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Shopping blog featuring products made by people not factories.

In The Garden

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Planting season will be upon us very soon. More time spent in the garden, kneeling down and bending over in order to fill our little patches with colour come the summer. Cassia Beck has captured a scene from summer; the season that doesn’t seem to hang around Scotland for too long for a couple of weeks between the months of June to August.

And being able to be green-fingered, even when you don’t own a garden is possible by Creating a kitchen herb garden in a planter on the window sill. Most herbs are minimal effort plants and don’t require a lot of TLC.

“Annual” herbs (aka herbs that only last a season) are cilantro, basil and chervil and are probably some of the more high maintenance herbs – they will need to be re-planted every spring.

“Evergreen” herbs (aka herbs that won’t die back in the winter months) are the herbs that will remain green all year round; lavender, rosemary, sage and thyme are examples of evergreens – and they will make your home smell wonderful!

“Herbaceous” herbs (aka plants that will die back in the winter months but grow back strong and healthier than ever before) are the herbs like tarragon and chives and require the least effort – plus they are brilliant for seasoning and flavouring food!

These gorgeous and sturdy planters from Andrew’s Reclaimed Shop are crafted with care; made from mill end waste cut cedar and waterproof food grade glue.

If you’re planning on creating a herb garden make sure you put it into an area with good air circulation and light – most herbs require little effort but they still love the sunshine, good soil and pruning – depending on which variety of herbs you decide to add to your planters.

If you do have a garden spare a thought for your left-overs.

Vegetable peelings work as a great alternative to shop bought fertilizer; simply wash out a left-over ice cream tub and store veggie peelings in there, place the lid back and over time the peelings will break down into compost for your garden.

Milk cartons also work as multi-purpose/make-shift garden tools. Watering cans are created by piercing the milk tops several times, filling the milk carton with water and screwing the pierced lid back on. Or why not create a scoop for your fertilizer from a milk carton? Cut from below the handle, cutting diagonally until you achieve the scoop shape – and viola you have your very own little scoop instead of the carton going out to be trashed.

The daffodils usually spring up in April here; peeking their little yellow heads through the bulbs just in time for the UK Mothering Sunday. Currently we’re waiting for the Big Freeze to end and would be very welcoming to some sunshine, spring flowers and all the lovely things a garden in bloom brings.

Until then, I am tempted to fill my walls with home decor stickers like this:

It would save us hundreds in re-decoration costs – and we’d be able to un-stick these vinyl stickers and take them wherever we were instead of having an eternal mural we’d have to leave behind. Plus it would make my garden-less and bare walled household a cheerier place to be while everyone else enjoys their gardens in the upcoming months.

The Case for Meat Part 1: The People

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Skinny Bitch

Lately, there have been more than a handful of high-profile books touting a vegan existence. Freedman and Barnouin’s Skinny Bitch (pictured above) and Alicia Silverstone’s The Kind Diet among them; I read one, skimmed several others and I have, to risk the use of a terribly cheesy pun, beef.

While I can, mostly off the top of my head, recite for you the nutritional needs of every animal in my care human nutrition is, admittedly, not my strong suit. For that reason — and because I find it largely irrelevant, another story for another day — I will not argue against the premise that meat is nutritionally detrimental to humans.

What I will point out — over the course of the next few weeks — is that books like those listed have completely overlooked an important and rapidly growing demographic of food producers in North America and that the consequences of doing so, on a mass scale, will negatively affect not just the people, but the animals therein. Yes, even those intended for slaughter. And that it is, as long as we’re speaking in cheesy puns and cliches, possible to have your happy, healthy pig (or cow or chicken or quail or duck or goose) and eat it too!

So what about the people? For the first time in decades the U.S. is seeing a significant increase in the number of small farms in operation. Perhaps since WWII herself, when the industrialization and centralization of our food system hit full stride, David is wiggling from under the thumb of Goliath. And, most significant, he’s being backed by consumer dollars. The very thing that makes the world, or at the very least business, go ’round.

But it’s not just David either. “Donna” has also entered the brawl. Between 2002 and 2007 the number of female farm operators increased by nearly twenty percent. Like medicine, engineering, mathematics and countless other industries agriculture has always been a boys’ club, but today women are playing a major role in the restructuring and revival of it from within. They’re supporting their families, strengthening their communities and paving the way for a healthier, more equal society tomorrow while implementing systems that can sustain both the earth and its people.

In fact, organic produce was harvested from more than 200,000 acres in 2007. That’s just from the farms that are not so small they’re flying under the census radar; and where there is organic produce, there are small meat producers not far behind. In many instances they are one and the same.

Small, diversified farms may, as a matter of fact, be the single most sustainable model on the agricultural landscape today. Able to produce natural fertilizer off their land, by way of animals they feed from it, they can create a cyclical balance that cannot be reproduced. And the people behind those farms are the ethically astute people we need behind the scenes of our Agricultural Evolution. Stop supporting them and we stop supporting the sustainable restructuring of our food system.

So how do we cut through the jargon and find the right meat, milk and egg producers? Join me next week when we’ll look at just that.

