by Bonnie Hariton

From The Garden

After the smoke-filled and excessively hot days of August through mid-October, we are ready for cooler days and brisk nights. We are ready for real rain, not the dry lightening kind, just the dripping wet kind. And, with no threat of frost anytime soon, we are ready for a fall planting in the garden beds. Here in Pinole, California, we are harvesting the last of our tomatoes by making batches of shakshuka. The beans, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, and zucchinis have run their course, along with the dahlias. Now it is time to prepare some of those same raised beds to grow a mild-weather, second crop.

We consider sunlight and soil when deciding what to plant and where to plant. But when to plant is also important. A farmer in El Sobrante gave me a copy of her invaluable Planting Guide. It lists about fifty plants and has a column for each month of the year. November is a good time to plant onion sets, garlic cloves, and seeds of arugula, fenugreek, broccoli, fava beans, lettuce, parsley, spinach, and winter wheat! From these, we chose what we’d like to eat, what we’ve had success with in the past, and what we’ll try just for fun.

We grow edibles in half-wine barrels and in raised beds. Dan constructed our raised beds of redwood and they are 8 feet or 10 feet long by 4 feet wide by 12 inches deep. All of these have ½ inch hardware cloth metal mesh stapled to the bottom to deter gophers. We set aside three beds for perennials: asparagus, artichokes, and strawberries. With other beds, we practice a mini-version of crop rotation, simplified as “root, fruit, green, bean.” So where we planted root vegetables such as carrots, kohlrabi, and beets in the spring, now we’ll leave in the re- emerging Japanese eggplant (fruit) and plant seeds of lettuce, parsley, and spinach (green).

Here are twelve steps to preparing the bed from one season to the next.

1. Remove spent leaves above ground but leave the roots to decay on their own, unless they are very large.

2. Remove support structures such as cucumber or tomato trellises.

3. Loosen the soil not by turning it over, but by putting in a pitchfork and rocking it back and forth a bit.

4. Since the soil level in the bed has probably gone down a few inches, add one or two cubic feet of high-quality, locally sourced soil to the bed.

5. Add a generous portion of earthworm castings or use your own home-made compost, or a combination.

6. Add a light layer of coconut coir on top, which retains moisture and helps seeds to sprout.

7. Water the bed well.

8. Plant your seeds! Follow package or online directions on spacing for a row or for a square foot. Plant your seedlings! When I plant seedlings, I’ll add sprinkle of mycorrhiza,
   which helps roots to grow.

9. Cover the entire bed with something to keep out birds and cats. Bird mesh does a good job. Dan puts 4’ tall rebar posts, topped with tennis balls (for safety), into the ground at each corner of the bed. He ties string near the top from post to post, and we drape the mesh over. That way seedlings are protected until they are stronger. Be careful not to leave any gaps!

10. Keep the seeds moist by watering every day until they germinate, usually 10 to 14 days.

11. When the seedlings start to crowd each other, thin them by snipping off weaker seedlings at the soil level. This can be hard - just do it! The plants you have left will have more room to grow.

12. Visit your garden daily.

A newly prepared bed is a beautiful sight. A bed with sprouts emerging is a wondrous sight. A bed with fruits and vegetables forming is a marvelous sight. A bed overflowing with bounty so that you have plenty for yourselves and plenty to give away is a blessed sight! So go forth and plant.

If life these days is overwhelming, start small. Start with cat grass! Fill a 6 inch diameter pot with soil, sow some cat grass seeds, place indoors or outdoors in the sun, and sprinkle with water daily. In a few short days, this tiny garden will bring you - and your cats - joy. And pray for rain: the nice, wet kind.

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In the Kitchen

Shakshuka with Poached Eggs

I have adapted this recipe, given to me by my friend and neighbor Deirdre Davis, chef extraordinaire, who runs Pinoli Farmhouse Kitchen. She adapted it from an Ottolenghi recipe in his book, Jerusalem (2012). Ottolenghi says that shakshuka is a popular breakfast or lunch fare in Israel. Served with some good crusty bread, it makes a delicious and hardy meal. I can vouch for that!

