If you could choose between a golden egg and golden goose, which would you choose? Unless you live in a small apartment or have a severe case of goosaphobia, you'd be birdbrained not to choose the bird. Not only would it provide you with golden eggs, but also a little "black gold" for your compost pile.

This fairy-tale choice is so clear that you'd think it'd be easy for us to see similar real-world opportunities, but many of them literally slip right through our fingers each year in the form of seeds. When we plant seeds, most of us are thinking "eggs" when we should be thinking "geese" and I include myself in this group. I don't do nearly as much seedsaving as I could. I don't have just one excuse but a whole list of them which, conveniently for me, is the same list I use for not flossing my teeth.

While I'm still a bit birdbrained about seedsaving, I can proudly say that my garden has become the golden goose of garlic production. Not only did it produce enough to meet my family’s needs for a whole year, but we grew enough bulbs that we didn't have to buy any seed garlic. The bulbs we harvested last summer and cloves we planted last fall are now producing a bountiful harvest of garlic scapes just as our storage bulbs are running out. And the next crop of fresh bulbs won't be far behind insuring the cycle continues.

I realize that one suburban family's supply of garlic may seem like a small victory for global food security, but garlic's more of a bellwether crop than you might think. It can be successfully grown in diverse soils and climates, used in a wide variety of dishes and yet it’s a crop which curiously few home gardeners grow themselves. Why? I imagine that many take it for granted because garlic like so many other foods these days has been set "free" upon the world and is no longer bounded by the seasons and geography. It's available whenever, wherever, and however we want it, in bulbs, minced, and flaked.

When we dig deeper, though, we learn that what appears to be the free market at work is not quite what it seems. China accounts for 78% of the world's garlic production while the US ranks fifth with 1.4%, the majority of that coming from a single county (Santa Clara) in California. So, technically-speaking, garlic shoppers at large US grocery stores do have a choice, Chinese or Californian, but it’s not nearly as big or diverse as they think.

With July 4th and other independence day celebrations just around the corner, people will have other options to ponder as they plan their holiday meals. For too many in the US, the “choices” will be Bud or Miller or an industrially-produced hotdog or an industrially-produced hamburger. I don’t know about you, but I think our national holiday deserves better than barbecued mystery-meat and water-flavored beer. I am encouraging everyone I know (and 50 governors I don't know) to think outside the big box store mentality this July 4th by sourcing their holiday meals as locally, sustainably, and directly as they can. In doing so, we discover other ways of procuring good foods and eating that are better for us, our local farmers, our health and that of the planet.

Moving towards food independence doesn't mean having to do everything and grow everything on our own. It's about learning what we, our soils, climate, and local farmers can produce, effortlessly or with some coaxing, and committing to eat more of these things when nature offers them up to us. In doing so, we discover that we have more choices and freedom than we realized.

Plus, in striving for greater food independence for yourself, your family and community, you’ll be joining a revolutionary tradition that transcends time, cultures and borders. The battle for food independence is inextricably entwined with the history of political independence. Whether it’s the “Sons of Liberty” tossing crates of tea into Boston Harbor or hungry French peasants storming the Bastille armed only with farm tools and stale baguettes (a lethal weapon, if you've ever been on the business end of one), history offers inspiring examples of what small bands of people can achieve when they put their mind to something.

So, don’t just celebrate your independence this summer, savor it in all its freshness, localness, and drip-down-your-chin juiciness. We can’t know it for sure, but I suspect it’s what the “Founding Farmers” would want us to do.

This article and accompanying artwork are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. If you choose to republish them, please include a link to http://foodindependenceday.org.

As a 14-year-old, she picked up a spade and joined with the rest of wartime Britain in the Dig for Victory campaign. Seven decades later, though no longer wielding the spade herself, the Queen, 83, has again embraced the "grow your own" movement.

For the first time since the war, fruit and vegetables are to be found in an allotment-sized plot in the gardens of Buckingham Palace. Called the Yard Bed, Buckingham Palace's 4x10 metre plot is in a challenging, north-facing area to the garden's rear, tight up against the Gardeners' Yard. "Not ideal, but it is the only open space available, because everything is so landscaped," admitted deputy gardens manager Claire Midgley, 32, one of eight gardeners at the palace.

