Waste Not Want Not

While we travel up our sharp learning curve, with the back-drop of the humidity, Joe, Judy and I, still remain passionate about fresh produce and learning everything we can about it. Not only are we educating ourselves on what is healthy, what you are willing to buy, how much we should charge when it cost us more than the grocery store, (trying not to pass it on to you and still make a little bit of money), when/how much the next planting should go in and be - but let's not forget the "Oh my gosh, what do we do with the leftover food!" Like I said, it is a sharp curve but answers are coming fast. But first, I would like to talk about prices and how we come up with what we do.

Everything is organic. If we don't grow it, then we buy it. Organic food cost a lot. I never knew why, before. But I sure do now. You lose crops caused by blights, and lack of sprays due to being committed to a healthier planet and palate. The food spoils faster because it is not genetically modified also driving the cost up. Another factor is we don't order in large amounts. And since, I almost never walk into a grocery store (I have always hated them, just the lighting and music drives me bonkers, let alone the food) I really don't compare. When I go to the Farmer's Market I do check their prices and try and stay pretty much where they are. My tomatoes were more expensive because I was getting them from the only grower in Michigan that had them ready in May, which was a real luxury. If a few tomatoes go bad or are bruised, which always happens, you can kiss your profit good-bye. And, you aren't adding the ferry trip and gas...blah blah blah. Hey, no one makes me do this, I love it, just thought I would explain to the one old guy that told me my tomatoes were too expensive. Now that ours our coming in, we have dropped the prices by 75 cents a pound which, I know helps your pocket book and we can make a little.

(As a side note: Our Locavore distributor told me how Kroger has a warehouse in Illinois that is the size of 18 football fields. He said it is packed with unripened food from California, Mexico, and South America to name a few. Then to ripen the food before it is to go out to us, they spray it with the gas Ethanol. Let's not go into how they wax the eggs so they will keep for several months in their coolers; a high price to keep food prices down)

I have a friend who sells essential oils. She was telling me how many plants it takes to make one bottle of oil. She said that if they followed the same price costs they had in the 1920's the product would be 20 times more than what it is now. She laughed when I told her that after watching how long it takes for a watermelon to grow, they should be priced at $100.00. The awareness for me, has been what it takes for something to grow. The weather must be conducive, good soil conditions, planting, fertilizing, watering every day, unless mother nature wants to cooperate and then of course weeding. Which if you are anything like Joe and I, is just a fricking losing battle. After seeing Jackie at RC Organics fabulous farm (she co-ops 50 families) and all of her weeds and the fact that they don't seem to bother her, I have decided to let go a little on this and/or get help when we can afford it. This is not a Zen Garden or will probably ever be on the garden tour, but it does do what it is supposed to, which is to feed us and others.

Now, what do we do with the extra food? I have gotten really good at getting on the internet and discovering that you are able to can radishes, make vegetable soup with just about anything and if you have a hydrator, can make kale chips. Right now we are on our third huge pot of vegetable soup, getting it ready for canning. It has turnips, corn, cauliflower, green beans, parsnips, garlic, onion, potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini and squash. We call it roots soup. Cook it up, pour it into the jars, seal them up and can away. Viola! Veggie soup! A lot of work? Yes! But if you were raised by the mother I was raised by, wasting food is a sin tantamount to "Though shall not commit adultery". She ground her own meat, put all the vegetable scraps in the soup pot that was never not on the stove and created on the spot recipes. Hopefully, we can return to some of this good ol' common sense and in the meantime be healthier for it. So if you don't buy my incredible green peppers this weekend, I will pull out her insanely good recipe for stuffed peppers with lamb, rice and tomato. I also have a recipe where you stuff the peppers with black beans and rice! Yummy!

We continue to explore, plant, weed, water, discuss, learn, dig, laugh, cry, cook, bake, sell, organize and live this new lifestyle and hopefully inspire you to do the same.

Warm Fuzzy Monsters

Because of weather, either extreme heat or thunderstorms, two of the three days we closed the produce stand down early. On Saturday, Joe and I were sitting down to a just picked from the garden meal, and several people knocked on our dining room window to get tomatoes. Up Joe went and fetched the tomatoes. The following day after the thunderstorm, we closed early and to celebrate Joe's birthday wanting to take out the inflatable Achilles I bought him for his birthday. As we were dragging the boat out of the driveway, three or four people drove up and asked if they could just get a few things. So back to the garage to get more produce. Later that afternoon, we went up to the Schoolhouse to get some dinner (which was fabulous by the way) and when returning, there were people waiting in our driveway. I looked at Joe and said "I think we created a monster." A warm fuzzy, friendly, let us know how much you love us, Puff the Magic Dragon kind of monster....and we couldn't be happier.

