About Brussels Sprouts...and Two Upcoming Workshops

Joel Rosen sent us this letter about Brussels sprouts. He also told us about some upcoming workshops. Below Joel’s letter is a good Brussels sprouts recipe!—Maggie


“Fall garden harvest is nearing the end. Everything is done here except Brussels sprouts, which have reached peak sweetness in the past 10 days. The trick this late in the year is finding a time to pick them. If you pick them when they're still frozen, you need to peel a couple of outer leaves and eat them shortly after they thaw out (cooked or raw). If you can find a window of opportunity where they thaw in the afternoon sun on the stalk, they can still be kept for several days in a cool place before eating without loss of quality. Once we've experienced temperatures of -5F or colder, the texture goes pretty rapidly with the variety I grow. I consider it a bonus when we can still eat Brussels sprouts for Thanksgiving (likely this year).

Some people like to dig up the plants roots attached and store in the root cellar. They do keep reasonably well this way, but if you wait as long as I do, you'll never get them out of the ground unless you mulch heavily (at least 6" of straw) or get an early heavy snow cover…

A heads up for anyone you know interested in organic and/or sustainable farming: two very well know personalities will be keynoting events in Minnesota this winter. Eliot Coleman, innovative market gardener from Maine and author of several indispensable books for organic growers, is keynoting the Minnesota Organic Conference on Friday, Jan 16 in St. Cloud. He will also be conducting a breakout workshop on High Tunnels (For those interested in organic row crop farming, Fred Kirschenmann, probably the nation's best known organic grain farmer will delivering the Saturday keynote in St. Cloud)

On Saturday Feb 21, Joel Salatin, for many years a renowned innovative grass/livestock farmer and even better known since Michael Pollan's book, will be keynoting the Minnesota Sustainable Farming Association's Annual Conference in Northfield at St. Olaf College. Salatin will also be conducting a breakout workshop.

These individuals will no doubt attract a lot of attention, so anyone interested should register for the session/day of their choice soon. I can provide more information/links for interested parties.

--Joel Rosen”

A Good Brussels Sprouts Recipe

2 pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed and uniformly sliced
2-3 T butter
2 T sliced almonds
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in a large deep skillet over low heat.
Add the almonds to the butter in the skillet and cook slowly in the butter until the almonds are toasted. Increase heat to medium. Add the Brussels sprouts and garlic and quickly toss to coat with the hot butter. Sprinkle the red wine vinegar over the sprouts and toss again to coat. Cook, stirring frequently, until sprouts are wilted. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Kale

See that mountain of kale? Before it got to be a pile by the sink it had to be picked, the large veins removed, then chopped and washed three times in sinks filled with cold water.

The next step was to plunge it into boiling water for two minutes, then let it cool in another sink full of cold, cold water. Then you drain it and pack it in freezer bags.

The boiling water makes the kale wilt and turn dark green.

When it was all over, that big pile of kale fit easily into two, one-quart bags.

That’s the bummer about kale. Since I was a girl it’s been my very favorite vegetable. But it takes a lot of work to get a little kale.

All the greens are like that. Chard, beet greens, mustard…it doesn’t matter. It takes a lot to make a little.

Some things are just like that.

Greens are awesome things. They’re packed with vitamins (no wonder—when they’re condensed like that) and they taste…wonderful!

Kale is sweet and mild this time of year. And the plants themselves are amazing! The kale that’s still in the garden is still standing and edible even after several nights with temperatures in the teens (it would have been better if it was all picked now, but processing takes so much time!). Joel Rosen, from the Lake Superior Chapter of the Sustainable Farming Association, told me frost signals the plant to send sugars from the roots into the leaves.

I cook kale in salted water until it gets tender (kale can be tough sometimes), and then add vinegar or soy sauce when I eat it. My grandmother used to cook it with ham. Any way you do it, it’s yummy!

(P.S. the third photo is Dinosaur kale, aka Italian kale—it looks totally cool!)

-Maggie Montgomery

Student Essay on Local Diet

Students in Elaine Fleming's writing class at Leech Lake Tribal College recently completed research projects about the food they eat. The class created skits from their research, and made meals for the tribal college and for the Cass Lake Community Family Center's Family Togetherness Day last week. Elaine said they were able to replace a processed meal of hot dogs and chips at the family center with one that was local and organic.

Cheri Goodwin was one of the students in Elaine's class. Her paper about local eating is both well-researched and personal.

