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Greens and Good

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G R E E N S A N DG O O D

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ART & LIFE TABLE OF CONTENTSfor store updates, the newestinventory and general storeinformationVisitby John KeatsFocusing on Beauty 03Teff: The Harbinger ofCivilization 06Art Review in a Hurricane(Beasts of the Southern Wild)08Mid-Atlantic Autumn 11Poetry 11Escapism14Fall Foliage14FOOD, PLANTS, & INTERVIEWwith Melissa D. Autumn Recipe Thoughts 15Día de Muertos16September Harvest 17Interview Hour19 October in Greens & Good

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Beasts of the Southern Wild (2016), is not a film to be takenlightly. It reminds me of all the hardest, most difficult,and most poignant elements of growing up along theBayou, or the Louisiana Bayou-Marsh, as some might say.This is my home, my beauty, and my fairy-tale all inone.Beasts of the Southern Wild opens up with a characterwhom we can all relate to: a little girl named Hush-puppy. She is curious, intelligent, feisty, and set abouthaving things her way. She doesn't take no for an answernor is she used to much parental direction of any sort.This suits her all the same, as her day-to-day consists ofrunning around with her pet chicken and dog, eatingcrabs, and generally going about her day poking inthings and asking questions as your average six year oldwould. Her world of tin cans, backyards, sloshing aboutin the swamp, playing with her gang of kids in theBathtub (their world set on the edges of Louisiana,where the marsh meets the swamp) becomes ransackedwhen news comes about of a hurricane. This isn't only anatural hurricane: it's a real hurricane, one of impendinglikeness to a team of adults who want to destroy herhome (The Bathtub) for good, by opening up thespillway after the storm and letting all the floodwatersseep in. A mandatory evacuation is set in place, andHush-puppy's world starts to fall apart around her.Hush-puppy's daily life is a part of the natural world, anacceptance of it, with little of the allure to change it.With the onslaught of the people who want to flood herhome, her world is completely changed in a shortmoment. Without giving away too much, the film is anallegory in the battleship of kin, not only in therelationships we encounter with our own families, butwhat happens once we try to counteract the forces of thenatural world around us. The Southern Gulf Coast of Louisiana is at the center-playof this juxtaposition of life. My beautiful home is fadinginto the Gulf with little respite and knowledge to stop it: welose a football field of wetlands into open water every 100minutes. This is happening partly due to the redirection ofthe Mississippi River back in the 1920's, to more easilyestablish New Orleans as a port city. Unfortunately, thisforces mother nature (the mighty Mississippi) to dumphundreds of pounds of precious sediment into the Gulf ofMexico, instead of flooding every spring on the banks of theMississippi River. This annual delta flooding, depositingsediment throughout the delta region, is the earth's naturalway of rebuilding the wetlands after every hurricane season.Currently, because the sediment is dropped off into a 200mile dead zone (because of midwestern farm fertilizers andpollutants) at the mouth of the Mississippi, our delta regiondoes not gain sediment every year, turning the waterbrackish and unsustainable for the wetland grasses andother lifeforms that make their home amid the delta region.As much as it breaks my heart to write about the strugglesof my beloved home, I know it must be done in order toharness the beauty we have left. I love my home, I love myLouisiana, but there is little we can do to stop the pressuresof nature. Beasts of the Southern Wild has one of the moststunning inter-plays about the dilemma between the heartand the psyche, in the battle of love and war; or morefittingly, the battle of human vs nature. Hush-puppy's lovefor her father, her mother, her home and her life vs the Endof The World, or the return of the Oryx (to endencroachment on Mother Nature) is an allegory for all of usin deciding when, and how, we will face the pressures of thenatural world (and therefore our own nature). Hush-puppyhas to grow up alarmingly fast, in a very short period oftime for a six year old, but there is no trace of resentment atthe end of the film. Only hope for a future for the Bathtub. ARTREVIEW IN AHURRICANEIn honor of Hurricane Season down South, I wrote a review based off of one ofmy favorite films StoryBy BrunoTravel06

