May 19, 2010
Its been 5 months...
Since December many things have happened, for instance, The Winter. Capital T capital W. Coldest 5 months of my life. well the last two haven't been so bad but Dec-Mar were brutal.
Currently its 81 degrees and I just planted peas, radishes, and swiss chard. Time flies.
Other things that have happened:
I have gained 15 pounds living here
I live alone for the first time in my life. And love it.
I've become socially awkward from such Glendivian social isolation and don't really know how to interact with people my own age
I'm sick of the prairie
I have eaten chicken fried steak
I have tried to start a farm to school program
I have successfully grown beautiful spinach for the last 6 months
Did I mention the weight gain? This plays out into general bodily well being, or the lack thereof, like sitting down stretches me out these days. Welcome to a year in fried food america.
As for my work at Farm to Table, I'm somewhat disillusioned although many delicious greens are coming up in my hoop house, I'm helping build another one, I've got hundreds of transplants in the basement that I started and the farmers market is starting in a couple weeks.
And the weather is lovely. Things are on the up and up
Dec 2, 2009
Nov 27, 2009
Letter to Senator Baucus re: Harvest Lunch Wekk
November 23, 2009
The Honorable Max Baucus
122 West Towne
Glendive, MT
Dear Senator Baucus,
Last week, the Glendive public schools participated in a “Harvest Lunch Week” in which a local food item was offered each day in the school lunch. The Week was organized by the Local Food and Wellness Committee and Farm-to-Table in Glendive. This is part of a larger effort to get more local, healthy, better quality food into our schools. I am writing to you today to share some responses from the students, teachers and cafeteria workers after eating and serving local food for a week in their schools.
“Harvest Lunch Week” was a huge success by many measures. The “lunch ladies” enjoyed cooking fresher, healthier food and the students noticed a difference and thanked us for it. On Thursday the middle school almost ran out of hot lunch because of unexpected participation rates! The “Harvest Lunch Week” catalyzed community awareness about local food in the schools and increased an awareness of and interest in farm-to-school education generally. It is worth noting that the school spent approximately $700 on local food, which went directly to farmers and producers here in Glendive.
The challenge is this: after labor, administrative, and maintenance costs, the schools spend approximately .25 cents on actual food per child per day. By purchasing one local item a day, the Dawson County school district spent more money on food in a week than it does in a month. Current allocation of funds per child per meal is insufficient to create healthy or delicious meals. We all know that a quarter gets you a big gumball from a machine, and that’s about it.
Senator Baucus, we implore you to read the enclosed letters from future and current voters, from students and parents and mothers and to hear their plea that you advocate to allocate funding in the Child Nutrition Act Reauthorization to:
- increase the reimbursement rate by a $1/child/day, and
- purchase local food at the school level to help us feed our children healthy, fresh and delicious school lunches, and
- strengthen our local economy by investing in local producers and local consumers
Thank you for your attention to this crucial issue.
Sincerely,
Caroline Silver
Farm-to-Table Americorps VISTA
Nov 4, 2009
Oct 23, 2009
The Belly of the Beast
Oct 2, 2009
Words of advice from one of our readers...!
Just wanted to tell you I read your blog. Sue Orr, the VISTA who works for City Club Missoula (where I am chair of the Trustees) and who is my goddaughter’s mom, turned me on to it. You might remember me from the CBI in Helena. I was born in Glendive (my family lived next to St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church) although we left when I was quite young and I have only been back once as an adult. Your and Jess’s exposure to the people of Eastern Montana is going to change you and frame your view of life forever. You know that and it comes across in your blog. Keep up the good work. At the end of your time there, my bet is the community is going to conclude they were deeply enriched by your presence. Likewise, you are going to conclude you got back more than you gave.
Two things I want to alert you to. You may already be tuned in to them, but it will be worth it to hear of it again from a friendly person across this huge state of ours. First, in your associations with the locals, be on the lookout for someone who hunts agates. Beautiful agates are found in that area and having a ring or pin or earrings or whatever made from an agate you found yourself will be an immediate lifelong attachment to Glendive. People guard their agate sites like fisherman are secret about their favorite trout stream, but I know there is someone who can help you. If you find the agate, you can keep it and have the jewelry made whenever.