INGREDIENTS (for 6 servings)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon harissa or gochujang (spicy chili pepper paste)
1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds, toasted and ground
1 teaspoon whole coriander seeds, toasted and ground
3-4 cloves garlic, about 1 tablespoon, finely chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 medium white onion, in ¼ inch slices
2 large red bell peppers, in ¼ inch by 2 inch slices
5 cups heirloom tomatoes, chopped
6 whole eggs
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
several fresh basil leaves

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Toast the cumin and coriander seeds together in a small, heavy, dry frying pan (without oil) over medium heat until they darken slightly, about 1 minute. Grind with a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder.

2. Chop the garlic. Chop the red peppers and the onion. Chop the tomatoes.

3. Heat the olive oil. Add the harissa or gochujang and stir. Add the spices and garlic andcook until just fragrant.

4. Follow with the tomato paste and the salt. Cook for a few more minutes.

5. Add the onions and bell peppers. Stir and cook over medium heat for about 6-8 minutes till softened.

6. Add the tomatoes and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook uncovered for another 10 minutes until the sauce thickens to your liking. Some people like the sauce thicker, others like it more soupy. Taste for seasoning.

7. Make 6 little dips in the sauce. Gently break an egg into each dip.

8. Simmer gently for 8-10 minutes, covered, until the whites are just set and the yolks are as runny or as firm as you prefer.

9. To serve, put some of the sauce and an egg into a bowl. Sprinkle with feta cheese and a few fresh basil leaves.

by Liv Wisely, special contributor to The Good Table at Home

I have a significant object, which is actually two objects, one inside the other, that sits in a place of honor in my home. It is a tiny rubber dinosaur in an official medical biohazard bag. Immediately, so many questions. What fiendish crimes did this little fellow commit? Is he radioactive, is he toxic? What horrors could have been carried out by this small green triceratops, the most docile of herbivores in the animal kingdom, its stubby legs outstretched in a permanent trot? Why has he been thus imprisoned, and does he deserve freedom, or is he condemned like Kronos in a Ziplock Tartarus for the good of humanity?  

Liv Wisely’s beloved triceratops

You can’t look at it and not think ‘there’s a story here’. And there is one – and it’s one of the most wonderful stories I know: the story of how I got to keep my mom.

Now, this tale is just the most recent chapter of this little creature’s life. Once upon a time, he was crafted in some factory in China, unaware of his destiny to cross my path. He changed many hands and crossed an ocean to come to rest at the China Bazaar on Grant Avenue, where I saw it and my squeal of unrestrained joy entwined our fates. It was love at first sight. 50 cents and he was mine to own. I’ve always been a kitschy person, and small, strange accouterments have always brought me joy. Growing up, it was proposed that I could be on the autism spectrum, and though it was never settled upon, I do have a fondness for security objects.

Little did I know in 5 years time, how secure that little fella would make me feel. Over time, my tiny plastic dinosaur collection grew and flourished. I loved the novelty of dinosaurs made from plastic, which is made from fossil fuels, which, in turn, is made from dinosaurs. Through my entire orthodontic process with braces, I collected a dino every appointment. It gave me something to look forward to in the hours of tightening and prodding and pulling and poking.  I bought a rubber squeaky stegosaurus in china, I bought a vintage orange T-Rex at an estate sale and a collection of various colored stegosaurus miniature sponges. I even had a wind up silver velociraptor tinker toy that doubles as a pencil sharpener.

But through it all, my triceratops remained the dearest in my heart. I kept him in my purse on commutes and long trips, I could always take him out and walk him around in unfamiliar terrain, and feel a little less alone. But it came to pass, that on the day I felt most alone I had ever felt, I gave him away.

On Labor Day, 2020, we took my mother to the emergency room for head pains. An hour later, we got a call from the doctor, announcing they had found a 5 cm tumor in her brain. I was inconsolable. I thought I had lost my mom in an instant. COVID and schoolwork and depression was nothing compared to this. We were told she was going to be immediately taken to Redwood City, 40 miles from us, for emergency 4-hour brain surgery. We had one day to see her, and there was no way of knowing if we’d ever see her again.

