Moab Happenings August 2011

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4B • August 2011 • Moab HappeningsSUSTAINABLE HAPPENINGSPreserving Summer’s BountySustainable Moab means sustaining relationships.Talking to people about chickens in the backyard, linedrying clothes, or preserving food, as I did this month, sooften comes down to getting to know neighbors, recallinghow grandma did it, or using recipes passed along byfriends and family. Whether talking to Katherine F.Holyoak about canning and drying, or Sue deVall abouther outdoor canning kitchen and freezing of conveniencefoods, or Kalen Jones about his storage cellar, stories wereas abundant as the techniques they shared.On this late June afternoon Katherine is dryingapricots in her electric dehydrator.I notice she has it outside so that itdoesn’t heat up the house. She alsohas cookie sheets lined with plasticwrap, then blended apricots spreadthinly on them to dry in the sun.To keep out flies, she has a finemesh cloth over the trays, and theyare on five foot high racks to keepout larger pests (grand children?).When we go back inside, she givesme a jar of apricot jam whichshe has just put up. She uses herblender to puree the apricots, sayingthat she doesn’t like “glumpy” jam.Besides drying and making jams from her apricots, sheputs them up fresh in a light syrup.Katherine still has a few bottles of cucumber saucefrom 2010. One of the advantages of canning (mostpeople use bottles, but still call it canning) is that it doesn’trequire the electricity of freezing or refrigerating. A cool,dark storage place is ideal to maintain the fruit’s colorand texture. The other advantage is that canned fruits andvegetables can be stored for more than one year while mostfrozen goods really are best used within three months.Using a chest freezerthat doesn’t selfdefrost will extend thelife of frozen foods.Katherine’scucumber sauce isa recipe from hermother-in-law, RuthHolyoak, who called itchow chow. Anotherof her favorite recipesis for chili sauce fromLiza Burr. Katherinerecalls her fourteenthbirthday party inSalina Canyon whena friend indignantlydemanded, “What’s this watermelon seed doing in mychili?” Katherine explained that during the Second WorldWar sugar was so tightly rationed that her grandmotherused watermelon juice to sweeten her chili sauce. Otherproducts Katherine cans are raspberries, peaches, pears,tomatoes, pickled beets and cherries. To keep it simple,she only cans fruits and vegetables that do not require apressure cooker. Her motto is,“If it’s not simple, I don’t do it.”Simple and easy is alsoone of Sue deVall’s criteria forcanning. Hence, she does itoutside on her deck in CastleValley. “It is just too damn hotto do it inside, it’s greener, andthe cleanup is just a matter ofturning on the hose.” Whenthey could glean tomatoes fromthe Day Star Academy’s fields,Sue might have had threecanners and four friends puttingup whole tomatoes, juice, andBloody Mary mix. She also cans peaches, apricots, andapple sauce on the north side deck.Sue takes advantage of her chest freezer to store“convenience” foods. For example, when she can getthe Saratoga, Utah onions in the fall she caramelizes andfreezes them in small portions in freezer bags, ready toflavor anything from a roast to soup. She does the samewith garlic from her garden. I have found that eggplantsliced, brushed with olive oil, and grilled keeps very wellfrozen and makes great moussaka or lasagna.For the technical details of canning and freezing foodsof all kinds, Utah State University Cooperative Extensionwww.moabhappenings.comand Vaughan. An expert at your elbow is important forsafety and good quality products. After spending the timeto raise, harvest, prepare, and preserve your produce, thelast thing you want is mushy broccoli because you didn’tblanch it long enough to stop the enzyme action.Getting back to easy, the easiest way of storing someproduce is in the root cellar or just in the ground. KalenJones stores cabbage, potatoes, apples, onions, garlic,shallots, and beets in his root cellar. The cellar itself is afive-foot long piece of culvert five feet in diameter. Beforeburying it in the north facing slope, he had a metal platewelded on one end anda door on the other. Onthe exposed end withthe door, there are twoscreened vents, onelow and one high toencourage circulation.He has shelves built in,and the food is storedin crates or cardboardboxes. Some vegetablesdo well stored in sand topreserve moisture andothers such as apples dowell wrapped in paper toslow their own ripeningand their naturalexhausting of ethylene which encourages other things toripen. In Kalen’s words, “The cellar is an important part ofproviding our own food throughout the year.”The easiest way of preserving root vegetables is just toleave them in the ground. Carrots, parsnips, and beets canbe left in the ground and dug as needed all winter whenmulched well with leaves or straw. A trick from Kalen is toput the mulch inside of a large plastic yard bag and placethe bag over the row. Then you lift the whole thing off todig the roots with little mess.Simple is relative, of course, and so is cost. A canof heavily subsidized corn is cheap on the super marketshelf, but comes