Starting small, sophisticated New York City school kids are reconnecting with their food. From a small rooftop school garden that has grown into a 1/10 acre lot, Columbia Secondary School kids are eagerly spending time working, weeding and growing in the garden. The garden is proving its sustainable concepts in not only education and gardening, but life skills and social lessons that present themselves in the most unhurried and real ways, sometimes without the students realizing the enormity of the education they are receiving every day.
The students started with a neglected lot, clearing, weeding, planning and constructing the garden long before the first seed was sown. Building their soil with a compost project that they designed themselves, they are seeing success with the garden producing fresh vegetables that supply Garden to Cafe lunches in the school. The careful use of observations and expected harvest dates help drive the garden planning and succession planting that moves the school garden forward. Business plans are created to help maximize the Thanksgiving herb sales fundraising event. Leadership skill, teamwork lessons, community engagement and food and garden activism are all being ingrained into the fibers of these budding student gardeners. These lessons, learned in a natural and involved way while engaged in the garden will have life-long benefits that will continue to enrich the students lives long after they are adults in this complex and connected world.
These young people are our future. They will make critically important decisions to their own lives and others as they grow and make their way through life. I can’t help but be encouraged when I learn of these school garden programs, and all that they are doing to prepare young people to make a profound and lasting connection to the world through the simple act of gardening and growing food. This is one of the major reasons we support school and community gardens through our Membership Program, where seeds, advice and knowledge are given to help further these experiences and lessons.
“We are in an era when gardens are front and center for hopes and dreams of a better world or just a better neighborhood…”
What if urban farming isn’t just about feeding the hungry? There are many other crops – tangible and intangible – that are cultivated, raised, protected, harvested and shared from the soil of an urban garden or farm. The immediately obvious ones are the foods produced, but there are others such as education in many different directions, from how food is grown to ideals of peace and justice grown from your own backyard soil. Connections are planted, grown and strengthened as well. People get to know each other and can learn to accept other viewpoints and ideologies without the need to be right or win a discussion. Skills and growing techniques are passed on and strengthened.
One of the biggest crops that urban farming and indeed all human scaled agriculture is planting today is hope and reconnection. Hope that there is a way to provide food for ourselves and those that need a little extra without all of the destruction and isolation that is the norm for today’s industrial corporate agricultural model. Hope that we can heal the land that has fed us for multiple generations but has been so severely disrupted and damaged by chemical agriculture in the name of more production. The reconnection comes when ordinary everyday folks see how food is grown and can be grown in a simple, approachable and honorable manner. One that restores and improves the soil and landscape with each successive crop instead of weakening it.
By many indications, urban farming and human scale agriculture is on the rise and has been proven a success in many major cities across the United States. Burlington, Philadelphia, Detroit, Milwaukee, Chicago, Oakland, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and dozens of other American cities are showing that sustainable urban agriculture is not only possible, but effective in growing many more crops than just food. There is a saying, “If you want to change the world, plant a garden.” How does that work, exactly? Some of the produce is understanding, community, social transformation, and catalytic action along with the tomatoes and kale. Food connects people to economics, justice, pleasure, work, health and the future. The lessons learned and shared that are grown and harvested in the garden have far reaching effects, feeding minds as well as bodies.
https://w9j002.p3cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Francis-Land-House.jpg?time=1730917219250250Stephen Scotthttps://w9j002.p3cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Survey-Header.jpgStephen Scott2012-08-16 08:32:242024-04-30 17:34:02Urban Farming Examined Part II
Today we are going to look at a couple of opposing viewpoints on urban farming- that being the practice of growing food in an urban environment, more of a food producer than a hobby gardener with a windowsill box of daisies. Urban farming has become hip, cool and somewhat radical in mainstream America over the past few years, with Patti Moreno showcasing the Garden Girl TV that helped lead the way for growing food in the city to become acceptable. Long before that, Will Allen started Growing Power in Milwaukee, WI growing food in an urban landscape and teaching others how to do the same.
Our first article comes via AG Professional, an industrial farming magazine. The author – Maurice Hladik – is from a farming background with a degree in ag economics and was an ag diplomat to several countries. He says that he is a gardener and really enjoys it, but that urban farming in no way can make any measurable positive impact on our food supply, or feed any significant number of people in cities. He uses national land use figures and statistics to prove that the urban landscape is entirely unsuited to growing food. Um, really? What gave you that idea? He cites the fact that his house is built on a rocky outcropping and had to have many truckloads of soil brought in to create the lawn and gardening spaces.
