24 August 2008

At KGI, we have a vision. We see a world where people eat food that is not only fresh, local, and healthy, but lip-smacking delicious! We believe that there is no food more local, more healthy, or more pleasurable than the food we make ourselves. The act of growing and preparing some of what we eat, even a small part, connects us not only with our food and the land, but with other people at home and abroad who are engaged in the same quest for health, flavor, and a sense of community.

Kitchen Garden Day is an annual, decentralized celebration of food produced on a human-scale. It is an opportunity for people around the world to gather in their gardens with friends, family, and members of their local community to celebrate the multiple pleasures and benefits of home-grown, hand-made foods.

Goals:
-To celebrate the positive role of organic kitchen gardening in society, health, and gastronomy
-To raise awareness about the benefits of eating local and to encourage people to explore local food options in their areas
-To build a community spirit, at local and international levels, around the universal experiences of gardening, cooking, and eating

Kitchen Garden Day in the Media:

Activities:
How people celebrate International Kitchen Garden Day and with whom is up to them. Some choose to do so in public ways with large gatherings of friends and neighbors, whereas others opt for a more intimate celebration with close family. Here are a few ideas for some activities you might consider organizing depending on the level of involvement you would like to have:

-a walking tour of gardens in your area
-a kitchen garden or local agriculture potluck
-a kitchen garden taste-test
-a harvest or planting party
-a benefit for a local food/gardening charity
-a kitchen garden "teach in"
-a single food theme party
-an activity at a local farm
-etc


Getting Involved and Volunteering:
There are different ways of getting involved in Kitchen Garden Day, depending on your interests and time availability. To stay up to date on Kitchen Garden Day activities and learn how you might organize an activity in your local community, please sign up for our mailing list below. Thanks. Together, we can grow a better world.

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By Brian Halweil, Worldwatch Institute

“I see the kitchen garden as being both a means and a universal metaphor for a healthier, tastier, and more sustainable way of eating,” Roger Doiron of Scarborough, Maine, explains. Parents disappointed with the offerings in supermarkets might decide to put in their own garden. Doctors might suggest that obese patients get some exercise—and nourishment—from a kitchen vegetable box. Overstressed urbanites might find some peace while weeding.

In December of 2003, Doiron founded Kitchen Gardeners International, a sort of political and intellectual clearinghouse for folks who grow their own. The group’s goal is simple: bring people into closer contact with their food by celebrating home-grown, home-cooked foods in their many international forms. Think of it as a cross between Slow Food and the back-to-the-land movement.

But Doiron, previously head of the European office of Friends of the Earth, has his work cut out for him. Back in 1900, Americans raised 30 percent of their own food. Today, the share stands at a meager 1.5 percent.
Luckily, Kitchen Gardeners depends on the notion that small doesn’t necessarily mean insignificant. “A miniature salad garden is a really good way to start,” Doiron says, suggesting a “cut-and-come-again” mix of greens that might yield four or so crops in a season.

“You just need to break a little bit of ground,” Doiron says. He harbors no illusions about the scale of his challenge. “When you’re talking about moving the Krafts, Unilevers, the whole convenience food mentality, that involves moving some pretty heavy objects. It will take a lot of little kitchen gardens to do that.”

For now, Kitchen Gardeners’ activities are low-budget and largely virtual: an electronic newsletter, articles on gardening and cooking on the web, links to relevant news from around the world. The group acquired the web domain, www.eatrealfood.org, which features an upbeat flash animation showing a precocious girl skipping through a Red Riding Hood-esque world where she avoids persistent junk food solicitations in favor of her homegrown carrots, peas, and other delights. Shortly after launching the site, the number of people who have signed up for the newsletter jumped past 1,000, with over 30 countries on all five continents represented. An agricultural extension worker in Lusaka, Zambia, checks out the site “to be abreast with Agriculture Development,” and finds the information useful for both her work and home garden. One urbanite in São Paolo, Brazil, said that Kitchen Gardeners inspired her to learn about “native vegetables, fruits, the climates where they can grow, and—not much at this moment—how to cook them.”

Doiron is banking on publicity from the inaugural Kitchen Garden Day, planned for the third Saturday in August to coincide with the height of harvest period in the northern hemisphere. And while some people have greeted the idea with skepticism—“international day fatigue”—Doiron sees it as more than symbolic. February is National Snack Food month, for instance. “If they have a whole month for promoting their products, then we can at least have a day,” Doiron says.

When Doiron isn’t managing this fledgling organization, he is honing his own gardening skills and doing what he can to include his children in back-yard work. Doiron notes that gardening is a skill that largely gets passed person to person, and that the majority of people in an urban nation like the United States probably have little exposure to making pickles, planting seeds, weeding, or even the most basic garden chores.

In the fall of 2003, Doiron built a small greenhouse and made his first batch of sauerkraut, which his family enjoyed for the better part of the winter. “We tend to think of the kitchen garden as this brief explosion of vegetables,” Doiron says, who sees foods that keep well, like sauerkraut and tomato sauce, as the logical extension of gardening.

