OLS | From The Garden
By Leslie Kedash
This past weekend was unusually busy for our family and, late Sunday afternoon, I checked the vegetable garden to see what dinner options were available.
I picked a few zucchini, pinched off some basil leaves and gathered a few eggs from the hens, all just enough to make this simple pasta dish.
Perfect for a stormy summer night, this stove-top recipe is convenient to have when the power goes out…. which it did this past Sunday evening. Photo by candlelight.
What’s in Season (Veggies)
By Margaret Gilmour
So what’s a cool and damp, cloud-covered start to summer mean for Chester County’s crops?
For status on the fields, I called H.G. Haskell, owner of SIW Vegetables (a.k.a. Stepped in What) on Rt. 100 in Chadds Ford.
It has been over 24 years that Haskell has been tending his crops and selling produce at his farm stand, where his harvest is spread out over wagons sheltered by shade trees.
“Boo-hoo, Boo-hoo,” is Haskell’s official report, adding “everything has been delayed by two weeks.”
Usually by this time of year SIW is producing a wide selection of farm-fresh vegetables, their specialty being heirloom tomatoes. In fact, last year they grew over 100 varieties of heirloom tomatoes, and 20 different types of cherry tomatoes.
With little sun, anyone ready to gather ripening tomatoes, or corn, for that matter, will need to remain patient. I know, I’ve been looming over my own tomatoes, and wondering when the little green sprouts will fatten up and get juicy. (more…)
OLS | Lemon Cucumbers
By Leslie Kedash
I’m just slightly addicted to cookbooks and cooking blogs. I recently came across a recipe that called for lemon cucumbers and the quest was on.
I must say that the lemon cucumber has quite a bit going for it: a pretty yellow color, shape (round, the size of a baseball) and taste (sweet and mild). It lacks much of the chemical that makes other cucumbers bitter and hard to digest.
I found them this past Friday at the Kennett Farmers’ Market. I came, I saw, I cooked.
Food Festivities Celebrating Buy Fresh Buy Local
By Margaret Gilmour
Along with the new Chester County Buy Fresh Buy Local “food-ability” guide, comes a string of events that’ll help you carry on an endless summer while celebrating our local food system.
July’s happenings include a feast of live music, cooking demos and recipes, and tips for preserving and freezing the season’s bounty. There are also discussions on the new movie, Food, Inc., and games for kids of all sizes, including a community game of chess.
See you there.
OLS | Ice Cream
By Leslie Kedash
Summer and ice cream go together like a wink and a smile. My daughter and I picked raspberries last week at Highland Farms and as we walked by the refrigerated cases, I spotted real, whole milk from Natural By Nature in a glass bottle, heavy cream on the top, just like when I was a kid. I could just taste homemade vanilla ice cream.
In the past few years I have made everything from cheesecake ice cream (a frequent request at our house) to black pepper ice cream (not so well received). Good vanilla ice cream is always a welcome, and short lived addition to our freezer. Ice cream and raspberries…life is sweet.
Thomas Keller has a wonderful recipe for vanilla ice cream in his cookbook Bouchon.
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups milk
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 vanilla bean, split
10 large egg yolks
Combine the cream, milk, and 7 tablespoons of sugar in a larger nonreactive saucepan. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and add them to the pan, along with the pod. Bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove the pan from the heat, cover, and let the flavors infuse for 30 minutes.
Place a metal bowl that will hold the finished mixture over an ice bath. Reheat the cream mixture until warm.
Meanwhile, whisk the yolks with the remaining 7 tablespoons sugar in a medium bowl until the mixture thickens and lightens in color. Whisking constantly, gradually pour about one-third of the hot cream mixture into the yolks to temper them. return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for about 10 minutes, or until the custard has thickened and coats the back of the spoon. (Run your finger through the custard on the spoon: The line you make should remain.)
Pour the custard into the metal bowl and stir occasionally until it has cooled.
Strain the cooled custard into a bowl or other container and refrigerate, covered, for at least a few hours, preferably overnight. Overnight chilling results in the best flavor and creamiest texture.
Transfer the custard to an ice cream machine and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Remove the ice cream while its texture is “soft serve”; transfer to a chilled container and place in the freezer to harden.
Just Out: Chester County Buy Fresh, Buy Local Food Guide
By Margaret Gilmour
FACT (Taken from the guide)
Did You Know?
If You Spend $10 a Week on Local Foods You Can Build Your Local Economy
If each household in Chester County spent $10 per week on local food and farm-based Chester County products, it would mean over $91 million dollars a year would be generated and available for local reinvestment in businesses and communities.
