As the Adirondack Green Circle was planning the recent Farm 2 Fork Festival held in Saranac Lake (September 4^th), we wanted to keep the event as “green” as possible,. We tried to find ways to keep our veggie sample containers, Locavore Grill plates, and all other materials out of the long-term waste stream. That meant using paper for serving up the food and avoiding plastic, but what do you use to get those beets into your mouth?! One option that was explored was buying compostable forks and spoons that someone could just “process” in her home compost pile. Great (if pricey) solution, right?

It turns out that the “compostable” part of such forks and spoons appears to be a marketing scam aimed at ecofriendly types, a.k.a. greenwashing. An informal study done in San Francisco of such forks and spoons that had been through the city’s commercial compost operation (composted for 60-90 days at high temperatures) showed that they were not only recognizable in their original form but you could probably just wash them off and use them over and over. (See detatils at Fake Plastic Fish.) It seems beyond anyone’s wildest imaginings that anyone’s backyard compost pile could even approach breaking this stuff down. Turns out there is a little cyberuniverse out there discussing this issue, and there are lots of ideas. See what WholeFoods has to say: link.

Pictured above is our solution to this dilemma. The Green Circle bought a load of old flatware, from a local thrift store and the senior center. (And we asked folks to bring their own forks with them next time.) Buckets were put out for depositing the used utensils, and a Green Circle member (thanks, Susan!!!) took them home and ran them through her dishwasher. Someone will surely criticize using the dishwasher, but a lot of people told us they liked this simple, green, forward-thinking solution. And maybe next time folks really will bring their own forks.

What do you do with beets? They always look beautiful on the farmer’s table – gorgeous deep red globes with glossy big leaves. It turns out that a lot of folks enjoy them only for their visual beauty but have no idea how delicious they can be. Too bad, because they are a stellar vegetable for our northern climate. They love cool weather and they can be grown pretty much all season long, with the bonus of a very long storage period (for the root portion) in root celler or refrigerator.

Come on over to the First Annual Farm 2 Fork Festival in Saranac Lake and find out what do with beets and other locally-grown veggies (including the mysterious Kolhrabi!). The festival will be held in conjunction with the weekly farmers’ market in Riverside Park on Saturday, September 4th from 9 am to 2 pm. Lots of details at the Farm 2 Fork website.

The Festival is being organized by the Adirondack Green Circle. In addition to cooking demonstrations and food tastings, the Circle is going to operate the Locavore Grill, featuring local lamb sausage and pulled pork sandwiches on locally-made rolls, as well as a special coleslaw and potato chips made from locally-grown ingredients. Lots more happening at the park – see the website for the most up-to-date schedule of events.

A few weeks ago, Phil Brown passed along to me a large format paperback publication titled Do-It-Yourself Water Quality: A Landowner’s Guide to Property Management that Protects Lake George. I finally sat still long enough to go through the whole thing and I am impressed! I was involved in planning and implementing wetland and water quality projects for many years, and it looks like this publication covers the bases with style. For those starting from scratch with topics ranging from “What is a Watershed?’ to “The Benefits of Native Plant Species” to “Preservation Options for Landowners,” the guide provides a great education. For those with more experience, it puts all the issues into one beautifully-illustrated package that focuses on one special and particular place – gorgeous Lake George.

 This information is useful for everyone to understand, and I would love to see a version of this available in a more generic form to all Adirondack residents. Until that happens, the publication is on-line at http://www.fundforlakegeorge.org/ for everyone to use, but the paper version is available at no charge to all Lake George Watershed residents from the Fund for Lake George office (e-mail or call with info listed on the web site). Others who want the book can get a copy for a $20 donation by going through the same contacts.

A couple of weeks ago, I attended a different kind of dinner at Generations Restaurant in Lake Placid.  This restaurant has changed names and owners a few times since I started spending time here, and now it is part of the Golden Arrow Resort, widely known as The First Green Hotel in our area.

