Author: Adena Rose

A couple of my yoga friends, Kyle and George, have been exploring and glorifying in the raw food world. Kyle has been completely raw after an intense switch two years ago, and George has been re-writing the (new) book himself since about January this year.

I have seen some amazing documentaries about the power of raw food – and I believe every bit. I have never doubted int he power of good food, but if you have read some of my past posts, I have explored what ‘good’ really means. To mean ‘good’ can sometimes be comfort food, if filled with love and eaten sparingly (if bad for you, I believe every meal should be home cooked, whether in my kitchen or someone elses.) Just in the past couple of weeks, I have really been listening and tasting some of these exotic ingredients. I have yet to add much to my regular diet, besides cacao powder…mmm.

Did you notice the key word in the last paragraph? Exotic. First of all, speaking of some of these supplements uses drug dealing terminology. “Oh! Can you get my some of that? I don’t need much, just about $20 worth to try.” But that’s not the biggie – after my 9 months of exploring local foods and glorifying the healing aspect it’s bringing to our community, words like MSM, Maca Root, Deer Antler extract and phyto-plankton strikes me as exactly the opposite of what I am aiming for.

Last night, after watching two youtube videos Kyle posted on Colostrum and this Deer Antler Extract (which I definitely tried last weekend, more on that), I realized that I had been keeping this from my blog, which is all about being Aware of what we/I am eating. What is happening in health food, fads, or even modern breakthroughs, which eating Raw seems to be. Being and awarenivore means seeking, and taking it all in, and using discernment to make the best choices for our own bodies, community and kitchen.

A lot of the localvore diet seems glorify moving closer to our previous agrarian society, which sometimes I take to mean moving away from technology, even backwards towards some idyllic past. Maybe this is just me. Maybe this is also because we seem to equate technology with industry and largeness.

“From our ignorant identification with our ego and its mortality arises man’s creativity and his destructiveness, the glory of culture, the horror of his history.” – B.K.S. Iyengar

Humans have the ability to create great things, but those things would be greater if the right motivation was behind them. And here is where intelligence comes in. Blind devotion is not intelligence. We were given the ability to use discernment. Discernment is different than judgment. And before I go off into outer space, let’s get back to earth and what comes out of it, food.

More on this later tonight…

Another chili story…at least I think there’s one down there already…

I am opening a Woodchuck’s 802 – yeah, I guess it’s past 5 p.m., but I can’t decide if this weekend was productive enough for me to be drinking. I suffer from some kind of mania that’s guilt driven. I’m also actually thanking the loud music right below my office for scattering my thoughts a bit. Rainy Sundays tend to bring about a lot of thinking, but not so much doing. I did cut Jamie’s hair today…and now this officially a diary entry, not so much an ‘essay.’

I am glad for the coherent and somewhat organized thoughts about my grad school application that have come back with conviction today. I’m sure this is also thanks to Robynne being back in town, one of the two friends who have recently become Masters in something. 🙂 It’s inspiring in a few ways.

I did start a new writing project this week, and I am also in the midst of two books at the same time, both non-fiction.

I am also in the midst of making chili on this rainy, cool June Sunday. I picked the first bounty from our garden this week – though none of it will be going in the chili. We had salads yesterday with the homemade pizza – radishes (see above), spinach and red lettuce, and ate the leftovers again this morning alongside hard-boiled eggs. It is already truthfully supplementing our groceries – perfect timing, because we’re both attempting to lay low this summer financially. Umm, until I buy a new (needed) vehicle soon.

Recipe (changes a bit every time):

1 lb Applecheek ground beef
3 cups(?) of a bean assortment, this time simply chickpeas and kidney beans (dried/soaked)
1 onion
1 carrot
2 sml cans of crushed tomatoes
2 tbsp of tomato paste
garlic
salt
red pepper flakes
cayenne pepper
cumin
tons of chili powder
a bit of maple syrup
splash of soy sauce (meaty flavor like worcheshire)
secret first-time ingredient – 1 tbsp or so cacao powder

…and I already can’t wait for the sour cream and cheddar to top it with. Umm addicted to dairy.

My good friend Katie just texted me saying that we must be food-psychic, because she’s making chili, too. Must be the weather.

Sunday evening, Jericho, vermont, early summer and later Spring all rolled into one.

