A Walk on the Wild Side

We hope that anyone who wants to participate in the upcoming SplashPath 5K and Fun Walk here at Pathfinder Village at the end of May will send in their registration/waiver forms to take advantage of our early registration pricing -- $20 for adults; $10 for youths; $45 for families (3+ members).  This will help our staff order sufficient supplies and ensure correct tee sizes for everyone. This is a brand new paint run/walk event, a fun and novel offering for the entire family that will get a little messy and let your true colors shine through!  For information, please visit our webpage at http://pathfindervillage.org/get-involved/splash-path/ .

We also hope that our friends and neighbors will celebrate May Day with us this Thursday at Pathfinder Produce, where we offer great prices and the freshest produce.  Our friendly market is open at our Village Commons Building from 2 to 5 p.m. 

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Most of us purchase fresh produce at our local supermarket or grow a selection of standard fruits and vegetables to meet our families’ needs.  But there is a third route which harkens back to our pre-agricultural ancestors -- that of gathering natural foods that are all around us.

As I was perusing my Facebook the other night, a high school chum had shared a post about edible weeds, which of course, got me to thinking about the work of author Euell Gibbons (1911-1975). (Those under 40 will say “Euell who?”  Anyone older will think back to Grape-Nuts commercials.)  When I was a kid, he often was mocked by television comics as an affable eccentric who ate nuts and twigs, but I believe he was ahead of his time in advocating whole foods.

By the mid-years of the 20^th century, America had largely chosen “the path of prepared foods,” and kids were raised on Wonder Bread sandwiches, washed them down with Tang or Kool-Aid, and regularly enjoyed breakfast cereals with “sugar” featured prominently in the name.  Gibbon’s first book, “Stalking the Wild Asparagus” came out in 1962 and became an instant success.  I suspect that he had connected to an undercurrent in our culture: People were starting to question the dietary effects of industrially produced, highly processed foods. 

At that point in time, most folks knew how and where our foods were produced, but most of us had become separated from the process as more of us moved into the suburbs and cities.  Through his books and articles, Gibbons helped reawaken our awareness of the connections we have to the natural world.  In his first book he wrote:

“We live in a vastly complex society which has been able to provide us with a multitude of material things, and this is good, but people are beginning to suspect that we have paid a high spiritual price for our plenty. Each person would like to feel that he is an entity, a separate individual capable of independent existence, and this is hard to believe when everything that we eat, wear, live in, drive, use, or handle has required the cooperative effort of literally millions of people to produce, process, transport, and, eventually, distribute to our hands.”

Gibbons learned his considerable knowledge of wild edibles through his mother and grandmother, and used his skills to forage for his family during the years of the Great American Dust Bowl.  He was not a survivalist, but rather a teacher who sought to share the forgotten abundance that nature provides. 

Now, I’m not advocating that foraging is for all of us – it isn’t.  And of course, people should never ingest plants, berries or nuts they can’t identify with 100% certainty, or eat plants or fruit from areas that may have been sprayed with pesticides.  But there are some plants that are coming in now that are easy to spot and make use of:

• Dandelions:  Young dandelion greens were formerly part of our diets as a way to ward off diseases caused by vitamin deficiencies.  According to rebeccawood.com, these greens can be sautéed or eaten raw, and have more vitamin A, K, calcium and iron per serving than broccoli

•  Broadleaf Plantain (Common Plantain, Plantago major): Is another common weed that is easy to recognize and is an early spring green that can be eaten raw or cooked.  According to edibleflowers.com, many people blanch the young leaves in boiling water before using them in salads in order to make them more tender, and blanched plantain can be frozen then used later in a sauté, soup or stew.
  
•  Black or red raspberries:  Come mid-summer, it’s easy to spot these berries as they grow in stands of brush and along hedgerows.  It takes some time to pick a quantity of these fruits, but there’s nothing like them for pies and jellies.

