The season for foraged foods has come to an end just as the first fresh produce is stretching out in backyard gardens. It’s the peas that come first, tender little shoots that peek out from clover-like leaves and cling with skinny tendrils to any kind of stick or frame you stick in the dirt beside them. I’d never grown peas before, but this year Chris Janelli of Salisbury dropped off an envelope full of seeds from his own garden, along with a note that said, “Peas in the ground now! NOW!” This was a couple weeks ago. I followed his extremely subtle instructions and have been rewarded with a couple dozen totally cute little plants that are throwing off tender little pods.Peas are really healthy for your garden, and a great first plant. They enrich your soil and put in a lot of nitrogen, which is a kind of natural fertilizer. My arugula will be super happy when it takes the place of those peas in a few weeks.Baby green peas are also good for your body, which I guess makes sense. I continue to be surprised by this, but they have loads of omega-6 fatty acids. How can this be when they seem so fat-free? Well, that’s nature for you, always full of surprises.Peas are also full of fiber (not as much of a surprise) and they’re low in unhealthy fats. There are studies being done now that show that even a cup of peas a day can provide superhero-strong levels of something called coumestrol, which is believed to help fight off stomach cancer.The other greens that are shooting up with mad vigor in people’s gardens now are mint (I have a bunch of this) and garlic (which I continually fail to grow — advice from garlic growers is welcome). All the other gardeners I know are happily pulling up little scallion-shaped bulbs at the base of slender, tender garlic greens. They don’t differentiate into tiny cloves until later in the summer. And they haven’t developed their garlicky bite yet; one website described young garlic as peppy, not pungent. Garlic is famously healthy and helps fight everything from cancer to heart disease to infections. It helps keep bugs such as ticks off your body. There are also studies being done now that suggest garlic can help keep your body from developing too many fat cells. Apparently, there is a school of thought that obesity is a form of chronic inflammation. Garlic helps fight the specific types of inflammation that cause your weight to balloon. Maybe.One thing that does seem to be clear is that garlic’s health benefits increase if you let your chopped cloves sit for a little while before you eat them. Cooking lowers the cancer-fighting properties of your garlic, as does the addition of acids such as lemon juice.This Italian-inspired summer salad tastes best if you let it sit in garlicky splendor for a half hour or so before you serve it. If you want to protect the health benefits of the garlic, add the lemon juice and vinegar only about 10 minutes before serving. This also seems to help keep the bread intact.Insalata povera (Poor salad)Serves four as a side dish3 cups stale, very dense bread; 1 stalk and bulb of young garlic, chopped (or one large garlic clove, minced); four stalks of fresh mint, chopped (get rid of the stems first); 1/2 cup julienned fresh, crunchy little green peas, in their pods; 1/4 cup celery, chopped fine; if any of your other herbs are looking at you invitingly from the garden beds, bring them in too, but don’t let them overwhelm your salad; 1/2 cup good olive oil; a couple squeezes of fresh lemon juice; 1 tablespoon of a nice mellow vinegar; coarse salt (this salad really absorbs the salt, don’t be shy); fresh pepper to tasteSo, no kidding, the bread for this salad really needs to be super dense or you’ll end up with glop. I also roasted my dense, stale bread for 10 minutes in a 350 oven, to give it even more backbone; the unintended consequence was that I got nice toasty bread edges, which upgraded the flavor of this salad, IMHO.*Soak your stale, dense bread in warm water for about five minutes or less, until it softens. Squeeze out the excess water. Break it up into big pieces and then toss it in a big bowl with the other ingredients (except the acids, if you want to protect the nutrients in your garlic). Taste. Adjust the seasonings. Then leave it alone for a half hour or so; add the lemon juice and vinegar about 10 minutes before you serve.* IMHO is the text message abbreviation for In My Honest Opinion.
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One systemic consequence of slavery is the loss and obscuring of the histories of those who were enslaved. Records were often not kept about where Africans had been stolen from or who they were related to. Families were torn apart, leaving nothing but the faintest traces of the past. The delineation point, where genealogists can no longer trace histories back, is refered to this as the “document wall.”
Today, 250 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence and more than 160 years since the Emancipation Proclamation, there is a growing effort to restore some of the history stripped from enslaved people and their descendants. Among the leaders of these efforts is Mills, president of the Alex Breanne Corporation, a nonprofit organization that works to identify previously anonymous Black Americans from history and connect them with their living relatives.
The work began with Mills’ sister, who started digging into their family’s past in the 1990’s and introduced him to this emerging world of genealogy. Through that process, the Mills family discovered their great-great-grandfather, Ned Mills, who had been enslaved in Texas. His last name came from his final enslaver and remains the family surname. Through their research, they found that the document wall directly affected their ancestor, who learned of his liberation on June 19, 1865, now commemorated as Juneteenth.
“For the first time,” Mills writes on his website, “American slavery wasn’t something that had happened to anonymous people in a history book. It had happened to my family.”
The discovery gave Mills a familial pride he had been missing for years. That pride fueled his desire to help others find their own history. In 2023, Mills received his certificate in genealogical research from Boston University. He has used his expertise to help descendants of enslaved people uncover histories they never dreamed of learning.
To do this, he uses a process called “reverse genealogy,” identifying a person from the past and working forward to discover their descendants. Along the way, Mills has found some remarkable people who fought for freedom on American soil, some of whom were never freed.
