Celebrate Sustainable Holidays, Plus Wear Your Costumes on Saturday!

This Saturday is the final market of the season. We had so much fun this year, and met so many wonderful people! Let’s have a little more fun before we go!

Halloween is almost here, and that means costumes, trick-or-treating, and fun games! Come by market this Saturday and show off your costumes! We’re going to end the season in style at ELF, and can’t wait to see what people wear. There will be trick-or-treating for the kids, too!

Thinking about Halloween is a great way to raise awareness about sustainable holidays. Just imagine how much extra trash must be produced from the candy-wrappers, alone, every year? One Canadian family documented their trash-production in the holiday season and discovered they produced 320 pounds of wet garbage, with 83 large garbage bags of packaging material and recyclables. (link) Imagine every household across North America taking simple steps to minimize their waste production over the holidays?

Everyone knows Halloween candy should be store-bought, and factory-sealed to ensure safety. What everyone doesn’t know is how much extra trash that produces every year. Between the costumes that are only worn once, to the decorations that may or may not be stored for next year, and all that sugary candy, the only holiday that really competes with Halloween for extra trash is Christmas with all that wrapping paper! There are some simple steps everyone can do to minimize their excess trash and waste.

First, try to find multi-use items for decorations and costumes. For example, if you pick a pirate costume, many of the parts can be worn or used again for other things. For instance, choosing to dress as everyone’s favorite super-hero, Captain Vegetable, involves simple parts, that have more than one use. A green shirt, some bunny ears, pipe-cleaners, a carrot-orange wig, and some creative felt leads to a costume with re-usable items. Pipe cleaners and felt can be used for other projects around the house, a green shirt is re-wearable, the cape can be a simple blanket or towel with more uses around the house, and no garden scarecrow is complete without a bright orange wig and bunny ears! (Of course, the carrot and celery are perfect alternatives to candy snacks while you’re out trick-or-treating!) If you take time to think and plan, your fun costume and decorations can be used for more things than just one fun night of trick-or-treating!

Second, the candy that is consumed is not only unhealthy for your children, but it is also a lot of packaging material to put into the trash. Look for candies that come with minimal packaging, that is wrapped in paper, not plastic. Willy Wonka’s delicious NERDS come in little paper boxes. This candy package will break down when all those plastic fun-size candy bar wrappers will not! If you are willing to spring for the “good stuff” look for Fair Trade and Organic chocolates, preferably with recycle-able packaging like paper and foil! Even better than these are homemade candies. Often, homemade candies and baked goods are frowned upon my safety advocates, but if you know your neighbors and they know you, what better way to show them your holiday spirit than a special batch of handmade items kept aside for the friends that will come to your door?

Third, think local! When you’re purchasing your specialty gifts and products for your close friends and family, look to local producers to support your festive season! Every locally-produced item in your holiday celebration, whether it is delicious, fresh sweet potatoes from your local farmers for your holiday table or locally handmade, hand-crafted soap as gifts, means less carbon was spent moving your goods from somewhere in the world to you. When you are looking for good gifts for your friends and family, when they live in distant places, consider searching their local businesses for items to send to their door. Every mile saved in shipping decreases the footprint of fossil fuels, helping to ensure holiday celebrations for decades and centuries to come!

Beyond Halloween, with Thanksgiving and Christmas, remember to look for festive items that have more than one use. If single-use items are necessary, like wrapping paper, locate single-use items that will minimize trash waste through recycling, if possible. At least look for biodegradable items, if recycling is not available!

Finally, think local! Everything you do with local producers and local service providers reduces the amount of fossil fuels expended on your holiday season!

When celebrating the holiday with sustainability in mind, remember to have fun! Being sustainable should be enjoyable, because we are fortunate to have so many options in a world that is increasingly aware of the balance between economy and the environment!

Improve Your Garden with Compost Thanks to DeKalb County!

Every home garden and farm needs compost. It’s a perfectly organic, natural fertilizer that rebuilds the soil depleted by plants and weather. Composting is not as beautiful as a burgeoning flower, but without compost, flowers just won’t be as pretty. Composting at home is as easy as starting a pile of garden waste in a shaded space, refilled with the plant waste from your kitchen. But, many home gardeners simply don’t have enough compost. Fortunately, city programs produce a lot of plant waste from mowing and landscaping. Some cities and counties accumulate that waste into compost piles that residents can utilize to improve the soil in their yards.

