Embracing Food and Community in the time of COVID-19

Written by Chris Gavin, Educator and After-School and Summer Program Coordinator

Youth intern and staff members preparing freshly harvested produce for donation

It would be an understatement to say 2020 has been a year like no other for Poughkeepsie Farm Project and how we offer educational opportunities to our community. Our world turned upside down in mid-March with the closure of schools in New York State, and all of our usual educational programs were abruptly halted. Since then, our team has been navigating the new realities of the COVID-19 pandemic and our country’s long-needed reckoning with systemic racism. The sudden upheaval to our work has given us a moment to pause and reflect on what we can do to better embody our mission of creating a just and sustainable food system in Poughkeepsie. Our education team has been digging into this important work with a sense of passion and joy to match the challenges of this unprecedented moment. While the structure and implementation of our programs has changed, the core goals of our work remain strong and in clear focus: making fresh vegetables and the means to prepare them at home accessible to our community AND engaging families in the important act of growing, preparing and eating healthy, nourishing, locally-grown foods.

Distance Learning

Poughkeepsie Food Power @Home, our new distance learning initiative, was born from our desire to stay connected with Poughkeepsie youth while in-person teaching isn’t possible. Our program consists of educational videosalong with cooking and gardening kits so families can complete the activities at home. We are aiming to provide families with a substantial amount of food to meet the growing food insecurity in our community, to give families engaging food-based projects to do at home, and to help families gain the confidence to grow and cook healthy foods. To date, we have provided 13 weeks of videos and activity kits to a total of 185 households. Some of our favorite projects have been growing microgreens at home, a container gardening project to meet the space availability of all participants, meal kits featuring recipes from around the world, and videos in English and Spanish to make our program more accessible to our community. In order to support our families during the start of the new school year, we also distributed over 300 educational supply kits and books to our participants.

PFP@Home participants proudly displaying their homemade kale quesadilla

Food Access

In response to the growing food insecurity in our community, our education team developed a food distribution program to get food into the hands of youth and families in the city of Poughkeepsie. Working in conjunction with the Poughkeepsie City School District’s Food Service Department, we have been distributing free produce from our farm at five free school meal sites every week since mid-March. In addition to providing fresh, healthy, locally-grown produce, we also give families printed recipes and storage tips to help people feel confident in preparing the food. One of the most powerful things about this food distribution model has been building strong connections with individuals and families, and we are proud to provide people with an experience that feels welcoming and positive in the face of the growing challenge of food insecurity. We believe that access to fresh healthy food is a right for everyone in our community, and distributing free produce in a dignified way is one step we are taking towards this goal.

Happy resident at a free produce distribution site

Community Harvest

Community Harvest Days at the farm are rooted in the ancient practice of gleaning, in which farmers would leave a certain amount of crops in the field and welcome community members to take what they needed. This serves the multiple purposes of cutting down on the waste stream in the local food system, gets food directly into the hands of people who need it, and connects people to the land and farming in a powerful community-oriented way. We’ve hosted 5 community events and harvested over 3,000 lbs of food for families to take home and to donate through partner organizations and school meal sites. Community Harvest Days have been a way for PFP to strengthen our commitment to food justice as we work to make our farm a place that feels welcoming to all and a resource for all in the community. In an effort to make these events more inclusive, we’ve incorporated live interpretation for Spanish-speaking participants, an indigenous land acknowledgement to recognize the original inhabitants of this land we farm, and opening the invitation to City of Poughkeepsie residents who participate in our after school programs and distance learning initiatives.

Community members gleaning peppers during a Community Harvest Day

Internship Programs

While nearly all in-person education was halted at the farm, we were able to provide a ten-week paid summer internship for six Poughkeepsie teens. The Green Jobs crew was involved in every aspect of growing, harvesting, and distributing produce in the community - working both in the farm fields and our educational gardens. In addition to this hands-on training, the teens also gained knowledge about food access in their own community as they acted as youth ambassadors during community harvest events and free produce distributions. This program also highlighted the links between food justice and racial justice as youth explored the historical roots of racial injustices embedded in our nation’s food system. The final project for the internship was creating an Anti-Racist Timeline and inviting all in the PFP community to consider how they are and can work towards being anti-racist advocates in their daily lives.