He also planted some mache and claytonia in his greenhouse, planning to pick these hardy salad greens throughout the winter. Several weeks later, he concluded that the plants had succumbed, yet another horticultural victim claimed by the New England winter. But he was hopeful about the spring. It seemed he had stumbled upon another metaphor for his work. Looking to the greenhouse, as the days got longer and warmer, Doiron was pleasantly surprised to see the same greens resurrected. “What I thought was simply dead has snapped back to life,” he says.

Brian Halweil is a senior researcher with the Worldwatch Institute. He lives in Sag Harbor, where he and his wife tend a kitchen garden and orchard. This article was adapted from his new book, Eat Here: Reclaiming Homegrown Pleasures in a Global Supermarket (W.W. Norton, 2004).

Posted by at 7:21 PM | Permalink

It's not unusual, when relocating to another part of the world, to discover new or unknown delicacies. Thus it was with us recently, when pale pink, knobbly vegetables started appearing on market stalls in this part of France. "What are they?", I asked. "They are topinambours", the man at the market replied. "You can sauté them with some garlic and parsley, or they make delicious soup. They have a slight artichoke flavour." The last sentence should have been a give-away but we remained in the dark. What were these strange vegetables, I asked our neighbor. "Huh, they're nothing special", she replied, "but they're all the rage now, even in expensive restaurants." (They had just had a special meal at a upmarket establishment where "topinambours" had been served, 'à la nouvelle cuisine', as an accompanying vegetable.) "But we grew them as rabbit food. And now we can't get rid of them in the garden!" The mystery vegetable does indeed make a delicious soup - creamy and delicate, tasting very slightly of artichokes. At last, the penny dropped! A dive into garden reference books confirmed that what the French call "topinambour" is known in English as the Jerusalem Artichoke or, to give it its botanical name, "Helianthus tuberosus". In other words, a tuberous, perennial member of the sunflower family. The plant grows tall in summer, up to 10 feet, and bears pretty yellow flowers that can be used in floral arrangements. And, as my neighbour said, it does tend to become quite invasive. What's in a name? Well, Jerusalem Artichoke is completely misleading since the plant is neither related to the artichoke, nor associated with Jerusalem. That apparently came about as a corruption of the French (and Italian) word "girasol" (or girasole"), meaning sunflower. The plant does not originate in the middle east, but rather in America where it was common along the north-east seaboard, in particular Maine and Canada, and grown by the pilgrims as a food source. In Europe too, Jerusalem Artichokes were relied on as precious extra food during the second world war, when potatoes were scarce. Consequently, some older French people, who can remember having to eat them then, do not like them very much now. Like our neighbour said, "they're OK as rabbit food!"

Growing Jerusalem Artichokes or "Sunchokes": These perenial crunchy tubers originate from the Americas where they can still be found growing wild. An ambitious plant, the Jerusalem artichoke will grow 6-8ft (2-2.5 meters) high and take over whatever bed they're planted in so give them their own space. You can buy seed chokes from most online seed companies. They can be planted in rows or in beds with the latter being more common. Plant seeds in the spring 4 inches (2 cm) deep, stand back, and watch them grow! After the war, the Jerusalem Artichoke became unfashionable, although it remained highly regarded as a slimming agent. Reportedly, it facilitates the elimination of toxins from the body and balances blood sugar levels, thus preventing hunger and food cravings. Companies involved in health foods and dietary aids still market a range of products derived from Jerusalem Artichokes. So what about the origins of French name for this vegetable - "topinambour" (the same in German, "topinambur" in Italian and a close "tupinabo" in Spanish)? Apparently this is due to another mix-up dating as far back as 1617, either because it was believed that the plant originated in Brazil, home of a native Indian tribe known as the "Tupinambas" (later "Toupinamboult" and then "Topinambou"), or because the time of its discovery coincided with the appearance of a group of Brazilian Indians at celebrations in Rouen to mark the accession to the throne of King Henry II. But back to Sunflower Soup. Two types of Jerusalem Artichoke are available in France, one white and thin, the other round and pale pink. Either one will do but both discolour if exposed to air so cover with cold water or cook quickly after peeling. Start off by peeling and chopping a large onion and sweating it gently in a covered cast iron pan with a knob of butter and a pinch of salt. Meanwhile peel and chop a good handful of Jersusalem Artichokes and add them to the pan. If you want a thicker soup, also add a diced medium-large potato. Continue to gently cook the vegetables, without browning, for about 10 minutes. Now add 1 liter of chicken stock (or vegetable stock, if you prefer). A shake of white pepper, a small pinch of dried sage, bring the pan to the boil and then let the soup simmer for about half an hour. Turn off the heat, allow the mixture to cool a little and then put it through the blender. Add a little water if you think the mixture is too thick. You should have a soup that is creamy in both colour and appearance. Test the seasoning, add salt and white pepper if necessary, and reheat. Now you can stir in different finishing touches, for example: a soup spoon of double cream (highly recommended) or a tiny pinch of saffron. This recipe makes 4 generous bowls of soup. "Bon appetit!" About the contributors: The author, Gill Thompson, is a roving reporter for Kitchen Gardeners International. She lives in the Midi-Pyrénées region of France where she and her husband live in a charming sun-baked house with a lovely garden. Photographer, Folke Günther, is an environmental consultant and an avid kitchen gardener from Lund, Sweden. He maintains a very useful gardening website offering information in both English and Swedish.