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Teff grain, ጤፍ እህል (Amharic), orWilliam's Love-Grass, is an ancient grainnative to the Horn of Africa, or otherwiseknown as modern- day Ethiopia or Eritrea.Teff was one of the earliest plants everdomesticated, over 3,000 years ago (in whatis believed to be between 4000 and 1000BC), when the people of the Ethiopianhighlands made the switch from nomadismto domestication. Its seeds are roughly thesize of poppy seeds and normally groundinto a flour to make a variety of bakedgoods. One of the most popular of thesegoods is injera bread, a staple of Ethiopiancuisine dating back thousands of years. Allyou need to create a more traditional injera issome air, dark teff flour, salt, and water. Mixthe water and flour in a bowl and let it sit forat least 4 days, which will ensure the mixtureferments sufficiently through the wild yeastfloating in the air. Traditionally a clay plate, a mitad, placedover a fire is used for making injera.

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TEFF : HARBINGER OF CIVILIZATION (CONT) (article cont.) After this process you simply ridthe excess water in the bowl and add morewater to the dough, thickening the batteruntil its ready to be fried into the injeraflatbread. Injera bread is spongy in texture andfull of probiotics and yeast that are good forthe gut as well as digesting food. Teff flour is naturally gluten free and has beenshown to help those with low iron bloodlevels. As ancient and traditional cultures havebeen eating teff bread for centuries, it is safeto say adding this grain to your diet willimprove your gut and micro-biome health,therefore helping other parts of your body aswell.Production of teff is mainly in Ethiopia (whileteff based baked goods can be exported), butAmerican growers in southeastern and westernstates such as Idaho have started experimentingwith growing practices. Buying teff grown inyour home country should be encouraged as itkeeps teff prices down for Ethiopian locals, whodon't have to price-compete with a global teffmarket if their teff is not being exported.This is very good for the people of Ethiopia, of course, because as one native put it succinctly, "A shortage of teff would be like asking an Ethiopian not to breathe."& GOOD  |  OCTOBER 20209

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Orgins Dia De Muertos (or the Day of the Dead in Anglo-phone countries) is atwo day- holiday celebrated in Mexico with roots in both indigenous,Aztec, and Catholic traditions. Pre-Columbian cultures have beenobserving rituals based on their ancestors' deaths for as long as 2,500-3,000 years ago. For the Aztecs or other Nahua, the original ancientpractitioners of Día De Muertos, death was a central, integral part oflife. Upon dying, a person was believed to travel to Chicunamictlán, theLand of the Dead. Only after getting through nine challenging levels, ajourney of several years, could the person’s soul finally reach Mictlán,the final resting place. In Nahua rituals honoring the dead, traditionallyheld in August, family members provided food, water and tools to aidthe deceased in this difficult journey. This inspired the contemporaryDay of the Dead practice in which people leave food or other offeringson their loved ones’ graves, or set them out on makeshift altars calledofrendas in their homes. The festivities were devoted to the goddessknown as the "Lady of the Dead" (Mictēcacihuātl) basis for the modern"La Calavera Catrina".DÍA DE MUERTOS"On October 31, All Hallows Eve, the children make a children's altar to invite theangelitos (spirits of dead children) to come back for a visit. November 1 is All Saints Day, and the adult spirits will come to visit. November 2 is All Souls Day,when families go to the cemetery to decorate the graves and tombs of theirrelatives. The three-day fiesta is filled with marigolds, the flowers of the dead;muertos (the bread of the dead); sugar skulls; cardboard skeletons; tissue paperdecorations; fruit and nuts; incense, and other traditional foods anddecorations." —  Frances Ann Day, Latina and Latino Voices in Literature [8]TraditionsAccording to tradition, the gates of heaven are opened at midnight on October 31 and the spirits of children can rejoin their families for 24 hours ("el Dia de los Inocentes", day of the children, or All Saints Day) . Thespirits of adults can do the same on November 2 (All Souls Day or the Day of thedead). On Dia De Muertos, people go to cemeteries where they prepare altars totheir ancestors and departed family. These altars are adorned with the favoritefoods of their loved ones, as well as photos and memorabilia, and the Mexicancempasúchil (marigolds). The belief is that their departed family members willtake the night to come back, hear their prayers, and commune with food, drink,dance, and play music with their loved ones.