The great stories and recipes you share with us are so appreciated. One of my favorite stories was told to me as two of our customers and I were picking pole beans from the vine, about a gardener friend of theirs who was trying to do the same thing as us (produce stand). One day a lady wouldn't buy his carrots because she thought he was lying about how he pulled them out of the ground. She was positive that carrots grew on trees. You got to love that (I have to admit that broccoli was always a mystery to me) but growing on trees is a stretch.

Every single day, three or four people tell us how much they love what we are doing. It means the world to not only Joe and I but to Judy who has really helped and guided us in this huge undertaking. We do understand driving around the island trying to find a fresh tomato. Eating something other than some wilted veggie is what prompted this whole shindig. There are so many of you that want organic food and/or your food to come from Michigan. And believe me this is no easy feat. If you go to Eastern Market almost all of the distributors sell crops that are from out-0f- state. Only one distributor specializes in Michigan produce (his stuff is amazing). That is where I get the tomatoes, butter lettuce, melons (when he has them), cherries, blueberries, apricots and now the soda, salsa and blueberry/cherry products. The rest comes from either our garden, local organic farmer, Jackie or Don Dull, who has taken us under his wing. Speaking of wings, this is where I want to thank my mentor, Judy Jessup as her no-nonsense ways and big open heart are one of the reasons we are getting this right because my friends, this is a huge learning curve. Not only in what we should plant and how much, but buying wholesale and selling retail is another world that I barely have had time to investigate.

The journey continues, refining, planning and expanding. We are going to put in nine more raised beds in August. We would like most of the food we sell, to come from the island. It supports the whole idea of sustainability within the neighborhood and it is something we can all take pride in - especially if this could become more of a community garden. But baby steps are the only way to learn how to walk properly. So please be patient as we learn and find our way through permits in doing something year round. We will continue to expand on the cooperative concept and I will forge ahead on writing about our experiences. And in the meantime, all of you scary monsters. keep ringing the doorbell.

Finding My Niche

As the Bluegrass festival approaches, Joe and I are getting busier and busier. Right now, technically I have three jobs. The garden/produce stand, teaching voice and voice over workshops (training voices for commercials) and festival producer. I get up in the mornings and literally pace, until I can find the rhythm of what I should do first. It is overwhelming and I only have myself to blame. Why I would think that producing a Bluegrass Festival is a good idea at this time in my life, really has me stumped. When I look back a few months ago at when I shot off my big mouth that this would be a great fundraiser, I really didn't think it through. Now, I have done this before and it usually turns out just fine, but I am training myself to say no, to just about everything. Is it selfish, you bet! Is that okay? You bet! Because this selfishness will give me the energy to do something that may actually matter before I move on into the next world.

I have lived a life that many people envy. Everything from writing a play that ran close to a dozen times, to being nominated and/or the recipient for over 50 industry awards, to performing for thousands of people, to producing major events. But I am here to tell you, that none of that is enviable. That life is hard, self-serving, narcisstic and as far as I can tell, didn't really do much to help make this planet a better place. I have a tendency to always compare what is going on in my small life with the backdrop of world events. This week, 10 million Chinese were misplaced due to mudslides. In Pakistan, thousands have been killed and many more due to flooding. In Moscow, almost a million acres have burned due to wild fires with no end in sight. So how important is my silly career? Or a festival? Or if I win or don't win an award. In the scheme of things, it means nothing.

All I can come up with for a meaningful existence is to be kind (I fail at this daily, someone always pisses me off; this week the phone company), have an open heart and try to live consciously, hence the garden, recycle, organic, neighborhood sustainability and love. One of my favorite customers, told me that I exude passion for the produce stand and sharing the food. It's true, I do feel passion for the first time, in a long time. As passion dissipated, towards the end of my career, this beautiful island rescued me. It has filled my heart with beauty, solitude and maybe one day, peace, if I can sit still long enough to appreciate it.