Challenging Prince Charles in the eco-stakes, chemicals have been banned. Liquid seaweed is being used to feed the plants and garlic to deter aphids. Mulch from the palace compost heap was used to bed in and the palace borehole will irrigate the crops. Any weeds will be burned by a machine using the same liquefied petroleum gas that powers Prince Philip's taxi, which he has used for decades to drive himself anonymously around the capital.

In 1918, as part of Queen Mary's war-time austerity drive, the 175-yard herbaceous border was ripped out and planted with "an abundance of royal turnips", a historic moment captured on film and preserved by the British Film Institute. During the second world war, the same border was again employed, though for a more varied crop, as food rationing gripped Britain and encouraged George VI to enforce the government's message and coax yield from every available patch of earth. Vegetables were also grown at Windsor Castle, where Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret spent the war.

Today, there are no turnips. Instead, a charitable organisation, Garden Organic, has donated six suitably named rare varieties from its Heritage Seed Library to be nurtured on the allotment. Thus climbing French bean Blue Queen and dwarf French bean Royal Red are already planted and to follow will be Northern Queen lettuce, and Golden Queen, Queen of Hearts and White Queen tomatoes. Surrounded by sage, other crops already in situ include Beefsteak and Sun Baby tomatoes, runner beans, Stuttgarter onions, Musselburgh leeks, Fly Away carrots, Red Ace beetroot, broad beans, chard and sweetcorn.

Garden Organic's chief executive, Myles Bremner, said: "The fact that this is the first time that food has been grown at the palace since the second world war will undoubtedly bring about the Dig for Victory analogies, but the challenges for self sufficiency and a need to re-skill a generation in how to feed itself resonate even now. What is important is to put people back in touch with food and how to grow, and hopefully the palace allotment will be a driver getting more people to achieve this."

Article source: The Guardian

A garlic clove is a powerful little piece of protoplasm to which few are indifferent. Some people are addicted to the pungent bulb, others flee in horror. Love affairs have been aborted by its scent, but more are launched by a cook's skill in harnessing it. A kitchen that smells of garlic says, "Make yourself at home."

Among garlic growers there are divisions as well. Some favor fall planting, for larger bulbs and an earlier harvest. Others opt for the more old-fashioned method of planting in spring, which produces longer keepers. It's possible, of course, to do both. Less easily resolved is the issue of whether or not to cut off the scapes that form before the plants mature.

A garlic scape is simply its flower stem, and in general, it is only produced by the traditional hardneck types as opposed to the modern domesticated softnecks. By the time a hardneck garlic plant's underground head of delicious cloves has matured, its stem is rather hard and topped with clusters of tiny bulbils, also called topsets. These are miniature garlics that can be sown to form new plants, but the common advice is to remove the scapes when they appear and let the plant put its energy into higher yields of garlic heads. On the other hand, research at the University of Minnesota has shown that if the soil is fertile enough, yields are little affected by leaving the scapes on, and the garlic may store better as well. I've also had good yields from this method. Besides, garlic scapes are beautiful to look at in the field, especially those rocambole types that curl round and round in clownish circles.

There is, however, one good reason to cut at least a few of your scapes early on. They make wonderful eating. Snap off a few while they are still green and succulent and try them. If I am planning to cut a scape into segments, I remove any tough part at the bottom, as well as the round bud and its long, pointed "whisker," which is tougher than the stem itself. I'll toss these tender segments into stir-fries, mixed vegetables, pasta dishes or anything to which I'd like to impart a fresh, green, mild garlicky flavor. They are transcendent with eggplant and roasted tomatoes.

You can also leave the scapes whole, just for the wonderful loopy, bulb-tipped shape. Grill or roast these eccentric coils, slathering them with olive oil and allowing them to caramelize yet still keep their bright green color and a bit of firmness. Then encircle a hearty, meat-laden platter with them, letting diners nibble, with their fingers, whatever parts they find tasty. For most, it will be a new discovery worthy of a "yes" vote, hands down.

Article copyright of Barbara Damrosch. Reprinted with permission.

White House chef Sam Kass recently took Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies on a tour of the new White House garden and spoke with him about the importance of a healthy diet.