The desire and skillsets of urban dwellers is brought into question next, with the comment of “hype and encouragement” for city folks to get out and grow a garden, with little visible results “given the lack of enthusiastic and capable gardeners” according to him. He challenges the sustainability of urban farming with the lack of suitable soil for growing that has to be trucked in. That soil was once farmland that has been removed from productivity, he states. Apparently he has never heard of the French intensive growing method that fed 90% of the city of Paris with 6 – 7% of the land inside the city limits. For over 350 years.
Water availability is addressed next, saying that rooftop gardens are water guzzlers in a water distribution system that has little excess capacity for irrigation. No mention of drip systems, gray water useage, rainwater collections, mulching or any of the other myriad approaches to reducing the amount of water needed. Urban farming on rooftops is a “thin layer of soil on a cement surface” that needs much more water than a conventional garden. Again, really? He cites a city of Toronto bylaw that states any buildings with flat roofs over 2,000 square feet are required to have some sort of garden. He goes on to say that because of the water issue, food production is out of the question and drought tolerant sedums are used almost exclusively there.
The two most disturbing and concerning points that he makes are at the end of the article. The first is that gardeners should enjoy their hobby and not worry their pretty little heads about feeding the world. Leave that burden to those who can. How @$#!* condescending! The second is that “someone” has a responsibility to feed the world. That “someone”, obviously, is industrial agrobusiness and not anyone else. Why does there have to be one entity that acts as the world’s supermarket? Is there really that need, or is this mantra another construct that has been promoted and pushed for so long that many now believe it? What about improving the capacity of each community and nation to feed itself and get away from the extractive export model? Look at Cuba and Russia as examples of how small, human scale agriculture can, in a real world situation, feed itself.
The article is worth reading, especially the reader comments!
https://w9j002.p3cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Urban-Garden.jpg?time=1730917219375250Stephen Scotthttps://w9j002.p3cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Survey-Header.jpgStephen Scott2012-08-15 09:01:252024-04-30 17:34:02Urban Farming Examined Part I
Here’s a recipe that will take a little preparation, but you will be thanking me for it later! Make a lot more of these dried tomatoes than you think that you will ever need, as once folks catch on to just how incredibly tasty these little jewels are, you will run out. You might want to hide some just for yourself!
These make beautifully presented, incredibly thoughtful gifts for the chef or serious home cook in your life. You cannot buy the flavor of these herbed tomatoes, anywhere, at any price. These will take a bit of time, but doesn’t require much hands-on time to make.
First, the tomatoes. Only heirloom tomatoes can really be considered, as the flavor is what you are after. The beauty of this process is that almost any tomato can be used, as the drying intensifies the flavors already present. Obviously, a paste tomato will give you a more substantial result. Good ones to look for are the plum and pear sizes with meaty walls, few seeds and a ton of flavor. If you don’t have these already growing in your garden, plan to plant some next year and look at your local farmer’s market. You will need a lot of fresh tomatoes, as they lose a lot of weight during drying. Plan on about 3 times the fresh volume as what you will get dried.
Drying them is the easy part. Wash them, slice and place on cookie sheets to dry. The oven is a great choice, as most gas fired ovens with a pilot light stay at around 90F or so. A consistently warm, sunny location is also good. If drying outside, cover with cheesecloth to prevent flies from snacking on your treats. Let them dry to a leather-like stage, then collect and start the marinating.
There are several different directions you can go with the herbs. A traditional approach is to use basil, oregano and garlic. A French approach would include lavender buds, Herbes de Provence with garlic. The strong punch of Mexican oregano accompanied by some smoked Jalapeno chiles, cumin and marjoram would be out of this world as well. Be creative, look at some herb combinations you enjoy and do some experimenting. The results will most likely be quite tasty!
We will start with the most basic recipe and then give you some alternatives to try. Use as you would sun-dried tomatoes – in soups, sauces, stews, bruschetta, pizza, spreads, salads or anywhere else the flavors would work well.
If tomatoes are crispy dry, put into 2 cups boiling water for 5 minutes to soften, then drain. If tomatoes are leather dry and still slightly pliable, you don’t need to soften them.
Add herbs, salt and vinegar to bowl and mix or toss well. You want to have all of the herbs well mixed before adding the tomatoes.