Posted by at 11:51 AM | Permalink

Hurricanes Rita and Katrina are having a clear effect on both the hearts and minds of Americans, but I'm wondering what long-term impact they will have on another part of America's collective anatomy: Our stomach.

This may sound like a frivolous consideration in the midst of the suffering that has been taking place in the Gulf Coast, where people have been threatening each other over warm soda and potato chips. What may seem trifling to some, however, is essential to others. I side philosophically with the 19th-century French foodie Brillat-Savarin, who wrote that the "destiny of nations depends on the manner in which they feed themselves."

With costly battles raging abroad, our long-fought war against Mother Nature ramping up in intensity, and gas prices reaching all time highs, it seems like we Americans may have finally bitten off more than we can chew. Or have we?

Physics tell us that for every action, there is a reaction. The destiny of America may depend on how it reacts to the current confluence of troubling events happening at home and overseas. If history is any guide, there will be a reaction in the way we eat. During World War II, U.S. citizens responded to government's call for greater food production by planting thousands of "victory gardens," which continued enriching American communities and dinner tables well after the war was over. In the aftermath of 9/11, Americans became culinary homebodies, dramatically reducing the number of meals purchased at restaurants and take-out joints in favor of home cooking.

My hope is that we will respond to the current instability in the world - political and meteorological - by reducing the amount of oil we eat. I'm not talking, of course, about olive, peanut or canola, but sweet crude: the amount of fossil fuel it takes to produce and transport food from field to fork.

This won't be easy. America is the nation that invented long-distance food transportation. The WorldWatch Institute estimates that the ingredients for the average American meal travel more 1,500 miles before landing in our plates, 20 percent more than they did two decades ago. Growth in the global food system is one of the single most important causes of increased greenhouse gases during the past 50 years.

Yet, far from being a badge of shame, these statistics represent American ingenuity at its best for some. The construction of the interstate highway system was heralded as a remarkable feat that would create a national - and, ultimately, global - market for local food products. That food harvested in California could appear shiny and shrink-wrapped days later on the shelves of Maine grocery stores was seen as nothing short of a miracle.

The whole American food system is prefaced, though, on two important theories that recent geo-political events are proving untrue. The first is that that there is a limitless supply of cheap petroleum products to fuel our long-distance food system. For those of you who continue to cling to this belief, a trip to your local gas station should quickly disabuse you of this. The theory that is even more dangerous is that we can keep on eating the way we always have - any food we want, from anywhere, at any time of the year, no matter what the fossil fuel implications may be - without it having an impact on the natural cycles that make the growing of food possible.

It's true that we still don't know for sure what and where these impacts might be. For some areas, it may be hurricane-strength rains like the ones that washed away entire landscapes of sugarcane and soybeans in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Alabama. For farmers in other areas, like the Midwest, it could be extreme droughts like the ones they have experienced this summer, which sent the Missouri River to its lowest level ever and is now sending those farmers running in search of federal disaster assistance.

In striking at the heart of Cajun country, Katrina and Rita dealt a staggering blow to one of America's most loved cuisines. Their long-term culinary legacy, however, need not be tragic. By raising gas prices and food transport costs, they may end up blowing some wind into the sails of a local foods renaissance that is crossing the nation. This revival brings with it the promise of fresh flavors, healthier citizens and vibrant local economies. I don't know about you, but that's a national destiny that I'd be willing to chew on.

Posted by at 9:44 PM | Permalink

by Sally Williams

Looking for a new and interesting vegetable to grow in the kitchen garden or ornamental border next spring? One that is beautiful, delicious and easy to grow? An heirloom that is not well known today but once was favored by English royalty? One that stops adults in their tracks and commands the attention of kids?

Who wouldn't love a radish that grows in the air? A radish you can pick like green beans all summer even in high heat, a radish that is pungent or not depending upon how you choose to prepare it, one that is beautiful in bloom and in fruit, rich in history, and intriguing in form, taste and name.

While common garden radishes, Raphanus sativus, are grown for their roots, with aerial radishes, it is the seed pod that is edible. All radish seed pods are edible, but varieties of the Caudatus Group have been bred especially for the pods, which are larger, have more flavor than ordinary pods, and produce pods more quickly. Green or purple, long or short, they are highly ornamental as well. Attractive flower clusters precede podding and are white
or pinky-purple with pink pollination lines. Some have a darker purple edge. Pods are prolific and can grow straight up like candelabra, or twist and curl. Pods of long purple varieties can have reddish highlights and a lovely sheen.

