Straight from the Farm

I had a great evening on Friday, strolling around the busy grounds and house of Wyck during their lovely little Summer Kick-Off Festival.  The music was great and the weather perfect.  I loved seeing so many folks enjoying this historic garden for all it’s worth.  Kids were especially fun to watch as they discovered the baby apples on the trees, the chickens in the back, and the stilts under the ancient trees that were there for them to try out.  I really went for one reason though…to try the limited edition Wyck Old Rose Gelato from Capogiro. 

I love Wyck’s roses for so many reasons, but the chance to eat them (or at least their essence) tops the list.    So there I was, giddy to take my first bite and boy was it good!  Fragrant but not too “perfumey”, the taste of the roses initially striking with the first few bites but then fading to this wonderfully mellow floral undertone as my taste buds adjusted to such an unusual flavor.  When rose season rolls around again next year, I’m going to see if my good friend and Wyck gardener-extraordinaire, Nicole, will let me take home a bag of rose petals to post a few rose-infused recipes of my own.  For now, enjoy a few photos from this fun event and make plans to visit Wyck sometime soon for more fun, history and education.  They have quite the full calendar of events all summer long. 

I’ve neglected to post about the newest addition to my neighborhood’s wonderful assets:  a bustling farmers market in a perfect location along the busy main arterial.  This market is well suited to a section of Philadelphia already full of sustainable and locally-minded small businesses and families, mine included.  Held every Tuesday afternoon/evening, it’s the perfect chance to stock up on goodies to use during the week since most Philadelphians know that going “down the shore” on the weekends is going to make other markets less convenient.   Currently there is an Amish farmer selling lots of baked goods and annual plants; a fruit stand with gorgeous cherries and honey at the moment; a farmer selling grass fed meats, cheese, raw milk and any other “animal product” you can think of; an urban farm (well-known Weavers Way) selling heirloom and other unusual vegetables; and a friendly and funky cut flower/herb/potted perennial plant grower (oh yay, that last one is me).  

More info here: http://www.farmtocity.org/FarmersMarkets.asp
Takes place in the Lutheran Seminary plaza across from the WaWa in Mt. Airy
Tuesdays 3 p.m. – 7 p.m. through Thanksgiving

a christmas tree made out of delicious kale! 

Well, it’s the holiday season, a time of giving, and I wanted to give you all a little present.  It’s not much, really.  But I think it might make your time spent here on SFTF a little more productive.   It’s a new button you’ll find embedded in forthcoming posts (assuming I am with-it enough to remember to put the necessary code in each new post) that says “Spring It!”.    This handy button is connected to a site called Springpad that has all sorts of apps (gosh, I hope I’m using the lingo correctly), including putting SFTF recipes on your iPhone or other on-the-go-gadget so you can take it with you to the store and make you’ve got all the ingredients in your shopping cart. 

Don’t have such an on-the-go-gadget (don’t worry, neither do I)?  This new “Spring It!” button can still be very handy.  By using it, you can save all your favorite SFTF recipes (and others from your regular reads) to one online filing cabinet that you can then use to print recipes (yes, finally a print function for my recipes!) and create quick shopping lists that you can then print and take to the market with you the old-fashioned way.   There’s also some “productivity tools” that I have yet to explore on the Springpad site that might be of use.  If you know of one that you already use and love, please do share it with us so we all know to look for it! 

So, hopefully that helps you out a bit.  If it doesn’t, just ignore the button.  It’s pretty inconspicuous.   You do need to sign up for a Springpad account (quick and painless, I promise) to use it.   When you click on the button in one of my posts, it will take you to a new page.  However, just look closely and find the blue “Spring It and Go Back” link to return to your beloved SFTF.

Sorry, no food in today’s post.  Instead, I have a somewhat urgent plea directed towards those of you that are here with me in Philadelphia and a general “post-it note” for those of you with a “local” mind-set everywhere.  I just found out that my favorite of all bookstores is on the brink of closing its doors.  Walk a Crooked Mile is a local shop I’ve featured on the blog before.   It’s a community institution in Mt. Airy, my neighborhood, and has been a source of countless hours of pleasurable lazy afternoon book browsing for myself and many others.   Hearing how the economy has taken its toll on Walk a Crooked Mile reminds me how precious and fragile our local businesses – those that have such “personality” and really contribute to the fabric of our communities – are and how quickly something that’s “been around forever” can suddenly be “closed for good.”  

With the holidays fast approaching again, I’d encourage you to start making your shopping lists in a very different manner.  Rather than think about what everyone on your list wants in a generic sense, why not make a list of shops in your community that you’d really like to support and then put the names of people you’re buying for next to the shops where you’ll probably find something they like.  Then go out and support local businesses by finding unique gifts for everyone on your list in those local stores.  I know it can be a little more expensive sometimes, but think about how boring life would be if our only merchants were cheap big box stores and fast food chains.    Gift certificates to local businesses are another great way to get your friends and family to go check out the local scene and appreciate all it has to offer.  Several stores, including Walk a Crooked Mile, sell their wares online so you’re not limited to giving gift certificates to those folks that live in the same ‘hood as you. 

I am going to be doing some early holiday shopping and stock up on some of the excellent gardening and food reference books that Walk a Crooked Mile always has on hand.   If you’re in Philly, why not make an afternoon of it – take the R7 to the Mt. Airy stop and have a free cup of tea or coffee and pet C.C. the resident cat while you take in the nostalgic aroma of old books and soak up the puddles of sunshine that always seem to be streaming through the windows at Walk a Crooked Mile.   If you’re not in Philadelphia, but have a heart of gold, you can still help keep this beautiful book store in business by making a donation online.