First bite of tomato

Black beans from Pie Ranch

Black bean and barley stew

   black beans

   barley

   sauteed onions

   tomato paste, water, salt, pepper, cumin

   chard

   fresh tomatoes topped with olive oil

Hi Winnie and Steve,

I recently finished a book about a very unusual man in Maine who has dedicated his life to living very simply.  First of all, I knew the simplicity aspect would be appealing to you. Secondly, he lives very near where Steve was born on the north coast of Maine.  There is not even a road to his house!  Actually, it is a yurt.  You either walk from town on a path for 30 or 40 minutes, or you can canoe to the shore in front of his yurt.  He wrote a book about his thoughts and philosophy which I find so interesting.  The book is "A Handmade Life:  In Search of Simplicity" by William Coperthwaite.  One thing he says is, "The main thrust of my work is not simple living -- not yurt design, not social change, although each of these is important and receives large blocks of my time.  But they are not central.  My central concern is encouragement -- encouraging people to seek, to experiment, to plan, to create, and to dream. If enough people do this we will find a better way."

Our friends at Pie Ranch gave us some black beans.  I keep them up on my hutch near the kitchen table since I love the look of them.  Also my dear friend, and yours, L. came by with the very first tomatoes I had this season -- yeah!  Her daughter J. grew them in a personal little plot of her town's community garden.  Can't get better than that.

Thinking of you.  Donna