Pay Bill for Robin Starr’s service in the Continental Army.Courtesy the Alex Breanne Corporation
At the Cornwall Historical Society event, Mills will present the stories of four Connecticut families: Job Lathrop of Norwich, the son of Pirmus Armes, about whom Mills has published a book; Prince Mortimer of Middletown, also the subject of a book by Mills;, the three sons of London Wallace of Simsbury; and Robert “Robin” Starr of Danbury, who later lived in Cornwall and Sharon.
A few years ago, Cornwall Consolidated School social studies teacher Will Vincent reached out to Mills for research guidance on a local history project his students were undertaking. Together, they learned about Naomi Freeman of Cornwall. After purchasing an acre of land on Great Hollow Road in 1828, Naomi Freeman became the first Black female landowner in Cornwall.
The students petitioned the town to rename a road after the historic Cornwall resident In April 2025, Great Hollow Road was officially renamed Naomi Freeman Historic Road. U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes joined Mills and the Cornwall Consildated School students for a presentation of their research.
Since then, Mills has guided the students in their quest to learn more about Starr’s story. Starr was a Revolutionary War soldier who joined the Continental Army to earn enough money to buy his own freedom, receiving the Badge of Merit in the process. The stories of his descendents’ services are equally worthy of their own books.
In recognition of Mills and the students’ work, First Selectman Gordon Ridgway proclaimed Feb. 8 as Robin Starr Day.
Preregistration is required for the event at the Cornwall Historical Society. To learn more about Mills’ work, visit
alexbreanne.org.
John Mills speaking at Quinnipiac University.Courtesy the Alex Breanne Corporation
Stephanie Saetta runs Charlie Chicken Bones, a sanctuary in Salisbury.
Dogs have been at the center of Saetta’s life since childhood. She remembers going to the library to research different breeds and trying to convince her parents the family needed a dog. She had her heart set on an Irish Wolfhound, but she was more than happy when her mom brought home a West Highland terrier.
After college, she adopted Charlie as a puppy from a rescue on Long Island. He was a hound-shepherd-Rottweiler mix who suffered from intense seizures. Some veterinarians recommended euthanasia, but Saetta wasn’t ready to give up on him.
When Charlie would have an episode, she would sit with him, nose to nose, talking him through it. She learned to look for the moment he began to come around — when he could smell her again and his tail started to wag.
“You only get one or two of these soul connection dogs, so I do this in his honor,” Saetta said. “I like to think that all the dogs that come through are going to have that person that they connect with just the same.”
Through a network of women working to rescue animals in Texas, she learned about the desperate situations facing many dogs.
With limited space, some public pounds euthanize even healthy animals to make room. Limited access to veterinary care leaves sick dogs or unvaccinated puppies especially vulnerable.
Saetta saw that reality firsthand with a puppy named Gus, a Labrador mix she fostered who has since been adopted. Gus and his sisters had been dumped beside a road, where they were living under an abandoned car. People would leave food for them, but no one would take them to the pound.
“Even the people who rescue animals down there were like, ‘sadly, the best place for them to be is on the side of the road,’” she said. “That’s safer. Someone might actually help them that way.”
Saetta knows that there are far more dogs than any one person can save, but she also knows that helping one dog means one fewer on the street.
Stephanie Saetta,with her rescue dog George and Blue (left), a shepherd mix awaiting his forever home.Madi Long
Charlie Chicken Bone Sanctuary operates entirely through foster homes, a model that Saetta believes is best for the dogs and the humans hoping to adopt them.
Rather than moving directly from a difficult environment into a permanent home, the dogs have a chance to settle into a quieter setting. They can learn what it’s like to live with a family, sleep somewhere comfortable and receive affection without fighting for attention. Fostering also allows the rescue to really get to know each dog.
“As fosters, we’re honest,” said Saetta. We’ll tell you everything that’s been bad, everything that’s been good. What their temperament is and how they’ve responded to all the things they’ve experienced.”
A successful adoption is not just about finding a dog a home; it’s about finding the right home where the dog and family can thrive together.
Saetta is looking for more people willing to open their homes to foster dogs. She understands that the thought of growing attached and eventually saying goodbye can feel daunting. But she sees that goodbye a little differently.
Fostering means being part of a dog’s journey, even if only for a short time. It gives dogs a safe place to rest, the chance to trust again and the love they have gone without for much of their lives. And when the time comes for them to leave, it is not really a loss. It is the reward of knowing they are moving on to a forever home.
Blue, Saetta’s current foster, is hoping to find his perfect home.
Blue, a 7 year-old Shepard mix, is waiting for his forever home. Madi Long
Now around 7 years old, Blue spent most of his life wandering the streets of Texas. People sometimes left food out for him, but his mangy, dirty coat kept them from stopping to pet him. Today, he has a chance to experience something different.
Blue is still waiting for his forever home. Saetta believes he would do best as the only dog in a household or alongside another senior dog. He will need someone willing to continue working with him on his training and understand that a dog with his history needs patience.
But what he gives in return is a whole lot of love.
“He’s so enthusiastic, he’s so excited for life, he’s so friendly, and he’s got such a good heart, and he loves to cuddle,” Saetta said. “He’s a good, good, good dog.”
For more information on adopting Blue or how to foster, visit ccbsanctuary.org.
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