One of my favorite things to eat. And they're grown right here in Brooklyn! Got them at the Meat Hook.

Kittens!

Drying apple mint; pullet eggs from the livestock people at the farm; malabar spinach and sungold tomatoes from my garden.

The Rural Route Film Festival has been going on this weekend at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens. The farmer in charge of livestock at the farm made a documentary about young farmers that's being featured in this festival. The Greenhorns is playing tonight at 6pm. Here's the trailer. 

Only the Lonely

Lucky Tiger #1 (2009), from the NYTimes

Saw Laurel Nakadate: Only the Lonely at PS1 featuring her work from the last decade, including photos and videos of her in strange men's homes, acting out exorcisms or re-enacting Britney Spears' music videos. Some of it was hilarious. But then almost instantly I felt really bad for laughing or just simply felt sad. Some of her work does seem a little mean-spirited, as if she's poking fun of the lonely, ackward middle aged men. She claims, however, that much of her motivation was to get out there and meet strangers, interact with people she wouldn't normally talk to, and see what would happen when she turned on the camera. I thought it was an enjoyable way to spend an hour away from the heat! Laurel Nakadate crying, dancing, playing dead, and posing raunchily with the song "Angel of the Morning" from one of her videos resonating throughout the gallery in the background. See for yourself, only a few days left before the show closes this Monday, August 8th.

Only the Lonely, Installation from P.S.1 

Exorcism in January (2009), from the NYTimes

Zucchini Bread French Toast

Made zucchini bread last night but it came out a bit too dry. So, this morning I tried using it for french toast and it turned out great!

One of my baskets of leftovers from our harvest this week. Lots of kaleidescope carrots, giant zucchinis, some okra, fennel, and very fragrant lemon verbena which I am using for tea everyday.

Over the weekend, I went back home to Toronto. It was a really short trip, mainly took care of some errands with my grandfather, went to church and a BBQ with family friends. I also managed to squeeze in some time to go raspberry picking in Markham. 

I had no idea we were so close to all these farms. One side of Major Mackenzie are housing developments and small shopping centers 

And on the other side of the street are farms

Anyways, we went to Organics Farm just in time for the last of their raspberries. They were really good but I still made some of it into jam. My sister also brought home the most amazing wild blueberries. If it sounds like I'm obsessed with berries, it's because I totally am! All summer fruits really. They're only available during such a short window. 

Speaking of the farm, we've been having some issues with the tomato hornworm the last couple of weeks. Since we're not spraying, we spent a good amount of time last week searching for them, then collecting them in a jar (so gross), which we fed to the chickens. But we missed one of them and it turned into a huge moth. We spent more time trying to eliminate it than we should have. Water does not work, and neither does bleach. I don't even want to say what we ended up doing with it. Also, we caught a woodchuck. (I have pictures of all of these but I don't know if I can put them up or if anyone would want to see them anyways!) 

All this made me think of the book I'm reading, Eating Animals. One of the main reasons he cites for being a vegetarian is that he doesn't want to hurt any creature, that we should treat fish the same way we treat dogs and cats. Well, now I see that we have to kill quite a few creatures in order to produce vegetables, herbs, and fruit. Aren't they alive too, have nociceptors like us and are frightened when locked up in a small cage?

So what people normally do when they encounter a woodchuck in their garden is shoot it. It finds ways inside the garden gates, eats and destroys a lot of the vegetables, and probably tells all its friends and family about it. I don't know if it's because it was only the three of us girls trying to figure out what to do with this woodchuck and we didn't really have the heart to shoot it or allow anyone else to, but we ended up driving it a couple miles away and releasing it. May not have been entirely legal, and it will probably end up getting killed by some predator in its disorientation, but it was the best we could come up with. I wonder what we'll have to deal with in the weeks to come! 

Tenth Acre Farms [www.tenthacrefarms.com] from christine zenyi lu on Vimeo.

Check out this video of Tenth Acre Farms, a local urban farm. Been getting some of their produce from the Brooklyn Kitchen. I like their raised beds, no bending over or squatting for hours!

Ok so the raspberries Neil got a few days ago at Greenmarket were the last for the season, at least until the fall. All I have left of the berries are a few jars of jam and a small container of ice cream. I will now spend the next few weeks hoarding peaches and blueberries!