We’ve been lucky this year – the last few brought a month-long drizzle in June. There has already been a long, fruitful Spring. I’ve wandered through my forest for the first time, foraged my first ramps and nettles, and come closer to this spot of land. Its eas because it’s so much like my childhood home. Not the hand-made house itself so much, but the dirt roads an the distance I drive to know I’ve gotten there. The safety in unlocked doors, and in a warm bed upstairs. The same sounds, and the quickly shifting and today dark grey clouds over a green horizon. Adjectives.

I began writing about my dad today, I hope I can keep it up. It’s painful already. Perhaps I’m darker than even he was. I’ve been through breakups before, but this was his second divorce. Perhaps it was softer than the first, or maybe that made it even worse. Thinking about the house I grew up in makes me miss it. And remember thanksgivings so well. The best times with his side of the family. I guess that is where I will go for the next ‘chapter.’

Perhaps if I speak less in daily life, words can come more easily on paper. We only have ourselves to experiment with…

Thoughts all over the place, or at least in a few very deep places. I want to write about the progress of the garden. Today I was able to add a few things, before the black flies ingested much of me. I am so glad my dad was able to contribute a lot – he brought me some seed potatoes last week (two are at least starting!), 6 red lettuce plants, of which I can begin to pick at I think for sure. Radishes are going to be the first taste – I could probably pick a couple for breakfast tomorrow…but perhaps I should wait for Jamie. I love to share the first fruits, it’s what it’s all about.

Kale and freckles lettuce from seed are coming up. Peas really need the fence. Carrots are alive, and the spinach may be worth nibbling on. I planted one cuke and one tomato plant today (as from dad.) As well as two of the three delicata squash, in mounds in the low corners. It’s going to get pretty intense in there soon enough. I’m ready!

I transplanted a wild chive, that I believe is the grandchild of the old, big beautiful one that lived near the stone steps. I found it over in the ‘rubble’ beside the yard, where the gravel a sand was pushed. It may have re-sprouted, and it was my favorite thing in the old steps. Let’s hope it takes…I also plan on getting some peppermint to plant among the stones. Let the (semi) wild weeds grow!

So in love with place and person…I am so lucky.

“It may be absurd to believe that a primitive culture in the Himalaya has anything to teach our industrialized society. But our search for a future that works keeps spiraling back to an ancient connection between ourselves and the earth, an interconnectedness that ancient cultures have never abandoned.” (Helena Norberg-Hodge)

It’s this quote that opens a chapter in Three Cups of Tea, the best-selling novel published a few years ago, that I just got my hands on this week.

Today was the second monthly pick-up of our meat CSA from Applecheek Farm. Last month we went through the share pretty quickly it seems – holding a dinner party to celebrate, and another (The T-Bones on the grill alongside raddichio) to soothe a relationship. This month, perhaps we’ll get to do the same, though it goes more quickly that way.

Jamie went by the Bluebird Tavern to pick it up from Rocio, farm John’s wife, who does the delivery. She is the sweetest woman, and I was sure she wouldn’t give him a hard time even thought he meat was labeled with my name. She didn’t, and Jamie came home later, happy that he had been more involved. He talked about the experience with rapture, though it was only a few moments. Something like “Why is it so special that we go and pick up our meat from them? I bet this is still a big part of her culture where she grew up!” (Rocio is from Ecuador. Even so, we’re speculating.) And I said, “Well, it was a part of our culture only a few generations ago.” I think this is true…haha.

In Italy I got another taste of this – it seems like a lot of European cities and towns still center around artisans. The tailor, electrician, cobbler and butcher are still lucrative occupations, and necessary neighbors. I am not sure if the butcher raises the meat himself…not likely since he’s probably pretty busy, but I bet he’s still good friend’s with that farmer. His livelihood depends on the quality of his product and service.

The average current way of living is far from this. Most of us know that now, since stuff like this is a normal discussion around the (Vermont?) dinner table. Here in Vermont, both farmers/producers and consumers are turning away from this model. I wonder what it will do long term? Will Price Chopper no longer be open 24 hours? These small farmer’s may have to struggle to stay small, because what we have right now could not feed the whole state…more people would have to take on this as a profession OR at least on a small, personal scale to feed themselves and their families. Modernity must meet practicality and not only ‘get back to nature’ but go back to what has been ingrained as natural to us for thousands of years. Self-sufficiency and independence with an emphasis on community.

Self-sufficiency – or being a successful farmer – requires skills, and skills are attained through practice. Our lives may have to slow down a tad. This does not mean we can not multi-task. The new future can pick and choose the best from both ways of life – solar panels, modern (or ancient/successful/herbal) medicine and the internet, with the old connection to the rhythms of the natural world.

Who’s got ideas?