In case you didn't know it, KGI and its members played an important role in advocating for a new kitchen garden at the White House through its wildly popular Eat the View campaign. You can watch our campaign highlight reel here: http://docs.google.com/Present?docid=ddsrgmc3_157fq4qwrgd

Q I’ve spaced out my cabbage and broccoli plants, but there’s a lot of unplanted soil between them. Can I use it to grow other plants?

A Interplanting – planting a fast-growing crop in between a slower-growing one – is an excellent way to use that unplanted space. It also boosts yields without expanding your garden. To use this technique, first plant a slower-growing, longer-season crop, such as onions, leeks, peppers, tomatoes, Brussels sprouts, eggplant, or, as in this photo, corn using the standard recommended spacing. Then fill the space in between the slower-growing plants with fast-to-mature crops such as leaf lettuce, radishes, beets, bush beans, or spinach. The fast-growing crops will be ready for harvest by the time the slower-growing ones have grown large enough to need all the space.

Reprinted from The Veggie Gardener's Answer Book
Copyright 2008 by Barbara W. Ellis, with permission from Storey Publishing.

Photo credit: Pesticide Action Network

"The fact that the Obama's put a garden at the White House is not only a symbolic gesture, but it’s also a very tangibly successful one. I just put in a garden myself, I was inspired," he added proudly. "I’m growing zucchini, lettuce, tomatoes, strawberries and corn."

It never fails. You read a recipe for asparagus and no matter what kind of recipe it is: steamed, grilled, stir-fried, whatever, you will be instructed to break off the tough ends and "save them for soup.”

End of story. Nobody ever tells you how to make this kind of asparagus soup. And you know if you’ve ever tried it that soups that are not asparagus soup are not improved by having a few asparagus ends thrown in.

So. The following recipe is made - primarily - from tough asparagus ends. It’s easy, inexpensive and delicious hot or cold. Because asparagus ends are tough and stringy even after they’ve been cooked to death, you do have to use a food mill to get a velvety puree, but that’s the price of frugality. If you want to just throw it into a processor, you have to use tender asparagus (see note at end of the post).

Cream of Asparagus Soup

Ingredients
1 ½ pounds of asparagus ( roughly 2 bunches) is usually enough to make 4 servings of soup and 4 servings of asparagus-as-veg. , but the recipe works with whatever quantity you’ve got.
sweet onion such as Vidalia
basmati or other flavorful white rice
heavy cream, preferably not ultra pasteurized although at this point that’s wishful thinking in a lot of places

Procedure
1. Break the asparagus spears where they break naturally and set the tough ends aside. Divide the tender ends into 2 piles, one a little more than twice as big as the other. Refrigerate the larger pile until you want it for vegetable purposes. Chop the smaller pile into 1 inch chunks and set aside.
2. Trim off and discard any really hard white ends of the tough ends. Chop the remainder into ½ inch chunks and measure into a large saucepan.
3. Add 1/2 cup coarsely chopped onion, 1 ½ tablespoons rice, and 2 cups water per cup of ends.
4. Cover and cook over low heat until the vegetables are soft and the rice is fully cooked, about 40 minutes. Add the chopped tender asparagus, recover the pan and cook until vegetables are very soft and the rice is a fluffy mush, about 20 minutes more.
5. Put the whole works through a food mill into a clean saucepan ( for hot soup) or a heatproof bowl (for cold). Stir in 1/3 cup cream for each cup of asparagus ends. Reheat the hot. Chill the cold. Taste. Add salt as needed. That’s it.

To make the soup using a processor or blender: Follow the proportions in the recipe, using tender asparagus uppers instead of ends. The only thing that changes is timing: Cook the onions and rice in the water for 20 minutes or so before adding the first batch of chopped asparagus. After that, it’s exactly the same except a processor is marginally easier to wash than a food mill and takes less manual effort to employ.

Leslie Land is a food and garden writer who divides her time between Maine and New York. For more information and recipes like this, please see her website and blog: http://leslieland.com.

Creative Commons photo credit: Quintana Roo

“Slow foods,” “sustainable agriculture,” “food miles” and “locavore,” have become familiar terms these days. They all focus on our desire to have healthier, better-tasting, fresh produce grown with less harmful impact on our environment. An often proposed solution is to encourage the creation of small farms within 50 miles of urban areas and use farmers markets and local organic food stores as a means of distribution.

