BiG TeA PaRtY Sustainable Living

Article and Photos by ELIZABETH FIEND

Although there’s still a chill in the air and a bit of winter to come, if you want to do a garden this year, start now. That’s right. The key to gardening is to be on top of everything. Gardening is based around the weather and the weather waits for no man — or woman.

You probably have a growing mound of garden catalogs by now. A few arrive in my mailbox every day.

Overwhelming! If you don’t have catalogs, try buying a mail-order plant ONE time, and you’ll be flooded with garden catalogs for the rest of your life.

What I do is just thin out from the very beginning. If you try to look through every single catalog, you’ll be paralyzed by too many options. So you must weed out from the start.

Divide the catalogs into categories like flowers, seeds, landscaping, accessories. I grow a lot of soft fruit, so I set aside catalogs that sell fruit as well.

After you’ve divided the catalogs into categories, start with the Buy Local philosophy. Sure, buying local helps dollars grow in your own neighborhood economy, but there’s another overriding reason why this is a good idea. Buying a plant from a nursery located in an area that has the same ecology as where you plan to plant the plant is some extra insurance that it will grow happily in your yard. Yes, that plant from the nursery in New Mexico is gorgeous but face it, it’s just not going to take root around here even if the phrase “hardy enough for colder climates” is tossed about in the catalog’s description.

I live in Philadelphia and there are some big nurseries right here in my state of Pennsylvania: Burpee’s, The Cook’s Garden among them. You can’t get much more local than that. Plus by buying local, you’ll be kinder to the environment by saving fossil fuel with a shorter transport to your garden. There is one major downside to the buy local thing when it comes to mail order. The Feds. When you make a snail mail or Internet purchase from a company located in your home state, yikes, you’re going to be charged sales tax. Still, I do it.

Of course, not all the plants I desire can be obtained from Pennsylvania nurseries. So I move out geographically, just not too far. Ohio is looking pretty good to me this year and I’ve ordered my plants from Bluestone Perennials out of Madison; my seeds from Cook’s Garden, Warminster, PA.

You know about the hardiness zones right?

The hardiness zone, or just zone, was developed by the United States Department of Agriculture. Zones are based on the average annual minimum temperature over a five-year span. Numbers are assigned and graphed, they make undulating bands across the map, much like you see on a weather forecast map. Zone 1 is the coldest, here in Pennsylvania, we’re Zone 6. (Yeah, the zone thing is starting to get a little thorny right now due to global warming, but we won’t get into that today.)

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“A Daughter Remembers Her Dad and His Influence” written by Elizabeth Fiend

Mom and Dad, 1953

The kids, Tim, Elizabeth, Anne, 1966

Mom and Dad, 2007

My father, James Moersh, recently passed away, it’s a sad and lonely time. He was the ‘go-to man’ for me — “Dad where exactly do the birds go at night?” ;  “Why does my water heater keep going off?” He also was a real do-it-yourself kind of guy. And he inspired me in many ways, encouraging me to be creative as well as curious.

He loved to make things and always had a project, or two, or six on the burner, as do I.  He built a boat in our driveway, a guitar in the basement, a grandfather’s clock and all its gears. In a mid-life change my parents bought some land in the country. There my father built a barn, he lived in it over a summer while he built a house. He and my mother Jill would live in that house for the next 30 years.

Dad's garden and koi pond, 2008

My father, his parents and sister in front of the house he built, 1977

The house 2008

My dad loved nature and he was especially fond of Henry David Thoreau. As a young girl he brought my family to Walden Pond.  [Click here for the article I wrote about Thoreau] We also spent a lot of time hiking in Harriman State Park. Especially in the winter, which he liked because it was less crowded. I remember him making cup-a- soup and hot chocolate on a tiny one burner stove for us as we munched on peanut butter sandwiches. One year he bought everyone in the family cross-country skis. Another year we tried out snow shoes. And yet another adventure was family bike rides. None of these schemes of togetherness lasted too long, but to this day I still ride a bike as my main source of transportation.

