To Market to Food Market

Mesquite pancakes here we come

On Saturday, November 7, the Desert Harvesters present a mesquite pancake breakfast, raffle, live entertainment, and milling of mesquite pods at Dunbar Springs Community Garden.

Mesquite Pancakes: The breakfast features homemade mesquite/whole-wheat pancakes made with organic, local ingredients. The mesquite flour is made from native Velvet mesquite pods hand picked by Desert Harvesters around Tucson. The organic wheat is from Crooked Sky Farm in Glendale, AZ, and is ground just a week before the event.

The pancakes ($1 each) are served with prickly-pear syrup, mesquite syrup, agave nectar, local backyard honey, and homemade jams. A variety of locally made teas and organic coffee will also be sold. Please bring your own plate, fork, and cup to help make this a zero waste event. Pancakes are served 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
 
Mesquite Milling: In addition to serving pancakes, three hammer mills will be on site to grind pods into flour for the public. Community members can bring pods they’ve harvested. Pods must be clean, dry and free of stones, leaves, and other debris. The milling of pods costs $3 for three gallons or less of whole pods, then $1 for each gallon of whole pods over that.

Five gallons of pods yields about 1 gallon of fine, edible flour in just five minutes! 

Or you can also drop off pods for later milling and pick up as long as your pods have been inspected by the Desert Harvesters staff and you have prepayed. Please pack your pods in sealable, food-grade containers and label them clearly with your name and phone numbers. For information on how to collect, store, and prepare beans visit  Desert Harvesters . Milling occurs from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
 
The event will also feature live music, roving entertainers, and local foods, crafts, teas, and gift certificates as raffle prizes. Informational tables from other local food efforts including Iskashita Refugee Gleaners and the Community Food Bank. In case of rain, the event will move to the Dunbar Auditorium, just north of the garden.
 
Desert Harvesters Mesquite Milling Fiesta and Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser
Date: Saturday, November 7
Time: 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Where: Dunbar/Spring Community Garden, Northwest corner of University Blvd. and 11th Avenue

Desert Harvesters is a non-profit, volunteer-run grassroots group that promotes, celebrates, and enhance local food security and production. Desert Harvesters provides the public with information on how to harvest and prepare native desert foods such as prickly pear fruit and pads, cholla buds, ironwood seeds, and more. The organization’s flagship activity is the harvesting and milling of whole mesquite pods into flour, valued for its natural sweetness and high nutritional value.

Roasted Chile Festival in Vail, AZ

The Rincon Institute invites hosts the 8th Annual Roasted Chile Festival at the Rincon Valley Farmers & Artisans Market in Vail, AZ.  C’mon down for fresh roasted green chilies, chile ristas, locally grown pesticide-free and organic fresh produce and fruit, artisans, fresh hot food, kids’ activities and games, and a beer garden.

The roasted chili festival has attracted as many as 2,000 people per year. Purchase green chilies grown locally here in Arizona including hatch and poblano chilies.

Vendors offer goods ranging from handmade quilts, aprons, handmade soap, handcrafted home décor, and fine furniture.

The event runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Live music will be provided by John Grant & the Guilty Bystander from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the east side of the barn and Mariachi Mixteca on the west side under the eating tent from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. 

The Wild Desert Nursery located behind the barn offers salvaged native plants that are beautiful and naturally conserve water.  All funds from the beer garden and raffle will go to the Rincon Valley Farmers & Artisans Market.  This year’s event is sponsored by Coyote Creek, Prime Events, and M & M Enterprises.  The Rincon Valley Farmers & Artisans Market is located in the scenic Rincon Valley between Saguaro National Park Rincon Mountain District and Colossal Cave Park about four miles east of the entrance to Saguaro National Park East along Old Spanish Trail and two miles west of Camino Loma Alta in and around the big historic green and white barn.  Visit the website or call (520) 591-BARN (2276) for more information.

The market is a project of the Rincon Institute which is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the natural resources of the Rincon Mountain District of Saguaro National Park, the Rincon Valley and the Cienega Corridor. Visit the Rincon Institute  for more information.

Garlic is the desert rose

In an effort to eat more healthy and support and eat more locally grown foods, I made the decision to sign up for community supported agriculture (CSA).

What is a CSA? The program is designed for the consumer to prepay or pay it forward and for the farmer to know how much money s/he has on hand in order to grow what will be sold. Essentially, it’s a relationship between the farmer and the consumer, one built on trust (no use of pesticides), sustainability, and a fair profit. 

Tucson hosts CSA options.

First, there’s the Tucson CSA where I would prepay for 13 weeks ($247) and then go pick up my shares of produce at the historic Y on University Blvd. either on Tuesday or Friday evenings. For this CSA, Crooked Sky Farms provides the produce. I can also prepay for a goat cheese share ($30) from another provider on even weeks. Crooked Sky Farms grows pesticide-free produce and delivers the just picked items to the CSA.

On Twitter, I tweeted for someone to split shares with me, and Sam, an acquaintance, volunteered.

We’re now on the wait list. Existing members get first choice and then available shares go to the wait list.

For people who go to the Sunday farmers market at St. Philip’s Plaza or live near Green Valley, two other CSAs might fill the bill. Agua Linda Farm offers a month-by-month pickup for $100/month or four weeks. You can also pick up your share at the Amado farm. Signups are still available for August while split shares are not available.

Another type of CSA is for grass fed beef provided by Double Check Ranch in Winkleman, Ariz. Again, you would prepay for a share offering three different weights and price points. All your meat would most likely come from the same cow. You can pick up your share of meat at the Sunday St. Philip’s farmers market or the Saturday Oro Valley farmers market.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed…

Has anyone ever participated in a CSA? If yes, what was your experience?

Photo: FoodPhotoSite

On the first Friday of every month through September, anybody and everybody can shop at the Food Conspiracy Co-op and receive 10 percent off your entire purchase. 

The Food Conspiracy Co-op calls this Anti Depression Fridays for a relief of your economic blues.

Anybody can shop there at any time but usually the discount only applies to Co-op members.

The discount happens all day but from 6 to 8 p.m. enjoy live music and free food at first Friday fiesta which is also part of the eat local kick-off party.  

More 10% discount days are August 7 and September 4.

The Food Conspiracy Co-op is located at 412 N. Fourth Ave (purple/pink storefront); 624-4821.

Monsanto.

That could be one of the most scariest words on the planet.

Within the compound of Monsanto, I envision a world devoted to Soylent Green, one of the scariest movies ever made in the early 70’s.  In the film, fresh fruits and vegetables and meat are rare; food is rationed; and solyent green wafers are what people eat to survive.

Far fetched?

Maybe.

The Food Conspiracy Co-op and GMO Free Project are hosting a film tonight at the Crossroads Theatres called, The World According to Monsanto.  The  7 p.m. event is free; please bring organic canned foods for the Community Food Bank.

Please send your food markets and farmers markets news, feedback, suggestions, and questions to eat.tucson@yahoo.com