But as the cost of land near urban areas rise and the price of fuel goes up, the financial viability of these farms comes into question. Sammy Koenigsberg, a well-known organic farmer from New Town Farms in Waxhaw, NC, often says the demand for local foods is now so high, the few local farmers can’t keep up with it. “With the land prices around the city driven up by housing markets, the land is no longer economically feasible to farm unless it is owned family land.” He cites labor costs and property taxes as some of the biggest obstacles.

So where can we find affordable land closer to the city? Some have proposed taking over vacant lots and starting small gardens there. Community gardens have also gained popularity. But there’s a solution to the problem of finding fresh, organic produce straight from The Wizard of Oz… “there’s no place like home!” …your back yard!

There is enough open land in back yards in Mecklenburg County to equal hundreds of organic farms. But instead of having to truck the produce to a central location and then have buyers drive each week to pick it up, micro-farms allow your “food miles” to become “food yards.” By picking your produce fresh when you need it, there’s no need for refrigeration or storage, and the average age of your salad can be measured in minutes, not days or weeks. The flavor and nutrition will be at the absolute max. It’s like having a fresh produce pantry in your own back yard. Best of all, children growing up with a garden learn about nature and establish a lifelong love for fresh vegetables and healthy eating.

When homeowners can choose exactly what they want to eat, they customize the size of their micro-farm and grow just the number of plants they need, no more no less. Small gardens mean the owners can give extra attention to managing a few plants instead of having to oversee hundreds. By selecting heirloom seeds, the crops will have outstanding flavor and their unique appearance means your garden will be as ornamental as it is productive – a real conversation starter!

The interest in back yard gardening has swept across the country. Although ornamental seed and plant sales have declined this year, vegetable seed sales are up 20-30% while sales of organic and heirloom seeds are up 40-50% as reported by Burpee, Park Seed, and other leading seed suppliers. Some say they’re having problems keeping up with demand.

I advocate the use of raised bed gardens. You build a box over your existing soil and fill it with inexpensive potting mix (no synthetic fertilizers, please!) Because it’s weedless soil, you bypass the weeding, which is two-thirds of the work of a garden and something I absolutely hate. By using organic fertilizers like worm castings you begin with perfect soil, which means healthy plants that resist bugs and diseases – no need for harmful pesticides or herbicides. If you do have a problem it is usually a specific pest on a specific plant and you can easily look up the safest solution. Your workload disappears - all you do is plant once a season and water twice a week - a must for today’s busy families.

So join the micro-farm movement. Eat healthy, tasty food, and save money while you help the planet one micro-farm at a time.

Master Gardener and with 20 years experience in organic home gardening, Don Rosenberg started Instant Organic Garden in 2006 and now installs raised bed gardens in the greater Charlotte, North Carolina area. His recent book, "No Green Thumb Required! Organic Family Gardening Made Easy" shows how anyone can enjoy a back yard garden with no digging, tilling or weeding – perfect for today’s busy families! For more info, see: www.instantorganicgarden.com

Creative Commons photo credit: Chiot's Run

Summer is one month away, but I'm already preparing a giant picnic in the back yard. From the swelling of the first pea to the fall of the last apple, grandchildren and other visitors will come to graze the garden, a tablecloth spread for random snacks and the household's year-round supply of produce. This hospitality requires that the garden be pesticide-free. The kids are too young and I am too old to keep track of the "safe days to harvest" one must observe every time a poison is applied to food. More important, I've found in my years of gardening that such a program is unnecessary.

My approach to unwelcome insects consists of a few steps that have stood me in good stead. Here they are, in order of chronology and level of importance:

Step 1. Enlist the help of natural predators by maintaining a nontoxic environment. Keep the yard safe for birds, predatory wasps, lady beetles, toads, frogs and hundreds of other creatures that eat garden pests. Eliminating too many pests by spraying can backfire by robbing predators of their food and thereby decreasing their numbers. Also, any pests that survive spraying are apt to breed offspring with pesticide-resistant traits.

Step 2. Grow healthy plants. Plants under stress are more vulnerable to bugs and diseases, so try to give a plant what it needs. If you see predation, tick off the things the plant might lack, and consider whether another variety might do better. Plants need:

-- Soil rich in organic matter, with a wide range of nutrients and an aerated, friable structure.

