Eater’s Almanac is our weekly newsletter for the Huss Project Farmer’s Market. You can receive a print copy each week at the market, which includes a recipe for seasonal vegetables!
After a hot, dry start to the growing season, in the past week, our local farmers have been dealing with high winds, torrential rains, and in some places, even tornadoes. Plants need water, but getting so much at once can cause damage. Some of the crops at the Huss Project are suffering from stem rot as a result of so much moisture. Thankfully, weather that is disappointing to one type of fruit or vegetable is often good news for another. In one sense, when we eat locally and in-season, we eat the weather!
This past week feels like a shift to summer’s most remarkable abundance of fruits and vegetables for our region. We’re very excited to see cherries, blueberries, cucumbers, and fresh garlic coming on. Each of these is the culmination of sunlight, water, and nutrients held in the soil and moved around by microscopic creatures. It’s a real team effort!
This week, many folks here in the U.S. will celebrate the nation’s independence from Great Britain. Let’s not forget that at the time this occurred, not everyone in the U.S. was a free citizen and there’s still a lot of work to do to make sure all people have equal access to life, liberty, and happiness.
Consider celebrating this milestone: in Denver, Colorado on July 5, 1978, disability rights activists began a sit-in and blockade of city transit buses with the slogan, “We will ride!” The campaign went on for a full year before the city added wheelchair lifts to their buses. That’s persistence toward independence! What organizations are you part of that could take the next step to be more physically accessible for neighbors with limited mobility? Check out the Disability Network of Southwest Michigan for resources and support.
Above image from the Denver Post.