Ironically, just as I was searching for local farm stands near my home, I came across the new Buy Fresh, Buy Local Chester County food guide, just published and ready to help all of us find local food close by.
There, on page five, over 28 farm stands are listed, along with six farm stores, which are shops (usually in barns, or barn-like structures) where the goods are usually produced on the farm where they’re sold.
Of course Chester County farmers’ markets are listed too, along with area CSAs.
There is even a list of retail outlets that sell locally made items, and a few spotlights on regional farmers, growers and farm-to-table restaurants.
The local food guide points to many reasons we should buy local, seasonal fare that is not only healthier for us, but is also environmentally responsible, reducing the energy required for transporting food from its origin to where it is consumed. And, as we know, buying from Chester County businesses, or those nearby, strengthens our local economy.
Replacing an older 2002 version, the “feed-ability” guide is a collaboration of partnerships with FoodRoutes Network, which is the national, nonprofit organization that launched Buy Fresh Buy Local (BFBL), and other BFBL chapters including Chester County BFBL. Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA) coordinates the ten Pennsylvania chapters.
I picked my copy up at the BVA, and there are plenty more available at libraries, county parks and the Government Services Center in West Goshen. Or, download this printable PDF:
OLS | On The Grill
By Leslie Kedash
This week at the Kennett Farmers Market, I was in search of lamb chops from Country Meadows which had been consumed with great alacrity a few weeks ago. Alas, they were not available, but I did find some nice looking pork sausage, which would make for a great al fresco holiday breakfast. While living in New England, my family had often gathered with friends for an “Ethan Allen” breakfast, cooked entirely on the outdoor grill.
After our move to Chester County, the meal was renamed a “Valley Forge” breakfast (whatever works). The kids would play out back while our parents cooked and consumed Bloody Marys which, on reflection, were most likely an attempt to counter the effects of their antics the night before.
With that package of sausage bringing back so many childhood memories, I decided to revive the tradition (sans hangover) and a sumptuous Sunday breakfast was conjured up on the grill with sausage from Country Meadows, scrambled eggs from the hens, toasted french bread from Big Sky, roasted new potatoes from the garden and strawberries from Highland Orchards.
On a whim, I had picked up a bag of fava beans (Vicia fava) from Inverbrook Farm and while rather tedious to shell (twice…), I thought they were great, although the family was more circumspect. Inverbrook has instructions for preparation on their blog. Also steamed these beautiful variegated beans, look pretty, taste great.
Local food, childhood memories- a perfect meal to close a holiday weekend.
OLS | New Jersey Blueberries
By Leslie Kedash
Around 50 million pounds of blueberries are produced by New Jersey farmers every year. On a recent road trip back from the shore, we stopped at two farm stands. Seems it’s blueberry time in New Jersey right now. We also learned that the blueberry is the State fruit of New Jersey and Hammonton the self proclaimed “Blueberry Capital of the World.”
It seems the sandy soil of the pine barrens of NJ is perfect for producing copious amounts of fat, juicy fruit, and is now doing so with a vengeance. We picked up 5 pints, 3 for a Father’s Day pie and two for general purposes. (And the fact that the price was right.)
Now, making a blueberry pie is a bit of an art. You’d better know your fruit- how sweet it is and especially, how much liquid you need to “jell.” This being my maiden voyage on the blue fruit pie sea, we’ll just say that the crust was great, the taste sublime and leave it at that (think blueberry soup). A perfect excuse to try another one! Here’s one recipe.
Local Breweries Crafting Eco-Friendly Pints
By Margaret Gilmour
Cold beer and summertime. Frothy heads, Belgian Lace lingering down the side of your frosted mug. Nothing better.
Here in Chester County, we have some of the best small breweries in the world—no exaggeration.
In fact, a few years ago while visiting family in Vienna, I found a pub––1516 Brewing Company– with Victory Hop Devil on their beer list. No kidding. Right there in beer country. And I ordered my Hop Devil with pride before sipping the brewpub’s local favorite. Delicious.
Though beer making can burden the environment (with hops and barley often requiring doses of chemicals for successful growth), there are microbreweries altering their beer-making process with Mother Earth in mind.
Ellen April Handcrafted Soaps & Body Treats
By Margaret Gilmour
Not all luxury items need to cost a lot, or be exclusive and hard-to-find.
Ellen April handcrafted soap, for example, is a slice of bliss Leslie discovered at the West Chester Growers Market last summer.
It was a bar of Northwoods, in fact, that captured her attention. One whiff of the forested scent took Leslie back to Santa Fe, NM, where she originally got hooked on handmade soap. 
