Look for Heirloom Produce at Kimmi’s Store

Pattison Strie Melange

Pattison Strie Melange

Friends, stop by Coastal Bend Health Foods in Rockport every day this week for beautiful heirloom produce freshly delivered from our farm.

This week, we are featuring rare heirloom squash that you won’t find anywhere else in South Texas.  We have more than 100 varieties of vegetables and herbs now ripening in our gardens.  These pictures show Kayla and Madeleine picking them for you!

We have some lovely French squash, called pattison.  You can find strie mélange, panache blanc et vert, and marbre.  You can also find the rare Italian ronde di nice.  Look for striped green cushaw, which is a very old Native American variety, along with Caserta and other unique varieties.

You will also find butternut, yellow crookneck, striped zucchini, scallopini, and many other tasty squashes.  There are freshly picked carrots, beets, collards, prima rosa chard, lettuce, Tuscan kale, nasturtium bouquets, and many other veggies.

We can’t wait for you to try these squash and let us know how you like flavor.  The techniques we employ to grow the sweetest and most flavorful produce are really beginning to tell.  Each squash has its own unique taste.  We hope you love these wonderful squashes and other veggies as much as we do!

Stop by Kimmi’s store to try this produce.  The prices are great and Kimmi will always greet you with a smile!

Caserta Squash

Caserta Squash

Patisson Panache Blanc et Vert and Lemon Squash

Patisson Panache Blanc et Vert and Lemon Squash

Ronde de Nice

Ronde de Nice

Prima Rosa Chard

Prima Rosa Chard

Super Sweet and Delicious Carrots

Super Sweet and Delicious Carrots

Patisson Golden Marbre

Patisson Golden Marbre

Nasturtium Bouquets

Nasturtium Bouquets

Luogo Blanco

Luogo Blanco

Winter Issue of THE BEND

Friends, take a look at the winter issue of THE BEND MAGAZINE.

Turn to page 91 for a wonderful story written by Kayla.  These gorgeous pastries with recipes are the work of Claudia at Fillingood Bakery in Corpus Christi.  Nice work Kayla and Rachel!

Click here to subscribe to this beautiful magazine!

Faces at First Light

Mae Burke Emma sunrise 11-18-15

Our friend Mae Burke wanted pictures of Kayla and the girls at sunrise, without makeup, still a little sleepy. As part of her series, Mae Burke, Moments of Motherhood, Mae is capturing images of moms and their little ones in beautiful natural settings.

I asked Kayla how she felt about having pictures without makeup after just waking up. She pointed out that I posted pictures of her without makeup, in harsh hospital light, after not sleeping for 48 hours, and having just had a baby.  She thought Mae would be a little more gentle with the camera.

Mae Burke Emma looking at Madeliene 11-18-15

I went out in the still-dark morning to do my chores and Mae was sitting quietly on the porch, kindly waiting for everyone to be up and moving before she knocked on the door. They all went out to the lake to wait for sunrise.

I feel like these pictures could have been taken last week, or a hundred years ago. There is something timeless about the light, the gardens, the lake, and the people in the photographs.  To me, a really good picture makes you want to go there, to get into the picture.

My heart is in these pictures, rising with the sun, shining on these loves of mine, holding and beholding their faces at first light.

You can see more of Mae’s photography at Mae Burke.

Mae Burke Kayla Emma Madeliene field to left 11-18-15

Mae Burke Kayla Madeliene long view 11-18-15Mae Burke Madeliene Emma looking 11-18-15Mae Burke Emma dragging blanket 11-18-15Mae Burke Sunrise Kayla Madeliene 11-18-15Mae Burke Kayla holding Madeliene 11-18-15Mae Burke Kayla Emma looking left 11-18-15

Kayla in the News

Friends, Kayla was in the news yesterday on KRIS Channel 6 talking about the new FDA requirements for chain restaurants to post calorie counts on their menus.

Kayla is working as a private dietitian consultant, and we are excited that she is being called as a resource for these kinds of stories.