Braiding popcorn from the seed saving garden

We were also able to engage college students in new ways through both in person and remote internships. Our remote interns, a Vassar Community Fellow and a Shepherd Consortium intern, completed online projects to strengthen PFP’s virtual educational resources. Our new Food Share Story Map uses ArcGIS to explore how our Food Share Program is addressing food insecurity and growing community through sharing our harvest. Both also contributed to our Harvest of the Month Resource Hub which brings recipes, lessons, and engaging activities online for families and educators to learn remotely. Our on-site interns from the Culinary Institute of America and University of Vermont made valuable contributions to PFP through their work on recipe development, seed saving, weekly food distribution, and working in the gardens and farm fields to harvest vegetables and medicinal herbs.

Recipe testing

The Work to Come:

As this incredibly trying year comes to a close, we reflect as an organization on how we have met and continue to meet the challenges of 2020 - but there is much work still to be done. As an educator here at PFP, I can attest to the fierce joy and love that my team members bring to this work as we dig into our mission of building a just food system for all in our community. While the pandemic has highlighted so many challenges and injustices in our world, it has also brought people together in strength and solidarity. As a community, we must work together to ensure that everyone — regardless of their address, age, gender, or race — has access to fresh, healthy, affordable food. Let’s join together as a whole PFP community as we support each other on this journey towards accountability and equity - and of course delicious nourishing food. In closing, here are some personal statements from our education team on how we would like to strengthen our food justice efforts in the upcoming year.

"My hope is that this is a year of making good on our mission at PFP." - SonyaJoy

“Bringing people from the community into the Poughkeepsie Farm Project space is definitely something I want to do more of. Because it's just down the street from the community and it’s just not something people recognize as theirs, but it really is.” - Larissa

“Getting to be a part of neighbors coming together to share their love for growing and cooking delicious veggies! Continuing to listen and learn and bring ancestral wisdom and delicious recipes from Poughkeepsie families into our school and farm programs.” - Kathryn

“I want to continually expand what food justice looks like at PFP. And I want to help make PFP a safe and brave space where we can have needed conversations about racial justice in Poughkeepsie.”- Chris

“In 2021, I dream of creating a path to year-round jobs for youth in Poughkeepsie, and empowering our youth to see the connections between food justice, climate justice, and racial justice! All while planting seeds of language justice in our community so those who don’t speak the dominant language can begin to see the beauty in our bounty.” - Laura

“I am looking forward to strengthening our work at the intersections of food justice, racial justice, environmental justice, and language justice while taking leadership from our beautiful Poughkeepsie community.” -Jamie

New Garden Brings Produce Closer to Home

Written by SonyaJoy Key, Community Engagement Manager

What could happen if the soil beneath our feet were healthy? What if all youth could safely plunge their eager fingers into the soil to plant a seed, find a worm, or harvest a head of lettuce?

Sabrina Floyd, Rip Van Winkle Apartments Social Worker and Lead Garden Instigator.

Environmental injustice impacts most Poughkeepsie growers who labor toward food sovereignty, our ability to exercise the right to healthy foods that are culturally relevant. Years of improperly disposed of waste and degraded building materials can leave city soils too toxic to grow food. Yet we need fresh food everywhere we can get it, especially to thrive during COVID-19.

Just 4 months ago, residents of Rip Van Winkle Apartments, known as RIP, would exit the building to see a grassy expanse of lawn. Now a raised bed community garden greets residents with a cheerful expanse of tomatoes, kale, cucumbers, sunflowers and so much more! A project like this takes a lot of hands to turn the wheel, and a hub for the spokes to turn from. Sabrina Floyd, social worker at RIP, is that central hub.

Sabrina is the kind of person you talk to for an hour when you intended to just say a quick hello. On top of her regular work connecting the community of residents at Rip Van Winkle Apartments to local services and providing informal counseling on subjects from health to education, Sabrina decided to tackle the vision and installation of a community garden on site. She already had a hunch based on how many residents picked up fresh produce from the weekly PFP Food Share and Food Power @ Home meal kit distributions, that a garden would be well received.

In May, Sabrina surveyed the entire building to see who would get involved if a garden could be established with resident support. I drafted a garden plan that included a welcoming, multi-generational garden space with built-in benches for seniors or those with less mobility to sit while gardening.

