Feel Good on Oct. 25!

Feeling good by doing good…That’s so often what Green Corn volunteers describe—that digging food gardens with folks who’ll soon be growing their own fresh organic vegetables makes a person feel genuinely happy. And it’s a comment heard even when the dig-in days are toasty or chilly soggy, as it tended during the just-completed fall garden dig-ins. 

Now it’s time for anybody looking for some feel-good fun to mark your calendars for October 25—Green Corn’s annual fall fest fundraiser at lovely Boggy Creek Farm. Once again, 32 top Austin restaurants and gustatory purveyors (many thanks!) are serving up their finest fare for a sensory celebration worth well more than the $35 entrance.

Our generous sponsors (mille grazie!) and silent auction donors (muchas gracias!) are once again providing an enchanting afternoon at Boggy Creek and a chance to score a smorgasbord of creature delights. Picture yourself or a friend or relative delighted by the likes of these: Luxurious weekend stays…gala gourmet gatherings…stress-melting pampering…exquisite sustainable dining…garden and backyard makeovers…cool cooking classes…amazing art for body and home…local taste treats…garden goodies…enticing entertainment extravaganzas…sweet grocery giveaways…and much more.

 This year, we’ll have something extra—a children’s table (Danke! to Natural Gardener) where kids can create art, play games, and take home their own veggie starter kit!

Along with inspirational chef demos and live music…well, it’s got to be the most fun going on in Austin on the 25^th.

Feeling good; doing good…join us for a win-win afternoon at Boggy Creek, and thanks for your support for Green Corn’s goal of feeding Austin, one garden at a time.

–Helen, Green Corn volunteer

Easy, yummy fall gardening

If you grow any kind of food, you’re likely giddy with glee over how the recent rains turbo-charged our water-starved veggie, nut, and fruit friends. But what’s just as real as rain and well, reality, is the fact that in central Texas, we gardeners often got to deal with less-than-favorable gardening conditions. That’s why we always keep some tough old gals in the garden who’ll produce—or just stay alive—through heat waves and drought.

The fall garden season is ideal for enjoying some easy gardening with a whole slew of hardy, reliable veggies. Kids and grownups groove on faves such as carrots, peas, broccoli, spinach, and greens—and if you get busy right quick, you can still get a fall crop of cherry tomatoes and green beans! If you’re a newbie, learn how to fall garden at Green Corn classes; garden newbies and oldbies can amp up the fun by joining a dig-in that helps others grow their own food.

And whether you’re now chowing on a revivified summer crop or licking your chops over the fall haul to come, the EATING part of gardening has got to be one of the best things ever invented. Lately, I’ve been inspired by my tough-as-nails garden pal chard, who stood by me (and my watering hose) all the way through the heinous heat.

The key to yummy chard for me is pairing it with whatever savory soup broth, sauce, or filling I’ve got going. So I’ll slice up some ruffley leaves to slide into any soup I’m heating up and add handfuls to just about any sauce from tomatoey pasta toppings to say, a garlicky mushroom-chicken melange. Plus, chard leaves make excellent wraps for any kind of leftover or sandwich filling! Check it out:

Just dip the leaves briefly into simmering salted water, and the chard becomes a strong, pliant wrap for (above) a Greek-style sauté of leftover rice, garlic, lemon, oregano, feta cheese, and pistachio and (right) oniony baked winter squash sparked with orange juice next to Indian-inspired leftover mashed potatoes zipped up with sauteed mustard seeds, onions, cumin, and peas.

As they say in Paris (Texas), très bon! And on top of all this deliciousness, chard (along with other greens) is a nutritional powerhouse veggie, so you’ll be getting all Popeye, too. Seems like now’s a good time, as they say down on 6^th street, to “chardy hearty” and get going with a bounteous fall garden!

–Helen, GCP volunteer

Grow the revolution!

“A plot of dirt can be a great place to start a revolution.” Amen to that, and big thanks to Patagonia (see post below) for their generous grant to Green Corn Project as well as Patagonia’s GCP shout-out. Funding like Patagonia’s helps score us sorely needed supplies and lets us do more of what we do: “…empower people with knowledge and skills to create an immediate benefit in their lives,” as Patagonia puts it.

That immediate benefit is a lovely payoff for our volunteers, but while it’s fulfilling to feel the appreciation from folks as we help them create their backyard food garden, it’s thrilling to consider that each dig-in plants another seed that grows the r/evolution toward healthier living for all of us. Plus, it’s superfun to see the garden and the new gardeners flourish over the season! Just one example with some awesome East Austin second-graders on garden plant day:

And these great junior gardeners on one of many harvest days:

Come join the revolution!

Patagonia Awards Grant to Green Corn Project

Mitch Mills of GCP (left), Jim Hansel of Patagonia (right), grant check (center)

Green Corn Project is delighted to be the recipient of the first environmental grant awarded by Patagonia’s Austin store. Jim Hansel, store manager, handed GCP president Mitch Mills the $3,000 check on Saturday, May 30, while Green Corn Project tabled at the store.

