Worm Composting Workshop

Hi all, 
Just a reminder that the next session in our free workshop series will cover The Basics of Worm Composting (indoor and outdoor) and will take place next Saturday, July 21st, at noon at our downtown garden (121 Victoria St). A brief description:

A general 'how-to' information session on worm composting, both indoor and outdoor, with Mel Andersen of All Things Organic. Mel's vermicomposting workshops are rare and were the first of their kind in Canada - truly a workshop that is not to be missed!  He will cover the basics of do-it-yourself worm composting in 25 - 30 minutes of instruction, followed by a question-and-answer period.

Although this workshop is free to everyone, pre-registration is mandatory and will be available at https://ezregsvr.kamloops.ca/ezreg/Start/start.asp with the course number #199682. 
Feel free to contact us at publicproduceproject@gmail.com with any questions about workshops!


See you in the garden!

Summer Savoury 'Kale-sadilla' : Recipes from the Garden

As Napoleon Dynamite's tough old aunt once said, 'Make yourself a dang quesadilla!' ...Can't argue with that; and this particular recipe makes for a tasty summer lunch and a great way to use summer veggies, including that red kale we've got growing in the Public Produce Garden (hint, hint)

Like all our recipes, you're encouraged play around with the ingredients as you please! (In the photos, we used a different type of kale from a home garden, but any type would do.)




It's super simple, too!  Cut off the ribs of the kale and tear the green leaves into pieces.  Just lay a tortilla in a frying pan. (Using a non-stick ceramic pan, allows you to skip the oil) Place the kale pieces on top of the tortilla - pile it high!  Top the kale with red pepper slices, thinly cut tomato slices, or any other veggies you want to try.  Sprinkle that with lots of your favourite grated cheese. 

Finish off the recipe by topping with another tortilla, and you're ready to cook!  Starting with a pretty high heat to get the cheese to melt and the tortilla to crisp, cover the pan with a lid.  It will take about 5 mins. for the kale to soften and the cheese to melt.  You'll want to monitor the heat and turn it down after a few minutes, also pressing down on the top tortilla with a spatula.  Flip the whole thing (it holds together pretty well) and cook for another few minutes without the lid.  

When it's done,  just slip the Kale-sadilla onto a cutting board and slice into wedges. Eat it plain or serve with your favourite salsa for dipping!  Yummmm!

Spreading the word!

This weekend, a couple of us from the Kamloops Public Produce working group got the chance to attend the 2012 BC Food Systems Network Gathering, held at Camp Fircom on beautiful Gambier Island. The weekend's theme was Reclaiming Our Food Systems: Policy and Practice, and boy, did it deliver! It was so inspiring to connect with leaders of the food security movement from all over the province who are doing incredible things. We were so grateful for the opportunity to attend. We also got the chance to brag spread the word about our project, and found that many were learning about Public Produce for the first time!

The BC Food Systems Network does amazing work connecting people and organizations who work on food security in our province. To learn more, get involved, and/or join one of their very informative listservs, visit fooddemocracy.org.  

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We returned home from the weekend to find that the word about KPPP is really getting out there: we had an article published in Saturday's Globe and Mail! This is great for our project and Kamloops in general. We are so proud of our movement and for our city for supporting progress in the right direction.

Check out the article here!

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Last but definitely not least, an update on our continuing workshop series: on Saturday, July 21st at 12 pm, Mel Andersen of All Things Organic will be giving a workshop on The Basics of Worm Composting at our downtown garden. Here's a description of the workshop:

A general 'how-to' information session on worm composting, both indoor and outdoor, with Mel Andersen of All Things Organic. Mel's vermicomposting workshops are rare and were the first of their kind in Canada - truly a workshop that is not to be missed!  He will cover the basics of do-it-yourself worm composting in 25 - 30 minutes of instruction, followed by a question-and-answer period.

Although this workshop is free to everyone, pre-registration is mandatory and will be available at https://ezregsvr.kamloops.ca/ezreg/Start/start.asp with the course number #199682. Feel free to contact us at publicproduceproject@gmail.com with any questions about workshops!

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I was too busy BEING there to take too many photos this weekend at the Gathering, but here are a few of the shots I did get:

The Camp Fircom farm

An evening campfire. No shortage of beautiful weather and great company over the weekend!

Coastal beauty, made even prettier with colour effects ;)

 See you in the garden,
Amanda

Come harvest some early season treats!

Some of our produce is ready for harvest!!! Next time you're swinging by the garden, bring your basket and some scissors or a sharp knife, and pick up some of these tasty treats:


Mizuna
Mizuna is a flavourful, slightly spicy Asian green in the Brassica family that makes a great accent to any green salad. Harvest by cutting with a knife or scissors about 2 inches from the ground, as shown below:

Oregano

Oregano is a hardy perennial herb that tastes delicious and is used in many styles of cooking including Greek, Italian and Mexican. Harvest by picking leaves or sprigs where they branch off from the stem.

Viola Flowers (Johnny Jump-Ups)

These lovely little purple and yellow flowers (Johnny-Jump-Ups are the smallest of the edible Viola flowers) make for a beautiful splash of colour in your salad!! Use as soon as possible after harvesting. 

Lettuce

No explanation needed ;) These tender baby greens are delicious and nutritious - and they need thinning, so get down here and harvest some! Best harvesting practice is to cut the leaf about 3 inches from the ground.

A huge thanks to all the volunteers who work so hard to get our garden growing the way it should!