Keep America Beautiful!

We hope everyone will join us this week for another tempting Pathfinder Produce fresh fruits and vegetables market.  Come on down to the Village Commons between 1 and 5 p.m. on Thursday, April 28, for the tastiest produce around!

Here at Pathfinder, we are gearing up for Splash Path on Saturday, May 21, which will include exhibits by many local vendors and our ever-popular raffle auction.  To register for the 5K, visit splashpath.racewire.com, and learn more about the after-run party and other offerings at our website’s Splash Path pages.

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It’s spring, a season of renewal!  This week, I’m digressing from our usual veggie blog to sing the praises of community volunteers in the New Berlin area who participated in the annual NYS Route 8 clean-up project as part of our local Earth Day observances.

Student volunteers and our friends from New York Pizzeria, Chase Health, Stevie’s Speidies, and Preferred Mutual Insurance walked along a section of busy Route 8 to pick up the trash that was revealed following the snowmelt.  Over 60 people went along 7.5 miles in two-and-a-half hours, and picked up 72 bags of garbage.  You can see more about the clean-up day at New York Pizzeria’s Facebook page.

While this is tremendous, it begs the question: Why are people throwing litter along the roadways?  It’s just wrong to chuck your garbage out the window of your car.

When I was a kid, there was a famous ad by the Keep America Beautiful Campaign, which featured Iron Eyes Cody, a stoic Native American who shed tears over the state of our planet and man’s disregard for the natural world.  That ad had a tremendous impact on me and drove home the message, “People start pollution, people can stop it.”

 

The pollution solution starts with each of us … if you have trash in your car, just hang on to it until you get home or to another appropriate place to dispose of it.  Try to recycle as much as you can, or better still, try to buy products that have the least amount of non-biodegradable packaging as possible.  Use cloth shopping bags, return your deposit bottles, and follow your municipality’s sorting and recycling procedures.

Founded in 1953, Keep America Beautiful (KAB) is a thriving organization with over 600 local affiliates, and continues its mission to prevent littering, encourage recycling and reuse, and to beautify communities.  Our local affiliate, Keep Mohawk Valley Beautiful, will have a kick-off gathering this week for regional Great American Cleanup events.  To learn more, visit the group’s Facebook page.

In closing, I’ll share some KAB stats on the costs of American littering:

• Over 51 billion pieces of litter land on U.S. roadways each year; that works out to about 6,729 items per mile.
•  Litter cleanup costs the U.S. about $11.5 billion each year, with businesses paying $9.1 billion.  Governments, schools, and other organizations pick up the remainder of the costs.
• The presence of litter in a community takes a toll on quality of life, property values, and housing prices.  KAB found that litter in a community decreases property values by 7%.
• Tobacco-related litter makes up about 35% of all litter.  Since 2009, KAB has implemented a Cigarette Litter Prevention Program in over 1,500 communities that has helped reduce cigarette waste in those communities.

Until next time, enjoy the great outdoors, and think green,

Lori

Storage Solutions

We hope everyone will come down to this Thursday’s Pathfinder Produce market, from 1 to 5 p.m. at The Village Commons.  We have some great items for you to try, and we are heading into the “freshest” time of the year for eating.

Our market this week falls on April 21, which is splitting the difference from March 21, World Down Syndrome Day, and the Splash Path 5K and Fun Walk, which takes place on Saturday, May 21.  If you haven’t signed up yet, you may wish to do so as the registration fees increase on May 2.  To sign up, go to splashpath.racewire.com and follow the easy process to register.

This week’s blog is by Martha Spiegel, Pathfinder’s Development Assistant.

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I get very excited every spring when local produce starts to become available. The first one I see is always a small rhubarb stand in someone’s driveway that I pass on the way home, (If you missed it, check out the April 7 veggie blog, Rhubarb Ruminations), and soon stands of all sizes will start popping up. I am also excited to see fresh herbs, grown in Pathfinder’s own Button Greenhouse, being sold at Pathfinder Produce, and I’m looking forward to all of the wonderful items which will be coming from our hoop houses over the next few months.

After I bring home my purchases from Pathfinder Produce, or a farmers’ market, or our family’s farm share box, however, I have to be careful to store everything properly. I learned the hard way that you can’t just toss everything into the refrigerator crisper drawer—“The Rotter” as it came to be  known in our house. While I knew how to store certain things, I did not want to be a contributor to the tremendous amount of food waste that takes place in the US.  According to Feeding America:

•  An estimated 25 – 40% of food grown, processed and transported in the US will never be consumed.
•  When food is disposed in a landfill, it rots and becomes a significant source of methane - a potent greenhouse gas with 21 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide.
• More food reaches landfills and incinerators than any other single material in municipal solid waste.

Therefore, I needed to know how to keep my produce as fresh as possible for as long as possible. I recently came across two helpful items. The first is this infographic, from the Save-A-Lot Grocery Store Facebook page:

It gives a nice overview of the basics. For more detailed information, there are these helpful tips from the American Heart Association and Real Simple Magazine.

Knowing how to keep your produce fresh is a great way to stop waste, save money, eat healthier, and have more variety in your diet. So load up on lots of wonderful fruits and veggies this Thursday at Pathfinder Produce, then learn how to store them so that you have some to eat all week!

Until next time, be well and eat well!

Martha (and Lori)

Strong Stuff!

We hope everyone will join us this Thursday, April 14, from 1 to 5 p.m. for our next delicious Pathfinder Produce market. It’s our pleasure to note that our first Pathfinder-grown items – cilantro and spring mix – are now available (grown right in our very own Button Greenhouse!)

