New York Times Features Community Gardens

Here are links to a recent series of articles from the New York Times on Community Gardens:

"The Seeds They Carried"

"Chickens Threaten to Divide Brooklyn Community"

"Growing Everything but Gardeners"

Recipe: Lemon Pepper Brussel Sprouts

Every Thanksgiving dinner, I use this recipe. The version I've written below is modified from Jack Bishop's "Vegetables Every Day" cookbook. This is the only recipe I use for brussel sprouts.

---

Ingredients:

brussel sprouts, rinsed, trimmed, and cut in half

fresh lemon juice

olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

---

Recipe:

Add the brussel sprouts to a pot of boiling water and cook for five minutes.

Drain immediately and sprinkle with lemon juice. The acid from the lemons will soften the harsh cabbage flavors. Typically, I use the juice from half of a lemon for a pound of brussel sprouts.

Toss with olive oil.

Season with salt and pepper.

Serve IMMEDIATELY. The lemon juice will discolor the sprouts if left sitting for too long.

Good Food Read: "Growing Older" by Joan Dye Gussow

Several years ago, I had read "This Organic Life: the Confessions of a Suburban Homesteader" by Joan Dye Gussow and absolutely loved reading it. A local organic farming conference stocked her newest book, "Growing Older", at their book sale. Being a frugal fanny, I jotted down the title and checked it out from my local library.

One of the most interesting aspects of the book is the author's description of coping with grief, or lack thereof, after the death of a loved one. It is fascinating to follow her thought process through her feelings of guilt because she isn't devastated by the loss of her husband.

The book is divided into four sections: The End of My Marriage, What Next?, Some of the Other Species, and Growing Older. My favorite chapters were "Muskrats, Dahlias, and an Italian", "Watery Lessons", and "Zucchini(Warning: Contains Recipes)." There is also a chapter discussing bees, pollinators, and colony collapse disorder.

Favorite quote included by the author:

"As long as one has a garden, one has a future. As long as one has a future, one is alive."

--Frances Hodgson Burnet, from "In the Garden"

Both books are available on Amazon and published by Chelsea Green Publishing in Vermont.