Garden Fuss

Hubs Appreciation Event 10/17/2013 Food, future, family & fun! Door prizes too! It seems like just yesterday when the family and I with other hubs members came together to pack seeds for this past growing season [ in chilly January brrrr ].  Autumn has now kicked into gear and as you know we've been in the thick of the harvest. That means we've come full circle in this process and it's time to come together with our new found friends and community for the 3rd Annual Fall Gathering, and guess what? You are invited to attend too!  Come out, celebrate, & reflect on the 2013 growing season while providing vital input to Gardening Matters for the 2014 season.  Seriously, even though I'm still a little stir crazy from picking the last cherry tomatoes and long beans; I have a few ideas about plant varieties I'd like to try out next year. How about you all? Are there any new trellising ideas you have for your veggies that climb? What are your weed control i

It all started off so easy.... Our 1st Indigo Rose  I mean, look at the blush on that Indigo Rose for God's sake! I never expected to come across such a beautiful specimen in my garden. This is truly an unusual piece of fruit. Seriously, if it has access to full sun its skin is like a marble made of onyx. Can you tell that, I am totally procrastinating by getting into the nuances of the Indigo Rose? That's because basically I came to the realization that I may be a glutton for punishment. Just whispering the word easy around this place is just crazy talk, let alone trying to fool myself by writing it. What am I not remembering? Oh yeah, this spring was far from easy. It was a wet / cold / feverishly busy / sweat filled mess ! [ could have just been me ] Starting with my bright idea of downgrading to a one bin compost system from two and expanding out my garden. From that experience I ended up overworked and with my beautiful helpers [ sis-inlaw, son, and daughter ] a

I recently responded to a post on Facebook about how I felt about the first official day of Autumn. Here is a excerpt for you: ~    "Feeling stir crazy! So much to do... Help me understand, why do I love tomatoes so much? Do I really need to let the volunteer ground cherries continue on this way? Is this Swiss chard too large for a salad? Why is the basil acting so crazy? What's up with this asparagus bed? Will the Jerusalem melons make it through another cold spell? Okra? Why did I plant Okra again? Will I remember to shade the cilantro again next year like I did this year? ..... I could go on and on some more but I won't. Feel free to chime in and remind me to be thankful and/or schedule a time to save me from my self imposed garden madness."    ~ Whether you refer to this time of year as Fall or Autumn, for me it is a symbol of the hardest work I have to do all year. I have tons of ideas on food preservation and putting food by for the seemingly perpetual wint

The Southside Local Food Resource Hub will be joining the very warm and welcoming folks at Transition Longfellow for their monthly movie night. [ new movie every 3rd Friday of the month ] This month's movie will be The Power of Community . I have had the opportunity to watch this before and I must say that there are some great take-away points for all. I can't wait to experience this with a group such as this! If you are planning on joining us there will be a potluck which will include a tomato tasting!  So please bring a dish to share and get ready for some tomato talk. When:  Friday, September 20, 2013 What: Potluck at 6:30 PM, movie at 7:15 PM Where : Bethany Church, 3901 36th Ave S. Minneapolis, MN 55406 For more information on Transition Longfellow click here or visit: https://sites.google.com/site/transitionlongfellow For more information on the Local Food Resource Hubs please visit the Gardening Matters website at  http://www.gardeningmatters.org/ Spe

Then it was September As a blogger there can be a little bit of guilt for not posting as regular as one would like... Speaking for myself that is. If there was a way to upload directly from my mind to this page you would experience all of the beautiful images and stories from past events I've attended starting with Community Garden day, to Open Streets Minneapolis, Food Truck Tuesdays & Movie in the Parks, the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington, and then to the Minnesota State Fair. Besides these events children around the country have gone back to school including my own which has given me more or less " the time " to grab a few moments to recap and catch you all up on my urban Ag Adventures. So I'll give it a go and start where I left off with my Community Garden Day 2013 experience and in between my food preservation efforts you will get a glimpse into some of the ways Minneapolis grows together.... COMMUNITY GARDEN DAY 2013 John Ghizoni, Ajan

I have been talking about Community Garden day for a couple of months now. [ previous post here ]  Today I wanted to share with you all, that Minneapolis has passed a resolution declaring August 10th Community Garden Day .  How exciting?   That means you can check out a map of participating gardens for tours and activity information on the Gardening Matters website and plan which tour(s) to go on  this Saturday .   Each garden will be celebrating in their own unique way with activities that range from: Collard Green Cook-off, Tomato testing, kids activities, art projects, story telling, and African drumming .   I hope you can find one or more gardens to visit through out the day. Maybe I'll bump into you and your family there!   For more info please visit: http:// www.gardeningmatters.org/   Happy Planting, Harvesting, and Garden Touring,   Tina

Backyard Foraged Salad Foraging was a topic my elderly neighbor who was also a retired science teacher and botanist spoke about constantly. Friends thought my brother and I were crazy when we stopped mid game (football) to pick and eat a juicy looking patch of wood sorrel we spotted on the other side of the fence. I can't remember all of the lessons she taught but I remember her passion for eating local and not overlooking the simplest of plants. It's because of her that I jumped at an opportunity to learn some foraging here in the city. I've participated in some monthly classes that have helped me and by proxy my family, become more of an adventurous eaters. Below is a  picture of a salad foraged from our backyard. We paired it with our baked chicken [no pictured] and this meal was more than a hit!  The greens included lambs quarters, Orach (purple mountain spinach), Plantain, Egyptian walking onions, Wood Sorrel, Flat leaf Parsley, Raspberries, and Purslane. All b