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Childhood Poverty and Food...Where Are The Research Studies?

Are you reading this? Do you have good information that might lead to innovations in this impoverished school? Tell me! Make comments. Pass this along to people who might help us.

Did parents and grandparents from across the country ask the USDA to make it’s sugar and food coloring standards what they are today? Did they rise up and say, “Our children need more sweeteners in their food! We demand it!” No, they did not. Working with a local elementary school with a 75% free and reduced lunch population, the food is hit or miss. The district has great programs to source local school garden produce and grows its own. However, they justify lemon flavored, sugar coated raisins with meeting overall USDA standards for sugar, flavorings, and coloring. That fakey lemon flavor only adds a certain number of grams of sugar so it’s okay.

I’m thinking, for the school in which I volunteer and also happens to be a Montessori, this could be a thought for innovation. Since I volunteer with the garden, I have a vision for the garden that interrupts poverty. We need to channel Maria Montessori. What would happen if this school within a larger district had its own menus? What would that cost? How would we get kids involved in making lunch? How could that fit into the Core Curriculum standards? 

Change happens from the bottom up. It's not a one year effort....it's more like 5 years. It's coming up with goals, writing grants, working with district food services. Working with local health organizations to ask to be a part of research studies on childhood health and poverty. Working with the school leadership to implement the changes. Who else in the U.S. and the world is working on this? Just because someone is poor doesn't mean they deserve to eat crap for food and not understand how to use local resources and grow their own food. Lemon flavored, sweetened raisins are B.S.....bad science.....and bullshit. :) 

Are you reading this? Do you have good information that might lead to innovations in this impoverished school? Tell me! Make comments. Pass this along to people who might help us. 

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The Economics of Happiness (2011)

65 minutes | Economic globalization has led to a massive expansion in the scale and power of big business and banking. It has also worsened nearly every problem we face: fundamentalism and ethnic conflict...

Are we listening? Is globalization, urbanization really conserving our resources and making us happier? Is rampant consumerism really making us happier? For the next 3 weeks, watch this thought provoking film for free.

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Without Saying a Word This 6 Minute Clip From Samsara Will Make You Speechless

6 minutes | Can you put this video into words?

What does this video say about our world population; our lack of control over our food sources; our lack of understanding of the impact our spending; our lack of presence in our own consumption patterns? The more we rush around filling our lives with meaning, the less meaningful they become. What is necessary? Where are we going? Try growing something in a pot or in the ground. Figure out what it takes to feed yourself rather than feeding consumerism. What do you learn? 

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Helping with a school garden has unexpected beauty. The blooming of runner beans, the aubergine of the eggplant flowers that match their shining, smooth skins, the pale blue of the purple potatoes are all pieces of the garden that create a design aesthetic that welcomes the visitor into a peaceful world.

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Wildlife Habitat in the City

http://www.nwf.org/How-to-Help/Garden-for-Wildlife/Create-a-Habitat.aspx

Our yard is now a Certified Wildlife Habitat. The link allows you to see what is required and apply! 

There are six items that must be provided:

1. Provide food for wildlife. We achieved this by leaving seed heads on flowers and grasses through the winter. WIth the elimination of herbicides and pesticides, we have lots of grubs and bugs for birds and other creatures including other bugs and grubs!

2. Supply water for wildlife. We have a birdbath that attracts both pollinators, birds, squirrels and an occasional domestic house cat! We haven’t seen any dead birds so the birds are either fast or the cats are slow!

3. Create cover for wildlife. We have a good size Colorado spruce along with grasses and dense groupings of plants that help hide birds and other little beings. Our cat is mostly indoors and old. She doesn't really look for little mice and birds these days.

4. Give wildlife a place to raise their young. We had two nests of house finches this year. One nest was built into the top of a wasp nest that we preserved on our front porch and have hanging in a corner. The second nest was built in the Colorado spruce tree. The chickadees inhabited one of the birdhouses my dad made for us. This is the second year they have graced us with a late spring brood amongst the honeysuckle and in the shade of our neighbor’s aspen trees.

5. Help wildlife with a healthy habitat. This means eliminating the use of herbicides and pesticides. It allows for bugs and grubs to live in the yard so those hungry chickadee chicks have enough food to fly the coop. In the application, these are actually categories 5 and 6. If you are using these two items in your yard and you have children, I think your first question should be, “If I am not supposed to use them with wildlife present, then what is it doing to my children?”

My husband and I are proud of our achievement. There is not a Wildlife Federation cop coming to our yard to check. I didn’t submit photos. But I was truthful about what we have in our yard that is contributing. It includes native flowers, water wise plants and grasses and careful planting of grasses so they are water-efficient. Hopefully, there is enough for the native pollinators to feed and create their own homes. While we are one house on our block, we are hoping others will follow. You can become a block and a neighborhood Certified Wildlife Habitat. Click on the link above to begin your own certification!