Jacob and Rakim, summer interns at PFP, unload hundreds of pounds of rich soil into the beds.

In July, an 18 bed garden was installed by contractor Michael Conti. Poughkeepsie Farm Project staff and interns hauled compost, painted beds, and installed over 300 plants donated by PFP. Dozens of RIP youth residents stopped by to support, as well as Perfect 10, a girl’s empowerment organization based in Hudson, NY. The garden went from start to finish in a little over 2 weeks!

PFP intern, Tania, transplants gold and red beet seedlings.

On September 30th, gardeners of all ages gathered for the first Harvest Day. Expert support was available from PFP Educator Lala Montoya and Greenhouse Manager André Luis de Oliveira Domingues. Families and friends harvested healthy heads of buttery lettuce, bunches of dino kale and the last tomatoes of the season. Some of the kids goofed around, seeing who could bite into a spicy pepper and keep their cool. Discovering how sunflower seeds grow was probably the most fun exploration that afternoon, only topped by the last garden hose water fight of the summer!

Lala, PFP Educator, gives some cucumber growing tips to a young RIP resident.

Summer beds flourishing!

Because of partnerships like these with Rip Van Winkle Apartments and visionaries like Sabrina, growing above the ground in healthy soil means that block by block, fresh produce is growing closer to home.

How to Save Tomato Seeds

How to Save Tomato Seeds with Ben, Jamie and Kathryn

Summer is the time to not just enjoy your fresh garden tomatoes, but to save seeds for next year! Learn how to get started with Ben, Jamie and Kathryn at PFP's seed saving garden. 

Supplies You'll Need:
- At least one ripe tomato
- Tall glass or plastic container, and rubber band and paper towel to cover
- Strainer
- Plate or tray to dry the seeds on
- Seed packet or other storage container and a marker to label your seeds

Steps: 
1. Pick a ripe tomato.
2. Scoop out seeds into a tall container with your hands or a utensil.
3. Add water, cover and let ferment for 3-5 days.
4. Decant off mold and floating pulp until you have just your clean seeds at the bottom on your jar or container.
5. Strain and rinse throughly.
6. Set out to dry until stiff, 1- 4 weeks. 
7. Store in a cool, dry, dark place in a seed packet or a sealed container with a desiccant such as silica gel. 

Don't forget to enjoy your delicious tomatoes once you've removed the seeds! Our fresh salsa or tomato sauce with zoodles are two great ways to use them - find the videos on our "In the Kitchen" page. Like and subscribe to our YouTube channel for more videos like this!!

Harvest Carrots from Your Container Garden with Kathryn

Today Kathryn shows us how to harvest the carrots she planted in her container garden at home.

In the previous video Kathryn planted carrots from seed in a 10 inch container at the end of April. Now that about 100 days have passed, we are going to dig them up and talk about replanting for the Fall! This container ended up yielding about 40 carrots, which weighed roughly 4 pounds.

Supplies:

    A container with carrots that are ready to harvest
    A watering can or hose to water and loosen the soil
    A hand trowel (optional) to help dig out the roots

Steps:

Determine if your carrots are ready to harvest by looking for the top of the root poking out the soil, and by using your seed packet as a guide. Different varieties, and growing conditions will affect the number of days you will need to wait to harvest.

Water the soil deeply with your watering can or hose.

Grab the top of the root of the carrot, which is sticking out the soil, and wiggle it loose from the soil. You can use a hand trowel to help dig them out if necessary.

Rinse your carrots off, and remove the greens before storing them in your fridge.

Use the greens like an herb for seasoning dishes or in pesto! Use the roots to snack on raw, in a dish like our Vietnamese Spring Rolls, or with other vegetables in a pickle recipe, soup, or salad. You can find more recipes on our YouTube channel!

If you live in the Poughkeepsie area, you can replant carrot seeds in mid to late August for a Fall harvest. You will want to harvest them again before the soil freezes completely, but they can survive a frost, and will get sweeter!

Watch the video to Learn to Grow Carrots in Containers on our YouTube.

Changes to Plant Sale

In response to the current COVID-19 outbreak, we are making necessary changes to Plant Sale. To ensure the safety of our community, we have moved our Plant Sale this year to an online platform!