In DeKalb County, for residents of DeKalb, that compost is offered free of charge. All we have to do is drive down to one of the conveniently-located transfer stations, with our own shovel and bins, and pick up some compost. Here’s a link to the city website with information about locations and information about the different transfer stations where home gardeners can improve their soil with a natural fertilizer.

Composting can be an art form, but it doesn’t have to be difficult to start. You want plant waste, nothing oily and no bones or meats, and you want them piled in a shady spot and covered with soil if it ever starts to smell. Water the compost if it looks dry, and give nature time to process all that waste matter back into the earth. Avoid sick or rotten plants in the pile, and feel free to add yard waste and plant clippings. There are a couple different ways to keep your compost, that can be beautiful or simply more organized. Fencing off the compost is a good idea for pet owners, whose dogs would love to dig around in that compost. For tips on how to “build” your compost container, here’s a website with great resources on compost from the University of Missoury: http://extension.missouri.edu/p/G6957

Also, check out the videos on this helpful website found through the Georgia Organics Organization for composting basics!

We have our own wire-mesh bin hidden somewhere at ELF Market! Have you ever wondered what happens back in the shadiest corner on our lot? Back in the trees, we have a simple area bound off with a fence where we pile our waste plant matter to let it develop into quality soil. If you’re curious about composting, go take a peek and see a simple, effective method that you could easily do yourself, at home!

Home gardeners know  the time for compost is always at hand. With the cool weather, and the slow down in the growing season, this is a great time to work on projects that set yourself up for a productive spring. Starting your compost pile is a great thing you can do to reduce your household’s throwaway culture consumption, and increase your household plant production!

Curious About Local Farming? Consider Volunteering on a Farm!

Once upon a time, communities worked together to support their local farmers. Barn-raisings, irrigation-dfigging and large harvests required lots of hands coming together to provide the manpower necessary to get the job done. With the rise of commercial agriculture and the disconnection between communities and foods, the sort of jobs that used to be done by everyone working together are often done by heavy machinery, contractors, and itinerant labor. Bringing agriculture back to communities means getting the community involved, again! What better way to improve your own knowledge and skill as a gardener than volunteering on a farm?

One of the easiest ways to volunteer is to contact your local farm and ask for an opportunity to volunteer in exchange for food. You could be weeding beds, planting seedlings, or working on building fences or animal shelters. You might learn how to harvest some of your favorite vegetables, and improve your own home garden with tips from experienced farmers. I know that volunteers are always welcome at our good friends Oakleaf Mennonite Farm, who are only minutes away from ELF Market on Bouldercrest, because I’ve volunteered there! I had a great time, learned about squash and peppers and green beans, and I was fed a delicious lunch for my time and energy. Contact farms near you and see if they wouldn’t mind a helping hand.

A great organization exists, here in Atlanta, to promote community-focused food production through volunteer labor. CropMob Atlanta is a great group of folks, who are always looking for opportunities to help out local farms. Joining them for a mob is a great way to make friends, get some fresh air, and do something positive for your community! There’s even a mob planned for this weekend! After you visit us at the Farmer’s Market, why not head out to join the CropMob to help Georgia’s Farm to School Program at Coan Middle School for a Family Crop Mob that will be followed by a rally to support Farm to School programs in Atlanta! Bring the whole family for a great weekend supporting your local community programs!

Fresh Pesto in Autumn? Try Delicious Recipes With Carrot Tops!

Pesto is delicious. It’s delicious on pasta. It’s delicious with fresh tomatoes. It’s delicious to keep around to toss into soups and stews and casseroles for an extra kick of flavor. Alas, with the end of summer, fresh basil will get scarce. We’re reaching the end of the growing season for basil.

But, many chefs have found a way around this problem by exploiting other green vegetables for their Pesto. One hot trend to try is Carrot Top Pesto! I’ve been looking around for recipes and tips for this edible and nutritious seasonal green.

First, be sure to only use organic carrots, or carrots fresh from your local farmer’s market, to prevent exposure to damaging chemicals from commercial carrot farming!