Little known but not new
Edible-podded radishes are less known than their root cousins, but they are not new to American gardens. Introduced into England in 1815 from Java, by the 1860s they were popular as a kitchen garden vegetable in Europe and North America and as far away as Australia. By the turn of the century, however, they were being grown in American gardens only as curiosities.

The plant may have become a victim of the hype, begun by Mr. Bull, who exhibited the curious radish at the great International Horticultural Exhibition in London in 1866. The new unnamed radish caused a sensation and was accompanied by claims of spectacular performance. It was claimed that its pods grow three inches overnight and attain a length of three to four feet. It was “destined to supersede root radishes of all kinds, and render us no longer dependent upon crops that were uncertain, and good only at certain times.” It was predicted that breeding with the garden radish would produce hybrids with both edible pods and roots.

Soon there were others reporting growing it, and the descriptions, names used and place of origin were so different that it caused much confusion in the botanical and horticultural world. The disputes over name and classification were more easily settled than the claims of its marvelous qualities. Two camps quickly arose, equally passionate in their convictions. Walter Sculthorpe wrote that it “succeeded with me beyond my expectation, and is delicious.” J.B. of Dorset, however, could not endorse “the published statements that it is one of the most useful vegetables that has been lately introduced, or that it is of value as a salad, and still less that when boiled it is most delicious, eating like marrow, and having a most delicate flavour. I can only say that I have tried it in various ways and in each have found it to be nauseous and disagreeable.” He went on to say that he would continue to grow it for its “extraordinary forms” while “I repudiate the extravagant assertions that have been made as to its value as an esculent.” Rat-tail radish lovers persisted, and were delighted to find it growing at Sandringham, the seat of the Prince of Wales, where it was “much used and relished at the royal table”.

One of the problems was that there were several varieties with quite different characteristics. The “true rat-tail was really very palatable indeed” with “juicy and succulent” pods, and the liquor pressed out “particularly agreeable.”

Unbeknownst in England, the French and Americans had reported on edible-podded radish 6 years earlier. It became an international controversy. The Americans believed they were first to introduce Rat-tails, as did the French who described a “new” “Madras Radish” from India with shorter pods they decided was a different species. Prof. Lawson, a Canadian, jumped in to correct “several errors into which the French and Ameican horticulturists had fallen”. He pointed out that “this delicious vegetable”, whose origin was Java, had been successfully grown in Scotland for a decade, and by him in Canada, from seed sent to Prof. Balfour of Edinburgh by Mrs. Colonel Spottiswoode of Benares in 1856, a full description of which he had published in “Downing’s Horticulturist” (New York) in 1860. Whereupon the Americans reported that the short-podded kind from Madras “have been kicking about for the last 20 years”, and its seeds not valued much. It was decided that botanically they were both the same species, Raphanus caudatus, “but in a practical point of view there is considerable difference between a pod 3 ft. 3 in. such as were shown by Mr. Bull…and one of 8 inches…Both seem to be suited for salad, the short-fruited one being the more pungent of the two.”

In 1879, “Amongst the novelties exhibited at the great International Horticultural Exhibition of 1866, few things attracted more attention as such than the group of Raphanus caudatus, or Long-tailed radish, exhibited by Mr. Bull….Like many other introductions, however, from which much is expected, the Rat-tailed radish has done neither of these things. Nevertheless there is much in the lengthy and curious seed pod to render it attractive to the palate.” As for the date of introduction, it was determined that it was first introduced into England in 1815.

Description, cultivation
Edible-podded radishes are hardy annuals. They grow three to four feet tall and form branches terminating in flower clusters from which smooth seed pods, called siliques, form. A plant easily produces four or more dozen edible pods, and can be stimulated to produce more. Flowering continues throughout the growing season, more so if pods are kept picked and branches pruned. Branches should be staked as the abundance of pods can bend them.

Edible-podded radishes grow in full sun in any good garden soil, but prefer a sandy loam rich in organic matter. Culture is easy. Pests are the same as for root radishes, but are few in my small organic plot in Boston’s South End. Birds peck seedlings, but the plant quickly outgrows that stage, and birds leave larger hairy leaves alone. Slugs eat leaves but not seed pods. Aphids can be a minor problem later in the season, but lady beetles quickly eradicate them. Edible-podded radishes are a good alternative to root radishes where root maggots are a problem, as there is no fleshy root.

Sow seeds 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep and thin to 12 inches. Plants can be grown closer, but harvesting is easier with some space between. Eat thinnings, which have the same flavor, and are delicious in salads. Sow in early spring and into summer. Edible-podded radishes tolerate heat better than root radishes, so may be grown during the summer, even when temperatures soar. Pods begin to form in 40 to 50 days, lower ones ripening first. Pick pods when they are tender, before they become fibrous. They are most crisp and pungent when about pencil-thick. Even when fibrous at the tip, however, parts near the stem can be tender. Test by gently snapping the pod, as you would for asparagus.

