The Rest is Gravy - Prevention

A Practical Handbook for Living Naturally in the Modern World
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how to make the best
from-scratch organic sauce for your bird
Illustrations: john burgoyne. Photo: 26iso/getty images
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Don’t Trash
Your Tree
You can’t resurrect a cut
Christmas tree after the
holidays, but you can put it
to good, organic use. Here
are three options.
Mulch Cut branches from
the trunk and use them for
winter insulation over the
crowns of perennials and
roses. Evergreen boughs
won’t mat down like
deciduous leaves.
Firewood Cut the bare
trunk into fireplace
lengths. Split the resinous
wood, and then stack it
outside and season it for
a year before burning it.
Heat oven to 400°F or make
room while turkey cooks.
In a roasting pan, toss
1 tbsp. olive oil, 2 chopped
carrots (or 1 cup peels),
1 each chopped celery rib
and onion, and 1 turkey
neck (or ¾ lb. bones).
Roast 1 hour. Transfer
neck and vegetables
to a 3-qt. saucepan.
Add 1 cup water to
roasting pan, scrape up
brown bits, and transfer
liquid to saucepan;
add 5 cups water.
Add ½ tsp. peppercorns,
2 sprigs of thyme, 1 bay
leaf, and a handful of
parsley stems. Bring to a
bare simmer. Cook until
rich and flavorful, about
2 hours. Remove neck;
shred meat and set aside.
4
5
6
Strain stock into smaller
saucepan; discard solids.
Bring to a simmer over
medium-low heat. Move
roast turkey to carving
board; cover with foil. Set
turkey pan on stove.
Pour in ½ cup bourbon;
heat over medium. Ignite
carefully with long match.
When fire dies, scrape
up brown bits. Cook
4 minutes; strain into
stock. Simmer 5 minutes.
Add neck meat. Bring to
a boil. Knead together
2 tbsp. each flour and
butter; whisk into stock
1 tbsp. at a time until
thickened. Season gravy
with salt and pepper.
Turn to your town
Some municipalities offer
curbside pickup or a dropoff site. Many locales put
the collected trees through
a chipper to make mulch
for parks, playgrounds,
and local gardeners.
Others sink the trees in
ponds or lakes to provide
habitat for fish or lay them
on hurricane-damaged
beaches to rebuild and
stabilize sand dunes. And
in Vermont, the Burlington
Electric Department burns
leftover trees at a biomass
plant to help power the
local grid. —Doug Hall
NOV EMBER / DECEMBER
2015 R RODALE’S ORGANIC LIFE
The New Delicious
Autumn
Ambrosia
Organic Homestead
Serve and Protect
by jeff moyer
Jeff Moyer is the executive director of the Rodale Institute.
RODALE’S ORGANIC LIFE
R
NOV EMBER / DECEMBER
2015
Five
Cool-Weather
Covers
Tillage radish
When to plant: Late
summer or early fall;
it won’t survive
northern winters
Best use: On heavy soil
Benefits: Long taproots
break up hardpan;
grows quickly
Hairy vetch
When to plant: Late
summer or fall
Best use: On acidic,
well-drained soils
Benefits: Regrows
vigorously in spring
following fall planting;
adds nitrogen
Field peas
When to plant: Spring
or fall
Best use: On soils
lacking organic matter
Benefits: Smothers
weeds; adds nitrogen
Crimson clover
When to plant: Spring
or fall
Best use: Beneath
taller crops, since it
tolerates shade
Benefits: Helps control
erosion; adds nitrogen;
can be used as forage
Winter rye
When to plant: Late
summer or fall
Best use: On soils
lacking organic matter
Benefits: Germinates
and grows in cold soil
homemade applesauce
1. Rinse and quarter 2 lbs. apples and
place them in a large pot—stems, skins,
and all, then add an inch of water.
2. Cook over high heat until the water
boils; then reduce heat to low, cover,
and simmer, stirring occasionally
and adding more water if needed to
prevent sticking, until the apples are
very tender.
3. Transfer the cooked apples to a
food mill set over a bowl.
4. Process the apples by turning the
crank until all of the fruit has passed
through the sieve and into the bowl.
5. Discard the
skins and seeds
Join Rodale’s
left in the mill.
Organic Life and the
Applesauce can
International Culinary
be frozen and
Center in New York City
then thawed in
for classes on cooking the
the refrigerator
bounty of the season. For
details, e-mail Kimberly
when you’re
Jarrell at kjarrell@
ready to eat it.
culinarycenter.com.