Pack tomatoes and herb mixture into a 12 ounce to 1 pint jar, being sure to coat the tomatoes well with the herb mixture. Leave a small space at top of jar. Add olive oil to top and cap jar.
Store in a cool, dry, dark place. Once opened and for longer storage, keep in refrigerator.
Use these following recipes as the herb ingredients for the basic recipe above.
Recipe Tip! Pickling salt is -simply put- fine, pure granulated salt. Grocery stores label it “canning and pickling salt”, health food stores call it “sea salt”. It is not table salt, which contains iodine and several other stabilizers and anti-caking agents that can ruin your pickles appearance.
Nasturtium pods, also called seeds or buds, are hot like peppers when they are mature, green and plump. They also make an incredible pickled condiment that is considered better than capers in many sauces and salads. I’m looking forward to using them in an old favorite capanata spread recipe that relies on capers for its distinctive flavor. Nasturtium pods will initially release a sulphurous odor when brined, but the resulting flavor is outstanding. Heirloom Nasturtiums are very prolific and fairly hardy.
Here is a family recipe that has its roots in Eliza Smith’s 1727 cookbook, The Compleat Housewife. It comes to us from the excellent book The Joy of Pickling by Linda Ziedrich.
Pickling salt is -simply put- fine, pure granulated salt. Grocery stores label it “canning and pickling salt”, health food stores call it “sea salt”. It is not table salt, which contains iodine and several other stabilizers and anti-caking agents that can ruin your pickles appearance.
Pickled Nasturtium Pods
4 1/2 Tbs pickling salt
3 Cups water
1 Pint fresh, green and plump nasturtium pods
4 Whole cloves
1 Pinch unground mace
1/4 Nutmeg kernel
1 Slice of horseradish, about 1 1/4 inches diameter and 3/8 inch thick, cut into thin strips
Dissolve 1 1/2 Tbs salt in 1 cup water, and then pour brine over nasturtium pods. Let stand at room temperature for 24 hours.
Drain, make fresh brine as above and repeat. Repeat again for a third time. This initial process will take 3 days, each day needing about 5 minutes of your time.
On the fourth day, drain the pods and put them in a jar with cloves, mace, nutmeg, horseradish and shallot.
Cover well with vinegar, cover jar tightly and let stand at room temperature for at least a week.
After opening jar, store in refrigerator.
Give these a try and let us know what you think, or if you already use them in some special recipes, please share them with us!
Have you ever brought in fresh from the garden cucumbers, washed and sliced them into a salad only to discover you have bitter cucumbers? Or had a bitter batch right after some sweet and tasty ones? What a disappointment!
Many folks believe that certain varieties of cucumbers are naturally bitter, but this may not hold true. It turns out that growing conditions and the stresses that cukes are subjected to have a lot to do with their flavors.
Read the short article at the link below for the full story, and some easy tips on how to improve your cucumbers flavor!
Why School Gardens Matter
NYC School Garden
Starting small, sophisticated New York City school kids are reconnecting with their food. From a small rooftop school garden that has grown into a 1/10 acre lot, Columbia Secondary School kids are eagerly spending time working, weeding and growing in the garden. The garden is proving its sustainable concepts in not only education and gardening, but life skills and social lessons that present themselves in the most unhurried and real ways, sometimes without the students realizing the enormity of the education they are receiving every day.
The students started with a neglected lot, clearing, weeding, planning and constructing the garden long before the first seed was sown. Building their soil with a compost project that they designed themselves, they are seeing success with the garden producing fresh vegetables that supply Garden to Cafe lunches in the school. The careful use of observations and expected harvest dates help drive the garden planning and succession planting that moves the school garden forward. Business plans are created to help maximize the Thanksgiving herb sales fundraising event. Leadership skill, teamwork lessons, community engagement and food and garden activism are all being ingrained into the fibers of these budding student gardeners. These lessons, learned in a natural and involved way while engaged in the garden will have life-long benefits that will continue to enrich the students lives long after they are adults in this complex and connected world.
These young people are our future. They will make critically important decisions to their own lives and others as they grow and make their way through life. I can’t help but be encouraged when I learn of these school garden programs, and all that they are doing to prepare young people to make a profound and lasting connection to the world through the simple act of gardening and growing food. This is one of the major reasons we support school and community gardens through our Membership Program, where seeds, advice and knowledge are given to help further these experiences and lessons.