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Designing Your Garden for Fall Planting

It is time to start planning your garden for fall planting. Really. I know it seems that we are in June almost July. The solstice is barely past. Why on earth would someone suggest that it’s time?

My husband and I had dinner with a lovely friend and her husband last night. They have a huge 1/4 acre lot in a city in Colorado. They are thoughtful and have started to remove items they knew they didn't want to be a part of the final pallet. Thereby they have created a blank slate. This is actually kind of a great way to do it. In the interim, they do have to deal with a yard full of weeds including bind weed. But it gives them the freedom to rethink, design, and create a final project that meets their contemporary aesthetic and mountain theme.

If you are like me, you may not have very much room in which to move. Or your’ve found that you are happy with the general layout but have a few holes to fill in the garden. Whatever your story, this is a great time to engage your inner designer or hire someone to help with selection of a design and fall plants.

I think fall is the best time to not only put bulbs in the ground but also plant perennials. The ground is cooling so plants don’t take as much water to establish and perennials may die have their greens die back in the fall but their roots are still working to establish the plant up until the ground freezes completely. Depending on your yard and it’s microclimates, this may or may not happen. I have more plants survive their fall planting than their June planting. It’s sad to put something in the ground only to have it shrivel in less than a week to something that is undetectable as a once living thing. Not only is it disheartening for the beginning gardener but it is also a waste of time and money. If it’s free....then it’s just disheartening! 

Fall is a time when landscape companies may have openings to create your dream garden. You have to be ready for them! The best way is to begin your planning now so your lists of dreams are on the table and ready for implementation. Come spring, you’ll be happy to see the leaves from your new bulbs popping up and those fall-planted perennials beginning to set leaves and buds for the new summer garden.

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MMMM.....Watermelon, chopped lemon basil and lemon balm with chunks of creamy feta drizzled with a balsamic reduction on a bed of arugula! This is maybe the best late Friday afternoon lunch EVER. Fresh herbs from the garden. Delicious and fast.

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Saving Herbs for Fall, Winter, Spring Use

Do you have herbs coming out of your garden that you can't use right away? Do you purchase packets of fresh herbs from the grocery store but you can't use them all by the time they go bad? Do you have a cilantro that you purchased from a box store and it’s bolting two days after you put it in the ground? Do you have mints that are exploding and you can't make enough mojitos and mint juleps for you and your neighbors to keep up with the plant’s growth? There are so many ideas out there for saving your herbs for future use. I have some of my own but I thought I would link you to a few in an effort to spread the wealth and support other bloggers and their websites. 

1. Make and freeze your favorite pestos. I like traditional made with basil and parsley. I've also used a variety of herb combinations including chive flowers with lovage leaves and parsley, sage leaves with rosemary and parsley, and chimichurri. Chimichurri is not technically a pesto but uses cilantro, oregano and parsley with garlic, jalapeno and olive oil to create a base for a lovely, green dip or salad dressing, sandwich spread, or meat marinade. Frozen, they maintain their green color. One must be careful with cooking as the green can easily move to gray if allowed to heat too long. I did find a suggestion not to add the cheese to pesto because it doesn't keep well. My pallet may not be well developed; but I think it’s fine and would not hesitate to add it. Here are some basic freezing instructions for pesto:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Pesto-Freezing-Method/

2. Encapsulate your herbs in a favorite oil flavor in a similar fashion to freezing pesto. This link suggests using olive oil. I'd suggest changing it up depending on the herb and your end use....sweet or savory. Perhaps walnut oil could be paired with rosemary, pineapple sage, chocolate mint, fragrant geraniums, flowers like violets, nasturtiums,  roses, pansies and lavender to add sugars and drizzle over sweet breads and pastries. Sesame oil might encapsulate cilantro for use in Southeast Asian or Middle Eastern cuisines. 

http://www.joyzz.com/article-1191.html

3.  Probably the easiest, you can also just put the fresh leaves into a freezer bag and pull them out as you need them for cooking or salad dressings or pestos! Make sure to label your bags with the name and date of storage because many herbs look the same when they are placed in the freezer. You'll still be able to perceive the herb’s scent. Labeling is easier.

http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/freeze/herbs.html

4. Drying herbs is always an option. There are options for hanging them in a cool, dry place out of direct sun to putting them in a dehydrator to microwaving them. I think I'm impatient because I don't want to wait for the herb to dehydrate. While I live in an arid environment and drying is easy, it’s also messy and I'm not a diligent housekeeper, When leaves and seeds start to fall, I'm not good about picking them up or vacuuming.   

http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/dry/herbs.html

Hopefully, this list gives you a few ideas for using your garden abundance through the winter. Sometimes when a sunny window is available, growing the plants to take fresh cuttings year ‘round is a great way to bring the flavors of summer through the rest of the seasons. When this is not an option, saving your savories and delicious edibles through the seasons can be achieved through a little creativity and experimentation.