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Walking the Food Forest

April 22, 2013
Tags: food forest, Bainbridge Island, sustainability, food, Friends of the Farms, land use, Todmorden, Beacon Hill Food Forest
The philosophy behind a food forest is that of abundance, rather than scarcity.
Last week, I took a sunny day to walk land designated for a Food Forest on Bainbridge Island. What is a food forest? It is land on which edible plants will grow using the fewest artificial resources, while attracting and supporting insects, animals, and people to enhance its well-being.

I first heard of the idea from  Read More 
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The Ocean

April 3, 2013
Tags: The Ocean, Bainbridge Island, sustainable fishing, sustainable food, renewable resources, local food.
The 38 foot Ocean
The power was out when I interviewed Paul Svornich, a third-generation fisherman on Bainbridge Island. By the light of a flashlight and a lantern, his wife Lorraine Svornich carefully pasted labels on cans of tuna caught by Paul from his sailboat 50 miles off the Oregon coast.

No one goes tuna fishing in a sailboat,except Paul Svornich.
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Winter Dreams

January 16, 2013
Tags: sustainable eating, Bainbridge Island, winter food, food, citrus, muktuk, California, Ometepe, oranges, berries, grapefruit
My winter dreams
I’m pretty sure my broccoli plants are dead now. After two mild winters, I thought I would plant some late in the season to see if I could get it to overwinter and provide an early spring crop. We are now in our second week of freezing temperatures. We managed to eat a  Read More 
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The Salish Sea

December 3, 2012
Tags: Salish Sea, salmon, shellfish, clams, oysters, Dungeness crab, Bainbridge Island, Filipino, First Nations, food practices, Indipinos, Suquamish
Oyster beds on Bainbridge Island in foreground, Olympic Mountains behind.
Winter has settled upon us, and we are into the long rains of the northwest. Mornings tend to be the driest times, with moisture piling up to break loose in the afternoon.

I sloshed out to Cooper Creek one day to look for returning salmon, to no avail. Bainbridge has just a few streams,  Read More 
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Tomatoes at Last

September 20, 2012
Tags: Bainbridge Island, tomatoes, writing, fiction, creative nonfiction, health, cholesterol, metabolic syndrome
First ripe tomatoes
It is September, and I spent much of the summer growing two tomato plants that are the size of small trees. At last, I picked three, ripe, yellow tomatoes yesterday. There are many more on the vine. Until I pick them, these first three are worth about $10 apiece in the cost of the plants,  Read More 
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Hearing Moles

July 30, 2012
Tags: mole hills, Bainbridge Island, sustainability, childhood, San Bernardino
Building mighty mountains
As you can see in the photo, there are three mole hills along the edge of our driveway, and a small one closer to the mailbox. There is a matching set on the other side of the driveway: front doors, back doors. I suppose the little one by the mailbox is a skylight. Read More 
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Trash Talking Crows

July 11, 2012
Tags: Climate, Bainbridge Island, Crows, trees, Fires, Colorado, New Mexico
Trash talking crows
The crows in my neighborhood have been talking a lot lately. Flying back and forth from tree to tree, sharing their thoughts with each other and anyone who cares to listen. They like to stay up high, where they can look down on us and criticize our clothing and our hair. They are gossips.

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Who Are My Heroes?

June 4, 2012
Tags: Joel Salatin, Bainbridge Island, sustainable farming, young farmers, Abundantly Green, Michael Pollan
A chilly June day brought us an unexpected visit from farming guru Joel Salatin. Marilyn, co-owner of the CSA Abundantly Green, sent me an invitation to hear Salatin at the Day Road Farm on Bainbridge Island, just up the road from my house. It seemed to be only for farmers, but I signed up anyway. Maybe I know the secret handshake by now.  Read More 
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March

March 12, 2012
Tags: Bainbridge Island, food forest, Seattle, permaculture, sustainable, Abundantly Green
A greenhouse at Islandwood on Bainbridge Island.
As the winter season wanes, we miss the foods that are in such abundance in the late summer. We ate the last of our frozen green beans, but still have a few potatoes from Abundantly Green, and our homemade saur kraut. I made hamentashen dough with duck eggs for Purim. Pinto beans are boiling  Read More 
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Mid-Winter Food

February 6, 2012
Tags: eating locally, Bainbridge Island, sustainable food, local food, Abundantly Green, vegetables
Garnet yams from Abundantly Green
On January 1, we visited friends who live west of the Hood Canal Bridge. In their sunny bowl of a valley, vegetables were still growing under cold frames, and they sent us home with two week’s worth of salads and greens.

Three weeks later, several inches of snow covered western Washington, stranding us all  Read More 
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