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  • One Local Summer, Week 12


    I’ve more tomatoes, green beans, and green peppers than I can possibly eat rolling in from my garden, and I’ve been cheating on my farmer’s market with a cute roadstand down the road.

    So I didn’t need much this morning, and I spent only $21, which netted me:

    • big basket of plums
    • big basket of peaches (many were eaten on the way home)
    • big basket of apples- I want to say Ginger Gold?
    • big basket of red potatoes
    • Cass insisted on a yellow squash, even though I still have a LOT
    • and as ever, some Eve’s Cheese: jalapeno colby and smoked cheddar.

    The other night I made oven french fries from the fingerling potatoes I bought at last week’s market. And no one would eat them because they tasted like sweet potatoes.

    Are fingerlings actually baby sweet potatoes? Or is this vendor just mis-labeling?

    Anyway, no big deal, I was happy to take on the fries, but there were some left over.

    The next day, I got a powerful hunger for some Denny’s. I think maybe I overheard a commercial or something; that is some seriously viral marketing. I really really wanted some greasy spoon fare.

    Did I succumb? In a manner of speaking, I guess. I cut those excess fries into home fries and made myself some eggs with peppers and onion and garlic-and-chive cheddar (Eve’s Cheese! Cannot say enough good things about these people!).

    All ingredients local.

    May I present…

    One Local pseudo-Denny’s Southwestern Grand Slam….

    (Oh my gosh, I just went onto the Denny’s website and found they no longer offer the Southwestern Slam! What a bummer! My brother is going to be so upset.)

    Tomato Sauce Update: we have successfully made an acceptable tomato sauce, but we totally had to wing it. All the recipes I found online either involved tomato paste- which we didn’t have and I preferred not to use, to keep it local- or required completely insane numbers of tomatoes.

    I know someone out there has a good sauce recipe!!! Please share!

  • Learning Something New Every Day

    I don’t think much of a man
    who is not wiser today
    than he was yesterday.

    -Abraham Lincoln

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    This is my newest friend. He’s a skipper.

    I didn’t know skippers existed! I thought I’d come across some mutated moth.

    Because his wings are weird–

    See?

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    I spent some time flipping through my insect guides, researching skippers and trying to figure out which one my buddy is. Because, you know, I like to know the names of my buggy friends so I know what to call them when I run into them again (otherwise it’s awkward, don’t you think?).

    I figure it’s the least I can do after chasing them around the yard and sticking my camera right in their poor tiny faces.

    All these darn skippers look alike, with very small size differences, and it seems very rude to be taking measurements. I know if someone was taking my picture and then busted out a tape measure I’d pop ’em one for sure. I was on the verge of giving up…

    Ah, but what’s this? The stirrings of young love—

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    A lady skipper to snuggle up to—

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    Based on the lady friend’s size and markings, I am making the call and saying that this is a pair of Zabulon Skippers.

    A lovely name for the lovely couple.

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  • Let Me Tell You a Story

    Once upon a time, a caterpillar wandered into a spiderweb.

    Thrashing wildly, flailing for freedom, it tore the web from its moorings.

    The spider who reigned there, alarmed by the wreckage, dashed in to deliver a killing blow before any more damage could be done.

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    In his haste, he did not notice the danger lurking above.

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    How quickly the predator becomes the prey…

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    “Hey! What about me?”

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    I took pity on the caterpillar and set him free.

    I know that it is best to not meddle in the affairs of the wild, that I should allow nature to take its course, but I’d seen enough carnage for one day.

    People, it’s a jungle out there.

    Most of us walk unseeing through the world,
    unaware alike of its beauties,
    its wonders,
    and the strange and sometimes terrible intensity
    of the lives that are being lived about us.

    -Rachel Carson