We will use the grant money to increase our capacity, build more gardens, and buy a shed to store our tools. Thanks so much to Jim, Meghan Coyner, and Lisa Edwards for their support!

We are also excited to be tabling this summer alongside Patagonia at Blues on the Green. The first show, featuring Ruthie Foster, is this Wednesday, June 3rd, starting at 7:30 pm. Blues on the Green is being held at Waterloo Park this year. Click here for more information and the complete schedule.

Be sure to stop by the Patagonia booth for a chance to win GCP t-shirts, books, and plants!

Les Dames d’Escoffier Green Corn Project Dinner

(left to right) Paula Angerstein, Jane King, Pamela Nevarez, Kristine Kittrell, Gina Burchenal, and Tracy Claros

On Sunday night, May 3rd, eight lucky Austinites enjoyed a wonderful, four-course meal prepared and presented by members of Austin’s chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier. This organization is “an international organization of women leaders who create a supportive culture in their communities to achieve excellence in the food, beverage and hospitality professions.”

Last fall at Green Corn Project’s Cook Globally, Grow Locally Autumn Celebration at Boggy Creek Farm, the Dames offered the dinner as a silent auction item. The lucky winner bid on the meal as a gift for his daughter.

The Dames and the guests gathered at the Clarksville home of Tracy Claros of the Sticky Toffee Pudding Company. Guests dined on a menu created and executed by the chefs.

Hors d’Oeuvres

Savory Cheesecake bites
Denice Woods, Friendship House Bed and Breakfast

Zucchini Puffs (shown above)
Quincy Adams-Erickson, Fete Accompli

Gulf shrimp ceviche with fennel, citrus and oregano (shown above)
Kristine Kittrell, Jeffrey’s

Cocktails featuring Paula’s Texas Orange and Lemon, Paula Angerstein

For more pictures of the event, please visit our photo album. (Many thanks to GCP board member David Huebel for his wonderful photography.)

1st Course
spring garlic soup with blue cheese crouton
Kristine Kittrell, Jeffrey’s
Wine: Fume Blanc , Becker Vineyards

Main Course
Duck confit and breast with Brussel greens, pork jowl bacon, carrots and spicy honey glaze
Kristine Kittrell, Jeffrey’s
Wine: 2005 Syrah, Texas Hill Country, Karen Johnson, Alamosa Wine Cellars

Dessert
A  trio of
Fresh Fruit Pavlova, Roasted Texas Peach Amaretto, Chocolate Surprise
Tracy Claros, Sticky Toffee Pudding Company

Chocolate-Lavender Truffles
Karen Farnsworth, Bijoux Bakery and Catering Co.
With Anderson and Company Coffee

Behind the scenes: Laura Kelso, Pamela Nevarez, Eat Street Catering, Mary Margaret Pack, food-writer, Gina Burchenal, Gina’s Kitchen, Kristie Sasser, All-In-One Bakeshop, Aimee Olson, Pastry Chef and Department Chair TCA, Jane King, Patricia’s Lunchbox

Thank you to the Les Dames for their generous donation and their support of Green Corn Project! We hope that this collaboration will be a longlasting one.

We will be gearing up later this summer for our next Cook Globally, Grow Locally Autumn Celebration. If you’d like to donate or help with the organization, please contact us.

Rachael Ray Donates to Green Corn Project

Cook and television star Rachael Ray was recently in town filming around town for her television shows. One night she filmed a Dai Due dinner held at Boggy Creek Farm.

Farm owners Carol Ann Sayle and Larry Butler have supported Green Corn Project since its inception. We’ve held our Autumn Celebration, our major fundraiser, at their farm for 10 years and counting. Larry sat next to Rachael that night and talked to her about GCP. (If you’ve met Larry, you know how much talking he can do!)

The next week a $1,000 donation check arrived in our mailbox, along with the note shown above.

Thank you, Rachael Ray! And thank you to Carol Ann and Larry for always supporting us.

If you’d like to join Rachael Ray in supporting Green Corn Project, you can donate here!

Vegetable Gardening at Lady Bird Lake

On Saturday, April 4, Green Corn Project volunteers refurbished our demonstration garden bed at Lady Bird Lake. Located on the north side of the lake just west of the Pfluger pedestrian bridge, our bed is part of The Trail Foundation’s Adopt-a-Garden program.

Here's how the bed looked before we replanted it with spring vegetables

Last year to celebrate GCP’s 10th anniversary, we adopted this bed and planted the first (and only) vegetable garden in the program. The bed is a great opportunity to show what we do to the 1.5 million people who visit the trail every year. Because so many of our gardens are at private homes and schools, this very public space allows us to demonstrate how everyone can grow their own organic vegetables.

Check out photos from last year’s initial dig-in in March and fall refurbishment here.

We decided to keep the bed this year because of the phenomenal response we received. Austinites love this garden!