While I make treats and sweets, Neil and my grandfather are busy cooking the meals. Below, Neil's sweet corn appetizer and my grandfather's fresh lumpia (it's a fresh spring roll). I must admit, I am very lucky.

Kittens seem to be doing well after their long day yesterday. Millie came home from the vet and started to play right away. Charlie is a little wiped out and is sleeping a lot. Maybe the heat isn't helping.

Today was two degrees short of the city's record of 106 F-- which was in 1936. I really hope this weather doesn't become the norm.

Going to sleep soon, I just finished making raspberry ice cream and jam.

Little Does He Know...

My kittens are going to surgery tomorrow, and as my grandfather keeps saying-- Charlie will be a eunuch. Of course, he says it in Chinese, and I wouldn't normally understand the word (I've never had to use it) except that he adds a description, "You know, one of those men that served palace women and had to have their manhood removed!" I know it's a routine procedure, but I'm still nervous. Hoping all will go well.

Visited the Queen's County Farm Museum today. Beautiful space, lovely day.

Except until an hour ago, as I was about to post, when a fire broke out on the first floor of our building. Smoke was rising out the back of the building and people started coming out to the streets, yelling at us to exit the building. We grabbed our cats and dashed down the stairs. The fire is out and everyone is okay now, but it was scary for a moment. Kind of puts things in perspective. Anyways, I'm very grateful to the firemen here in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. They acted super fast to keep us safe. Gonna calm down now and try to enjoy the rest of the evening.

"Animal agriculture makes a 40% greater contribution to global warming than all transportation in the world combined; it is the number one cause of climate change."

From Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer. 

Also interesting is this recent article on global warming by Al Gore in the Rolling Stone.

So many choices to make on a daily basis...

Also catching up on my weekly farm readings, excerpts from:

1) Fertility From the Ocean Deep -- explains how nutrients from the ocean benefit plants.

2) From the Soil Up -- basic science of soil and managing soil aeration, water, and residue decay.

3) The Unsettling of America -- Wendell Berry mourns the decline of small farmers and describes his views on 'modern' agriculture and how it has corrupted our culture and caused an ecological crisis. 

Raspberry Yogurt Pops

Rasberries are in season, got mine at the Union Square Greenmarket and decided to make these refreshing treats!

Speaking of berries, I got to pick mulberries this week at Grady's Farm, where the assistant gardener lives. It was really fun, picture the three of us under a large tree, shaking branches hysterically onto a blanket on the ground ;)  I've never had them before, and thought they were delicious!

Optimum Trajectory

“Your life is like a river. If you’re aiming for a goal that isn't your destiny, you will always be swimming against the current... Find out what your destiny is and the river will carry you."

-The Men Who Stare at Goats

A bit cheesy, I know. And the movie itself, not that great.

But that quote struck me.

Anyone that has known me these last few years knows how challenging working as a nurse, particularly in oncology, has been for me. I get that a lot of people don't like their jobs or find their jobs boring or stressful... but when it makes you cry all the time-- before work because of anxiety, during work because of an overwhelming sense of doom, and after work because of exhaustion-- it feels like swimming against the current, a constant struggle.

Working on a farm or garden has been something I have wanted to do since college, but never found enough time or had the opportunity to go away and live somewhere else for an entire season. Now that I have decided to try something completely different (or what people who are in my world and a part of my life right now consider to be unconventional) and made this change in my life, I'm not sure if I can go back. It feels right, even though I don't know where it will take me. But I'm content to continue floating along with this current.

A keeper for now.

Quiet morning in Brooklyn, breakfast was leftover crab couscous and Veniero's from Neil's birthday celebration at our place yesterday. Afterwards, went out for drinks. The city was quiet last night-- perfect!! Hope it stays that way today!

We went to California again for my cousin's Eagle Scout ceremony and also for another cousin's wedding. It was a nice trip, caught up with family/friends, finally went to the movies (last one I saw at the theater was The King's Speech!), and ate good food. Also went back to Cypress, CA where I lived for 10 years, to a local carnival fair with my uncle who was hired to take photos (although the one above is mine!) It was a little strange to be back in the area where I spent much of my adolescence. Some things have changed, but a lot has also stayed the same. It made me think about all that has changed for me and the path my life has taken since leaving California. Then I realized that I am where I'm supposed to be, which is a nice thought to have... it's accepting and actually liking my present state! So although it's always great to catch up with relatives and friends, I acknowledged during this trip how much I really like living in Brooklyn and on the East Coast in general. I'm glad to be back home with my cats, my farmer's market, and back at the garden again. Perhaps I've grown more roots here in NY than I previously thought I had!