Click here to see the two minute program:  Kayla in the News KRIS.  I hope you are having a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

Preparing Thanksgiving Dinner (photo courtesy Rachel at www.racheldurrent.com)

Preparing Thanksgiving Dinner (photo courtesy Rachel at http://www.racheldurrent.com)

Picking Tunas for Dinner Tonight

Kayla Picking Tunas near Port Aransas

Kayla Picking Tunas near Port Aransas

Tonight, we will celebrate the fruit of the prickly pear cactus at a dinner at the Chartroom in Rockport.

Here, Kayla and I are picking ripe red tunas in the wild to deliver to Chef Mike.  This site is just off the windswept bay near Port Aransas.  Thank you Dave Ilfrey of nativedave.com for helping us find this excellent tuna stand!

At the dinner tonight, Chef Mike will feature roast pork, bacon, tomatoes, eggs, and freshly-picked basil from our farm. Chef Mike went shopping at the Downtown Farmers’ Market in Corpus Christi and will also include new potatoes, cushaw squash, and okra from our friend Casey Williams, who has a farm up near Riveria.

Dinner begins tonight at 6:30pm. Call Chartroom at 361-790-2450 for reservations.

Good Tuna Ground with Beautiful Wildflowers

Good Tuna Ground with Beautiful Wildflowers

It helps to have a good reach to get the tunas in the center of the cactus stand

It helps to have a good reach to get the tunas in the center of the cactus stand

Emma helped by being a sweet and good girl, as always

Emma helped by being a sweet and good girl, as always

Plowing Pictures, After

Kayla Garden Hat

I got these pictures of Kayla after Emma came.

Kayla is working for most of the day in the gardens now, and while she works she keeps Emma in a papoose that our friend Kimmi gave us.

On the very best of days, this is what farming looks like to me.

Kayla with Emma in ErgoKayla Emma Bando 3-25-14Kayla Flowers to Left 3-20-14Kayla Emma Bright Trees in back 3-20-14

Kayla working in garden a month after baby

Kayla working in garden a month after baby

Emma spends the time out of her papoose in a stroller at the edge of the garden.

Emma spends the time out of her papoose in a stroller at the edge of the garden.

 

Emma Crying with Kayla 3-20-14Kayla Emma Red Nails 3-20-14

Baby Emma, two-and-a-half months

Baby Emma, two-and-a-half months

Plowing Pictures, Before

Kayla Shaping Rows holding rake

I got these pictures of Kayla when she was ten months along.  These are the last pictures I have of her before Emma came, a couple days later.

Kayla was helping me plow up this garden.  I did most of the plowing, but she was out there with me helping where she could.

On the best of days, this is what farming looks like to me.

Kayla Shaping Rows with baby

We moved the chickens off this garden the day before.

We moved the chickens off this garden the day before.

We use the tractor to make straight rows to guide our planting.

We use the tractor to make straight rows to guide our planting.

Justin Behind Tractor

Kayla Shaping Rows smiling

Kayla Shaping Rows profile

Kayla Shaping Rows hawk

The Ideals of the Ancient Olympians

The Entrance to the Stadium at Ancient Olympia

The Entrance to the Stadium at Ancient Olympia

For the Olympic athletes in Sochi, nutrition is a science, and diet is a central focus of the competitors.  Diet was just as important to the first Olympians, some 2,700 years ago.  And for Ancient Greeks, food was about much more than nutrition.

What Ancient Greeks Ate

The ancient Greeks did not have many foods that today’s Greeks take for granted:  tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, corn, potatoes, chocolate, and many types of fruit and spices.  These foods would remain exclusive to the New World or to Asia for a long time into the future.

Ancient Olympians ate simple foods.  For meat, they had mutton, beef, goat, and pork.  Greeks who lived by the sea ate fish, although for many centuries fish was considered a food of the poor.  Access to fresh fruit was limited; accordingly, Greeks ate a lot of dried fruit.  Dried figs were a staple of the Greek diet.  They ate a flatbread made of wheat, barley, or rye.  Honey was their sweetener.  They used herbs intensively in their cooking, which was done in earthen ovens or roasting fires.  And Greeks loved their wine and olive oil.  Athletes actually bathed themselves in olive oil before competitions.