Here’s how it works: 

Browse your plants. 

Plant starts are available on our farm store. You can search for the name of the plant you want, or browse by collection. Examples of collections are: 

• Flowers, Perennial

• Tomatoes

• Peppers, Hot

• Peppers, Sweet

• Pollinator-Friendly

• Vegetables, Annual

Buy your plants. 

The farm store will open for plant sales on Monday April 20 at 10am. Starting Monday April 20, add orders to your cart. When you’re finished making your selections, pay online. You will receive an automated response confirming your order. 

Orders placed from April 20 - April 30 will be available for pickup on May 2. 

Orders placed from May 1 - May 7 will be available for pickup on May 9. 

Buy pottery and local products. 

TBD

Receive your pickup slot. 

You will receive an email the day before your pickup assigning you to a time slot on either May 2 or May 9. This 2-hour slot (ie: 10am-12pm, 12-2pm, or 2-4pm) is the window in which you can pick up your plants. 

Pick up your plants. 

Be in and out in minutes with our fast and easy drive-thru setup! When you turn off of Raymond or Hooker, you will see a large white tent as soon as you enter (before you pass the colorful barn). We’ll be there with your order (and gloves and masks, of course). Roll down your window to check in, give us your order number, and we’ll direct you to a table with your order on it, set back 6 feet. Put it in your car and you’re off. 

Our goal is to continue providing plants to our community while following best practices including use of personal protective equipment and maintaining 6 feet of social distance. 

Happy Gardening!

Victory Gardens: Then and Now

By Kathryn B. and Caitlin, PFP intern

What are Victory Gardens? 

The simple definition would be the planting of gardens by citizens to grow fruits, vegetables and herbs for their own sustenance in order to ration the canned food for the soldiers at war. This movement began during World War I and was soon practiced by many Americans as a way to survive, by using any available space to grow food. More than just that, these gardens were seen as a symbol of patriotism and safeguard during the war, boosting the morale of both troops and citizens as they contributed their labor to the cause and had the reward of fresh produce for their families.  With almost 20 million gardens planted around the country, these gardens became a normal, everyday activity performed by many Americans during both World Wars.

Victory gardens were also a way for communities to work together to keep everyone fed as they tried to make ends meet on their canned rations. You may have heard of the idea of “Grow a Row”, or growing an extra row of food to donate to a food bank, or to a neighbor that may be overworked, out of work, or without the time or space to grow their own food.

Why grow one now? 

The reasons may be different today, but we think we should all bring back the idea of Victory Gardens for a number of important reasons. 

With the necessity of social distancing, growing your own food results in less need to leave your home and risk your health. Having your own garden means an economical grocery list and the ability to offer different and nutritious fresh vegetables, fruits, and herbs for your family. A home-grown garden also requires a fair amount of time and effort, giving the feeling of doing something helpful and positive and some much needed physical activity. Growing your own food and becoming self-sufficient during a pandemic, such as COVID-19 can be very valuable. No matter how small the space, whether you live in an apartment or on a farm, gardening is for everyone.

Gardening not only provides fresh vegetables, fruits, and herbs, but it is an activity that the entire family can participate in together. Victory gardens can promote sustainability, self-sufficiency, healthy eating, and community building. Much like the school gardens that have been created in the Poughkeepsie area, they can transform an empty space into something new that can help promote food sovereignty and food justice for everyone in your community.  Additionally, gardening promotes sustainability because you have access to fresh food right in your own yard, and can conserve the many resources used to truck food across the country. 

Victory gardens, school gardens, and home gardens all are easy to set up with a few tools and materials. People are buying seeds more now than ever to start up their own home garden.  If seeds are planted now, there will be enough surplus to preserve food for the Winter months ahead and ensure your supply of healthy vegetables year round!

Now, some gardening Q & A :

What do you need to get started? 

Most fruits and vegetables require an area that gets 8 hours or more of sun. Find the sunniest spot in your yard or balcony, and determine what kind of container you can fit there. Many plants can be grown in a pot, or even recycled buckets and other containers. You may be able to do some form of vertical gardening, or hanging planters, too! If you need to garden on a windowsill, you can still do many herbs, miniature varieties of vegetables, and a PFP favorite, microgreens!

f you have a lot of space but aren’t sure about your soil, you may want to build raised beds. Common sizes are 4x4 feet or 4x8 feet, or a narrower 3 foot width if kids will be helping you harvest. The basic form would require lumber, or another material as the frame, and soil to fill them, and some tools to put it together.

