The weather crept in on little cat's feet...Sunday, December 23, 2007
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What's in your turkey? We killed and butchered more than 80 birds on the farm of Mike and Michelle Klein in Prince George's County. Thankfully, Michelle did the gutting. Unfortunately, Mike bought his turkey chicks earlier than usual and they did not stop growing. Our prize for helping was a carcass that weighed nearly 40 pounds. It barely fit in the oven. Here, Mike is subjecting a slaughtered bird to the "magic fingers," a machine with a nubby, rotating barrel that removes most of the feathers.
Composting can help save the planet. Did you know that 25 percent of everything we send to the landfill consists of kitchen scraps that could be composted instead and returned to the soil? Modern agriculture is ruining our soil legacy. Another reason to eat organically: Organic farms feed the soil, rather than killing it with chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Even if you live in the city--even if you live in an apartment--you can compost. Try building your own worm bin!
An urban insurgent's guide to real food for life...
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We are engaging the concerns of a hungry planet--slowly--right here in our kitchen garden in the District of Columbia, one mile from the White House.
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A Slow Thanksgiving
What's in your turkey? We killed and butchered more than 80 birds on the farm of Mike and Michelle Klein in Prince George's County. Thankfully, Michelle did the gutting. Unfortunately, Mike bought his turkey chicks earlier than usual and they did not stop growing. Our prize for helping was a carcass that weighed nearly 40 pounds. It barely fit in the oven. Here, Mike is subjecting a slaughtered bird to the "magic fingers," a machine with a nubby, rotating barrel that removes most of the feathers.
Manifesto
Enough of food fads! Enough of food porn! Enough of celebrity chefs (except Mario Batali)! It's time to take back control of the food we eat and the pace of our own lives. Things should grow and cook in their own time. Reject fast food! Reject waiting lists at over-hyped, outrageously expensive restaurants! Reject food out of season! Sit, eat drink. Enjoy good food made by caring hands. Enjoy food eaten slowly, in good company.
Things We Embrace
Dutch ovens & iron skillets. Real butchers. Our molcajetes. Vegetable gardening. Walking to the grocery store. Sunday suppers. Our farm subscription. Composting. Naturally grown food. Self-reliance. Teaching children to appreciate food. Farmer's markets. Urban agriculture. Inexpensive ethnic restaurants. Neighborhood restaurants. Our charcoal rotisserie. Fermentation. Brassicas. Root vegetables. The public library. Used books. Our copy of Patience Gray's Honey from a Weed. John Thorne's newsletter, Simple Cooking.
Things We Try to Avoid
Saturday at Whole Foods. Spending time in the suburbs. Driving on the Beltway. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Black plastic. Ornamental plants (except roses). Lawns. Waiting for a table at a restaurant. Expensive restaurants. Buying wine at a restaurant. Chain restaurants. Fussy, overly designed food. Fast food. Processed food. Packaged food (except Crystal Light--what I'm not entitled to one little vice?). Asparagus in January. Styrofoam. Strip malls. Network television (except CBS Sunday Morning). Buying new books. Eating standing up. Eating while walking. Eating in the car. Cell phones.
Cooks to Learn From
- Alice Waters
- Edward Giobi
- John Thorne
- Julia Child
- Mario Batali
- Patience Gray
- Paul Bertolli
- Paula Wolfert
- Richard Olney
Best Food Writers
- Elizabeth David
- Patience Gray
- John Thorne
- Calvin Trillin
- Jeffrey Steingarten
- Edward Behr
- M.F.K. Fisher
- R.W. Apple
At the Movies
Followers
Have Garden, Will Cook
- Calendula & Concrete
- Compost Bin Blog
- Cultivi
- Dandelion Haven
- Down on the Allotment
- Edible Landscaping w/ Charlie Nardozzi
- Elements in Time
- Farmgirl Fare
- Fast Grow the Weeds
- From Plot to Plate
- Gardenpunks
- Garlic Breath
- Grow. Cook. Eat.