Six years ago, Ellen Watson, the creator of Ellen April Handcrafted Soap and Body Treats, got hooked on handcrafted soaps too; so much so that she began mixing her own delicious suds in her backyard in Downingtown. (more…)
One Local Summer | Pot Luck
By Leslie Kedash
This week I went to the market with no recipe in mind. A longtime fan of Patricia Wells, I’ve enjoyed her stories about shopping for food, (in France, of course…) and planning her evening meal around what was available then and there, fresh and local, real raw materials. Friday afternoon, after a(nother) long week, I hit the Kennett farmers market and looked for something simple, easy, and fast.
What I got was ingredients for roasted new potatoes, sliced tomato, garlic scapes (the aboveground part of the plant), salad with pea shoots, and hamburgers. Garlic scapes were an unknown to me and I put them in with the roasting potatoes for the last ten minutes. Nice mild garlic flavor with great texture, crusty baby potatoes, olive oil, salt and pepper. Good and simple.
The hamburger came from Country Meadows, purveyor of grass fed beef, chicken, turkey, pork, lamb, and fresh eggs. The Quarryville farm raises naturally, without all that questionable “stuff.” The livestock is routinely rotated to fresh pasture. The garlic scapes and pea shoots were grown at Inverbrook Farm, - as always, fresh and interesting.
I picked up 3 smoked, unadulterated beef marrow bones from K-9 Kraving. They went over rather well, as illustrated here… I’ve been subtly urged to fetch more.
8 Categories of the Best Summer Reading from CCBMC
By Margaret Gilmour
As promised, Chester County Book & Music Company (CCBMC) put together a summer reading list for us with a wide-range of titles guaranteed to interest you, your friends, your family members or kids, or that special someone who just loves to read.
From Best Local Read to Best Middle Grade Reader to just-published fiction, one of these books will pull you in and take you away. Enjoy the journey.
Special thanks to CCBMC for a great summer reading list. And, please, help us support our local bookstores by purchasing any of these book recommendations from CCBMC. (Oh, and be sure to tell them we sent you.)
NOTE: Comments are taken from publisher’s summary unless otherwise noted.
Hardcover Fiction
A Reliable Wife By Robert Goolrick
STAFF COMMENT: When a wealthy and widowed industrialist in snowbound, rural Wisconsin circa 1907 acquires a mail-order bride the lives of both individuals slide dangerously down a new path as each party struggles with an agenda of their own and iciness in their hearts. Robert Goolrick’s prose has the delicacy of a snowflake, the sharpness of the bitter cold, and the narrative momentum of an avalanche. This debut work of fiction is a worthy follow-up to his acclaimed memoir. – Joe Drabyak
Little Bee By Chris Cleave
STAFF COMMENT: This is a beautifully haunting tale involving a severed finger; a teenaged female Nigerian refugee; and a four-year-old boy who believes that he is Batman. How all these elements come together is simply remarkable. This is undoubtedly one of the best fiction works of 2009. – Joe Drabyak
Little Giant of Aberdeen County By Tiffany Baker
STAFF COMMENT: Growing rapidly and unusually large in her small-minded New York community, Truly painfully comes of age in the shadow of her attractive older sister, whose young son comes into her care unexpectedly, forcing Truly to live in the home of a bullying brother-in-law. The extremely large Truly Plaice will take up a big space in both your head and your heart. This fiction debut will surely get my vote as one of the best of 2009. – Joe Drabyak
Shanghai Girls By Lisa See
From the author of the bestsellers “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan” and “Peony in Love” comes a stunning new novel about two sisters who leave Shanghai to find new lives in 1930s Los Angeles.
Forgotten Garden By Kate Morton
From the author of “The House at Riverton” comes a story of outer and inner journeys. An homage to the power of storytelling, “The Forgotten Garden” is filled with unforgettable characters who weave their way through its intricate plot to astounding effect.
Into the Beautiful North By Luis Alberto Urrea
Nineteen-year-old Nayeli works at a taco shop in her Mexican village and dreams about her father, who journeyed to the US to find work. Recently, it has dawned on her that he isn’t the only man who has left town. In fact, there are almost no men in the village–they’ve all gone north. While watching “The Magnificent Seven,” Nayeli decides to go north herself and recruit seven men – her own “magnificent seven” – to repopulate her hometown and protect it from the bandidos who plan on taking it over.
Brooklyn By Colm Toibin
From the award-winning author of “The Master” comes a moving historical novel set in Brooklyn and Ireland in the early 1950s, concerning a young woman torn between her family and her past in Ireland and the American who wins her heart.
Once a Runner By John Parker
Originally self-published in 1978 and now in hardcover for the first time, “Once a Runner” is by far the most accurate fictional portrayal of the world of the serious runner . . . a marvelous description of the way it really is (”Sports Illustrated”).
