Growing Together- Gardening as Community Building

     Building community is never easy.  It takes commitment and work.  Given our new habits of social networking, and our practice of ‘cocooning’ (coming home from work and driving into the garage and not to be seen again until the garage door opens the next morning and we drive away), and the distances that separate us, is it any wonder that fashioning a community is hard to do?  But that is exactly what we are trying to do at the Bethel Community—not just growing vegetables, but also growing community. 
     We Bethel Community gardeners come from a number of communities (Bethel, the Hispanic church across the road, the mobile home park, etc.) already.  We, your mentors, come from north of Battle Ground, Venersborg, and Salmon Creek.
     But our Bethel Community Garden is all about building relationships…and building community.  And that—in many ways—that is counter-cultural.  While societal drift is toward increasing isolation and generational separation, we are trying to reverse the trend by bring people together around food and enhancement of the environment.
     This year, we are talking about regular evening gathering around the sharing of food (and recipes)...and sharing our lives together.  I hope that the first gathering will be in mid-July.  Also, we are thinking about seasonal celebrations the mark the turning of the seasons (we had a Vernal Equinox observance in March).  We are looking for more ways (including our new blog) of connecting members of our gardening community…and building a community that will strengthen and inspire us all. – Joe

Recipe: Basil Pasta Salad

Hello Bethel Gardeners!

This is one of my favorite recipes of all time. Pasta Salad is perfect for the use of early summer garden produce, because you can use the first bits and pieces of the tomatoes and peppers that come in. And Basil! One of the most amazing tasting herbs. I hope you enjoy!

Garden Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Fresh Basil (Pack a measuring cup full)

1 to 1 1/2 Cups Bell Peppers, Finely Chopped (Different colors are fun)

About 2 Medium Tomatoes, Finely Chopped (Or cherry tomatoes, an amount to your liking)

  

16 Ounces Pasta

2/3 Cup Oil

3 TB Red Wine Vinegar

3 Cloves Garlic

1 TB Oregano (Fresh or Dried) 

1/4 Tsp Black Pepper

 Salt (To taste)

8 oz. Feta Cheese (or More to taste)

Start by cooking the pasta. After draining, rinse well with cold water to bring the temperature down.

While the pasta is cooking, chop the tomatoes and peppers. It's good if the pieces are small, so you get a variety of flavors in each bite.

In a blender or food processor, combine basil, oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, and oregano.

Mix everything together with the pasta, including the feta, salt, and pepper to your liking.

Enjoy this delicious salad bursting with summer flavor!

Growing Together- Winter Farmer’s Market?

        Every fall there comes a time when the local Farmer’s Markets close down….leaving a huge gap in our food sources and entertainment.  Sally and I miss the stimulation of walking the market and buying fresh food and a bite of food.  While reading the book, Good Food: Grounded Practical Theology by Jennifer Ayres, I came across her reference to a Winter Farmer’s Market sponsored by Faith in Place, and hosted by local churches.
    Twice monthly, through the long Chicago winter, farmers and craftspeople come from as far away as 400 miles to the Winter Farmer’s Market.  What is sold?  Winter vegetables, of course, but also canned goods, pastries, eggs, fiber arts, spices, meats, and oils…mushrooms, even!
     It struck me that a Winter Farmer’s Market could be a real opportunity for service, for community-building, as well as for food and for profit here in the Brush Prairie/Battle Ground area.  What do you think?  Is this a project worthy of our efforts and energy?  If so, let’s start thinking and dreaming now to see what we might be able to put together in late November when the Markets are closed and the Bazaars are over!
     One step I will take when I return from China is to plan and plant a fall and winter garden.  The possibilities and varieties of food plants are nearly endless in our temperate climate (and they predict a mild winter to come!).  When I get home I will start dreaming in earnest about this intriguing idea.
     In the meantime, happy and productive gardening! – Joe

What are these Holes in my Potato Leaves?

