It’s Farm Fact Friday once again, everyone! This week we’re talking about something you may find often growing on the outskirts of the farm, the very fragrant garlic chive! It’s delicious, requires less preparation in meals than garlic, and easy to regrow. They’re great in stir fry, stews, and with meat, eggs, seafood, and even specialty butter. They’ve been a part of Chinese cuisine for over 3,000 years, and it’s easy to see why they’re so loved.
Garlic chives actually have a history of being used for herbal medical purposes as well as in Chinese cuisine, having once been used on bug bites and small cuts, as an antidote to some poisons, a remedy for internal parasites, and for helping with digestive problems. They’re also chock full of vitamin A and C, as well as fiber, iron, calcium, and potassium, so they can be a healthy addition to your diet (especially as a replacement for garlic for those who struggle with acid reflux).
Garlic chives can handle sun well, and can deter some pests which make them an easy-to-care-for and tasty addition to gardens. They do have a limited shelf life after being cut from the plant, but with proper storage or allowing them to regrow, they can last longer.
Additional sources here, here, and here.
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Happy Farm Fact Friday, folks! This week we’re discussing the marigold flower, something you may see us plant on the farm sometimes. Marigolds are drought resistant and do well under the Texas sun, and can be a useful companion flower. Some varieties of the flower ward off tiny, parasitic worms just by certain compounds in their roots, and though many hybrids nowadays are scentless, some use scent to ward off beetles and bugs (smelling like wet hay).
Marigolds have a rich history as a flower used to decorate ofrendas for Dia de los Muertos, with the prominent scent and bright colors displayed to help spirits find their way home. Paper marigolds are also used to decorate sometimes.
People sometimes confuse marigolds are with calendula, which can be called pot marigold or common marigold and have somewhat similar appearances. However, calendula are edible flowers and have a different flower family they are a part of, whereas marigolds are generally not edible and some varieties are potentially toxic if eaten.
Additional sources on marigolds here, here, and here.
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Happy Farm Fact Friday, everyone! This week’s topic is a tasty, green and small fruit (botanically) and vegetable (culinary-wise). Some find it slimy, but others find it perfect for thickening stir fries, stews and gumbos; we’re talking about okra! Okra is fibrous, has protein, and is full of antioxidants. They’re delicious and grassy raw, and delicious pickled with a more interesting texture to offer than the traditional pickled cucumber!
Okra does better in sunny, warmer climates across the world (though it’s known in many parts of the world as lady fingers or bhindi) and can grow up to six feet tall. Did you know that they also have beautiful flowers, since they’re a part of the hibiscus family? The more you pick (when the pods are ready for harvesting), the more flowers they produce, and okra can go from flower to fruit in just a few days!
It likely originated in north east Africa, along the White Nile River, near current day Ethiopia, with it showing up in records around the 12th century. The word okra itself is derived from the Ashanti word “nkruma.” One of our staff members enjoyed this recipe; do you make any okra recipes? Feel free to show them off and tag us on social media @urbanrootsatx if you’d like!
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The sunflower is a hardy, drought resistant pop of color that help absorb harsh chemicals from the soil, as well as being a beautiful calling card to birds and bees (due to their seeds and nectar). However, they do need nutrient soil to grow. Otherwise, they thrive and manage in the harsh and dry Texas environment, and our roads and gardens would certainly look much drearier without them.
Did you know some Native tribes use sunflower seeds to make sunflower flour and their vibrant petals for dye? The stem was also used as a building material. Additionally, some traders managed to take seeds with them back to Europe and Russia in the 1500s, and by the 1800s over 2,000,000 acres of sunflowers had been planted in Russia! It seems it’s not just those in America who love the sunny flower.
The sunflower is quite versatile, from the edible petals to the seeds, and the stem… but did you know in a recent trend, you can also eat the head and buds? Sunflower flower buds can be cooked similarly to artichokes, can be eaten as part of a salad, or cooked in things like stir fry and taste both green and fresh. Meanwhile, the head is recommended to be harvested before the seeds harden, when the petals are still on the flower but beginning to go, and can be grilled up with just some oil in minutes, and utilized fairly similarly to corn (you can read here for further information).