Makes 5 cups.
irene rinaldi
D
uring winter, when the next year’s seed
catalogs arrive in my mailbox, I always
turn first to the pages that show the
cover crops. These temporary, ground-blanketing
stands of grasses and legumes protect and enrich
soil. Cover crops are essential for improving soil
not only on large-scale farms but in backyard
gardens, too. Specifically, they can:
improve garden health Cover crops add
organic matter to soil. And some have large,
deep root systems that loosen compacted soil.
reduce erosion The roots and tops of cover
crops protect soil from water and wind.
increase fertility Vetch, clover, and other
legumes add nitrogen, a plant nutrient.
encourage beneficial insects Cover crops
nurture pest predators, such as ground beetles.
To plant a winter cover crop, scatter seeds
throughout the garden as soon as you harvest
your last vegetables of the season, or sow them
between the rows of remaining fall crops. Rake
lightly to cover the seeds; then keep the ground
moist to get them up and growing. The earlier
you plant in fall, the more they’ll grow before
winter sets in and the better they’ll do their job.
Plenty of seed catalogs list a half dozen or
more types of cover crops, individually and in
mixtures. For most gardeners, annuals are the
best choice on account of their short life span—
they’ll have completed their life cycle by the
time spring rolls around. At home, I usually sow
a mixture of legumes and small grains to get the
benefits of added nitrogen from the former and
weed-suppressing biomass from the latter. High
Mowing Organic Seeds (highmowingseeds.com)
sells some great mixes designed for both farmers
and gardeners.
When spring arrives, till the cover crop into
the soil and let it decompose in place. Or follow
no-till practices by mowing the topgrowth (once
flowering has occurred) and digging only as
much as is necessary to sow your spring crops or
set out transplants. Leave the tops lying between
rows to serve as mulch.
Apple picking at local orchards is a
favorite pastime for my family, and
we tend to pick more than we need.
Possibly this is just an elaborate
excuse for me to make applesauce.
It’s easy, especially if you have a food
mill—essentially a sieve fitted with
a crank for mashing and straining
foods. All kinds of organic apples
work, but a variety is best. Dinged
fruits are fine; just cut off any brown
parts. A potato masher also makes
quick work of peeled, cored, and
cooked apples. —Erik Murnighan,
New York City president of the
International Culinary Center, an
award-winning school in New York
and Silicon Valley
Sky Lab
from top: corbis; muuraa/getty images. illustrationS: irene rinaldi
by jill goodman
Abundant, expansive
Jupiter is racing
through Virgo, the sign
of discernment,
analysis, and service.
So the million-dollar
question as this year’s
end approaches is
whether your operation, endeavor, plan,
program, or partnership
is sound and, if executed properly, will
result in the desired
objective or is based on
selective thinking—or,
equally complicating,
facts that have been
crafted to fit the
circumstances. So be
curious and do your due
diligence in between
gatherings to give
thanks and greet the
season. This is a
world-class opportunity
to fine-tune for future
gain and glory that can
be more efficiently
utilized by facing
matters head on than
by, as the saying goes,
rearranging the deck
chairs on the Titanic.
SCORPIO (October
23–November 22) So what
did you say you wanted
to be when you grew up?
This is an excellent opportunity
to reflect and determine whether
you’re traveling the right (most
efficient, productive) road or
should consider taking the nearest
exit, pulling into a rest stop, and
reviewing your atlas on the grounds
that there may be a more direct
route to your destination.
SAGITTARIUS
(November 22–
December 21) Ain’t
no stoppin’ you now,
baby, with grand vizier Jupiter
encouraging professional growth
and public recognition. So make
sure you’re affiliated with responsible, reciprocal people, and remind
yourself as often as necessary that
there’s no such thing as a free
lunch; if it seems too good to
be true, well then, it is; and
“overnight success” generally
takes years of hard work.
CAPRICORN
(December 21–January
20) Even though you’re
a believe-it-when-yousee-it type, give your instincts the
kind of attention usually reserved
for the doctor calling with test
results. In fact, you’re being guided
toward the best avenue for achieving
a long-held goal or objective. You can
help by not being so earthbound that
you miss your cue and, heaven
forbid, your grand entrance.
AQUARIUS (January
20–February 18) The
answer: patience and
a soupçon (perhaps
even a dash) of humor. The
question: What’s the most effective
way to deal with any twists and
turns in the implementation of
existing plans for expansion and
growth? Note: Zigs and zags are
sponsored by the opposition
between head honcho Uranus
and hasty Mars and, despite
being inopportune, will result in
a better product.