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To Autumn By John KeatsSeason of mists and mellow fruitfulness, Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun; Conspiring with him how to load and bless With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run; To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees, And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core; To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells With a sweet kernel; to set budding more, And still more, later flowers for the bees, Until they think warm days will never cease, For summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells. Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store? Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find Thee sitting careless on a granary floor, Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind; Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep, Drows'd with the fume of poppies, while thy hook Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers: And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep Steady thy laden head across a brook; Or by a cyder-press, with patient look, Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours. Where are the songs of spring? Ay, Where are they? Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,— While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day, And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue; Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn Among the river sallows, borne aloft Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies; And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn; Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft; And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

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Harvest SeasonSeasonal Vegetables s e p t e m b erApples | Green Beans | Beets | Broccoli Rabe | Brussels Sprouts | CabbageCarrots | Cauliflower | Celery | Chard | Collards | Corn | Cranberries |Cucumbers | Edamame | Eggplants | Fennel | Garlic, Grapes | Herbs | Kale |Kohlrabi | Leeks | Mushrooms | Muskmelons | Nectarines | Onions |Peaches | Pears | Peppers | Plums | Potatoes | Pumpkins | Radishes,Raspberries | Salad Greens | Spinach, Sprouts | Summer & Winter SquashSweet Potatoes | Tomatillos | Tomatoes | Turnips | Watermelonso c t o b e rApples | Green Beans | Beets | Broccoli Rabe | Brussels Sprouts | Cabbage,Carrots | Cauliflower | Celery | Chard | Collards | Cranberries | Cucumbers| Edamame, Eggplants | Fennel | Garlic | Grapes | Herbs | Kale | Kohlrabi |Leeks | Mushrooms | Nectarines | Onions | Parsnips | Peaches | Pears |Peppers | Plums | Potatoes | Pumpkins | Radishes | Raspberries | SaladGreens | Spinach | Sprouts | Summer & Winter Squash | Sweet Potatoes |Tomatillos | Tomatoes | Turnips | Watermelons

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Hi! Thank you so much for providing usan opportunity to talk with with you. So,what exactly is the Potomac Conservancyand what is it you focus on?M: Thank you for inviting me. So thePotomac Conservancy is a local non-profit and land trust - we work not onlyin the greater DC metro area, but reallywater-shed wide. for the Potomac River,which includes four states and the Districtof Columbia. Our mission is really is torestore the Potomac River, and make itswim-able or fish-able for ourcommunities, to make it a river we areproud of, and that everyone can usesafely. We work towards that mission bybuilding a local movement of clean-wateraction takers - we are trying to empowerthe community to get involved and helpus protect river-side forests, to protectour small family farms upstream of here,to pass local and state water protectionlaws - we really feel where we can makesome meaningful progress on this issue ofclean water and cleaning out waterways isat the local and state level - there is somuch that can be done there..We help pass clean-water laws throughactivating constituents, and getting themto act up and stand up on mattersinvolving their communities. And thenwe also work on the issue of cleaning upplastics and litter and cleaning up ourshorelines and parks to make sure theyare safe spaces - not only for humansbut for wildlife, as well. Throughout theyear we hold volunteer clean-ups in theregion, including in Alexandria, we'vebeen active at Jones Point Park. There isa day in April - during Earth Month -called Potomac River Watershed Clean-up Day, where we are out theresometimes on National Park Day, outthere at different times - getting peopleout, we say, "Come out - get your handsdirty! Get your gloves on - get your bags- and let's all pick up the plastic andother trash accumulating in our parks."Everything we do involves people - andtogether clean water unites us. This goalaround having a healthy environment,healthy wildlife habitat, clean, safe,drinkable, swim-able water is just socritical, and so important, to thrivingand healthy communities. cont.An interview with Melissa Diemand, Senior Director of the Potomac Conservancy.STATE OFTHEPOTOMAC(UNION) Earth Story

