Kasvimaalla (Finland)

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Dear Kitchen Gardener,

Although snow blanketed Maine this past week and isn't likely to go anywhere soon, it will be a green Christmas at my house: green cabbage in cold storage, green beans and chopped zucchini in our chest freezer, green pestos (parsley and basil) frozen in ice cube trays, and even a few curly kale plants still out in the garden thumbing their green noses at the cold.

Home gardens when done with care and love are truly a gift that keeps giving.  They're a gift to the planet (1/3 of human-related greenhouse gas emissions are due to our long-distance, large-scale, industrial agriculture system); they're a gift to our families and neighbors who get to share in their many healthy flavors, colors, and natural wonders; and, of course, they're a gift to the gardener who finds comfort, peace and healthy recreation in them.

It's been a bountiful garden year for my family and me.  We've gone six months without buying any vegetables and we've been eating them every day.  Next month, I'm going to share more details about our harvests to give you a better sense of how much a modestly-sized suburban garden can produce.  We're still finalizing the tally! 

Between now and then, I'd like to ask you to think about how you as a gardener can share the gift of gardening with others in 2009 whether it's through a financial gift to a worthy garden cause (I know of one!) or a gift of your time in helping a neighbor or a local school to plant a new garden.

We're all busy and we're all watching our pennies a bit more than we were a year ago, but we all have something to share and I'd urge you to reflect on what that might be in your own case.

My thanks and best wishes for the New Year.

Roger Doiron

Eat the View update:

Our White House Garden Campaign is really ramping up.  New York Times, Washington Post, National Public Radio and AARP Magazine have all been in touch with questions, so be watching and listening for some more media coverage. We've also managed to bring together some powerful testimonials from some stars of the food and agriculture world. 

Earlier this week, you all helped Eat the View become one of the nine winning proposals (out of 5000 submitted) to be submitted to the Obama administration as part of the OnDayOne.org contest.  So, we're really getting the message out there and to the right people.  There’s still one more vote the week of January 5th to see which of the 9 winners will win the “grand prize” which will mean some extra press attention. I’m going to ask for your help with that later, so stay tuned.  Our idea is also a leader in another competition being organized by Change.org where we'd really appreciate your support and vote. 

One way of giving the gift of a garden to others is through our White House Lawn sale.  Your $10 dollar tax-deductible donation or more helps support KGI's grants fund which is helping gardeners around the world to start or expand gardens, allows you to make a symbolic gesture in support of our White House garden campaign, and even allows you to make the donation in a loved-one's name for whom you can fill out and print out a symbolic "certificate of ownership" like the one below.  Yes, it’s a quirky gift idea, but it might be just the right thing for that green-minded or green-thumbed person on your holiday list.

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Who says brussels sprouts are icky? Most likely someone who hasn't had them cooked properly. The trick to cooking brussels sprouts is walking the fine line between tender and mushy. Colors tell the story: tender = vibrant green, mushy = army green. Here's a simple way of preparing brussels sprouts and kale that keeps the flavor and color in tact.

Ingredients:
1 lb. brussels sprouts, halved or quartered, depending on size
pine nuts (raw or minimally roasted)
2 gloves garlic, crushed
1 tbs. olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
handful of chopped kale

Procedure:
Sautée all but pine nuts over medium heat until bright color develops. Add pine nuts, cook for another few minutes until sprouts are fork-tender.

Creative commons photo credit: Random Duck

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Q I know that onions and garlic are related, but aren’t they grown differently?

A Onions, garlic, leeks, shallots and chives are all alliums. While they’re not all grown exactly the same way, their cultural needs are similar. All are happiest in full sun, but they also tolerate partial shade and need similar soil conditions. The biggest difference is in the scheduling of each crop.

Here are the basics on these savory crops:
Chives. Allium schoenoprasum. Hardy in USDA Zones 3 to 9, chives produce clumps of thin edible leaves and edible flowers as well. This easy-to-grow perennial is most commonly grown in herb and flower gardens.

