In Our Fall 2015 Issue

Last Updated October 01, 2015
Share to printerest
Share to fb
Share to twitter
Share to mail
Share to print
edible columbus fall 2015 cover
One of the many pheasants at Cherrybend Pheasant Farm in Wilmington, Ohio. Photo by © Dave Liggett www.daveliggett.com

LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER

I love a good story; it’s why publishing this magazine means so much to me. I take sheer delight in sharing the stories behind the amazing people in our community who influence the food we produce and enhance the quality of our lives in the city we call home. Recently, I had the good fortune to learn the history of the building we renovated to house both our Ediblemagazine office and our cooking school, The Seasoned Farmhouse. Like so many places in Columbus, our offices are replete with stories.

My education into the history of our property begins with a stranger’s email. Louise and her husband, Martyn—who both had ties to the home where we work—corresponded with me about touring the renovated home. I was, of course, happy to host them for a visit, and over breakfast they nourished me with the story of our property’s past. It is a story about two people in love, an unexpected refuge, a home they adored, and a city that became home for more than half a century.

The story of 3674 North High Street is inextricably linked with Walter and Kate Boenheim, Louise’s paternal grandparents. The story begins half a world away: Walter and Kate met and made their first home in West Prussia, Germany. They were both Jewish and by 1933, Hitler’s rising ideology made it evident that the two of them had to leave. They settled first on England. Yet, in weighing his options, Walter, a physician, discovered that he would have to take five more years of intense study if he wanted to practice medicine in England, whereas if he crossed the Atlantic Ocean, he could practice immediately in America. So, in a twist of fate, Walter and Kate journeyed to Columbus and Walter prepared to take his medical board exams. They embraced the community here and decided to put down roots and purchased a house on North High Street in Clintonville. They lived there, our very own 3674 North High Street, for more than 50 years, turning a house into a home in part by cultivating a beautiful yard abundant with flowers, raspberries, and an apple tree.

The house was filled with music, heirlooms from Germany that had traveled with them across the sea, and their three sons. When Kate moved into a nursing home at the age of 90, a local publication published an article about her—my greatest takeaway from reading the piece was a piece of Kate’s philosophy. She believed life is beautiful and she attributed her long life to the fact that she has always cared for others. What a wonderful way to view life.

In touring the property, Louise remarked that her grandmother Kate would love that flowers and fruit are still growing in the yard. In a strange coincidence (or sign of fate), we have roses, raspberries, and even an apple tree in our current garden. They also knew Kate would appreciate the way we bring people together at our cooking school and how we celebrate what is special about our community in Edible Columbus. Kate’s and Walter’s spirits live on.

This issue is filled with stories we hope you will enjoy and will inspire new ways to connect within our community this season.

Come visit us at The Seasoned Farmhouse—our cooking class schedule is online at theseasonedfarmhouse.com. We would love to share this special space with you.

Have a wonderful fall!

-Tricia Wheeler, Publisher


LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

The pheasant—a game bird native to Asia and brought to America in the mid-1800s—is a symbol of abundance and fertility, its multitude of colors symbolic of all of the creative possibilities in life. In autumn we live in reverence of these virtues. We sit together, talk together, and cook together—bringing the brightness of the outdoors inside—out of a sense of gratitude. Here in America, we have so much we often forget what it means to have little. Our fall issue reminds me of what we take for granted.

In this issue, we’re so pleased to share contributor Bryn Bird’s in-depth conversation with U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio. One of the things one can take for granted is good health until one is met with a health crisis. It saddens me deeply that this generation of children is the first generation to have a lower life expectancy than their parents. Healthy food, no matter where you come from, should be a right in this country.

Yet there are very real policies in place right now that keep healthy food from our youngest Americans, setting the stage for a national health crisis. Rep. Ryan is dedicated to turning the tide on what he suggests is a “sick country” continuing to fund its own illness (page 26). A catalyst for change, he’s published A Mindful Nation and The Real Food Revolution, and he’s just begun, asking visionary questions of our government. As he says, “In my district, like many districts around the county, we have 40–60% or more students on Medicaid.” It’s a painful problem that demands we, as Rep. Ryan says, “get back to the basics.” Food education is key, as is coalitionbuilding so these issues gather people power.

Healthy food habits, however, come in many shapes and sizes. Health takes root in the place where you live and eat as Sandusky-based writer Gene Logsdon details in his book, Gene Everlasting (page 18). And health thrives in environments like what locavore mother Lisa Clark created for her daughters by raising them with a regard for local food so that no matter where life takes them they always seek out good food practices (page 22).

Pediatrician Mary-Lynn Niland offers tips to parents for their child’s healthy eating habits during all the stages of their life (page 20), and farmer Eli Yoder of Blossom Acres Produce makes his case for why sustainable, organic soil brings us healthier food (page 34).

Well-being can also come from a healthy imagination, as Clintonville-based growers Michael Hayes (page 28) and Janine Harris Degitz (page 64) demonstrate with their homegrown backyard mushrooms and honeybees.

And writer and editor Megan Kimble in her book (page 57), Unprocessed, illustrates how living a life of eating unprocessed foods for a year offers its own path to wellness.

