Fresh Food!

Last night we had one of the best meals of the year so far. What made it so good? All of the ingredients for it were foraged from within walking distance to our house. Only 3 items were purchased at a store, and even those three were from the Co-Op, so were still local and organic. I got so much joy from gathering and preparing this delicious meal of salad and smoothies. Here is what it consisted of:

• romaine lettuce from our garden
• purselane from our garden and a garden a few block away (purselane is a “weed” that is native to India and has recently started growing in PA. It’s leaves are succulent and full of more antioxidants than any other leafy green!)
• spinach from a local farm that I purchased at the Co-Op
• day lily petals from local day lilies that I picked on a bike ride (yes, day lilies are 100% edible and quite delicious)
• nasturtium flowers from our garden (this is an edible flower that has peppery leaves and flowers)
• roasted chicken that I got from a local farm that sells their chickens at the Co-Op
• radish flowers (these taste a bit like cucumbers)
• cornflowers aka bachelor buttons (edible wildflowers)
• locally made cheese from the Co-Op
• raspberries that Kari and I picked at a local garden
• frozen blueberries from here in PA
• basil, cilantro and other herbs that came from our garden and one nearby
• homemade dressings
• yogurt from a nearby farm

So, this meal not only tasted delicious, it also had little impact on the earth. It brings me great joy to eat good food that cares for both my body and for Creation. I have perhaps been getting a bit spoiled by the ease of eating locally grown organic foods here in PA. What have you been eating lately?

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How Does Your Garden Grow?

To answer that question – I would say very well! That’s right, we are growing a beautiful garden! This feeds me in so many ways and I am thrilled to share this love of gardening with all of you and all of our housemates.

When we moved into the new house, one of the first things we did was build a raised bed in the front yard, right in front of the house. We found these awesome bricks at this place called Construction Junction. This place takes unused, surplus and recycled construction materials (think doors, bricks, boards, windows, paint, etc – this place is huge!) and resells it. So, we found these cool bricks that look really nice with the house and built a bed with them.

After the bed was built, we made our own dirt to fill it with. To make the dirt, we mixed equal parts of organic peat moss, organic locally sourced vermiculite, and organic mushroom compost. The soil is so pretty – and rich in nutrients! We are doing square foot gardening, which is a cool method that packs the maximum amount of plants in the minimum amount of space. A few weeks ago, we planted the following crops from seed: green cabbage, red cabbage, red beets, rainbow chard, romaine lettuce, baby romaine, spinach, carrots, basil, cilantro and nasturtium. (We love leafy greens!) Inside I am going to start some chamomile plants and then plant them outside once they get a little bigger. (That’s right, we are growing chamomile!) We are also growing a variety of peppers and tomatoes from seedlings and we will have a strawberry patch! The bricks that are along the edges of the garden are filled with herbs and chamomile. Genius use of the hollow bricks if you ask me!

I consider gardening to be a type of spiritual discipline for myself. It’s always a small miracle when you see little sprouts come up from this tiny little seed. Then when you eat the food that comes out of that tiny seed – wow! How can such goodness come out of something so small? And then to think that our faith only has to be that size for us to move mountains!?

There is something sacred about plunging your hands into fresh dirt and planting things that you will eventually eat. I will keep you posted on the growth of our garden over the next few months. We can’t wait to eat the food from it!

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Recent Pics from Dinner

The pictures below are from our two most recent meals. They feature fresh fruits and vegetables. You may notice a picture of a burger among all the veggies. Would you believe it was a black bean burger? It was delicious! I love good food!!

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Blazing a Trail

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My Folks have woods behind their house. I and my three brothers used to play back there all the time when we were younger. We navigated the woods using some gocart trails which were made before my time.

Those paths have been overgrown for quite some time by vines, thick undergrowth, and fallen logs. In fact, you could only find the paths if you knew where they had been, and if you had considerable wherewithal, and a machete.

Well, Amber and I decided we would clear them. We worked on it a few hours each morning for about a week. We really enjoyed it. We used two pairs of work gloves, a leaf rake, a garden rake, a hack saw, a wood saw, a tomahawk, a weedeater and a lawnmower. Amber and I, and Mom and Dad, were very happy with the results of the week’s work. Now, instead of feeling like a jungle out there it feels more like a national park! People can once again walk comfortably in the woods behind the house whenever they want.

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How to Garden in an Apartment Community

As I have already stated, I love growing things. There are challenges to growing things currently because we live in an apartment that gets nearly no sunlight and there is not a whole lot of fertile soil around. Well, we are overcoming those pesky obstacles.

To celebrate Earth Day last week, we planted flowers. There is this big bed of dirt and woodchips right in from of where the cars park in our lot. It is the perfect place to be filled with flowers. Currently all that grows there is some clover and various unidentified “weeds.” Well, we secretly planted it solid with ten different packages of flower seeds. We are pretty excited to watch this little bed burst into color in the next few months. We will be happy if just one flower comes up. We did not get permission for this endeavor from our landlord, but who wouldn’t mind beauty instead of dullness?

We have also started a small vegetable garden in a raised bed that lines our parking lot. It gets a lot of sunlight, but it is completely vacant of life. So, we planted a packet of corn and some carrots. No one uses this little plot of land and the soil was actually really rich. No harm done, right?