Yeah, woah. 

I remember rifling through my belongings, mumbling mi shebeirach. What can I give? What can I do? What have I instilled with love and light and luck that I can pass onto her? In a rush, I snatched what I could, but it was what was already in my purse that fit the bill. As she was loaded into the ambulance, lights blaring, siren wailing, I folded my rubber triceratops into her hand. I am told she held triceratops in her fist while they sawed through her skull and made the incisions. It has seen the fluorescent lights, and bore witness to the inside of my mom’s cranium. It was lost on the operating floor, but someone went back and got it for her transfer because she was so distressed.

When my mom came home, going through her suitcase, she pressed the dinosaur back into my hand, individually wrapped because of COVID regulations, in its standard-issue baggie. It sits on my dinosaur collection display shelf now, in its rightful place on honor, as a hero.

As my mom has now starts 6 weeks of chemo and radiation, I hope my collection of dinosaurs, and memories with my mom, continue to grow and flourish. 

Wendy and Liv Wisely

Special contributor, Liv Wisely is a 2020 graduate of El Cerrito High School and now a freshman at San Francisco State University. Liv’s mom, Wendy Wisely, is the Vice-Moderator (officer) of The Good Table United Church of Christ church council.

Our marketing manager, Kelly Knight is now on maternity leave after giving birth to Orion Adam Milner on September 19th. Congratulations to Kelly and all her family!

While Kelly is on leave, it’s a delight to introduce our new contributor, Liv Wisely. Liv grew up in Mira Vista UCC, now The Good Table UCC, where her mother serves on the church council. A 2020 graduate of El Cerrito High School, Liv is now attending San Francisco State University online. Liv is a wonderful writer and, as you’ll see in this post, a cartoonist too! While this cartoon is particular to 2020 graduates, it is good advice for anyone who is now working from home with new “co-workers” who are family too. (hint: switch to full screen to catch all the details of this cartoon)

In the Kitchen

Desserts don’t have to be fussy or take a long time to be absolutely delicious. This easy cake uses the best of fall fruit for a treat that is light and just as appropriate for after dinner or a sweet afternoon snack with a cup of tea.

Photo Credit: bake from scratch

Pear-Almond Cake
Recipe from bake from scratch magazine

Serves 6

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, softened

• 1½ cups (300 grams) granulated sugar

• 3 large eggs

• 2 cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour

• ¼ teaspoon (0.75 gram) kosher salt

• ⅓ cup whole milk

• ½ teaspoon almond extract

• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 large red pear, cored and cut into 12 thin slices

• ½ cup (57 grams) sliced almonds

• Garnish: confectioners’ sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9-inch cast-iron skillet with baking spray with flour.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and granulated sugar at medium speed until fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, stopping to scrape sides of bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together flour and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating just until combined after each addition. Beat in extracts. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Place pears cut side down in a pinwheel fashion over batter.

4. Bake until lightly browned, 25 to 30 minutes. Sprinkle with almonds, and bake until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 10 to 15 minutes more. Let cool in pan for 15 minutes. Dust with confectioners’ sugar, and serve warm.

SF skyline, on a clear day, and then seen through fire smoke

Spiritual Touchstone

By Rev. Melinda McLain, Pastor for The Good Table UCC

As we continue to contend with wildfires in California and dreadful air quality locally, many beloveds are in the midst of a horrible hurricane season, including our regular Good Table UCC attendee, Dr. Lila Anderson who lives between Houston and Galveston, Texas.

Lila and I lived in the same residential college when we were students at Rice University in Houston back in the early 1980’s. She was a Gulf Coast local and “knew the drill” for hurricanes, but when hurricane Alicia hit Houston in 1983, it was my first experience with that sort of storm.