- I'm Mad and I Eat
- Joannas Food
- Jumbo Empanadas
- Kate Hill
- Kitchen Gardeners International
- L'Atelier Vert
- Living Small
- Modern Beet
- My Kitchen Garden
- My Room with a View
- Purple Podded Peas
- Rancho Gordo
- Rappahanock Cook
- Rolling in the Dough
- Salt Lake City Veggies
- Sand Creek Almanac
- Sarah's Homestead Blog
- Skippy's Vegetable Garden
- Surviving (on) Massachussetts
- Tomato Hands
Thinking About Food -- Blogs
- Accidental Hedonist
- Blog For Rural America
- Bob Delgrosso
- Chews Wise
- Civil Eats
- Culinate
- Deliberately
- Eating Liberally
- Ethicurian
- Expatriate's Kitchen
- Farm Policy
- Food & Water Watch
- Food First
- Food News--Environmental Working Group
- Food Politics
- Homegrown.org
- Internet Food Association
- John Thorne's Website
- Kiszka
- La Vida Locavore
- Michael Pollan
- Michael Ruhlman
- Mulch Blog
- Obama Foodorama
- Organic Consumers Association
- Organic to Be
- Peak Food
- Second Harvest--News
- Spot On--Kevin Weeks
- Stuffed & Starved
- Sustainable Table
- The Food Times
- Thoughts on the Table
- U.S. Food Policy
- UN Food & Agriculture News
- Women's Garden Cycles
- World Watch--Brian Halweil's Blog
Food Blogs
- Austin Bush
- Best Bites--Washingtonian Restaurants
- Chow.com
- Cured Meats
- Food Blog S'cool
- Food Renegade
- I Love Kale
- Jacqueline Church
- Just Braise
- Last Night's Dinner
- Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen
- Mighty Foods
- Nourished Kitchen
- Over a Tuscan Stove
- Pomaine
- Rambling Spoon
- Stephen Cooks
- The Atlantic: Food
- The Book I'm Not Reading
- The Cleaner Plate Club
- The Last Appetite
- The Salted Cod
- The Whole Hog
- Traveler's Lunch Box
- Urban Simplicity
- Wednesday Chef
- What Geeks Eat
- White Trash BBQ
Professional Chefs
With Kids in Mind -- Blogs
The School Lunch Disaster
- 2009 School Nutrition Dietary Assessment: American Dietetic Association (pdf)
- 2009 School Nutrition Dietary Assessment: USDA (pdf)
- Bill to Ban Junk Foods in Schools: Rep. Woolsey
- Chef Ann Cooper on Ted Video
- Child Nutrition Reauthorization Recommendations (pdf)
- Fod Research and Action Center
- GAO Report on School Lunches: 2003 (pdf)
- Institute of Medicine: Review of National School Lunch Program
- Junk Food in Schools: Center for Science in the Public Interest
- Lobbying in School Lunches: Video
- National School Lunch Program: USDA
- Nemours: Nutritious Lunches
- Political Interests in School Lunch: Hoover Institute
- Rethinking School Lunch: Center for Ecoliteracy
- School Lunch Initiative
- School Lunch Politics: Susan Levine
- School Lunch Program: Center for Science in the Public Interest
- School Lunch Resources: About.com
- School Nutrition Association
DC Food Blogs
Thinking About Food -- Resources
- Ag Observatory
- American Farmland Trust
- Center for Food Safety
- Community Alliance with Family Farmers
- Community Food Security Coalition
- Environmental Working Group
- Farm and Food Policy Project
- Food and Society Fellows
- Food Democracy Now
- National Family Farm Coalition
- Nina Planck
- North American Food Policy Council
- Oldways Preservation Trust
- Organic Farming Research Foundation
- Public Health Action
- Sustainable Agriculture
- Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
- The Baum Forum
- Women, Food & Agriculture Network
Local & Sustainable Blogs
- Chefs Collaborative Blog
- Chelsea Green News
- Cincinnati Locavore
- Cook Here and Now
- Cookin' in the 'Cuse
- Eat Close to Home
- Eat Local Challenge
- Edible Nation
- Farm to Philly
- Food Person
- Foodshed Planet
- Forage Oakland
- Hen and Harvest
- I Love Farms
- Little Compton Mornings
- Our Farm Adventure
- Sugar Mountain Farm
- Yankee Food
Local & Sustainable Resources
- 100 Mile Diet
- Acres USA
- Alternative Farming Systems--USDA
- American Livestock Breeds Conservancy
- Biodynamic Farming and Gardening
- Carla Emery--Country Living Encylopedia
- Center for Bioregional Living