Time for Healthy Changes
By Cheri Goodwin
In our modern day lives, we’ve evolved as humans to become dependent on fast foods, although eating healthier foods would be better for us in the long run. Our society has diverted away from growing and processing our own foods. My research has given me a chance to review my eating habits, evaluate local foods, and look at the way I take care of my body. In the end I hope the research I’ve done will have a positive effect on my family and me. A few of us are somewhat overweight and do very little physical exercise. The following statement from the grocery store I shop at hits my research thoughts right on the nose. In an ad they placed in our local Sunday paper, Luekens Village Foods had the following quote:

I resolve in 2008 to eat more organic & natural foods. Besides, I’m worth it. I deserve the best. My health is too important to me. But there are a few things I
need. I need great taste AND great price. I need to feel good about myself for buying organic & natural foods. No more excuses. 2008 is the year I change my
life. Time for some healthy action. I will look back on this year and be proud. I
won’t have any regrets. Life is wonderful—why not eat wonderful food?

So speaking of wonderful food, I’ve never thought of where the beef in my quarter pounder with cheese came from or my children’s chicken nuggets. I guess I always presumed they came from a cow that was raised on a farm, in the country. After reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan, I learned about the way cattle are raised. Raising cattle to feed billions of people is not a very natural thing to do. Cattle begin their lives on a ranch. There they live the first six months of their lives. Calves need to nurse from their mothers; they are then weaned to various types of grasses. Once weaned, they are ready to go to the feed lot, “A feedlot is very much a premodern city; however, teeming and filthy and stinking with open sewers, unpaved roads and choking air rendered visible by dust” (“Omnivore” 72). According to Pollan, “The only reason contemporary animal cities aren’t as plague ridden or pestilential as their medieval human counterparts is a single historical anomaly: the modern antibiotic” (“Omnivore” 73).

I previously believed that antibiotics were only used for human sickness. Contrary to that fact that antibiotics are used to heal us is “Antibiotics are used in agriculture to promote growth in healthy animals” (“Omnivore” 79). For these reasons, I currently think twice about eating my quarter pound cheeseburger meal from McDonalds, even though due to hunger and time constraints I still have found myself going through a fast food drive-through.

The only thing I’ve ever known cows to eat was grass. I’ve now learned that once cows leave the ranch they are switched from a grass fed diet to a diet of flaked corn, due to the economic logic behind switching their diets. It’s much more economically feasible to feed cattle corn than have them graze on grass. Economics dominate our lives, even so far as evolving cows to eat a different diet to save money. One of the downfalls of cows eating corn is that it can cause bloat. Corn dominates more of our food chain than we think about. Corn is put through what is called a wet mill, “these mills are called wet to distinguish them from the traditional mills where corn is simply ground into dry meal for things like tortillas” (Pollan, “Omnivore” 86). Pollan writes that every bit of a piece of corn is processed into some sort of food science.

The first rough breakdown of all that corn begins with the subdivision of the kernel itself: Its yellow skin will be processed into various vitamins and nutritional supplements; the tiny germ (the dark part nearest the cob, which holds the embryo of the potential future corn plant) will be crushed for its oil; and the biggest part, the endosperm, will be plundered for its rich cache of complex carbohydrates. (“Omnivore” 86)

As you can see, our food chain has evolved into so much more than when we produced our own food. A few years ago, I had the opportunity to raise chickens at my place of work. I had a volunteer who was from Germany; she was raised on a farm there. She came up with the bright idea that we could make a portable chicken coop, utilizing our unusable wheelchair wheels. It sounded brilliant! We provided her with all the materials to build a chicken coop for our elders to observe. She built it right in our main gazebo. All of our residents got to either watch from the window or come outside to watch. One of the reasons she wanted to have our coop mobile was because of our limited green space. After the coop was done, we ordered and purchased chicks from the local food co-op. She picked out chicks that we could butcher. Over the summer, we all watched our chicks go from “cute little chicks” to big chickens. Our coop ended up being difficult to keep clean and hard to move around. Although our chicks did survive the summer, we found out that due to our limited green space they were quite a hassle to raise.