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A Diet Diverse is a Diet Divine —

Eat My Brussels Sprouts and Cranberry Pasta Salad
Article and Recipe By Elizabeth Fiend

Prehistoric peoples are thought to have dined on 1,500 different wild plants. And throughout history, humans have consumed 80,000 different edible species. Shockingly, today we stick to eating about 30 different plants with only four – wheat, rice, corn and soybeans – accounting for 75% of our calories!

Adding cranberries and Brussels sprouts to your diet helps promote food diversity which is a corner stone to healthy eating. They also taste great and are loaded with goodness.

Make this easy, fantastic cranberry and Brussels sprouts pasta salad to bring to that Holiday Party you’re going to.

Brussels Sprout, Cranberry Pasta Salad
Recipe by Elizabeth Fiend

I designed this recipe as an introduction to Brussels sprouts for those that have vegetable resistors in their house. One strategy I used was to cut the sprouts in to small pieces. Another was to add some sweetness, in the form of dried cranberries, to balance any perceived bitterness from the Brussels sprouts. And finally, it’s pasta…

If you have any funny or frightening stories regarding Brussels sprouts write a comment here.

A Waldorf-like pasta salad, serve hot or cold
Serves 4; Preparation time: 30 min.

Category: Vegan / Vegetarian Recipe

Tip: The green vegetable and red fruit featured in this dish makes it a festive, and easy one-pot dish to bring to a holiday party.

Ingredients
½ lb Brussels Sprouts (reserve ¼ cup cooking water)
½ lb Whole Wheat Linguine
1 tbs Tahini (sesame seed paste)
¼ cup Pine Nuts
½ cup Dried Cranberries (aka craisins)
Salt to taste
Cayenne pepper to taste (optional)

Method
Prepare linguine as directed on package (or, if you have it, this is a good recipe to use leftover pasta)

Wash Brussels sprouts with warm water and remove any scary looking leaves
Cut the bottom stem off, keeping the mini-cabbage intact
Quarter each sprout, then cut each quarter crosswise (if some leaves fall off it’s okay)

Bring 2 cups of water to a boil, add Brussels sprouts
Reduce heat and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, or until tender but still slightly crispy (taste them) DO NOT OVERCOOK!

Drain, reserving ¼ cup cooking water

In a small bowl or tea cup blend until smooth reserved cooking water and tahini

Put pasta in serving bowl and coat with tahini mix

Gently stir-in Brussels sprouts and dried cranberries

And pine nuts right before eating

Season to taste with salt and cayenne pepper (do NOT overdo the salt, please)

Why a Diverse Diet is Important and Health Info on Cranberries and Brussels Sprouts:

Having diversity in your diet is an often overlooked way to remain healthy. Within each food category lies a cornucopia of nutrient-rich foods. And each one of these foods contains hundreds of unique substances — the good, like antioxidants and phytonutrients, and the not-so-good toxins. By eating a diverse diet, you increase your chance of getting the good and decrease your chance of consuming too much of the bad.

Increase eating the good + Decrease eating the bad = Decrease your risk of disease.

Prehistoric peoples are thought to have dined on 1,500 different wild plants. And throughout history, humans we have consumed 80,000 different edible species, with 3,000 of those in widespread use. Shockingly, today we generally stick to eating just 30 different plants with only four – wheat, rice, corn and soybeans – accounting for 75% of our calories!

Think about it? How many different kinds of fruits did you eat this week? You did eat some fruit this week, right?

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Thanksgiving -Recipe for Disaster

Your Hostile Projectiles are No Match for My Invisible Force Field

Written by Elizabeth Fiend

This is my Thanksgiving column. As a vegetarian you probably expect me to write an article on the horrors of eating turkey — antibiotics, hormones, inhumane factory farming. As an anarchist you may think I’m going to rail against the hypocrisy behind the meaning of the day — the slaughter of Native Americans by the white man, the taking over of someone else’s land. Or perhaps you’re hoping for some vegetarian recipes. In that case you shoulda tuned into my NPR Vegetarian Thanksgiving interview last year. Instead I’m going to talk about how to use the science of proxemics to get you through the massacre at your own families dinner table.