-- Adequate light, water and air circulation.

Step 3. If a pest shows up in large numbers, use mechanical means to save the crop. Hand-picking, though tedious, can usually reduce enough numbers, especially with large creatures such as tomato hornworms, potato beetles (the eggs, the larvae and the adults) and Japanese beetles. That also works for cutworms, which sleep just under the soil surface next to plants they've nibbled. A vacuum cleaner with a slot attachment works well for insects easily startled into motion, such as leafhoppers and cucumber beetles. Tent caterpillars can be poked out of their nests and drowned. Aphids and mites can be knocked off with water from a hose. Simple traps, such as boards or half-filled bottles of beer on their sides, will capture slugs and snails.

Step 4. Erect barriers. If you are expecting a visit from a frequent pest, spread a floating row cover over crops before it can move in. Potato beetles, carrot flies and root maggots on brassicas are easily controlled this way.

Step 5. As a last resort, apply only the most harmless, selective, targeted treatment, such as a squirt of vegetable oil to the young silks of corn ears to foil earworms. Even supposedly benign products such as Bt, rotenone and agricultural soap sprays carry a price tag in terms of money, time and risk to the environment.

Step 6. See Step 1.

Article copyright of Barbara Damrosch. Reprinted with permission.
Creative Commons photo credit: BugMan50

Q. Why is it important to know whether my soil is clayey or sandy?

A You need to know because it will affect when and how you plant and water your garden. Clay soil is very heavy when wet. It holds water and nutrients but stays wet and cool for a long time in spring, so you may have to plant your crops later than the standard recommended time. When it’s dry, the soil can be as hard as cement, and naturally, plant roots don’t fare too well in those conditions! Sandy soil is gritty and doesn’t hold together well; water drains through it quickly. It’s easy to plant in sandy soil, because it warms up and dries out quickly in spring, but it requires more frequent watering, and more added organic matter to keep crops from suffering nutrient stress. Loamy soil, which contains a relatively equal mix of clay, sand, and silt, is ideal for vegetable gardening.

Reprinted from The Veggie Gardener's Answer Book
Copyright 2008 by Barbara W. Ellis, with permission from Storey Publishing.

It seems like a pretty innocent idea, doesn't it? Planting an organic vegetable garden in your yard so that your kids can eat fresh, nutritious, safe food. But now that Michelle Obama has gone and done it, big agriculture is terrified that we'll all follow her example. First came a letter addressed to her from the Mid America CropLife Association, which represents the chemical fertilizer and pesticide industries, urging the first lady to give "conventional" agriculture equal time. One of the authors separately told association members that the thought of an organic garden at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. made her "shudder." And an industrial agriculture media group, CropLife, started an online letter-writing campaign to encourage Obama to use synthetic pesticides, euphemistically called "crop protection products," which her effort seemed to impugn.

Such a response might seem comical if it did not highlight so clearly the fear these industries try to inspire to convince us that our world would crumble without them. The association's letter asked Obama, "If Americans were still required to farm to support their family's basic food and fiber needs, would the U.S. have been leaders in the advancement of science, communication, education, medicine, transportation and the arts?" It goes on to explain that nobody has time to grow their own food. The message: Leave food production to the experts.

The fact is, Americans are planting peas, carrots and potatoes in surging numbers, partly out of economic necessity and partly out of dissatisfaction with the nation's commercial food supply. And a lot of these new gardeners are using organic methods. The Obamas' garden is a great example to follow, but it's also just a sign of the times.

Maybe the pesticide ads, with their military rhetoric, aren't working anymore. Perhaps gardeners are taking a wait-and-see attitude about stocking their sheds with an arsenal of poisons. What if we staged a war against the beetles and the caterpillars and it turned out there were no weapons of mass destruction to be found, only the odd nibbling pest here and there to pick off and squish? What if we found that well-rotted manure and homemade compost, patterned on the natural world's fertility program, grew plants better than something sold in a bottle? When gardeners nurture the life in their soil by keeping it free of harsh products that might imperil it, they often find that there is nothing they have to buy except for a few seeds. That's dangerous knowledge.