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State of thePotomac(Union) cont.We're really excited to have over 30,000people join this movement and workcollectively towards this goal of a healthyPotomac River. T: That's awesome to hear. It's cool howyou mention the clean-up of theriverside - we are trying to host ariverside clean-up soon, as well. M: That's awesome. We'd love to supportyou all.T: What is the conservation status of thePotomac River currently, what sort ofstate is it in? What sort of pollutants arein the river and do you have any idea ofwhere these pollutants might be comingfrom? M: Sure, sure - so every 2 years we comeout with a Potomac River report cardwhere we look at over 20 healthindicators - and we look at the broaderpicture of what's going on with the riverand grade it, we grade its health. With the last report that came out in2018 - we found that the PotomacRiver is in the middle of a comeback.So, in the last 10 years - the health ofthe river has gone from a D to a B(which is quite significant). That'sreally taken decades of work - datingback to the Clean Water Act in theearly 70's on-wards through today -trying to get this river clean. How wedescribe it is the river is going in theright direction for now - but itdoesn't mean the work isn't done. It'snot inevitable that the rivers going toget to an A - we have to keeppersisting, and moving forward, andsome of the threats that we're lookingat, and that might be barriers intogetting the river to the health gradeof an A, are rapid deforestation,rollbacks of federal environmentalregulation that we are seeing at theEPA right now at the federal level,which is worrying, and there is onesource of pollution called pollutedrun-off, that is excess storm-waterduring heavy rainfalls that hits a bevyof surfaces, like streets, rooftops,parking lots, and it carries with ittoxins, oils, fertilizers, and all thatstuff goes directly into ourwaterways. cAboveThat polluted run-off fromurban and suburban areas, isthe number one thing that iscontinuing to go up, asagricultural pollution, asindustrial pollution, as all thoseother measures are goingdown. So that is why we arefocused on anything that wecan do to address polluted run-off - so, protecting trees,putting more trees in theground making sure that ourcommunities are growing in asmart and sustainable way, so,rather than going into an areaand just clear-cutting forest,let's see if we can plan in asmart way and in ways that alsocontribute to mixed-usedevelopment and publictransportation and all that goodstuff. "That polluted run-offfrom urban andsuburban areas is thenumber one thing that iscontinuing to go up, asagricultural pollution, asindustrial pollution, as allthose other measures aregoing down."

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We are also trying to pass laws sothat we are investing in what wecall nature-based solutions tomitigate storm-water run-off, soplanting trees, there are alsothings like rain barrels, raingardens, building with materialsthat can absorb rainwater(naturally into the ground), sothose are all things we are lookingat to mitigate these problems. Iguess, the big guerilla in theroom that I will talk about as anemerging threat is the climatecrisis, I think communities likeAlexandria are feeling this, evennow. With global warming -we've gotten rising sea levels, andthat only exacerbates existingflooding issues. We know thatAlexandria floods often - we'regonna see that more and more.The climate crisis is alsocontributing to polluted run-offlevels because our region isexperiencing higher rainfalltotals, so 2018 was a recordrainfall year for us, and with it -just came a ton of pollutiondraining into our rivers. So thiscleaning our waterways, cleaningthe Potomac is not easy work, butwe've got to do it and we'redefinitely commited to solvingthese problems. T: So, I wonder if, on a policy-level, we could try to advocatefor less suburban developmentand more greenery, or forests,along the river? M: Yeah! You got it. One of thephrases we use, it's a technical,sort of wonky term, but it's calleda riparian buffer. Riparian buffer- it just means a tree lined areaalong a shoreline. It's importantthat we-we call trees nature's"brita filters". .They are really mother nature's solution torun-off and to both stabilizing our shorelinesso that they aren't eroded quickly, but thatthey also absorb excess run-off coming fromstorms, and they also filter run-off. So, theyare really wonderful to have, and so especiallyon our shore-line communities, likeAlexandria, but also in areas upstream likeFrederick County, where we have theMonocacy River - we have to make sure thosewaterways have trees along their shorelines,protecting them, so - we advocate in ourpolicy department for laws that protectriparian buffers - to be sure that they aren'tstripped down. T: I feel like that should just be arequirement of developments - that shouldjust already be a thing.M: Yeah!T: Interesting.. yeah, so uh, I guess my nextquestion would be regarding pollutant statusor environmental problems aroundAlexandria, specifically? Or do you know ifthe Potomac waters near Alexandria areclean enough for fishing, or even eating thefish that people would catch?M: So, we know a few things when it comes toAlexandria's water quality - one we know isthat upstream waters affect downstreamwaters. So what's going on in DC and beyond- and Virginia and Maryland, is effectingwaters, the water quality in Alexandria. So, it'snot just about passing the laws in Alexandria, but really thinkingabout the river in a broader waywhich is why we do needstronger federal laws and we doneed stronger laws at the statelevel, so, what we know is that inthe areas right around DC - it isillegal to swim and that'sbecause of the e coli levels andthe bacteria levels beingdangerous after heavy rainfalls.So it is physically not safe totouch those waters - and weknow that Alexandria is directlydownstream, so, we wouldcaution people against touchingthe river after a heavy rainfall,for two or three days, untilthings are flushed out. Um, wealso know that in Alexandria - Ibelieve sees some of this - wecan see harmful algal bloomspop up when there's excessnutrients in the river, so we'veheard from people in thecommunity that there are timesof the year when you see thatunderwater algae growth reallybloom, and that's directlybecause there is excess nutrients- in the river. Another thing I'llsay is there is a great andsomewhat new water qualitymonitoring program run byseveral organizations in the area- including the Potomac RiverKeeper Network - they havestarted in the last couple ofyears actually testing thePotomac river water at certainpoints and I believe they havepoints in Alexandria, but I couldconfirm that. In DC proper - itis not recommended and you'renot supposed to eat the fish,some of the fish, including thebottom-eaters, who absorbpollution into their bodies morethan others, but in general - it isnot safe for folks to eat fish inand around DC. "Riparian buffer - it justmeans a tree lined areaalong a shoreline. It'simportant that we call treesnature's 'brita filters' "