Face it, most of us don’t have a picture perfect, greeting card kind of family. Chances are, this Thanksgiving weekend someone’s going to irritate you. In my opinion, a lot of fighting, arguing, grumpiness around the holidays originates from the fact that we wonder how we could possibly be related to these people. Er, I mean we’re all too close.

Close in propinquity and proximity. We don’t have our normal personal space. This is made even worse because it’s always freaking raining on Thanksgiving and you can’t escape outside for that much needed break.

Proxemics is the study of personal space and people’s perception of it. The term proxemics was first used by Edward T. Hall in 1963 in his book The Hidden Dimension. He stated that we all have an invisible force field around our bodies and it’s important for our mental health to preserve our own comfort zone. Proxemics involves all our senses. It’s not just someone standing too close to you, it could also be Aunt Rhubarb’s obtrusive perfume or Uncle Pill’s loud cell phone talking.

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GARDEN WREATHS written by Elizabeth Fiend

I recently created two wreaths out of vines from my garden. One wreath is ‘living’ so I guess I could call it topiary. It’s like a magical window I look through to the rest of the yard.

I started it with a hula-hoop, if you look closely you can see the green and white stripe of the hoop. With a piece of string I suspended the hula-hoop above the grape vine, hanging it from the cross-beam of a seating area Mr. Fiend built in the way-back of our yard. At first I tacked another piece of string from the bottom of the hula-hoop to the ground so the wreath wouldn’t swing around in the wind.

Every couple of weeks during the growing season I would wrap and tie down the vines around the hoop, at the same time cutting back vines that were growing in the wrong place. It was slow going at first and tricky to keep the vines growing in the proper direction and I almost bailed on the project. But I kept at it. Three years later it looks smashing. Don’t you agree?

I came up with the idea of using a hula-hoop as a base for the grape-wood circle because when the wreath was sturdy enough I could easily cut open the hoop and twist it out leaving a truly amazing circle of live wood suspended in the air. I think I’m ready to cut the hoop, but I’ll wait until the winter when there are no leaves.

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Chuck the Caterpillar. Part of the series “Fiend Garden Notes”

Photos and Story by Elizabeth Fiend

This is Chuck. He lives out back.
Chuck’s interests are eating bronze fennel and hiding from birds.
Chuck hopes to grow up and be just like his mother a beautiful Black Swallowtail butterfly.

I touched Chuck once. He was eating the fennel I was going to use for Mr. Fiends lunch. I moved Chuck over to a different fennel plant, one I could share. Touching Chuck was really super cool. He felt like no other thing I had ever touched. He was sort of marshmallow like. But he was alive! The way he felt stayed with me for several days. I wanted to touch him again. But I haven’t. I don’t want to stress him out. He already was going super still every time I took his picture.

Chuck will have a pretty interesting life. Having started out as an egg, he’s now a caterpillar. Soon he’ll be a pupa and then a butterfly!  WOWZER. Love, Elizabeth Fiend

Click to learn about a Swallowtail butterfly’s life cycle.

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BUY LOCAL, or BUY ORGANIC?
Article written by: ELIZABETH FIEND

Get out to your local farmers market RIGHT NOW while you still have time.  

Photos by Rob Kates of : Greensgrow farmer Mary Seton Corboy and the author Elizabeth Fiend.

Our food system has gotten out of whack due to the industrialization of farming (AKA agribusiness) and the globalization of food. Currently there are basically three types of places that grow our produce: big agribusiness factory-type farms, organic farms and recently, a growing movement of small local farms. It used to be a no brainer that if you wanted the best, most healthful food, and could afford it, buy organic. But since the initial burst of organic farms in the 60s and 70s, things have changed and what was a given is suddenly up in the air.