The Four Corners of the Sky By Michael Malone
On her seventh birthday, Annie’s con-artist father left her behind at his boyhood home, then he raced out of her life. Years later, Annie, now a top Navy jet pilot, returns home on her 26th birthday. But everything changes when Jack calls to say he is dying, and needs her to fly to St. Louis to bring him the airplane he gave her the day he left. And if she does, he will give her the one thing she always wanted, that he always lied to her about the name of her mother. This is a wondrous tale of love, secrets, and the mysterious bonds of family. In many ways this delightful, contemporary tale is reminiscent of the WIZARD OF OZ.
The Lost Witness By Robert Ellis
Punished by her superiors following the explosive end to the Romeo case, Robbery-Homicide Detective Lena Gamble realizes that she has been set up for another fall when she is assigned the gruesome case of an unidentified victim whose body has been dismembered and tossed into a dumpster. This is smart crime fiction that is exceptionally well-plotted.
Paperback Fiction
Dear American Airlines By Jonathan Miles
STAFF COMMENT: Estranged from his only daughter for some twenty years, Benjamin R. Ford is overjoyed when he receives an invitation to her West Coast nuptials. However, in transit to the happy event, American Airlines strands him in the purgatory of Chicago’s O’Hare. Vexed by this development, Ben spends his time composing a 200 page, ferocious letter of complaint to the air carrier. In the course of this missive readers come to learn of his life, loves, and – oddly enough – the world of translated literature. While Benjamin Ford might remain earthbound, author Jonathan Miles definitely soars in this frantic and funny debut! – Joe Drabyak
Mudbound By Hillary Jordan
STAFF COMMENT: Mudbound is a story as dark and rich as the soil of the Mississippi delta. Debut novelist Hillary Jordan herein explores the inequities of race through the experiences of two families – one black and one white – as they toil upon the shared land of a Deep South farm in the days following the end of World War II. Heartfelt and haunting, this is a splendid work that transported me into that highly charged and deeply emotional terrain first traveled in a reading of To Kill a Mockingbird some 40 years ago. Simply stunning! – Joe Drabyak
The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society By Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
In 1946, writer Juliet Ashton receives a letter from a stranger, a founding member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. And so begins a remarkable tale of the island of Guernsey during the German occupation, and of a society as extraordinary as its name.
City of Thieves By David Benioff (Best Historical Novel)
Documenting his reluctant grandparents’ experiences during the infamous siege of Leningrad, a young writer learns his grandfather’s story about how a military deserter and he endeavored to secure their pardons by gathering hard-to-find ingredients for a powerful colonel’s daughter’s wedding cake.
The Cold Dish By Craig Johnson
After decades of peace between the white and Native American communities of early American Wyoming, a young man who was once convicted for raping a Cheyenne girl is found dead, prompting sheriff Walt Longmire, his deputy Victoria Moretti, and friend Henry Standing Bear to investigate. Craig Johnson is a great new voice in mystery fiction and a big staff favorite.
People of the Book By Geraldine Brooks
Offered a coveted job to analyze and conserve a priceless Sarajevo Haggadah, Australian rare-book expert Hanna Heath discovers a series of tiny artifacts in the volume’s ancient binding that reveal its historically significant origins.
Remember Me? By Sophie Kinsella
Awakening in the hospital after a car crash believing that it is 2004 and that she is a twenty-five-year-old, disorganized, single sales associate, Lexi is stunned to find that she has lost three years of her life, she is the boss of her department, and she is married to a handsome millionaire, but her perfect new life begins to go awry, especially when a man shows up claiming to be her secret lover.
The House at Riverton By Kate Morton
This volume is a gorgeous debut novel set in England between the wars. It is the story of an aristocratic family, a house, a mysterious death and a way of life that vanished forever, told in flashback by a woman who witnessed it all and kept a secret for decades.
Hardcover Non-Fiction
The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon By David Grann (Best Non-Fiction)
After stumbling upon a hidden trove of diaries, acclaimed “New Yorker” writer Grann set out to solve “the greatest exploration mystery of the 20th century: what happened to the British explorer Percy Fawcett and his quest for the Lost City of Z? “The Lost City of Z” is a blockbuster adventure narrative about what lies beneath the impenetrable jungle canopy of the Amazon.
Closing Time: A Memoir By Joe Queenan
A deeply funny and affecting memoir about a great escape from a childhood of poverty, “Closing Time” recounts Queenan’s Irish Catholic upbringing in a family dominated by his erratic father. This book, set primarily in Philadelphia, reminded me of the Pulitzer Prize winning Angela’s Ashes but darker and less sentimental. – Joe Drabyak
Outcasts United: A Refugee Soccer Team, an American Town By Warren St. John
This is the extraordinary tale of a refugee youth soccer team and the transformation of a small American town.
