Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>]

Day before yesterday we caught the panel presentations in Abq on selling to
restaurants. Maybe 200 attended. Surprisingly put on by our Mid-region
Council of Governments, to  help local economy. Actually inspiring and
there was real *passion* in the discussions and questions. Upscale chefs
were there to talk to and they can't get enough local, fresh, quality
produce and herbs. They kept saying they won't sell flavor-free cardboard
vegetables ;-) and don't want to rely so much on the big distributors
bringing stuff from hundreds of miles away, esp hydroponic tomatoes from
greenhouses in Mexico. Ugh! They *love* heirlooms. We had to run out after
that and pick up some seed for hebs we'd written off as undoable this first
year after relocating.  We'll see how it all works out. 

I was most surprised to hear the final panelist, the Hispanic head of NMSU
extension office, go on and on about Slow Food, Farm to School, heirloom
produce, saving farmland from development, and so forth. Almost fell out of
my chair!!

paul tradingpost@lobo.net

Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes. 
--Henry David Thoreau