Post Script

Wondering where we went? Follow me ...

The good news is that Outpost has a fresh new website, and the Postscript blog has been invited to live there permanently. The bad news is that during the switchover, this original Postscript was sent into cyberspace to float untethered for a while, and nobody could find us. (It's true what they say - nobody can hear you scream in space).

Please update your bookmarks, and join us over at Outpost's website. As a bonus, you'll be able to read our GM's blog, A Year of Inconvenience, which is a fascinating glimpse into a life lived without the ease of pre-packaged food. Go here.

"The next big thing will be vegetables."

So says celebrity chef Mario Batali, famous for his Romanesque appetite and all the girth that comes with it. The quote seems out of place, then. 

But get this: Mr Batali has shed some poundage and adopted a healthier, lighter diet. And he put together a new cookbook to share his new recipes with us; a cookbook that is heavy on the veggies.

"Eating as a pleasure is still a part of my life. Eating as a sport has faded away," he told the Chicago Tribune. 

Read a brief interview and profile of Batali's new Italian cookbook here.

Strawberries, meringue, ice cream?

It's hot and humid, and that's all the reason we need for a scrumptious summer cake like this. Via Treehugger's weekday vegetarian.

Outpost has a swanky new website

Check it out here. We're still fixing a few little bugs here and there, adding photos and features and such. One of those features will be this blog! Yup, Postscript is moving house, so update your bookmarks. They're even threatening to put my photo out there. Eek.

The rest will stay the same, links to interesting bits and bobs about the food system, organic food, sustainability, local Milwaukee issues and a bit of green design news here and there.

~ Liz

That's one less nasty toxin to worry about ... and one more to worry about

Grist reports that a decade-long fight by consumer advocates has finally resulted in an EPA ban on the pesticide endosulfan. Similar to DDT, but perhaps more toxic, endosulfan has been banned in the European Union since 2007 but was commonly used in the United States on tomatoes in Florida and cotton in California and Nevada. Other items treated with the substance include melons, cucumbers, squashes, potatoes, apples, blueberries, eggplant, lettuce, pears, peppers and stone fruit.

Of course, this victory is offset by the worrying development in California; the pending and possible approval of methyl iodide as a pesticide to be used by strawberry growers. Methyl iodide is more toxic than the now-banned methyl bromide that it may replace.

Backyard redux

We love this blog journal: A Brooklyn-dwelling GOOD Magazine writer took an urban junkyard and attempted to turn it into a flourishing garden. Joni Mitchell would be so proud.

The adventure begins here. 

Message in a bottle

An interesting read about the goods and the ills of bottled water can be found here at Fast Company. The author looks at many versions of the refillable water bottle, and considers why we don't always use them. Honestly, we've never seen an article about bottled water put together quite so well. We learned about systems we didn't know about before... like a grocery store "return-your-bottle" system that etches a message onto the bottle before it spits it out, refilled and inspiring. 

Here's an excerpt: "Consumers have proven that they will pay top dollar merely for the convenience of portable clean drinking water - even when it doesn't come from the springs of a remote Pacific island or the peak of some European mountain. Within the purchase price for premium water, there's plenty of room to pay for the refilling of the bottle with cheap, filtered local water while at the same time creating an economic incentive for stray bottles to find their way back into the system."

Via @greenbiztweets on Twitter.

Meet MUG in the garden today

The fine green-thumbed people at Milwaukee Urban Gardens will host a get-together today at the Richards Street Garden in the first of a series of monthly "open garden" events. If you're interested in learning more about urban and community gardening, this is a good place to start. Today's meeting is from 4 to 5 p.m. at the garden on the corner of Richards and Clarke.

If you can't make it today but want more info so you can attend a future get-together, head over to the gardeners' website or visit MUG on-line. 

Bitten by the garden bug

We've been bitten by the gardening bug here at the Exchange, and it's not just about vegetables and heirloom tomato plants (thank you, Gail Vella!) ... it's about the simple beauty and joy of flowers and shrubs, trees and potted bits and bobs. 

So here's a website we'll be browsing this weekend for inspiration, and it's so great we thought we'd better share it. You Grow Girl.

Social change in a gumball machine!

Seedbombs are back and coming to a gumball machine near you. Well, that's if they get the seed money, no pun intended. We love this idea - simple, effective, fun and inspiring. Watch a video here and lend your support if you can!

Via @NancyQuinn and @kickstarter on Twitter.