Fresh from my own little garden today

Chive flowers, parsley, mitzuna greens.

I put these on top of some couscous with some red onion and a lemon tahini dressing for dinner. Still wish I had a camera because my plate looked so amazing.

And of course, a glass of Total Domination IPA by Ninkasi.

After working all day at two jobs, it was a delicious way to rest and center.

Anyone else care to elaborate about garden delicacies?

Tacomaness

Food is an intimate connection to place.

Sometimes in the hectic craziness of this globalized, technologic, information age, we forget that we were at one time a people of our hometowns for life. Place, in this case, takes on a very different and more permanent meaning.

Many of us have journeyed from far and wide to get to where we are now and have brought with us an abundance of traditions, recipes, and pastimes descended from our parochial past. And here in the Pacific Northwest, while we may lack the palms and tropical surf, we are blessed with a long growing season and mild winter that can provide us with an abundance of vegetables at most times of the year.

For some of us, this is why we have elected to leave our families and places of childhood and for others this is the reason why we will never leave this place.

And ok, for a lot of us it may even be a bit of an inconvenience.

But still it does leave us a lot of options when it comes to supporting our small farmers in the area and buying their produce.

There are many reasons why it is a smart decision to eat locally. One of them I have experienced much of but read less about is that in choosing to eat locally we are truly experiencing the essence of a place. Cuisine is intimately bound with local climate, so when we are traveling one of the best places to go is a farmers market to get that "authentic" experience.

And for much of the world, this is simply how people shop, and there they may not be so much of an "event" type atmosphere (although for foodies and geeks like me they inherently are).

Even in Tacoma you can get a real taste for the local culture by visiting one of the three markets put on by the Tacoma Farmers Market. Each of the markets is located in the heart the neighborhood it serves, providing an intimate meeting location for the urban and rural, as well as for neighbors and friends.

Experience the freshest produce you can buy, smell the artisan bakers and hot food vendors, and peruse the locally made crafts for gifts and souvenirs. As well, listen to Tacoma bands do what they do best and watch local dance companies transform the market into not just a shopping destination, but a showcase of the community.

And the season starts this week! Our sister market at Broadway is opening this Thursday, May 20th from 8:30 am until 2:00 pm.

Check out the South Tacoma Farmers Market on Facebook

The South Tacoma Farmers Market is totally keeping savvy to the technology of this information age. Therefore, we can now be found on Facebook.

Like us!

Federal Regulations Threaten Small Farmers

Read up on this article about how tighter regulations will surely effect the health and prosperity of our small farms. While large corporations and distributors will certainly do their fair share of finger pointing, the fact of the matter is that small scale and local food production is not only more environmentally and economically sustainable but also safer for the consumer's health.

There's also an interesting point in this article about how the regulations encourage "sterility" in farming which, if we know about our beneficial soil microbes and their importance in organic farming, is completely misleading. We need to encourage our soil life to thrive for the benefit of all in the long term.

Earth. Soil. No Need to Call it Dirt.

There are footprints that track from my room to the front door and my fingernails are brown and dry. All are tell tale signs of an afternoon of play in the garden.

My friend Ana is in the process of turning her front lawn into a community vegetable garden, although for now it may look like a pile of leaves, dirt, and straw bales to the uninformed observer. Yes, as you might imagine, there is a method to her madness that will soon be made evident to her gawking neighbors. I know you'll hear me out while I explain.

Last fall Ana piled a few layers of cardboard and a bunch of leaves over that vast expanse of a sorry-shade-of-green otherwise known as her front lawn. With a winter to rot, a bunch of other soil critters decided to make it their home and much of this has already begun the composting process while putting an end to that pesky, wasteful grass.

The next step: SOIL! EARTH! Because she wanted to plant this year, Ana ordered ten cubic yards to get a head start. And oh the fun we had spreading it this afternoon.

As a second project, we formed a couple of raised beds in the lawn between the street and sidewalk from straw bales. I hope the city appreciates our beautification plans. We covered the bales in coffee grounds to get the composting started, and we will soon add soil and plant starts to complete them. This not only is an easy way to create a raised bed, because soil microbes are breaking the straw bales down, we can extend our growing season from the heat that they give off. Clever, huh?

And the fun will continue all summer, since I will be calling this beautiful place home on June 1st! I'm very excited to be moving into a house where I won't have to content my foraging and growing cravings to a few pots on the back porch. Okay, so I have like a dozen pots...it's still not nearly wild enough for me...

Greening our path to self-sufficiency, starting our own quiet revolution, and we're laughing a lot while we're at it. The ultimate goal of Ana's project is to create a nourishing garden that encourages healing and play. She has a counseling center out of her home called Developing Resilience that will soon be offering guidance in nutrition and gardening as therapy. Good food, dirty hands, healthy spirits.

Now, who's house is next?

Call it destiny, we are in the city of it!

As always, some food for thought, this time by David Tracy: "Yes, the earth is in drastic shape, and OK, we're all going to die, but no, we will not in the meantime be driven into becoming dour, hand-wringing, finger-wagging scolds. We will have fun an we will save the planet at the same time. Why? As pursuits they go well together."

My evening was spent at Stonegate Pizza, where I sipped on coffee and participated in a discussion with neighborhood activists who were in no need of the caffeine I indulged in.

We're planning some extra special events for the South Tacoma Market, and I'm feeling gratitude for having such an amazing steering committee and community making it all happen.

So what happens when a bunch of visionaries with a sense of humor meet a community brimming full of vitality and energy? The South Tacoma Farmers Market that's what!

Posters are hot off the press, be looking for the morning in South Tacoma scene to be plastered all over the neighborhood along with our Rodeo Barn Dance and Fun Run propoganda.

As a general overview, it's a time of expansion here for the market staff, volunteers, and interns. We're dreaming of the season to come and we're all overwhelmed by hopes and fears. Personally, I'm coming to terms with how busy my summer days are going to be.

And from my experience working for the Tacoma Farmers Market last year I can guarantee we'll be in for a bit of it all. But that's what makes the market so potent and intimate, and what called me to continue on after a back-breaking season as the Volunteer Coordinator at 6th Avenue and Broadway last year. It's hard, dirty work...but it's for the cause closest to many of our hearts. And indeed to many of our bodies, because how well do we know what our food is all about here in the 253 and how much more do we have to learn? We're certainly on the right track!

My intentions tonight are for abundance in the coming year: for those of us that are working to connect the urban community with their growers and for all that are hoping to participate in the creation of a farmers market culture here in Tacoma. My heroes are truly those I interact with everyday.

Moments

Astro turf on the corner of 6th Avenue and Sprague. Gotta love that.

More inspirational updates to come, urban farmers, hazelnut farmers, Tacoma and Pierce County beauty all around.

Enjoy the sun out there!