We had decided early in our project that we’d have a feast once our chickens were ready to butcher. On our big day everyone was very excited and willing to help out. One of our residents whose nickname was Farmer, had plenty of experience raising farm animals. Farmer gave us lots of advice and was very excited to be helping out. A few of our staff members had experience butchering chickens, so they volunteered to help. One staff member brought her axe used for chopping chickens’ heads off and a big kettle used for scalding feathers. We even had races to see which one of us could pluck feathers off the fastest. It was a big event for our staff and residents. On that same day our kitchen staff happened to be serving chicken. I overheard one of our lady elders whispering to another lady elder, “I didn’t eat the chicken.” I laughed to myself. This just goes to show all the work that’s involved in raising your own meat compared to going to the store to purchase your food.

Another way we’ve evolved is that we’re not used to raising our food and then processing it to eat. I believe that our raising of chickens at the nursing home was the first time in many years that chickens were raised on our reservation. Raising our chickens also brought back memories of my grandmother, Audrey. She informed me that when she was a young girl, she’d be in charge of preparing her family’s Sunday dinner. She described to me how she’d go out to the barn yard, pick out a chicken to butcher, cut its head off, dress it, and cook it (Cobenais). We now treat our animals we raise as pets, rather than food for our table. Due to modern civilization, it’s way easier for us to purchase our food than to raise our food, although not healthier.

Speaking about healthier, I’ve recently had the opportunity to listen to two local speakers; they both thrive on living healthy lives. One of our speakers was Dennis Montgomery. He and his wife decided last year that they were going to eat local foods within a one-hundred mile radius of their home and business for a year. On February 14th, he spoke to our class. One of his biggest reasons for his decision to eat a local diet was that he wasn’t happy with the “carbon footprint left from food” (Montgomery). He explained that he prefers to support local farmers versus distant farmers, due to the high cost of transportation and packaging. Another factor that concerned him was that big factories were “treating animals as a product instead of a living animal” (Montgomery). He also informed us that if our national transportation system would shut down for three days, our grocery stores would have no food. After listening to him talk, I came to believe that for the most part they already were living a fairly healthy life-style. I also noticed that he had a well built body frame, very lean and muscular. Compared to mine, his body looked very healthy. Mine, as the saying for cow’s meat goes, is nicely marbled.

Our other speaker, Patricia Heart, spoke to our class on February 28, 2008. She also had her own philosophy on healthy living. Like Dennis, Patricia also appeared to have a well maintained body frame. She informed us that she feeds her inner spirit as well as her senses. Her eyes need to be “fed” food, which she gets from having bright colors around her like plants and rocks. She also needs to have food for her soul. Some examples she gave were the sky and watching plants grow. She feeds her ears by not exposing herself to cussing, loud sounds, and gossip. She enjoys smelling natural odors, her woodstove, and her flowers. Finally, she feeds her mouth. She prefers to consume very little meat, dairy products, and definitely no pop. She grows her own fruit and vegetables and buys her food from a buying club. She explained to us that a buying club was a way for her to purchase bulk organic foods at lower costs. She also is very physical; she enjoys ballet and chopping her own wood.

After listening to her speak, I was under the impression that her lifestyle must take up a great deal of her time. I thought that maybe she was the type of person who needed little sleep. She informed us that she sleeps about eight hours a night. I found out she has the unique opportunity of not needing to work outside her home due to the fact she receives alimony from her former husband. For me living her kind of life-style would take a great deal of hard work and time to be successful. I think the majority of us, deep inside, crave this “old style” type of life.

Our class needed more research opportunities for our paper. Our instructor Elaine requested us to look into how many fast food restaurants we have in our local city that tempts us every time we drive by them. I counted fifteen. Fast food restaurants are “the most advertised, thus their foods are consumed the most” (Spurlock). Personally, my family eats at a fast food restaurant about three times a month. I was curious to know how many people these fast foods businesses draw from. “The total population of Bemidji in the 2000 census was 11,917 people, and the community hub was over 55,000 people” (Wikipedia). A community hub is the surrounding communities of a city. Of all the different ethnic groups represented in Bemidji, the total for our people, Anishinaabe, is 11.52 % (Wikipedia).

These fast food places contribute to our peoples numerous health problems. One of the biggest for our people is diabetes. Risk factors in developing diabetes is obesity. “3 in 5 diabetics are overweight or obese, 1 in 2 diabetics have sedentary lifestyles, 1 in 4 diabetics have no leisure time physical activity, and 1 in 5 diabetics are current smokers” (Minnesota Department of Health). I’m currently in the process of getting all of my blood levels checked; I hope my results come back negative. I know I’ve gained weight over the past couple years, and I don’t participate in an active lifestyle. So, it looks like if I don’t take some action soon, I’ll be heading for a life with multiple health problems. One thing I’m proud of is that I’ve finally quit smoking.