Lastly, you’ll need seeds or seedlings to plant!

Where to get seeds and plants:

Well, you’re in luck! PFP has a yearly plant sale coming up, and we also have a seed bank that we sell seeds from. There are many other reputable seed companies out there, and you can find varieties that do well in the Hudson Valley from regional companies like Hudson Valley Seed Co., Turtle Tree Seeds, Fruition Seeds, or TrueLove Seeds!. If you are buying a seedling to transplant, make sure to inspect it for any signs of stress or disease like wilting, brown leaves, or signs of fungus or pests. You don’t want to introduce diseases into your garden!

What to grow? 

Grow what you will eat! Fruits, vegetables, or even grains if you have the space. There is a huge variety of options for the Hudson Valley. A few of my favorite container options are peppers, greens, beans, tomatoes, eggplant, herbs, strawberries, and carrots. I’ve also done things as large as squash or potatoes in pots successfully!

What to keep in mind? 

Growing something new is an adventure and an experiment! We learn new things all the time as gardeners - it’s part of the reason I love it. Sometimes your plants may not all make it, and that’s normal, don’t be discouraged. However, many issues can be fixed if you pay close attention to what the plants are telling you, so make sure to check on your plant “babies” every day if you can - besides, it’s something to do! That first taste of home grown produce will be worth it.

PFP's Garden Clubs Launch in Poughkeepsie Schools

By Chris Gavin, Garden Educator at Clinton and Krieger Schools

Recently the Poughkeepsie City School District was selected as a recipient of the Empire State After-School grant to bring extended learning time to its students for the next five years.  And PFP couldn’t be prouder to be one of the community organization chosen to work with the district on this new project. Since December, we’ve been bringing our love of food and farming to Poughkeepsie’s four elementary schools, and we are expanding our after-school programming to include the middle school and high school as well.  This is as large an undertaking as it sounds, and to support this ambitious endeavor PFP has welcomed eight new garden educators to its farm family. I count myself lucky to be a part of this new team that brings together farmers, educators, food rights advocates, local college students, and longtime members of the Poughkeepsie community.

Our after-school program is called “Garden Club”, though that simple name doesn’t convey the depth and range of learning we are bringing to our students. The established teaching gardens at each site are the foundation for our work, but as you may know, food connects to virtually any academic discipline and touches so many aspects of our daily lives.  Through Garden Club, our students gain practical hands-on skills as they develop positive social and emotional tools that can help them throughout their lives. We connect our lessons to the natural sciences and English Language Arts so that our program supports classroom learning. Most importantly, our club helps create a community where our students can feel safe and comfortable being themselves, where they can develop strong relationships with their peers, and where they can build social skills like kindness and respect.

The theme of our program is “FOOD IS LOVE”, and everything we teach connects to this central idea.  Cooking and eating food together is a way to build community and show people that you care about them.  Sharing recipes is a way to celebrate our own cultural traditions and learn about those that are different from our own.  Learning healthy eating habits is a way to love and support our bodies so that we can be our best selves. Growing food in a way that helps rather than hurts our environment shows our love for all living things.  These are some of the ideas we are sharing with our youth participants, and we hope that they will in turn share what they learn with their families and community.

On a personal note, I am a lifelong resident of the City of Poughkeepsie and I attended Poughkeepsie public schools for my entire K-12 education. To return as an educator to the schools that I attended as a child has been a powerful and humbling experience for me.  Sharing the joy of food and love of nature with the next generation of kids in my hometown brings me a level of pride and fulfillment that I haven’t before experienced in my professional life. I am so proud to be a part of the team that brings this educational experience to so many youth throughout the district.  Here’s to four more years of transformative learning!

That's Chris and her son!