Justin and Kayla in Greece

Justin and Kayla in Greece

Milo of Croton, the Wrestler

One of the original Olympic champions, Milo of Croton, was the greatest wrestler of Ancient Greece.  He won a gold medal at six consecutive Olympics games, and a silver in his seventh competition.  To finally defeat him, a new school of wrestling, called standing or long-armed wrestling, was invented.  The long-armed wrestling kept Milo on his feet and at arm’s length until the old man could be worn down and finally pinned after nearly thirty years.

At one of the Olympic Games, Milo picked up a four-year-old bull and carried it around the stadium on his shoulders in front of 50,000 screaming spectators.  Then he butchered it, cooked it, and ate the entire thing in front of his fans.  I would hate to have to wrestle that guy.

Milo ate up to 20 pounds of meat per day, but Milo was the exception.  Greek athletes typically sought balance in their diet, and they were very careful about what they ate.

The Original Olympic Field

The Original Olympic Field

Food Fads in Ancient Greece

The food, along with the training regimen of the competitors, continually evolved over time.  Occasionally, a great champion would emerge who ate a peculiar diet, and this diet would launch a food trend across Greece that lasted sometimes for decades.

Once, when a great champion emerged who ate a meat-only diet for a year prior to the games, a meat-only diet craze spread across Greece.  This fad lasted for a long time.  If a champion announced that he never ate bread prior to a competition, Greeks across the country would shun bread until a new athlete emerged who swore by bread.  In some years, eating honey became a fad, and honey was sought in great quantities to give energy to athletes.  In other years, honey was avoided because it was believed that sugar slowed down an athlete.

These food fads differed from modern fad diets, because there was not a lot of marketing and commercialization involved, but rather a quest for perfection and purity in the diet.  While the great philosophers were thought leaders in Greece, the Olympic athletes led the food trends.

Justin at a Temple to Zeus

Justin at a Temple to Zeus

The Sacred Truce

Thirty days before each Olympic competition, a Sacred Truce was declared, and runners were sent all over Greece with a special disk which declared free and safe passage to the games, no matter what kind of wars the city-states might be waging.  The Sacred Truce was held so dear that it was never violated for 800 years, which says a lot about how important the Olympic Games were in Greece.

As the games increased in popularity, every element of the competition was honed to the highest level of perfection, including the food.  Winning a gold medal was the highest honor in the Greek world, and the champions of Ancient Greece were bigger than the rock stars of today.  A great champion might spend the rest of his life being entertained by the wealthiest Greeks, and having honors heaped upon him.  He would likely be hired to train young Olympians in the art of competition, and he would make a lot of money at this.  Part of this training was diet.

Kayla at Olympic Ruins with the Entrance to the Stadium to the Right

Kayla at Olympic Ruins with the Entrance to the Stadium to the Right

Perfection of the Parts  

The diet of ancient athletes was simple, but the purity of their food was of paramount importance.  The ideal of Greek philosophy was perfection in forms:  perfect laws; perfect statues; perfect athletes.  To achieve this ideal for the whole, the parts must first be perfected.  Sculptors, for this reason, went to great lengths to obtain the finest marble for their statues of the gods.

Athletes likewise demanded the purest foods in their diet, to build their muscles, to chisel their bodies.  The farmers considered themselves artisans, no less than sculptors.  Their tools were sun, rain, seed, and soil.  Farmers, like the athletes they partnered with, strived for greatness.

Ancient Olympia was very Isolated and Surrounded by Barren Rocky Hills

Ancient Olympia was very Isolated and Surrounded by Barren Rocky Hills

Food that Traveled

Farmers competed to grow the best and purest foods for their athletes.  Animal husbandry, types of fertilizer, management of the soil, plant selection, and other techniques were employed to continually improve the quality of the food offered to athletes.  Not only that, farmers helped with the curing, drying, and packaging of food for the long transport to the Games.

Ancient Olympia was, and still is, surrounded by barren rocky hills.  The small village in Olympia could not begin to supply the 50,000 Greeks who descended on the arena for the competition.  There were no crops around Olympia, and there was very little grass for animals in the hills.