Certainly, buying organic food seems like the way to go since using pesticides is strictly a no-no in organic farming. Organic practices are kinder to the land, they promote good soil development, as opposed to agribusiness techniques which deplete the soil — and hence your food — of vital nutrients. Organic practices don’t pollute the water, the air or the workers on the farm through exposure to toxic chemicals the way agribusiness practices do, either. And a fundamental part of the organic philosophy is to treat workers fairly and pay a living wage.

But there’s a crisis in the organics world, and it’s called big business. Too much of a good thing has gone haywire. Organic food is so much in demand that there just isn’t enough to go around. The only solution has been to change farming methods, to outsource, and to go global to get the desired goods. What was once an industry of small family farms has mushroomed into a new kind of agribusiness, one doing business with Wal-Mart, Kraft, Kellogg and General Mills; one that outsources the growing of organic food to places with little regulation, like China.

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SUSTAINABLE LIVING TiP: Put a Lid On It.

Save Energy When Cooking

When cooking soup, stew or boiling water for pasta or rice put a lid on that pan.
By keeping the heat in you’ll use less energy to cook your food.
Bonus: you’ll get to eat sooner. Love, Elizabeth Fiend

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SUNSHINE PASTA SALAD

Make this for the next barbecue!

RECIPE BY ELIZABETH FIEND
Serves 4, Time: 45 minutes

Category: Vegan / Vegetarian Recipe

With the arrival of summer you’ll really enjoy this cold pasta salad which capitalizes on freshness. This tangy, light pasta salad features the color orange. It will brighten your outlook and your look because it’s made with a dressing that contains lots of healthy herbs and spices, but no fat! The spices used in the dressing weren’t chosen randomly. They taste good and have health benefits. Ginger has anti-inflammatory properties that increase circulation, give energy, alleviate aches and pains and help reduce symptoms of allergies and sinus congestion. Mustard fights stress as it is a good source of magnesium, a calming mineral. Garlic is an immune system booster.

Salad Ingredients:
1/2 lb thin whole wheat spaghetti
4 tablespoons parsley chopped
2 carrots grated and diced
1 orange bell pepper cut into thin strips
3 oranges peeled and cut into bite size pieces
½ pint grape tomatoes cut into quarters
1 cup pecans broken into halves

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Henry David Thoreau, Your Own Back Yard, and Global Warming

[Photo By: Elizabeth Fiend. Baby cardinal taking first flight, in my own backyard!]

Article Written By ELIZABETH FIEND

I’ve been reading Wild Fruits, an unfinished, recently published manuscript by American naturalist Henry David Thoreau. The book is a combination of diary and essay, chronicling the ways Thoreau spent his days and what he learned during the final years of his brief life. With each page I get more jealous, wishing I too could spend my day stalking a bee to find its hive and to learn what type of flower the bee drinks nectar from and how that affects the flavor of the honey.

Of all the things I love to do (and I love to do a LOT of things) observing nature is on the top of my list. Fantasizing how I could manage to spend my days doing what Thoreau did, I realized my main stumbling block is that I’m just not as big of a mooch as Thoreau. Sure, he worked some in his family’s pencil factory (in fact, he “invented” the modern clay-and-graphite pencil). But he also spent quite a lot of time not working, crashing at his mentor Ralph Waldo Emerson’s house and living on, and off of, Emerson’s land.

I work full time at a library, not some of the time at a pencil factory. But still, I manage to spend quite a lot of time observing nature, especially the ecology of my South Philly back yard. There’s a lot going on outside, even in the midst of a large city. I actually start my observing while I’m still lying in bed each morning — If you listen to the sounds of the outdoors you can learn quite a lot, especially about the birds. In fact, I think I know more about what the birds in my ‘hood are up to than my human neighbors, whom I never see and don’t particularly want to hear.

Phenology — derived from the Greek word phainomai, to appear or come into view — is the study of the seasonal timing of life-cycle events. As the seasons change, so do the actions and characteristics of living things. Phenology is mostly concerned with firsts: the first day the maple trees bud-out in spring, or the first day they begin to show fall color. It is a very, very old science, older than the word science.

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