Garden Party September 19, 2012

A huge thanks to everyone who came by and worked with us!

 Here we have some FYS students transplanting Tatsoi and Chard into gallon pots to go into the greenhouse for winter greens. This week's workshop was very productive. We worked in teams and accomplished at least 18 person hours of work. We completed almost half of a forty hour work week in two hours. Now that's people power in action! There were 3 teams, team 1 worked on transplanting, team 2 worked on Ivy removal, team 3 worked on moving the Raspberry Canes. Everyone did an amazing job.  

After all that hard work we took a break and tasted and prepared a variety of greens, Kale, Arugula, Chard, Mustard, and Beet greens. A little toasted sesame oil and soy sauce with ginger and garlic very tasty and so good for you! Keep posted to see how things are growing in the greenhouse and where did those Raspberry Canes go?



A variety of greens

Tomorrow, 9.19.12 in the Learning Garden at SMU join us in tasting 5 kinds of greens and 3 or 4 different types of Kale. We will sample Mustard Greens, Arugula, Chard, Beet Greens, hear are some pictures of the greens you can taste.

Recipe for Green Beans Almondine

Green Beans Almondine

2 pounds Green Beans stem ends removed snapped in half
1 cup or less slivered or chopped Almonds
4 Tablespoons butter
3 cloves of garlic

steam the beans first just until tender
melt the butter
add almonds and garlic
Toss in the steamed beans Enjoy!!

Garden Party with Green Beans Almondine 9.12.12

Hello and thank you to everyone who stopped by to see the garden and eat green beans almondine, recipe to follow.. Many students dropped by and were not shy about trying the beans.

Growing our own transplants

 

Here are pictures from last winter when a group of FYS students planted seeds in flats which we grew out under lights. This is how they looked after one week.  And a week or so later.

Wednesday Garden Parties

Join the garden party during our regular hours while the weather holds

Wednesdays 12-2pm

In the Learning Garden (just outside of the cafeteria)

bush beans growing

 This Wednesday (tomorrow) we will be transplanting heirloom lettuces, bunching onions and weeding. Lynn will be preparing a tasting of Green Beans Almondine with green beans from the garden. Come help out, learn about gardening with your hands and with your taste buds

flowers in the squash

Upcoming workshops in October:

• Adding Minerals to our PNW soils. what minerals? what benefits?
• Making an earth worm bin ( With Rebeca Potasnik )
• Managing raspberries
• Mulching

Greetings from the Learning Garden at SMU

I would like to introduce myself my name is Lynn Villella and I have been organic gardening for a few decades. I learned it from my Italian father who learned it from his relatives and J. I. Rodale Press publisher of Organic Farming and Gardening magazine to which we had a subscription. I was and avid reader and gardener from an early age. I have been working with students and faculty for one season in the Learning Garden and have pictures to share with you. The workshop on Wednesday September 5, 2012 went well

above you see our ingredients are assembled for our Fried Stuffed Squash Blossoms (recipe to follow) Squash plants often make more flowers then  they need to make plenty of squash and the male flowers are very prolific, both types of flowers are great for stuffing. I also stuffed some lettuce, mustard and arugula leaves dip in egg and fried in raw virgin Coconut oil absolutely the best oil for this type of cooking!

RECIPE

six or more squash blossoms
Important collect the blossoms in the morning they curl up as the day goes by. They can still be used after they have curled, but are harder to work with.

a dozen or so leaves from tender greens like Mustard, Arugula and Romaine Lettuce.

THE STUFFING:

6 ounces Creamy Goat Cheese split in 3 parts
2/3 cup Roasted Pine nuts 
2/3 cup Roasted Hazelnuts (with pelicles removed, skins rubbed off) chopped
2/3 cup Walnuts chopped
By hand or food processor
3 T spoons minced, fresh Garlic
Fresh Herbs! Basil, Parsley, Cilantro, Fennel whatever you have and whatever you like!
Mix one 3rd of the cheese and one Tablespoon Garlic with each kind of nut add herbs as you please.

3 or 4 fresh eggs whipped
Coconut oil for frying
salt and pepper to taste.

Put a teaspoon or so of stuffing into the blossom and fold petals over dip in egg and fry

if blossom has curled gently unfurl and then stuff, refurl, dip in egg and fry

simply wrap a leaf up (start at stem end) around a teaspoon of stuffing and dip in egg and fry.
Easy and delicious... Enjoy.

When we were done cooking we moved on to a little gardening we transplanted some Heirloom Lettuce plants into gallon pots to go into the greenhouse. I found some winter hardy bunching onions similar to scallions or green onions. also into the green house and a basil plant. We finally have the heat Basil loves plus the greenhouse boosts the heat factor.

My next workshop will be next Wednesday September 12, 2012 I will cook Green Beans Almondine. Please join me from Noon to 2:00

Wednesday, Sept 5 Garden Workshop and Party

We are getting that new roof up on the shed today hooray! This Wednesday, Lynn will bring the camp stove again and prepare fried stuffed squash blossoms for people to try between noon and 2:00pm. 

Cooking from the garden will be a part of the September series workshops. 