New York chef, Kevin Adey, recommends that you blanch the carrot tops first in plenty of salt, to preserve their color and fresh taste. Carrot tops can become very bitter and blanching preserves their freshness. Here’s a link to his carrot-top Pesto recipe: http://nancymatsumoto.blogspot.com/2011/08/chef-kevin-adeys-carrot-top-pesto.html. (His recipe still calls for fresh basil, but hopefully filling out the Pesto with other greens will extend the life and usefulness of any basil plants you have indoors in the winter.)

Fresh carrot tops straight from the farmer’s market are recommended. If you buy organic carrots from the store, taste the top and see if it’s bitter. Carrot tops bitter quickly with age because of their high Potassium content, but don’t worry! quality vinegar and a little honey can push that back in your pesto! Taste as you go to make sure you get the balance just right.

The World Carrot Museum, in England, offers this simple recipe that looks delicious, and offers infinite substitution possibilities for the different nuts and spices:

¾ cup hazelnuts (or mixture of hazelnuts, almonds and walnuts) 1/8 cup organic carrot leaves, chopped 1/8 cup organic parsley, chopped 1 clove garlic juice of 1 lemon ¼-1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil ½ cup fresh-grated parmesan cheese generous pinch of sea salt.

Toast the nuts at 325ºF for a few minutes to bring out the flavour. In a food processor, puree the nuts, carrot leaves, parsley leaves, lemon juice and garlic.

Historically, Pesto is a green, ground up with an oil, and often prepared with fresh nuts, herbs, spices, and vinegars to enhance the flavors. Basil Pesto, as we know it, comes down to us from Medieval Genoa, but the idea behind pesto has been around for thousands of years. Gardeners have long seen Pesto as a way to put excess greens to good and delicious use with the help of either a mortar and pestle or a food processor, and a little creativity. Even Italian purists will tell you about Broccoli Pesto, Parsley Pesto, or even Mint Pesto! Dill Pesto is popular in Scandinavian cuisine for fish and meats. (Dill is a close relative of carrots which would work well in carrot-top pesto recipes – though dill is currently out of season.)

For seasonal ideas, I’ve seen recipe suggestions for Tatsoi/Pumpkin Seed/Balsamic Pesto with red pepper flakes, and countless recipes that recommend spicier greens, like Mustard and Collard. Historically, any sort of green that is edible and available would be ground up into a pesto with oil, vinegar and fresh nuts. The delicious Basil pesto is not the only way to enjoy your pasta! When it comes to Pesto, countless delicious variations are available to anyone who has fresh greens, a little ingenuity, and a desire for fresh, delicious pesto.

Feel that Brisk Breeze! It’s Finally Autumn!

The turning of the seasons means it’s time for pumpkin pie, fresh apples, and all sorts of delicious fall recipes! It also means it is a good time to think about community volunteering to help those neighbors that have other things on their mind instead of just enjoying the wonderful weather. Many excellent volunteer opportunities arise as the holiday season gets closer and closer. We were so glad to have a chance to work with Neighbor in Need two weeks ago, because nothing helps the community like local volunteer organizations.

If you’re interested in volunteering, East Lake has plenty of excellent causes in need of extra hands. The East Lake Foundation has over 80 volunteer opportunities right now, right here in our community. Some of them don’t even look like they would be such a huge commitment of time and energy. Just reading to children in the library on the 2nd Thursday of the month isn’t a huge commitment, but it could help make a difference building excitement about reading among the young people in our neighborhood!

Want to help bring good food to people in our community that need a little extra help? Atlanta food banks, like the Atlanta Community Food Bank, is always on the look-out for good volunteers! While we enjoy our delicious fall harvest vegetables and fruits, we also have the power to share that bounty with others.

Even if you don’t have time to volunteer, you still have the power to support local organizations. Look around your neighborhood at the groups that make a difference and see if you can find a way to make a difference. Even a small difference is important. If enough small change happens, eventually a big change will be the result! Shopping locally makes a difference, too! Every dollar spent at local small businesses will stay in our community, building economic value right here, at home.

With all the news of protest and unrest and trouble, it’s nice to know that sometimes, all it takes is volunteering to read or do a little tutoring, while shopping for goods and services from your neighbors’ small businesses.

Hey, didn’t we just do exactly that? We just held a fundraiser, two weeks ago, for Neighbor in Need! People came and helped out and shopped from local producers! Good job, East Lake Farmer’s Market and thanks for everyone for coming out to show your support! Watch our Facebook group for pictures, too!