During my research on improving my eating habits, I took a shopping trip to Harmony Natural Food Co-op, located in Bemidji. Harmony foods is a local food co-op that has all types of organic and locally grown foods. Right when I entered the store, I noticed it was very “earthy.” The sun was shining in their two big southern facing windows. They had lots of live plants sitting in front of their windows, and I even noticed a sign advertising wireless internet connection for their customers. When I first encounter a new store, I look over all the available products and then take mental notes of products comparable to what I use. After I surveyed the store, I picked up a basket and started through the store again. The first section was their fruit. I decided to purchase a bag of organic apples from the state of Washington, and they were comparable to what I usually pay, three pounds for $4.29. Another thing I noticed was that their fruit didn’t look as fresh as fruit in my local food store. It seemed to me that there were not enough consumers purchasing their fruit. I then noticed organic avocados on sale for $1.45. Wow, I thought! Now that’s a good deal. During my initial survey, I also noticed a collection of packaged organic dips; I selected a package of guacamole dip to mix with my avocados. My thoughts were that I’d have a delicious snack for my family that night, baked potato chips and organic dip.

I looked their dairy products over. They had organic milk, butter, and juice. Most of the dairy products sold were much higher in price than I was used to paying. I settled on purchasing a dozen organic eggs raised on a local farm in Bagley, Minnesota. The eggs cost me $2.99 a dozen. The packaging was very simple with just a sticker and the farm’s name on the carton. The next product that caught my eye was organic whole wheat macaroni. Macaroni is a big hit at our house! They also had large cans of organic fire smoked tomatoes, which they sold two cans for $6.00 with an in store coupon. Great deal for me! Visions of my meal for that night were of very healthy and delicious foods.

My trip to the local food co-op was a very informative and educational experience. In their freezer section, they had grass fed beef which came from Menahga, Minnesota. This hamburger sold for $5.98 a pound. That night all of my family members enjoyed our organic supper; we all actually enjoyed the taste of wheat macaroni. My husband does the majority of the cooking at our house; he cooks delicious meals for us. When we had breakfast, my husband boiled both types of eggs I had in my refrigerator, organic and inorganic. We all agreed that the organic eggs tasted much better than the inorganic eggs.

My husband also hunts deer every fall for us. He makes sure to get enough deer to last us throughout the year. The majority of our deer meat is ground up and mixed with extra lean ground beef. We usually mix our meat eighty percent deer to twenty percent beef. As far back as I can remember, it’s been a family event for us to wrap and date our meat. The younger children enjoy writing on our packages. My husband also has a friend who raises his own pigs. We buy one-half a pig from him about two times a year. The pig is taken to a local butcher who processes and wraps up our meat. These are examples of our family efforts to eat locally and in a healthy manner.

I also kept track of my food intake for a week. I now see that I lack adequate amounts of dairy products and fruit in my diet. More physical activity needs to be incorporated into my life. Another thing is that my food portions are more than my body needs. After all my research, I’ve decided to take a stand for my health and live a healthier lifestyle. I’ve been procrastinating for a very long time on starting an exercise program. I’ve researched the internet and found a site that gives me good tips on being healthy and setting exercise goals. I’m now on my way to tracking my exercise activities. This site I’ve signed on to is sponsored by our government. Even the name of this web sight encourages me, Small Steps. Doing a little something to improve my health is better than doing nothing. By implementing healthy steps into my life, I hope to set a good example for my family and live a healthier life-style.





Works Cited
Cobenais, Audrey. Personal Interview. 8 Aug. 1999.
Heart, Patricia. “Local Diet.” Leech Lake Tribal College, Cass Lake. 28 Feb. 2008.
Luekens Village Foods. Advertisement. 17 Feb. 2008.
Minnesota Department of Health Fact Sheet. Diabetes in Minnesota. 6 Mar. 2008
Montgomery, Dennis. “Local Diet.” Leech Lake Tribal College, Cass Lake. 14 Feb. 2008.
Pollan, Michael. The Omnivore’s Dilemma. New York: Penquin Books, 2006.
Super Size Me. Dir. Morgan Spurlock. DVD. Kathbur Pictures, Inc., 2004.

NO Chickens Allowed!