I received a note from one of my customers, Karen Kelly. She wrote; "I want to commend you, Joe and Judy.. think about mother earth and her rewards! I look forward to reading your email's each week. They're heartfelt and informative. They truly show your commitment to the process of community and living organic! My husband and I have a cottage on the north channel with an organic vegetable/flower garden. I've been canning organic salsa for at least 10 years. I also make homemade pesto and freeze it for the winter. As you know, some years yield more tomatoes then others and my basil always grows good so I always have pesto in my freezer. We plant beans, tomatoes(cherry, regular & roma), basil, zucchini, Japanese cucumbers, Japanese eggplants, green & red peppers, jalapenos, banana peppers, chili peppers & habanero's. We try to eat it all, give it to our kids or freeze it for later in the winter! I read that you are having trouble with the weeds in your garden. We use our grass clippings as mulch for our garden. This really knocks down the weeds. Also, as you know, if you plant flowers in with your veggies, they bring in the good bugs that will eat the bad bugs on your veggies. Thank you again for all of the organic gardening tips and recipes! What a great summer it's been for our veggie and flower gardens. As I sit on my dock at sunset and look around me at all of the nature...I truly think I've got my own slice of heaven! Mother Earth, she's a powerful gal!!!

That note is more powerful than all the applause in China. If I am one of the lucky ones, I will continue to grow into a better human being with the aid of my beautiful garden, which teaches me patience, quest for knowledge, appreciation for detail, the collaborative rhythm of nature and most of all providing me with my niche for the first time in my life.

Go With The Flow

This is the first time, I have sat down to take a breath. Though the Bluegrass Festival was over on Sunday, there was still lots of follow-up to do over the last three days. And on top of all the paperwork, budgeting, phone calls and let's not forget cleaning house, it has been a bit challenging. To top it all off Joe has pneumonia and it seems everything in the garden needs to be harvested, i.e. corn, beans, tomatoes, pumpkins, melons, potatoes, green peppers, basil, green onions and hot peppers. The Okra is looking pretty darn healthy as is the eggplant. You wouldn't know we staggered the plantings since everything seems to be coming in at once. So much for best laid plans. Like the all to true saying "Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans". However, I have one that I like even better. "A planned life can never be lived, it can only be endured". Which brings me to the subject of this newsletter.

I never imagined that I would end up in Michigan again, let alone on Harsens Island, let alone with a produce stand. The garden part I already had in place in Seattle. But the divine conspiracy that took place to get Joe and I here, is just too, well, divine. When living in Seattle, (we met there but both of us are from here), and after about 27 years of West Coast narcissism, I was ready to make another major move. I had some choices which included, the Rocky Mountains, the incredible Southwest (Flagstaff), or Florida. At the time, we were looking at places where Joe could work and I could continue with a singing career. This was eight years ago and the dot com world had come crashing down in Seattle crippling anyone that had anything to do with computers, which included Joe. Seattle is a very expensive place to live so if you don't have a decent job, then good fricking luck. Joe got an offer in Florida, off he went, while I packed up our wonderful little house, closed the garden, located a portable aquarium for our turtle, Howie, who now lives in the Greenhouse, tried to find drugs to knock out four cats who had to travel cross country, find a home for my parrot who hated everyone but me meaning I couldn't put Joe through that hell in a car as the bird continuously stalked him, and worst of all, put my old lab, Shebee the Love Dog to sleep. Just when I was selling the last of our belongings I got a call from Joe in Florida that the job had been downsized and he was let go. After coming out of shock, I told him to come home, we then drove cross country with our little zoo (by the way, none of them needed drugs, it was as if they were glad to make the trip), rekindling our sense of adventure.

Arriving in Detroit the winter of 2002 at my dad's house, was a little much for someone that was just turning 50, leaving me in shock. Starting over at 50! But I had no choice and decided to look at it as a mid-life adventure. The same way I do when I am going to plant something new, or try a new seed, or a new technique to make something grow faster and/or stronger. All I can tell you is that it is the best thing that ever happened to both of us. Within a year, Joe had a wonderful job, my new band and racked up 24 nominations for the Detroit Music Awards and my groups, Detroit Women and the Kate Hart band had been cited by the Metro Times as two of the influential groups in Detroit's Music History over the last 100 years. (We were included among many impressive names). My musical career only went up from there. Here I thought I was done with the whole "music is my career" thing, only to have life inform me that I just wasn't done, yet. It was as if I was the puppet and someone was pulling the strings. But the point is, I didn't plan it, but because I was and continue to be open to all possibilities, I was lucky to be present enough to fully experience all of these surprises while it was happening. I trusted the flow of life.

