Bugging Out: Bees and Butterflies Add to Beauty on Just Roots Farm
Plus a Reminder About the Non-Profit's Great Annual Fundraising Dinner
My Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) produce subscription at Just Roots Chicago urban farm on the city's South Side has provided me with enormous amounts of delicious, healthy and sustainably grown produce. It has also enabled me to immerse myself every other Saturday in the beauty of vegetables as they grow — prompting me to create a series of articles on the Zen of local food.
My focus has mainly been on the plants themselves. But as the season has moved along, it has provided an increasing number of photo opps of butterflies and bees as they go about their pollinator business. So this Local Food Forum photo essay from my August 30 visit begins with the bugs (without ignoring the lovely flora).
This article also has a reminder to buy tickets for Just Roots’ big (and delicious-sounding) fundraising dinner on September 18.
Giant Watermelon Aftermath: 15 Pounds of World-Class Melon Rind
Free to a Good Home
Last week, I wrote about the 32.3 pound mega-watermelon I received from Three Sisters Garden farm in Kankakee, Illinois. Cutting this mega-melon down resulting in:
Many containers of some of the most delicious fruit ever.
Several happy neighbors with whom we’ve shared this bounty.
And… roughly 15 pounds of the most beautiful watermelon rind you could ever see.
There is a lot you can do with watermelon rind. You can pickle it. You can use it in stir-fries and soups. You can freeze it and use it in smoothies. You can use it in pasta salads. I’ve found some recipes I’m going to try.
That said… 15 pounds of watermelon rind is a lot. It is taking up inordinate space in our apartment refrigerator, and I’d really hate to let it go to waste.
If you’re in the Chicago area and would like to apply your kitchen creativity to this unique ingredient, give me a holler at bob@localfoodforum.com. Bonus if you can pick it up here in Lakeview East.
BTW, here’s what the flesh of a 32-pound watermelon looks like after cutdown.
Peak Season Rolls On… Fall Crops Coming In… See You in September?
Get Local Food Forum’s Chicago Region Market Tracker and Make Your Plans
I'm trying to wrap my mind around the fact that September is here. The old saying is time flies when you're having fun, but truly, when you're working hard all the time, it flies then too.
Fortunately for me, I do have a second career that I truly enjoy, but I do wish the clock would slow down a bit.
And the upside is that after all that hot, humid, often miserable weather the first two months of summer, we've lucked into a stretch of beautiful, milder days. So... you have even more incentive to get to a farmers market where peak summer crops are still bountiful but the first signs of autumn are starting to move in.
If you're not a regular, this is some of the most delicious, freshest food you can find (also healthy, mostly sustainably produced, and a great way to support our local farmers). Check out Local Food Forum's Chicago region Farmers Market Tracker, updated for September 1-7, and make your plans for the week.
Sounds Like Thursday’s Green City Chef BBQ Will Be More Chill Than Usual
The First Real Blast of Cooler Fall Air Expected to Greet the Outdoor Event
This will be our last reminder that Chicago's Green City Market Chef BBQ fundraiser is coming up this Thursday evening (September 4). With more than 100 chefs/restaurants/beverage providers schedule to serve, the event will be the usual culinary spectacle — only this year weather forecasters are expecting a literal breath of fresh air.
A short and mild warmup is expected to be broken Wednesday by a cool front heralding the first real preview of autumn. Weather.com predicts the high temperature on Thursday will be 68; AccuWeather goes a little lower at 66.
Longtime fans of the Chef BBQ will appreciate how different this will be from the old times when the event was held in July... on what invariably felt like the hottest, most humid and occasionally wettest day of the summer. I'm looking forward to some cool comfort on Thursday.
Declaration That Independence Park Farmers Market is Worth a Visit
I have been all about the farmers markets since we moved to Chicago 14 years ago, and especially since Local Food Forum launched in 2021. The Chicago Region Farmers Market Tracker that we now maintain all year (outdoor and indoor) is symbolic of this devotion.
Nonetheless, with more than 100 regional markets open during the growing season, there are many that I have not personally visited (the fact that the Benensons have been car-less since 2018 is also a factor). So when I enjoy my first visit to a particular market, I like to share it.
That's why this article is talking about Independence Park Farmers Market, which is open the 2nd and 4th Sundays of each in-season month.
Read in this Local Food Forum article about the friendly ambience, the mix of familiar and newer vendors, the live music, and the beautiful pottery made by our friend Jill, whose pop-up at the market was our pretext to go there.
Bob’s World, and Welcome to It
It’s still about a month before the sunsets and sunrises are fully on our side of our apartment building for six months. But as the sun gets closer, the sky lighting gets stronger and produces more variety and beauty.
These photos are from the sunset on Saturday (August 30) and the sunrise on Sunday (August 31).