The Italian Summer: Golf, Food & Family at Lake Como By Roland Merullo
From the author of the critically acclaimed “Golfing with God” comes a charming narrative of a hole-in-one trip through Italy–a glorious summer of golfing, eating, and learning how to slow down and enjoy life.
Horse Soldiers: The Extraordinary Story of a Band of U.S. Soldiers Who Rode to Victory In Afganistan By Doug Stanton
From the bestselling author of “In Harm’s Way” comes a spectacular, harrowing, true-life soldiers’ tale. This is the dramatic account of a small band of Special Forces soldiers who secretly entered Afghanistan following 9/11 and rode to war on horses against the Taliban.
Columbine By Dave Cullen
Ten years in the making and a masterpiece of reportage, “Columbine” is an award-winning journalist’s definitive account of one of the most shocking massacres in American history. This volume is one of my early favorites for a National Book Award. – Joe Drabyak
Paperback Non-Fiction
American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House By Jon Meacham (Best Biography)
Chronicles the life and career of Andrew Jackson, a self-made man who went on to become a military hero and seventh president of the United States, analyzing Jackson’s seminal role during a turbulent era in history.
The Downhill Lie: A Hacker’s Return to a Ruinous Sport By Carl Hiaasen
Hiaasen gives us a hilarious and compelling account of his return to the fairways after a thirty-two-year absence. Carl wisely quit golfing in 1973. But some ambitions refuse to die, and as the years passed and the memories of slices and hooks faded, it dawned on Carl that there might be one thing in life he could do better in middle age than he could as a youth. So gradually he ventured back to the rolling, frustrating green hills of the golf course, where Carl ultimately—and foolishly—agrees to compete in a country-club tournament against players who can actually hit the ball. Hiaasen’s chronicle of his return to this bedeviling pastime will have you rolling with laughter.
When You Are Engulfed in Flames By David Sedaris
Sedaris presents a collection of essays in his signature droll style that explores such topics as an effort to make coffee while the water is shut off, an annoying fellow passenger on a plane journey, and a smoking-cessation trip to Tokyo.
The Middle Place By Kelly Corrigan
Traces a San Francisco newspaper columnist’s life experiences as evaluated during her late thirties, describing her relationships with her husband, children, and Irish-American father before and during her battle with breast cancer.
Best Local Read
Jailing the Johnston Gang: Bringing Serial Murderers to Justice By Bruce Mowday
Pennsylvania’s Johnston Gang, led by Bruce Johnston Sr. and his brothers Norman and David, netted millions through a prolific burglary ring during the 1960s and ’70s. But in 1978, fearing that younger members of the gang were going to rat them out to the authorities, the brothers killed four teenagers and nearly killed Bruce Sr.’s own son. This book draws on personal interviews with investigators, attorneys, and even former gang members to detail how the combined efforts of federal, state, county, and local law enforcement agencies brought the brothers to justice.
Best Children’s Picture Book
Library Mouse: A Friend’s Tale By Daniel Kirk
Sam is a mouse who lives in a library and loves to make up and write his own stories. When he leaves his stories in different parts of the library, humans find them and want to know who the writer is.
Best Middle Grade Reader
Also Known as Harper By Ann Leal
STAFF COMMENT: Timely and touching. Writing poetry helps Harper Lee Morgan through the tough times when her family is evicted. A sweet story guaranteed to evoke both smiles and tears. Joanne R. Fritz
Best Young Adult Novels
If I Stay By Gayle Forman
STAFF COMMENT: Mia must make a difficult decision after a terrible accident. This is beautiful, simply and remarkably beautiful. Joanne R. Fritz
Watersmeet By Ellen Jensen Abbott (Local author)
STAFF COMMENT: Fans of Eragon and Lord of the Rings will find much to love here, with the added bonus of a strong female heroine. Joanne R. Fritz
Notable Forthcoming Titles
Border Songs by Jim Lynch
By the acclaimed author of “The Highest Tide” comes a story that is at once comic, tender, and momentous – a riveting portrait of a distinctive community, an inventive love story, and fiction of the highest order. An extremely tall dyslexic is pushed away from his family’s Washington dairy farm to join the Border Patrol, where he indulges his obsessions with birds and art while occasionally catching smugglers and illegal immigrants on the British Columbian border.
A Happy Marraige by Rafael Yglesias
The author of “Fearless” delivers his first novel in 13 years, an autobiographical and devastatingly raw appraisal about what it means for two people to spend a lifetime together.
