Add it to the list of things to try again when I am retired.

We love our local Farmers’ Market, but decided this year to take our grocery shopping to another level. We have just finished our first year as happy CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) members. Our growers are Cory and Shanti Rade of Whipstone Farm in Paulden Arizona.

Who wouldn’t love showing up once a week to pick up two tote bags full of flowers and veggies, picked just that morning?!

We would like to help other families experience the convenience and deliciousness of locally grown fresh produce by providing a donated share of next year’s Whipstone Farm crop, and are working with Shanti to figure out how best to allocate that share.

Here are some tales of other CSAs who have discovered ways to distribute their excess shares equitably:

• Sunshine Farm Market
• Farmer’s Market Today
• Local Harvest
• Homeless Garden Project

Do you participate in your area’s CSA program?  Would you like to contribute to another family’s share? I’d love to hear about it.

Speaking of this, here are some related posts from the Loosely Speaking archives:

Pizza Perfection

Community Supported Agriculture in Prescott

Oh well, I’m still so excited about something I just found out about. I’ll get to it in a minute.

Do you ever go out on photo hikes with friends, with the intent of photographing the same area and then comparing what you did afterwards? I am always asking people to go and do that with me, but more often than not, it doesn’t work out.

Recently, my son, Dillon, and I did a variation on this, in which we both took a bunch of images at a family gathering here at our house. It was really fun to see how differently we recorded what was happening and see different shots of the same sequence of events.

Dillon’s “In the Hammock” is above, right, and mine is below that. We have different perspectives in so many ways (he’s a guy, I’m a girl; he’s 20, I’m a lot older than that; he shoots with a fixed lens Minolta Dimage Z something, I shoot a Nikon D70 with a bunch of lenses). That comes through a little in our images.

So, back to what I’m all excited about: it’s an event called “Photo Walk” and I found out about it over at Tombo’s blog, and signed up to participate right here here in Prescott.

August 23, 2008 people all over the world will gather to walk their city and make images in a social activity designed to be fun and inspirational. At the end of the walk, which lasts about 2 hours, everyone gathers somewhere public, like a restaurant, to share photos and chat AND maybe win some fabulous prizes.

As one who has been doing a little TOO much social networking lately, I am looking forward to a little social photography and face time with others who have shared interests.

When I signed up (just now), there were about 15 spaces remaining. (Each city limits participation to 50 individuals)

Read more about it at Scott Kelby’s site here.

Woo-hoo!

This masterpiece started at Whipstone Farm in Paulden. Corey and Shanti Rade bring us our share of their fresh-picked produce every Tuesday. (More about their CSA can be found here.)

Shanti emails a list of what’s coming in each week’s delivery in advance. She also includes a few recipe hints, making meal planning easy. All we CSA members have to do is show up between 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. with empty shopping bags.

This pie features:
onions, carmelized (from Whipstone)
eggplant, grilled (from Whipstone)
zucchini and crookneck squash, grilled (from Whipstone)
mozzarella cheese (homemade)
asiago cheese (from the grocery store)
grape tomatoes (from the grocery store)
fresh basil (from our backyard)

You can purchase from Whipstone Farm yourself if you attend the Prescott Farmer’s Market on Saturday morning. More on that here.

Thanks to Corey and Shanti of Whipstone Farms in Paulden, AZ, all I had to do was run downtown yesterday afternoon and pick up this week’s haul. After a quick rinse and some slicing and dicing, dinner is served. Tossed with a quick homemade salad dressing and a sesame baguette on the side, it was perfection. Here’s how it looked:

Cumin & Lime Dressing

• juice of three limes
• 1 diced garlic clove mashed with 1/4 tsp. coral sea salt
• a few grinds of the peppermill
• 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp local pecan honey
• 1/2 c. canola oil

Now, you can get all of the ingredients for your own salad days eating adventures from your local Farmer’s Market. We have a great one here in Prescott. We like it for the atmosphere and variety it brings to our tummies during the growing season. (Plus, I can finally give up the battle against bindweed, earwigs and snails which seriously compromise my own gardening efforts every year.)

