Urban Farming Overabundance: Fresh Tomato Sauce

Our tomatoes have been producing like crazy lately. So many, in fact, that I can't get them picked fast enough before they start to over ripen on the vine.

Today we went and I stripped the heirlooms as aggressively as I could; lots of beautiful orange, yellow, black, and (boring!) red lovelies to fill up the refrigerator.

One thing I know some people struggle with is what to do with "mushy" tomatoes. I have even seen people in the garden throw them in the compost bin because they were soft. Ahhhhh! Today we had a fair amount of beautiful ripe "mushy" fruit and I decided that it looked like just the right amount to cook for dinner.  Here is a quick rundown of what I did with them; hopefully it will help you avoid the temptation to toss the mushers!

The first step was to separate out all of the mushy tomatoes. We had a nice big wire basket that we filled up -- you can see the wonderful variety of color in the tomatoes.

Into the food processor they go! I threw in a medium sized onion and a couple of cloves of garlic and ran it pretty aggressively to get everything nice and liquid-y. Not pureed exactly, I still like my sauce a little chunky, but pretty smooth. 

Next I poured the mixture into a stock pot with a little salt, pepper, and "italian seasoning' from Sprouts. Sidebar - I love Sprouts for buying spices. So easy to buy fresh spices and so cheap; their blends are amazing!

The secret to a great sauce from fresh tomatoes (mushy or otherwise) is cooking it long and low (in my opinion).  I can't remember why at the moment ( I believe it was something I heard on America's Test Kitchen), but it is very important that you don't let tomatoes get to a boil when you're cooking them as it will really ruin their fresh flavor. I left them on medium-low uncovered for about three hours until they were nice and thick and had lost most of their water (the kitchen smelled wonderful!) and set the mixure aside until we were ready to make dinner.

Once it was time for dinner, I poured a few cups of red wine in the pot and let it cook off for about 10 minutes. A little grated parmesan, some good EVOO, and half a lemon with it's zest and we were ready to eat! We served it over some farfalla with a few grilled chicken breasts and a spinach, mozzarella, and fresh tomatoes salad on the side. It was a wonderful "mushy tomato" dinner!

UPDATE: I forgot to take a picture of the finished product yesterday, but I got this pic today from leftover lunchtime

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Posted in: cooking,gardening,hobbies

Authority in the Community and New Media

I read an interesting post on Facebook today. It was posted by The United Methodist Church  account and it dealt with an innovative church in Missouri that encourages the congregation to send text messages to the pastor with questions during the service and specifically during the sermon. Read the original article at umc.org. What surprised me (and I guess it shouldn't have) was the overwhelmingly negative responses by people to the Facebook post; I though this was a brilliant way to engage people during worship and I was honestly surprised by how angry some got at the suggestion that we invite the congregation to do anything other than sit passively and absorb the preacher's sermon. You can read some of the responses to the post, and I encourage you to 'Like' the UMC Facebook page - it's a great source of interesting news and the articles are generally well written.

The reason I'm blogging about this is because I believe it is a powerful reflection on a subject that has been very important to me in the past few years. I have spent a lot of time in academia; from my undergraduate work in physics, math, and the classics, to my graduate work in both physics and theology I have spent more than nine years in the university setting. One of the things I have learned is what it takes in that environment to earn the authority to speak. Degrees, papers, citations; none of this is new to most of us. If you don't have the paper no one is really going to listen to you. 

During that same time, I made myself a student of new media (though it wasn't always called that) and I have spent more time than may be appropriate for a person my age and with my responsibilities attempting to stay on the leading edge; I'm not a Digital Native but I feel like I've worked hard enough for long enough that I'm as close as a Digital Immigrant can be (read more about Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants). 

In my native state of Florida we have a divide almost as sharp as the one in the Digital realm; you're either a native or you're not and there aren't any shades of gray. We do have a way, however, of talking about people who have put in enough time to speak with authority about life in the Sunshine State - they might not be natives but "they have a lot of sand in their shoes."  What I'm getting at (in a very roundabout way) is that I know I'm not a Digital Native but I think I've got a lot of sand in my shoes (or bits on my disk?). In fact, I think it is my existence in the nether world between native and immigrant that puts me in a fantastic position to really think about what it means to speak with authority in this new world. 

I felt so compelled to spend serious time thinking about authority and new media that I crafted an independent study class while I was at the Claremont School of Theology and spent a semester doing research and experimenting with new media and community. In a sad meta-commentary on the subject, I did quite poorly from an academic perspective in this independent study class because I didn't submit an appropriately academic paper summarizing my findings to my professor. Somehow the website, Facebook page, and twitter following I built along with the essay I wrote summarizing my findings (even though this was the agreed syllabus - grumble grumble) didn't pass muster. I'm fairly certain that my professor's reaction to my work has nothing to do with my findings and the thesis of my essay which  was that, essentially, the future doesn't look too bright for professors whose authority is derived from publications and degrees, pastors whose authority is derived from an ordaining body, or educators whose authority is derived from school boards and certifying bodies.