- Cheapavore Challenge--New York Magazine
- Chefs Collaborative
- Community Roots Boulder
- Dark Days Challenge
- Ecological Farming Association
- Feeding a Family from the Home Garden--via Garden Rant
- Food Routes.org
- Foodies' Ideal: Local and Organic
- Fresh
- Green Thumb--NYC
- Grow Biointensive
- Growing Power--Milwaukee
- Illinois & Chicago
- Just Food--NYC
- Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture
- Local Food Dude
- Local Food in Season
- Local Harvest
- Local vs. Regional--Philpott
- Locavores--San Francisco
- Meats: Commodity, Branded, Pastured
- Michael Pollan on Sustainable Agriculture
- New York State
- Om Organics--San Francisco
- Organic Farming Research Foundation
- Organics--How to Make the Movement Relevant
- Pacific Northwest
- People's Grocery--Oakland
- Polyface Farms
- Project for Public Spaces
- Rodale's New Farm
- Salt Lake City
- Seattle Tilth
- Shannon Hayes
- Society for Agriculture & Food Ecology
- Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture
- The Good Life Center
- Urban Permaculture Video--Seattle
- Yale Sustainable Food Project
Links to Local Food Sources
- Arlington Farmers Market
- Community Supported Agriculture (DC area)
- D.C. Food Finder
- DC-Area Farmers Markets
- Eat Washington
- Eat Well Guide
- Forest Fed Pork
- Freshfarm Markets
- KOL Foods--Grassfed Kosher Meats
- KOL Foods--Grassfed Non-Kosher & Halal
- Local Food--CSAs
- Local Harvest
- Maryland's Best
- Meat Sources -- DC Area
- Mount Pleasant Farmers Market
- Organic Butcher of McLean, VA
- Smith Family Farm--Beef
- South Mountain Creamery
- Southern Maryland, So Good
- Takoma Park Farmers Market
- Virginia Grown
- Wild Green Yonder
- Winter Farmers Markets -- D.C. Area
Farm to Table
Food Preservation
With Kids in Mind -- Resources
- Better School Food
- CATCH--Coordinated Approach to Child Health
- Children's Studio School
- Cooking with Monsters
- Decline of School Lunch--Philpott
- Edible Schoolyards
- Garden of Wonders--Portland, OR
- Getting Kids to Eat Better--Grist
- Healthy School Lunches.org
- Learning Gardens--Portland, OR
- Planet Health--Harvard U.
- Pure Food Kids Workshop--Seattle
- Reinventing the Meal--Vermont
- Riverdale Master Peace Garden
- School Foods.org
- School Lunches--Culinate
- Student Food Guidelines--San Francisco
- Sustainable Table--Teacher Resources
- The Food Project--Massachussetts
- The Trouble with School Lunches--Alice Waters
- Two Angry Moms
Fighting Obesity
Wellnes
Fats, Cholesterol & Low-Carb
Garden Blogs
- Backyard Wisdom
- Black Swamp Girl
- D.C. Urban Gardener News Blog
- D.C. Urban Gardeners
- Garden Rant
- Garden Wise Guy
- Gardening and Yardening
- Golden Gate Garden
- Guerilla Gardening
- Idaho Gardener
- May Dreams Garden
- Peabody School Garden
- Soul for the Garden
- Susan Harris' Sustainable Gardening
- Sustainable Gardening
- Washington Gardener
Food Gardening Resources
- American Community Garden Association
- Community Greens
- Find a Community Garden
- Food Security Learning Center
- Garden Web
- Garden Web Forums
- Garlic: Everything You Need to Know
- Green Guerillas
- Grow Veg.com
- Growing Potatoes
- Heirloom Seed Sources
- International Potato Center
- Kitchen Gardeners International
- Mother Earth News
- Onion Gardening
- Pruning Tomatoes
- Revive the Victory Garden
- Seed Distributors
- Sharing Backyards
- Urban Community Gardens
- Vegetable Gardening.com
Lead in Soil
Urban Farming
- Backyard Chickens
- City Farmer
- City Planning for Food
- City Slicker Farm
- Common Good Gardens--DC
- Edible Esates
- Farming the Concrete Jungle
- Food Deserts--Detroit
- Going Off Da Grid Janice
- Growing Home--Chicago
- Growing Power
- Hen Waller
- Mad City Chickens
- Murray Hill Row-by-Row: Lawn Sharing CSA
- New Farm--Chicago
- New Urban Agriculture--NYC
- New York City--New Yorker
- Path to Freedom
- San Francisco Grow--Community Gardens
- Sharing Backyards D.C.