Finally, we have a window garden. We are currently growing five different herbs and a planter box of impatiens. The two boxes sit in our windowsill with a sun lamp on them during the day. I am enjoying using the fresh herbs every day!

So, it is definitely possible to grow your own stuff in an apartment. I will keep you posted on the progress of my little plants.

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Gardening

I have a severe case of Spring Fever. The teasing weather does not help at all. I have my Spring cleaning done and am ready to start the season outdoors. That means gardening and all other sorts of outside activities. There is only one problem with the idea of gardening. We live in an apartment that only receives about an hour of sunlight due to the trees and location. The solution – indoor gardening with a lamp! My lovely sister gave me an indoor herb garden for my birthday. I now have a planter full of five different herbs to tend to. Not much work, but it helps slightly with my urge to garden. The added bonus is the ever-available herbs for tasty dishes. The herbs do great in my window under a fluorescent lamp during the day. They have almost doubled in size since she gave them to me about two weeks ago. I have harvested several sprigs of each herb already and they just keep coming. I love having something green growing in our apartment. Some how it makes it a cheerier place.

Another recent gardening experience that Jay and I recently had was at his parents’ house in Dixon. His parents decided to go all out with their gardening for this spring/summer. They have  been doing some research on different gardening methods and found a technique called Lasagna Gardening. It is really interesting, and we got to help them build a couple beds. It is basically like making lasagna. First, you put down a layer of cardboard. This prevents weeds and grass from growing up around your plants. Then you alternate layers of peat moss, horse manure, hay, dried leaves and wood ash. You add a few worms in the mix then cover it with a tarp after watering it. You leave the tarp over it for a few weeks and it breaks down into dirt that is ready for planting. Then you put your seeds or plants in the beds that you created and they grow. It is a no till, no weeding garden. Once your beds are built and your plants are planted, there isn’t a whole lot of maintenance other than harvesting. The Howards have built about 15 different beds for their summer garden that are going to be planted with all sorts of yummy produce.

My recent interest in gardening is due to several reason. Reason one – the desire to eat organic. Jay and I have changed our diet to mostly organic or all natural whole foods. I think it makes a big difference in how we feel and I feel like we are being socially and environmentally responsible in our food choices. Reason two – I might get to work with urban gardening in Pittsburgh. It is likely that the non-profit job I will have at Formation House will be with Grow Pittsburgh and I want to get as much experience gardening in as I can. Reason three – community. I feel like living in community lends itself to gardening. What better time to talk about how God is growing you than while you have your hands in the soil planting and harvesting? I feel like so many lessons can be learned from gardening. In fact, I might even consider it a spiritual discipline.

So, if anyone has a garden that I can come cultivate for them or help them plant, I am totally there. Perhaps we can have deep conversation while we get a little dirty.

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Organic Community Transformation

Jay ran across this article in UTNE online recently that was pretty inspiring to me. It’s pretty short, so I won’t give too much away. Basically, a whole neighborhood was transformed by the practice of gardening.

It is possible that once we are in Pittsburgh, I may get a job with Grow Pittsburgh which is a non profit organization who’s mission is “to demonstrate, teach and promote responsible urban food production.” You can see why this article was so cool to me.

Almost every plant in this picture is edible.

My friend Erin loves gardening. She has a couple raised beds in her back yard that are painted a fun red. You can find her there most of the time in the Spring and Summer with her two year old son and  newborn getting dirty alongside her. She has mentioned several times the idea of edible landscaping and I am a huge fan. Basically, it is the practice of planting things that you can eat rather than just flowers and grass. There is so much wasted space in yards that could be used to grow tasty, healthy food for our communities. Last year I visited a farm outside of Kansas City with my sisters where everything was edible, and beautiful. Now, I am not saying we should get rid of all flowers, but seriously, think about it. There are tons of vegetables and fruits that flower and produce landscape-worthy plants. So, why not get more out of our gardening? Flowering fruits and vegetables sound to me like the best of both worlds.

Perhaps if we tilled up some of the unproductive, inedible grass in our lawns we could plant more gardens and do our part to alleviate hunger. Just a thought…

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Iron Chef Ingredient: Leafy Greens

An upcoming Iron Chef episode, to air January 3rd on the Food Network, will feature garden fresh foods from the White House Kitchen Garden. (See the ad here.)

Emeril’s website reports some facts about this garden:

“Installed in the spring of 2009 under the Obama Administration, The White House Kitchen Garden measures approximately 1100 square feet and is located on the west side of the South Lawn. The four-season herb, fruit and vegetable garden features 75 varieties of seeds planted in slightly raised beds using succession planting methods. Cultivated by White House staff and volunteers, produce from the garden and honey from the adjacent beehives are available to the White House Chefs for preparing meals for the First Family and for official functions, and all extra food is donated to Miriam’s Kitchen, a soup kitchen near the White House.”

This episode interests Amber and I because it promotes the practice of gardening. (Plus, I love Iron Chef.)

Gardens provide meaningful, active work and healthy, locally grown food for everybody involved. For these reasons, gardening and intentional community go hand in hand.

Amber hopes to work with Grow Pittsburgh when we move to PA, which is all about urban gardening. She recently got an indoor herb garden for Christmas, which should keep us busy until then.

More on the herb garden to come, I’m sure. Until then— Happy New Year!

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