Growing up in the Texas panhandle in “tornado alley”, I was no stranger to violent weather, but the thunderstorms that spawn tornados tend to develop quickly and the damage happens rapidly, and then you clean up. The same is true for earthquakes: they happen without warning, last for a very short period of time, and then you clean up.

Hurricanes, on the other hand, develop slowly at some distance, and so there is an interminable waiting period when meteorologists try and predict where the storm will make landfall and with what force so that coastal residents can prepare to ride out the storm and/or evacuate. If you’ve been following the tracks of hurricanes Marco and Laura through the Gulf of Mexico the past few days, you no doubt have heard meteorologists talk about the “cone of uncertainty” as they show an elongated balloon shape on the map outlining the probable path of a given storm.

This hurricane tracking tool has since been applied to project management processes (especially in software development) in order to manage expectations for a client, while taking into account the rapidly changing business environment.

Right now, our project to create The Good Table has been reducing the cone of uncertainty and increasing the cone of probability that we will actually begin construction by the end of the year, and perhaps even in October! This is very good news, indeed, although we still have to work through the uncertainties of getting a building permit in September.

At the same time, living through these catastrophic wildfires and super smoky air is an exercise in living with the cone of uncertainty every day — everything from not knowing if our homes will survive to wondering if we can do something as simple as walk the dog, given the wind direction and air quality index numbers.

Personally, I don’t enjoy living in so much uncertainty and chaos and I think most folks find it stressful. Plus, as our climate continues to rapidly change, we will experience more wildfires, extended droughts, and strong hurricanes extending the cone of uncertainty for disaster-free living for longer periods each year.

Fortunately, we are not simply at the mercy of mathematical models to manage our ability to thrive in chaos. We can, through spiritual practices such as meditation and prayer, learn to calm down and be at peace, even in the midst of raging storms and fires. We can also become more resilient by being connected to one another in community through civic groups, faith communities, or through projects like The Good Table.

What helps you thrive in times of uncertainty? How do you stay connected to your neighbors and community? What are you doing to improve our community’s resiliency? Would you like to learn more? Click here.

by Kelly Knight, Marketing Manager for The Good Table

In The Kitchen

It’s very rare that a recipe stops me in my tracks, but this one did. It’s from Deborah Madison’s Vegetable Literacy, which is an amazing cookbook that focuses on each of the vegetable families and what pairs well with each. I could go on and on about Deborah Madison, but I’ll just say this: this cookbook is a gem.

So… the recipe.

Photo credit: an endless banquet

Comforting Tomatoes in Cream with Bread Crumbs and Smoked Salt
Serves 1

INGREDIENTS
- 4 tbsp heavy cream
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 fresh basil leaf
- 8 oz ripe tomatoes, preferably a mix of the ripest, tastiest heirloom varieties you can find
- Fresh bread crumbs toasted in olive oil until light brown*
- Smoked salt* and freshly ground pepper **
- Optional: fresh bread on the side

* You can do this in a skillet or in the oven — I toasted some Panko breadcrumbs I had in the toaster oven.
** If you’re unfamiliar with smoked salt, you can find it at your local gourmet/organic food shop. I got mine at Berkeley Bowl, and it’s an Alder Smoked Salt, which is really good. Or use a flaky sea salt, like Maldon.

DIRECTIONS
Warm the cream with the garlic and basil in a small skillet over gentle heat.  When it starts to simmer, turn off the heat and steep while you prepare the tomatoes.

Bring a pot of water to a boil.  Score the tomatoes on the blossom end (the “bottom”), then drop them into boiling water for about 10 seconds.  Transfer them to a bowl of cold water to cool, then peel.  Cut the tomatoes into quarters if large, into halves if smaller.

Add the tomatoes to the pan, along with a generous pinch of smoked salt and some freshly ground black pepper.  Turn the heat back on and allow the cream to bubble over the tomatoes and mingle with their juices for 2 to 3 minutes.

Ladle into a bowl.  Adjust the seasoning, if need be.  Scatter the bread crumbs generously over the tomatoes.  Devour, making sure to have some delicious bread close at hand to sop up all the juices afterwards.