An Herbal Class With Beatrix

By Sarah Moley

It was that first cool day of fall weather, cloudy, and we watched for the rain. Beatrix Clarke, our resident herbalist, had me peeling the onion we were going to have everyone chop up for their fire ciders. She peeled the garlic. We waited until everybody arrived, and then we all introduced ourselves and, as Beatrix asked of us, told something we knew about herbalism. While the answers were varied, they all had to do with alternative options for healing. The power of herbs. This is something I’ve found a lot of people feel. We are still captivated in this modern world by the plant’s ability to heal and protect. Beatrix talked about how, in medieval times, they would salt pack meat with herbs—herbs because everyone would get sick off of the meat otherwise—herbs were the best way to kill the germs.

Today, this tradition coupled with the ability of herbs to make certain foods more easily digestible—rosemary for lamb, sage for poultry, both digestive herbs in this sense—makes herbs a staple in most kitchens. A practice that, with centuries of proof behind it, we no longer question the why; why certain herbs go best with certain foods, how much culinary herbal knowledge we actually do possess, without needing an explanation. However, with modern medicine evolving farther and farther outside of the farm and garden, even in an herbal group, we are shy to stake our own claims about how herbs have healed us or helped us to prevent the need for healing in the first place, helped us stomach life’s problems—outside of the kitchen. But today, we are in a tincture kitchen, underneath an outdoor tent, steps away from the herb garden.

Next, we go on an herbal walk. Only ten herbs. That’s best for the memory, Beatrix says. First, Beatrix stops right inside the gate, “Careful of the nettles!” I warn. Of course, this is exactly what Beatrix wants to show everyone. The power of nettles. “Really good for you, you can use them like spinach.” I add as we walk, “Make sure to sauté or steam them first!” repeating something Beatrix had told me before when I was skeptical of eating nettles myself. A simple solution used to temper their sting.

Then we picked Ricolla Mint for our digestive tinctures. “Five leaves, or more—if you want more.” As Beatrix would tell everyone later, “Tincturing is an art, not just a science.” However, it is an art that requires the scientific categorization of herbs as a base; you have to know what you’re working with before you test age-old recipes. There’s a reason some combinations are tried and true; this form of medicine has been around for a long time. A weak sage tea is good for the stomach, a strong sage tea makes a good gargle for sore throats—but could wreak havoc on your stomach functions for that day. Herbs are like anything else, good in their proper amount. However, it would be difficult to land yourself in big trouble due to herb use, except, in extreme cases, as Beatrix mentioned next with the comfrey. “Comfrey is a wonderful herb, but has recently been blacklisted thanks to some woman who drank a gallon of comfrey extract and ended up in the hospital.” Think about it; imagine drinking a gallon of any kind of extract—like vanilla extract, for instance. The sheer amount she consumed is unbelievable. Beatrix continues, “So we have to make sure to plant it. An act of defiance now.” To this everyone chuckled, but took note.

We kept walking, even as a couple raindrops broke on us. “Parsley tea for UTIs; the problem with cranberry juice is all of that sugar. The cranberry makes you slippery so the bacteria slips out, but sugar. Grows bacteria. Parsley is better. No sugar.” We get to the herb wheel. She points out a marshmallow plant, the calendula we use for our PFP salves, and lastly, we pass around some Tulsi, or holy basil, to smell. It smells heavenly; wonderfully heady; like the panacea (or cure-all) it is.

Then, we head back into the tent to start working on our tinctures, mint leaves in hand. We all split up into assigned groups at three different stations. Beatrix explains the process for each one before we begin. When talking about the digestive tincture, Beatrix tells us, “Now, for a while at first, you’re going to want to give it a shake, everyday. And talk to it. Tell it good things, ‘you’re a good tincture, you’re going to make my tummy feel better’” Everybody chuckles, “you know, stuff like that. And, I’m serious because—they did a study, studied frozen water crystals—the crystals when you wrote something like ‘love’ on the outside, they froze into these, transformed, beautiful structures.” I remembered listening to a tape of this talk in the car on the way to school everyday in fifth grade. My mother, also an herbalist, loved the science behind the effect of positive words on water cells. We humans carry a lot of water with us. There is something undeniably good about ingesting herbs to heal, relax, or digest. We feel good about it. I think there’s something to that.

Beatrix sends me to boil water for the glycerin tincture. In this workshop she is teaching us how to make three different kinds of tinctures: a digestive tincture with an alcohol base, a relaxing tincture with a glycerin base (good for kids), and a fire cider with an apple cider vinegar base. She explained at one point that “fire cider” is the name for an age-old tonic that has, just recently, been copyrighted by one company. “Us herbalists have to fight back,” she says, “They’re saying we can no longer use this term. Just think of that!”