Feel that brisk breeze? It’s finally autumn, and it’s that time of year to think about community!

Local Happenings

The strong gusts of wind that tried to take carry off our tents this weekend were no match for all our nimble and able-bodied volunteers who helped recover blown-away goods, and tie down the rest! Thanks, everyone for your quick thinking and fast action to keep our tents from blowing all the way down 2nd avenue, to Memorial, and the golf course beyond! Nothing could stop our successful fundraiser, not even a swift breath of early autumn wind!

How much money did we raise for Neighbor in Need? Well, I’m waiting on confrimation, but the day of the event I heard a number that was over 1000 dollars, and I hope it’s right! Thanks everyone for coming out and enjoying delicious barbecue and beautiful photography and having a great day at market.

The fall season is upon us, and with it comes a slew of events, here in Atlanta. Though it happened this weekend, one annual event that is always a blast is Atlanta and Athens’ Field of Greens Festival! 30 of the region’s best chefs get together on a 74-Acres at Whippoorwill Hollow Farm, a certified organic farm in Walnut Hill, east of Atlanta, to prepare good food, and promote local education and awareness of local food producers, and local restaurants and chefs that make Atlanta and Athens an exciting place to live and eat. If you got a chance to go, don’t forget to post pictures! Did you recognize anyone from market?  Did you get any pictures? I hope to see them all on Facebook!

If you missed Field of Greens, don’t worry! There’s still lots of fun things to do in the region. For instance, do you want to teach your children exactly where eggs come from? Our neighbors at the Oakhurst Community Garden Project are running a small class next Saturday just for kids: KIDS IN THE COOP (11-11:45am $5 Garden Member, $10 Non Member) from the description on the website: “Join the The Celtic Gardener, Anne-Marie Anderson, and her daughter Scarlett for a fun introduction to the basics of chicken care. Learn how to pick up, feed, and be a keeper of chickens. Your child will have the opportunity to ask questions, interact with a chicken and learn where eggs come from. Parents can find out how chicken keeping can fit into your lifestyle and your child’s learning experiences. What better chore than caring for chickens? Perfect for ages 4-10, with parent in attendance. 10 max.”

In know you don’t want to miss ELF Market, but there’s plenty of time to come by before or after your children visit a chicken coop. Once they see firsthand the care and feeding of chickens, purchasing eggs from one of our vendors, like Little Red Hen or Legacy Alpaca Farms, will have a whole new meaning for them!

Enjoy the cool fall weather, everyone!

Let’s Talk About Helping People: Neighbor in Need and Saucy Spirits

This weekend, there’s going to be a fundraiser for Neighbor in Need (www.neighborinneed.org)  where we will be enjoying the delicious cooking of Decatur Community Barbecue, and the work of fabulous photographers  Kathy Wolfe, Hector Amador, Kathryn Kolb, David Knox, Robin Henson, and Stephen Lashley. The silent auction for barbecue, and pounds of barbecue, and the many fine pieces on display will be auctioned to benefit a charity that is based right here in East Lake. This charity works locally through volunteer labor and donations from local businesses and individuals to help the longtime residents of the community through hardships in these difficult times.

“Neighbor in Need is a non-profit corporation that helps low-income elderly neighbors in East Lake, Kirkwood and Edgewood communities in Atlanta make emergency home repairs.” – www.neighborinneed.org

Emergency home repairs means protecting the value of the homes in our community, and protecting the individuals that live in those homes from dangerous living conditions like broken roofs, broken heating and air-conditioning, and other unsafe conditions. Helping our neighbors thrive while enjoying delicious barbecue is a great way to spend your Saturday!

Speaking of helping our neighbors thrive, Ryan O’Neill, from last weekend’s cooking demonstration, is looking for your help, too. His family is working very hard to put together a small business selling the very jams and jellies that were so popular this weekend! With a little help from the ELF Community, we can push their business forward through on-line funding crowdsource site Kickstarter!

The Wong family are a regular sight at ELF, and I know we’ve probably all had a chance to interact with them at some point. They’re such a great group of people, who could really use our help. If you were here last Saturday, you also had a chance to buy some delicious wine jellies that could become a regular part of your breakfast table if the company can acquire enough funds to get their project into a lift-off! At the very least, a donation to the campaign will net you various reward packages that mean more delicious wine jellies for your table!

Good luck, Tiffany and Ryan!