It’s this regard for the raw, for the whole, for the wild that inspired us this issue when we looked at hunting in Ohio. Local food advocate and hunter Steve Berk (page 42) shares his passion for pheasant hunting and living off the land, and archer Matt Neumeier tells his candid story about maturing as an archer to hunt whitetail deer (page 47).

We’re also thrilled to feature Chef Richard Blondin of The Refectory and his wisdom and recipes for preparing what one might gather on the hunt for wild game from his book, The Hunter’s Table (page 50).

I’m not a hunter. Yet being in the field with Steve and his hunting dog, Lulu, watching pheasants fly off as a cluster of their delicate feathers floated down to the ground, struck me to the core. I was suddenly reminded of how hunting can be spiritual. Engaging with the wild for your food in the ways Steve and Matt do requires tremendous mindfulness—the communion that comes when one takes the life of an animal for their own.

Hunting for your food, standing up for healthy food for the next generation, raising honeybees, passing on good food practices to your children—these are sacred gestures. We hope this issue connects you to what you find most pure and true this season. May your fall be filled with the blessings that come from eating well and sharing your harvest with others.

In gratitude,
-Colleen Leonardi, Editor

Warm Spinach Salad with Maple Vinaigrette

Warm Spinach Salad with Maple Vinaigrette
Book clubs. Conversations about characters and choices and what is happening in your real lives. Or, if you read a memoir in which the writer describes a breakfast pancake topped with asparagus,...

Barnraiser: Building Good Food Projects with Crowd-Funding

Imagine this: An online crowd-funding community customized for people who advocate the consumption of good quality food, sustainable farming practices, and all things health and wellness. Thanks to...

Green Machine Gardens

Green Machine Gardens
Green Machine Gardens gives those with disabilities the seeds to grow by offering a rich working environment in paid positions involving farming, harvesting, and customer service.

The Root of It All: The Chef's Garden

Chef’s Garden, Chefs prepare for The Roots conference dinner
The Chef’s Garden brings chefs from all over the world to Cleveland to talk food solutions

Harvesting for Hope

bright sunflower from Ohio State University’s Garden of Hope for cancer survivors
The Ohio State University’s Garden of Hope for cancer survivors acts as both a service to those who have been touched by cancer, as well as a research project.

Garden Therapy Along with Chemotherapy

Gene Logsdon’s Gene Everlasting book cover
Gene Logsdon shares an excerpt from her new book, "Gene Everlasting," on gardening and therapy.

A Healthy Child: Tips on How Best to Feed Your Kids Through all Stages of Childhood

These tips teach you how to best feed your kids through all the stages of childhood.

Raising a Locavore: A Mother-Daughter Story

Old cookbooks and family recipes
A wisdom and hunger clearly rooted in Emily Grazer's childhood; her mother, Lisa’s, kitchen; and the countless generations who laid the foundation for a lifelong love of good, fresh, local food.

Real Food, Real Policy in "The Real Food Revolution"

Real Food by Tim Ryan book cover
Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan talks about improving our food, our health, and building stronger coalitions to advance the healthy food movement in his new book, "The Real Food Revolution: Healthy Eating...

Mindful About Mushrooms

mushrooms sprouting on bark of tree
Local grower Michael Hayes has a backyard kingdom of edible mushrooms.

Fruit of Venus: Grow Your Own Pears

european pears, the fruit of venus
Learn the history, cultivation, and savoring of the European pear.

Blossom Acres: One Farmer and His Commitment to Sowing Good Soil

Eli inspects the soil at Blossom Acres by running it through his hands
Eli Yoder of Blossom Acres Produce focuses on the health of the soil, as well as teaching others the benefits of farming sustainably.

Edible Ginger: How a Tropical Crop is Taking Root in Ohio Soils

Natalie Horvath harvests fresh ginger at Green Edge Gardens
The tropical ginger crop, which has long been valued for its pungent flavor and medicinal properties, is taking root in Ohio soils.

For the Hunt

Local hunter Steve Berk and his dog Lulu
For local hunter Steve Berk, it’s all about food independence and living off the land.

The Aim of Archery: Deer Hunting in Ohio for Beginners

archery arrows hitting their mark
This is a beginner's guide to deer hunting. The truth is learning archery, and even learning to hunt deer, is not an easy overnight process.

At the Top of His Game: Chef Richard Blondin of The Refectory Restaurant and Bistro

Chef Richard Blondin of The Refectory Restaurant and Bistro
Chef Richard Blondin of The Refectory Restaurant and Bistro shares his philosophy on classic French cooking and wild game

The Hunter's Table

Chef Richard Blondin designed The Hunter’s Table for the home cook, so I approached it that way, asking myself how it would feel to prepare his recipes on a chilly fall Saturday while friends, the...

Beekeepers Helping Beekeepers

Bees swarm around the hives Marlyn tends to on his family’s dairy farm in Belle Center
This unlikely partnership between Dwight Wells and the Amish is revitalizing Ohio’s honeybee population.

Mindfulness and Our Food

illustration of bees and honeycomb network of hives
Author Janine Degitz reflects on how the honey bees taught her the value of community and our shared interconnectedness to the world.
We will never share your email address with anyone else. See our privacy policy.