Varieties. How they differ.
Edible-podded radishes are known by many names around the world. Some of these are "aerial" radish, "Madras", "monkey-tailed", Mougri, "rat-tailed", "serpent", "serpentine bean", “Singri”, and “snake”. In England they were first introduced as “Spottiswoode’s radish from Java” and called a “tree radish”. “Rat-tailed” is the unfortunate name that has stuck in the U.S

Commercially available varieties in the US are:

‘München Bier’, an old European variety, is popular in Munich, Germany where pods are eaten raw as a snack with beer. It has white flowers and light green pods three to five inches long.

Rat-tailed, which includes varieties with long purple pods and varieties with green pods that are tinted with purple. Long purple pods are usually eight to twelve inches long, but some companies offer shorter ones. Flowers of long purple-podded radish are pink, and stems are violet-red in color.

Flavor and cookery
Pods are soft but crisp. When you bite into a pod you know you are eating a radish, and a pungent one at that, yet the flavor is more delicate and refined than that of a root radish. The texture is like that of a juicy chile pepper, which adds excitement to the experience, and appeals to people (like me) who don't crave root radishes.

Pods are eaten raw or cooked. They are excellent as a snack or added to salads. They may be pickled in vinegar, or lightly stir-fried. In India they are cooked in ghee and used in curries. I like tangy food so I prefer them raw or barely cooked, because pods lose pungency with cooking. Pods are best when freshly picked, but may be kept chilled for a month or more.

If you want to see people get really excited about radishes, offer them ethereal aerial rat-tails. Chomped in the garden, or served at the table, they are sure to intrigue and please. The following recipes were created by Sam Hayward, Executive Chef/Owner of the restaurant Fore Street, 288 Fore St, Portland ME in the Old Port. tel (207) 775-2717. Hayward is the winner of the 2004 James Beard award for best chef in the Northeast.

WHITE CHEESE WITH EDIBLE-POD RADISHES
White cheese can be made by suspending live-culture, natural unflavored yogurt in a sieve lined with cheesecloth, and drained of its whey overnight. (The yogurt must be free of gelatine, carrageenan, or other thickeners, and should contain no sweeteners or flavorings.) Together the radishes and cheese make a snappy spread for crostini or crisp flat-breads.

3 cups natural yogurt
1 cup edible-pod radishes, sliced thin on a very long bias
1 tsp water-packed green peppercorns
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tb fresh chives, snipped very short

Line a sieve or chinois with three layers of clean cheesecloth, rinsed in cool water and wrung nearly dry. Set the sieve over a container, and spoon in the yogurt. Allow the yogurt to drain for at least twelve hours. Save the whey for use in breads or pancakes.

Crush the peppercorns to a paste with the flat side of a broad knife. Measure the radishes, and add the peppercorns, salt and radishes to the yogurt. Stir until well combined. Allow the cheese to ripen, covered and chilled, for at least two hours. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Stir well before serving. Serve chilled as a spread for crostini or toasted flat-bread, and sprinkle with snipped chives.

SUMMER VEGETABLES WITH EDIBLE-POD RADISHES

To serve four:
4 tiny yellow summer squashes, blossoms intact if possible
4 baby zucchini, blossoms intact
12 tiny pear onions, blanched and peeled
1 small baby eggplant, sliced 1/8 inch thick
2 cloves garlic, slivered
1/4 tsp fresh cayenne or jalapeno chili pepper, finely diced
1/4 cup currant tomatoes
1/4 cup shiitake mushrooms, caps only, sliced very thin
1 Tb sesame oil
1 Tb peanut oil
2 Tb shredded shiso leaves
1 Tb shredded cilantro leaves
2 Tb bottled Chinese oyster sauce
1 tsp tamari soy sauce
2 tsp rice wine vinegar
1/2 cup sliced edible-pod radishes

Heat the oils in a wok to nearly smoking. Add the eggplant, pearl onions, summer squashes, zucchini, and mushrooms. Toss over high heat for three or four minutes. Add the slivered garlic and diced chili pepper, and toss briefly. Add the vinegar and oyster sauce. Toss to combine. Taste, and adjust seasoning with the tamari. Toss in the currant tomatoes and the shiso and cilantro, and turn into a serving dish. Add a few more drops of oil to the wok, heat for a moment, and add the sliced radishes. Toss for thirty seconds over high heat, and spoon the radishes over the vegetables. Serve immediately with steamed rice or rice noodles.

GRILLED SALMON WITH RADISH BUTTER
The effect of this preparation is analogous to the use of horseradish in simple butter sauces with rich fish such as swordfish, tuna or salmon. It even works well with beef.