The great dark secret is that nature is generous and determined to make plants grow. Much of how this happens is still a mystery and a worthy study for our country's best scientific minds. It is also a worthy subject for you, and if you are naturally curious you can learn a lot from your garden. Meanwhile, grow some tomatoes. You're in charge.

Article copyright of Barbara Damrosch. Reprinted with permission.
Creative Commons photo credit: Green Colander

In 2006, we reported on the troubling plight of Los Angeles' South Central farmers. Their gardens have since been plowed under, but their story lives on in the form of the Oscar-nominated film titled simply "The Garden." The film is being released nationwide in select theaters, perhaps one near you. Check it out if you can and use it as a way of organizing energy in your community on behalf of the gardening and good food cause.

The Garden is playing the theaters below and is available on DVD.

05/15 Phoenix, AZ, Valley Art
05/15 Washington, DC, E-Street
05/21 Hudson NY, Time & Space Ltd
05/22 Santa Rosa CA, Rialto Lakeside
05/22 Waterville ME, Railroad Square
05/22 Boston MA, Coolidge Corner
05/29 Amherst MA, Amherst Theatre
05/29 Salt Lake City UT, Broadway Theatre
06/05 Grand Rapids MI, UICA
06/09 Normal IL, Normal Theatre
06/11 Saratoga NY, Saratoga Film Forum
06/12 Portland OR, Hollywood Theatre
06/12 Tallahassee FL, Regal Miracle 5
06/12 Charlotte NC, Regal Park Terrace
06/19 Tucson AZ, The Loft
06/26 Houston TX, Museum of Fine Art
06/26 Austin TX, Alamo
07/03 Nashville TN, Belcourt Theatre
07/24 Santa Fe NM, CCA

Q The instructions on seed packets refer to starting seeds or transplanting seedlings a certain number of weeks before the last frost date. What is this?

A Gardeners mark the growing season according to the last spring and first fall frost dates for their area. The last spring frost date is the average date when temperatures dip below freezing for a particular area. It is a useful benchmark for timing when to start seeds so transplants will be ready to move to the garden at the proper time. The last spring frost date is also useful for timing transplanting: Cold-tolerant crops like cabbage can be transplanted to the garden several weeks before the last spring frost, whereas heat-loving plants like peppers shouldn’t be moved outdoors until several weeks after it. The first fall frost date is the date when temperatures typically dip below freezing for the first time. It is used to time sowing and planting for fall crops.

Keep in mind that these dates are based on averages, and the last spring or first fall frost in your garden in any given year may occur before or after the published dates for your area. Check the Internet or your local Cooperative Extension Service for information on your area.

Reprinted from The Veggie Gardener's Answer Book
Copyright 2008 by Barbara W. Ellis, with permission from Storey Publishing.

KGI founder, Roger Doiron, now has a green heart to match his green thumb. Last Thursday, he received the Heart of Green "Ground Breaker" award for his work in promoting healthy kitchen gardens and in successfully encouraging the Obamas to replant one at the White House.

The Heart of Green Awards recognize individuals and organizations that help green go mainstream -- taking it to the heart of the American people. Other winners included Frances Beinecke, president of Natural Resources Defense Council; Deidre Imus, founder of the Deirdre Imus Environmental Center for Pediatric Oncology; author, model and designer Summer Rayne Oakes; actresses Alicia Silverstone and Gloria Reuben; model and television host Maria Menounos; Greg Perry, who is developing the "Ultimate Green Classroom" with his class; Jennifer Canty, owner of the electronics refurbishing business Dyscern; as well as Planet Green and New York City.

Organized by Hearst Media's TheDailyGreen.com and sponsored by eBay's Green Team, the star-studded ceremony took place at the LEED gold-certified Hearst Tower in New York City.

See photos from the event here
Watch the other acceptance speeches here

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Roger Doiron is the Heart of Green's "Ground Breaker" Honoree for 2009
Who is the voice for the backyard gardening movement? Who reminds us of the simple pleasures and enduring wisdom of harvesting our own food? Who relentlessly asks the commonsense question: Why does the White House have 18 acres of grass, and no vegetable garden?

We love Doiron’s populist foodie vision. The KGI website answers the question, "What Is a Kitchen Gardener?" In part: "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." For reminding us all how easy and good it is to grow our own food, Roger Doiron is a 2009 Heart of Green award winner.