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Upcoming Events at Trinity Gardens
Seasonal Cooking with Linda Vogal
Saturday, May 4nd, 10:30 to 1:30
Join Linda Vogal for another delicious cooking class focusing on seasonal vegetables that come straight from Trinity Garden. Included in this spring's harvest highlights are radishes, carrots, and parsnips. Please sign up in advance--by Thursday May 2nd--if you'd like to participate in this cooking sesssion. Contact Judy Sims, judyg...@gmail.com, 805-637-3201.
YOUTH CAMP - Titled "Stewards of God's Creation,"
June 17th through 21st.
The camp offers gardening, food education (including lunch and snacks), cooking (with Linda Vogel), music, story time, arts and crafts, and games. Plot user Pablo will join TG committee chair Judy to conduct an array of garden activities with children entering K-6. Space for this summer camp, is limited to 50 children. Information and registration is available on the Trinity Lutheran Church website.
July Community BBQ Picnic
Sunday, July 7th, 11:00 to 2:00
All are invited to a community potluck picnic. A shade structure, tables and chairs will be set up on the grassy field. Trinity Church will hold outdoor an outdoor worship in this area at 10:30, and is encouraging church participants to visit the garden and join the potluck. Please come and bring family and friends. (More details to follow in our June newsletter.)
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OAS kids
A fourth grade class from Open Alternative School (OAS), SB School District, (same campus as La Colina Jr. High on Foothill Road), returned to TG to offer community service on April 11th, 11:00 to1:30. They completed a variety of work jobs, including building a long, narrow planting mound in which sunflower seeds (several varieties) were planted. The students enjoyed a picnic lunch and playtime on the grassy field.
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Joleen Law guided students in making pottery leaf imprints for our community tile table top.
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After a morning of community service, the Open Alternative School 4th graders enjoyed a picnic and play time.
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The students learned about spacing as their teacher guided them in planting the sunflower seeds. Hand widths and sticks were used for theseed spacing planting lesson.
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UCSB Community Service Project
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UCSB professor David Cleveland brought his entire “Small Scale Food Production” class of 22 students on April 25th. After a slide show presentation and discussion, the group “dug in” to 8 designated work job projects, directed by four Trinity Gardens committee members. An amazing amount of service work was completed in only one hour!
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UCSB students help weed in and in-between row,....
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move our heavy cold frame to a new sunnier location,
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and break up clay soil and amend rows to prepare for planting.
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Earth Day at Trinity Gardens
Trinity Gardens was open to visitors on Earth Day, visitors were invited to help harvest from the kids garden as well as free seeds.
Assisted by volunteer Erin, new plot user Scott spent hours helping to organize the mass of donated seeds, selecting some for use at Trinity Gardens, and others were delivered to the downtown SB Earth Day event. Following our own TG Earth Day Open House where all the seeds were available, Scott helped Judy relocate the remaining mass of seeds at Old Mission SB's historic food garden's education center. They are available any Wed. morning, 9-12:00, when volunteers come to this unique historic garden, La Huerta.
Contact Judy for details about accessing these free seeds. Note: Judy is a volunteer at La Huerta, and has helped organize docent tours of this community garden.
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Fall Harvest
This past year the garden has grown and donated over one ton of fresh produce! Recipients have included Food from the Heart, the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission’s women’s shelter (Bethel House), the Santa Barbara Organic Soup Kitchen, participants in community service work at the garden, and those who’ve taken Trinity Garden’s sponsored cooking classes, for which proceeds go to help fund the garden.
For the past few weeks, and continuing weekly, fresh produce is brought Sunday mornings to the church patio, available for anyone, with a suggested donation for the Lutheran SALT Food Pantry. The garden’s goal is to develop enough production of certain crops in order to provide food directly to the pantry for Saturday morning distribution. This Friday at least 100 units of TG lettuce varieties will be distributed by the food pantry!
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ALICE WATERS at UCSB’s Campbell Hall 4-27-13 by Judy Sims
“An Evening with Alice Waters,” founder of legendary Chez Panisse Restaurant in Berkley, was enjoyed by sold-out house. While settling into their seats, the audience witnessed many large screen beautiful pictures, captioned with one word—Alice’s introduction to her program—before she appeared on stage.
The following words were later described by Alice as Slow Food values: INTERDEPENDENCE, WHOLESOMENESS, HANDWORK, PRESERVATION, INSPIRATION, TRADITION, COMPASSION, EXPRESSION, GENEROSITY, WISDOM, NOURISHMENT, VITALITY, SENSUOUSNESS, PREPAREDNESS, TENDERNESS, HOPE, PURITY, SOULFULNESS, PURITY, AWARENESS, CONCENTRATION, HONESTY, PRACTICE, SHARING, DIGNITY, BEAUTY, DELIGHT, SELF-DISCIPLINE, EMPATHY, RESPECT, CRAFTSMANSHIP, TRUE ECONOMY, COMMUNITY, and DIVERSITY. The impact of the paired words and pictures gave clear meaning to the heart of the message she then presented.