To serve four:
4 6 oz. fresh salmon filet sections
2 Tb olive oil
Salt and milled black pepper to taste
2 medium shallots, diced
1 cup off-dry white wine, such as a California Riesling
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp grainy mustard
2 Tb cream
6 oz. soft butter
1/2 cup edible-pod radishes, sliced thin, then chopped fine
2 Tb flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped fine

Prepare the grill. Rub the salmon filet section with a little olive oil, season with salt and pepper to taste, and reserve.

In non-reacting skillet, toss the diced shallot for fifteen seconds without browning. Add the wine and vinegar, boil up for a few seconds, reduce the heat slightly, and simmer to reduce to 1/3 cup. Add the diced radishes, and simmer for one minute. By tablespoons, whisk in the butter to make a smooth emulsion. Add the mustard and lemon juice, whisking to combine. Taste and season with salt and milled pepper. Grill the salmon four minutes on each side, or according to your own preference. Divide among serving plates. Add the parsley to the sauce at the last moment, and spoon over the fish.

Sources

"Munchen Bier" (Munich Bier) – short plump green podded
Thompson & Morgan, Inc., PO Box 1308, Jackson, NJ 08527-0308; 800/274-7333
The Cook's Garden, PO Box 535, Londonderry, VT 05148-0535; 802/824-3400

Rat-tailed, purple podded
Bountiful Gardens, 18001 Shafer Ranch Road, Willits, CA 95490-9626; 707/459-6410
John Scheepers, 860-567-6086, www.kitchengardenseeds.com
Peace Seeds, 2385 S.E. Thompson Street, Corvallis, OR 97333; 503/495-2409
Rich Farm Garden, richfarmgarden.com
Seed Savers Exchange, 3076 North Winn Road, Decorah, IA 52101; 319/382-5872
Seed Dreams: Old-Time Heirloom Vegetables and Grains. Shane Murphy. PO Box 1476, Santa Cruz CA 95061-1476

Rat-tailed, green streaked with purple
Pinetree Garden Seeds, Box 300, New Gloucester, ME 04260; 207/926-3400

About the Author:
Sally Williams is a free-lance writer, avid gardener and reader, and Editor of Garden Literature Index, an annotated author and subject index to articles about plants and gardens, soon to be released online by EBSCO Publishing based in Ipswich, MA. She can be reached at gardenlit@aol.com

Copyright 2004 by Sally Williams. All rights reserved.

Posted by at 3:07 AM | Permalink

"If the definition of poetry allowed that it could be composed with the products of the field as well as with words, pesto would be in every anthology."
-Marcella Hazan, 1973

Pesto originates from Genoa, Italy where even today many families still prepare their own using their famous small-leafed basil and a large marble mortar and wooden pestle (hence the name). If you haven't tried making pesto the old-fashioned way at least once, do. The grinding action of the pestle gives the pesto a smoother texture while bringing out all the flavor of the various ingredients. For those looking to make larger quantities, a food processor works just fine. Keep in mind that ground basil oxidizes quickly turning a slightly brownish color so work efficiently and store your finished product with a protective layer of olive oil. A small quantity of parsley can be added to basil before grinding or processing, if a greener color is desired. Pesto freezes very well, so be sure to fill up an ice-cube tray for use in winter pasta dishes or soups.

"As made in Genoa it is certainly one of the best sauces yet invented for pasta, and 1 tablespoonful of pesto stirred in at the last minute gives a delicious flavor to a minestrone." -Elizabeth David, 1954

Ingredients:
-2 cups tightly packed fresh basil leaves
-1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
-3 tablespoons pine nuts (walnuts may also be used)
-2 garlic cloves, peeled
-pinch of salt
-1/3 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
-1/3 cup freshly grated Pecorino Sardo cheese (see note below)
-3 tablespoons butter at room temperature

Method:
1. If your basil leaves are noticeably dirty, wash them in cold water and pat dry. Otherwise, simple rub off any surface dirt or dust.
2. Put basil, olive oil, pine nuts, garlic, and an ample pinch of salt in the food processor and process until creamy.
3. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the grated cheeses. Then mix in the softened butter. Serve on pasta or vegetables.

Note: In Genoa, they use equal quantities of Parmesan cheese and of a special, mildly tangy Sardinian cheese, Pecorino Sardo, made of sheep's milk. Although it is not considered authentic, pesto made be used with Pecorino Romano which is often more readily available in stores. If you do make this substitution, you will need to adjust the balance between the two cheeses: 3 parts Parmigiano to 1 part Romano.

Recipe adapted from "The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking" by Marcella Hazan, Knopf, 1992

Posted by at 2:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

"Sometimes you gotta create what you want to be a part of." -Geri Weitzman

Roger Doiron is an advocate for local and regional food systems. Doiron is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Holy Cross College and holds a Master of International Relations degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

He is founder and director of Kitchen Gardeners International (KGI), a Maine-based nonprofit network of over 4000 individuals from 80 countries who are taking a (dirty) hands-on approach to “relocalizing” the food supply.