Ethan Montgomery recently looked into whether Bemidji’s municipal code would allow him to keep chickens in his yard in town. Here’s what he wrote about the experience:

"Many people think of chickens as farm livestock rather than backyard pets. Actually, chickens have a lot to offer. When I heard of the urban chicken concept I was initially skeptical… “Mom, are you serious?” “Absolutely,” she said. I began researching, already aware that chickens lead cruel lives in the corporate/agribusiness world. The extent is more than I had expected - they are debeaked with hot clippers, pumped full of growth chemicals that can cause their legs to collapse from rapid weight gain, and many die from the sheer stress of their situation. I already knew that brown farm eggs taste better than "regular" eggs.

I did not know that recent research found that eggs from chickens allowed to forage naturally have, on average, seven times more beta carotene (which is what makes pastured egg yolks so orange), three times more vitamin E, two times more omega-3 fatty acids and two-thirds more vitamin A than those from factory farmed chickens. Pastured eggs also have one-third less cholesterol and one-quarter less saturated fat, on average (Mother Earth News). I would reasonably conclude that this is a result of better diet and living conditions.

I was also unaware that a backyard chicken "agri-hipster" movement existed. Many of the participants have as few as three or four chickens-others as many as several dozen. Chickens are allowed in various forms in the cities of New York, Chicago, Minneapolis, Topeka, Los Angeles, and many others. Common conditions for keeping chickens include, but are not limited to, guidelines of how far from property lines they may be kept, the number of chickens that may be kept, whether roosters are allowed, and if consent from the neighbors is required.

Bemidji, MN has an outdated and arbitrary code that I would like to see replaced by a proposal I constructed that takes inspiration from many other proposals from city council members and interested citizens across the nation. Bemidji is an informed city and this is exactly the sort of code adjustment to help lead it a little closer to sustainability and self-sufficiency.

Nowhere in Bemidji’s municipal code (http://www.municode.com/Resources/gateway.asp?pid=13726&sid=23) does it say that chickens are banned. In Chapter 6 (animals), Article 3 (animals and poultry) the code states that a permit is required from the city. Since no permit is required for having a dozen cats, I propose that either this requirement either be extended to dogs, cats, etc., or it should be removed for hens, if not roosters.

The criteria for issuance of a city permit is as follows: “No permit required under this division shall be issued to an owner if to do so would constitute a health hazard or constitute a nuisance to others in any form.” My neighbor’s dog knocks over my trashcan, barks, and occasionally relieves itself in my yard while it’s "just passing through the neighborhood." The dog is a nuisance in many ways. I can hardly see how three to six penned hens would constitute a greater nuisance than one unruly, unrestrained canine. I am not inherently against dogs and cats…I think they are wonderful animals, even if they aren’t as good to have in a city as chickens.

I called the animal control officer for the city for details about the municipal code; he referred me to the website above. Fortunately I had already read the ordinance and knew to ask what was necessary to get a permit. The response was that a clean area for the chickens to live and exercise was all that was required.

Then he got suspicious and asked where I lived. Upon hearing that I lived near the technical college I was told that I would never get a permit. I was “in proximity to other people.” He may or may not have understood that my true intention was not to start my own miniature chicken flock to generate complaints for him, but he didn’t seem enthused. After thanking him and hanging up I bristled a bit at being arbitrarily told by a bureaucrat that having even two or three hens would not be permitted because it would constitute a nuisance.

I live on a double lot (.38 acres), and while I agree that this is not a huge swath of land, it certainly is more than adequate considering the lesser restrictions in place in the four largest cities in the United States of America. In Minneapolis, the largest city in the state, you are allowed to keep an unlimited number of chickens provided you have the consent of 80% of your neighbors within 100ft of real estate and provided that the chickens (roosters are allowed as well) are penned. I was displeased that the decision about whether I was hypothetically allowed to keep chickens was in the hands of a city employee rather than the decision depending upon my neighbors’ consent.

Most poultry detractors cite noise, smell, and a need to distinguish between urban and rural, city and country as reasons not to allow chickens in their neighbors’ back yards. These are all valid concerns, though the reality seems to be that the problems are generally much less than people would imagine. I searched for a single anti-urban chicken blog and found none-nary a “peep.” This seems reasonable. Chickens will hunt for mosquitoes, ticks, and other insects. They also eat kitchen scraps and yard rubbish, all while producing less waste than cats and dogs - and they lay eggs! My opinion is that the simple solution is to regulate them similarly. I wholeheartedly believe a city should require an inexpensive permit to house more than six dogs or cats in a residential area.

