greenliving


Go Eco Like Grandma Honor Her Wisdom in New Ways


by Avery Mack “


recycle, repurpose and reinvent. Nos- talgia is making a comeback. It’s tempt- ing to revert to successful old-fashioned ways; it’s even better to update the how-to of natural eco-living.


U Preserve Food


“There are tradeoffs between conve- nience and environmental impact,” says Kathleen Hanover, executive creative director at Imagine That Creative Marketing Services, in Dayton, Ohio. “I’d love to freeze all of our family’s produce, but after two power outages, I can veggies, too. Steam canners for jams, jellies, tomatoes and high-acid


se it up, wear it out, make do or do without,” was the motto of past generations. Today, it’s


foods use three inches of water and 10 minutes of energy.”


Shel Horowitz, a consultant for


Green and Profitable and co-author of Guerrilla Marketing to Heal the World, joined a food co-op in the 1970s. Today, it has 9,000 members. “I dehydrate veggies for soup, pasta, stir-fry dishes or as tomato or zucchini chips,” he says. “Onions, shallots, garlic, leeks, celery, kale, hot peppers, tomatillos and fruit were successful; eggplant, cucumbers and rhubarb were not.”


Use It All


The Traditional Line menu devised by executive chef Mark Russell, of Great Performances, a sustainability-oriented high-end catering and food service


company in New York City, remarks, “Food trends have changed,” noting preserving, freezing, pickling and can- ning remain sound. He salutes thrifty Depression-era practices. “My grandparents picked dan- delion greens to fry in bacon fat,” he says. “A salad with olive oil and fresh tomato is healthier.” Fermented grape leaves can be rolled up into dolmas filled with local grains and feta cheese instead of meat. He also blanches and freezes cauliflower leaves, warmed in butter to serve; he’s then used the whole vegetable. Nasturtium leaves are fermented, seeds and stems pickled and flowers puréed. “I make nasturtium flower cou- lis, bright orange and spicy, to dollop on freshwater fish,” Russell says. “Stems are minced into grain salads and seeds sprinkled on slabs of beefsteak toma- toes. Leaves, soft from fermentation, wrap around fresh goat cheese, shred into coleslaw or pair with steamed basmati rice.”


Apply Gardening Tips


Containers ease gardening, especially for tomatoes. Hanover repurposes plastic cat litter buckets. “They’re sturdy and hold up in cold weather,” she says. “Alpaca poop fertilizer sup- plied by a neighbor doesn’t smell and plants thrive.”


Ocala, Florida, reiki master and


teacher Debi Goldben employs nature’s bounty at home. “Downspouts collect rainwater for the garden, and it’s much better than chemically treated city water,” she says. Some municipalities, including in Colorado, regulate rain- water collection, mandating the size and number of barrels per property “for outdoor use only”.


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Austin Edition


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