PISCES (February
18–March 20) In case
you’re curious...your
secret weapon between
now and the year’s end is your
capacity to come up with another
option, proposal, or choice. So
whatever the issue, if you’re not
entirely satisfied with what is on
offer—even if you’re being told
to take it or leave it—your next
move would be to employ your
creativity and devise and present
an alternative.
CANCER (June
21–July 22) Perception
is 9/10 of the law.
Okay, so that’s not
quite how the saying goes, but . ..
trust your instincts and follow
their guidance (of course), and in
the all-too-likely event that there
are some unexpected developments or unanticipated twists and
turns, this is one of those instances
when the new replacement plan
will be an improvement over the
original iteration.
ARIES (March
20–April 20)
Remember the Dr.
Seuss book Oh, the
Places You’ll Go!? If you do, great.
If you don’t, you can probably
find it online—and should. With
structured Saturn and ambivalent
Neptune at odds, it would likely
behoove you to do a reality check
on your various obligations plus
a pulse check on your feelings
regarding same. And, depending
upon your discoveries, take
appropriate steps.
LEO (July 22–August
23) Sometimes it pays
to be forward thinking,
sometimes it pays to
live in the moment, and sometimes
it pays to do both. That said, a
judicious combination of charm
and common sense is your best bet
when trying to determine which
invitations and opportunities to
pursue, which to discard, and which
to put in the “to be considered in
the fullness of time” file.
TAURUS (April 20–
May 21) Admittedly,
it would be wonderful
if the various people
in your life lived up to their
obligations and commitments all
of the time rather than only some
of the time. That said, see if you
can wring yet another ounce of
patience and forbearance from
your soul. It will pay off; it’s just
a question of when. And you know
what they say about watched pots
and boiling.
GEMINI (May
21–June 21) Keep your
eyes, arms, and mind
wide open. There is
an array of available options, and
unlike those boxes of assorted
chocolates that are ubiquitous this
time of year, you can actually take a
bite and, if it isn’t to your taste,
put it back and root around for
another...and another. ..and
another...until you find the one
that’s just right.
VIRGO (August
23–September 23) The
more flexibility you
can bring to the
proceedings, the better. And while
that F-word may not be something
you particularly want to hear (being
a charter member of the “it helps to
have a plan” club), in fact it’s your
trump card as you begin to resolve
outstanding questions surrounding
partnership affairs that have been
on the docket for a while.
LIBRA (September
23–October 23)
While you’re hosting
holiday gatherings
and generally making life lovely for
others, spare a thought to those
things that would cause you to be
more contented with your lot. At
this juncture, the more energy you
invest in shoring up your internals,
the more tangible progress and
success you’ll have with the
externals in the new year.
For Jill Goodman’s daily horoscopes,
visit RodalesOrganicLife.com.
november / december
2015 R RODALE’S ORGANIC LIFE
our Seed
Y
w
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s
Kn
by margaret roach
O
ne of the
loudest
and most
persistent claims
you’ll encounter when
perusing seed catalogs involves
“non-GMO” seeds. Don’t spend
your time fussing over this. Except
in inadvertent cases of contamination (such as sweet corn that was
cross-pollinated), catalogs for home
gardeners don’t sell GMO seeds.
I look for other clues for finding the
right seeds for my garden. Here are
four key ones.
source wisely Most mail-order
seed businesses are actually resellers,
not seed farmers or breeders. I want
to know the real source. I give extra
credit to catalog retailers who farm
some or all of their seeds. Even if
they don’t, I insist that they clearly,
proudly state where they source their
offerings.
Go local Seeds are adaptive; they
evolve over generations in response
to different growing circumstances.
For my upstate New York garden,
I am fortunate to have two local
sources—Turtle Tree Seed and
Hudson Valley Seed Library—as well
as Northeast powerhouses High
Building a Better Cat Litter
Mowing Organic Seeds
and Johnny’s Selected
Seeds. They’re all
attuned to regionally
appropriate, short-season
varieties that are resistant to the pests
and diseases found here.
buy organic I do this for two
reasons: One, conventional seed
farming can use a lot of chemical and
water resources, causing pollution I’d
rather not contribute to. And two,
since I don’t use chemicals, I want
resilient seed that isn’t accustomed
to a chemical diet.
Watch for greenwashing I grow
both hybrids and heirlooms, but I
worry that the word heirloom (used
for open-pollinated, or nonhybrid,
varieties at least 50 years old) has
become greenwashed, like the way
natural is used with food. Plus, many
exciting open-pollinated varieties
that aren’t yet old enough to be
heirlooms—modern heirlooms, so
to speak—come from those regioncentric organic catalogs. Just make
sure the seeds meet the qualifications
described earlier.