What I have found, and I would love your feedback on this, is that for Digital Natives authority is derived from within a community. Furthermore, regardless of the pedigree you enter a community with you start from square one. PhD? Title? Publications? Bupkus. Your first foray into a community are like a baby's first steps. You gain authority based on the thoughtfulness and sincerity (or wit, or sarcastic sharpness) of your contributions and little else. Being vouched for by others is an effective way to gain ground quickly but ultimately your place in the community is based on what you have contributed to the community. 

I believe that, at it's core, this isn't a revolutionary idea. I think what is revolutionary, however, is the idea that we can't carry our authority from one community to another. Chap Clark said a lot about independence within youth communities in his book Hurt: Inside the World of Today's Teenagers (Highly Recommended!) and based on my own experiences I think it can be expanded more generally to speak about all communities that Digital Natives participate in. 

The take away from this (and what it was about the article about texting on umc.org that prompted me to write this) is that this tears down the very idea of an authority figure standing up in the front of the room (both figuratively and literally) and educating or otherwise exerting influence on those listening. It's why, in my opinion, so many Digital Immigrants find themselves torn down and disrespected when they act in authoritative ways that seem completely reasonable to most of us.  You listen to your teacher because they are the teacher (because someone told you they were in charge). You learn from your pastor because they are the pastor (because someone told you they were in charge). You go to graduate school and get a piece of paper that tells everyone that what you have to say is important. And it is important - I derive great meaning from the doctoral process - but what I'm trying to suggest is that authority within the academic community that recognizes the doctorate no longer carries over into other communities (if it ever really did). 

Of more concern to me is the realization that this same applies to the church community. This is why I am so intrigued by the article referenced above. The sermon becomes a conversation. The pastor of the church is no longer a single point of authority but becomes instead a curator of the conversation. If Digital Natives are to become engaged in the Church then it is my suggestion that the local church must become a community whose authority is grown organically from within. The experiences and understanding of God that a 12 year old youth brings to the conversation is just as important as the seminary education that the pastor of the church brings to the conversation. The anger and hurt that a 30-something single father brings to the community becomes an integral part of the theology of the community; the community must be grown from within. This poses serious problems to institutions - particularly those who send clergy into a church and expect them to represent the church's authority from day one. 

What does a church that allows authority to be cultivated within the community look like? I don't know.  Is it important that we figure it out? I think it is of the utmost importance.  I think Morning Star Church in Missouri is doing some of the hard work that we all need to engage in to keep the Church alive. 

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Posted in: church,ordination,school,umc

UMC And Social Media

It has come to my attention that the Kentucky Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church may be requiring clergy and (possibly) those in the ordination process to sign a document promising to add a fake profile on Facebook and Myspace as a "friend" for the purpose of allowing their conduct on these sites to be monitored. They are also being required, as I understand it, to disclose any blogs or other websites that they own so that these can be monitored as well. The whole of the offending document can be found at http://goo.gl/R6j29 and what follows is an excerpt:

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Posted in: church,computers,ordination,umc

Letters to my children

Dearest Daughters,

I am sending you this note to let you know how much I love you. More than that, I want to let you know that I believe in your limitless potential. I know that you are growing up in a world that will, at times, try to push you down and prevent you from being who you are called to be. I promise I will do everything I possibly can to uplift and empower you with the understanding that this alone won't be enough to open all of the doors the world wants to close. I promise I will praise your intellect as often as I praise your beauty; your strength as often as your grace. I will encourage your independence when all I want to do is hold you close and protect you from the evil in our world. Most of all, I will never let a day go by without showing you how much I love you and letting you know how thankful I am that God blessed my life with your presence.

To My Son,

Your road will be so much different than the one your sisters will travel on. I want you to know that I love you with all my heart and soul. You were the unexpected light that sparked in a darkened room and gave new life to my soul. I know that you too are growing up in a world that will test the very limits of your abilities and try to make you into someone much less than the person God created you to be. I believe in you; forever and always. I promise I will do everything I possibly can to uplift and empower you with the understanding that this alone won't be enough to open all of the doors the world wants to close. I promise I will never shy away from telling you how beautiful you are; I will praise your grace, artistry, and empathy as often as your strength, speed, and intellect. I will shelter and protect you even when the world calls for you to strike out on your own and be fiercely independent. Most of all, I will never let a day go by without showing you how much I love you and letting you know how thankful I am that God blessed my life with your presence.