You can also ensure fresh produce from local sources all season long if you seek out your town’s Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) growers. Locally, we have two choices:

• Whipstone Farms, owned by Cory & Shanti Rade, in Paulden AZ is the CSA we belong to.

• Prescott College’s CSA includes eggs and meat, honey, cheeses, and other products.

A Good Yarn, located in The Old Firehouse Plaza at 220 W Goodwin in Prescott, is proud to announce a book signing with Debbie Macomber on Saturday June 7th, at 1:00 P.M. The bestselling author of A Good Yarn, The Shop on Blossom Street, Back on Blossom Street, as well as The Cedar Cove series, is one of today’s leading voices in women’s fiction.

Debbie’s newest Blossom Street book Twenty Wishes will be the focus of this book signing.

Plan a trip to A Good Yarn in Prescott for June 7th, 2008 and meet Debbie Macomber. Pick up your Twenty Wishes book and while you’re here explore all the fine yarns and notions!

If you live in the area, mark your calendar now to stop by Debra’s shop on June 7th.

… which reminds me, I currently have on my needles a cute pair of socks (seen above right) made from Elsebeth Lavold’s Hempathy Designer’s choice (34% hemp, 41% cotton, 25% modal) and a great summer tank top made with Cascade Pearls (no picture of that yet).

Recently completed are some red socks for cheering on my UA Wildcats, made from a purchase made at Kiwi Yarn Company in Tucson: Meilenweit Cotton (41% cotton, 39% superwash wool, 13% Pllyamide, 7% Elite – whatever that is). These were actually finished at the ballpark, and then put on for good luck. So far, they work well!

The Homicide Victim Remembrance Display, created in 2008, is a collaborative effort of the Yavapai County (Arizona) Attorney’s Office Victim Services Division and Arizona Department of Corrections Restorative Justice Program. The goal of the display is threefold:

ADVOCACY: ensuring that a victim has a voice even after their life is taken

REMEMBRANCE: honoring the memory of those who have died at the hands of another

AWARENESS: realizing the extent of violence and homicide within Yavapai County

The display includes an array of life sized silhouettes, each representing a person who died in Yavapai County as a result of another’s wrong doing. Each figure is handmade by prison inmates from materials donated through the Restorative Justice Program. Family members of each victim provided mementos in remembrance of their loved one.

The Homicide Victim Remembrance Display is a tribute to those who can be too easily forgotten. Let their silhouettes stand as a reminder for all; to treat victims and survivors with dignity and respect, to celebrate the memory of homicide victims, and to seek justice for an unjustifiable act.

If you are local please take the time to see the display this week, April 7 to 11 at the Yavapai County building on Fair St (across from Fry’s) or next week, April 14 to 18 during Victim Rights Week at the gazebo down on the square.

Details Summary:

EVENT: Homicide Victim Remembrance Display
SPONSOR: Yavapai County Victim Services,
CONTACT: Marie Martinez, (928)777-7353

Over on AboutPrescottArizona.com there are some new reviews. The reviews will be expanded in the coming months, and if you are a local, I’d love to hear from you if you have personal favorites or new discoveries to share.

Anyone who has visited Prescott and tried some of our eateries is welcome to share comments here on Loosely Speaking, but at AboutPrescottArizona.com, reviews are limited to Prescott residents. (Check out the reviews on there right now, by local Prescott blogger Tombo)

So, join in the fun and tell us where you like to dine!

Speaking of this, here are some other posts elsewhere on Loosely Speaking you might enjoy:

• Welcoming New Businesses
• People Moving to Prescott

If you’re on track, good for you!

OTOH, if you have slipped up a tad, how about making a commitment to a new volunteer project?

Easy to find, every community has numerous options, AND you will instantly feel good about yourself again!

In Prescott, Arizona, where I live, there are more than I can mention here, so I have started a list at AboutPrescottArizona.com.

What are you doing for others?

When you think “blog community,” you probably picture like-minded people, or those bound by common interest, but not living, breathing people who live where you live. (Speaking of that, see photograph of Lynx Lake near where I live in Prescott, Arizona, at right.)

Does it matter to you if people who actually do live in your town, and whom you might even encounter in person, know about and visit your blog?

