Author Archives: Melissa | Growing Green Nutrition

Chattanooga, you had me at hello

Market St. bridge across the Tennessee River, taken from the Walnut St. bike/ped bridge

Hello from Pro Walk Pro Bike 2010 in lovely Chattanooga, Tennessee.  Ya’ll (I can say that because I’m in the south now), Chattanooga is a lovely city that has made huge pedestrian and bicycle enhancements in recent years and I’m surrounded by fabulous and inspiring people from across the country (and the globe, in some cases) who are working hard to create safe, viable transportation alternatives.

Art Museum at Bluff View Art District

I packed for the conference after looking at the weather forecast and seeing temps in the high 80s (i.e., almost 90 — ugh, hot) all week instead of the reality that I would spend 8am to 5:30pm in a refrigerator an excessively (and wastefully) over-air-conditioned building.

After hours, I’ve been exploring Chattanooga by bike.  Given the conference hours, this means that I’ve been exploring Chattanooga by bike IN THE DARK, both a.m. and p.m., which wouldn’t be a big deal if I had Baby Jake and my usual riding gear, but it’s a little iffy on the rental with no lights or reflective vest.  Note to self: always travel with reflective vest, you never know when you might want it.

I’m only scratching the surface here, but so far I’ve enjoyed the Walnut Street Bridge, the Tennessee Riverpark (an 8-mile long multi-use greenway), and biking around downtown in general.

Spinach walnut ravioli at 212 Market Restaurant

The food scene (normally, I would consider this the most important part, but I’m so enjoying the biking and the beautiful riverfront):

However, eating out is not nearly as fun without Matthew.  I can try many more things when he’s there to share in the fun and food.  I’ve already informed him that we’re coming back to Chattanooga together 🙂

Strange bean

I really want to tell you all about the amazing time I’m having at the Pro Walk Pro Bike conference and how much fun I’m having exploring the host city (to be revealed in a later post), but time is short, so I bring you a little garden tale.

While picking a very large quantity of green beans on Sunday, Pam remarked, “I’m just glad I haven’t picked any of the black with green stripes variety.”

Only a short time after making that comment, she came across this guy.  Harmless, but not exactly what you want when you’re expecting a handful of green beans!

Driving on car-free Friday

Big Bertha interrupted my usual car-free Friday with a trip to the MO Extension Services office in Clayton for some testing.  (You’ll meet Big Bertha later,when she returns to the apartment and is ready for her photo shoot.)

Our destination was totally bikeable, and also conveniently located near a MetroLink stop.  However, there’s a reason for the “Big” in Big Bertha’s name, and the bike’s cargo carrying capacity, as well as my lack of willingness to put in the necessary walking for public transit with Big Bertha, limited our options.

I arrived in Clayton, and SURPRISE!  The Saint Louis Art Fair is this weekend (yeah, they call it the SAINT LOUIS Art Fair, although it’s in Clayton, but I digress), meaning I was immediately mired in horribly congested traffic, what with the blocked off streets and the vendors’ cargo vans and trucks clogging all of the non-closed streets.  Ugh!

If you go to the Saint Louis Art Fair (in Clayton) this weekend, please take my advice and get there by any means other than driving.  Ride your bike or take p-trans — MetroLink stops right in Clayton, and you’ll end up walking less than you would if you drove and parked really far away.

Anyway, after much ridiculousness and navigating the craziness, I found a parking spot, one with money already in the meter.  Score!  Things were looking up for us.

After Big Bertha’s test (which she failed, but all is not lost), I set out to make the most of the car trip with a Whole Foods run.  I hit the bulk bins hard and fast — and succeeded in my goal to use no new plastic bags in the bulk bin aisle.  Heck, I managed to avoid using any new twist ties 🙂

Errand completed, and too much money spent, I drove to the CWE to drop off the car for Matthew.  He should be walking to the car to drive to his doctor’s appointment right about now, and I’m anticipating his call telling me that it’s not in one piece anymore.  Or maybe that it’s in one severely dented piece.

See, I realized too late (i.e., after paying the meter) that my sweet parking spot on Kingshighway was in a highly dangerous position with high potential to get rear-ended by merging traffic.  Yep, I picked the spot where what was previously a lane of moving traffic turned into a lane of street parking.

After parking and paying the meter, I resisted the strong temptation to just stand there with the car, staring down any potential rear-enders, ready to jump out and protect the car if necessary.  Quite ridiculous, but as much as I don’t even particularly like owning a car, repairing or replacing an accident-damaged vehicle would be less fun.

As it was, I managed to make myself walk away so I could make the next #95 bus and get home for some lunch.  The bus ride was soooo relaxing and pleasant after a morning navigating traffic — what a refined way to travel!

Chinese red noodle beans

Red noodle beans growing on the corn stalks in our garden

The folks at BADSEED Farm and Market picked Chinese red noodle beans as the runner-up “sexy veggie of the week” a few weeks ago.  In the related post on Kansas City Food Circle, they describe the beans:

“They boldly trellis up my massive corn stalks and gracefully hang from the plant like some other-worldly red serpent swaying in the deep blue sky. They taste just as wild with a nutty, crisp, and fulfilling flavor.”

Now that you know a little more about these long and lean beauties, on to the recipes!

Simple preparation of lightly steamed beans with garlic olive oil and s&p.  Steam for 7-10 minutes, or until desired tenderness.

Saute onion and garlic in a bit of oil, then add beans.  Mix almond butter with enough water to achieve a saucy consistency and pour over green beans.  Finish with a touch or soy sauce or salt.

Start with lightly steamed beans and roasted beets.  Toss together with olive oil, a good balsamic, and s&p.

Burlington by bike

On Friday, we biked to Starr’s Cave.  The temps were blissfully chilly, so much so that I didn’t bother to remove my bike gloves for the hike.

Saturday morning, we stopped by Mosquito Park on our way downtown.  In middle school, my friends and I often biked to, and hung out in, this lovely little park.

Matthew feels that the park should change it’s name for marketing purposes.  If you’re not sure what he’s doing in the photo, he’s mimicking a biting mosquito.

Our downtown shopping included Nature’s Corner, Tom’s Market, and some antique and thrift shops.  (As usual, the majority of our purchases were food or food-related, though Matthew was also on the hunt for some old farming implements.)  Our purchases exceeded the cargo capacity of Matt’s crate, but my rack plus a bungee cord came to the rescue.

My last ride of the trip consisted of biking to church on Sunday with my dad for company.  We conquered some big hills and arrived in plenty of time.  On the ride home, my bag almost took a spill, but I caught it just in time.

I am happy to report that we rode our bikes on all four days we visited Burlington — the wonderful weather aided us in this effort.  I enjoyed rediscovering my hometown via my favorite form of transportation!