The Inadvertent Gardener

I know my readers come from far and come from wide. There are those of you who live in Eastern Iowa (particularly in the Cedar Rapids or Iowa City area), though, and I just know some of you were jealous of me when you read about my coolest-ever CSA farmer last year.

There’s no need to be jealous anymore, ’cause I have an opportunity for you.

A week from today, Local Foods Connection will be rocking the Robert E. Lee Community Recreation Center, at the corner of Gilbert and Burlington Streets in Iowa City, for their annual Community Supported Agricultural Fair. From noon to 4 p.m. on March 22, you can come meet local farmers and sign up for a CSA share.

What does that get you? Well, weekly fresh and local produce. Seasonal stuff. Those goodies that just aren’t the same when you buy them at your local, faceless grocery store. Plus, by purchasing a share, you’re guaranteeing income for farmers, which means they’re more likely to continue providing healthy, local produce, and continue being good stewards of the land.

If that’s not enough for you, you’ll be able to meet me! I helped organize the fair this year, and I’ll be there with some Inadvertent Gardener swag that you can take home with you.

Hope to see you out there!

‘Tis the season for giving, for celebrating with family, for passing around all manner of good feelings. And since ‘tis the season, in Iowa, for digging out from an ice storm, I’ll take any warmth I can get!

But recently, my cousin Katherine passed along a truly warm and wonderful honor in my direction: The Nice Matters Award. As she posted on her blog, “This award is for those bloggers who are nice people; good blog friends and those who inspire good feelings and inspiration. Also for those who are a positive influence on our blogging world. Once you’ve been awarded, please pass on to seven others whom you feel are deserving of this award.”

I’m honored that Katherine chose me to join six other talented bloggers—she made reference in her blog to my winning this many times, but I have to correct her—this is the first time this has made its way into my piece of the blogosphere. So Katherine, thank you, and cheers to you and your blog, which is also so deserving of the award!

In the spirit of giving, here are seven bloggers I’m highlighting today for the Nice Matters award:

1. Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen. From her tireless dedication to Weekend Herb Blogging and to encouraging us all to cook food that’s both delicious AND healthy, to her support for the rest of the food blogging community, Kalyn is always thoughtful, always generous with her time and resources, and just an all around great person.
2. Same goes for Alanna of Kitchen Parade. Alanna was one of the first bloggers I ever met in person, when she stopped through Cedar Rapids on her way to northern climes. She passed along a wake-up call to me that day that stuck with me like nobody’s business…and that call had repercussions that I would have never imagined. Beyond that, her recipes are delicious, her blog is entertaining, and she is passionate about great food.
3. Trey of The Blogging Nurseryman is passionate about independent garden centers, keeping customers happy, and finding ways to use technology to bring customers to the fabulous garden center he and his wife own and run, and to get information about gardening out to the world at large. Plus, he has offered to be my personal garden consultant if I ever get stumped in a garden center here in Iowa. That definitely gets him on the list!
4. Michelle at My Grandpa’s Garden just up and sent me a praying mantis egg sac this summer. Plus, she introduced the garden blogging world to Big Pumpkin and Charlotte. She’s been such a terrific addition to my garden reading this year.
5. Kenny at Veggie Gardening Tips is another blogger who passed along a gift for my garden this year—some seeds for ice-hardy greens that I will be writing about in the fairly near future. Kenny is an incredible source of expertise, and, in my experience, thrilled to share what he knows with other bloggers.
6. Carol at May Dreams Gardens began the Garden Bloggers’ Book Club, which has exposed me to books I would have never thought to have read. Not only is she a wonderful gardener and blogger in her own right, but she has been inspiring the rest of us to expand our gardening horizons, and for that, I thank her.
7. Finally, in the continued spirit of one cousin to another, I’m going to highlight my cousin, Kären, who just launched Can’t Spare the Change, a brand new blog and Web site that examines how all of us can better effect change in the world around us and in our lives. Kären has an incredible story to share, and has inspired me in many ways. I encourage you to check out her blog and her story.

This is by no means an exhaustive list…but I wanted to highlight these bloggers, all of whom have affected my life in wonderful ways. Thanks to them, and to Katherine, for sending the award my way!

Last year, I encouraged my readers to participate in Menu for Hope, a blogging fundraiser that raises money for a worthy cause each year. Last year’s effort raised $62,925.12, which was donated to the UN World Food Programme.

Here’s how it works: Food bloggers from around the world donate prizes to the effort. Anyone around the world can buy a raffle ticket (or more than one – there’s no limit on the giving!) for $10 per ticket. You then designate which prize you’re trying to win for each ticket purchased.

