Adventures of a 21st Century Forager

by Christine Sause

Wow it's been a bit since I've written anything - having been crazy busy with job hunting and what-not.  I'm happy to say that I've procured employment with my father-in-law's insurance company and I actually like it!  A bit surprising, having worked primarily in restaurants and farming my entire life.  I'm currently searching for a part time restaurant position as well - keeping one foot in the industry and earning a little extra, much needed cash!

I did manage to squeeze a good book into this hectic, past month - "Fat of the Land" by Langdon Cook.  I devoured it!  It's smart, funny and super informative - oh and it involves food - all of the things that I look for in a good book!  Langdon became a modern-day food forager to impress a girl - and never looked back.  He had found what he was born to do!  Whether digging clams, skin-diving for lobster, beating the black bears to the blackberries, searching for perfectly camouflaged mushrooms, avoiding the stings of the delicious stinging nettles or casting a line into the perfect river hole, Mr. Cook is in his element.  Everywhere he looks - there's dinner.  Even the abandoned urban lot is ripe with dandelions for bread, wine and salads - just beware of the gang that claims that lot as their own! 

The most disappointing part of this book for me was that it's based in the North West - and I read it one month after moving away from Seattle.  But, although many of Langdons specific quarries hail from  outside of  my current realm, reading the book inspired me to research my own foraging possibilities.  So more on this to come.  Colorado is ripe for the picking!

P.S.  Check out Langdon's blogspot page -
fat-of-the-land.blogspot.com

The author with a basket of foraged mushrooms.

King Corn - You Are What You Eat

By Christine Sause

"We subsidize the Happy Meals but not the healthy ones."
If this quote makes no sense to you PLEASE go watch the documentary "King Corn".
It's not a new film but one that, for whatever reason, I hadn't gotten around to seeing until a few days ago.  Towards the end of Shedfest (Salida, CO's local harvest fest - see previous post), there was a free screening in the lovely theatre inside of The Steamplant.  I was literally moved to tears.

Along the same lines as Food Inc., but maybe not quite as graphic, King Corn teaches us about America's #1 crop.....and how it is ruining our lives.  The movie begins with two recently graduated college students looking for a project.  Somehow they find out that by testing a piece of your hair you can find out what your diet consists of.  Sounds stupid right?  You know what you eat.  Well.....these guys were shocked to learn that a VERY large percentage of their diet was corn-based.  How could that be?  And a year long video project begins.....

The boys (who in an odd twist of fate have great-grandfather's from the same small Iowa town) move to that small Iowa town and rent one acre of farm-land so that they can follow a corn crop from seed to showing up in your hair.  What they encounter along the way is heart-warming, heart-breaking, disgusting, disturbing, funny and sad - all at the same time. 

Old Mr. Pyatt is a highlight of the film.  He is the farmer who rents the boys an acre and subsequently becomes a corn and farm life mentor.  His family had been on that same land for 6 generations.  He was born in that house.  By the end of the movie - he'd been forced out.  That's when I cried.

But it's not all sad.  And it's definitely eye-opening!  Check it out!

A Zen Thought for today -
"Religions always talk about love.  But to a Buddhist, love is second-rate - if that.  Compassion is far more important.  Compassion is the ability to see what needs doing right now and the willingness to do it right now." - Brad Warner

Shedfest Success

Well.  I've done a lot in the last few days - most of it centering around Shedfest, here in Salida, CO.  Shedfest was a free event put on by the Central Colorado Foodshed Alliance.  It was billed as "A Free Celebration of the Local Harvest for the Entire Community", and indeed it was.  There was a farmer's market, arts and crafts, live music, games, lectures and demos and all of it was followed up with a ticketed dinner and auction that evening.
 
All of these events took place at The Steamplant, which is a really cool old public-works building that has been converted into an event space and theatre, right along the Arkansas River.  The weather was perfect!  Golden autumn sun caused the river to sparkle in a beautifully blinding way and a very gentle breeze stirred up swirls of leaves and straw, freed from their bales in front of the live-music stage, which kept us entertained all day with bluegrass and old-timey tunes.

The Gumbo Jets

While wandering the festival, I stopped to talk to many people - vendors and other festival-goers alike.  It was a super productive day for me as I filled a notebook with future writing topics and even got a few ideas for volunteer opportunities.  A few of the booths really stood out in my mind - so much so that I will list them here, but plan on going into further detail on each in the near future. 

Paula & Ed Berg - Salida Grown

Here goes -
Salida Grown - these wonderful people (Ed & Paula Berg) let me borrow their camera, after mine broke, so that I was able to take some great festival pics - which I will post as soon as they email them to me.  (10/19/10 - Got the pics.  Thanks Ed!  Adding to this article now.)    I talked with them both for quite some time and really think they've put together a great business in building cold frames and greenhouses.  To quote Paula, "Whether you want to spend 50 bucks or 15,000, we'll build you a great product!".

Bob & Brian - El Regalo Ranch

El Regalo Ranch - over the last few weeks, at the Salida Farmer's Market, I've become friends with Brian - a man who is VERY excited about goat meat!  And he should be!  Growing up raising goats myself, they quickly became my favorite animals, with their playful leaps and lovingly-gentle headbutts, but I had never eaten goat meat (aka chevon, cabrito, capretto).  I'd had plenty of milk and cheese (which I love!) but never the meat.  Turns out it's wonderful - very mild and super healthy.  My sister, who is very aware of my love for goats, was shocked that I would even try it.  But as I do my very best to eat only meat that is organic or very local and as I am a very adventurous foodie - I dove right in!  Now I'm trying to figure out who will let me keep a small herd on their land for my own consumption!  Until then, El Regalo will have me as a faithful customer. 
Sweet Pea Farm - Pony Anstine and her son are regulars at the Salida market every week with wonderfully fresh fruit and vegetables - but what they are really known for is their honey and their roasted chilies.  Is there really anything else that screams out "Fall in the Southwest!", better than the aroma of chilies roasting in a big rolling basket?  Also - try the High Altitude Honey whenever you get a chance to.  It's so good and sells out very quickly!

The Gals of Jumpin' Good Goat Dairy

Jumpin' Good Goat Dairy - Yummy fresh goat cheese!  (and they usually bring along a few super-cute goat kids to the markets with them.)  They're right in Buena Vista - go take a tour!

Another happy Weathervane Farms customer.

Weathervane Farm - This stand always has the largest and longest lasting selection of fresh produce - no matter which market you find them at.  I also buy my eggs from them - super fresh and in varying sizes, unlike mass produced grocery store eggs.  P.S.  They have really cool business cards that are actually seed packets!  Not sure what kind of seeds.....but I'm gonna sprout 'em today!

Salida Bread Co.

Well there's a few of the wonderful organizations that participated this year.  There were also many crafters, bakeries, a cupcake booth, potters, non-profits and eco-friendly businesses.  All in all, it was a fun fall day.  I learned alot, ate alot and made a bunch of new friends.  Back in "The Good 'Ole Days", harvest was a time when the community came together to celebrate the end of alot of hard work and to share and appreciate the fruits of their labors.  It was a time for food, music and general merriment.  Yesterday, I was very happy to find out that the spirit of the harvest is alive and well in Salida, Colorado!

George & Julie - Blue Range Ranch

Jessi Covert - J's Gypsy Cakes

The Maverick Potter