NOTES
This recipe is late summer comfort food at its best. If your garden is overflowing with tomatoes and basil, like mine is right now, it’s a great way to use up those things. It’s great for a simple supper with loved ones (and quarantine buddies), paired with wine or iced tea and good conversation.

by Kelly Knight, Marketing Manager for The Good Table

Brian Campbell-Miller wears a lot of hats: he’s the Moderator of The Good Table UCC (President of the Board of Directors), and recently was hired as a Contact Tracer for Contra Costa County.

Contact tracers are a very important resource in a multi-pronged approach to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.  Contact tracers need to quickly locate and talk with the patients, assist in arranging for patients to isolate themselves, and work with patients to identify people with whom the patients have been in close contact so the contact tracer can locate them.

I interviewed Brian to learn more about contact tracing, how it works, and the service it provides to our community.

How did you become a contact tracer, Brian?  This is something relatively new that we’ve not had to do a lot of before, so I’m curious.

It actually started because I got laid off from my county job — I’m pursuing a Masters in Library Science, so I was working as a Library Assistant in a county library.  When the pandemic started, the library changed its model to only be open for book pickup and dropoff, so a lot of the staff was laid off.

Fortunately, the county has a program that matches laid off county workers with hiring managers for other county jobs.  I had four or five interviews with hiring managers for different jobs before finding my contact tracing position.

How has the contact tracing program grown since COVID-19?

It’s interesting: it started with eight workers who were doing outreach for tuberculosis and sexually transmitted diseases originally.  But since the pandemic, the department has grown to over two hundred workers in Contra Costa County alone.

Wow!  So what was the training like to become a contact tracer?

UCLA has a two week training program that is mostly done via Zoom, and standardizes contact tracing all across the state.  We had lectures in the morning, then labs in the afternoon where we practiced interviewing and learned the skills and systems we’d need to be successful.

I really liked practicing interviewing — I enjoy acting, so pretending to be the interviewee was really fun for me.  It also taught me how to best disseminate the information we want our interviewees to hear: how they need to isolate, wear masks, and social distance.

Also, we use the FEMA framework, and that was really interesting: to see how FEMA handles emergency situations.  We did some job shadowing as well, to see how folks were doing this in the field. 

The last piece of training was in-person at the Public Health building in Concord.  Desks were 6 feet apart, and we all wore masks.  

What’s it like now that you’re working at this full-time?

I work from home, which is ideal of course.  There are 3-4 schedules you can work; mine is Sunday through Thursday, 8 am - 4:30 pm.  During that period, we make calls that can last from 2-30 minutes.  

How it works is that if there’s a confirmed case of COVID-19, a Case Investigator will call that person directly.  They will ask the person to identify their potential contacts during the infectious period.  Then Contact Tracers like me will follow up with those contacts, encourage them to get tested, then quarantine for fourteen days.  This can help stop the spread if people follow the protocols.

Got it.  So Brian, what has surprised you most about being a contact tracer?

So, most people are very friendly, but I got one interviewee that was really angry, because she’d gotten different, and inconsistent information from different sources.  It makes sense, honestly, because we’ve got a lot of information flying around right now, and she was frustrated because she didn’t know what to do.

Something else that surprised me was how easy working with a translator was.  We have a phone system where the interviewee can select the language they’d prefer, and it filters what I say to a translator to the interviewee, and what they say back through the translator to me.  And it’s quick!  I was honestly surprised at how fast it was.  Plus, all the different languages available: Spanish, Cambodian, Vietnamese, Aramaic, and several others.  It’s all just really cool.

That’s awesome!  What would you say is the most difficult part?

For me, it’s that I really like to follow things through until the end.  The problem with contact tracing is that you don’t get to find out how things worked out for the people you’ve interviewed.  It’s hard for me to let go sometimes.

That being said, the most rewarding part is educating folks about the county resources available to them.  I’ve helped connect people with food and rental assistance, and that feels really good.

That must feel really great, absolutely.  One last thing: what would you, as a contact tracer, want people to know?