While this may seem like a trivial issue, the larger issues of animal cruelty and human self-sufficiency and sustainable lifestyles are not. I don’t know many chicken owners, but those I do know all have gardens, beautiful green lawns from the extra "fertilizer," and more eggs than they can eat.

Don’t cry “Fowl!” Please do the right thing and encourage decriminalizing the urban chicken!"

Ethan's Proposed Code Revision for the City of Bemidji:
• 1-3 chickens must be kept 15 feet from neighboring structures. 4-6 chickens must be kept 25 feet away. A permit is required if you wish to keep more than 6 chickens. Roosters are not allowed in residentially zoned areas (neighbors could waive all requirements except the permit for 6+ chickens).
• Permits would be granted only to residents of single or two-family homes.
• Owners are subject to noise laws that can lead to a fine if neighbors are disturbed between 10:00pm and 7:00am.
• Chickens would have to be provided with a clean and covered structure with a fenced area and tied at all times when out of the structure.
• Chicken slaughter is prohibited in residentially zoned areas.

Ethan Montgomery is a KAXE member (and 28-year-old son of KAXE general manager Maggie Montgomery) who lives with his wife, Siau Yean, and 2 sons within the Bemidji city limits. He wrote this article as part of his class in Minnesota Politics at Bemidji State University.

Sources:
Independent Weekly: Urban Chickens
myurbanchickens.blogspot.com
http://www.municode.com/

peta.org
thecitychicken.com

Maggie Montgomery's Local Food Update 3/5/08

I’m looking forward to next week’s KAXE book club discussion of Barbara Kingsolver’s book, Animal Vegetable Miracle. I read the book last summer and passed it around to several friends and family. The book was both serious and humorous, and contains some good recipes and lots of great stories. KAXE’s book club meets next Tuesday March 11th at 4 p.m. at KAXE’s studios, 260 NE 2nd St, Grand Rapids MN. The meetings are open to everyone!

Today on KAXE’s Morning Show, Scott Hall and I talked to Merle Roberts, owner (with his wife Roxie) of Merle’s Farm Fresh Meats. Merle and Roxie and their family have supplied many people in our area with locally grown pork and beef for the last 10 years. Their truck has been a fixture at area farmers’ markets, and many people say that Merle and Roxie’s meats are some of the best available in these parts.

Merle told us he is strongly considering quitting business this year. He said that two years ago corn cost $1.80/bushel. Now it’s $6/bushel. Soybean meal was $180/ton. Now it’s $400/ton. He said he uses 20,000 bushels of corn each year to feed his 100 sows, 60 head of cows, and 4,000 chickens. “I’m looking at working 16-hour days and losing $75,000-$100,000 this year,” he said. Merle blamed ethanol plants and the world market for the high cost of grain.

He said he and Roxie might move to Wyoming to find work this summer. Merle will re-evaluate the decision next fall. “I don’t want to raise prices that much, or just a few people will be able to afford the meat…People are going to get their eyes opened at the prices in the grocery store this year!”

Meanwhile, on the home front, Dennis inventoried the freezer last weekend. Here’s his comprehensive food report:

Contents of the freezer 3/1/08
Strawberries 18 qt
Raspberries 9 qt
Rhubarb sauce 1 qt
Plums 1 qt
Grape juice 1 qt
Apple cider 1 gal
Tomato sauce 7 pts
Corn 6 qt and 4 ears
Chopped green peppers 1 qt
Green beans 7 qt
Snow peas 3 qt
Peas 2 qt
Broccoli 9 qt
Cauliflower 5 qt
Beet greens 3 pt
Mustard greens 1 pt
Bok Choy 1 qt
Kale 6 qt
Some pesto and basil/olive oil from 2006
Basil butter (2007) 1½ qt
Bread (sourdough) 4 loaves
Eggs (frozen) 3 dozen approx.
Goat 3 roasts (from Fultz family farm)
Chicken 2 whole (Bemidji farmers’ market)
Fish fillets 2 pts (caught locally)
Beef 1 roast (from Paul Meyer)
Venison steaks and ground (from Cori Kindamo)
Lamb 1½ lambs approx. (from Erling Lofthus)
Really old stuff (frozen)
Edamame 1 bag
Organic soybeans 1 bag
Boca brats 3 brats
Spring roll wrappers 2 pkgs
1 pkg. frozen macaroni and cheese (left by visitors)
1 box of chicken tenders (left by visitors)

