First let us define local. We’ve already been amazed at how many meanings that word can have. Within our 30-county area called Central Texas, local is the organic-vegetable-and-lemonade stand run by seven-year-old Alabel Chapin, her five-year-old brother Henry and their six-year-old friend Ford Martin. (We happened upon them in Austin’s Travis Heights neighborhood—see “1,000 Words,”)  Local is the family ranch outside of Fredericksburg owned by Chuck and Teppi Schmidt, who raise pastured, grassfed beef using organic principles. Local is the soon-to-open Big Top Candy Shop on South Congress Avenue—independently owned by Brandon Hodge—featuring an old-fashioned soda fountain. It may appear counter-intuitive, but lingering over a rare treat of a real egg cream soda counts as the art of slow food. Local is Jesse Griffiths and Tamara Mayfield’s Dai Due supper club where lucky diners are served an all locally sourced menu, family style, at Rain Lily, a gem of an urban farm in East Austin. Tamara met Jesse delivering Rain Lily’s vegetables to Vespaio where he used to work as a chef. Local is exactly about making that kind of connection.

CONTENTS

Publisher’s note

Corrections

1,000 Words
By Jenna Noel

Contributors

Notable Edibles
Greenling’s local box. Whole Foods’ farm dinners. Bull & Boar. Katz’s Bat City Blend. Quintessential Chocolates. Maine Root’s new drink. Thunder Heart Bison wins gold. Big Top Candy Shop.

Newsworthy
Triangle Farmers’ Market

Roots
Slow Food: A Personal History
Carol Ann Sayle reminisces on the rhythms of eating slowly.

Edible Nation
Local or Organic? A False Choice
Samuel Fromartz writes about making informed shopping decisions.

Back of the House
Dai Due Dinners
Photo essay by Jody Horton

People
Damian Mandola's Next Big Thing
Making culinary waves in Austin and Driftwood. By Lisa Jones

Cooking Fresh
Cold Treats for Endless Summers
The how and why of making home-made ice cream. By Jessica Maher
Vanilla Ice Cream
Lavender Ice Cream
Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Sweet Ice Milk
Leche Merengada
Texas Watermelon Sorbet
Peach Smoothie

In Search of a Raw (I)Deal
By Besty Levy

Edible Nation
2007 Farm Bill: A Citizen’s Guide
By Dan Imhoff

People
Our Man in the Field
Thuan Nguyen, Whole Foods’ Local Produce Liaison. By Betsy Levy

Green Corn Garden
A Harvest for Body and Soul
By Suzanne Hurley

Musical Plate
Cookin' to the Beat
Beat Divas’ Central Market cooking class.

Market Place
Patrick Timpone explains authentic food.

Melting Pot
Ethiopia Rules
Aster's Ethiopian Restaurant returns to Austin and we're so glad. By Lisa Jones

Herbal Wisdom
Ellen Zimmermann's column on water-wise herbs.

Edible Endeavors
Summertime Greens
Amador Farms grows hydroponic lettuce all year round. By Dorsey Barger

In Your Own Backyard
Gardening Inside the Box
How to build a box garden, with diagram and printable instructions.
By Sharon Doerre

Homegrown Gourmet
Feel Free to Smoke
Bridget Weiss’ smokin’ summer menu.

The Forager
East Wild
Summer wild things for the picking. By Amy Crowell

Organic Kids
A Boy and His Flock of Seven
A nine-year-old reporter interviews a younger man about his chickens.
By August Dexheimer

Farmer’s Diary
Purple Haze
About Randy Graybill's Texas Lavender. By Andrea Abel

Edible Books
Eat This Book
The Fifth Annual Edible Book Festival. By Lisa Jones

What I Eat and Why
By Sharon Doerre

What’s in Season
Look for these local fruits and vegetables June through August.

Advertisers Directory

Art de Terroir
By Lizanne Geneser Thate.