The second thing I want to mention is the winter weather. It gets mighty cold and windy in Glendive. Seriously. No, colder than you think. Make sure your home is weatherized, you have good boots, gloves, hats, coats, comforters, etc. If you rely on a vehicle, make sure it is winter weather ready. This January when you are out, amazed a bright sunny day that is -25 degrees, you will remember this. Best wishes to you and Jess,
Geoff Badenoch
Sep 22, 2009
Hard Red Spring Wheat and Millet
Sep 19, 2009
currently in Regina (rhymes with 'fun'), CANADA for Rosh Hashanah services, with 4 other VISTAS
went to a drag queen coronation in our hotel, made lots of friends.
Services this morning, bruncheon, supper at the rabbi's house (he's from London, calls himself a spiritual leader)
Combined beans last week, corn is done (been decimated by the 'coons), put up hay...strange to be away from the farm in a big city, no less.
Regina is strangely beautiful. Museums today, shofar tomorrow.
Aug 30, 2009
Aug 23, 2009
Saturday, the best day of the week
Aug 21, 2009
Aug 20, 2009
Livestock auction and Red Cabbage
We had a really great time but had to book it back to Glendive for the Dawson County fair! (We picked up 150# of purple hulless barley on the way though) As soon as we got back we were in Fair mode...we ran the Farm-to-Table booth all day saturday until 10:30pm and then again on Sunday until 5:00 pm. Met lots..and I mean LOTS of interesting people. Some whackos too. Got to talk to a variety of locals about farming and local food and what they believe in. Saw my first ranch rodeo. Ate funnel cake and hamburgers. The best part for me was the livestock auction. Do we even have this in VT? Everyone is dressed up for the fair, cowboy hats, cowboy boots, tucked in collared, ironed cowboy shirts...topped off with a giant belt buckle of course...and at the auction an MC stood in the center of a ring and spewed off numbers so fast I couldn't tell what he was saying let alone determine what language he was speaking. I found out that he was selling beef by the pound. "one dolla, dolla fifteen, dolla twenty, SOLD dolla thirtyfi" SO FAST and everyone had these cards that they kept track of what was being sold and how much etc. Pigs, Cows, Lambs. The deal with the livestock auction is that kids from 4H have raised each one of these animals from birth so they bring them out to the ring, walk them around and then the bidding begins - it's a sort of charity because the animals go for way above market price and people bid because they want the animal, they want to support the kid or both - if they don't want the animal they can resell it on the second go around for market price and the kid gets the money either way. It was very cool. Does Bennington even have a county fair???
Jess and I were kind of tired from the fair since we worked all weekend but we had to get ready for our first party at our house on Monday night - Erin, the extension intern, was finishing up her term so we had a combo goodbye barbeque/housewarming party at our place. Jess and I made sushi and she made steak and around 15 of our news friends came by with beer and food and strawberry daquiris and rhubarb wine, homemade vino and peach cobblers...a lot of foodies and their husbands/wives, kids - we felt like such little adults, throwing a bbq in our backyard with everyone sitting around the fire, socializing (not many people were under 30). Our bosses came (it actually feels weird to even call them our bosses but thats what Bruce and Peggy are I suppose) and everyone was just SO helpful, it was like we didn't have to do that much work at all. It's kind of strange the neighborly-ness of everyone. I guess I'm just not used to people being selfless and helpful basic strangers or something..
The party was super fun - we got emails the next day thanking us, so cute - especially from one of our favorite new friends Jessica Beacom, the dietician who we want to be BFF's with us. She's a super cool, foodie mama with an equally cool nurse husband (long red ponytail) and their kid, Lily - they moved here from Alaska and told me and Jess that they were psyched to have some young blood in the food scene here in Glendive...I'm hoping to work with Jessica B on my Eat-In and local food in schools program!
Yesterday I grinded flour and made my first ever radio appearance on the local stations as an advirtiser for the "First annual Glendive Tomato festival" (I was kind of nervous but they let me record it 3 times to get it just right). The Tomato fest is tonight! And Jess is entering a green tomato cake in the tomato contest...
We also made more sauerkraut last night, this time with Alvin's cousins - lovely people - beautiful evening of kraut making, beer drinking, truck bed riding.
Pictured here is: Alvin in the hat, his friend Lisa from Family Farmers coalition, Jess, Alvin's cousin Neil and myself. That wood thing is the cabbage shredder, a very cool invention designed just for kraut. Alvin warned me not to make any "red cabbage" (aka shredding my fingers.)
