right.

The ice-box is packed and filling with food. I added a couple of more packages of grated zucchini to the freezer drawer and today’s plan is to make pesto to freeze. Produce rotation and preserving to prevent spoilage has become a thing around our household.

I decided to take down the advertising calendar on the bulletin board in the garage and replace it with photos. I spent an hour sorting through digital photos on my computer and ordered prints from Walgreens online. They were ready for pickup across the lakes in about an hour.

After making the pickup, I spent another hour selecting prints to post, and processing memories of our life since we became empty nesters. Better to be reminded of our family life than the days on a calendar. If one has children, it is a blessing to know them at all. Reflecting on who they have become is a luxury as good as gold.

No pickling brine will stop death’s inevitable advance.  As long as we can process— cucumbers, zucchini and basil, photographs and memories— we can go on living. As Walt Whitman wrote, “and as to you death, and you bitter hug of mortality . . .  it is idle to try to alarm me.” Fearless we enter the day, endeavoring to accomplish something with our lives.