That we’re just trying to keep our community safe and get through this together.  I think people are really worried when we call that they’re in trouble or something.  Contact tracers aren’t law enforcement — we’re public health.  It’s never punitive; we’re just trying to get you services you need.

And also, being part of a community means that you make sacrifices for the community, so please: wear a mask. 
The risk to other people that you’ll get them sick vs. the small discomfort for you is out of proportion.  Do your part to help keep our community safe.

By Kelly Knight, Marketing Manager for The Good Table

Gavin Raders

I sat down with Gavin Raders, Co-Founder of Planting Justice and Co-Manager of The Good Table, to discuss how the pandemic has affected his organization, what he’s looking forward to at the new Planting Justice Organic Nursery at The Good Table site, and his hopes for the community in the future.

Hey Gavin, thanks for meeting up with me.  So, can you tell me how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted Planting Justice?

Yeah, it’s been interesting: in many ways, I feel like this is something Planting Justice has been preparing for.  We’ve been able to respond in a really strong way as an organization: we got a small business loan that allowed us to keep everyone on staff, for one thing, and we were also able to actually expand our staff with seven new hires!

That’s incredible!  How did that come about?

Well, in part, it happened because the pandemic got everyone refocused on gardening, food security, and creating sustainable food systems in local communities.  We saw how the pandemic impacted the food supply chain, with lots of items being unavailable, so everyone turned back to gardens as a way of creating that food security for themselves and their neighbors.  

The sales in our nursery more than doubled, and sales of our edible starts have been the highest ever.  That speaks to a real need in the community for gardens and accessible food.

So when it comes to the organic plant nursery at the new Good Table site, what will that space provide for the community?

We’ll have certified organic heirloom crops at the new site, including 1,200 varietals of fruit trees and perennial plants.  We’ll be able to offer things that other nurseries don’t have, which will contribute to the overall food diversity in the El Sobrante community.  

Another thing I’m excited about is the commercial kitchen on-site.  This will provide additional culinary value, with an offering of locally made foods.  We’ll have collaborative workshops on how to plant and care for edible starts, which will allow us to leverage the knowledge already in the El Sobrante community—we’ll encourage everyone to participate in community group sharing to all learn together.  

And lastly, but also important: we’ll be creating jobs, since this will be a brick and mortar location.  

What are your hopes for The Good Table and Planting Justice Organic Nursery site?  What will make this space so special?

I feel like the community really needs a place like this.  There are so few community gathering spaces in El Sobrante that don’t require a purchase or admission fee to get in.  The pay-as-you-can model is not widespread, and pretty unique for this area.  That allows folks to just come hang out, which is really valuable from a social isolation perspective.

Absolutely.  I’ve been reading a lot about the diminishing amount of “third space” in the United States — places you can go hang out that aren’t work or home.  America doesn’t have a lot of civic spaces for people to congregate that are free.

Yes, and that’s a huge issue!  You’re likely to get ticketed for trespassing or loitering, which is a social justice issue.  The Good Table and Planting Justice Organic Nursery can be that third space for the community; a place to gather and collaborate for communal sharing, knowledge and celebration.

We all hope that too—and that we’ll be able to open in 2021.  Thanks Gavin!

Note: if you’d like to help us open in 2021, please consider donating to our Go Fund Me campaign: Donate

About Gavin: Gavin Raders is a co-founder and co-director of Planting Justice, a father to two amazing daughters, a social justice activist, and a permaculture demonstrator/teacher. Rather than fighting against the things that we don't want and continuously reacting against the onslaught of oppressive systems, Gavin decided at a young age to build solutions that bring healing, health, peace, opportunity, and justice to those around him, using his privileges strategically for reparations and redistribution, and creating space for those most impacted by structural violence to live out their own dreams and enact the solutions they know to be necessary, while simultaneously supporting themselves and their families.

In Our Community

Wildfire season is upon us, as evidenced by the Mineral Fire in Coalinga and other smaller fires around the state. What can we do, both individually and communally, to prepare?