When I return the tent smells rich with seeds that have been bruised in a mortar and pestle, roots that have been chopped or grated, leaves that have been cut fine. I start with the glycerin tincture. Pouring the hot water over the chamomile and fennel on a cool day is instantly relaxing. We switched stations, giving everyone time to compose one of each kind.

When we were done, we talked for a bit, people asked questions about specific health concerns, garden concerns, “I have too much comfrey,” someone said, to which I replied, “You can turn comfrey into a compost tea if you’ve used all you want to use for other things; you can chop it up, let it stew in water until it gets smelly, and then put it right back into your garden.” Others asked about lyme disease, a woman’s child had been diagnosed this summer; Beatrix replied, “Artemisia annua is a good one for spirochetes; make a tea. In addition to everything else you’re doing…” After more questions like these, we parted ways. Since the workshop, we’ve had eager new volunteers in our Meditation Garden, hungry for Beatrix’s herbal knowledge. And she has more than enough to spare. “We talk about all kinds of things during our workdays; anyone can come,” I say, “And not just herbs!” Beatrix and I laugh. As we made our way out of tent, everyone looked happy, heading home, toting their new tinctures, I imagined them thinking, ‘you are good tinctures; you’re going to make me feel better.’ 

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***It's not too late to register for any or all of the remaining herbal home remedy classes with Beatrix! To learn more and register for a class, go here.***

5 Steps to Grow Your Own Herb Garden

By Sarah Moley, Gardens Coordinator

An herb garden can greatly improve one’s quality of life, providing everything from seasoning and flavor for food to salves, balms, teas, and herbal remedies.
Here are a couple of quick tips from our meditation herb garden to get you started:

1.   Begin growing herbs from seed in your home in early spring
Many herbs can be bought, ready to go in the ground. However, starting from seed can be more cost-effective and fun. Whenever sowing herbs from seed, whether indoors or out, make sure to really soak the seeds after planting until you see sprouts beginning to peek out from the dirt.

The best thing for herbs is to have them outdoors, if at all possible. Whether it’s planting them in pots on your porch or doorstep (good for herbs like mint that love to spread, but also for any herb), or sowing them into your garden; herbs enjoy full sun. That being said, you can also plant herbs at any point in the year, from seed or from starts purchased from a garden department (or plant sale), inside your house. This can be a fun way to have culinary herbs right at your fingertips when you’re cooking. In order to make this work you’ll have to ensure that they live in a window that gets a good amount of sun, or you can purchase a grow light.

If you plan to grow an herb garden outdoors you’ll want to either start your plants from seed indoors in early spring (when it’s still too cold for many herb seedlings to establish themselves outside) or buy starts when you’re ready to plant.

If you choose to start from seed indoors it is important that before transplanting herbs into your garden that you harden them off in their pots/trays, keeping an eye on them and the weather, gradually exposing them to direct sun, cold, and more infrequent watering so that they can acclimatize to being outdoors before going in the ground.

If you plan to grow your herbs in pots, make sure that you choose vessels that allow for proper drainage. You can further aid your plants with drainage by first filling the bottom of your pots with a layer of collected rocks before adding soil.

There are many perennial herbs that, once planted, will return the next year. Common perennial herbs include: mint, thyme, sage, lemon balm, oregano, chives…etc.

Some herbs are hardy enough to be sown directly into the garden. These herbs include: dill, cilantro, and chervil. These can also be difficult to transplant, making direct sewing a good idea. Additionally, these herbs may need to be reseeded every 3-4 weeks during the summer to ensure a fresh supply.

It is important to do some research about how best to start your herbs once you’ve decided which herbs you want and where and how you want to grow them. Each herb has it’s own planting window that can vary based on which zone you live in.

2.   Plant in an area that has good drainage and full sun
Herbs benefit from good drainage, which can be achieved by planting in raised beds, and even mixing in organic matter, such as compost, if you have heavier clay-soil. However, as Beatrix Clarke, the resident herbalist in our Meditation Garden says, “Herbs are actually very easy because they don’t need a whole lot of fertilization. They like barren; barren ground.”