This season Robby Lee of Austin Green Art helped with the refurbishment. He also brought what is surely going to be the star of this garden: a sculpture by Aaron Harrington that we’ve repurposed into a tomato trellis. Be sure to check it out!

We planted four varieties of tomatoes: yellow pear, Juliet, Stupice, and two Sweet 100s; eggplant, basil, and serrano and jalapeno peppers to add to the existing Swiss chard, oregano, and ornamental peppers.
Thanks to Robby (on the far right), as well as volunteers Michael and Andrea Olivier, Catherine Sewell, and Jesse Bowden who dug and planted with me on Saturday morning.
–Suzanne, GCP volunteer and board member

Happy gardening kids

What do you get when you add 19 VERY enthusiastic second-graders to a plot of dirt, some seeds, and some veggie plants?

More fun than ought to be legal.

There’s nothing more satisfying than being smack in the middle of a group of enchanting kids excited about growing and eating fresh, healthy food. And the children in Ms. Moreno’s class at Brooke Elementary were stoked: As they carefully nestled in their seeds and starts, they rhapsodized about the feasts ahead—“I love beans! I can’t wait for the watermelons!”

“Taking care of the garden and eating from it is the highlight of their day,” says Ms. Moreno. For the past four years, Green Corn Project teams have “refurbed” the Brooke garden plot and brought spring and fall veggies for the children to plant. Here are some volunteers from this spring’s GCP team, enjoying (seriously!) the plot prep as we chatted about the pleasures of growing and eating our own food.
And thanks to Ms. Moreno’s two children for their able assistance to the GCP dig-in!
–Helen, GCP volunteer

GCP Gardening Workshop

March is a busy month for Green Corn Project. In addition to our Dig-ins (garden installations and refurbishments) and dig-in leader training (more on that to come), we also offer a hands-on gardening workshop for people interested in learning how to install their own GCP-style bio-intensive garden and grow their own organic vegetables.

On Sunday, March 22, GCP instructors Amy Crowell and Max Elliott led the workshop at Soma Vida where GCP has an office.

The first picture shows participating digging their first trench, the first step of the double digging process.

Here’s Amy answering a question on how many times you might need to double dig your own bed. Her answer: depends on the soil, maybe once every three to four years, maybe once every ten years.

What you don’t see is the participants breathing a huge sigh of relief. As those of you who have volunteered with us know, double digging is a labor-intensive process. But the good news is that it creates a lazy bed, one that grows better with less water and less weeding than a conventionally dug bed.

Max helps a participant review class materials. All students receive materials specific to Central Texas as well as a copy of The Sustainable Vegetable Garden: A Backyard Guide to Healthy Soil and Higher Yields by John Jeavons and Carol Cox.

In addition to double digging, participants learned about composting, companion planting, and planning a vegetable bed.

If you are interested in future GCP workshops, please check our website for updates.

Don’t just take our word for it. Here’s what one participant had to say:

“Loved it! This workshop provided the perfect amount of information and hands on experience to plan and put in a garden the next weekend. I highly recommend this workshop for anyone who wants to grow vegetables in Central Texas and doesn’t know what to do or how to start. Thanks!!! The Green Corn Project is a fabulous nonprofit. You can count on my support.”–Susan Frentz, March 2009 class

–Suzanne, GCP volunteer and board member

A Passion for Plants: East Austin Garden Fair

Yesterday was a busy day for Green Corn Project. Teams of volunteers spread out across the city installing and refurbishing gardens on a make-up Dig-in day for last Saturday’s rained-out event.

I headed out to lead a double digging demonstration at a Passion for Plants: East Austin Garden Fair at Govalle Park. This was the third year for the free event, hosted by the Travis County Master Gardeners Association and the Texas AgriLife Extension Service, the Holistic Education and Health Network, Sustainable Food Center, and Green Corn Project .

GCP volunteer Ann Seago (getting things ready, above) and Master Gardener intern Alicia Nelson helped me teach more than 200 new and veteran gardeners about the benefits of double digging.

Alicia (in the white shirt at the end of the table) hadn’t double dug before yesterday’s event but caught on very quickly, just as most of the fair’s visitors did.

The highlight of the event for me was the recognition of longtime GCP gardener, Paula Gilbert. She’s pictured on the left at the top of post with me. GCP installed Paula’s garden six years ago. She’s now a self-reliant gardener who is going to volunteer with GCP’s crews putting in new gardens. A true GCP success story.

At the end of the event, as a thanks for the Parks Department for letting us dig up the park, we installed a garden filled with native and adapted plants. (Normally, of course, we would plant vegetables, but this bed won’t get enough maintenance to support a vegetable garden.) We planted the bed in front of the sign last year. Yesterday we added the curve and the side bed. Pretty soon we’ll have the sign encircled!

Thanks to all who stopped our demonstration yesterday and special thanks to Ann, Alicia, and Paula for helping us make the event great.

–Suzanne, GCP volunteer and board member