They live in a firehouse 24/7, so they eat their meals here. If they want to make a salsa or any kind of chili, they've got fresh vegetables and they don't have to go to the store to get them. They've got them right outside their backdoor.
That's Roger Kerr, Chief of the City of Bloomington Fire Department. Thanks to the two raised garden beds in the station's side yard, the firefighters have been using the freshest of produce to make salsa and chili. We speak with Kerr and the mastermind behind this pop-up garden Ferrol Johnson.
Have you ever wondered why folks who live in hot climates tend to love spicy foods? Spicy foods heat up the body, which can cool you off by bringing your body temperature closer to the temperature of the air around you. Spicy foods also induce sweating, which cools the body. This summer, the Midwest has often felt like a completely different climate zone.
As a result, Chef Daniel Orr is embracing spicy foods, specifically chile peppers. In the kitchen, he makes a pickled pepper relish. Then he visits Susan Welsand, "The Chile Woman," on her farm to pick up some peppers to use in his restaurant.
And before that, we get an update on how the drought is affecting farmers in the Arkansas River basin from Harvest Public Media.