Aug 11, 2009
As a mixture of drool, butter, and juices of every little kernel on the cob trickle down my chin I declare today's lunch the best of all. It consisted of homemade raw vegan sunflower and pumpkin seed pate rolled in romaine leaves with tomatoes. Along with that was fresh sweet corn from alvins (the tomatoes and romaine from alvins as well). Before I get too into this blog I would like to address a couple of things. First off, I aplogize for not writing more. Cal has done a fantastic job and I will attempt to contribute more of my side of things. Secondly, I suck at grammar, spelling, and apostrophies. These are things I don't care about. Ask me to make you a burre blanc that won't break and now were talking (got it.... good.) I have posted a few pictures of things that have been keeping me very busy. Our awesome coffee table that cal haggled for $10 at the flea market, we brought home and i sanded and stained the whole thing. I love that table. The other two pictures are of our newest housemate. He goes by the name, Zappa Wibeaux. He is about 9 months old and was found in an abandoned trailer. He is a chocolate lab (I disagree) sharpe, terrier mix. We love him. Last weekend bruce and I went to helena for a meeting at the department of agriculture in helena. There were about five organizations total including us, all non-profits looking for $$. Actually the five organizations there are the ones that already got money and now just had to let them know how we were planning on using it. Bruce and I had breakfast at this awesome little place in downtown helena called "no sweat". We met his friend and her co-worker who also work for a non-profit. I listened to their conversation about grants and proposals and ate one of the best tofu scrambles i've had yet. After that we went to the dept of ag downtown. I sat there (the youngest by at least 20 years) took notes, and observed. I can't describe how important I felt. One minute working 16 hour days/nights sauteing seafood dishes for 400+ people in a 110 degree kitchen, the next sitting at a table at the dept of ag in the capital of montana talking non profit with a handlful of people that have been doing this their entire life! Oh, life... it's beautiful, always changing, and never dull. The meeting was from 10-2 (actually like 2:20 because this one lady wouldn't shut up about her personal questions). We left there and did a little thrifting. Thrifting: The act of shopping at a thrift store for things you don't really need but pretend you do because its so damn cheap. After that and a horrible trip to petco (which I choose not to discuss) we were on our way back to glendive WITH 500 LBS of FRESH CHERRIES. Don't ask me what happened, but bruce was talking to some lady and all of a sudden we are loading 500lbs of fresh cherries into the van. We got on the road and returned to glendive at around 2am with about 480lbs of fresh cherries, a stomach ache, and heavy eyes. This week has been fairly easy except for raising a puppy. Now me and cal have to leave tomorrow to go back to helena for CBI (which she already explained). I am beggining to loathe the ride to helena. Beautiful...of course it is, but beauty isn't so beautiful when stared at from a car for 7 hours. At least it will give us a chance to get some things we can't get here in the dive. That could be a whole seperate blog entry. How I've always lived in small towns, but have had access to just about anything within 1-2 hours. Here, if you need something, you order it offline, or wait for a trip to helena. Its good though because I don't spend any money when i'm here. Well, I'm getting up early tomorrow to drive to north dakota where our good friend cole is going to watch the pup for me while we're gone. Tonight: one more walk to the park and much needed sleep.
Aug 10, 2009
Long Day, "Thumb's Up"
Aug 6, 2009
Out to the field and down to the pasture
Aug 5, 2009
Aug 4, 2009
Our weekend; Farmer's Market, Fort Peck
Aug 3, 2009
To Mom on Monday night, 10:14 p.m.
Jul 31, 2009
Who's Your Farmer?
(if you want one of these bumper stickers lemme know)
"Hello irrigation channel"
Jess modeling our Farm-to-Table shirts at work
Raspberry crew in Savage, MT
We picked approx 10 lbs that day
Jul 28, 2009
Jul 27, 2009
Jul 25, 2009
Jul 24, 2009
Note: when working outside all day, wear sunscreen.
My teeth are red from homeade rhubarb wine. My skin is the same color, but from the blistering sun. After we left the office we went back to our acres of land at alvins to dig channels and repair the ones that already existed. Cal went back to get the car and I rode back to alvins on his four wheeler with him. Alvin is the first liberal we've met yet, which was a catalyst for an hour long talk of politics. He has a beautiful farm with about 450 acres of land, sheeps, pigs, homeade beer and wine and a heart of gold. He let us pick a weeks supply of greens from his garden, cleaned and bagged it. For the first time in my life I feel like everything is right. It is all exactly how it should be, and it feels so good to be here now.....
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