Yearly archives "2018"

Farmers Market

We visited the local farmer market in an effort to see how the weather and culture affected the local produce. The farmer’s market was smaller and had seasonal vegetables.

One woman talked about the late season freeze. She had lost a lot of her produce in the freeze but the leafy greens and spicy peppers made it through.

The people we bought our shellfish from were having a bad season for shrimp and crab. There is currently a ban on catching female blue crabs. The female crabs have rounder stomachs and carry the eggs under her shell. This ban was made in an effort to allow the crab populations to rebound.

One man I talked to grew his plants in a hydroponic system. Hydroponic systems involve growing food in tanks of water opposed to growing them in the dirt outside. During the winter he heated the house where he was growing the food. This allows him to have a wider variety of vegetables year round and not worry about the freezes. The downfall is the high energy intake.

There were also people selling honey, soap, popsicles, and other goods.

Fresh Ingredients

Yesterday, we visited the local Farmer’s Market to buy ingredients for our cooking class! We walked from the cooking school in the French Quarter through the Central Business district. The small congregation of white topped canopies looked like a fleet of sailing ships on a concrete sea. Under them, tables overflowed with vegetables, fruits, flowers, meats, cheeses- vibrant, fresh, and tenderly stacked in bins and boxes. In contrast to the relatively quiet, sleepy streets we walked to get there, the Farmer’s Market was lively and bustling.

We split into groups and shopped for the dishes we would prepare in class. My group was responsible for making potato salad. The people running the stand explained to us that the eggs we bought were from chicken grown on a local farm, free of cages, and were laid two days ago. Unlike the bleached white eggs you buy from grocery stores, these eggs were shades of soft, natural browns and tans. We told them that we were looking for celery, and they didn’t have that, but they had a similar plant called Lovage. They tore off a leaf, “Try it!” I popped in my mouth and it tasted just like celery (but a bit stronger). Pleasantly surprised, we reached for our money to buy the eggs and Lovage, but they insisted we have them for free. So sweet!

We have learned that New Orleans culture is inextricably tied to a strong sense of place. Shopping for local ingredients helped us see that first hand. The cuisine is tied to food that is available and fresh. As the seasons change, so do the dishes on people’s tables. As the strawberries were irresistibly bright and fragrant, we incorporated them into a dessert. This type of cooking and eating embraces the complexity of the local culture, and brings it to the table for us to experience it together.

First Site Visit

Today we took our first look at the location we will be conducting restoration surveys throughout the rest of the trip. Matt and I were able to get in a quick flight with the remaining light we had left and checked out the vast forest from an aerial perspective. In addition to our field work on the ground, we will also be working on creating aerial maps of some of the locations in hopes of increasing the efficiency of our observation surveys. I am looking forward to benefitting this bottomland hardwood forest any way I can.

New Orleans Cooking Class

Our brachetto appetizer (pre-broiling) made with only local ingredients purchased this morning at the farmers market. Should be delicious.

Avocado Pops

Nothing like em!

Live music

It is currently day two, and all of the musicians we’ve heard have been so amazing! It was so exiting walking down the streets and seeing a small band or one person simply playing a violin. It is evident that they are playing because they love what they are doing, which is truly heart warming to see. The music brings life to the city and all the people walking by. The people of New Orleans have such a beautiful appreciation for music, I have never seen anything like it coming from a city. There is so much love and joy coming from them that radiates to the audience. Seeing young children dancing to adults singing along to music they have never heard. I ended my day by sitting in a cafe, eating beignets, and listening to an amazing guitar player. Definitely excited to see more as the days go by!

Eye Opening

In order to summarize the day on all levels I would use the phrase “eye opening.” We started the day off early this morning on a mission to better understand the devastation that swept through New Orleans by visiting the Lower Ninth Ward, a heavily impoverished area that has not recovered even 13 years after Hurricane Katrina. As we drove into the ward, I could feel the sense that things were incomplete. My feelings were confirmed when we looked through pictures comparing the densely packed homes present before the Hurricane to the sprinkled homes built by relief groups after the disaster. The lack of resources and the traumatic experience combined with the Federal Government’s use of scapegoats convinced people to not return. I quickly realized I am only breaching the surface of what people have experienced.

We walked through the French Quarter during he later half of the day. I explained CSUCI’s commitment to restoring wetlands to curious shop owners and received open gratitude and thanks for our efforts. It is truly amazing to be supported by the local people, and I am eager to share my support as well.

Day 2: French Quarter

“We wander through old streets, and pause before the age stricken houses; and, strange to say, the magic past lights them up.”

– Grace King