Why School Gardens Matter
Urban Farming Examined Part II
What if urban farming isn’t just about feeding the hungry? There are many other crops – tangible and intangible – that are cultivated, raised, protected, harvested and shared from the soil of an urban garden or farm. The immediately obvious ones are the foods produced, but there are others such as education in many different directions, from how food is grown to ideals of peace and justice grown from your own backyard soil. Connections are planted, grown and strengthened as well. People get to know each other and can learn to accept other viewpoints and ideologies without the need to be right or win a discussion. Skills and growing techniques are passed on and strengthened.
One of the biggest crops that urban farming and indeed all human scaled agriculture is planting today is hope and reconnection. Hope that there is a way to provide food for ourselves and those that need a little extra without all of the destruction and isolation that is the norm for today’s industrial corporate agricultural model. Hope that we can heal the land that has fed us for multiple generations but has been so severely disrupted and damaged by chemical agriculture in the name of more production. The reconnection comes when ordinary everyday folks see how food is grown and can be grown in a simple, approachable and honorable manner. One that restores and improves the soil and landscape with each successive crop instead of weakening it.
By many indications, urban farming and human scale agriculture is on the rise and has been proven a success in many major cities across the United States. Burlington, Philadelphia, Detroit, Milwaukee, Chicago, Oakland, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and dozens of other American cities are showing that sustainable urban agriculture is not only possible, but effective in growing many more crops than just food. There is a saying, “If you want to change the world, plant a garden.” How does that work, exactly? Some of the produce is understanding, community, social transformation, and catalytic action along with the tomatoes and kale. Food connects people to economics, justice, pleasure, work, health and the future. The lessons learned and shared that are grown and harvested in the garden have far reaching effects, feeding minds as well as bodies.
Revolutionary Plots | Urban agriculture is producing a lot more than food
Urban Farming Examined Part I
Can Urban Farming Really Work?
Today we are going to look at a couple of opposing viewpoints on urban farming- that being the practice of growing food in an urban environment, more of a food producer than a hobby gardener with a windowsill box of daisies. Urban farming has become hip, cool and somewhat radical in mainstream America over the past few years, with Patti Moreno showcasing the Garden Girl TV that helped lead the way for growing food in the city to become acceptable. Long before that, Will Allen started Growing Power in Milwaukee, WI growing food in an urban landscape and teaching others how to do the same.
Our first article comes via AG Professional, an industrial farming magazine. The author – Maurice Hladik – is from a farming background with a degree in ag economics and was an ag diplomat to several countries. He says that he is a gardener and really enjoys it, but that urban farming in no way can make any measurable positive impact on our food supply, or feed any significant number of people in cities. He uses national land use figures and statistics to prove that the urban landscape is entirely unsuited to growing food. Um, really? What gave you that idea? He cites the fact that his house is built on a rocky outcropping and had to have many truckloads of soil brought in to create the lawn and gardening spaces.
The desire and skillsets of urban dwellers is brought into question next, with the comment of “hype and encouragement” for city folks to get out and grow a garden, with little visible results “given the lack of enthusiastic and capable gardeners” according to him. He challenges the sustainability of urban farming with the lack of suitable soil for growing that has to be trucked in. That soil was once farmland that has been removed from productivity, he states. Apparently he has never heard of the French intensive growing method that fed 90% of the city of Paris with 6 – 7% of the land inside the city limits. For over 350 years.
Water availability is addressed next, saying that rooftop gardens are water guzzlers in a water distribution system that has little excess capacity for irrigation. No mention of drip systems, gray water useage, rainwater collections, mulching or any of the other myriad approaches to reducing the amount of water needed. Urban farming on rooftops is a “thin layer of soil on a cement surface” that needs much more water than a conventional garden. Again, really? He cites a city of Toronto bylaw that states any buildings with flat roofs over 2,000 square feet are required to have some sort of garden. He goes on to say that because of the water issue, food production is out of the question and drought tolerant sedums are used almost exclusively there.
The two most disturbing and concerning points that he makes are at the end of the article. The first is that gardeners should enjoy their hobby and not worry their pretty little heads about feeding the world. Leave that burden to those who can. How @$#!* condescending! The second is that “someone” has a responsibility to feed the world. That “someone”, obviously, is industrial agrobusiness and not anyone else. Why does there have to be one entity that acts as the world’s supermarket? Is there really that need, or is this mantra another construct that has been promoted and pushed for so long that many now believe it? What about improving the capacity of each community and nation to feed itself and get away from the extractive export model? Look at Cuba and Russia as examples of how small, human scale agriculture can, in a real world situation, feed itself.
