When you pay for organic milk, what are you paying for? I pick that bottle off the shelf imagining cows grazing in lush pastures, a breeze ruffling their top knots, as they gaze off into the distance thinking calm and cowish thoughts. Those are the cows whose milk I want […]
Sunday was one of the days (there are many more – all the days of winter, actually qualify) when I am very grateful to live in a town with a vibrant winter famer’s market. It is possible to be a well-fed locavore with the Dane County Farmer’s Market at hand. […]
Ever wonder how Bugs Bunny always cleaned Elmer Fudd’s clock? Which one was eating carrots? Those brilliant orange, satisfyingly crunchy roots power packed with carotene are actually a newcomer in the 12,000-year-old world of agriculture. Carrots are a domesticated form of Queen Anne’s lace, and have been traced back to […]
PLAN IT NOW PLANT IN IT NEXT SPRING During World War Two, 20 million Americans planted victory gardens to free up produce and the means to transport it for the war effort. In their own back yards, they produced up to 40 percent of the vegetables America ate. We can […]
As the vegetarian mom in a vegetarian family, thanksgiving is not associated with roasted turkey around here. We all look forward to our traditional feast, which features a big, round, crispy-crusted, golden-brown dome of polenta marbled with savory beans and tangy cheeses. And we ladle rich, flavorful vegetarian gravy over […]
SHOULD I SERVE MY THANKSGIVING GUESTS FOOD MADE WITH RAW MILK? My daughter is the new and proud owner of a cow share. Last month she came home from LaCrosse with a glass jar of milk from her friendly, neighborhood family farm. It was filled with the familiar white liquid, […]
This week UW-Madison ethnobotanist Eve Emshwiller taught me to care deeply about oca, a funky little tuber that I will probably never see. Botany seems like a conflicted field to me. Some researchers are working to develop “perfect” varieties of plants that can be grown in vast monocultures, while other […]
Michael Pollan’s breakout book (and PBS special) Botany of Desire starts with the saga of the apple. He calls the apple as important as the axe and the plow to the pioneers. They were not valued as a sweet, crunchy snack but as liquid refreshment. Apples were the easiest source […]
The Dutch word for potato is aardapel, which means earth apple. Apples and potatoes have long been a staple because both can be stored long after harvesting in root cellars and apple barrels. But they are also alike in that, though they remain quite edible, they are beyond delicious when […]
I proudly add a new link to my Blogroll. My younger daughter, a senior at UW-Madison double majoring in journalism and biological aspects of conservation, just started blogging – Cooking between Classes aimed at empowering her fellow college students to take charge of what they eat. For fun, I interviewed […]
Digging in the Driftless 