in a poor second on taste and nutritionscales compared to corn you took from garden to freezer inan hour. When you add in satisfaction, the work balanceswings into the “It’s Worth It” part of the scale.Correction for the June article on bees implied thatdrones, like workers and queens, grow from fertilizedeggs. They are the product of unfertilized eggs.435-259-4080543 North Main St.Hummer & ATV ToursDirt Bike, Jeep & ATV Rentalswww.moabtourcompany.ushas a web page with a link to food preservation. From thereyou can get the overview of safe food handling and specificssuch as “Getting Crisp Home Pickled Vegetables”. Utahfruits are listed. Under apples, for example, you can learnhow to can, freeze, pickle, make jelly and chutney, dry,and cellar them. My favorite print source is a book calledPutting Food By by three Vermonters--Greene, Hertzberg,
www.moabhappenings.comMoab Happenings • August 2011 • 5BMOAB STUDIO TOUR HAPPENINGSMoab Artists’ Studio Tour, September 3rd and 4th (Labor Day Weekend)Now in its eighth year, the 2011 Moab Artists StudioTour will take place on Saturday and Sunday, September3rd and 4th (Labor Day Weekend) from 10 to 4. A previewof the artists’ work will be presented before the Friday,September 2nd performance at Star Hall.The Studio Tour has always been a well attended, livelyevent and this year, it will be even more exciting as 16 artistsworking in a variety of media will open their work spacesto welcome visitors and give them an even broader view ofthe creativity and versatility of the artists who call Moabhome. Through conversation and demonstration, visitorscan gain understanding of style, process, inspiration andhow Moab’s unique environment so powerfully affects eachartist’s work.The Artists:Bruce Hucko is a well known Moab fine artsphotographer, author and educator. Visitors to his studioare always rewarded by his enthusiasm and willingness toanswer questions and demonstrate some of his techniquesand expertise.Needles District landscape by photographer BruceHuckoNick Eason creates one-of-akindsculptures which blend thegraceful forms of nature with thebeauty of wood or stone. His workhas led to numerous awards fromcompetitions and juried shows inthe west.North Frank loves to createpaintings about life on earth. Sheworks both in a studio setting andplein air and her media includesacrylics, watercolor and watersoluble oils on canvas and paper.wood sculptor Nick EasonScott and Katy Andersonoils, her favorite subjects are from nature and her paletteis alive with color!Phil Wagner is a poet, painter and says he is currentlyout on parole. Visit him at Robin’s studio for details.Scott and Katy Anderson will be showing theirbeautiful wood and stone creations, from utensils tosculptures, all made of local materials. They are movingcloser to town and will welcome visitors to a workplace that may still be a work in progress. Checkit out.J.C. Borders is an accomplished pastel painterand instructor and this year he will be hosting fellowartists and students at his own studio for the MoabStudio Tour.Robin Straub paintingA group showing is always fun so be sure to join them.The following artists will be there:T.J. (Tim) Morse has been a working watercolorist andoil painter for more than 20 years, working in the studioand in plein air. He’s been part of the Moab arts communitysince 1991 and founded The Overlook Gallery in 1996.Victoria Fugit has always loved the natural world andhopes to convey the beauty, joy and connection to Spiritshe feels while observing and painting the amazing worldwe live in.Helen Becker states that before moving to Moab herpastel paintings had never met such beautiful and timelessscenery. “Some kind of inner energy drives me to paint,and paint, en plein air and inside the studio.”Peggy Harty has worked with a variety of media mostof her life and 3 years ago, began working with pastels,leading to winning awards each year in the Palisade ArtLovers show for her landscape and floral paintings.Sarah Hamingson is inspired by the land around us andher travels, near and far. She paints in pastel in the studioand outdoors and loves pastels for theirimmediacy, rich colorand direct applicationto paper.All of the MoabStudio Tour artistswelcome you and thankyou for participating!Tour maps willbe available at eachstudio and www.moabstudiotour.comBob Ridges GourdJacci Weller paintingNorth FrankJonathan Frank is a full-time Moab artist and hiswork has appeared in many juried state, national, andinternational exhibitions. He has received numerousawards, and has been recognized in a variety of print mediafor his achievements.Jacci Weller’s acrylic paintings are energetic, realismbasedinterpretations of desert landscape and flora. Hercanvases are colorful, thoughtfully painted and generallywell received.Bob Ridges findshis artistic passionin growing his owngourds and transformingthem into unique pots,bowls, dippers, musicalinstruments and avariety of other usefuland ornamental objects.Robin Straub hasbeen painting outsideand in her studio for15 years. Trained inJacci Weller watercolor, acrylics and
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Moab Happenings August 2011

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