Be sure to do your watering (as with any plant) in the mornings or evenings so the sun doesn’t fry the leaves. Keep an eye on the weather, as overwatering can make for less potency in some herbs.

3.   Trim and dead-head your herbs to ensure continued growth

Most herbs are happiest, once they’ve established themselves, being pruned regularly. This shouldn’t be too hard, as you’ll want to pick sprigs for cooking and teas anyways! However, it is important to clip leaves and pinch sprigs off at leaf intersections, taking, at most, one-third of the plant’s total foliage so that it is able to regenerate.

Additionally, herbs such as sage, Thai basil, holy basil (tulsi), chives…etc. will start to channel their energies into producing flowers if they are left to do so, so trimming the flowers ensures that the plant’s energy remains imbued in the leaves. (Also chive flowers are great for salads!)

4.   Harvest herbs and store
Culinary herbs can be frozen and then used year-round to add fresh flavor to any meal. You can freeze whole sprigs in a freezer bag, or simply freeze chopped herbs in water in an ice cube tray and keep in a sealed container in your freezer until you wish to use them. Then you can add them straight to the pan or pot to cook.

You can also dry herbs and brew delicious medicinal teas. As Beatrix notes, “many common culinary herbs such as sage, parsley, thyme, [and] peppermint, which are great herbs for a beginning herb garden, can also be used to combat common health issues.” She goes on to explain that teas made from thyme can be used to help treat coughs; peppermint is good for digestion; and sage for sore throats.

To dry simply lay them out on a paper bag, or place in a dehydrator (times will vary depending on the plant).

5.   Use
Each herb has many different uses. Here are a couple of fun ways to use them:

• Chive butter (good on baked potatoes, steaks, and bread!)
• Lemongrass can be used in a Thai coconut soup or in a broth to poach salmon.
• Mint is delicious in fresh veggie salads; try cucumber, tomato, red onion—have fun experimenting with the flavors.
• Savory, thyme, and garlic make for a good white bean soup.
• Thai basil chicken is a great dish, or for a slightly new take on a classic, try Thai basil pesto.
• Lavender, chamomile, mint, lemon balm, nettle, Echinacea, and many many more herbs can all be made into delicious health enhancing teas by simply drying the herbs on a paper bag or in a dehydrator, then brewing them in a tea basket.

Beatrix will tell you that “Many plants we consider weeds have herbal properties that can be used for healing,” so feel free to research and experiment with all kinds of herbs after you have established your traditional favorites.

Not only that, she says that in the spring, she eats her weeds; “I make salads with lamb’s quarter; I eat a lot of nettles”—and I double-checked with her—she says you must sauté or steam the nettles first to kill their sting (anything you would normally do to cook spinach). I look forward to giving it a try (after using gloves to harvest and prepare, of course).

The best thing to do is to pick herbs that speak to you. Whether you lean more towards culinary herbs to spruce up your kitchen creations, or medicinal herbs as a safe and healthy way to boost your immune system, find the herbs that enrich your life. To your herb garden from ours, wishing you happiness and health.

References:
https://www.thompson-morgan.com/how-to-grow-herbs Accessed on July 13th
https://gg.memberclicks.net/hardening-off-plant-starts accessed on July 13th
Interview with Beatrix Clarke, July 19, 2017

"Using Gardens to Teach" Workshop Benefits Local Educator

We are excited to offer our annual Using Gardens to Teach Summer Institute for Educators again this coming August 23-25. Below is a letter from Nicole Cardish, one of our 2015 participants, to a colleague. We just saw Nicole a few days ago when she picked up seedlings that PFP donated to the Mill Road School Garden that she manages in Red Hook. She was thrilled to be planting with the students and teaching in the garden. 

As suggested by her note, Nicole has started a vermiculture bin and has just initiated classroom composting for snack time and the kids are loving it! She and the students are also growing a wide range of vegetables in the garden for tastings and preparing simple snacks.

From left to right: Susan and Nicole collect and process seeds from Glacier Tomatoes; Nicole and Stacy prepare a healthy garden-fresh snack; Nicole and Isaac find the area and perimeter of a garden bed; Nicole picks up PFP-grown seedlings for the Mill Road School Garden.