If you define and adhere to your blog’s target audience in the strictest sense, I doubt you care whether your neighbors read it.

On the other hand, if you are a community activist and your blog is your soapbox, your town is your audience.

But if you’re concerned with your blog’s page rank, you likely don’t even WANT the traffic or links from neighbors who may publish low-ranked hobby or personal blogs. And since the act of blogging transcends physical location, it may seem irrelevant to even consider the locale of those with whom you communicate while online.

Or, if you are one of those anonymous bloggers, you certainly wouldn’t want to be outed by a neighbor who discovered your identity.

But if you are somewhere in between, take a look around and see who you find. Just google your town’s name and the word “blogs.” I bet you’ll be amazed like I was when I discovered who was out there.

Think about the heart of your FIRST community for a moment:

• People you see when you’re out for a walk
• People you run into at the market
• People you see regularly at your favorite restaurants or coffee houses
• People you know from church
• People who work at your bank

Some of these people read blogs and many likely publish blogs of their own.

I have a “Prescott bloggers” folder in my blog reader, and find that visits to those blogs are almost like personal get-togethers. Reading local blogs is just neighborly. You can keep your ear to the ground about issues affecting your town, including politics, health and culture.

Our local newspaper, the Daily Courier, includes links to local bloggers in its online edition. There I have found other Prescott folks that I look forward to meeting in person next month at an area blogger meetup.

Consider the conversations (and yes, traffic) you may experience if you don’t overlook your physical community.

I stopped into Wild Iris Coffee on Saturday afternoon with a friend and then made a return visit on Sunday afternoon with my husband.

Owner Julie Gorman is greeting everyone with a warm welcome and the space is very inviting. AND the pies are beautiful and delicious. My spouse does not drink coffee and is always a little anxious when I drag him along for my fix. He commented that his strawberry smoothie (made from real fruit, not a powdered mix) was delicious.

Driving home after the second visit, I realized I had failed to introduce myself and wish Julie well, something my Gramma would never have forgotten to do. A simple act of common courtesy, the introduction is also one of the most appreciated.

The same goes for connecting with other bloggers, and new faces in your own industry, or new members of organizations you belong to. Say hello, introduce yourself, and offer them your congratulations on all their hard work.

Business networking used to mean going to a meeting once or twice a month and working the room while exchanging business cards. Today, with so many of our relationships unfolding online, all the more reason to make efforts to form connections with people online and in person.

Next trip downtown, I’m stopping back in to Wild Iris to have another non-fat latté, and will certainly extend my hand to welcome this new business to Prescott.

… speaking of that (another related post):

How Would Grandma Blog?

I hate shopping that involves going to a mall or a grocery store. Raising four boys has lead to way too many breathless dashes to sporting goods stores (at malls) for bats/cups/cleats/shin guards en route to a game or tournament. As for the grocery stores, I can’t guess the number of trips I’ve made to or the dollars I have spent at those over the years. That is a destination I now avoid as long as I possibly can every week, even if it means eating popcorn or bean burritos for dinner. Rating: 1(on a scale from one to 10, 10 the best)

Online shopping is my friend. I won’t say I love it, but will concede that I derive some satisfaction from finding the best prices on those items I am looking for. Plus, it can be done while I take quick breaks from work and blogging. Rating: 5

Online shopping on Black Friday is my BEST friend. While others swarm the malls and WalMarts of the world, I am swigging coffee and shopping in my jammies while searching for one-day-only specials. Rating: 8

Now onto my favorite kinds of shopping. I am feeling all yummy inside just thinking about these places… please take me along if you are making an excursion to:

1. Good yard sales (but not estate sales; they make me sad)
2. Great thrift stores (my best luck has been at the Habitat Home Supply Store and the DAV (Disabled American Veterans) Thrift Store here in my town)
3. SAS, a fabric by the pound experience in Phoenix

I got hooked on yard sales the first time I went. In a little old lady’s central Phoenix driveway, circa 1982, I spotted several pottery pieces that I held up for my yard sale expert friend, Cath, to inspect. I remember scrunching up my face and asking her, “Are these good?” Well, they were McCoy, Bauer and Roseville, and yes, they were very good. Rating = 10

