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Sunshine?

ByElizabeth

I was talking to my Dad earlier today.  My parents live on Long Island, where they are in the middle of getting three to six inches of snow.  He said that the weather forecasters indicated that they were just missing having a blizzard, and he was grateful they were not.  For the same reason Long Island is not getting a blizzard, we are seeing sun instead of a couple of inches of snow.  We actually needed the snow.  Last week’s ice was the first precipitation in almost three weeks, and now, once again, a storm has shifted away from us.  It is good to see the sun, but it would be better for the trees to get some rain or snow.

We get what we get and then we have to choose whether to be happy or sad about it.  I am happy not to be shoveling.  And the chard is starting to come back.  Next week, with highs forecast in the 40s and 50s, I’ll be harvesting again.

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    The Virtues of Romaine Lettuce (and embracing our place in the web of being)

    ByElizabeth

    This year, along with a mesclun mix, arugula, mache, and the tender green and red leaf lettuces, I planted several heads of romaine.  It is not my favorite lettuce for salad; I have become spoiled by having baby arugula, spinach, and assorted greens and lettuces.  As a replacement for bread, though, it is far and away the best lettuce.  It’s flavor is green enough, but unobtrusive.  It’s shape and sturdiness make it easy to use as an alternative for tortillas, pancakes (think mushu tofu), or pita or other flat bread.  Tonight, I picked several leaves of romaine, which I rolled around sprouts, avocado, and sweet and spicy tofu (saute onions until golden; crumble and saute firm, silken tofu; stir in until just hot and thickened, a bar-b-que-like sauce of tomato paste, molasses, apple cider vinegar, garlic, Bragg’s amino liquid or soy sauce, chili sauce–proportioned to taste).

    Which lettuce works when depends on all the other elements of the meal.  One is not better than the other in the abstract, though you might have a taste for one more than another.  One type might be better for a particular meal.  So too, we each have our place in the web, and will be better aligned when we offer certain aspects of ourselves at particular places and times.  Part of the discrimination (viveka) we learn in yoga to serve us in this life is developing an understanding of how best we can serve and where and when.

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    Good News for Solar In DC

    ByElizabeth

    I received this email last night that I wanted to share.  If you own a house in the District and haven’t gone solar, think about it.  If you rent, write your landlord.  If you live in another jurisdiction, work with like-minded citizens and work for alternative sources of energy.  FYI, since my solar panels were active, my highest electricity bill was $20 (and for the past two months, the meter has run backwards).

    Here’s the full text of the email (with a link on how to get involved at the bottom):

    Today, thanks to your hard work the Distributed Generation Act of 2011 (19-10) passed the DC Council.   The vote was unanimous!!!  We only await the Mayor’s signature for the bill to become law.  Although, there may be a lag of up to a year for SREC prices on the spot market to recover–we expect the bill to create a strong vibrant solar market in DC for the next DECADE!! In response to the expected improvement in market conditions SOLSYSTEMS announced today the availability of an upfront SREC payment through its installer partners of $1,200/kw installed.  This means for example, that you could get $4,800 up front for a 4kw system!

    Many many people worked on the bill! Many of you showed up to testify! More than a thousand of you signed the petition in support of the legislation. http://signon.org/sign/build-dc-solar-dont-let?source=s.em.cr&r_by=118605    Many of you sent emails or made phone calls. Many of you showed up to deliver our petition to each of the Council Member’s offices. Many of you turned out to create a field of sunflowers–in the Council Chamber during the first reading of the bill! A special shout out to MDVSEIA that worked hand and hand with us throughout the process!

    It is important that the DC Council understand that this bill has very strong, and broad support from across the city. We want them to feel good about passing this bill and feel good about passing similar legislation in the future.  This bill will create the market mechanism to allow homeowners, churches, community organizations, businesses and government buildings to go solar! While there is much left to do to make solar affordable and accessible to every DC resident—this bill is a very important step.

    PLEASE write to the DC council today and THANK them for their support!    dccouncil@dccouncil.us    A quick email, a quick thanks! Thank them for leading DC toward a solar future.

    Anya Schoolman
    President
    DC Solar United Neighborhoods

    Thinking of Going Solar? Want to Get More Involved ? Become a DC Sun Member– Join the Discussion at

    http://sites.google.com/site/dcsolarunitedneighborhoods/

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    Pickles

    ByElizabeth

    Soon after this article on making your own pickles was published in the New York Times, a friend and mentor sent it to me.  Though she is a mentor for reiki and energetic practices, and I see her regularly for massages, I’m quite sure she wasn’t trying to encourage me to eat more raw food or get into the fermentation fad (but you can read lots about how some raw foodists fetishize fermented food by using your favorite search engine).  I think she just thought I’d like making pickles, and she was right.

    I’m now on my fifth or sixth batch.  The first batch I did exactly according to the directions in the article.  The second, I did exactly according to Mark Bittman’s recipe in How to Cook Everything, which I found used a few years ago at my favorite used bookstore in DC–The Lantern-A Bryn Mawr Bookshop.  After that, I experimented with a little less salt, a change of spices, and different ways of slicing the cucumbers.  The cucumbers for this most recent batch were a little older and seedier so I added carrots and ginger to improve the flavor of the cucumbers.   I also added garlic, a few chili peppers, and some coriander seeds from the garden. A grape leaf or two helps make the vegetables stay crisper; they aren’t needed, but if one has a grape vine in the garden, as I do, why not?

    For my birthday, though you don’t really need one, I just bought myself a nice fermentation crock.  First up:  sauerkraut and then when I’ve had an opportunity to go shopping in Chinatown for supplies, a big batch of kimchee.

    This latest kitchen venture, is mostly because I’ve always loved the taste of pickled food, and because it is amazingly easy to make them.  Pickles and other fermented foods are now added to my list of  love to make foods that with a little attention and some planning and patience yield big results (like sprouting and slow cooker beans and stews).  That my yogi friends who are crazy into raw food would also be excited about what eating fermented foods might be doing for my health is just a bonus.

    pickles

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