The article is worth reading, especially the reader comments!
Urban farming is an urban myth
Here is a great rebuttal written by Devon G. Peña, a professor of agroecology, ethnoecology, and the anthropology of food in Seattle.
history shows urban farms can feed cities
Herbed Marinated Dried Tomatoes
Here’s a recipe that will take a little preparation, but you will be thanking me for it later! Make a lot more of these dried tomatoes than you think that you will ever need, as once folks catch on to just how incredibly tasty these little jewels are, you will run out. You might want to hide some just for yourself!
These make beautifully presented, incredibly thoughtful gifts for the chef or serious home cook in your life. You cannot buy the flavor of these herbed tomatoes, anywhere, at any price. These will take a bit of time, but doesn’t require much hands-on time to make.
First, the tomatoes. Only heirloom tomatoes can really be considered, as the flavor is what you are after. The beauty of this process is that almost any tomato can be used, as the drying intensifies the flavors already present. Obviously, a paste tomato will give you a more substantial result. Good ones to look for are the plum and pear sizes with meaty walls, few seeds and a ton of flavor. If you don’t have these already growing in your garden, plan to plant some next year and look at your local farmer’s market. You will need a lot of fresh tomatoes, as they lose a lot of weight during drying. Plan on about 3 times the fresh volume as what you will get dried.
Drying them is the easy part. Wash them, slice and place on cookie sheets to dry. The oven is a great choice, as most gas fired ovens with a pilot light stay at around 90F or so. A consistently warm, sunny location is also good. If drying outside, cover with cheesecloth to prevent flies from snacking on your treats. Let them dry to a leather-like stage, then collect and start the marinating.
There are several different directions you can go with the herbs. A traditional approach is to use basil, oregano and garlic. A French approach would include lavender buds, Herbes de Provence with garlic. The strong punch of Mexican oregano accompanied by some smoked Jalapeno chiles, cumin and marjoram would be out of this world as well. Be creative, look at some herb combinations you enjoy and do some experimenting. The results will most likely be quite tasty!
We will start with the most basic recipe and then give you some alternatives to try. Use as you would sun-dried tomatoes – in soups, sauces, stews, bruschetta, pizza, spreads, salads or anywhere else the flavors would work well.
Herb Marinated Dried Tomatoes
Use these following recipes as the herb ingredients for the basic recipe above.
Herbes de Provence Marinated Dried Tomatoes
Mexican Herbed Marinated Dried Tomatoes
Italian Herbed Marinated Dried Tomatoes
Recipe Tip! Pickling salt is -simply put- fine, pure granulated salt. Grocery stores label it “canning and pickling salt”, health food stores call it “sea salt”. It is not table salt, which contains iodine and several other stabilizers and anti-caking agents that can ruin your pickles appearance.
Pickled Nasturtium Pods
Nasturtium pods, also called seeds or buds, are hot like peppers when they are mature, green and plump. They also make an incredible pickled condiment that is considered better than capers in many sauces and salads. I’m looking forward to using them in an old favorite capanata spread recipe that relies on capers for its distinctive flavor. Nasturtium pods will initially release a sulphurous odor when brined, but the resulting flavor is outstanding. Heirloom Nasturtiums are very prolific and fairly hardy.
Here is a family recipe that has its roots in Eliza Smith’s 1727 cookbook, The Compleat Housewife. It comes to us from the excellent book The Joy of Pickling by Linda Ziedrich.
Pickling salt is -simply put- fine, pure granulated salt. Grocery stores label it “canning and pickling salt”, health food stores call it “sea salt”. It is not table salt, which contains iodine and several other stabilizers and anti-caking agents that can ruin your pickles appearance.
Pickled Nasturtium Pods
Give these a try and let us know what you think, or if you already use them in some special recipes, please share them with us!
How to Prevent Bitter Cucumbers
Have you ever brought in fresh from the garden cucumbers, washed and sliced them into a salad only to discover you have bitter cucumbers? Or had a bitter batch right after some sweet and tasty ones? What a disappointment!
Many folks believe that certain varieties of cucumbers are naturally bitter, but this may not hold true. It turns out that growing conditions and the stresses that cukes are subjected to have a lot to do with their flavors.
Read the short article at the link below for the full story, and some easy tips on how to improve your cucumbers flavor!
Why are Cucumbers Bitter?