Samuel Smith is Yorkshire’s oldest beer and USDA Organic.


By Jan Walsh


Photography by Beau Gustafson


Samuel Smith is among the few independent breweries remaining in England. They brew at The Old Brewery at Tadcaster, Yorkshire's oldest brewery founded in 1758 when its original well was sunk. The well is still used today for drawing brewing water from 85 feet underground. Traditional brewing methods have also been retained here including making its own copper, repairing its oak casks, and hand-weighing hops by the master hop blender.

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Do you know one heirloom from another?


By Jan Walsh


Photography by Beau Gustafson


I am a tomato snob. I admit it. If I had to choose one fruit that I could have in season—all the time—it would be tomatoes. And it would be heirloom tomatoes of all shapes, sizes, colors, and flavors.

If you are new to heirlooms, don’t expect them to all be round and red. Heirloom tomatoes do not have the genetic mutation that gives tomatoes a uniform red color. And unlike the seeds of hybridized plants, Heirloom seeds “breed true.” Both sides of an heirloom variety’s DNA are derived from a stable cultivar, whereas hybridized seeds combine different cultivars.

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Petals From The Past berries fill my fridge and freezer.


By Jan Walsh


Photography by Beau Gustafson 


As a child I picked wild blackberries with my grandmother. We both wore bonnets and long aprons for protection. Looking back I smile, as I cannot imagine a farm kid today wearing such old fashioned attire. But I am glad that I have such a vivid memory of mine.

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I fall in love at first bite with chocolate cheese.


By Jan Walsh


Photography by Beau Gustafson


I just love to meet folks who have found their calling. Greg and Ana Kelly are among them. I recently met the couple and discovered their scrumptious, Dayspring Dairy cheeses at Pepper Place Market. Several years ago the couple left their professional careers to purchase a beautiful farm in Gallant, Alabama and construct their own sheep dairy and creamery. Believing that God led them to this work, they named it Dayspring for the sunrise and biblical reference to Jesus.

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Eileen Fisher’s blue jeans were made for me.

By Jan Walsh 

Photography by Beau Gustafson 

I make every attempt to eat organic and Non-GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms). And I have furthered this effort to include the clothes I wear. After all my skin is my largest organ. So no longer do I shop just for fit and value, I look for clothes that are not made from GMO cotton fabrics and dangerous dyes. Yet they are difficult to find. Cotton makes up 35 percent of the world’s fiber and 17.5 percent of insecticide sales. But only one percent is organic. 

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