Lost Cowboy

You know how we love the ever changing beauty of Mount Chocorua in the Sandwich Mountain range of New Hampshire.  We have posted many pictures we have taken of the stunning mountain and the eponymous lake at its foot over the past year.

However, local photographer Jim Salge (of Jim Salge Photography) has us beat with this amazing photo of the Northern Lights over the mountain last weekend – taken from the very spot most of our pictures are taken.  Very cool!

We have been lucky enough to see the Northern Lights a few times up here over the years, and we were on the lookout the other night and saw a few hues – but this takes the cake.

Congratulations to Mr. Salge and thanks for capturing such beauty.

See the online gallery of New England landscape and nature images by photographer Jim Salge here.

There are many books and blogs about eating local produce and the whole slow food movement.  However, just as vital is the idea of growing and sourcing locally grown plants and flowers – the subject of the wonderful book The 50 Mile Bouquet: Seasonal, Local and Sustainable Flowers by Debra Prinzing.

About The 50 Mile Bouquet: Seasonal, Local and Sustainable Flowers by Debra Prinzing: “Most flowers on the market today are imported, mass-produced and chemical-laden. The 50 Mile Bouquet introduces some of the innovative voices of the dynamic new Slow Flower movement: the organic flower farmers, the sustainably-motivated floral designers…and the flower enthusiasts who are increasingly asking, Where and how were my flowers grown, and who grew them?  With documentary-feature reporting and full color photographs, this visually elegant book takes us into the farms and design studios of these slow-flower folks to follow the green journey of the 50 mile bouquet. This is the first book to spotlight this major transformation in how cut flowers are grown, designed and consumed, which closely mirrors the locavore/slow food revolution in the culinary world.”

I love local flowers and often purchase the flowers vendors pick in the morning and bring to the market.  I also love the wildflowers that grow all around the area that make my summer bike rides and hikes so colorful.  In The 50 Mile Bouquet: Seasonal, Local and Sustainable Flowers, Ms. Prinzing takes on a journey that celebrates the idea of a local bouquet of flowers and it is more interesting than you would think.  To make it even more appealing, the book is populated with wonderful photographs (like this one) by photographer David Perry.

The 50 Mile Bouquet: Seasonal, Local and Sustainable Flowers is available from Amazon and other fine booksellers.

Visit The 50 Mile Bouquet blog and site here.