This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper
Poor Judd Foxman returns home early to find his wife in bed with his boss – in the act. He now faces the twin threats of both divorce and unemployment. His misery is compounded further with the sudden death of his father. He is then asked to come and ’sit Shiva’ for his newly deceased parent with his angry, screwed up and somewhat estranged brothers and sisters in his childhood home. It is there he must confront who he really is and – more importantly – who he can become. This is a funny, moving, powerful and poignant read.
Something’s Missing by Matthew Dicks
Martin is a gentle thief burdened by both OCD and an unusual MO – he routinely steals from the homes of thirty “clients” but limits his larceny to excessive toiletries, food items, household goods, office supplies, and the occasional object of greater value – all unmissed by his victims. It’s a charmed life overall until that day Martin discovers that his thievery may have a profound and beneficial effect upon his targets as well. This is a delightful fiction debut that will simply steal the heart of any mystery reader!
How I Became A Famous Novelist by Steve Hely
Narrated by an unlikely literary legend, this work moves from the post-college slums of Boston to the fear-drenched halls of Manhattan’s publishing houses and tells the horrifying, hilarious tale of how one man’s self-described pile of garbage novel becomes the most talked about book in America. Can an Emmy Award-nominated TV writer (David Letterman) make it as a novelist with a story about a guy trying to make it as a novelist – so that he can secure fame, fortune, and his ex-girlfriend’s humiliation? Complete with parody reading guide.
Inside Chester County Book and Music Co.
Twenty-seven years ago Kathy and Bob Simoneaux, owners of Chester County Book and Music Company (CCBMC) in West Chester, decided it was time to get out of New York City and open a business in a small town.
So the two left Manhattan to check out Margaret Alburn Bookseller, a small independently owned bookstore up for sale in West Chester. Margaret Alburn, formerly a Westtown School librarian, was ready to retire and move on.
They had no idea they would end up in Chester County.
“We saw Margaret’s advertisement, came to Chester County for the first time, and just fell in love with the area,” says Kathy Simoneaux.
The husband and wife team made three more visits before purchasing Alburn’s bookstore in 1982. This was long before independent bookstores were threatened to become anecdotes of the past, and before the invasion of big-box stores, megachain emporiums and point-and-click Internet shopping.
Still, even today, this local establishment continues to offer bibliophiles great resources in a rich environment where a well-read staff can talk extensively about—take your pick—the latest bestsellers, or the history of graphic novels.
“Our staff is as much our specialty as our children’s books—a section that’s bigger than a lot of children’s-only bookstores,” Simoneaux says. (more…)
R-P Nurseries Opens Willowdale Farmers’ Market
By Margaret Gilmour
On June 3rd the Willowdale Farmers’ Market wrapped-up it’s first day with seasonal bounty and hand-made wares available from a few nearby farmers and artisans.
“We’re starting small,” says R-P Nursery co-owner Kathy Pratt, who organized the farmers’ market with husband Richard. The nursery, in business since 1866, has been owned and operated by the same family for over 145 years.
The two travel each summer to Maine where they enjoy a farmers’ market in the center of town that sells local goods twice during the week. They wanted to bring the same experience close to home.
“We’ve been talking about opening a farmers’ market at the nursery for a long time,” Kathy Pratt says. “And Willowdale is a great location, in the hub between Unionville and Kennett.”
The market, open Wednesday and Sundays, is the latest addition to Chester County Farmers’ Markets. Now farm-fresh goods are available to us everyday of the week from markets spread throughout our region.
On its first day, four tents shaded the sellers, who were happily awaiting customers in a garden setting filled with plants and creative architectural structures, all for sale.
Featured goods included home-made jams and jellies, honey and soap. There was also home-spun, hand-dyed yarn.
Of course there was also plenty of fresh strawberries (I bought a pound), rhubarb and asparagus. One farmer had eggs on hand, along with a freezer full of free-range poultry.
Within the next couple of weeks Talula’s Table will add their gourmet foods to the mix of delicious eatables available for purchase.
Also included will be Northbrook Market selling their famed apple cider donuts, and there will be a table for Shellbark Hollow Farm’s tasty goat cheese (my first sample was from the Phoenixville Winter Market—and I can’t wait to go back for more.)
For now, small is just fine. I made my purchases while my son visited the nursery’s resident chickens and rooster who runs around managing his brood.
And of course there’s “Turkey Boy,” a colorful wild gobbler who, if you ask him nicely, will puff up his body and spread his tail feathers.
Actually, it sort of feels like being on a farm.
Willowdale Farmers’ Market
R-P Nurseries, 649 Unionville Rd
Wednesdays, 2:00 to 6:00 p.m.