The Tiny Village at Ancient Olympia

The Tiny Village at Ancient Olympia

The teams had to travel great distances from their homeland to the Games in Ancient Olympia.  Some teams had to travel hundreds of miles on foot, and some came by sea in tiny boats.  They had to pack and transport all of their baggage and food.  They had to bring enough food to last the long journey, a month on location, the Games, the feast that followed the games, and the trip home.

All of the livestock had to be driven to the Games–the cows, sheep, goats–and their forage had to be carried on carts.   There was no forage around Olympia, and the animals had to be fed, and it was critically important that athletes have access to fresh meat, and that fresh meat be available for the sacrifices to the gods.

The dried fruit for the athletes had to be prepared and packaged well in advance.  All the grains to make bread, the honey, the herbs, and all other foodstuffs had to be packed.  Of critical importance, the wine and olive oil had to be prepared and bottled with enough time to age, and then packed carefully into carts to be shipped to the games.

Growing, curing and drying, packaging, and shipping this food was a monumental feat of logistics.  Some of the teams came from wealthy city-states, like Athens, who could afford the very best in transportation and logistical support.  Some of the teams came from poor areas, and the athletes had to travel to the Games on foot, carrying all of their baggage and food on their backs.  When one of these athletes emerged victorious in the Games, he was duly honored for his greatness in rising above difficult circumstances.

Farmers partnered closely with athletes and coaches in this process, even though farmers typically were not able to attend the Games.  Often, as soon as the teams returned from an Olympic competition, they would begin planning for the next games, four years away.

Olympic Ruins

Olympic Ruins

Cheaters at the Ancient Olympics

When the teams got to Olympia, they had to set up rough camps in the hills around the stadium.  Tens of thousands of people were closely packed into this space, so there were many opportunities for mischief.  Teams had to set up guards on their food and baggage, to make sure they were not robbed of their sustenance.  Sometimes there was treachery as one team attempted to steal from another, to make up for a shortfall in food planning, and this was considered cheating.

Cheating at the Olympic Games was one of the worst offenses of Ancient Greece.  The games themselves were a religious festival meant to honor Zeus, and to dishonor the greatest of gods was a grave offense.  Cheaters at the games were ordered to build entire temples to Zeus, a process that would take all the money and labor of an athlete for the rest of his life.  Some cheaters who did not pay this penance were executed.

Cheaters also faced the greatest shame possible in Ancient Greece.  If an athlete was caught cheating, the athlete’s name was chiseled into a wall of disgrace close to the main temple to Zeus, near the entrance to the stadium.  To have your name hammered into that wall was a penalty worse than death.  Kayla and I walked down this wall where these names were chiseled, still showing their dishonor, more than 2,500 years later.

Kayla and a Statue of Zeus.  She insists she is reading the caption!

Kayla and a Statue of Zeus. She insists she is reading the caption!

Food for Sacrifice

Food was not only art to Greeks; food was an offering to the gods.  When a bull was butchered, a priest first slapped the sides of the bull with barley stalks and the seeds were sprayed on the ground along with the cleansing blood.  Next, the fat of the bull was wrapped around the thigh bones and placed on a purifying fire as a sacrifice to Zeus, and the prayers of the champions mixed with this smoke rising to the gods.  Only the purest food was fit for such a sacrifice.

I wonder what those farmers of old would think about our modern methods of farming, with the hormones, steroids, and antibiotics in meat, and the chemicals in conventional vegetables.  Interestingly enough, the greatest Olympic champions of today seek out only the purest of foods—a pursuit very similar to the competitors of old.

Farmers and their Champions

At the ruins in Ancient Olympia, the site of the original games, Kayla and I walked down a long wall of beautiful stone panels telling about the crops and the livestock of the city-states of Greece, and how this food nourished the champions of antiquity.  The various city-states were represented with their grains, their olives, their vegetables, their cattle, their fish, their wines.

Those farmers are lost to history, but you can still read the names of their great champions chiseled into the stone.  Those names represent the highest achievement of the Ancient Greece:  perfect art, perfect food, perfection in physical forms.

These are the ideals that our athletes of today seek in Sochi.

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