Are you signed up for the Contra Costa County Community Warning System (CWS)? If you register your cell phone here  you will get important information in an emergency situation, such as a wildfire event. The site also has excellent preparedness materials and videos. You can also follow them on twitter @CoCoCWS. Pastor Melinda also invites you to attend meetings of the El Sobrante Municipal Advisory Committee (now online!) on 2nd Wednesdays of each month at 7p. Send an email to: James Lyons in Supervisor James Gioia’s office to be added to the email list to receive an agenda and meeting details.

Prepare Your Family & Your Home for Wildfires

• Make a disaster supply kit and have a family emergency plan

• Design and landscape your home with wildfire safety in mind: select materials and plants that can help contain fire rather than fuel it

• Use fire-resistant or noncombustible materials on the roof and exterior structure of the dwelling, or treat wood or combustible material used in roofs, siding, decking or trim with fire-retardant chemicals evaluated by a nationally recognized laboratory, such as Underwriters Laboratories (UL)

• Plant fire-resistant shrubs and trees (for example, hardwood trees are less flammable than pine, evergreen, eucalyptus or fir trees)

• Regularly clean roof and gutters

• Inspect chimneys at least twice a year. Clean them at least once a year. Keep the dampers in good working order. Equip chimneys and stovepipes with a spark arrester that meets the requirements of National Fire Protection Association Standard 211. (Contact your local fire department for exact specifications)

• Use 1/8-inch mesh screen beneath porches, decks, floor areas and the home itself. Also, screen openings to floors, roof and attic

• Install a dual-sensor smoke alarm on each level of your home, especially near bedrooms; test monthly, and change the batteries at least once each year

• Teach each family member how to use a fire extinguisher (ABC type) and show them where it's kept

• Keep handy household items that can be used as fire tools: a rake, axe, handsaw or chain saw, bucket and shovel

• Keep a ladder that will reach the roof

• Consider installing protective shutters or heavy fire-resistant drapes

• Clear items that will burn from around the house, including wood piles, lawn furniture, barbecue grills, tarp coverings, etc. Move them outside of your defensible space

• Identify and maintain an adequate outside water source such as a small pond, cistern, well, swimming pool or hydrant

• Have a garden hose that is long enough to reach any area of the home and other structures on the property

• Install freeze-proof exterior water outlets on at least two sides of the home and near other structures on the property. Install additional outlets at least 50 feet from the home

• Consider obtaining a portable gasoline powered pump in case electrical power is cut off

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In the Kitchen

It’s plum season! My plum tree is thick with fruit around this time of year, and if I get a bumper crop, it’s prime time for making and canning plum jam! I always thought canning was hard, but with the right tools, it’s absolutely not — basically, you make the jam while sterilizing the jars in hot water, then fill the jars, and pop them back into their boiling water bath to process.

Kelly’s Plum Jam

Note: my tree makes these amazing golden plums, but you can use any kind. Plums are a medium pectin fruit. Some recipes call for no pectin, and over time you may want to play with the amount of pectin to get the right level of “gel” or thickness.

Golden Plums

Ingredients
6 cups prepared fruit (washed, pitted, and chopped, don’t peel) — you’ll need about 4 lbs fully ripe plums
1/2 cup water
1 box pectin (I like the SURE-JELL or Ball brands — look for specifically fruit or jam pectin)
8 cups sugar, measured into a separate bowl

Jars: You’ll need about (10) 1 cup jars, with rings and new flat lids.

Instructions

1. Fill a big stock pot with water, enough to cover all the jars, bring to a boil. Wash jars and screw bands in hot soapy water; rinse with warm water, then place in the boiling water in the stockpot. Take some of the boiling water and pour over flat lids in a separate saucepan off the heat. Let stand in hot water until ready to use. (The flat lids just need to be clean and their seals a little sticky.  Everything else should be boiled to sterilize it before canning.) Drain well before filling.

2. Pit plums. Do not peel. Finely chop or grind fruit; place in saucepan. Add water. Bring to boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 5 min. Measure exactly 6 cups prepared fruit into 6- or 8-qt. saucepot.