12 of Our Favorite Eat In-Season Cookbooks
We love the just-opened farmers’ markets that give us local food in abundance.
So we’re celebrating the bounty with our favorite eat-local cookbooks.
Some of these books are filled with gorgeous images that’ll trigger your senses with spreads of seasonal fare you just can’t resist.
Then there are the cookbooks stuffed with great recipes and thoughts on cooking simply, but without the photoplay.
Take the One Local Summer Challenge
The One Local Summer Challenge started with the intent to encourage buying fresh, local ingredients, and it turned into a healthy, fun experiment for hundreds of participants across the nation.
According to Nicole Wolverton, Farm to Philly founder and this year’s Challenge coordinator, there are currently about 75 people signed on for 2009, with one person joining in from the U.K.
“Last year there were about half a dozen people from outside the U.S.,” Wolverton says. “That included entries from Canada, England, France and Scotland.”
The event (June 1 through August 30, 2009) is open to anyone willing to take on eating local. (more…)
Chester County Farmers’ Markets: When & Where
By Margaret Gilmour
By the end of this week, almost all of Pennsylvania farmers’ markets are officially open.
Now we can finally celebrate the arrival of local, farm-fresh produce, eggs and meat, along with artisanal goods (Chocolate! Cheese! Honey!), and hand-made or just-picked luxuries (Soap! Flowers! Herbs!).
There is even an ample selection of thirst-quenchers available at the markets too (Wine! Coffee! Juice!), and baked goods that you can nibble on as you browse or carry home for later.
I love shopping outdoors, bumping into a neighbor or two, and meeting the farmers, growers and craftspeople to learn about the food or product I am about to enjoy.
In fact, there’s nothing better than fresh fare sold by the hands that made it.
With that in mind, here are the farmers’ markets we’re lucky to have close-by, open to us on varied days and times. (more…)
A Taste of Summer Vinaigrette
By Margaret Gilmour
With warm days ahead, simple salads that include crisp, local greens in all varieties can become a healthy, one-dish meal.
We believe that you should select your lettuce as you would design your garden bed: use interesting textures, play with combinations, but nothing you place should overwhelm the others.
Then, after focusing on the leaves, the other main ingredient becomes the dressing.
Leslie has tried many combinations, ultimately creating a dressing she loves and uses almost nightly in the summertime.
So, I thought I’d give her thoughtfully seasoned vinaigrette a try, reviewing it for you to let you know what I think. After all, my main staple is salad, so I can be, at times, a merciless critic.
Leslie presented me with a large, wide bowl tossed with Belgian endive, Bibb lettuce, arugula, and watercress, all just-kissed with her vinaigrette.
I chose a small plate for my tasting, and sat alongside a round cutting board imparting a few black olives, some crusty bread, a wedge of aged parmesan and one or two halved cherry tomatoes. A perfect complement to my salad.
My first, small morsel of greens was delicious. The splash of vinegar did not overpower any of the other ingredients, and the hint of garlic added just enough zip to the creamy combination of mustard and mayonnaise that had the leaves clinging to the mixture.
I was in heaven. I finished every bite before dragging a slice of bread across my plate.
If she ever bottles it, I’ll let you know. For now, here’s the recipe, which gets five stars and tastes like summertime.
Leslie’s Simple Summer Vinaigrette
Adapted from The Barefoot Contessa Family Style: Easy Ideas and Recipes That Make Everyone Feel Like Family
Ina suggests putting the dressing in the bottom of the bowl before adding leaves, then toss when ready. Serve in a wide bowl rather than in a deep one.
How PA Got its State Flower: Mountain Laurel
By Margaret Gilmour
It seems that choosing the Pennsylvania state flower was not an easy task.
As a matter of fact, as the story goes, it was most stressful.
You see by 1931, with no state flower officially named, disgruntled Pennsylvanians opted to take the deed into their own hands.
They lined up in large numbers along the halls of the state capital in Harrisburg and demanded that a selection be made.
The choices they offered the House of Representatives were two: the pink azalea (Rhododendron Periclymenoides), or the mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia).
Advocates for both selections stood their ground.
Not knowing the details, perhaps the argument went like this:
Pro mountain laurel: The pink azalea has no winter foliage! The mountain laurel is an evergreen, with its glossy, deep green leaves warming up the landscape year-round. And their speckled flowers come in a variety of shades from white to pink blooming late spring in woodland habitats.
Pro pink azalea: The mountain laurel is poisonous! The azalea is available in an assortment of showy, clustered flowers in varying shades of pink that also bloom in spring in the woodlands. And its foliage also has great fall color.
The debate went on and on.