Canned (he didn’t count this): green beans, sauerkraut, crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, salsa, applesauce, and some canned hot peppers from Karen Ryan.
Stored in the cellar: carrots and cabbages from Joel Rosen, parsnips, beets, apples, potatoes
Stored upstairs: some pitiful-looking acorn squash, shallots, onions, garlic
Growing: 3 basil plants and 2 pots of cilantro
Based on the inventory, here are some of our plans: There is pretty much fruit left (27 quarts of strawberries and raspberries), in spite of the fact that Dennis started 11 gallons of wine in the last week or so (chokecherry, raspberry/rhubarb, and honey grape). He may start some strawberry/rhubarb wine in the spring when the new rhubarb comes up, if we have enough strawberries left.

There are 42 quarts of various frozen vegetables, not including the tomato sauce. We’re saving the frozen and canned veggies somewhat, and concentrating more on eating the stored veggies first, before they decay—carrots, cabbage, potatoes, squash, beets, apples.

The squash and apples are going downhill fast.

We’ve started making plain yogurt by the quart, and making fruit smoothies.
Blackstar Dairy has stopped making yogurt! That’s why we started doing it ourselves. It isn’t too hard, although I broke a quart jar of milk when I immersed it in boiling water this weekend. Note to self: Start with cool water for each quart.

We’re looking forward to spring! By late May we should be getting some fresh asparagus, and wild greens like lamb’s quarters and nettles—plus some morels if we’re lucky and some lettuce or other cultivated greens if we’re on the ball! Looks like we won’t run out of food!

Last weekend:
Dennis started 1 gallon of honey grape wine
He also started 5 gallons raspberry/rhubarb wine
I baked 8 loaves bread (this is a lot—4 are to give away)
Made 1 pt sour cream
Made 2 qt yogurt
2 pumpkin (squash) pies
Weekend dinners were: potato wild rice soup with pickled beets and sourdough bread on Saturday and pot roast (goat and venison), mashed potatoes and cabbage Sunday.

Lows and Highs in Local Eating-From Maggie Montgomery

The low point for local eating this week was definitely last Saturday when I found that nice, big pumpkin melted into the carpet. The low part for Dennis was trying to clean it up.

We’d put the season’s pumpkins and squash in an unheated room upstairs and closed the door. Squash like warmer temperatures and lower humidity than our cellar provides, and we thought the room would be about right. Now and then, on cold days when the wood-burning cookstove is hot in the kitchen, I bring one or two squash downstairs, cut them open, scoop out the seeds, put the squash in a baking dish with a little water, and roast them in the oven. We eat the seeds too, if they’re still tender—-rinse them, soak them in salt water, then roast them with melted butter in a pie pan until they’re brown. Yum!

But upstairs, there’s that big stain on the rug. We still have to buy a scrub brush and have at it with carpet cleaner again—and maybe again and again. We found and removed a couple more squash on the verge of melting. We’ve also moved the squash off the floor.

Dennis and I wondered if we’d reached the point in the year where the squash were going to make a habit of rotting, so last night I brought some downstairs to cook. The pie pumpkin was dry and stringy—I could hardly force it through the food mill even though it had cooked a long time. The buttercup was beautiful. I didn’t have time to make them into anything yesterday, but tonight they'll become pie or soup or custard.

Inspired by the pumpkin, Dennis also went through the carrots and beets in the cellar. They’re holding up remarkably well, but we’re running low on carrots and the beets are sprouting some pale, pink leaves.

Other than the cilantro and basil in the window, we aren’t growing anything right now. So the focus is on cooking and eating. We talk a lot about creating a regional northern Minnesota cuisine, based on what grows here.

The high point for the week? It might have been the homemade noodles that became Mee Goreng for our family’s Chinese New Year gathering last Friday, or it might have been the raspberry crepe cake. A crepe cake is simple to make, if a bit time-consuming. Simply make a double batch of crepes (you’ll need 25 or 30 of them). As each one comes out of the pan, spread it with a thin layer of homemade raspberry jam. Stack them up. Sprinkle the top layer with a little sugar. Serve with whipped cream. For greater impact, you can optionally pour about ¼ cup of brandy on top and light it before serving (note: brandy isn’t local, of course)!