(2) Many people have no idea about garlic scapes. I felt stuck on repeat at the farmers market a few weeks ago answering the questions: “Oh! What are these? How do you cook them?” So, world of blog readers here you go. A garlic scape is the prepubescent flower of a garlic plant. It must be cut off before going to bloom or else the garlic cloves in the ground will not form properly. They become tender when you cook them and have a delicate garlic flavor. They can be cooked in a variety of ways: grilled garlic scapes, sauteed garlic scapes, garlic scape pesto, garlic scape garnish, garlic scape pizza topping. . . yes, quite versatile! And if you’re feeling like you may have a vampire on your tail they also make for one beautiful necklace.

(3) Cows need to be milked 2xs a day- every 12 hours. This beauty from the Coffelts Farm gives about 4 gallons per milking. Watching her be milked reinforced my awareness of where food comes from. I hesitated to enjoy drinking it. The fact that this warm milkiness  was squeezed out of the interior walls of this huge creature just blows my mind. Here are some close ups to reconnect you with the orgins of milk.

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As I flew over to Portland last month in a Cessna I saw many patches of logged terrain. Yesterday I was looking at the business section of the Seattle Times attempting to gain some insight into the stock markets. (ha!) I was drawn immediately to the price list for commodities, of which includes lumber. The World Bank estimates that forest products are a $270-billion-a-year business and the worldwide appetite for everything from paper to building materials shows no sign of slowing. Global wood consumption is expected to rise by at least 20 percent by 2010 and by over 50 percent in 2050, according to the Resource Conservation Alliance.

Here are some images I took last month of land that has been cleared. Most of the wood pulled from this region are Douglass Firs which are prized for their strength in construction as well as a common Christmas tree. Here are some images from the plane of cleared Doug-Firs and a small paper mill outside of Seattle. Look at all those wood chips!!!

I’ll have more to report on later, but for now here are some of the most beautiful shots from the fields of Orcas Island.

Golden Beets- tis the season.

Yes, it is from this world.

Baby organic strawberries. Melts in your mouth, not your hands.

Canning and pickling bull kelp. Who knew?!

Orcas Island in July is overflowing with an abundance of food. Fresh prawns, crabs, deer, rabbits, goats, lambs, mussels, oysters, salmon. . . not to mention all the green veggies coming to fruition. Everywhere I turn there is fresh local food beckoning to be consumed. It is quite magical, to say the least.

I spent the day on the north side of Orcas helping my friend Lerner harvest kelp and mussles. Just as we were heading out his mom called up to say that she was on her way with fresh roadkill. (The resourcefulness of people here is astonishing.) She pulled up an hour later with a beautiful young doe. It was the first time I had witnessed the gutting, slicing and dicing of such a large creature. The pop when the air released from the body cavity let out a musty and gamy smell. I had to turn away for a second. Phew. I was hugely impressed by Ruby, an 18 year old Orcas Island local, who staked the claim on preparing the deer. It took her two hours to skin and butcher the whole animal and by the time we got back up from the beach she had even prepared lunch for us: fresh venison, brown rice and a salad from their garden. Life doesn’t get better.

Meanwhile down on the beach we harvested a variety of different sea weeds. The big one you will see is called bull kelp. We pickled and canned the whip in a spiced brine. Mmmm. Then we hung the leafs up to dry. They can be crushed and sprinkled on any meal for added salt, flavor and a serious boost of minerals. The kelp can also be thrown into a compost mix, releasing beneficial nutrients into the soil. Below I am posting a gallery of images because they do more justice than my writing skills ever could. Cheers.

… And with the left over rhubarb I made two crisps. I know. I was a good 1950′s house wife today. Andrea and I spent far too many hours in the kitchen. My stomach hurts from taste testing the jams far too many times- too sweet? too sour? too thin? Irrr… I feel sick.

I am now sipping on a glass of cold milk that came from a cow up the road. Andrea milked it yesterday and I am pretty sure this is the freshest milk I have ever had. AND as I type this some young gents just brought in some live prawns they just caught. You are envious, yes?

Here’s to cooking good food with and for friends. Cheers!

Nicole Sherwin: P.O. Box 1891 Eastsound, WA 98245

Having now been here a month I have seen the cycle of certain plants. They have come to fruition and their season has passed. The spinach has all been pulled, the rhubarb left on its own to recharge until next spring, and the rainbow chard is on its last leg. These are natural cycles that the average consumer has forgotten about completely. Before coming to get my hands dirty I “understood” the importance of seasonal, local and organic food but what I did not realize was how out of touch we are with these cycles. I have no idea when pomegranates or, say, peanuts come into season.

I have always had a weird irk when entering the doors of a generic grocery store. Now looking into the produce section I find it truly phenomenal that we are able to maintain such a selection. Michael Pollan speaks a lot about this. Melons next to apples next to avocados next to potatoes. Melons from the summer, apples from the fall, avocados from the spring and potatoes from the winter. I am amazed that we have been able to sustain such abundance.

I can’t even explain how guilty I feel buying bananas. First, doing field production for The Affected in Nicaragua’s banana lands has enlightened me to the atrocious history of the banana industry. “How could I ever buy a conventional Chiquita, Dole or Delmonte banana?! “ I think to myself. Secondly, the fact that bananas are the number one most consumed fruit in the US and Europe yet not a single bushel is grown in country. Every single one is shipped up from the south: Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Ecuador. That same sense of guilt is there when buying any thing that is not in season because it means it traveled a long way to get into my hands.

You should see George, Chief Operating Farmer of Orcas; Frms, in the mornings before Saturday’s market. The moment the sun comes up as we harvest we must make sure that everything is immediately shaded and moist upon collecting it. Freshness is crucial. Now imagine those delicate baby spinach or dinosaur kale being packaged and shipped 2,000+ miles. HA! I don’t know how they make it alive from California to New York; or Iowa to Florida. Come late afternoon at Saturday’s market even we start seeing a difference in the quality of the produce. And, well, thats all I have to say about that. . . how about more pictures!!

Here I am looking dirty and like a northwest farmer after a dusty but sunny (finally!!!) day of weeding and potato planting.

For solstice dinner Maude and I spent the evening at the Bullocks Permaculture Farm, I helped to craft these beautiful salads- all freshly harvested in the moment. Yummy.