Recently I had the pleasure of taking a field trip, along with Meg Torrence, East Store Manager, and Justin See, Perishables Buyer, to visit Hidden Pond Farm in Centerville, Indiana. Hidden Pond is the 1880s-era farmhouse that owner Andy McDowell’s family bought in 1951 when he was five. Following years as an HVAC technician in the Indianapolis area, and after meeting and marrying his wife Beverly, the couple moved back to Andy’s boyhood homestead with the desire to create a living for themselves from the farm.

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In his book, Our Vanishing ‘Third Places’, Ray Oldenburg decries the loss of what he calls “third places”— those places of importance after our first and second places, our homes and workplaces. He makes a case for re-creating the “place on the corner” where people can gather easily, inexpensively and regularly in a pleasurable location.

Long ago, there were inns, ordinaries and taverns; later there were soda fountains, diners and coffee shops; sometimes the post office or just the town square— before we spread out to the edges with malls and big box stores.

These small “third places” were easily walkable places which unified neighborhoods, drawing local trade primarily from a few block area. They were ports of entry for visitors and newcomers to the neighborhood, providing information on where things are and how the neighborhood works.

These places gave folks the chance to talk about local issues, be entertained, make friendships and served the needs of young and old. They often became the heart of a community’s social vitality and the foundation of a functioning democracy.

A great “third place” needs to have at least ten things to do or reasons to be there. For example, our Near West Side cooperative grocery store has:

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Jennifer Wiese, owner of BeeFree Gluten Free Bakery, began gluten-free baking for the love of her family. Her creations started a stir in her hometown of Noblesville, and today BeeFree carries a varied line of gluten-free products which are sold around the region.

Wiese is the mother of four teenage boys, and the eldest is on the autism spectrum. Nine years ago, Wiese and her husband attended an autism conference and learned about the benefits of gluten free/casein free (GF/CF) diets in helping alleviate some of the behavioral issues associated with autism.

Gluten is a protein found in wheat and various other grains, and casein is a protein found in many kinds of milk and dairy products.

The couple gave it some thought, and decided they had nothing to lose by trying the diet out on their son. “It just requires a bit of forethought and planning,” Wiese said.

Finding good GF/CF food in Noblesville wasn’t easy, and an 8-year-old has limited patience after being asked to give up all his favorite foods. “The only choice was to get creative,” Wiese said.

So Wiese and her mother started baking, trying to find a combination of flours that would give their baked goods a decent texture. “We baked a lot of things that didn’t taste very good,” Wiese said.

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New Years is just around the corner – and not long after, seed catalogues will start appearing in your mail box and online.  It’s time to dream and plan your new garden.  You search out old favorites, and you consider new possibilities.  You make your list and check it thrice.  You start counting backward from the last frost to see how soon you can start tomatoes and crucifers.  You mark your planting dates so you can have your peas, carrots, kale, and potatoes in the ground by St. Patrick’s Day.  And you envision corn on the cob, beans, and tomatoes on your table by the Fourth of July!

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