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MASON & GREENS | 22N A T U R E & A R T T: Interesting. So I guess fartherupstream - maybe near Harper'sFerry or something, the water is alittle safer - maybe you can actuallyconsume the fish?M: Yeah, generally speaking - in theupstream waters - so ShenandoahRiver, Harper's Ferry, those arewaters that are typically, um, becausethey haven't run through urban orsuburban areas - or highly denselypopulated areas - those tend to bethe best and most pristine waters.They still have issues, of course, butgenerally speaking - yes, the fish aremuch healthier up that way.T: That is really fascinating. So,basically, the Potomac goes downthrough a super densely populatedarea, to eventually go out into theChesapeake, which is a delta..M: That's right. T: So basically all those pollutantsare being funneled to theChesapeake? M: Exactly. So the Potomac River is thesecond largest tributary to the ChesapeakeBay, so what affects us here absolutelyaffects the bay, and flows on to the ocean -so one of the ways that we talk aboutvolunteer impact at our events, is that, youknow - the trash, the plastics that you'reremoving from the water, in yourcommunity, you're actually preventingthat litter from flowing on downstreamand into our oceans, and as we know -micro-plastics and plastics are reallywreaking havoc on aquatic ecosystems. So,um, really what you do does affect yourdownstream communities, so, um - wewant to always pay it forward to ourdownstream communities by taking actionwhere we live. T: Fascinating. So, I was wondering if youever knew of any native oysters ormollusks in the Potomac? I know oystersfilter water and I know that there used tobe indigenous communities that used toinhabit this area. I was wondering if youknew if they lived off the Potomac River? So I was wondering if you could highlightsome of the differences of the waterquality back then, say 300 years ago..and the water now.M: Sure! Well, there aredefinitely native populations ofoysters that live in the PotomacRiver, there is some great workbeing done on the AnacostiaRiver for restoration, and then alot of work being done in theChesapeake Bay to restorenative oyster and molluskpopulations. As you mentioned,they're not only good to have aspart of the aquatic ecosystem,but they filter water. There aresome great videos online whereyou can see tanks of dirty water,and they'll put oysters in - andover time, the water will beclean. So they are reallyimportant animals to have.What we know historically -through both stories from ourindigenous populations, as wellas the journaling from CaptainJohn Smith.. (interview cont. in next issue)

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