Veggie-Cycle

There's a new online service that's very much like Freecycle, except for produce. (If you haven't heard of Freecycle, it's fabulous when spring cleaning.)

Veggie Trader was inspired by a lemon tree that didn't get picked. People with fruit, veggies, nuts, etc., that they can't or know they won't use, can list it on Veggie Trader, sell it, give it away, or trade it for something they will use. Their hope is that the service will help us all use our collective resources better.

Have two cabbages and no potatoes? You know what to do.

Gardening in a Small Space

If you want to grown your own fruit, vegetables, and herbs, you can find a way! Many people use their windowsills (inside and out) for small plants and herbs, ask their landlord or condo association if they can garden in a patch of shared land, or join community gardens. You don't have to live on a farm, or even have a yard to grow food!

This picture is my friend Bob planting in a tree well in the West Village of Manhattan.

There are plants that do better in containers, and in windows, just as there are plants that do better in this climate than in Florida. Do your research, and you can easily grow some of your own food.

Composting Weeds

Have you ever tried drowning your weeds?

I have sent them off with the garbage before, and felt bad that I was contributing to landfills. Past years I've mostly pulled weeds and thrown them on the blacktop to bake, before composting them. But I'm worried this actually dries the seeds and preps them to be spread far and wide by the wind. This year, I'm trying drowning my weeds, then adding them to the compost. Rumor has is that the "tea" the rotting weeds create is actually good fertilizer.

Does anyone have any experience with this they can share?

3 Easy & Essential Herbs

Mint, parsley, and chives are all perennials, meaning they come back every year by themselves. All three look great in your garden (I put them in flower gardens and they control weeds). All three dry and freeze well, and all three make your food much more fabulous. All three grow well in pots.

First, chives. Aren't those flowers gorgeous? Chives were among the first plants in my yard to come up this spring, and they're almost ready to blossom already. To use, cut chives off at the base, and they will continue producing new shoots all spring, summer, and fall. For winter, cut as much as you can, tie them in bunches with string, and hang them in a dry place. Once dry, store in a brown paper bag or baggie in a drawer and use all winter long.

Chives are milder than onion and garlic, and often useful for those who have trouble with spicy foods. Also, kids love them. When I was small, I enjoyed cutting my own out of the garden and cutting them up over food with scissors. Chives are delicious, just ask French cooks!Parsley is key for potato salad, tabouleh (my fave!), stuffing, and good breath! I love parsley so much that put I it in salads and sandwiches. When I first realized how tasty it was, I was horrified that it was so commonly used as a garnish that people don't eat.

Parsley is available at all times in my garden, except when there's snow on the ground. It's that hearty. It's more abundant in summer, but it's there year-round. Plant parsley close to tomato plants to keep pests away. That's it. You don't have to do anything for it once it's established, but this plant keeps giving and giving. (Now we just have to wait for ripe tomato season....)Mints are the queens of herbs. There are zillions of different kinds (chocolate mint, lemon mint, apple mint, ginger mint). There are as many flavors of mint as there are martinis these days! I grow the basics: peppermint, spearmint, and, because I have cats, catmint. Mint calms your stomach by aiding digestion.

I put it in all kinds of food to add zing, but my favorite use for mint is suntea. Stick several sprigs of your favorite mint in a glass jar, cover with water, and let sit in the sun for an hour or so. Chill and drink.

Mint spreads, and some people consider it invasive. I think there's no such thing as too much mint, but you might not want to plant it near delicate plants. You can skip the worry of mint spreading by planting it in a pot. If you put the pot somewhere where it's protected from northern winds in the winter, the mint plants are hearty enough that they will still come back on their own next year.

The drying methods for mint and parsley are the same as chives. Once dry, you can crush and keep the leaves and discard the stems.

You know that by "discard" I mean COMPOST, right?

Eat Your Weeds

The whole world, including the internet, seems to be covered in garlic mustard right now. While most hardy perennials are just starting to peep out, huge mounds of garlic mustard appear overnight. There are plenty of warnings and alarms about how evil this plant is, how invasive, how it could potentially ruin forests. I tend to get kind of excited about having wild ginger, as it's also called, growing outside my door.

Garlic mustard is edible, and that's why it was introduced here in the first place. I like the approach of keeping these weeds in control by eating them. It's spicy, like horseradish root.The roots are long, but thin, and can be prepared just like horseradish. A lot of people seem to make pesto out of the leaves and roots. And I'm finding the huge roots useful for adding flavor (and good bacteria) to my nuka pickling bed.

Garlic mustard is plentiful during these spring rains, so weed and enjoy.

wintergreens Accepts Food Stamps

Today is officially a good day, since we officially became eligible to receive Food Stamps. The federal food stamp program is now called S.N.A.P. (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), and will require a different payment schedule than listed here on the wintergreens site. If you are a part of the SNAP program and you'd like to participate in wintergreens CSA, just contact us and we'll set it up!
wintergreenscsa@gmail.com.

We expect to work with area farms and help them move toward accepting SNAP too.

If you don't know whether you're eligible or not, check the Hunger Action Network. (One in every five New Yorkers is eligible!)

Oh, it's a jolly, well-fed day!