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Progress report

Posted at 1:25 AM on June 13, 2008 by Vera Schabicki (2 Comments)

My Garden is a total mess. I go out every morning and look for damage, they (Armadillo man) finally got to my beautiful potato bed, I must admit I was so proud of it, I had built it up over two years with lots of wheel barrows full of dirt and leaves and compost. I had purchased the seed potatoes at Halls and so many of them came up, we even had to add a layer of hay to shore them up, they were a beautiful green abundant bed of vibrant life, now they are broken, laying on their sides, unearthed and sad.....along with the peppers, tomatoes, artichokes (it never hurts to try), cardoons and lovage..........when does one decide to quit?

I have decided that I must buy pasta, I am sorry but not having tidy little package of pasta to rely on was really doing damage to my mental health. Pasta is my fast food, when we come home late or I don't feel like it, I set a pot of water to boil, sauté an onion or two, as well as a whole pile of garlic and then chop vegetable X and add it to the pan, then herbs or chilies or whatever, dump it over the warm noodles (put a little pasta water on your veggies to make them saucy), grate parmesan cheese and fresh pepper (with attitude please) and WALLA, dinner.

I went to the long standing farmers market, the one downtown is a bit more innovative and energetic but it is difficult for me to get to ...The AG center is open every day...(except Sunday, we are in the south)....I cannot remember who said it in their blog, but as I purchased green beans, I looked the young man in the eye and asked if he grew the beans, he said no ,his mother had grown them, ( he was a fine young thing), so I asked him if he had weeded them and he ruefully nodded and said "oh yeah, every row".

I got wonderful fresh broccoli at this market, two HEADS for a Dollar!!!! Everyone in my family loves Broccoli, wonderful over pasta.......did I mention that I have had to let the organic question go a bit?

The best organic (in this case bio- dynamic) whole wheat pasta is Bio-Natura from Italy.............the organic Soba noodles are wonderful also.

Repentantly yours, Vera

Comments (2)

Hi Vera,
I, too, have decided to start buying and eating dried pasta again. James and I were making it by hand through the winter, but now that we are playing outside until dark, there's no time to make fresh pasta. I also figure that since the pasta is shipped dry, it weighs less, therefore shipping containers can be filled with more pasta. I think in general the shipping and transportation impact of dried goods is less than perishable goods anyway. So much of the weight of perishable goods is water weight, and it makes no sense shipping water from one country to another. But, since there's no water weight associated with dried pasta, I figure I can rationalize buying good quality Italian imported stuff.
Good luck with the garden. I can't believe how destructive armadillos are!
Leslie

Posted by Leslie | June 16, 2008 11:26 AM

That damn armidillo! I say he's got to go, by any means necessary. You know me, vegatarian extraordinaire but... but.. but.. he is messing with you feeding your family! I know this crazy ole coot who will build you a trap...

Posted by Michele the Friend | June 18, 2008 10:38 AM