Now, I am at the precipice of another adventure. My challenge continues to be that I have enough energy and time to do it all. Some evenings Joe and I (and of course, Little B) sit on our porch swing that I found on the side of the road, painted different shades of pink by one of my voice students. Slowly rocking we listen to the crickets chirp as if they are thrilled that there is a garden that holds the same name. I marvel at the luck of the draw or, er...life's plan, on how we ended up here of all the places we could have gone. Not only is it beautiful, but Joe and I might actually be of some use to our community with the produce stand, the garden and now the Bluegrass Festival, becoming an annual event, with the proceeds providing help to those who need it. I had been looking for a charity or organization that I could be a part of or be useful to, and once again, life has dropped it in my lap.

There is a purpose for every living thing, but most of the time I don't know what it is, and I highly suspect that none of it is my business. What I am really here to do is experience life, which if I am really lucky, will teach me compassion. Maybe everything in this world isn't screwed up. Maybe there is perfection in all things, if I pay attention, live, and experience an unplanned life. And maybe just maybe when looking at the heartbreak that goes on in the world what is really behind it, is the beginning of us finding a new way to live. If that is true, then this could be the most exciting time to be living on this beautiful planet.

Connected to the Earth

How about this muggy weather? Could anything be better for the garden? My garden looks like it is thriving on some tropical island in the South Pacific! Joe and I come home from work every night and marvel at how magnificent it all is. The herbs look positively atomic not to mention that I already have green peppers at half size! Such a joy to be a part of this incredible process of growing vegetables. Really, all I am in this food chain of sun, rain, earth and seed is the stupid human that dug the hole. But still the pride that I feel when a seedling pokes his head out, feels like I just gave birth...um, well, without the labor pains.


Being connected to the earth has changed me. And I have to say, in the last year, the change has been profound. I am beginning to understand the wisdom of eating what is locally grown and only what is in season. This of course, takes a huge amount of planning and commitment, but hey, what else am I going to do? Watch television? So I am slowly making the adjustment of walking the talk so that I can live with a little more integrity and show real respect for this incredible planet that we all get to live on, our Mother Earth. Let us all revel in the pleasure of the sun on our backs, the breeze in our hair, the smell of freshly dug soil and a feeling of well-being after a good workout in the fresh air.

Being a Part of the Food Chain

goff How about this muggy weather? Could anything be better for the garden? My garden looks like it is thriving on some tropical island in the South Pacific! Joe and I come home from work every night and marvel at how magnificent it all is. The herbs look positively atomic not to mention that I already have green peppers at half size! Such a joy to be a part of this incredible process of growing vegetables. Really, all I am in this food chain of sun, rain, earth and seed is the stupid human that dug the hole. But still the pride that I feel when a seedling pokes his head out, feels like I just gave birth...um, well, without the labor pains. Being connected to the earth has changed me. And I have to say, in the last year, the change has been profound. I am beginning to understand the wisdom of eating what is locally grown and only what is in season. This of course, takes a huge amount of planning and commitment, but hey, what else am I going to do? Watch television? So I am slowly making the adjustment of walking the talk so that I can live with a little more integrity and show real respect for this incredible planet that we all get to live on, our Mother Earth. Let us all revel in the pleasure of the sun on our backs, the breeze in our hair, the smell of freshly dug soil and a feeling of well-being after a good workout in the fresh air.

Flexibility, Sustainability and Simplicity

The garden is winding down, though Joe and I continue to plant. Our third planting is showing great signs; the heirloom strawberry lettuce, green with red specks, that Judy found fascinating is ready to sell, beets are gorgeous, second planting of tomatoes with incredibly high yields, the cabbage and broccoli are looking full and healthy as I transplant them from pot to raised bed. Now I have time to paint yard furniture, weed and fuss over all of the little things that I didn't have time to get to while everything was growing like crazy. I do have a basket of small melons, more beans - green and fava to pick so it's not like I don't have anything to do. Let's not mention the 2,000 ground cherries I am shucking so that Deb and I can make chutney. Oh yeah, and we have 10 small pumpkins that survived some kind of weird fungus that took over the leaves. Joe put up 24 quarts of tomato sauce - next we have to do the pesto because the basil looks like a fragrant Italian forest, so gorgeous that it is making it hard to pick. And showing itself is the cilantro. Delicate, fragrant and demanding I cook something where it is a key ingredient.

