by Paige Donner Tasted today at Pavillon Ledoyen’s hosted Patisserie and Champagne Salon (Paris) was Lanson’s just-about-to-be-released organic and Demeter certified champagne. Notes of citrus, yellow fruits, fresh and mineral, this champagne has been aged 3 years and is the … Continue reading
by Paige Donner It seems that everyone these days can’t get enough of the wines from the Southwest of France, namely the Bergerac region. It’s likely just a coincidence that Wine Enthusiast named it their region of the year for … Continue reading
by Paige Donner Here at Local Food And Wine we love shining the spotlight on our fellow media creators who tell special tales about the sacred and symbiotic relationship between humans and their food. This week’s West Coast Live show … Continue reading
by Paige Donner (photos © 2017) After enjoying a successful career in marketing with Nike, Francine Picard rejoined her family’s Burgundy wine estate the same year that her brother did, too – at the end of the 1990s. Since 2010 they … Continue reading
My 3rd day of the Grands Jours Bourgogne featured a tasting spotlighting Mercurey producers and another featuring Young Talent. It’s also the day that features the best lunch by far, put on by Chef Didier Denis and his team. A … Continue reading
Held at the restaurant that Wine Spec recently named Paris’ best, Les Climats (Paris’ 7th arr), this tasting showcased gorgeous Burgundian wines that often don’t get enough attention… I’m talking Irancy, Saint-Bris, Chitry, Epineuil, Coulanges-la-Vineuse, Tonnerre, Aligoté and Vézelay. These … Continue reading
Author’s note: as a stunning example of the cultural communications chasm that still exists between France and the rest of the culinary world, imagine standing in a room of food and wine journalists at a chef’s book award event in France and having everyone swear to you that they’ve never heard of Zagat’s! No kidding. Continue reading
Ten years after releasing the acclaimed film, Mondovino, Jonathan Nossiter is back in theaters with his newest film, Résistance Naturelle. It examines vineyards in Italy that are cultivating their grapes organically and others that are using chemicals and pesticides. He … Continue reading
Paige Donner, journalist, blogger, eco-activist, actor/filmmaker and more, returns to the show from Paris to discuss her passion for local food and wine. Donner became more interested in the marriage of regional wines and local food when she was in … Continue reading
by Paige Donner What do panda bears and wine have to do with one another? Now that’s a question I never imagined I’d be posing here on myLocal Food And Wine blog. But, according to the recently released (April 8th, … Continue reading
by Paige Donner This title actually began as a chapter heading for my journal entry about my visit to Champagne Louis Roederer in Reims. But I liked it so much that I’m using it here, too. It just works so beautifully. It … Continue reading
BY Paige Donner Re-posted from Eco.Luxury.Style Magazine Cristal Roederer champagne is one of the most famous high-end champagnes sold the world over. MANY OF US KNOW IT PROBABLY MORE FOR ITS STARRING ROLE IN RAP SONGS AND MUSIC VIDEOS… AND FOR … Continue reading
The consistently high quality of bio-dynamic wines is winning out over their reputation of a cultish way to cultivate grapes. Here are two recent Mainstream Media Reports about Bio-dynamic wines. The first is a French news report during this year’s … Continue reading
[press release] This year the Saint Emilion “Portes Ouvertes” Open House event will last four whole days from Saturday 28 April to Tuesday 1st May 2012. If you are looking for an idea for a real break, don’t miss this unparalleled … Continue reading
Thousands of people across America call for healthy, affordable, sustainable food ahead of the first ever National Food Day.
WASHINGTON, DC – Thousands of people are demanding sustainable food in their local communities ahead of the first ever Food Day by starting and joining campaigns on Change.org, the world’s fastest-growing platform for social change.
Tens of thousands of individuals and organizations have already begun supporting sustainable food through campaigns on Change.org. Healthy Child, Healthy World, a food-focused nonprofit, launched an online campaign urging Campbell’s Soup to phase out the hormone-disrupting chemical bisphenol-A (BPA) from its packaging; a Texas animal rescuer created a campaign asking Governor Rick Perry to save struggling ranchers and starving horses by using state resources to bring hay to Texas; and a Maryland farmer started an online campaign to prevent his 31-year-old organic farm from being turned into private soccer fields.
Courtesy of Organic Matters, Ireland’s Organic Magazine
Bio-dynamic gardeningBio-dynamic gardeners, followers of the principles of Rudolf Steiner, believe that the movements of all theheavenly bodies, moon, planets and stars have an influence on the growth and development of all plants. So the time you chose to sow, plant or even weed your plants will affect their progress. The moon, the stars and the planets all affect the development of our plants.
At first glance the idea that the stars affect our garden seems quite crazy. But then we do know that the moon can move millions of gallons of water from one side of the ocean to the other every day. We do know also that all living things, including plants and ourselves contain water. So perhaps the idea is not so far fetched? Anyway judging by the number of horoscopes in newspapers and magazines, it seems that many people accept that the movement of heavenly bodies can affect their lives. So why not on plants?
Flower and fruitThe auspicious time for flowering plants is on ‘flower days’ when the ascending moon is in, Libra, Gemini or Aquarius. And for plants that are grown for their seed or fruit such as beans, tomatoes or courgettes, the best yields will be had by planting on ‘fruit days’ when the ascending moon is in Leo, Sagittarius or Aries.
By now, many readers have probably put these ideas into the ‘interesting, but far too much trouble’ category. And they may be forgiven for wondering if they are being asked to spend all their precious gardening time gazing at the sky before they can venture out to sow their new packet of seeds? But just as you don’t have to be an astronomer to read your stars in the newspaper, neither do you have to be one to plant by them.
Maria Thun publishes a calendar every year for interested gardeners and farmers. In it are marked all the suitable days for planting and sowing for the year. Few bio-dynamic gardeners bother themselves with the complexities of the cosmos, they merely organise their sowing and planting times around the calendar.
Another interesting aspect of bio-dynamic theory is that crops harvested on favourable days will keep better than when picked at other times. Thus, lettuce cut on a leaf day will stay fresher for longer than heads picked at other times. Equally gardeners who store their carrots over the winter are advised to harvest them on root days.
