Bob called the other day and said in the way he says things, “Dana’s having a potluck and I think we should go.” It’s Dana’s annual Low Country Boil Potluck. Later, I was given a pumpkin. ¶ A “Peanut Pumpkin.” I discovered three things: I can make 10 cups of Chicken Broth easily; I can make French Pumpkin Soup in a pinch, and; French Pumpkin Soup is not what to bring to a Low Country Boil Potluck.
I wanted a quiet weekend. Friday, Bob told me we should head back to Dana’s farm for a potluck. “What are you bringing,” I asked. My eyes got wide. Bob had game. I had 36 hours for thinking, shopping and making something fit for folks in the country. This wasn’t a suburban, let’s sit around watching True Blood kind of potluck where cream cheese and Triscuits would make the grade. We were going to Moose Manor Farms.
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It’s practically free and can get you stoned later whether it’s a super-fresh Mojito or Guarapa you’re after. It’s something of a caped crusader against dehydration, the cold, the elements, extreme poverty and rampant unemployment and all you really need is water and dirt. It’s Sugar Cane, and we’re growing some in the Miami Bureau.
Here’s something you can do with your free time in Miami, or gardening Zone 10 if that’s your stomping ground. Sugar Cane, it’s not just God’s gift to children but it seems to have a hundred and one uses for full-sized people too. Our harvest just took root about three weeks ago, so we’re still pipe dreaming what to do about it…. In the meantime, here’s some neat information about the stuff and some of what we’ve done to get it started.
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We’re taking a first look at some of the supplies needed to catch and coerce water out from beneath the deck and into a rain barrel. THIS is corrugated PVC. It runs along in needs with some characters you might not expect to need when thinking about something similar at your BBQ pad.
So I thought, after a splendid day, I’d take a little time before the weekend to fill you in on what goes on the grill these days and introduce you to a strange cast of characters we’ll see Monday if all goes well this weekend. Thanks in no small part to the Red Shock’s good eating influence, I’ve been trying in private to see if I can make vegetables and “stuff” interesting for me. Normally all I have on hand for vegetarians is a stick of carrot and an old cauliflour thing.
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We love our few readers and want to tell you what March and April have been up to that kept us so busy, we couldn’t post but one, silly story. March 22nd; our official birthday – that even passed without so much as a peep. What’s been beating us? Three words, the Philippines, the France and the Miami bitches. Oh the stories these palettes could tell….
We’ve gone three rounds bare-knuckle with Earth, the international news desks, Miami and suburban container gardening and come out the wiser. It’s not at all pretty and we’ve got the sliced up hands to show for it, but we’re finally back, Off The Ropes, to get you up to speed and sucker punch Food Newsie back into being one of your stranger, favorite reads. Cheers – and keep your head down.
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From PowerPlate dot org and MyPyramid dot gov come two different takes on what an average daily diet should be modeled after. The USDA joins the EPA in being sued and attacked for knocking smaller growers about with regulations. At ground level, do we even know, outside our preferences, what’s right?
It’s been a hot mess for decades but it’s boiling now – are localvores helping to ruin the Chesapeake, is big Agri over-supplying to a limited demand, is the government interested in strong arming small farmers and are veggies better than meat and on and on. Fights like this have always been about following the money – Agribusiness obviously has some and with the rise in buying and eating locally, small farmers finally have some. Have a first glance look at Food Fights 2011 will host. Some make sense, some don’t.
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