Also, Splash Path is quickly approaching!  This affordable  and fun paint run/ walk will be held on Saturday, May 21 at Pathfinder, and supports community health initiatives. The early registration deadline is May 1! Learn more at pathfindervillage.org/get-involved/splash-path/ or register online at splashpath.racewire.com

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Last week, we focused on rhubarb, a distinctive perennial that fills the container it grows in.  Another crop that comes back each year and can take over a whole garden is horseradish.  The bite of horseradish is unmistakable, and is perfect (in well measured doses) for things like cocktail sauce or as a sandwich garnish. 

I have memories of my dad grating horseradish root and plastering it on sandwiches … I couldn’t get near the stuff as a kid and would marvel at how he could take on such a potent condiment.  Family lore has it that he was introduced to horseradish as a toddler by his very-German grandfather, who would feed him horseradish, raw onions, and other very-German foods.

Horseradish is a member of the Brassicaceae family, and is related to mustard, broccoli and cabbage.  According to Wikipedia, when the freshly dug horseradish root is grated, enzymes break down to produce mustard oil, which results in the pungent smell that makes your eyes water and nose run.  Grated root must be used immediately or preserved in vinegar to keep its flavor.  If horseradish goes from creamy white to brownish in the jar, it’s time to throw it away.

Historically, the plant was a native of Eastern Europe, but was known to the Ancient Greeks, Egyptians, and Romans.  It is a traditional part of the Seder meal during Passover.  It became popular in medieval northern Europe, and was used with meat and fish dishes.  By the late 16^th century, the root was called horseradish in England; “horse” was used at the time to describe things that are strong or coarse, and radish, after the radish root.  It made the migration to America during the late 17^th century, and was grown extensively in Colonial American gardens.

According to How Stuff Works, practitioners of folk medicine have used horseradish for sinus infections and bronchitis, as the odiferous herb helps you get rid of nasty, bacterial-ridden mucus in the sinuses and airways.  The site suggests that if you are prone to sinus infections or colds, to take horseradish the minute you feel ill. 

Horseradish also is a mild antiobiotic and can help with urinary tract infections.  It can also be used topically for arthritis pain, and as a poultice to dress infected wounds.  The site also indicates how to prepare horseradish for therapeutic uses, and cautions that it can cause irritating side effects with the stomach, skin and nose if taken in too large a dose.  So be careful, as a little horseradish can go a long way.

Until next time, be well!

Lori

Rhubarb Ruminations

We hope everyone will join us this Thursday, April 7, from 1 to 5 p.m. for our next delicious Pathfinder Produce market. Mother Nature played her slightly delayed April Fools' joke on us this weekend, which may have prevented our friends and neighbors from shopping in larger towns – isn't it good to have a convenient, friendly store available locally to help answer your produce needs?

Also, Splash Path is quickly approaching!  This affordable  and fun paint run/ walk will be held on Saturday, May 21 at Pathfinder, and supports community health initiatives. The early registration deadline is May 1! Learn more at pathfindervillage.org/get-involved/splash-path/ or register online at splashpath.racewire.com

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With snow still coming to our area, it's not quite time yet to get the outdoor garden beds ready, but there are some perennial crops that already may be stirring beneath the ground. As I recall my Grandma's gardens, she had a few beds that would come back year-after-year, and typically had to be contained by some kind of low fencing to keep the plants from taking over too large a space.

One of these plants was rhubarb, which grows well in our climate and is a favorite of many friends and family members. I didn't really know this before, but rhubarb is classified as a vegetable … I guess I always thought it was a fruit because it is so often served as fruits are, stewed with sugar, in jams, and baked into yummy pies or cobblers. The stalks can be eaten raw if washed and trimmed, but they are very sour, so you may want to have a bit of sweetener around if you try it uncooked.

According to the website Treehugger, rhubarb is best planted in early spring from a bit of another plant (usually obtained from someone whose bed is a bit out of control). According to Off the Grid News, it needs full sun, deep well-draining soil, and lots of room to spread out. (It also likes a bit of manure, peat moss, and pine needles if your soil is on the alkaline side). The plants should grow unharvested for a year or so, so they become well established.  Then, the sky is the limit!

Once you have an established crop, pick the reddest stalks, as they are the sweetest. One caution though - only the stalks are edible, and the plant leaves are toxic as they contain large amounts of oxalic acid (the rust removing ingredient from my favorite tub cleanser, Barkeeper's Friend).

According to several websites, rhubarb is rich in fiber, key antioxidants like lycopene and anthocyanins, may lower cholesterol, and is packed with vitamins C, B, and K, calcium, potassium, magnesium and other minerals. Womanitely.com has an extensive list of benefits … rhubarb has a lot going for it.

Of course, rhubarb has some fun cultural associations too. According to Daily Writing Tips, rhubarb may mean a “murmurous background noise” -- apparently movie actors used to repeat the word to create indistinct background noise during crowd scenes. It also means “nonsense,” or more famously, is slang for heated arguments on the field between a baseball coach or player and the ump. Legendary sports commentator Red Barber made the phrase famous while broadcasting games for the Cincinnati Reds, Dodgers, and Yankees, from 1934 to 1966.

And of course, anyone who has ever listened to the fictional ads on Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion on NPR (40+ years and going strong!) knows that nothing takes the taste of shame and humiliation out of one's mouth like a big ole' slice of Bebop-A-Reebop Rhubarb Pie. (“Serve it up, nice and hot, maybe things aren't as bad as you thought. Mama's little baby loves rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb. Bebop-A-Reebop Rhubarb Pie!”).

Until next time, be well!

Lori