Driving on the Taconic, all I saw were cops and deer. Makes for a cautious drive, even if the scenery is gorgeous. This week at the farm/garden, I learned how to prune tomatoes. It's so satisfying, I could prune all day! I'll have to tend to my own tomato plants today. What else did we do... trellised the peas, harvested lettuces and kale, transplanted rows of pistou basil for the herb garden, weeded of course. The time just passes so fast while I'm there, always lots to do.

Neil cooked hamburgers with shoestring fries last night, very satisfying after a long day. He had gone to the Union Square Greenmarket yesterday and met Keith Stewart of Keith's Farm. He told him what I was doing and he gave me a free copy of his book! I've wanted to read It's a Long Road to a Tomato for a while now, especially after I saw his posting for internship positions. I didn't want to live somewhere else for an entire season though, but I'm sure it would be a wonderful experience. Anyways, I'm very happy to have his book now. And his tomatoes were really good with the hamburger! 

Also, first blueberries of the season were at the Greenmarket. So much good fruit during the summer!

A few of the items I've sold recently. 

Music Notes

I've had a good 2 days at the farm this week. We were really productive, even though it was really hot and humid. I harvested for the first time and we sent down our first delivery to the restaurant. I heard that the chef seemed to be overwhelmed with how much lettuce there was! There were a lot of greens that were affected by the flea beetle in the last week, so I got to take home a lot of the "imperfect-looking" produce (lots of holes but still good!) We also prepared some beds, weeded and raked them through and applied compost, then spent some time seeding again. It's nice to have experienced a mini cycle, from seeding in April to harvesting this week. Now I have a good idea of how we will continue this process over the rest of the season.

I wish I could post up pictures of the place, but it's on a private estate. So instead... here's a photo (which I wish I took!) of Mick and Keith. Like most of my interests-- but music especially-- I am stuck in a different time, and have been since I started getting into (good) music during high school. However, the discovery process has proved to be extremely slow over the years; there was a 2 year period during college (and working at Tower Records where I was continually exposed to "new" music) when all I had playing in my cassette player in the car were Van Morrison's Moondance and Live in Harlem by Sam Cooke. For 2 years! When I love something, I really get into it. So to this day, I still spend a lot of time on one album. And just when you think you've got a good grasp of what a certain artist has done, I discover something else of theirs that just blows me away. 

On the way back home driving from the farm this week, I hooked up my phone to the audio and listened to a couple of documentaries on Netflix-- Tales From the Script and Rolling Stones: Stones in Exile. It's made me rediscover Exile on Main Street again. My favorite Stones album has been Sticky Fingers but I think a lot of that is because I haven't been able to move on from it to start listening to something else! There's a lot of songs on Exile that are very familiar but it's totally different when you listen to an entire album from start to finish, the way that it was intended. I also like how documentaries (or books, articles, friends, etc) propels you to re-discover something great that you may have overlooked before. It's also the same way I get into the influences of the artists themselves. I started listening to a lot of blues this year: Robert Johnson,  Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf... there's really not enough time for me to listen to all the songs I have!

Speaking of the Stones, have you heard the Terry Gross interview with Keith Richards talking about his book Life? I guess they replayed it recently during the most recent of WNYC's pledge drives. I like how he gives her a hard time in response to some of her questions! But deservedly so-- she really asks the most inappropriate things sometimes. Anyways, new found respect for him. He's intelligent and articulate and funny all at the same time-- which I truthfully have to admit I didn't think he would be after all the drugs he did and the crazy, amazing life he's had! Now... if I could find time to read his book :)

Beautiful Brooklyn Morning

Breakfast with delicious strawberries from Lani's Farm, which we got from Union Square Greenmarket yesterday. Also checked out Smorgasburg Brooklyn Flea Food Market here in Williamsburg. I hope just as many people come out today for Artists and Fleas. So far, it hasn't rained. If you're in the neighborhood, stop by and say hi!