Margaret Roach creates the awaytogarden
.com website.
Many clay cat litters contain silica dust that, with
frequent exposure, could damage your lungs—or
your cat’s. Fortunately, there are better options made
from organic materials. Cedarific cat litter is a blend
of cedar and hardwood chips; sWheat Scoop is made
from wheat; World’s Best, made from corn, claims to
be flushable and safe for sewer and septic systems. (All
three brands are available at pet360.com.) Other litters
are made from wood pellets or recycled paper. Change
gradually from a clay litter to one made from organic
materials, mixing just a handful of the new brand into
the clay to start, so your cat gets used to it. You may
have to clean the box more often and spend a bit more
money, but the health benefits are worth it. —Liz Palika
ROL Sources
CALENDAR, page 32: Get more
information on the U.N. climate
change conference in Paris at
cop21.gouv.fr/en. Find a map of
International Mountain Day event
locations around the world at fao.org/
forestry/internationalmountainday/
78428. Support the Lady Bird
Johnson Wildflower Center at
wildflower.org. SCENTS AND
SENSIBILITY, page 58: Purchase
dried spices from mountain
roseherbs.com. YOUR WINTER
SURVIVAL GUIDE, page 64: Get
the Northern Light Technologies
TRAVelite desk lamp at northern
lighttechnologies.com. Buy Blue
Bottle’s 17ft Ceiling Espresso at
bluebottlecoffee.com. Find fat bikes
from Surly at surlybikes.com and
Specialized at specialized.com.
THE SWEETEST FEAST, page 68:
To reserve a seat at Sugar Moon
Farm’s Christmas Chef’s Night (held
on December 4 this year), visit sugar
moon.ca. A VERY FORAGED
HOLIDAY, page 80: For the gift wrap,
use a newsprint paper drawing pad
(recycled, rough texture) from utrecht
.com and 1-millimeter, 100 percent
organic hemp twine from organic
cottonplus.com. Affix gift wrap and
decorations with a Coccoina glue stick,
available at theultimategreenstore.com;
Scotch Magic Greener Tape from
staples.com; or natural craft glue from
lepetitmatisse.com. Get pressed leaves
from naturespressed.com and pinecones from pineconesofthenorth
west.com. To wrap the branches for
the wreath, use seven-strand organic
polished beeswax hemp twine from
rawganique.com. Order 12-gauge
aluminum jewelry wire for hanging
the wreath and 22-gauge wire for
heavier ornaments from michaels
.com. For hanging lighter ornaments,
such as pressed leaves, use 30-gauge
bright paddle wire from joann.com.
Paint the icicle twigs with Delta soy
paint in white onion from dickblick.com.
THE GOOD BIRD GUIDE, page 102:
Duck, heritage chicken and turkey,
and quail can be purchased at your
local Whole Foods Market, or try these
online retailers: Order pheasant from
joyce-farms.com; heritage chicken
from emmerandco.com; squab, duck,
and capon from dartagnan.com; and
heritage turkey from heritagefoodsusa
.com. KNOW YOUR SEEDS, page
116: Get more information and
purchase organic seeds from
Bountiful Gardens, bountifulgardens
.org; Fedco Seeds, fedcoseeds.com;
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange,
southernexposure.com; Turtle Tree
Seed, turtletreeseed.org; Hudson
Valley Seed Library, seedlibrary
.org; High Mowing Organic Seeds,
highmowingseeds.com; and Johnny’s
Selected Seeds, johnnyseeds.com. MY
ORGANIC LIFE, page 124: Find Hewn
Bakery online at hewnbread.com.
Rodale’s Organic Life (ISSN #2377-2778) is published in 2015 four times (May/June, July/August, September/October, and November/December) by Rodale Inc., 400 S 10th St, Emmaus, PA 180980099. Copyright 2015 by Rodale Inc. Vol. 1, No. 4. Periodicals postage paid at Emmaus, PA 18049 and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO RODALE’S
ORGANIC LIFE, PO BOX 26299, LEHIGH VALLEY, PA 18002-6299. IN CANADA, postage is paid at Gateway, Mississauga, Ontario: Publications Agreement No. 40063752. RETURN
UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO: RODALE’S ORGANIC LIFE, 2930 14TH AVE, MARKHAM, ONTARIO L3R 5Z8. GST#R122988611. Subscribers: If postal authorities alert us
that your magazine is undeliverable, we have no further obligation unless we receive a corrected address within 18 months.
RODALE’S ORGANIC LIFE
R
NOV EMBER / DECEMBER
2015
from top: Rodale Archives; irene rinaldi
Garden Guru