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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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There Is No Free Meatball

March 3, 2013
Tags: sustainability, beef, IKEA, furniture, local, food, organic, the clueless eater, high cholesterol
Meatballs and furniture? What were you thinking? It’s true, there is no evidence that horsemeat got into the meatballs in the United States, but only because there is a system in place. Queasy factor aside, horses are given high amounts of drugs that are not good for people. Most cattle are, too, unless  Read More 
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The Salish Sea II

February 3, 2013
Tags: food, salmon, canoe people, Suquamish, Bainbridge, sustainable living, Salish Sea
Around the island.
We were about fifteen feet above the water, too high to see what canoe people see. A group of Bainbridge Islanders circumnavigated the island last summer in the Virginia V, an old ferry that has been restored and now serves as a tour boat. Our guide was Dennis Lewarch, the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer  Read More 
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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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Día de los Muertos

October 21, 2012
Tags: Día de los Muertos, Day of the Dead, Fall, CSA, cycle of life, la Catarina, Jose Guadalupe Posada
Día de los Muertos
The season has changed from an extended dry spell to the first rains of winter. It is time for the Day of the Dead. We are saddened by the departure of several relatives this year, from the last of our parent’s generation, to a much beloved in-law in Denver.

Falling as it does in the harvest season, el día de los muertos is a reminder that we have our seasons, that we are organic as well, dependent on the lives of plants and animals in order to continue our journey.  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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Let's Garden! with Michelle Obama

September 5, 2012
Tags: White House, obama, kitchen garden, garden, Children, Bo
Review:
American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America
by Michelle Obama
2012, Crown Publishers 271 pages

First Ladies are expected to champion causes, but as we learned during the Clinton era, it can’t be a cause that implies policy, such as a plan for affordable health care. Previous First Ladies tried to Make America Beautiful, or Make America Read, or just wore clothes really, really well.

Obama’s original project was “Let’s Move!” a plan to encourage school children across the country to get more exercise. One out of three children in the United States is considered overweight, and/or suffering from weight-related illnesses, such as diabetes. But as soon as she started this, Obama realized that diet and nutrition are integral to our health and well-being. By starting a kitchen garden, Obama hoped to “begin a conversation about this issue – a conversation about the food we eat, the lives we lead, and how all of that affects our children.” 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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The Versatile Blogger

July 19, 2012
Tags: Gary Nabhan, Stephanie Hammer, The Versatile Blogger, Charlotte Morganti, Steve White, Donna Miscolta, A Week of Indigenous Eating, Hell Notes for Beauty
Thank you and welcome to all the new subscribers! I guess it pays to ask.

I was just nominated for The Versatile Blogger Award by one of my students, (who is more qualified to be MY professor) Stephanie Hammer. A shape shifter of a writer, she blogs at Magically Real. This, gives me a chance to promote some writers and thinkers I respect. Read More 
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