Looks like Bethel Community Garden has Flea Beetles. This is not a very big problem. Flea Beetles are fairly common in this area, and hatch during damp, cool spring conditions. We imagine this will lessen as the season progresses. They can also effect Tomatoes, Lettuces, and Cole Crops. Leaf feedings damage plant appearance. It takes 20% to 30% foliage damage to effect yield.

Indications of flea beetle damage to plants:
-Leaves look like they've been peppered with fine shot. There may be hundreds of tiny holes in a single leaf.
-When plants are disturbed, tiny black insects jump.
-Heavily damaged plants may be wilted or stunted.
-Potatoes have surface scars or deeper holes bored into them, causing discoloration.

Please continue to keep your beds and paths weeded. Flea Beetles can jump 3 feet from weeds to our garden plants, and weeds are potential food sources and hibernation sites.

If you recognize this problem on your plants, control is recommended.
Just out of courtesy to your fellow gardeners. Although these bugs aren’t a big deal, we want to keep them from spreading to neighboring beds.

For more information on prevention and control, read WSU Master Gardeners “Beating Flea Beetles”.
http://clark.wsu.edu/volunteer/mg/gm_tips/fleabeetles.html

Feel free to contact Garden Mentors with your questions.

Saturday Gathering- 200+ Free Tomato and Veggie Starts!

Fellow Bethel Community Gardeners,

Come join us at 1:00pm on Saturday, May 24 to select your free tomato plants, and get them in the ground. 

Joe Aalbue and Dean Sutera have raised about 200 tomato plants, with over 15 varieties ready for your selection.

While you're there planting, please weed the areas around your beds... Let's keep our garden one of the best in the county!

See you on Saturday, May 24 for free tomatoes and a chance to share some gardening time with each other.

Thank You,

Dean Sutera
Garden Coordinator

TOMATOES

HEIRLOOM
Amana Orange: 75-90 days—(I)—large, late, flavorful, low-acid…tall vines need staking

Amish Paste: 85 days—(I)—oblong, ox-heart shape…8oz…solid with outstandingly good, sweet flavor

Black Prince: 70 days—(?)—5oz…round & very uniform…deep blackish-purple …deep, sweet & rich flavor…use fresh or in salsa & sauce…from Irkutsk, Siberia

Black Truffle: 75 days—(I)—6-8oz…pear-shaped…deep burgundy…deep & rich flavor…high in sugar & acid…use fresh or in salsa & sauce…from Siberia

Brandywine: 80 days—(I)—exceptional, rich, succulent flavor…1-1½ lbs…Amish heirloom since 1885

Chalk’s Early Jewel: 70-80 days—(I)—heavy yields of 4-6oz red fruit…good flavor balance…developed by James Chalk in the 1800’s and introduced in 1910

Cherokee Purple: 85 days—(I)—vigorous, produces slightly flattened, 13-14 oz. fruit with purple cast and a good, rich flavor…shoulders remain green when ripe…good producer

Cour di Bue: 70 days—(?)—12oz heart-shaped fruit….sweet taste great fro fresh eating & cooking…large, vigorous vines

Pineapple: 90 days—(I)—huge, meaty (up to 2lb.) red & yellow streaked…full-bodied flavor and strong vines

PASTE
Doucet’s Plum Producer: early—(?)—hard, 4oz with exceptionally high yields… outstanding early paste

Principe Bourghese: 80 days—(D)—small 1” by 2” and prolific and fragrant…can be dried and used in winter sauces and cooking…can be stored well into the fall

Roma: 78 days—(D)—paste, sauces & canning…compact vines…large harvests of 3” long fruit…pear-shaped, thick-walled and solid…good flavor

San Marzano: 90 days—(I)—large, open plants produce enormous, meaty fruit measuring 2½ ” wide & 7” long.  Ruby red tomatoes with green streaked shoulders and very few seeds.

EARLY
Glacier: 58 days—(D)—very flavorful 2-3oz. fruit…sweet and rich

Plainsman: —(?)—6oz…vivid red, globe-shaped fruit…heavy yield…small, compact plant

LATE
Dzruba: 80-85 days—(I)—from Bulgaria…4-6oz…perfectly smooth and round with deep red color…right combination of sweetness and tartness…juicy & blemish free

San Marzano: 90 days—(I)—large, open plants produce enormous, meaty fruit measuring 2½ ” wide & 7” long.  Ruby red tomatoes with green streaked shoulders and very few seeds.

