Making space

Are these gorgeous, or what?

 

This past week, I harvested turnips from my coldframe -- the first real, non-parsley-trimming harvest of the season -- and boy were they delicious. The turnips themselves were quickly sliced and tossed into my favorite jar of pickling solution in the fridge, and the greens made a special appearance with some goat cheese atop big bowls of beet risotto. Boy were those greens good, so fresh and fuzzy and spicy.... Mmmm....

You may notice that there are some little baby strawberry plants in the coldframe. (That sad looking cutting celery in the planter? Pay it no mind, we're not on speaking terms right now.) In fact, I had to pick my winter hardy turnips to make space for the little berry cuttings that I'd harvested with Sarah while we were thinning her strawberry patch over at Walker Jones Farm on Tuesday afternoon -- thanks, Sarah! Talk about a generous farmer:

Yes, strawberries. And you know what that means: warm weather is on the way... eventually. I had to wrap some burlap blankets around the little guys on Saturday night, but the leaves were looking pretty good this afternoon when I came back from helping some friends build a greenhouse. These little plants'll be hiding out from the overnight freezes until they get transplanted at Drew Freeman middle school next week... Stay tuned for how that goes....

Lock your doors, zucchini season is here

A few years ago, I borrowed a copy of Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" from my friend Jeanne. I recall there being an amusing anecdote in it suggesting that the only time rural Southerners locked their doors was in the summer, at the height of zucchini season. Well. Though DC is a Southern town, I don't think I am in any danger of being reverse burgled with squashes. However, between friends at Arcadia and Walker Jones farms I do seem to have come into quite a lot of courgettes.

I love zucchini. Chef Allison over at DC Central Kitchen made a lovely "zucchini ribbons with lemon juice and mint" dish for a reception I volunteered at last week that I mean to replicate soon. A small crowd enjoyed some slightly charred baby zucchini at Henry's barbecue yesterday. I am still perfecting the chocolate zucchini cake recipe -- it's coming, I promise -- which I plan to bring to a dinner party next weekend. Tonight I thought I'd change things up a bit and fiddle with a zucchini soup recipe.

 Now, you might think hot soup is the last thing one would want in July, but it gets rather cold in the basement apartment when the air conditioning is cranked to combat the summer heat upstairs, so a steaming bowl of soup was actually rather welcome this evening -- a satisfying but not overly heavy bowl of creamy goodness and a slab of sourdough were a nice calm meal after all of the excitement of this afternoon's barbecue and viewing of the FIFA women's final. Here's how you might whip up a batch yourself. (And incidentally, it's also good cold.)

Curried Zucchini Soup

Saute 2 small onions + 5-6 cloves of garlic in 1 tsp olive oil in a large pot on low for 5 minutes.

Chop 3-4 zucchini into thick coin slices -- it works out to, I dunno, 4 cups' worth -- and add to pot.

Sprinkle in some curry powder and cayenne powder (1/4-1/2 tsp each, depending on how spicy you like it) + a pinch or two of salt, stir, and turn the heat up to medium. Cook for 2 or 3 minutes, being sure zucchini is coated with spices.

Add in 5-6 cups of good veggie stock -- enough to cover zucchini -- then simmer for 20 minutes, until zucchini is soft.

Remove soup from the stovetop and puree in batches using a blender or food processor. Or use an immersion blender directly in the pot (as I did with one Mike loaned me, pictured above -- I need one of these for myself, I'm hooked). Then stir in 1-2 TBSP plain sour cream or whipping cream. (Yes, whipping cream. Not that stuff that comes in an aerosol can, I mean the good stuff.)

Serve in bowls with a couple grinds of black pepper and a slab of toasted sourdough bread. Yum.

My oh my, with all of this beautiful produce around, if I'm not careful this may turn into an all out cooking blog. Maybe it's time to get serious about a bikeable feast cookbook....

