I have been very remiss about posting about our Slow Food day trip to Athens, Ohio. Luckily, CMH Gourmand beat me to it and shamed me into action. He wrote a great account of the day and there seems little point in duplicating all the details. I did take a lot of photos though and will share some of my favorites.
Bob O’Neil at the Village Bakery, talking about the true cost of food, their relationships with local growers and how they put up food for the winter. He was both informative and inspiring. Bob and Christine obviously see their work as a more of a mission than a business, such is their passion and dedication to local and responsible eating.
I was staggered that not only do they hand make their corn tortillas, but Bob went and picked the local heirloom corn and then ground it himself. How many restaurants I wonder, can their own sauces and spend the summer freezing canning vegetables to use throughout the winter?
As well as the restaurant and pizzeria, the Village Bakery has a great shop that has lots of wonderful food goodies, local produce, books, some clothes, Sigg bottles, bamboo plates and cutlery and various other miscellany. I bought some paw paw jam, damson jam, some cherry shrub syrup and some fair trade chocolate.
A beautiful day in rural Ohio, with blue skies and stunning fall colors. I was excited to see my first quilt barn at Green Edge.
Green Edge grow five different types of micro-greens including sunflower and a new one to me – kogane. You can see some of their greens on my dinner at Basi Italia.
Kip explaining about reemay, a synthetic fabric that is used for pest control and insulation but lets in 90% of sunlight and is light, durable and easy to move around. Green Edge aim to minimize both labor and energy use. They also use drip irrigation to reduce water use.
Speckled trout lettuce in the starter house, where they use some hydro-thermic heat for the seedlings.
