We have a wiki!

We do, we do!

Check at the top of the right sidebar on our homepage, 37Gyouthveggies.blogspot.com, and you will see that we now have a place members can go to post pictures, storys, recipes, etc. Its a WIKI, or user-editable website, courtesy of wikispaces. I've added one of my favorite recipes already, and I'm hoping other members won't be afraid to use the wiki and create their own pages with things related to the garden/food that they'd like to share. Chuck, how about that radish/turnip/beet salad? Who was it that had that amazing kohlrabi slaw recipe last year? And, I'm sure someone found something unusually snazzy to do with the surplus of eggplants we had! :) The more fun or useful stuff we can all contribute to the wiki, the better!

Also, I wanted to extend the offer again to share members: I have super-handy food waste recycling pails that you can bring home and use to help us (your local veggie garden) make wonderful, organic fertilizer. The pails come with lids and peat moss to sprinkle in occasionally. Here's how it works: you put all your uncooked food scraps in the pail throughout the week, I empty/return your pail when you pick up your share, and finally the scraps get brought back to our red wigglers. These are worms that we are keeping at the garden, for the express purpose of turning what would otherwise be waste into organic nutriment for our plants!

best, Mr. M

PS -- Make sure you follow the 'Join' link at the top of the wiki page, so I can enable your creating/editing priveledges!

Workin' hard (for you, for us... for good food!)

I think if you were to read our vegetable garden's slogan, and then watch us (the students + the adult supervisors -- Ms. Schulz, Ms. Goodman and I) you'd agree that we're bustin' our butts to make sure we can keep filling your boxes with organic goodness. Here's Ousmane, one of our interns, a rising senior at Phillips, taking a rare pause for a snapshot and wearing his work shirt:

In case its hard to read, it says... FRONT: "What's that creepin' in the garden?" (incl. picture of a Wildcat, our school mascot) -- BACK: "Just good food!"

In case you didn't know, we secured paid internships for four students over the course of the summer, to supplement the funds you all (our share members) helped us raise for spring and fall internships. And they were earning every penny on Wednesday, when it reached the mid-90s and the humidity was nothing to laugh at.

Ms. Goodman told me they got almost everything on our six-item to-do list done, including finishing composting our potatoes, watering, mowing in between and around our rows, and dressing our baby fruit trees with wood chip mulch at their bases.

The fruit trees, much like the young people active in the garden now, need time to grow stronger. Unlike the fruit trees, they bear the human responsibility of learning the techniques, science and attitude needed to care for a great host of nourishing plants. All -- fledgling trees, luscious plants and the young adults that tend them -- are working together to accomplishing a delicious feat this summer. =)

Until next time! - Mr. M

This week's box... if you dare! :)

Here is what we've picked for you this week (sorry the bottom edge of the pic got cut off...):

I wanted to explain flower stalks, as I think some people are just puzzled about what they can/should do with them. Flower stalks happen when the plant starts sending sugars upward, to create first a flower and then later (when pollinated) a seed. They tend to have the same taste as the root or leaves of the plant they grow on, but are a little bit sweeter, as there tends to be more sugar/unit volume. We try to only pick/bundle flower stalks that are soft and edible 'raw,' but may occasionally include one that is tough to your tastes. In these cases, a little pan-frying, steaming or boiling works wonders. So go on and purdy-up that salad or those steamed veggies :)

Also, this week in addition to choosing which flower stalk you want, you have another surprise: an optional mini-bag of hand-picked chantrelle mushrooms. If you've never cooked with/ate them before, they have a wonderful apricot-ish aroma and a chicken-like texture. Good for risottos and other rice dishes for sure, but my folks eat them butter-sauteed with onions on top of just about everything.

Finally, if you are really wild and risky, you can take the one box that has a zip-lock bag stashed with milkweed floret (pre-flower) bundles. A tasty wild edible that we've cultivated a small bit of on our veggie patch, it tastes like a sweet combination of broccoli and celery. Most delicious when steamed and with a bit of salt and butter -- if you ask me!

Mr. M

This Sunday's Veggie Box

Hello there,

This week I (Doro) get to show you what you get:

Lots of green. The rutabaga greens can be eaten (cooked). The Mizuna flowers are edible also, that's why they are in the box. Some boxes have broccoli, and some have arrugula instead. We packed the baby lettuce in a ziplock, and we would appreciate if you can return it with the box, so we can reuse it.

As last week we had great help from Tarique.

Come on out next Sunday, people! Besides enjoying the sun, the greenery, the company and harvesting your food, there are always unexpected pleasures, such as this:

Enjoy!
- D

What is in your first box? Well, let's see...

Hey everyone,

Neither Jasmine nor Rebekah made it out today for harvest, or I would have had them post about what is in the box. (BTW, Tarique DID come out, and was there early, lending a hand through the whole process -- thanks man!) Take a look at this picture to spot common ingredients in each box:

There are a few substitutions in other boxes, so pay attention if you have strong preferences. Some boxes have mustard greens instead of kale, while others have broccoli flowerstalks instead of arugula. A good example of an 'alternate' box is pictured here:

Finally, some boxes have a third substitution -- a more mild type of green in place of the kale or mustard greens, called 'mizuna.' The leaves look like this:

You should also find a jar of something sweet and special in your box... look out for it, compliments of the garden angel Dorothea :)

Until next week!
Mr. M

H.O.P (Hands on Phillips)

Hands on Phillips? Sometimes you have to just get down and dirty. The seven interns are being taught something valuable. Something they can pass from generations to generations. Being taught skills and qualities that will take them far in life. HARDWORK! DETERMINATION! MANPOWER! Each of the interns have been taught by Mr. M's wisdom. We're thankful that he's teaching us the different aspects of gardening, planting and growing!

We had fun on Wednesday and Saturday (even if it was without YOU!) :)

Hi everyone,

I've been told that I may be too 'wordy' in my blog posts, so I will try to keep it simple written-word wise, and then just share with you all some pics (after all, pictures are worth a thousand words :). We had a great time (the students and I) on Wednesday starting to put our mini-greenhouse together, and on Saturday getting started on the MYRIAD tasks that we have to get our operation up to speed (see pics). Wish I had more adult hands on deck than just Doro's, but hey, I have three hypotheses for that:

   1) People are just not that interested in getting dirty, working at the garden, etc.
   2) the time (Saturdays AM) is just not convenient for people
   3) the location is too far away from familiarity for most to drive/come out

Well, the most I can do is eliminate possibility #2 as a factor, so... I wanted to let you all know the INFORMAL days and times that YOU WILL ALWAYS FIND US -- AND THUS SOMETHING TO DO ALONG WITH US -- OUT AT THE GARDEN. Here is the schedule by which I will ALWAYS be out at the garden with some of our students: Mondays from 3:30 to 5:30, Wednesdays from 3:30 to 5:30, Fridays from 2:30 to 4:30, and Saturdays from 9 AM to 1 PM.

If you can't join us for a formal volunteer event, please come out whenever else you have time -- and get a taste of what working the earth so that it will give back to you is all about :)

- Mr. M

PS -- Todd's donated lawn mower kicks chicken -- no way we would have beat back all that early-to-rise grass in between our rows without it!!!