Thanks to Susan Rodgers and Tom Abrams for a delightful tour of their garden and a chance to forage for volunteer spices and wild plants around Meadowbrook Park. We found dill, lamb's quarters, mint, and more mint. Photos of our garden visit are here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arboles/

Relationships...

Here are a couple of excepts from books I've been reading. Both of these epitomize what it is about this project that excites me most!

How interconnected are we all?

“In the eye of the or the gardener or the farmer who grew it, this food reveals itself for what it is: no mere thing but a web of relationships among a great many living beings, some of them human, some not, but each of them dependent on the other, and all of them ultimately rooted in soil and nourished by sunlight. I’m thinking of the relationship between the plants and the soil, between the grower and the plants and animals he or she tends, between the cook and the growers who supply the ingredients, and between the cook and the people who will soon come to the table to enjoy the meal. It is a large community to nourish and be nourished by.” -Michael Pollan, from In Defense of Food

On the discussion of Public Art: “Is ‘public’ a qualifying description of place, ownership, or access? Is it a subject, or a characteristic of the particular audience? Does it explain the intentions of the artist or the interests of the audience? The inclusion of the public connects theories of art to the broader population: what exists in the space between the words public and art is an unknown relationship between artist and audience, a relationship that may itself become the artwork.” – Suzanne Lacy, from Mapping the Terrain, New Genre Public Art

Let the foraging begin!

Also don't miss this week's workshop, Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
Organic Gardening and Foraging for Wild Edibles
lead by Susan and Tom at Meadowbrook Park. (Meet at the community organic garden plots off Race St. and Windsor Rd.) Keep scrolling down for more info./resources on this...
A worksheet/list to get you thinking on this subject.

Bring bug spray, drinking water, a notepad, and appropriate shoes/pants for hiking around in the tall plants!

We Can Can!

Thanks to all that attended the Canning workshop. And special thanks to Anna Barnes for the instruction. The canning workshop was great fun, not that messy or hot, and highly educational. One of the neatest parts of the workshop was all the family stories that came out during the cooking. We all shared recipes, tales of grandmothers' and mothers' methods, childhood memories, and kitchen traditions. For those of you that missed the workshop: here's the recipe for the lovely Peach Jam we made and some photos. There is no doubt that this pretty stuff will be served at the Big Neighborhood Supper in August.

Map of Edible Fruit Trees in Urbana/Champaign

View Larger Map

Urban Edibles

Here's a website from the West Coast about urban foraging, to prep people for Susan and Tom's workshop. Did you know that bok choy is a member of the mustard family?

Upcoming workshops!

Upcoming workshops!

Food Preservation (Canning)
Sunday, July 12th 5 p.m. hosted at the Red Herring in Urbana, workshop will be lead by Anna Barnes, local food enthusiast and home-preserver . The class will cover the basics of water bath canning which is suitable for jams, salsas, tomato sauce, pickles, and other acidic foods. Anyone can do this type of canning with equipment they probably already have in their kitchen. Handouts will be provided, but bring a pencil to take any additional notes. Wear older clothes or bring an apron.


Organic Gardening Techniques and Foraging for Wild Edibles
July 22nd, 6:30 p.m.
Meadowbrook Park Gardens. Workshop will be lead by Susan and Tom (sus.tom.ability)
The first portion of the workshop will include a tour of Meadowbrook'c community gardens and a how-to relating to organic gardening techniques lead by Susan. The other portion of the workshop will be a walk through the park with Tom to learn and identify wild edibles native to this area (if you think Lambs quarter is it you're wrong!). Please wear comfortable walking shoes. This workshop is outdoors.

Fall Planting, Bed Preparation and Hot Composting
August 5th, 7 p.m.
Corner of cottage grove and Washington st. in Urbana
Zack Grant, University of Illinois Student Farm Coordinator, will be hosting a hands on workshop just in time for fall plantings. The workshop will cover sexy topics such as suggested fall crops, bed preparation techniques (broad-forking, etc.) and hot composting methods among other tangent topics. This workshop promises to be extremely informative. Plan to get into the dirty stuff!

Date for The Big Neighborhood Supper celebration set!:
August 15th: 4-5 p.m. begin harvest and food prep. 7 p.m. Let's EAT! (and DRINK and be merry!) Yes, we will be cracking open that beer and wine from the June brewing workshop.
This is the time to celebrate the bounty of our community of local food and arts resources!
We may have a little harvest gathering and how to for food prep on the evening of the 14th. Everyone participating in this project is welcome!

There's some talk stirring about us!

Check out this article about the Big Neighborhood Supper project!

posted on the Community Informatics Initiative Website.

Photos from brew workshop...

Through a huge hail storm and a tornado alarm...
the brewing must go on!

At the workshop we bottled an American Cream Ale, started a batch of Amber Ale, racked some strawberry wine, sampled plenty of beer/local dandelion wine and started a new batch of peach wine from last year's frozen peaches!

Also see these brew terms used at the workshop:
Adjunct- unmalted grain or fermentable ingredients added to the malted barley during mashing to produce more and usually cheaper, sugars (rice, corn, wheat, etc.)
Air Lock- devise that lets air out during fermentation without allowing air into the container (avoid possible contamination)
Carboy- large narrow-necked glass vessel, used as both primary and secondary fermenters
Fermentation- a process in which yeast obtains energy in the absence of oxygen, by breaking sugar into carbon dioxide and alcohol
Gravity- relates to the density of the liquid, measures sugars (original and finishing) Used to estimate percent alcohol
Grist- the crushed malts and adjuncts that are mixed with hot water to form the mash
Hops- the flowers of the hops plant, which provide both bitterness and aroma to the beer (“aromatic” hops are added at the end of the boil to insure the oils flavor the beer)
I.B.U. International Bitter Units
Mashing- the controlled steeping or soaking of malted barley to release enzymes that convert malt starches to fermentable and non- fermentable sugars (mash in and mash out)
Primary- the first container in which fermentation takes place (5 gallon bucket or carboy)
Rack- to transfer wort or beer from one container to another in order to separate it from the sediment on the bottom of the first container
Secondary- the second container in which fermentation takes place (five gallon bucket or carboy)
Siphon- a tube or conduit bent into legs of unequal length, for use in drawing a liquid from one container into another on a lower level by placing the shorter leg into the container above and the longer leg into the one below, the liquid being forced up the shorter leg and into the longer one by the pressure of the atmosphere
Sulfites- used to cease the fermentation, kills bacteria in order to bottle wine without potential explosion (not required)
Wort- The liquid solution of malt sugars which forms the basis of beer. (Sweet work precedes the boil and lacks the hops; bitter wort includes the hops)

30 sec. Project Trailer