A newer book on the subject, Eating on the Wild Side, by Jo Robinson points out that many of the wild foods that our hunter-gatherer ancestors ate were indeed more nutritious than what we eat today, but they were more-bitter and fibrous.  Author Robinson maintains that as we became more accomplished farmers over 12,000 years, we selectively bred plants that were more to our liking (higher sugar content, less chewy, etc.).  Her book goes on to explain the best ways to obtain, prepare, and store common fruits and vegetables to get the greatest nutritional value from them.  More on this book can be found at NPR.

Until next time, be well.

Lori

All Hail … Kale!

We hope you’ll be able to join us this Thursday for our regular weekly Pathfinder Produce Market at the Village Commons from 2 to 5 p.m.  The market proudly sells the freshest fruits and veggies around!

We also encourage everyone to take advantage of our early registration fees through MAY 1 for the upcoming Splash Path 5K and Fun Walk on May 31, a new paint run/walk event at Pathfinder to raise funds for our new community walking trail.  Registration and waiver forms, community sponsors, and event details are found at pathfindervillage.org/get-involved/splash-path/.  If you know someone who would enjoy this novel and fun fitness event, please share this blog with them.   

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One of the newer additions to our produce market is kale, a dark green, leafy member of the Brassica family, related to broccoli, collard greens and Brussels sprouts. Kale, also called borecole, grows in many regions and is being hailed by researchers as a nutritional powerhouse.

According to Wikipedia, kale is easy to grow, lasts well in the garden during cooler months, and is classified by its leaf type.  Curly kale has ruffled leaves and is dark green in color; ornamental kale, also called salad savoy, is mellower in flavor and varies in color from green to white or even purple. “Dinosaur” or Tuscan kale is dark blue-green and slightly sweeter than curly kale. All edible kales are rich in fiber, freeze well, and are sweeter if exposed to a frost.

Kale actually grows best during cooler months, and grows stringy and bitter in hot weather.  If growing a summer crop, you should pick a garden spot that is in the shade.  It is possible to grow kale in large pots, and the plants will sprout new leaves as the mature leaves are harvested (keep the stem several inches high to continue growing new leaves).  A good guide to growing kale is at the Gentle World website.

Kale is descended from wild cabbage, and was introduced to Europe from Asia Minor about 600 BC by nomadic tribes; it gained a foothold in northern climates (Europe, Russia, the British Isles) as it is easy to grow, and was available during months when other fresh vegetables were not. Like other keeper vegetables, it came to the Americas in the holds of sailing ships during the Age of Exploration.

According to the extensive webpage on kale from the World's Healthiest Foods website, there are some great benefits to eating kale regularly. Given the number of people who take prescription statin drugs (Lipitor, Mevacor, Zocor, etc.), kale’s ability to combat cholesterol can be very helpful, and it works best for this if it is steamed.  According to WHF, kale helps use up the body’s supply of bile acids, which are synthesized from cholesterol.  As these essential bile acids are used up during the fat-digestion process, they must be replaced, therefore naturally lowering cholesterol levels.

 At the cellular level, kale helps detoxify the body and is rich in compounds called glucosinolates, which are converted to isothiocyanates in the body.  These molecules are believed to clear out toxins and help prevent some cancers (bladder, breast, colon, ovarian and prostate). Other websites cite that kale is rich in compounds called flavonoids, which offer antioxidant benefits.  Kale also offers the most Vitamin K per serving of any vegetable, which is a key nutrient for helping regulate our body's inflammatory process.  Thus, kale may help people who suffer from all types of inflammatory diseases, everything from to Chron’s disease to arthritis.

To cook kale so it retains its benefits, it is recommended you wash the leaves and stems thoroughly, remove the toughest stems, chop it coarsely, and then steam the leaves and stems for five minutes.  Nutritional experts recommend eating cruciferous vegetables two-to-three times each week, with serving sizes of 1.5 cups.  If you choose to eat it raw, it is probably best to blend it well to break down some of the fiber content.

(With a food this rich in nutrients, there are some cautions:  Too much Vitamin K can be a problem for those on blood thinners because it promoted clotting, and kale is rich in oxalates, which may lead to kidney or gallstones, and it may interfere with the absorption of calcium.  Because kale is so fibrous, eating too much of it raw can cause bloating and other uncomfortable digestive issues.  Talk to your healthcare providers if you have any concerns before eating quantities of kale.)