Garlic. Allium sativum. Grown primarily for its edible bulbs, garlic also produces tasty leaves that can be chopped and used like chives. The best crops of garlic are planted in fall and harvested in midsummer the following year. Plants are hardy from USDA Zones 2 to 10. Although garlic crops are typically harvested each year, they also can be left in the garden and grown as perennials as well.

Leeks. Allium ampeloprasum, Porrum group. Another hardy onion-family plant, leeks can be grown in USDA Zones 2 to 10, although there are both hardy and nonhardy cultivars available. They’re planted in spring and harvested the same season. Leeks are biennials.

Onions. Allium cepa, Cepa group. Biennials that are grown as annuals, onions can be a bit confusing, since there are many different colors and kinds to choose from. They can be grown throughout North America, but planting times and cultivars vary depending on day length. They’re generally planted in spring, although in warm climates they’re grown as a winter crop. Harvest time varies depending on the size and type you are growing.

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

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Dear Kitchen Gardener,

Welcome to all of our new readers who signed our White House garden petition or joined our social network. Thank you and welcome!

American voters spoke earlier this month and so did KGI's global gardening electorate.  The results of our mini poll were even more of an Obama landslide than the "real" elections.

We asked: Which of the two major candidates do you feel would be more likely to replant a Victory Garden on the White House Lawn? 

You answered: Obama 1333 votes (87%) McCain 202 votes (13%).

So Americans now know who their next "Commander-in-Chief" will be, but it's unclear whether President-Elect Obama has understood that he's also the nation's "Eater-in-Chief."  I am going to ask you to join me in reinforcing this message by delivering it directly to the Obama-Biden transition office. Here's how you can do this:

1) Go to this comment form: http://change.gov/page/s/yourvision

2) Write your own grow your own message or use this one:

I'm asking President-elect Obama to replant a large organic food garden or Victory Garden on the White House lawn with part of produce going to the White House kitchen and the rest to local food pantries. The White House is "America's House" and should set a healthy example at a time of crisis. President-elect Obama would not be breaking with tradition, but returning to it (the White House has had fruit and vegetable gardens before) and showing how we can meet global challenges such as food security, climate change, and energy independence.

3) Attach a photo, if you like.  To do that, you can go here, rightclick on the photo you like, save it to your computer, and then upload the photo with your comment form.

You might be tempted to say "I'm only one person with one voice..." but your one voice, when joined by thousands of others, is a powerful tool for social change. 

For those of you who are new to KGI, the Eat the View! campaign is a focus of ours at the moment given the great opportunity a change of leadership offers, but it is not the only thing we do.  We also organize International Kitchen Garden Day each August, coordinate a growing and thriving online social network of garden learners and teachers, and are building a new partnership and grants program that is helping gardeners around the world. 

First and foremost, though, KGI is a community of people who love good food, so much so that we take what some people might call the "long, hard road" to it by growing and cooking it ourselves when easier options are available.  If we do this, it's because we see food not as a shrink-wrapped, bar-coded product but as a natural process.  We enjoy being part of the cycles of nature and accepting what each season has to offer (which in my case in chilly Maine at the moment is a mess of kale, cabbage and root vegetables). 

We believe that good food, grown and prepared at home is worth celebrating.  It strikes me now as I write this that we have another cause for celebration. This month marks KGI's 5th anniversary as registered nonprofit network.  I want to thank all who have helped make KGI into the welcoming, healthy, and growing community it is (10,000 people...woohoo!). If you want to share any birthday wishes and wishes for the future, you can do so here.

I'm looking forward to what the next five years will bring...a home, school, and community garden revolution...a garden on the White House lawn...real progress towards the UN's Millennium Goal of halving world hunger by 2015.   We can dream and must.  But, more importantly, we must start digging!

With gratitude,

Roger Doiron

Being a nonprofit means that we rely on people like you to keep us going and growing.  You can help by making a small donation through our White House Lawn sale page at EatTheView.org. There is also a possibility to do this as gift in someone else's name by making the donation and then filling out a do-it-yourself "certificate of ownership" which can offered as a thoughtful and eco-friendly holiday gift.  You can also make a tax-deductible donation to KGI with no connection to the Eat the View! campaign, or the White House lawn. This donation can be made online by credit card or by mailing in a check.  Thanks.

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