So, why is a food event featured on the Explorer’s Adirondack Green Line blog??? It’s because local food is an important link in making our local economy stronger and more resilient. It’s because local food provides local jobs and reduces transportation costs to get good food to our plates. It’s because local food is fresh and fabulous! Read on to see what can happen, and keep reading to see how you can participate in the July 18th event at Generations Restaurant.

This was an Adirondack Harvest dinner, with most of the ingredients on the menu locally produced. What a feast we had!!! Chef David Hunt introduced us to the many cheeses served before dinner there are produced in New York State – some very local; some from the Hudson Valley (closer than Wisconsin, right?!). (In fact, in May I did some birding and met the owner at the Twin Maple Farm in Ghent, NY where one of the excellent cheeses was made.)

Wonderful New York Cheeses

Next, we were served a beautiful first course, made with local produce (and that fabulous little Chanterelle mushroom).

Before and during the time all of this lovely food was being served, we were invited to try some of the Lake Placid Pub and Brewery beers, with the owner there to fill us in on the characteristics of each beer. Alternatively, we could order a glass of wine from the good selection offered by the restaurant.

The next course was a beautiful salad, with most of the ingredients from Fledging Crow Farm, located near Keeseville, NY. I knew the energetic Lucas from the Saranac Lake Farmers’ Market, and he told the story of the Farm, which is both a Community Supported Agriculture farm and a participant in several local farners’ markets. These farmers work HARD!

Gorgeous Mostly-local Salad

The main course was a choice of local beef (filet mignon), local chicken breast (stuffed with goat cheese and other goodies), and striped bass (from Rhode Island – wild caught, and about as local as commercial fish gets here). At our table, we had all three choices, which each of us enjoyed thoroughly, then tried samples of the other main courses  brought around by the staff. As you can see, my friend Susan did her best to polish off her meal (much oohing and ahhing over each course by her – she is a serious foody!) but had to take the surplus home in the compostable sugar cane to-go container provided.

Susan with the Remains

Well, then there was dessert, of course. And it was Strawberry season, so:

Strawberries and Cream - Perfection

As a parting gift, each of us was given a little jar of terrific Green Roof Champagne Chive dressing, made at the restaurant with the chives that are part of the Green Roof that moderates both cold and hot temperatures on the part of the Golden Arrow roof. The beautiful roof is part of the landscape as one looks out to Mirror Lake and the mountains beyond.

Green Roof at Golden Arrow

Chef David Hunt

No, I’m not talking about oil. (And it’s hard to think of oil as being something wonderful right now, even though we certainly can’t seem to get along without lots of it.)

Green Circle Compost Bucket

 Nope, I mean compost. The magical, rich, valuable product of the hard-working little guys who keep the planet from being buried miles thick in orange peels, tree trunks, and oak leaves. That rich, fragrant humus in the forest is really just compost. Most of the time, most of us don’t pay much attention to what goes on in that other universe.

You might think that only people with huge gardens and loads of yard space collect their fruit peels, soggy left-over salads, coffee grounds, and oak leaves (most gardeners don’t throw in meat scraps) to pile up in a heap in some far corner of the property and coddle it along into the glorious stuff that replenishes the soil around the tomato plants. However, there is no trick to making compost, even on a small village lot. Master Gardeners trained by Cornell Cooperative Extension are standing by most Saturdays at the Saranac Lake Farmer’s’ Market to give out loads of information about composting.

When you make compost, not only do you end up with a wonderful soil additive for your flowers and vegetables but it keeps a lot of heavy, bulky stuff out of your trash can. When you pay for garbage disposal by either weight or volume, this can save you money and will also reduce the community’s waste stream.

In any case, saving compostable garbage isn’t practical for everyone, but now some of those folks in Saranac Lake are keeping all that wet, heavy, and valuable garbage out of their trash cans and donating it where it will do some good. The Adirondack Green Circle is providing 5 gallon compost buckets to people who take it to the Saturday Farmers’ Market full their debris and give to farmers who take it back to the farm to add to their own composting operations. The compost donor takes home a clean bucket for the coming week’s fruit and vegetable waste, and a cycle has been started. Good for every one and for the environment.