Doiron also works to promote vibrant local, state, and regional food systems through his work with the Eat Local Foods Coalition (ELFC) and the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (NESAWG).

In addition to his advocacy and organizing work, Doiron is a free-lance writer and public speaker specializing in sustainable cuisine. His articles on food, agriculture and gardening have appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, Organic Gardening magazine, Mother Earth News, and Saveur.

Although grounded in his own local food system, Doiron remains interested in and connected to international food issues. Doiron first became involved in food issues in Europe as head of Friends of the Earth’s European office in Brussels during the 1990s at the height of the Europe’s mad cow furor. He was also part of the American NGO delegation to the last UN World Food Summit.

He enjoys cooking, gardening and eating with his three Belgo-American boys Francois, Maxim, and Sebastian and his wife Jacqueline.

Posted by at 1:29 PM | Permalink

"I once worked with a powerful son of Athens whose reverence for garlic left nothing to be desired. He used it daily internally and externally. He ate it regularly raw and rubbed it on his chest and in his nostrils. He was a dynamo of flesh and bones who visited physicians only to be admired and to give them a little advice. He once invited me to his bachelor's hovel for dinner. This was the menu: two chickens roasted with garlic and rosemary, two loaves of French bread, each cut lengthwise and smeared with garlic and olive oil, two heads of raw garlic (about twenty cloves), two quarts of wine, and two enormous raw chicory roots."
-- Angelo Pellegrini, The Unprejudiced Palate

In his passionate ode to kitchen gardening, The Food Lover's Garden, author Angelo Pellegrini writes of the "indispensable dozen" aromatic plants that any aspiring epicure must have have in his or her garden. Garlic wins top billing, beating out parsley, thyme, shallots, basil, and 7 other would-be contenders by a long shot. Given his name, perhaps you're not too surprised. What may come as a surprise, especially to the gardening novice, is how easy garlic is to grow and when to grow it.

Garlic, unlike its allium sister the onion, generally goes into the ground in the fall, sleeps during the winter, wakes up in the spring, and reaches maturity in the summer. Check with your local extension agency or gardening club to know the best time for planting garlic in your area. A good rule of thumb is 1-2 weeks after the first hard frost, which means the month of October for many gardeners in the northern hemisphere.

"I have read in one of the Marseille newspapers that if certain people find aioli indigestible, it is simply because too little garlic has been included in its confection, a minimum of four cloves per person being necessary."-- Richard Olney, Simple French Food

Knowing your local climate will help you to determine what type to plant. There are hundreds of different garlic varieties, all of them falling into two basic categories: hardneck and softneck. Gardeners living in areas where winters are long and cold will have better results with hardneck varieties, while people living in more moderate climes will probably be better off with soft ones. Once you've decided whether you're a hard or a soft grower, you can further increase your chances of success by researching the geographic origins of the different garlics on the market and finding one that matches with your climate. For example, someone living in the bitter cold north of North America or Europe, will probably have good luck growing a Russian or Siberian variety such as "Bogatyr" or "Choparsky".

Once you know what to plant and when to plant it, you're half done. Garlic is not terribly fussy about its living conditions. Any well-drained, loamy soil with good full sun should produce a decent bulb. As with most other plants, the more organic matter you can gave your garlic, the better. To plant, separate the bulb into individual cloves, placing each clove root end down in a hole or furrow so that the cloves are 2 inches beneath the soil and 6-8 inches apart. Top the soil with 6 or so inches of organic mulch which will serve as your garlic's winter coat. The colder the winter, the warmer the coat, so feel free to add or subtract an inch depending on the severity of your winter.

In the spring, you can help your garlic along by feeding it with a liquid seaweed or fish-based emulsion. You can also anticipate the garlicky meals ahead by harvesting the "scapes", the tender flower stalks that emerge from hardnecks in the spring and make nice additions to soups and salads. For harvesting the bulbs, you'll have to wait a bit longer, until late June or early July in most parts of the US. Watch the leaves to know when to harvest. When half to three quarters have turned yellow-brown, you can dig up a test bulb. The timing of the harvest is important. Dig too early and you'll miss out on the big bulbs, too late and the cloves will start to separate from each other. Garlic can be enjoyed fresh from the ground or cured. To cure your bulbs, hang them in a drafty and dry area out of the sun. Note that certain varieties store better than others, so take that into consideration when planning your garlic garden and gastronomy for the year.

Posted by at 8:42 AM | Permalink

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
-Margaret Mead (1901 - 1978) US anthropologist

MISSION:
Kitchen Gardeners International is a 501c3 nonprofit founded in Maine, USA with friends from around the world. Our mission is to empower individuals, families, and communities to achieve greater levels of food self-reliance through the promotion of kitchen gardening, home-cooking, and sustainable local food systems. In doing so, KGI seeks to connect, serve, and expand the global community of people who grow some of their own food.