As a matter of fact, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives became so addled they could not reach a consensus.
So, with no agreement made, the House deferred the vote to the Governor of Pennsylvania, Governor Gifford Pinchot, who is known as our nation’s first professionally trained forester.
But the Governor loved both the mountain laurel and the pink azalea. How could he choose between the two?
He decided not to. Instead, he asked his wife to settle the matter.
She took her time with her decision.
It was two years after the initial debate, actually, on May 5, 1933, when the Governor signed legislation making the mountain laurel the official state flower of Pennsylvania.
You can see the mountain laurel in full bloom in early-June in the Pennsylvania woodlands. (And the pink azalea puts on a quite show in late-May.)
Sources: 50states.com and netstate.com
Mt. Cuba Center, Inc.: Nurturing Native Plants
By Margaret Gilmour
When Mr. and Mrs. Lammot du Pont Copeland decided to build their home on 113-acres near the village of Mt. Cuba, Delaware in 1935, they had a love for the outdoors, and a budding interest in gardening.
So, shortly after purchasing the lush, open fields, the couple commissioned Homsey Architects to design their stately Colonial Revival manor house that reflected the Copeland’s passion for historic Americana.
They also hired famed Philadelphia landscape architect Thomas Sears to create formal outdoor rooms that took guests and family members into well-scripted patios, terraces and courtyards, all framed with carefully planned plantings.
Then, what began as a love for formal gardens, evolved into a love of nature and a fascination with native plants in a woodland, naturalistic setting. Today the Copeland residence is home to Mt. Cuba Center, Inc., a 650-acre non-profit horticultural institution.
(more…)
A Great Greenhouse
By Margaret Gilmour
With its glass-covering that offers a view of the tropics no matter what the season, this greenhouse will inspire a green thumb no matter what your gardening experience.
It began as a hobby before tuning into habit, a familiar evolution many novice gardeners undergo.
In fact, when they moved into their home 26 years ago, the two-room greenhouse was a mere curiosity.
Still, while the young homeowners had little experience in plant-growing, they did have a growing interest in plants, especially the scented type. (more…)
May is for Native Plant Sales
There are many reasons to introduce native plants in your landscape.
From creating healthy wildlife habitats that support local biodiversity, to growing plants that are well-adapted to our region, and therefore need less attention than the non-natives.
In fact, we’ll be talking about natives all month as many are woodland bloomers are peaking throughout May.
In the meantime, you can take in these local opportunities to surround yourself in the horticultural beauty of native plants. I seriously doubt you’ll leave a sale without at least one new plant for your garden. I plan on adding another Amsonia tabernaemontana to the bed along my picket fence.
Delaware Nature Society
Native Plant Sale, Coverdale Farm, Greenville, DE
For Members Only:
Friday, May 1, 3 p.m. – 7 p.m.
Open to the Public:
Saturday, May 2, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Sunday, May 3, Noon – 4 p.m.
NOTE: Rain barrels available to purchase at the plant sale
London Grove Plant & Bake Sale
500 West Street Road
, Kennett Square, PA
Saturday, May 9, 7 a.m. – 2 p.m. Rain or Shine
Brandywine Conservancy
28th Annual Wildflower, Native Plant and Seed Sale
In the courtyard of the Brandywine River Museum, U.S. Route 1, Chadds Ford, PA
Saturday and Sunday, May 9 & 10, 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Yellow Springs Farm Native Plant Nursery
Open House & Native Plant Sale
1165 Yellow Springs Road, Chester Springs, PA
Saturday & Sunday, May23rd and 24th, 10 a.m. – 4p.m., Rain or Shine
Catching the Colors of Spring
By Margaret Gilmour
the first Earth Day was held on April 22, 1970…
Topping off our week-long celebration of Earth Day, we decided to share some thoughts by Senator Gaylord Nelson, Earth Day’s Founder.
And since we’ve honored rain most of this week, we thought it was time to hail sunshine, and the intense cast of colorful characters dancing throughout our landscape.
So, thanks to all of you out there–-from the apple blossoms to the Virginia bluebells. This weekend, we’re going to sit back and enjoy your performance.
The photos in the collage are from our backyards. (more…)
Plant a Rain Garden
By Margaret Gilmour
What exactly is a rain garden?
It’s a shallow garden with a natural or dug depression, or sometimes it’s plantings installed at the bottom of the downslide of a slope. The rain garden is designed to capture rainwater and, in turn, help reduce storm water runoff and erosion.
These gardens allow about 30% more water to soak into the earth compared to conventional lawns. And because they are created to drain within 12-48 hours, there’s no threat of turning them into mosquito habitats. (more…)
