Blogs

August 26, 2009

Summer gardening season is winding down, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy fresh produce through the winter, too. It's not too late to start planting your winter vegetable seeds (although, if you plan to garden this winter, you better jump on it quickly). Leafy greens, beets, carrots, turnips, parsnips, broccoli and cauliflower can all be planted now and harvested later this fall.

July 28, 2009

If you enjoy celebrating local food -- certainly my favorite local food, by the way -- then mark your calendar for Saturday, Aug. 8 for the East Nashville Tomato Art Fest. (July 31 is the deadline to submit your tomato haikus -- see below for details.)

So what exactly does one do at a tomato festival? Well, first off, don't expect it to be like La Tomatina, that gigantic tomato food fight that takes place in Spain every year. We have too much love and respect for the tomato to use them as projectiles.

June 9, 2009

'Tis the season for peas, so lately my weekly CSA shipment has been jam-packed with snap peas in addition to broccoli, cauliflower, peaches, lettuce and basil. Tired of snacking on raw snap peas before dinner, last night I started hunting around for a new recipe that would help me make good use of the peas. This is what I found:

You know that many members of Team Hammock are becoming locavores this season. We're shopping local farmers' markets, enjoying a bounty of produce delivered right to our front doors through CSAs, and growing a plethora of veggies and herbs in our own backyards.

During a recent visit to the Sunset Valley Farmer's Market in Austin, Texas, I picked up some of the first summertime Texas peaches of the season. Juicy and sweet, they were just begging to be eaten in any form or fashion. I grilled a few, ate a few straight out of my hand, and turned a few into a yummy peach and blueberry crisp.

May 20, 2009

Eating locally sounds appealing, but it's not always easy to do. Especially when, like me, your CSA has produced nothing but lettuce for three weeks straight. Lots and lots of lettuce. Last year I discovered that if I didn't have tons of flavorful recipes on hand to use with my produce shipment, I'd start giving away everything I had once I got sick of it.

April 21, 2009

When we're not out running, TeamHammock is all into food. And we're especially into food that is part of the locavore movement.

What's locavore? Well, for one thing it's a word so cool that the New Oxford American Dictionary selected it the 2007 "word of the year."

To quote the word watchers:

"The locavore movement encourages consumers to buy from farmers' markets or even to grow or pick their own food, arguing that fresh, local products are more nutritious and taste better."

Hammock Inc. people are always on the run. Train along with us and stay in touch with our community activities here on Team Hammock.