BACKGROUND:
The idea for Kitchen Gardeners International was planted by a diverse group of kitchen gardeners who believe that food is central to human well-being and one of the best ways of uniting people of different countries and cultures around a common, positive agenda. It is registered as a 501(c)(3) public charity and governed by a volunteer board of directors with representatives from the United States and Europe. Our network of friends and supporters now includes over 5200 kitchen gardeners from 95 countries with new ones signing up each week.

JUSTIFICATION:

We are growing distant from our food and its sources, both literally and figuratively, to the detriment of our health, our environment, our communities, and our gastronomic enjoyment. Home-food production has been in complete freefall (see chart) over the past several decades. Ingredients for the average meal travel between 1000-2500 miles from field to table, 25% farther than they did 2 decades ago, using up to 17 times more fossil fuels than a meal made with local ingredients.

This physical distancing from our food is accompanied by a cultural and emotional one as more people adopt a fast-food/convenience-food diet. The health effects of this diet are catastrophic, as are the financial costs to our health care system. According to the latest statistics from the American Medical Association, 2/3 of American adults are either overweight or obese. The costs of America’s obesity epidemic exceed $100 billion per year. And the problem is not limited to the US: Europe, Japan, and newly wealthy countries like Brazil and China are all experiencing a significant rise in obesity levels.

In his best-selling book “The Long Emergency” about the gathering global oil crisis, James Howard Kunstler describes a hungry world turned upside down when the industrial food system, dependent on massive oil and gas inputs at gigantic scales of operation can no longer be carried on economically. He concludes that “we will simply have to grow more of our food locally” and calls for a renaissance in small-scale food production.

GOALS
-To provide a structure, virtual and real, for kitchen gardeners worldwide to: meet up with each other; share their passion for food, cooking, and organic gardening; and further their skills and knowledge in these areas;
-To introduce new generations to the joys and benefits of actively participating in one's food production and preparation;
-To inform KGI's supporters and the general public about the many ways of participating in and contributing to a sustainable food system and planet;
-To help individuals and communities, especially disadvantaged populations, to achieve higher levels of food self-reliance;
-To promote cultural exchange and international understanding via a shared love of kitchen gardening.

ACTIVITIES:
-Coordination of "International Kitchen Garden Day" (watch video here), an annual decentralized celebration of kitchen gardening, local food, home cooking, and intercultural exchange around these issues.
-Monthly e-mail newsletter with infomation about food policy, recipes, gardening tips and lessons, ideas for promoting organic kitchen gardens and sharing the harvest with others, etc;
- Coordination of our "Grow-off Show-Off" gardens promotion campaign
- Food for thought videos on youtube.com and other sites
-On-line educational resources concerning organic gardening, composting, cooking, food storage/preservation, seed exchanges, etc;
-Charitable partnership program to help assist kitchen garden projects through technical assistance and funding.
-International educational and networking gatherings where kitchen gardeners could meet up, learn new skills, and share ideas for growing the kitchen garden movement.

FINANCING:
-donations, contributions, and grants from individual donors, members, and charitable foundations

Posted by at 10:06 PM | Permalink

"Find the shortest, simplest way between the earth, the hands, and the mouth."
-Lanza Del Vasto

First and foremost, Kitchen Gardeners love food, both product and process. They do not dream of eating a good tomato, but a true tomato, picked warm and juicy from the vine at the peak of its ripeness. Their enjoyment of the fruit is a complete one because it is inextricably entwined with the memory of the plant in its various stages of development. They taste not only the fruit, but the care and honest labor that went into making it.

In this sense, Kitchen Gardeners are gastronomes of the highest order. Unlike mere foodies who flit from one trendy spot to another in search of instant culinary gratification, Kitchen Gardeners set out roots in a place and begin planning their pleasure months in advance. Visions of pesto are not left for the heart of summer, but begin occupying their heads already in the spring with the purchase of basil seeds or plants.

Their love of food is a complete one that extends beyond the plate to the soil and the natural processes and cycles from which good food comes. Kitchen Gardeners are in tune with the natural world, the weather, and the seasons. They look for ways of working peacefully and harmoniously with nature, rather than fighting against her. They are stewards of the land, whether it be a farm or a window-box.

Kitchen Gardeners more often than not have a strong, independent streak. Rather than worship at the altar of celebrity chefs, they look for practical ways of bringing their own day-to-day cuisine into the realm of the divine by using the best ingredients their land, climate, and skills will allow. Their love of quality and freshness is reflected in the food they buy to supplement and complement their own production. Because Kitchen Gardeners understand where good food comes from and how it is produced, they tend to seek out food that is authentic, local, seasonal, and minimally-processed whenever possible.

Put simply, Kitchen Gardeners are a special breed. They are self-reliant seekers of "the Good Life" who have understood the central role that home-grown and home- cooked food plays in one's well-being. By seeking an active role in their own sustenance, they are modern-day participants in humankind's oldest and most basic activity, offering a critical link to our past and positive vision for our future.

Posted by at 6:20 AM | Permalink