Volunteer at your Local Urban Farm!



I visited Farm 51 for their workday today and fell in love with their space, a diverse mix of raised beds of vegetables, chicken coops, nice people and good food.

Cooking From The Garden and Farm

I've been cooking every weekend, mostly because I have no money and need food and getting it from the garden where it grows for free is the only way to eat, but I love cooking so it's been a fun time. I stopped by the garden last weekend and found turnips, chard, over-grown scallions, chives, fennel and the usual herbs and a few leaves of collards that were not hole-city. Oh, and a few red tomatoes!

I got them home and wanted to capture my harvest so I started taking pictures on the counter, which turned out to be a great backround for green veggies. I'm just so proud I can grow a vegetable. They may not be gorgeous, but they're mine!

I cooked up some Middle Eastern Stew, then muffins, first with banana, barley, oat, then with pumpkin from the Halloween pumpkin and pumpkin seeds.

Washing Greens

Cutting the Chard

This weekend I cooked up similar but better stew, Yam and Chard Stew.

1 large yam

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 turnip (I used three small ones)

1/2 yellow onion

10 large chard leaves

1/2 cup rice (I mixed basmati and arborio)

3/4 cup red lentils (I got them from Margerum's Herbs)

1/2 tablespoon curry

1/2 tablespoon cumin

salt and pepper

I'm working on my food photography in hopes of getting some cookbook or local farm/food vendor advertising work. If you know anyone, let them know I'll do it for free to get some experience!

I convinced my family to fork over $4.50 a lb. for a bird from a local farm in Lancaster and despite all of the complaining about the price of turkeys at ShopRite, it was beautiful and tasty. We joked about having no idea how to cook a turkey without a pop-up button or wrapped in plastic, and it did take an hour longer than we thought it would, but it was super good.

I brought over beets and Peruvian Purple potatoes from the garden (further convincing my family I was crazy), but my mom loved the potatoes and you barely need butter they're so smooth. My mom has a funny masher that makes everything look like fat noodles.

Walk into the Woods Opening is Tonight

The show opens tonight at Wellpoint and I'm very excited. The images include waterfalls, creeks, trails, and rocks from Bushkill, Dingmans Ferry, the Wissahickon, the Adirondacks and Ithaca. If you know any hikers, campers, outdoors folks, environmentalists, geologists, biologists, bring them along!

I think my work appeals to a particular crowd of folks who can see the beauty in some lichen on a rock surface and the peacefullness of water in a creek.


The show opens at 6 pm and runs until 8:30 at Wellpoint Oriental Medicine, 2014 Fairmount Ave. in Philly and there will be food, wine, hot cider, and I'm raffling off a prize of an original 11 x 14 photograph. You get a raffle ticket just for coming. There will be music and free acupuncture and massage demos throughout the night. Should be lots of fun!

Wellpoint Show is Getting Closer!

My photography show WALK INTO THE WOODS is getting closer: Friday, November 19th at Wellpoint Oriental Medicine at 2014 Fairmount Ave. The large prints arrived from the printer today and I am very happy with them. The show emcompasses two rooms and a hallway in the center and the opening will be from 6:00 - 8:30 pm.

There will be free massage and acupuncture demos, hot cider, wine, food, music and everyone who attends will get a raffle ticket to win a free signed print!

Write in Your Caption Below: What Are They Thinking?
The best caption wins a free card of the image and caption, so check back to see if you won!

Caption Contest: What Are They Thinking?

Write in Your Caption Below: What Are They Thinking?

The best caption wins a free card of the image and caption, so check back to see if you won!

LOVE GIVEAWAY on CHIC & PINK BLOG

Don't miss the giveaway on Chic & Pink's blog of LOVE items: an 8 x 10 Photograph, a 5 x 7 card and a chunky LOVE magnet! Follow the link http://chicnpink.blogspot.com/2010/02/etsy-extravaganza-giveaway-day-3_10.html

and leave a commnet on her site about your favorite etsy item of mine! You can also win a 10oz Sugar Shaker Pure Soy Candle in the scent of your choice from Flower Child 417!

Thanks Chic & Pink for the feature!

PHOTOGRAPH GIVEAWAY:

Giveaway Day Has Arrived!

And the Winner is...............

Paintingpam!

Congrats! You'll be getting a free 8 x 10 photograph of your choice from my etsy shop, www.allisonostertag.etsy.com

You can follow Pam at her blog: http://paintingpam.blogspot.com

I went old-school and put everyone's name on a piece of paper, folded it, put it in a bag and asked a unbiased party (Emily, my coworker) to pick a name. Sorry for those of you who didn't win, but I was really excited by the response so I'll be doing this again soon! Check back for more info! Thanks everyone who is now following my blog! BTW, I would have held the drawing at noon, but we had an office meeting until 2!

FREE 8 x 10 PHOTOGRAPH GIVEAWAY!

I'm giving away one free 8 x 10 Photograph of your choice, and you can choose from any image in my etsy shop that is 8 x 10 or larger! All it takes to enter is to leave a comment someplace here on my blog (any posting)! When you leave your comment, be sure to mention you'd like to be included in the giveaway! The drawing will be in two weeks and I will notify the winner by e-mail.

Guided Tree Walk in Fairmount Park

Mr. Sibley with Sweet Bay Magnolia Fruit

Bur Oak

Linden

Sawtooth Oak Acorn

Bur Oak Leaves

Fruit Laden Linden Branches

Fringe Tree Fruit

Pin Oak

Swamp White Oak

Sweet Gum Leaves

I was really excited to see that the author of the Sibley Guide to Trees, David Sibley was leading a walk in Fairmount Park as part of the author events for the Philadelphia Free Library. After meeting at the Recreation center at the start of Boathouse Row we walked into the Azalea Garden and he showed us the ways you can look at acorns and other fruit, branch direction, leaf shape, bark texture, overall tree shape and leaf arrangement to determine what tree you're looking at. We stopped at about 10 trees including a Bur Oak, Swamp Bay Magnolia, Red Oak, Linden, Ginko and Kentucky Coffee Tree.

I was amazed to find out he paints every illustration in his books and he still does not consider himself an expert in trees, despite working on this guide for 7 years. His bird guides he painted in gouache, but he found that impossible to use when painting lights and darks in trees, so he had to teach himself how to use acrylics for this book.

There was a big group of people on the walk and I was the youngest member by 30 years until a group of three college aged girls showed up. There were two actresses at the event, maybe they are filming some movie locally? but the rest of the group were birders and nature lovers (why are they all so old?).