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Sub-Irrigated Garden

Well, when we moved to Avondale I had to leave behind my beloved garden beds. I had worked for years to develop rich soil in the gardens on the north and south sides of the house and had some really well developed fruit trees going in back yard. So many plans turned to dust. We're in a rental house now, so I have to be a bit more careful about my approach to permaculture but I can't stand the thought of not growing some of our own food. The kids love it, and there is nothing like going out into the backyard to pick a salad or gather some broccoli for dinner. So I decided to get ambitious and build a large sub-irrigated bed in the back yard to take care of our gardening needs. If you're not familiar with the concept, check out one of my favorite urban gardening sites at http://www.insideurbangreen.org/diy-sub-irrigation/ for a dizzying array of examples and pictures. The basic idea is that you provide a way to water your garden from the bottom up which prevents evaporation and promotes deep root penetration. I think it's an ideal solution for desert gardening. We have a large open area covered in rocks on the west side of the house which I have decided will become the "farm" side of the house. The long term plan is to have two raised sub-irrigated beds as well as our composter and the chicken coops on this side of the house with a little picket-fence to keep out the dogs and toddlers (I'm not sure yet which is more destructive to the garden). Here are a few snapshots, hopefully there will be more as the growing season hits full stride.

This first picture is just after we finished construction. Notice the black fill-pipe in the back corner. This is where we water the garden. Sorry I had to cut my model out of the picture...

This next picture is about a month later after things had really started taking off. The tall plants in the middle are the tomatoes, squash on the left side of the picture and cauliflower on the right side. The foreground is different varieties of peppers and sown in the bare spots are carrots, beets, and spinach.

And a view from the other side (cracked bonsai pots courtesy of the twins). Two large basil plans next to the tomatoes, some cabbage on the left side, eggplant and zucchini on the right side. Next to the basil you see leeks and swiss chard, with various onions, garlic, and scallions filling in the rest. There is quite a bit of loose-leaf lettuce sown in the bare spots and the bonsai-pot-corner now contains a flowering strawberry plant (not-pictured).

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Posted in: gardening,hobbies,home improvement,interests

Privilege and children

So I am reaching the end of the quarter and can't get one nagging n out of my mind. I can consciously make every effort to reject my privilege when it comes to decisions about my own life (with somewhat varying degrees of success); how do I reject the privilege that allows my children opportunities to excel to their maximum potential? Is it fair to them to make decisions that don't take full advantage of our privilege? I want to say it's NOT fair to them to systematically oppress others so that they may have opportunities unavailable to many other children but the daddy instinct fights back hard. Thoughts?

Sent from my iPhone

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Confessions

One of the most common things I hear about Christians is that they are judgemental. I struggled for years to be as non-judgmental and accepting as I could in order to be able to says with pride that I am a Christian who loves and accepts everyone for who they are. The longer I spend in seminary (I suppose this is one of the dangers of spending half a decade in graduate school) the more I feel compelled to admit that I am becoming more judgmental and less accepting of others. Before you throw stones my way, let me qualify that by saying that my finger doesn't wag towards gay men or women, transgender individuals, people who have made the decision to end a pregnancy, people with tattoos, people with drug habits, or any of the other "traditional" finger-wagging judgments that Christians are famous for making. Instead, I find myself less and less able to accept people who believe that some people are more worthy of God's love than others. I find myself unwilling to take a "live and let live" attitude towards those who claim homosexuality is a disease or that the Church is closed to those who don't live their lives in quite the "right" way. I find myself recoiling in disgust when I hear a joke that is made at the expense of someone who has been marginalized and is oppressed in our society. I decided some time ago that I couldn't allow myself to reprsent a Christian Church that didn't participate in a fully open communion and didn't truly throw open the doors to the least and the lost. "Open Doors, Open Minds, Open Doors" is a pretty slogan but until everyone is welcomed for exactly who they are I believe it is vacuous at best.

I spent the last two days in the company of Sister Helen Prejean and met a man today who is a death-row survivor. Shit. The death penalty becomes another thread of intolerance in my psyche; I can't accept that any viewpoint that justifies the murder of a defenseless human being. Let me be clear, I recognize this prejudice as sin. I am a broken man and I pray constantly that I can find a way to love everyone I meet with the open acceptance that God demands of me. But I'm not there and I feel like I'm going to get farther and farther away from who I want to be before I begin to turn around. Part of me wonders if this is the kind of intolerance that the world needs; what kind of change can we create in the world if we don't sacrifice ourselves for what we believe is right even at the expense of personal sin. I can only ask for grace when I let you down.

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Posted in: church,Iliff,school