3. Stir pectin into fruit in saucepot. Bring mixture to full rolling boil (a boil that doesn't stop bubbling when stirred) on high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in sugar. Return to full rolling boil and boil exactly 1 min., stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam with a metal spoon.

4. Ladle immediately into prepared jars, filling to within 1/4 inch of tops. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with two-piece lids. Screw bands tightly enough to keep on the jar, just before airtight (this gives things a little room to expand/contract as they cool). 

5. Place jars on an elevated rack in the boiling water stock pot. (Water must cover jars by 1 to 2 inches. Add boiling water, if needed.  Keep them off the bottom of the pot, or they’ll scorch) Cover; bring water to gentle boil. Process 10 min (meaning, let them sit in there). 

6. Remove jars and place upright on a towel to cool completely. After jars cool, check seals by pressing middle of lids with finger. (If lids spring back, lids are not sealed and refrigeration is necessary.)  Tighten the rings on the jars as necessary and label with their amazing contents.  Then give yourself a pat on the back for making something that will last through the winter and bring a little zing to your toast, scones, and pancakes!

Kelly’s Golden Plum Jam

Notes:

• Having some canning tools can make this process easier. I like this canning set from Ace Hardware — I find the jar tongs, canning funnel, and lid lifter especially helpful. The jar tongs help you move jars around in the boiling water to keep them on/around the rack. The canning funnel gets jam into the jars really well, without having a ton of drips where you don’t want them (a drip on the jar rim makes for a bad seal — you want those jar rims clean!) And the lid lifter means you don’t have to touch hot metal — you use it to grab the lid from the water and place on the jar without touching anything, which is also good for keeping everything sterile in the jar.

• If anything goes wrong during this process, no worries! You can always turn your jam into refrigerator jam, which doesn’t have to be sterile, just clean. In the fridge, the jam will last a couple of weeks. Canned, it should last a year.

Happy Jamming!

Spiritual Touchstone

Just Another Blog about Beauty?
by Rev. Dr. Melinda V. McLain

As an undergraduate music major in the early 80’s, I first became acquainted with a remarkable book entitled, “Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid” or the “GEB”. This Pulitzer Prize winning tome continues to challenge and excite folks from many fields because it makes connections between mathematics, art, and music in an effort to find the links between them. The book also anticipates the algorithmic thinking that underlies much of our digital world, and is a well-thumbed volume among those working in artificial intelligence.

When I first read it, I was fortunate to have friends who understood the math of it. Even then I wondered if mathematically “perfect” music is more beautiful. As an organ major, I was playing a lot of Bach and it did seem to exhibit a certain perfection. Still, there was so much music I loved that did not exhibit “the golden ratio” in a way that could be easily discerned, so it failed the “perfection is beauty” test for me. Ancient philosophers also tended to think of beauty in mathematical terms and “GEB” put that notion to rest for me.

And yet, most of us find some measure of beauty in nature whether it is gazing at the ocean, a flower, or a fully-ripe peach. In GEB, Hofstadler includes many calculations of “perfection” in nature from the precise proportions in a stalk of grass to the beautiful calculations that describe the harmonic series that undergirds all music. This is often referred to as “the golden ratio” or sometimes the “divine proportion” because it is so common in nature.

Dahlias are an example of flowers that often have the golden ratio

So what constitutes beauty in the world? Certainly it is in the eye of the beholder. But is there another way to define beauty that cuts through our individual preferences and touches the transcendent even if it doesn’t conform to the golden ratio?

For Christian mystics such as Julian of Norwich, beauty is found when we seek the holy and remember that no matter what our outward appearance or circumstance, we are all beloved in the eyes of the Creator. For zen practitioners, no belief in a God or Creator is required, but the effect is still the same: all beings are beautiful without exception and our separation from one another and creation is an illusion.

Where do you find beauty? What role does beauty play in your spiritual life?

Our worship and study series entitled “Beguiled by Beauty” continues this Sunday at 12n in Zoom. Send Pastor Melinda an email to receive login credentials and materials.