A New Year, A New Schedule
Starting January of 2010, our Sunday workday and potluck will be moved to Saturday. This will begin with our first Saturday workday on January 2nd, and carry on through the new year. Also, the Friday Harvest has been moved to Thursdays. Please help us spread the word, and we hope to see you all for these upcoming workdays! Check our Get Involved page for more info.
Volunteer Appreciation Lunch Success
On December 13th, Veggielution celebrated all of you. After the Sunday workday, we substituted our usual potluck with a volunteer appreciation lunch. Complete with board games, corn bread, six dozen cookies, delicious vegetarian beans and five gallons of homemade chili (with chard and butternut squash from the farm), we took a second to kick back, relax and enjoy each other’s company. On top thanking our volunteers, the lunch doubled as an opportunity for people to express their thoughts about the farm. Despite cold and an intermitten downpour, which sent us all running for an early lunch, the day was well attended. Thanks to all those who helped out with preperation for the lunch. And more importantly, thanks again to all of our dedicated volunteers- you all truly are what makes this farm run!
Compost Donors: Good Karma and Red Berry
We wanted to take a moment to thank our donors. Both Good Karma Vegan Cafe, which is a vegan cafe in downtown SJ, and Red Berrry Coffee Bar, which is also in downtown SJ, make significant contributions to the farm, but in a very different way then most donors. They give us their garbage! Or rather, what might become garbage if these concientscious cafes didn’t go the efforts of saving their food scraps and coffee grounds for us. Veggielution collects this compost weekly and uses it to feed our worm bins. In doing this, these organization are not only helping us cultivate healthy compost, which is essential for local organic agriculture, but also keeping thousands of pounds of perfectly viable food scraps out ofthe landfill each year. We applaud Red Berry and Good Karma for their efforts!
The Fruits (or Vegetables) of our labor
The numbers are in, and they’re definitely something to be proud of! In 2009, Veggielution harvest 3175 pounds of produce. Thanks to all who put their hearts, souls and bodies into making this happen.
We’ve got that warm holiday feeling…
Granted, there have lately been days on the farm where the lettuce all froze, we could see our breath and our toes never thawed out, but our hearts are warm out here at Veggielution. At the end of the holiday season and with a new year upon us, we want to take a second to pause in gratitude and reflection. We on the farm feel an inordinate amount of gratitude for all of the dedicated individuals who have made this endevour possible- volunteers, community members, park staff members, public and private donors, city council members, local restaurants and garden centers, partner organizations, Veggielution staff members, and many more. We are also grateful to the land; we have invested in it and it has returned our efforts. It has provided nourishment to the needy and served as unifier for a diverse group of citizens. It has served as a playground to young volunteers and a classroom to the older ones. It has brought people closer to the land they live on and the food they eat. It was only April of 2008 that the Prusch foundation granted Veggielution the original plot, and only June of 2009 that we broke ground on the back acre. In so little time, we have accomplished so much; it is both heart warming and inspiring to think of what awaits us in this new year.
State of the Farm Address
It’d be easy to think that in these winter months, there is not much going on out in the Veggielution fields. Au contraire, my friends! We are pleased to announce that, as of late, the back half of the acre is fully planted. This includes rows of garlic, onions, peas, lettuce, beets, radishes, and lots of leafy greens. Despite a cold snap, complete with a few nights of hard freezes, our lettuce varieties are thriving. A staff favorite is the Little Gem variety, which is favored for the tidy green bunches it grows in, aptly described by Mark Mederios as “cute”. On top of it’s asthetic appeal, this variety has a smooth texture and satisfying crunch. We are also revelling in brassica heaven out here at Veggielution. For those “less-vegetable-nerdy” readers out there, this is a family of plants which has many cold tolerant vegetables. The brassica family includes broccoli, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, mizuna mustard greens, and let us not forget the favorite of our North Carolina staff members Jessie and Sally, collard greens. Eat up, chilluns!
Veggie of the Month: Mizuna Mustard Greens
Mustard greens are members of the Brassica family, along with cole crops such as broccoli and kale, but usually have a more pungent, peppery flavor. They’re all also called cruciferous vegetables, because of their yellow, cross-shaped flowers. The mustard you put on sandwiches is made from the seeds of mustard plants; some of you harvested mustard seed from back acreage last summer, and made it into a delectable condiment at the workshop we had.
This time of year, we eat leaves and greens, rather than the fruits that need summer heat to grow. Many Asian greens are varieties of mustard, including mizuna, bok choy and choi sum. Mustard greens are popular in African, Southern US and Indian and Pakistani cooking as well. The entire plant is edible, with some varieties selected for their leaves and some for their fleshy stalks.
Sarson da Saag is a Punjabi dish, where a mustard greens puree is served with a tarka, spices heated in ghee, which is poured over the vegetable.
Sarson da Saag
Photo from http://soulfulcooking.blogspot.com
1 lb mizuna mustard greens
1 inch-long knob fresh ginger
2 fresh jalapeño chiles, or 1/4 teaspoon dried cayenne pepper
3 Tablespoons ghee or butter salt to taste
Wash the mustard greens very well, and chop roughly. Leaving them wet, put them in a pot and cook, covered, over medium heat until they are wilted. Puree with any liquid in the pot.
Peel and mince the ginger and the garlic. Remove the stem and seeds from the jalapeños and mince very fine.
In a small skillet over low, melt the butter. Add the spices and cook, stirring, until fragrant. Put the pureed greens on a serving platter, and make a depression on top. Pour in the butter mixture, and season with salt.
Get Involved….
Please join us at our new harvest or workday times!
Tuesday: Harvest 8:30a-10a
Wednesday: Workday 2p-4:30p
Thursday: Harvest 8:30a-10a
Saturday: Workday10a-12:30p, Potluck 12:30p-1:30p
Subscribe
Join our email list to receive this newsletter. (in case this was forwarded to you)