This year’s effort starts today and runs through December 21. Once again, the money will go to the UN World Food Programme, but this time the donation will be targeted specifically to the school lunch program in Lesotho, Africa. The goal? To not only help feed children, but by doing so, to keep them in school so they are more likely to be able to make the money they need to feed themselves as adults.

The Lesotho program, as well, not only helps the affected children, but purchases the food for the program from local farmers. If you’ve spent any time reading my blog, you’ll know that’s a cause after my own heart. Feeding kids with local food? That’s a slam-dunk, in my opinion.

I know I’ll be heading over tonight to buy a few tickets, after I get done drooling over the variety of prizes. Last year, the hardest part of participating was choosing what I most wanted to win! I hope you’ll consider participating as well—and, if you’re a blogger who wants to help support the event, head over to Chez Pim to grab a banner or graphic to use on your blog. Together, we can make the fourth year of this event exceed our wildest expectations.

I have been known to get fairly passionate about food. When presented with the opportunity, I am positively incapable of not launching into an explanation of how to know whether or not a certain fish is sustainable and why you and you and you should care. I give the grocery store tomatoes a large berth in winter so no one has to listen to me mutter under my breath. And it’s very difficult for me to eat a good meal quietly—part of savoring the good stuff is making that mmm-mmm-mmm noise.

I just put my opinions to good use by voting for those I think are the most deserving Eastern Iowa chef, farmer, food artisan, drink artisan, and food-related non-profit. The Local Heroes Awards are open for voting right now through Edible Iowa River Valley’s web site, and from now through December 15, everyone is invited to get as mouthy as me about the local food people and organizations they love.

These awards are designed to honor people who have a vision and a commitment to building Iowa’s local and artisanal food scene. In other words, this is your opportunity to honor folks who make the world a better place to eat and drink. That’s a platform I can get behind.

Don’t live in Iowa? Don’t despair. Edible Iowa River Valley is just one of the 24 Edible magazines opening voting for the Local Heroes Awards. Whether you live in Memphis, the Twin Cities, on the Hawaiian Islands, or Cape Cod, it’s time to give some thought to the food you eat and the people who make that possible.

This year’s winners will be announced in January 2008 at the Edible Communities annual publisher’s dinner in Charleston, SC, and then will be announced to the local community in the spring 2008 issues.

As for who I voted for? Well, that’s between me and the ballot screen. But if you’re ever in Iowa City for a visit, I’d be happy to provide you some off-blog tips.

When I was in high school, I started spending one day every holiday season baking cookies. A cacophony of cookies. I baked at least five or six different kinds, then bagged them all up in sandwich bags with holiday-wrapped Hershey’s Kisses and mini candy bars, then tied the baggies with green and red ribbon, filled a huge shopping bag, and passed them out at school, spreading sugar from period to period, gifting my classmates and teachers with a little bit of home-baked love.

Sounds precious, doesn’t it? Sure it does, until I tell you the part where, when I was doing this at somewhere around age 23, when it occurred to me that I hated this little ritual. I inevitably ended the day washing baking sheets somewhere around 1 a.m., after starting the process somewhere before lunch. Although I would have planned something resembling nutritious food during the day, I ended the day sick from eating bites of raw cookie dough, with aching legs, a small burn on my arm from hitting the side of the oven, and a general Grinch-like demeanor.

So, I stopped the tradition. Here’s the thing: I liked the idea of spreading cheer via cookies, but I had lost any sense of fun that went along with it.

But this year, Lydia of The Perfect Pantry, one of my favorite food bloggers, threw out an idea. She is spreading the word about Drop In & Decorate, an effort sponsored by King Arthur Flour. The idea is simple: bake some cookies, invite friends or family or co-workers or neighbors to help decorate them, and deliver them to a local shelter or food pantry, lunch program, senior center, or any other place in your community where folks could use a little holiday cheer. Christmas cookies, Hanukkah cookies, Kwanzaa cookies, Festivus cookies…this one is non-denominational and provides the opportunity to have the cookie experience without the gritted-teeth at the end of the day.

King Arthur is selling special Drop In & Decorate kits, and they’re providing a special offer: Order a Drop In & Decorate baking kit now through November 15, and King Arthur Flour will include a free dough scraper with each order. Add the kit to your shopping cart. On the payment page, enter Promotion Code “Dropin” to the Promotion field and click the Update button. The page will refresh and the dough scraper will be added to your order. Offer valid through November 15 only (but the kit is on sale until December 26, and would make a great holiday gift).

But this doesn’t require much more than a batch or two of cookies and your own creativity. If you’re interested in participating, I encourage you to learn more over at Lydia’s Drop In & Decorate page, where she has plenty of free resources available.

It’s enough to make an Inadvertent Grinch like me send out some invitations to folks in town. This might be the year I resurrect my cookie baking skills!