Mount Feake Cemetery

Waltham's Mount Feake Cemetery, established in 1857, is a wonderful historic spot to visit alone or with family for some fresh air and a heaping dose of autumn color. The cemetery's tranquil atmosphere is a great place for quiet physical activity (walking, jogging, running) or personal reflection and relaxation.

From the premises, it is also possible to view one of Francis Cabot Lowell's still-standing textile mills (located on Crescent Street) alongside the Charles River.

In respect to the property and its owners, please be sure to read all cemetery rules prior to your visit.

Media (text and images) created and published by Rebekah Carter (2010)

Cooking in the CLG: Fried Green Tomatoes

The crisp, cool weather so typical of October has finally arrived, bringing with it wonderful things such as colorful leaves, crunchy apples, and pumpkin carving, but also signifying the end of tomato season. Luckily, we can use the green tomatoes that never had a chance to ripen to make tasty snacks like Fried Green Tomatoes!

Dipping sliced tomatoes in cornmeal

Cookin' up the fried greens in the outdoor kitchen!

Mmmmmm... delicious!

Dede's Fried Green Tomatoes

The Ingredients:

• Green tomatoes
• Cornmeal
• Garlic Powder
• Olive oil (to coat the pan for frying)
  
• Salt
• Any other spices you wish to try out!

How to Make Them:

Slice the tomatoes into 1/4 inch thick rounds. Lightly coat your pan with oil and place over med/med-high heat. Mix together cornmeal, garlic powder, salt, and any additional spices; dip each tomato slice into this dry mixture until completely coated. Place each coated slice onto the HOT frying pan; let them cook until browned (check the bottom with a fork or spatula). Flip and cook the second side until browned. Enjoy!

Other activities in the garden this past week:

In addition to cooking up our tomatoes, we also took a trip out to the compost pile to get some fresh NITROGEN for the garden beds where we will plant garlic soon!

All this month: Benefit Restaurant Program

Be sure to enjoy some delicious French-Cambodian dishes at The Elephant Walk at 663 Main Street in Waltham. This family-owned and operated restaurant is donating 3% of its October sales to Waltham Fields! The program ends after October 31st.

This week is also Waltham Field's Second Chances Clothing Drive. Make sure to stop by the farm to drop off used clothing, shoes, accessories, and linens. Feel good about helping others in need while reducing your waste. Please leave all donations in bags under the white tent at the Field Station by October 16th.


Images from The Elephant Walk.
Media (text) created and published by Rebekah Carter (2010).

Maple Cranberry Nut Granola

Try out this easy to make breakfast, snack, or edible gift idea. It's great with milk, yogurt, or simply by itself. Don't be afraid to experiment with your own favorite nuts, seeds, dried fruits, and sweeteners. This granola is an excellent source of vitamin E and a good source of fiber, protein, and loads of other vitamins and minerals.

The Ingredients:

• 2 cups of rolled oats
• 1 cup of slivered almonds, raw
• 1 cup of pecans, raw, chopped
• 1/2 cup of sunflower seeds, raw
  
• 3/4 cup of unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)
  
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons agave nectar
• 2 tablespoons sunflower or safflower oil
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• Cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Toast your oats in a large rectangular pan (13x9x2 works perfectly) for 15 minutes, stirring once while toasting.

While toasting the oats, combine your wet ingredients (oil, maple and agave sugars) in a separate bowl; whisk until completely incorporated (the mixture will get cloudy and thick).

Pull the oats out of the oven; add your nuts (almonds, pecans, coconut), seeds (sunflower), and salt to the oats and stir to incorporate completely. Then, pour on the oil-sugar mixture and mix so that all oats, nuts, and seeds are evenly coated.

Place the pan back in the oven for another 20-25 minutes or until the edges of the granola begin to brown slightly (the granola should still be somewhat sticky); stir once or twice during this time.

Dust with cinnamon, add the cranberries, and stir; let the granola sit for at least 20-30 minutes before storing as to not trap warm moisture in the container.

Here are some other granola ingredients to consider: flax seeds, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, vanilla, banana chips, apricots, raisins, dried apples, or chocolate chips.