Back to School Eats: On The Go Breakfast Edition

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It seems I’m a bit behind in writing this column. Some of you overachievers — I’m looking at you, California — have already sent your kids back to school; last week even. The first week of August! And I’m not going to lie, I want to know how you managed it because my kids, who do not return to school until the second week in September, have interrupted me six times while I wrote this first paragraph. I’m ready for back to school.

As a matter of fact, if I’d known there were states out there who sent kids back to school in early August I may have settled elsewhere to raise my own. In the meantime all I can do is hope Michigan gets with the program and plan for the days when mine do go back. And, if you happen to be one of those parents wistfully thinking of school days ahead with me, I can share those plans I’m making. Especially those that have to do with food. Which is exactly what I plan to do. For the next three weeks we’ll be talking back-to-school food of the local, artisan and handmade types.

On the menu this week: breakfast! Experts agree it’s the most important meal of the day and corporate food giants expend a great deal of marketing moolah harking products that promise to get kids off to a great start — never pausing to divulge the sugar and preservatives that’ll accompany that breakfast, of course — without taking too much time from the precious few moments most families have. What isn’t widely publicized is that locally sourced, handmade breakfasts don’t have to take copious time either and they can be a whole lot healthier.

Here a few of our favorite simple breakfast pleasures that can be taken from farm (or farm market) to table in no time:

French Toast. You’ve eyed the homemade breads at the farmer’s market long enough. This weekend make your way to the booth and buy a few loaves. Yes, a few. Take them home, cut them into thick slices, coat them in egg and make french toast, removing them from the heat just before they’re done. Freeze them with a slip of wax paper between each slice and you can literally pull french toast from the freezer for a quick and easy breakfast all fall and winter. Just pop the slices in the toaster or toaster oven and warm. And remember, this is not your Grandma’s french toast. Experiment with herbed or onion bread dipped in garlic spiked egg and topped with sour cream rather than syrup, for instance.

Overnight Oatmeal. In a large bowl mix enough steel cut oats for the whole family with just enough soy milk to cover and leave the whole thing in the fridge. In the morning pull out the oatmeal, which will now be soft and thick, mix it with your favorite local fruit — dried or fresh — nuts, spices or honey and either eat cold or microwave just long enough to heat through.

Scrambled Eggs. I like mine topped with salsa; my husband likes his with sliced mushrooms and sharp cheddar; my oldest daughter likes her with just a dash of pepper and my youngest, well, she’s a purist, she likes them plain. No matter the fixin’s however, it never takes long to make them. I use the microwave. Yes, the microwave. And the bonus, very little clean up. My girls can even make eggs themselves this way. Just break an egg or two into a glass dish, microwave on high at thirty second intervals, stirring and fluffing with a fork each time until the eggs are done to your desired dryness.

Fruit Smoothies. Remember all those berries I told you to stock up on earlier in the season? Now is the time to pull them from their freezer resting spot and put them to good use. Add one of fall’s first apples to the mix and blend up a few cups of your favorite with a little ice and milk (soy, goat, cow, almond, the sky is the limit) and enjoy. For an added protein boost you don’t need powders from the health food store, drop in a handful of steel cut oats or pair the smoothie with a handful of nuts.

What’s your favorite on-the-go breakfast that doesn’t have your family relying heavily on corporate food giants and their products?

*Art in this column by Film Shirley, Brooke Schmidt, Laura V., and David Langley respectively.

How to: Buy Raw Milk

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In The Dairy State of Wisconsin legislators are being urged to allow the sale of “raw” (unpasteurized) milk to consumers and their decision is expected to set national precedence. The battle, ultimately, centers on public health. Proponents tout the health benefits of the product. Meanwhile the opposition fears the potential compromise of public health should the measure pass and outbreaks of milk-borne illness become more common. But beyond the politics and debate lies a bigger, more immediate question; how does one buy raw milk now?

The answer may be simpler than you think.

Decide What Kind of Milk You’d Like
While cow’s milk is traditional, the black and white spotted dairy producers of our childhood (and countless big dairy commercials) are not the only producers of delicious milk and milk products. Raw goat’s milk is just as good — and in the opinion of some, even better.

Locate a Supplier (or three)
Raw milk is available for purchase for human consumption in 28 of the United State’s 50 states. (It’s available in a handful more when intended for animal consumption.) Unfortunately, finding it — even within those states — can sometimes prove difficult. A great place to start the search however, is with The Campaign for Real Milk’s database dedicated to help consumers find raw milk in their area. And even if you’re not in a state where raw milk itself is available, dairy shares — where you purchase a share of a cow or goat and receive a portion of its milk in return for your investment — are.

Do Your Homework
Whether we like it or not modern, conventional farming calls for mass production to meet demand. Streamlining technologies and processes that make that production possible unfortunately also make it more and more possible every day for a cow (or goat) to be a number rather than an animal. All the while requiring the help of numerous farm hands who have little interest in the end product. Both of these make the potential for contamination of milk greater. Get to know the suppliers whose products are available in your area. Ask about their herd, their help and their processes. A familiarity with the animals, a close oversight of production by the owner and processes and materials that are easy to keep clean and sanitary (look for glass and stainless steel) all reduce the potential for milk-borne illness.

Do you drink Raw Milk? Where do you buy it?