Localvores, Volunteer Tomatoes, and Grub!

Hey there everyone! How's your dining lately?

Mine has been so-so, mostly because I've been too busy to shop, cook or go out to any of my favorite organic haunts.

Remember last summer when I told you all about my brave little volunteer cherry tomato plant, that grew itself from fallen seed in the leaf debris of one of our window-wells? Well, she's b-a-a-a-ck! More about that in a minute. . .

I want to share with you a couple of gems before they leave my mental space permanently.

The first one is a group called "Localvores".

I first heard about them while I was on vacation in Vermont this summer, and I loved the idea. (Actually, I read about a similar idea in Plenty also. . . ) The idea is to try to eat as high a percentage of food as possible that is grown within 100 miles of where you live.

Simple, right? (Well, it is if you don't live in an expansive urban area.)

Anyway, the Localvores take a pledge, with the percentage of commitment entirely up to the individual or family, to eat as much as possible from locally grown sources.

Many of the participants are also interested in eating organically. I mean, doesn't that make sense, too?

While the idea seems (so far) local to Vermont, I bet it has wings. I'll be interested to see where else it catches on -- and why.

The other item I want to share with you is a new book called Grub! by Anna Lappe. (Yes, that Lappe. . . )

I have been way too busy to get my hands on it yet, but it is the very next book of any kind I plan to buy. In it, Anna shares all about what eating well really means -- and clues us in on how to make it easy, fun, and affordable.

Now you're talking!! A book after my own heart.

As soon as I get my hands on it I will share some tidbits and morsels for you; meanwhile you can get your own copy here:



Finally, I just have to tell you about that volunteer cherry tomato plant in our window-well.

After last year, I thought we'd seen the last of her.

I mean, really.

There were barely enough leaves in that window-well to hold water, let alone any nutrients.

But there she was -- budding and bearing voluminous fruit all through the summer. Tasty little things, too! We pulled her up at the end of the season and offered her to the compost heap.

And I thought that would be the end of it.

Not!

She came back again this year -- but not until late August. It was a rainy summer, and not enough sun early; all the farmers around here say they had a terrible summer for their tomatoes; we were lucky to get one or two good heirlooms a week from the farmers market.

So last week, guess what we discovered? Not only blossoms but tiny little cherries, popping out just like they know what they're doing! And we're only days away from a hard frost.

I can't imagine that any of them will survive long enough to give us anything to eat.

But. . . I could be wrong about that.

Stay tuned.

I'll let you know what happens!

Yours for extraordinary dining -- for everyone,

Nancy

Here's where to find great organic gourmet foods, folks!