As we move towards the idea of neighborhood sustainability, selling vegetables has been a real learning experience. I couldn't sell a yellow string bean if my life depended on it. But the farmer I get them from sells pounds every weekend at the local markets. I had 24 eggplants but could never sell more than 12. But the basics i.e. green beans, tomatoes, potatoes, mushrooms, lettuce, beets, corn, peaches, strawberries and blueberries - no problem. I'm still harping on the kale, collard greens, turnips, Swiss chard, mustard greens, parsnips and soon the okra. Do I get smarter for next year and just plant the basics? Or do I continue to try and convince customers, neighbors and friends to try and go with the heartier vegetable that will sustain the harsher climates while providing everyone with incredible nutrition. I mean you just can't eat anything healthier than kale. Through this experience I have had to learn how to be flexible and really, keep it simple. With my artistic nature, my ideas can be a bit grandiose and time-consuming. So once again the garden and what may lay ahead of me are already showing me how to improve as a person and maybe even how to be more useful.

Because I will have time to write as the days grow cooler and shorter, I have been collecting my thoughts about just what "I" think having a sustainable neighborhood really means. How many people does it include? I guess the fact that I live on an island make the boundaries fairly clear - but what about the urban neighborhoods or the more rural communities? What is the definition of a neighborhood? What do you need to not just survive but thrive? There are some things that are clear - land that can be farmed, fresh water and seeds. But then who has the farm equipment? Who has dairy products? Then let's not forget machinery that needs to be fixed and maybe even built to suit the needs of the demands. I guess that it is by necessity that these answers become clear and the issues at hand are dealt with. But then there are the overviews of questions, like "Shouldn't the way we do things become simpler?" I mean just because you have the technology to do something, should you do it?

In regards to simplicity, flexibility and sustainability, where does bartering come in? Karen Golden and I had a really interesting conversation today about that very subject. She is the gal whose family has had a cottage on the island since the 50's and an organic farm in Highland. Her specialty being heirloom tomatoes and peppers. This year she began to barter - pounds of tomatoes to her hairdresser for haircuts for her and her husband throughout the year. Her neighbor had more than enough concord grapes - they bartered so he could have his canned tomato sauce and she could have her jelly.

I have bartered many services throughout the last few years - my friend Walt, a handyman extraordinaire and an aspiring singer - traded his services for voice lessons. I bartered with my graphic designer and now her daughter gets voice lessons. The whole bartering concept really does seem incredibly civilized and simple. Not to mention that we might have to get fairly flexible on receiving goods we need if the world economic situation continues to tank.

Civilized or not what it may come down to is the concept of "simpler is better." Buckminster Fuller a great proponent of this concept is worth reviewing with his geodesic domes among other cutting edge concepts. At the age of 32 he found himself on the shore of Lake Michigan wondering whether to end his life there. Fuller took a decision to devote his life to others by embarking on "an experiment to discover what the little, penniless, unknown individual might be able to do effectively on behalf of all humanity". The following year he made his first 4D tower, a lightweight, prefab, multi-story apartment tower to be delivered anywhere in the world by airship. Once delivered the towers would generate their own light and heat with an independent sewage disposal system. Driven by his philosophy of "more for less", Fuller threw himself into a new way of housing mankind, in "Lightful Houses" so-called because they were full of light. This program and his vision of a world united by the most modern means of transport and telecommunication evolved into Fuller's philosophy of four-dimensional design. He defined this as thinking in time instead of only the three dimensions of space: thinking of consequences for humanity instead of only immediate personal gain. Hundreds of thousands of geodesic domes have since been constructed all over the world, often in extreme conditions, to offer inexpensive shelter to homeless families in Africa, or to house weather stations in 180 mph winds in the Antarctic. In 1960 Fuller designed a dome of two miles in diameter to encase midtown Manhattan in a controlled climate. He calculated that it would pay for itself within ten years simply by saving on snow removal costs.

When it comes to growing a garden, taking on new projects, writing a song and of course, living my life - maybe I can incorporate these words like Buckminster Fuller did in everything he took on. Simplicity, Sustainability and Flexibility may be the key in not wasting my time in trying to keep things the way they have always been but rather moving forward on a less stagnant path towards a brand new world.