Media (text and images) created and published by Rebekah Carter (2010).

Cooking in the CLG: Roasted Potatoes

One of the highlights of this week's Learning Garden program were the delicious potatoes (harvested right here at WFCF) that we roasted to perfection! We tried Russets and Purple Vikings from the container garden and All Blue potatoes from the CLG. Here is a simple recipe for roasted potatoes you can try at home.

Dede's Roasted Potatoes

Ingredients:

• Potatoes
• Olive Oil
• Salt
• Garlic Powder
• Any other spices or herbs you'd like to try

How to Make Them:

Wash the potatoes and cut them into 1/4 inch slices. Toss them in a bowl with olive oil (just enough to lightly coat the slices), then sprinkle with salt and garlic powder. Place the slices on a baking sheet or in a roasting pan (slices can overlap); cook them for about 45 min at 350 degrees F. Enjoy!

Why hello there!

While our potatoes were roasting, we got to spend some time with the chickens and also harvest more tomatoes. With these chilly fall days and nights, we are definitely nearing the end of our tomato crop, but we still managed to find a few ripe ones out there!

Next week, we'll be ready to finish prepping a garden bed so that we can get our garlic planted before the snow flies!

Spill your Guts

The colon is the final route taken by digested food in your gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Your large intestine performs several functions, including the absorption of electrolytes (sodium and potassium) and the excretion of solid waste; it is also home to various microorganisms, both good and bad, that aid the digestion of fiber and the synthesis of important vitamins.

More specifically, your large intestine houses more than 400 different species of bacteria, consisting of over 100 trillion microbial cells (this is more than 10 times the number of cells in your body)! While some of this intestinal flora is pathogenic, a good deal of it is beneficial to your gastrointestinal health. The "good" bacteria keeps the "bad" in check, assists in the digestion of lactose (naturally-occurring milk sugar), helps create vitamins K (important for blood coagulation) and B (biotin, needed for healthy metabolism and strong nails and hair), and ferments insoluble fiber and starch into energy used by the bowel itself.

Buzzwords concerning good gut bacteria include "probiotics," which are microorganisms found in fermented foods such as yogurt, miso (fermented soybean paste), and acidophilus milks, and "prebiotics," which are indigestible carbohydrates (such as inulin, found in wheat, onions, garlic, asparagus, and bananas) that promote good gut bacteria growth. It is believed that consuming a diet that includes pro- and prebiotics can help prevent and alleviate the symptoms of several colonic diseases.

Of course, all this work creates a less desirable by-product: about 1 to 4 pints of daily gas, also known as flatulence. This gas is a mixture of swallowed air and gases emitted during the bacterial fermentation of carbohydrates in the colon.

Media (text reference: Wardlaw's Perspectives in Nutrition, 8th edition)
created and published by Rebekah Carter (2010).
Colon radiograph from the University of Washington (2000).

Crazy for Cabbage

Originating from the Mediterranean, cabbage (family: Cruciferae), a leafy green vegetable of the Brassica oleracea species, has been praised by ancient and modern cultures from all over the world for its high nutritional value and medicinal properties. When eaten raw, it is a significant source of vitamins C and K and a good source of folate and fiber. Its high glutamine (an amino acid) content gives this food anti-inflammatory properties, while its high indole (a phytochemical) content may increase cellular DNA repair in addition to suppressing the growth of cancer cells. It can be used in soups, stews, salads and slaws, casseroles, curries, and stir-fry dishes; it can also be fermented into dishes such as sauerkraut (click to learn how to make some at home!) and kimchi through lactic acid fermentation. Whether eaten raw or cooked, cabbage is a low-calorie and nutrient-dense food to include in a healthy diet.

Here are some cabbages commonly available at farmers markets ('tis the season for cabbage in New England!) and grocery stores:

• Savoy Cabbage
• Red Cabbage
• Napa (also called pe-tsai)
• Bok Choy (also called pak choi)
• Mustard Greens (also called gai choy)

Did you know: Plants of the Cruciferae family, referred to as "crucifers," typically have petals that develop in a cross-like formation, resembling a crucifix.

Media (text and images) created and published by Rebekah Carter (2010).