At the Habitat Store and DAV Thrift(spelled ‘Trift’ where I live) I have scored awesome finds over the years. From lovely lithographs, antique windows, beautiful Italian tile, antique furniture, and wonderful etched glassware. I love the dustiness, the excess (200 window screens sort through and measure!), and the dangers (watch out for broken glass!). The day I found the exact windows I needed to make a built-in glass fronted cabinet in my recent bathroom remodel, my very intrepid mom and I loaded up three of these beauties in my truck and gloried in the haul: just $30. Rating=10

SAS is a seamstress’s wonderland. Not that I make that much time for sewing in my modern life as a blogging-web designing-project managing woman, but I have made some great outfits from fabrics dug out of huge cartons or pulled high off a shelf. Linens, silks, rayons, wool jersey, leathers for making unique belts or jewelry, every kind of trimming or notion you could ever imagine await the patient shopper at SAS.

I have adorned my body, my children’s bodies, and my home with high end fabrics woven for manufacturers who make pillow shams and evening wear for people far fancier than us. My aforementioned intrepid mom and I have scored hand knit water-damaged sweaters from Peru from this very same store. Set up warehouse style and without air conditioning or chairs, I even relish shopping on hot summer Phoenix days when the temperature inside that place has to be over 100. Alongside women looking for bridal fabrics or something special enough for their daughter’s first communion or quinceñera dress, we poke and prod and exclaim over our finds. We’re all sweltering as we search, and then all smiles as we plop down $50 or less for 10 pounds of woven bargains. Rating: 10, for sure.

Today I heard from Lynn after he had stopped over at the Prescott site, in search of some local hiking information:

Hi,

I recently moved here. I am a happily married man of 64. I enjoy hiking and do not know any hikers here yet. I have not hiked recently so am looking for something easy with someone with like interest. Both of your favorite Prescott hikes sound simple enough and close enough for cell reception if I ventured out alone. I generally enjoy company while hiking. Is there a book of local hikes?

Lynn

I replied:

Hi Lynn,

Welcome to town. It’s so nice to hear from you.

I often hike alone (but always with my dog) and feel that the trails you referenced are well traveled enough and close enough in that it’s ok to go solo. Now, of course I’ll probably take some flak on that advice, since it is considered very unwise to hike alone at any time.

And, yes, I do get cell reception in those areas, but it (reception) can be very spotty around town as you may have noticed.

At the library you can find some books on local trails, but I’d like to recommend you stop in at the Hike Shack, 210 S. Montezuma St., 928-443-8565. The owner’s name is Dave Ganci and I called to let him know you might be in. You’ll find that the folks at the Hike Shack will be able to recommend some more places to hike and while you’re there, you can pick up the best area trails book, by Ron Smith, now in its third edition.

Here are some other links (that weren’t on my site before, but that I have just added) that might help you out in meeting up with fellow hikers:

Prescott Hiking Club
www.prescotthikingclub.com/

Prescott Outings Club
www.geocities.com/prescottoutingsclub/club_information.html

Yavapai Trails Association
www.yavapaitrailsassociation.org/

Good luck to you and maybe I will see you out there!

Katie

Feel free to chime in if you want to share other hiking ideas.

Dear Elected Official or Candidate:

I am a long time Prescott resident. While I actually reside in the county (Forbing Park area), I also own property within the Prescott city limits. As such, I cannot vote in city elections, but still have an interest in who serves in those positions.

I have two specific health and safety concerns on which I would like to know your views.

Recycling and or Disposal of Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs:

Currently, there are no local safe disposal options for spent compact fluorescents. With the green movement in high gear, and the fact that they are widely available for sale at such local retailers as Costco, I anticipate a huge increase in consumer use of these items. In fact APS and SRP endorse them and promote switching from incandescents. With the mercury content contained in these bulbs, increased use without planning for their disposal could result in a big health and safety problem.

Although the bulbs are packaged with instructions and warnings about safe disposal, the city of Prescott’s sanitation department recommends disposing of these items in with regular household trash. Private sanitation companies Waste Management and Patriot offer the same recommendation, although the latter does suggest wrapping them in a couple of layers of plastic before tossing in one’s dumpster.