Alice cautioned, “We’re at a critical point in an education revolution.” She talked of restructuring and revitalizing public education, and how having food as a common core subject would, in fact, alter the negative bi-products of our current fast food nation. She used the analogy of SOIL, sharing the underlying systematic conditions that currently dominate the way we eat, and indeed our culture, affecting and permeating our lives in every way: how we feel, our hospitals, schools, jobs and more. She worries that fast food values that degrade our human experience are becoming worldly, with a loss of individuality, uniqueness, and efficiency. She listed fast food values to include availability, cheapness, “more is better,” and dishonesty.
Alice encourages all to help each other to be the change, working towards edible education and slow food curriculum, where kids are currently confronted and bombarded by a fast
food nation. She suggests that food should be integrated into their school life through project based learning, including hands-on learning in the garden. She suggests a more enlightened way of teaching through reimagining our schools.
The “mother of American cooking,” and a “pioneer of culinary philosophy,” gave a well purposed presentation, also evident in her writings, including her latest book, The Art of Simple Food. Alice is the recipient of many awards--this evening it was a UCSB Honorary Alumnae Award.
Hailed as the “mother of the local-food movement” (Time), chef, proprietor and author, Alice Waters is a culinary icon. Some say that she single-handedly changed the American palate
(The New York Times) by pioneering a wholesome, delectable, approach to food, based on using fresh, organic, seasonal and local ingredients.
Alice's "bottom line" advice given at the conclusion was, “Eat only in season, eat local (grow your own if you can,) visit farmer’s markets , and support people who are taking care of the land.” The well known Edible School Yard Project website maps out a connective curriculum, offering many suggestions to parents, educators and the community.
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Message to Plot Renters
TG Project Manager Adam Graham reminds all plot renters to maintain plant growth within the boundary, keeping a clear 5 foot main pathway, while also maintaining clearance between plots. Areas near fences should be kept weed free as well, and soil should be kept away from the wooden fence sections.
Please report any pest problems. Recently plot holder Sharon reported a small flying/hopping insect eating her newly planted pole beans. Our garden management team will do it's best to assist in organically managing pests. Currently we also have at least one active gopher we're aiming to trap.
Next Saturday Adam will involve SBCC students in constructing a 4 ft. wide stairway from the upper orchard area down to the lower level. Students will also be constructing compost bins along the chain link fence area, under the large oak tree, near where there's currently a large mound of material for composting. (A new belt on the chipper has been ordered.) Plans to install a sink for washing produce are also "in the works."
Plot user Paul and Rose, former garden manger and TG plot user, have kindly donated a framing structure for a seed house/green house. We will submit a plan to the church council for approval, and our goal is to erect the structure and have a fully functioning seeding area by July 1st.
Thanks to those who've signed up and been at TG on Saturdays, 10-12:00. We need more plot users to sign up for May and June in order to maintain our "open garden time." We appreciate your welcoming any visitors during this time, when we expect you'd be working on your plot, or helping with maintaining the garden. There a list posted on the shed door of community service work jobs. Please record your service time and any work jobs you do on the yellow chart, also located on the shed door.
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New Volunteers
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Trinity Gardens has benefited from several new volunteers. Karina and Joshua are coming Sunday mornings, helping with harvesting, washing the harvest, preparing planting rows, weeding, planting and more. Volunteer Leif is also joining now on Sunday mornings, coming early to help with the harvest that is placed on the church patio every Sunday morning. Jennie and Robyn have also participated. What a difference this support makes! Plot users have been giving community service hours as well--part of their contract agreement with Trinity Gardens.
Also, a van full of Los Prietos Boys Camp HS students has returned twice in recent weeks, helping to install the fruit tree forest. These groups are committed to regular involvement at Trinity Gardens.
As we said good-bye to Rose, new plot user and experienced farmer Scott has joined Keith to become our garden management team. We’re looking forward to more food production! Come see us in action any Sunday or Tuesday, 10:00 to noon. Visitors are welcome any Sunday, Tuesday or Saturday between 10 and 12:00.
(Pictured Right) Our new volunteers Karina and Joshua enjoyed finding more and more potatoes while preparing the planting rows for the next crop Josh worked to finish up the mulching of the food forest.
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Seasonal Cooking: Carrot and Ginger Soup & Baked Parsnip Chips
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Carrot and Ginger Soup
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil or butter
1 Chopped, chopped
6 cups chopped carrots
2 tablespoons minced gingerroot
1⁄4 cup rice
4 cups vegetable broth
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice
Salt and Pepper to taste.
Directions:
1. In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until starting to soften. Add the carrots and ginger; sauté for 5 minutes or until the carrots start to soften. Stir in the rice.
2. Add the stock and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the carrots and rice are very soft.
3.Using an immersion blender in the pot or transferring soup in batches to an upright blender, purée until very smooth. Return to the pot.
4. Add water or more stock to thin to desired consistency. Reheat over medium heat until steaming, stirring often. Stir in the lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Parsnip Chips
Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds parsnips, about 4 large ones
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Peel the parsnips and slice off the root.
3. Cut the root into thin slices as evenly as possible.
4. In a large bowl, mix together the olive oil, salt, and pepper.
5. Add the parsnips and toss to coat.
6. Place on a parchment or foil-lined baking sheet.
7. Roast for 30 to 35 minutes, tossing the chips halfway through to ensure even cooking. Chips are done when they're lightly caramelized
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