- Sharing Backyards.com
- Sidewalk Sprouts
- Sustainable Urban Gardens
- The Food Project
- The Urban Garden Project
- Urban Agricultural Planning
- Urban Chickens via NY Times
- Urban Farming
- Urban Garden Share
- Urban Hennery
- Vacant Lots--San Francisco
- Vertical Farming: Time Mag
Suburban Farming
Farming Farming
- Beginning Farmer
- Farmer's Almanac.com
- Farming Friends
- Four Season Farm--Barbara Damrosch & Eliot Coleman
- Future House Farm
- Gottschell Farm
- Grow Better Veggies--Love Apple Farm
- Henbogle
- Log Cabin Homestead
- Moonmeadow Farm
- New Farm
- Notes from Zone 4
- Sheep Woman
- Sugar Creek Farm
- The Rural Blog
- Tiny Farm Blog
- Touch the Earth Farm
- Two Frog Home
- Wooly Pigs
The Last Fish in the Sea
- A Sea Change--The Movie
- Audubon Seafood
- Beyond Salmon
- Blog Fish
- Blue Ocean Institute
- Carl Safina
- Chec Net
- Collapse of Fish by 2048
- Conservation Alliance for Seafood Solutions
- Deep Sea News
- Earth Echo--Alexandra Cousteau
- EcoFish
- Environmental Defense Fund Seafood Selector
- Environmental Defense--Oceans Alive
- Farmed and Dangerous
- Fish Base
- Food & Water Watch Seafood Buying Guide
- Greenpeace Report on Supermarkets
- Healthy Fish
- Illegal Driftnet Fisher--Oceana Video
- Kid Safe Seafood
- Lobster Conservation
- Marine Conservation Society--Fish Online
- Mercury Calculator
- Monterey Bay Aquarium--Seafood Watch
- No Fish in My Dish
- Oceana
- Perils of Aquaculture
- SeaWeb
- Shark Finning--Daily Kos
- Shrimp: How to Choose
- Sources of Omega 3
- Sustainable Seafood Recipes
- The Darkening Sea--Ocean Acidification
- The Green Guide
- The Winding Glass
- World Fish Center
Threatened Planet Earth
Treading Lighter on Planet Earth
- Bee Creative
- Beyond Organic Radio
- Born Famous
- Care Free Family
- Casaubons Book
- Confessions of a Hoarder
- Crunchy Chicken
- Down with Basics
- Eco Coach
- Effervescence
- Everyday Simplicity
- Foodshed
- Freecycle
- Green as a Thistle
- Green Guerillas
- Groovy Green
- Hedge's Happenings
- Lighter Footsetp
- Lime Sarah
- Little Blog in the Woods
- Living Plastic Free
- My Flight From the Grid
- New Dream.org
- No Impact Man
- Plenty Magazine
- Riot 4 Austerity
- Self-Sufficient Urbanite
- Take a Bite Out of the Sky
- The Compact
- The Slow Movement
- Worldwatch
Food Justice
Free and Foraged
The Case Against Pesticides
Good Things in Food
- 15 Green Chefs
- A Conversation with Michael Pollan
- American Grassfed Association
- Cooking in Cast Iron
- Defining Moment for Better Food: NYT
- Eat Wild: Grass Fed Livestock
- Eating as Political Act
- Iowans Countering Hog Confinement--Philpott
- Lard: Wall Street Journal
- Local Slaughterhouse
- Media That Matters--Good Food
- RAFT: Renewing America's Food Traditions
- Re-Imagining Our Food System: Part I
- Real Food Challenge
- Retrovore
- The Story of Food Democracy Now: NYT
- Vegetable Orchestra
- Vegetable Orchestra Live 2
Bad Things in Food
- Corn and the Cheapness of Food
- Ethanol Hurts Water Supplies
- Ethanol--Energy Waste
- Harvesting Cash--The Washington Post Series
- How Big Ag Poisons the Water
- Life Next to an Iowa Hog CAFO
- Livestock & Global Warming: U.N. Report
- Livestock as Threat to Environment: UN
- Monsanto vs. Percy Schmeiser
- Monsanto's War Against Farmer's
- Our Failing Farm Policy
- Samuelson on Farm Subsidies
- Smithfield's Pig Sh#t Lagoons
- The Ethanol Scam--Rolling Stone
- The Farm Bill--via Michael Pollan
- The Threat to Small Farms
- U.S. Ag Policy--Down on the Farm
- Who Gets Farm Subsidies: Environmental Working Group
- Why Salad Costs More Than a Big Mac
- Why the Meat Giants Thrive--Philpott
Industrial Agriculture
- Agribusiness Consolidation
- Changes in Iowa--via Grist
- Factory Farming Campaign--Humane Society
- Factory Farming Campaign--Humane Society
- Factory Farms--Interactive Map
- Industrial Farming--Per Baraba Kingsolver
- Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production
- Saving Our Soil
- The Meatrix
- Toward a Post-Carbon Agriculture
- Vertical Integration--Big Meat
Pastured Food
Raw Milk
The Buzz About Urban Bees
Making Bread
We Believe in Composting
Composting can help save the planet. Did you know that 25 percent of everything we send to the landfill consists of kitchen scraps that could be composted instead and returned to the soil? Modern agriculture is ruining our soil legacy. Another reason to eat organically: Organic farms feed the soil, rather than killing it with chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Even if you live in the city--even if you live in an apartment--you can compost. Try building your own worm bin!