SMALL
Isis Candy: 67 days—(I)—yellow-gold cherry tomatoes with red marbling…sweet, rich & fruity taste…3/4”…very productive throughout  a long season

+San Marzano: 90 days—(I)—large, open plants produce enormous, meaty fruit measuring 2½ ” wide & 7” long.  Ruby red tomatoes with green streaked shoulders and very few seeds.

BLACK
Black Krim: 75-90 days—(I)—dark brown-red…10-12oz…hint of saltiness…seems to set well even in heat…prone to cracking…heavy producer…from Black Sea

+San Marzano: 90 days—(I)—large, open plants produce enormous, meaty fruit measuring 2½ ” wide & 7” long.  Ruby red tomatoes with green streaked shoulders and very few seeds.

BEEFSTEAK
Kraska Pink Bulgarian: mid—(I)—medium to large flat pink beefsteak type

Growing Together- The Wonder of Nature

I took an Orchard class this winter and early spring.  It was time to learn to care for my orchard—old trees and new.  What I learned first of all, was that I didn’t know very much and had made a raft of mistakes in tree selection, planting, training and pruning.
     In the third class, we learned how to graft and were given a root stock and a scion (fruitwood) to graft onto it.  I went through the motions with not much hope that the graft would take.  It was a first time attempt and a rather demanding process.
     But, when I checked the little tree about a month later, it was putting on growth both below and above the graft.  Amazing!  The graft worked…and I did it myself.  I can hardly wait for winter to collect scions and start grafting like crazy next spring.
     But that is not the end of the story.  Yesterday I was showing a friend my herb garden where I had ‘parked’ my little tree.  I looked at it…and looked again!  Above the graft were not only leaves, but also a cluster of blossoms.  What a wonder!
     My little grafted tree is preparing to produce fruit (Akane apples).  I will have to find out if I should pull the blossoms for this year, but still, what a wonder nature is! 
     Nature will overcome our ignorance, ineptitude and indifference, and, if given a chance, return to us a bounty.  That’s why I love gardening…so much to learn and such a forgiving, generous nature! 
     I hope that your hands are sunk deep in the good earth and the bounty is starting. – Joe

Growing Together- On Distance and Community

     Recently I was part of a Board meeting that went on several days.  We meet face-to-face only twice a year.  The rest of the time we conduct business and keep in touch by e-mail (I know, I know—so retro!), but it works for us…sort of.
     I discovered at our latest Board meeting the importance of face-to-face contact.
     One of our members for a number of reasons has missed a couple of Board meetings and as the months went by, I experienced a sort of drifting disconnect.  We still communicated regularly by e-mail, but it really wasn’t enough to stay ‘connected.’  And, when you are not ‘connected,’ you start to feel the distance between you.
     When you feel the distance between you, you can start to imagine all sorts of things that are separating you…or could separate you.  So, the distance between you broadens and deepens, and your negative imagination runs rampant.
     We used Skype this last Board meeting, and, though it is not entirely satisfactory, it did help to bridge this emotional gap.  Communications were improved and connections were strengthened.
     What has this to do with community gardening and specifically Bethel Community Garden?  I don’t know my community gardeners very well (and in some cases, I don’t know them at all).  We are like ships passing in the night—seeds sown here and plants planted there appearing as if my magic.
     Who, for example, is doing such a good job with tomatoes in Bed 18, or what is that kind of squash in Bed 4?  How do I find out?  Whom do I ask?
     Community depends on communication and connection.
     That we will try to address through community garden picnics this coming summer.  We will set a time and date, and invite all of you to come—share of your garden’s bounty—and get to know each other.
     That way distances will be minimized and connections strengthened and community reinforced.  Stay tuned and start thinking about what you can share to enrich us all. – Joe