We also have lettuce starts for transplanting into gallon pots to put in the greenhouse as well as seed some lettuce directly into pots and into the greenhouse. 

fried squash blossoms

This will be great fun and delicious!! Lynn will have her books for plant Identification and garden questions too.

Next workshop is Wednesday, Sept. 5 from 12-2pm in the Learning Garden (located just outside of the dining hall by the outdoor tables)

Harvesting Green Beans

Greetings gardeners and food lovers alike, August brings the heat we need to make our crops ripen. We are enjoying a bounty of perfect green beans in the Saint Martins Learning Garden!!

Our first crop of green beans went to the Thurston County Food Bank!

August Harvest!

Students from American Seminar class will be harvesting potatoes and garlic in the garden tomorrow.

Lynn Villeilla will be leading the garden lesson and also boiling off some freshly dug potatoes for tasting. Come taste fresh potatoes with garlic and garden herbs as a side for your lunch!

Thursday, August 2, 12pm
In the Learning Garden (located just outside of the dining hall)

Chinese Medicinal Plants in the Garden

Last Friday in the garden - Dr. Louise Kaplan, director of SMU's new nursing program, brought visiting students from Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine to plant medicinal herbs and shrubs in the SMU's Learning Garden.

from Dr. Jie, Xu (Daisy) list of medicinal plants for the garden

Thanks to visiting professor Dr. Jie, Xu (Daisy) who compiled the list of medicinal plants for us to get and to  all of the students who volunteered to go to the market, find the starts and to plant our first Chinese medicinal herbs for future classes to enjoy.

Students from Shanghai University. Left to right in front: Chen Luhua (Pearl), Zhu Liangbo (Cream), Huang Zhiwei (Simple), Zhang Zhuhui(Vicky),Chen Lin (Lin), and Zhao Xiyue (CiCi). Left-far back: Xie Yingfang (Catherine) and Shen Dan (Ivy)  Mr. Lee, the chaperone, is the farthest back.

 SMU's ESL students are currently working on information cards to go with the plants!

Shanghai student, Zhang Zhuhui (Vicky), watering the Ginkgo after planting

Ginkgo (pictured above) is an especially good medicine for a university garden as it helps with memory and concentration!

Micro-irrigation continued

setting up micro-irrigation

This is a continuation of last week’s workshop. Newcomers welcome. You did not have to have come to the last workshop to attend this one. Rebeca will continue setting up the micro-irrigation system. Come and learn how it works!

Garden Party Workshop

Micro-sprinkling for a small garden

The Learning Garden (just outside of the cafeteria)

Thursday, July 19

11am-1pm

Learn about how to set up a water-saving small scale irrigation system. You can do this at home. It’s inexpensive and saves you water and time. Learn by helping set up our own micro-sprinklers in the garden beds. It’s so easy you will be amazed.

Everyone is welcome! Workshop led by local gardener Rebeca Potasnik

Also, come taste the ripe berries and take some herbs home – there are still raspberries in the garden and fresh oregano and mint!

Workshop drip-irrigation for a small garden

Where: In the Learning Garden (just outside of the cafeteria)
When: Thursday, July 12 11am-1pm

Local gardener Rebeca Potasnik will teach a workshop on how to set up a water-saving small scale drip irrigation system. You can do this at home. It’s inexpensive and saves you water and time. Learn by helping set up our own micro-sprinklers in the garden beds. It’s so easy you will be amazed. Everyone is welcome! The workshop is free.

drip irrigation

A snack in the SMU garden

delicious red berries

This is what was ripe in the garden today and made for a very good snack.

June Work Party

A lot got done in the garden during the work party. New potatoes dug up, strawberries and currants tasted, herbs picked, weeds plucked, plants planted and watered. Keep your eye out for our next workshop on setting up a micro-drip system in the garden!

tasting strawberries

kids are welcome!

oregano

garlic!

Thank you David Suter for taking the photographs.

Saint Martin’s Learning Garden Party with Lynn Villella

Garden expert Lynn Villella says that “after the new moon is a good time for above ground crop planting.” Lynn will be leading another planting work party in the SMU Learning Garden during this post new moon week.

Come and learn about gardening from an expert, ask questions, dig in the dirt, plant some plants, check out our new greenhouse, find out what’s growing in the garden and taste some ripe berries. Have you ever tasted a red currant? Maybe you can get some strawberries too.

Saint Martin’s Learning Garden Party with Lynn Villella
The Learning Garden is located just outside if the St. Gertrude Dining Hall.
Thursday, June 21
12-2pm

Early Summer in the Garden

The garden overlooks the entire campus and makes for a great place to relax and see the world go by.

best place to eat lunch

The red currant berries are starting to ripen and peppers are flowering in the greenhouse.

ripening red currants

Neat Vents!

The Greenhouse is Here!

greenhouse arrives

getting placed on the site

done!

Solar Gem crew with owner, designer and SMU alum

Dennis Heitzmann on the right

Spring is here!

leveling the ground for the greenhouse

This morning, students from Prof. Porter's First Year Seminar class prepared the ground for the arrival of our new greenhouse! We are thrilled about this new solar gem greenhouse, which is being donated to us by an SMU alumni, Dennis Heitzmann.

planting potatoes

 Students also planted potatoes and weeded the garden beds and paths.

red currant

You can already see the delicious currant berries forming on this bush!