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If you plan it, they will come

I have to admit I got misty eyed a few times yesterday while leading the (rescheduled) DC urban farms bike tour. I think it really hit me when we arrived at the Washington Youth Garden, part of the National Arboretum, which was the second stop along the route to five urban food growing spaces around town. The near-tears state was no doubt partly due to the near loss of 15 cyclists en route -- a few folks had stopped to help a fellow biker change a flat and had only my less-than-stellar, turn-by-(mis)turn cue sheet to lead them to the next site -- and relief when they showed up about 20 minutes later. God bless smartphones. (Note to self: do not type up cue sheets after wine-filled dinner party the night before the bike tour. It was a lovely meal, even so, Sheffy.) However, I suspect that part of the emotion as I rolled onto the Arboretum grounds with 50-some cyclists in tow surely came from the realization that it was here, just over 2 years ago, that my friend Tom helped me practice shifting gears on my first real bicycle. I know! Ollie and I are all grown up and leading tours now. Well, one so far.

It was perhaps one of the most gorgeous days I can recall experiencing in the District: 78 and sunny with a light breeze. What perfect weather to introduce a whole new group of bicycling food lovers to some of the more amazing farms and community gardens around town. Things kicked off with seed packet spoke card making and a tour of the Neighborhood Farm Initiative's main garden in Fort Totten. Then the group proceeded to get an introduction to youth gardening and environmental programming at the aforementioned Washington Youth Garden (sweetened by some trail mix goodies, courtesy of a store credit from GLUT), a primer on composting and bee keeping at the Farm at Walker Jones (with fresh fruit and granola bars donated by Whole Foods), a look into intergenerational gardening and youth enterprise at City Blossoms' Marion Street garden (featuring lovely fresh herbal teas and lemonade for thirsty riders), and, only slightly behind schedule in spite of everything, an overview of permaculture, rain collection, and community programming at Common Good City Farm. The excitement and enthusiasm of farmers and cyclists was positively infectious, and I found myself grinning uncontrollably. Yes, even before a couple of beers at the closing happy hour at Big Bear Cafe. (Love that place.)

As things wound down, one person after another came up to thank me for organizing things and ask me when the next ride would be. Well, avid cyclists, future urban farming volunteers, and potential supporters, I hope this is the beginning of a tradition of local food-focused bicycle adventures around my favorite city. We shall see. (I will be sure to get a second opinion -- and a little less wine in me -- before printing out the cue sheet for round two.)

Thank you to The Greenhorns for providing the impetus for this bike tour, to the nearly 60 cyclists who attended the event, to the organizations that donated snacks. But most of all, thank you to my urban farming friends who are teaching us how to grow food, build community, and live more sustainably in the nation's capital.

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May 21: Join the (rescheduled) DC Urban Farm Bike Tour

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After many, many requests from urban farmers, cyclists, and food activists for information on a rescheduled DC Urban Farms Bike Tour, I am elated to let you all know that you can break out your bikes (and helmets, ahem) in less than two weeks. And there are two exciting new additions to the tour, bringing us up to five -- yes, five -- stops around the District. It's going to be GREAT!

Here's the schedule:

9:00am: Pray for sunshine....

1:00-1:45: Neighborhood Farm Initiative site
100 Gallatin Street, NE (near Fort Totten metro station)

1:45-2:30: Biking: head toward Washington Youth Garden

2:30-3:15: Washington Youth Garden
The National Arboretum, R Street entrance (near 24th Street, NE)

3:15-3:45: Biking: head to The Farm at Walker Jones

3:45-4:15: Walker Jones (w/ Vinnie Bevivino of Seed & Cycle)
New Jersey & K Streets, NW

4:15-4:30: Biking: head to City Blossoms' Marion Street intergenerational garden

4:30-5:00: Marion Street garden
1517 Marion Street, NW (Shaw neighborhood)

5:00-5:15: Biking: head to Common Good City Farm

5:15-5:45: Common Good
V Street, between 2nd and 4th Streets, NW (Ledroit Park)

5:45-6:00: Biking: head to Big Bear Cafe for happy hour

6:00-8:00: Happy hour
(featuring Arcadia's Farmer Mo with a word on the Greenhorns MidAtlantic chapter)
1700 1st Street, NW

The sites will all have water, so bring your water bottles. I'm working on getting some snacks, but I'd advise those of you with similarly ravenous appetites to bring a little something to nibble on. And don't forget your helmet and a sturdy bike lock.