Communities around the country have begun to address this issue. In reviewing disposal options available in other parts of Arizona, I have found the following resources:

• http://www.srpnet.com/electric/home/lightbulbs.aspx (specifies they should NOT be discarded with regular trash)
• http://earth911.org/search-recycle?what=Fluorescent+Bulbs&where=Phoenix%2C+AZ&max_distance=100&goRecycle=

Whether or not their mercury content does pose a public health hazard may be open for debate. Larger cities have wrestled with this matter and some, but not all, have arrived at solutions. Since they last for years, we won’t have a problem, for awhile.

I would like to see our region take proactive measures by 1) getting informed on this issue now; 2) educating consumers on appropriate disposal options AND 3) arranging for a safe way to discard them locally.

Brush Disposal:

Public awareness campaigns about forest fire prevention have been a huge success here in Prescott. With all the “firewise” and “create defensible space” programs which have taken hold, I am amazed that a resident would have to drive to Mayer, Skull Valley, or other outlying areas in order to dispose of brush and branches.

Yavapai County’s Solid Waste Department tells me that this material may be dropped off, for a fee, at the Sun Dog Ranch landfill, but this doesn’t feel like the right solution.

I think it’s time that we create a permanent center where this material can be chipped for use by citizens. If neither the city or the county feels they have the resources to manage that kind of project, which might also include a community composting center, I suggest it be put put to private bid. Perhaps applying for a grant from ADEQ (Arizona Department of Environmental Quality) would be a solution.

Many other Arizona communities have dealt with this in constructive ways. For example:

• http://www.chandleraz.gov/default.aspx?pageid=561
• http://www.tempe.gov/recycling/
• http://www.scottsdaleaz.gov/recycle/brushguidelines.asp
• http://www.ci.gilbert.az.us/pw/compost.cfm

Recognizing their are many competing health and safety issues for someone in an elected position to reckon with, I will appreciate a response of any length.

And if you have recommendations on what I, as a citizen can do to help implement reasonable solutions to these challenges, please do let me know.

As such, I have sent this letter directly to elected officials and candidates. I invite you to reply here via comment or you may contact me by email at ktcosmos@LooseEnds.net.

Thank you for your time and best wishes,

Katie Baird

What’s related:
Making Your Home Office EcoFriendly

They are considering relocating to Prescott and are looking for people who already live here who are willing to correspond with them about life here.

So, what about it, Prescottonians? Would you be willing to jump in there and help answer the Carey’s questions? Here’s their original letter, followed by a little more detail on what they would like to find out:

My wife and I are considering relocating to the Prescott area, hopefully next Spring. We are the Careys – Wife name Zutie (a nickname requiring additional information) Son’s name is John (31 yrs old) and my name is Richard.

Zutie is a retired accountant/office manager – I (Richard) am retired from having my own computer consultancy and many years of sales/marketing.

John lives with us due to a near fatal automobile accident that virtually wiped out some of his dreams. He was in the process of getting his Doctorate in English Literature and had completed all his course work. He had actually written his dissertation when the accident erased about 18 months of his memory and left him with a traumatic brain injury. He doesn’t even remember writing his dissertation. He is fully functional except that his short-term memory is impaired and he is considered permanently handicapped. In essence, he would have a hard time working full time.Since he is unable to work through finishing his dissertation, he has decided to set it aside for now, given that he would not be able to make full use of his doctorate anyway. He could teach part time if he so desires but right now he is content traveling and enjoying life.

We semi-retired to Arkansas about 12 years ago from Sugar Land, Texas where we lived for 25 years, originating in New Jersey. We have been totally spoiled living where we do. We have 65 acres of forested land with about 3 acres cleared. We live very rural and enjoy the solitude very much. However, there is more to life than solitude.

We are 2,000 miles from our daughter (and grandson) who currently live in Bend, Oregon, and have been looking to move as close as possible given our circumstances and preferences. We have been researching various “affordable” areas that meet our criteria and Prescott seems to be a possibility. We have some family in Fountain Hills AZ and some more distant relatives in Goodyear AZ.