So, give kale a try.  We hope to see you this Thursday at Pathfinder Produce!

Lori

Get Out and Play!

With many families planning on special meals (or maybe even cook-outs) this weekend, we hope you’ll hop on over to our Pathfinder Produce market on Thursday afternoon.  We are starting to get a wider variety of products, including New York State grown items.  Our market is open from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Village Commons Building, here at Pathfinder Village.

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I confess I have a terrible case of Spring Fever, which I’m sure is the reason I’ve fallen so behind in posting my regular column.  But I think that’s the whole point … it’s time to get outside and play!  (I’m ignoring the current snow squall outside my window).

After a long winter of spending wayyyy too much time being sedentary, I am eager to get out, start work on my garden, begin some other projects, and just play basketball with my family or throw the Frisbee for the dog (she’s a lab … need I say more?).  When our road dries out a little more, I plan on riding bike to get in better shape and to enjoy the fresh air.  

I also need to start walking more and carry my “little camera” with me, so I can get some pictures of all the great wildlife I’m seeing now.  I spied a bobcat in the backyard the other weekend, and we have a bald eagle who likes to fish our pond.  We also have many deer, geese, herons and ducks that stop by. We really are blessed to be living in such a beautiful area, with plentiful trees and water, where one can still see creatures in their native habitat.

Be well until next time and I hope that you can get out and play!

Lori

The Big Picture

We hope you’ll be able to join us this coming Thursday, April 10, from 2 to 5 p.m. at Pathfinder Produce at the Village Commons.  We have a great selection of fresh, tasty produce, at great prices.  We hope you can join us!

Did you know that April 10 is National Siblings Day?  According to the Siblings Day Foundation, “Siblings Day follows the spirit of Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Grandparent’s Day – a great American tradition and …. an uplifting celebration honoring people who have shaped our values, beliefs and ideals.”  Here at Pathfinder Village, we value the important role that siblings have in the lives of our residents.  We send out a special greeting to all sibs who advocate for and help support people living with disabilities.

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The premise behind the 5-2-1-0 Every Day! Program, organized through the Bassett Healthcare Research Institute, is to address factors that contribute to childhood obesity.  This big picture approach provides opportunities to work with area organizations in the project’s two pilot regions, Edmeston and Delhi, to come up with innovative local solutions to improve families’ health.

The 5-2-1-0 staff regularly meets with people from schools, businesses, and community organizations to hear recommendations, test new projects, and share what new research studies are revealing about national trends in fitness and nutrition.

What’s been accomplished here in Edmeston shows what grass roots organizing can do.  To date, some of our projects include:

• Establishing Pathfinder Produce, a fresh fruits and vegetable market to help local residents gain access to better quality foods;
• Providing teachers with resources and activities to encourage healthy foods and active play during holiday celebrations in the classroom;
• Enhancing food education programs at school to encourage children to try different foods and consider better food choices;
• Encouraging families to start growing their own Victory gardens and getting children interested in agriculture through the ECS Greenhouse.
• Starting this weekly food blog to shed light on ways to eat better, move more, and think about how poor nutrition affects all of us;
• Sponsoring health and fitness focused events for families to encourage different types of exercise and to limit hours of recreational screen time.  The most recent, “Just A Good Time,” drew 150 young participants and their families.
• Teaching children and adults how to prepare more healthful, home-cooked meals.  Recently, 14 teams of students took part in a Junior Iron Chef competition in Delhi, and other children are taking after-school cooking lessons.

At Pathfinder Village, our projects for the summer include hosting a new 5K paint run and walk as a fund raiser to support our planned community walking trail.  We’re calling it the Splash Path 5K and Fun Walk; more information and the registration/waiver form are here.  If you’re interested in sponsoring the event or donating quality items for participant goodie bags, please contact us at splashpath@pathfindervillage.org.

We also expect to build a new hoop house this month to encourage students’/residents’ interest in agriculture, and to extend our growing season for fresh vegetables.  The produce will be used in our residential homes and will be available at Pathfinder Produce.  The picture below indicates what the new hoop house will look like; we’ll keep you posted on our progress!

Until next time, be well!

Lori