Please RSVP to me (ibberoo2@gmail.com) so the farmers know how many to expect for workshops (and I know for snacks). See you at 1pm on Saturday, May 21!

Walk on down to Walker Jones Farm

I spent almost the entirety of this weekend out of doors. Boy, do I need to do that more often.

Saturday was a marathon barbecue organized by my dear cousin Sonia and her husband -- ostensibly to celebrate their daughter Ani's first birthday, but the occasion conveniently provided the largely Armenian/Ukranian crowd an excuse to consume a seemingly endless supply of grilled pork, roasted potatoes and peppers, and vodka on an almost impossibly beautiful day.

Sunday morning, after my ritual trip to the farmers' market, I biked over to K and New Jersey, NW, for a long overdue visit to DC's second urban farm. While Ollie and I got a little turned around on the ride over -- I have yet to work out why I always seem to miss the turnoff to K Street after it merges with Massachusetts Avenue when I cut through Chinatown -- I arrived about a half hour into the community workday. Within ten minutes Sarah had me weeding the cabbage rows. One group was building tomato trellises. Another was digging holes for herb transplants. The largest group was loosening soil and tilling in piles of peat moss to prepare the ground for berry bushes. (Blueberries in particular prefer more acidic soil, and peat moss is a common, organic amendment to lower soil pH. Don't say that you never learned anything here on the bikeable feast blog, eh? And speaking of learning, I should mention that the farm is as much focused on food and garden education as on sustainable production -- it's a project after my own heart.)

A bit later, after a luscious chocolaty, coconutty cupcake nearly sent me into sugar shock (I don't each much sugar these days), I somehow ended up in charge of tomato transplanting. After Sarah gave me a rundown on the process, I began to demonstrate and delegate tasks: clearing the mulch, mixing in organic tomato food, digging holes, filling the watering can, snapping off the bottom leaves, planting up to the bottom leaves, watering.... Some have leadership thrust upon them, you know? Those were the most meticulously planted and staked 20 tomato seedlings this city has ever seen.

Actually, I missed the final step -- staking the tomato plants (which encourages upward, rather than sprawling, growth) -- because Sarah sent two of us off in her station wagon to pick up blueberry bushes. Allon and I made our way to the hardware store, loaded up 4 different varieties of ready-to-fruit bushes, and made our way back to the farm. (Note: even by car I am unable to work out the K St/Mass Ave conundrum. I wonder some days how on earth I made my way around the country....) By the time we returned with the trunkful of shrubs, most of the 20 or so volunteers had made their way to part two of The Awesome Foundation's day of support for Walker Jones: a happy hour fundraiser. (BTW, I am somewhat obsessed with The Awesome Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting all kinds of cool, local projects through small grants. And now there's a chapter in DC....)



So here's Sarah, just before she and I planted the newly acquired blueberry bushes into the freshly acidified, loosened soil. I actually missed the happy hour -- dang, and I'd been meaning to check out Passenger Bar for some time now -- but when we finished up around 3:30 I figured it was time to get myself to Mike's place for some late afternoon gardening there, where I am the official edible garden adviser. (More on Mike and Alicia's urban homestead to come in a future post.)

Now that I know how to get there, I plan to make my way back to The Farm at Walker Jones with some regularity. You can come, too. Check out the beautiful urban food growing space, meet one of DC's friendliest urban farmers, get your hands in the dirt. If you're lucky there may be a cupcake or a tshirt in it for you. (Not that you're doing it for the tshirt. The donated cupcakes, however, may themselves be worth the trip.) Open volunteer days are on Sundays from 12-4pm and Thursdays from 3-6pm. Hope to see you there soon!