We are all vegetarians and have been for about 20+ years. John is also a vegetarian as are our daughter, her husband and our grandson. We are not Vegans (we enjoy dairy products, eggs & ice cream) One of our greatest frustrations where we live is that we are basically forced to shop at WalMart (Ugh) We are very familiar with shopping in Scottsdale which has all the good things we desire and crave so that shouldn’t be a problem for us living in Prescott. You probably don’t have a Whole Foods, Wild Oats or Trader Joe any closer do you?

We are not your typical retirees – We are NOT looking for a retirement community overlooking a golf course. We are not looking for bingo, basket weaving or senior day at the casino. In fact we don’t gamble, smoke or do non-prescription drugs. We enjoy peace & quiet and prefer small gatherings. We are not “party” people, but we do like social interaction. We have traveled across the country and only lack Alaska and Maine to finish coloring in our map (That includes Hawaii). We enjoy offbeat, non-mainstream tourism which means we prefer driving the back roads as much as possible. We love historical sites and have been to most of the National Parks and Monuments. John & I are serious photographers and we all enjoy cultural history. We enjoy camping and outdoor activities but are somewhat limited by John’s stamina and our age creeping up on us (early 60′s).

When we originally settled here in Arkansas we were mostly self-sufficient. We grew most of our own organic vegetables and fruit, but since we have been traveling so much we have cut way back. (No sense growing it if you aren’t there to harvest it.) We do continue to grind our own wheat and make most of our own bread. We have our own water system which is a combination of spring fed and water collected from the roof in a cistern. We are on the grid but have several backup systems (solar & generator) – We are very much concerned about environmental issues and consider ourselves earth friendly. We are not hippies but share a lot in common with readers of Mother Earth News & Countryside. We actually have a rural form of DSL which is faster than dial up but not as fast as cable or real DSL. What’s available in the Prescott area?

I wonder if you or possibly some folks you know might be interested in corresponding so we can “pick” some brains and gain further insight into your area. Our son would also enjoy corresponding with someone 20ish – 31ish so he can answer some of his own questions about the area. Bottom line at this point: We are looking for people to tell us about Prescott – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly!

We really enjoyed your Prescott website and have devoured most of the information therein, but there are so many things we would like to know that only someone who actually lives there could answer. We are planning a trip out to Bend in September and a family visit to Fountain Hills after that, and hope to spend some quality time in the Prescott area (most likely camping).

If you have comments to share with the Carey’s please post them here. Or if you would like to write more on any of these subjects, please consider submitting a lengthier response to www.AboutPrescottArizona.com.

I didn’t get myPod until 2005 but I have definitely used it for far more than a music box. My best business uses have been to record client meetings and interviews and to for backing up my photography and other files.

My latest purely wondrous use is to haul it around when out photographing my Prescott surroundings, channeling Aldo Leopold all the while (with whom I share a hometown and love of nature). Only drawback is, of course, how to simultaneously record the sounds and sites of nature.

Meanwhile, I have been keeping tabs on just plain cool and/or elegant uses for iPods since acquiring my own. The first such post ran a couple of months ago and you can read it here.

Today I dug up a few more links to other unusual uses for the iPod.

• Top 5 Creative Uses for Your iPod is offered by SciFiTech. This discusses subway maps, fitness, finding dates, a dictionary, and playing Doom.
• Apple iPod Tours is featured on Apple’s website. This article features a couple of institutions which utilize iPods for self-paced tours. Museums, zoos and galleries are encouraged to use Apple tutorials to create their own versions.
• AfterMac is a great blog that covers all things Mac and from time to time specifically iPod related. You can browse the iPod category of posts over at AfterMac here.
• AfterMac also routed me over to Open Culture’s treatment of this topic titled “10 Unexpected Uses of the iPod.” Anyone who tracks down a link between iPods and the Human Genome Project earns my respect. You’ll find that here, along with mentions of assorted noble uses (medical, criminal justice) all the way to ignoble (cheating).
• Here’s the jackpot: 50 Fun Things to do With Your iPod, shared by Jason Kottke at kottke.org.