In some communities, compostable garbage is collected from restaurants and grocery stores. It can save businesses a lot of money to reduce the amount of garbage that most be hauled to the land fill. This material is processed to make compost that can then be sold to make the collectors a profit. Any visionary Adirondack entrepreneurs out there?!

The green things are finally growing again – how welcome they are after our long winter! And while it may look like all is well when all is green, there are some plants that just don’t belong here. Not too many; not like the acres of Japanese Barberry that now dominate the understory in many forests in the mid-Hudson Valley or the tall showy Common Reed that has filled in so many of the Long Island marshes that once were filled with an array of native plants that sustained the native mammals, fish, and invertebrates. In the Adirondacks, the relatively severe winters and geographic isolation have kept many of the worst non-native invasive species out of sight and mind. But some of these species are knocking at the door, if not already making themselves at home, and I believe it is important to maintain the unique natural systems we have in the Adirondack Park. The Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program (APIPP), associated with The Nature Conservancy’s Adirondack Chapter, is on a mission to understand and manage the confirmed and potential invaders of important ecosystems in the Park. (Although the name doesn’t convey it, the scope of the APIPP has been broadened to include all invasive species, such as non-native fish and the notorious Emerald Ash Borer. The Program’s reach has also expanded beyond the park’s boundaries north to the U.S. border in Franklin and Clinton counties.)

Last week I attended a training session for volunteers who are willing to survey within the Blue Line for invasive plants that are becoming established here, as well as those that are just appearing. The Summer 2010 project is intended to resurvey the areas that were covered in the first such invasive plant surveys done in 1998 and 1999. We will be driving the roadways and hiking trails looking specifically for certain invasive plants, such as Purple Loosestrife, Common Reed, and Wild Yellow Iris, that are known to be making inroads, as well as any others that are present and just beginning to become established. With the aid of GPS units and Google maps that will help us pinpoint locations, each occurrence will be mapped and decisions will be made about whether immediate removal measures should be taken by the APIPP staff and partners.

The issue is not really whether these species are non-native or even whether they show invasive tendencies. We have many wonderful agricultural and horticultural species that are both of these. The concern is with species of plants and animals that grow and reproduce rapidly enough to threaten and displace native species that we value for a variety of reasons. For example, in spite of the beauty and ease of growing the Wild Yellow Iris (Iris pseudacorus), it can spread in marsh habitats to displace most of the native wetland plants that support reptiles and amphibians that require more open habitats provided by the growth habits of the native vegetation. My first view of the problem caused by this iris species – probably 25 years ago – took place when traveling a road that crossed a marsh into Vermont, where the entire marsh was apparently filled with the yellow blooms. I didn’t realize then the implications of this gorgeous monoculture. Many of the most serious invasive plant species were introduced by well-meaning gardeners who had no idea how easily these plants might spread to natural areas and cause ecosystem disruptions. (Think Wild Yellow Iris, Purple Loosestrife [Lythrum salicaria], and Japanese Barberry [Berberis thunbergii].)

Admittedly, it is a complicated problem, but here are some things we can all do to keep invasive species out of the Adirondacks as long as possible and to control those we already have:
• Check out invasive plant lists before buying nursery plants. (Staff at nurseries often don’t know.)
• Remove invasive plants on your property to slow their spread by way of seeds and fruits.
• Educate friends and neighbors about invasive species.
• Wash your boats and gear to keep Spiny Water Flea, Water Chestnut, and other species out of new waterways.
• Check your fishing bait carefully and follow DEC guidelines to keep non-native fish and fish diseases from destroying Adirondack fisheries.
• Don’t transport firewood. Buy local to prevent introduction of forest pests like the ash borer.
• Learn some of the most common invasive species and report sightings to APIPP. Use this link: www.adkinasives.com You can also contact the APIPP Director Hilary Smith at 518-576-2082 x131 or hsmith@tnc.org

And here are a couple of links for more information:
• Bugwood Website (University of Georgia Center for Invasive Species & Ecosystem Health)
http://wiki.bugwood.org/Invasipedia

• New York Invasive Species Information (Sea Grant/Cornell University)
http://nyis.info/