Learning About Compost
- American Horticultural Society Compost Guide
- Backyard Composting--New Mexico
- California Backyard Composting
- Compost Bin Blog
- Compost Fundamentals
- Compost Guide
- Compost Guy
- Composting Guide
- Composting in Schools
- Composting Leaves - Washington Post
- Composting Tips -- Taunton Press
- Edible Landscaping - Composting
- EPA Guide to Composting
- Florida's Comprehensive Composting Site
- Garden Klog
- Garden Web Composting Forum
- Green Culture--Composters
- Lasagna Composting--Cornell
- Leaf Composting--New Jersey
- Make Your Own Compost Tumbler
- Master Composters--Ithica, NY
- Mastercomposter.com
- Nature Mill Composter
- Seattle Tilth
- Slow Cook Composting Videos
- Soil Health--Cornell U.
- Soil, Mulch, Compost Forum--Garden Web
- The Pfieiffer Center--Biodynamics
- The Power of Leaves
- The Rubbish Diet
- Things to Compost
- U.S. Composting Council
- Urban Composter
- Urban Composting Guide--NYC
- Urban Farmer--Vancouver
Municipal Composting
Composting with Worms
About the Author
- Ed Bruske
- District of Columbia, United States
- A reporter for the Washington Post in a previous life, Ed Bruske now tends his "urban farm" about a mile from the White House in the District of Columbia. Ed believes in self-reliance, growing food close to home and political freedom for the residents of the District of Columbia.
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- Adios, 2007
- Weekend Update
- Breakfast
- Winter Compost?
- Feds to Chesapeake: Drop Dead!
- Turkey Mash
- Breakfast
- Eating to Excess
- Best Wishes
- Mushroom-Barley Soup
- Breakfast
- Breakfast
- Misty Solstice
- Weekend Update
- Dark Days: My $28 Pork Butt
- Turkey-Rice Soup with Garden Vegetables
- Kids Make Holiday Spice Cookies
- Lunch = Leftovers
- One Man's Trash...
- Building a Cocktail Buffet
- Arlington Farmers Market
- Weekend Update
- Dark Days: Making Sauerruben
- Poaching With Martha
- Oh, Tannenbaum...
- Quick-Braised Swiss Chard with Pomegranate Molasses
- Braised Cabbage, Restaurant Style
- Decorating Gingerbread Cookies
- Weekend Update
- Dark Days: ISO Apple Dishes
- Kids Cook Caramelized, Sweet & Sour Brussels Sprou...
- True Buttermilk Biscuits
- Chesapeake Bay is Dying
- To Market, To Market
- Weekend Update
- Teaching More Creatively
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3 comments:
Ed: Is this your garden?! How very cool and in-the-middle-of-things!
Pattie, our house sits on a large corner lot. What you see is part of the garden looking north. There are more beds in the other direction. We don't have a backyard. The vegetables are a real conversation starter with passersby. Some neighbors do not approve.
I love that! I bet every child and every older person loves it! Are there other gardens like yours nearby? I see you're only a mile from the White House. Ever use your location to your advantage as far as helping government get on board the real food, small farm/garden train? Did Alice Waters get a chance to come by when she set up that Edible Schoolyard on the Mall a couple years back?
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