If you try it out, let us know how it goes by tagging us on social media @Urbanrootsatx!
Additional Source:
Happy Farm Fact Friday, folks! This week we’re covering something that might be unexpected. It’s something smelly, messy, and “gross” but helps us improve soil health and nutrients, as well as reduces waste: the important farm practice of composting.
In short, composting is the process of turning organic material (anything we grow that doesn’t make it into consumable produce, like food scraps, weeds, leaves, etc.) via decomposing organisms that break it down like worms into fertile soil. It keeps food waste out of landfills, where it can’t properly decompose without oxygen and creates methane and carbon dioxide.
There are two different types of composting. Hot compost requires materials high in nitrogen at a specific high temperature to kill potential disease and weeds over time. Technically it is a faster process, taking some months, though maintaining the temperatures required.
Cold composting, which we utilize on the farm, is a slower process that may take up to a year to provide nutrient rich dirt. However, it does require less maintenance as you can add whatever material you have that works for composting, and only requires mixing to ensure it breaks down together and takes time. Without the temperature, it’s more important to ensure that weeds are properly disposed of so you aren’t spreading them with your soil, and that you keep any crop waste with disease out of it, to ensure it isn’t spreading.
On the farm, we use cold composting. We also utilize fertilizer and mixtures of things like chicken manure that create the healthy, nutrient rich soil we work with and grow with. You can compost on a small scale, with products you can purchase to use inside your home, or you can compost in a corner of your garden.
You can learn to compost at home, learn more about the components of composting, learn about the do’s and don’ts of composting, and learn more about the differences of hot and cold composting here.
Watch our beekeeper, Brandon Fehrenkamp (you can check him out on Instagram), show you the Urban Roots bees! You can see here as the honey bees are rebuilding their nectar storages in spring, which they had eaten throughout the winter. This spring nectar will go into helping make drone and worker bees for the blooming season ahead. They will continue to rebuild their storages as they pollinate the farm and gather nectar to make into honey through the summer and fall for another winter, and will repeat the process once again.
We’re celebrating Watermelon Day this year with a bang, or more specifically, a tasty watermelon lager, made with Urban Roots watermelon! Hold Out Brewing made a refreshing lager beer that will be on tap August 3rd from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Hold Out Brewing, at 1208 W 4th St, Austin, TX, 78703. A portion of that evening’s menu supporting Urban Roots. Some Urban Roots folks will be there as well if you’d like to pull up a chair, grab some drinks, and chat!
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This recent summer season we were able to bring back one of our favorite summertime events, Community Lunches. These lunches brought us together for food and fellowship as we celebrated youth voices and leadership. They were also a special way for us to thank partners, friends, and volunteers. Urban Roots is very grateful to everyone who helps us do what we do; we truly couldn’t accomplish our mission without the youth, but also without the support of our community members, and dedicated Board members.
They’re an opportunity to learn about the experience of the youth; the youth work with local chefs and restaurants to create a delicious meal made from Urban Roots produce, discuss what Urban Roots means for them, and get to eat their delicious hard work.
For this summer season, we were very thankful to work with Chef Rick Lopez and La Condesa, Chef Amanda Turner and Olamaie (thank you to Sustainable Food Center for letting us use your kitchen!), and Chef Fiore Tedesco and L’oca D’oro who taught our youth to make their mouth watering and delectably delicious menu items! Cooking is culture, and we’re delighted that the youth enjoyed joining these different kitchens, learning different cooking skills, and learning new cuisine while sharing bits of each others’ culture. We can’t wait to see the youth learn and cook for the autumn Community Lunches too!
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Urban Roots is excited to celebrate Earth Day! Everyday and especially today, we are grateful for how the Earth nurtures us, and we nurture the land in return. This why we use farm practices that are kind to the land. For example, we rotate which fields we plant in to let the soil recover, and why we hand weed instead of using pesticides, even if hand weeding is slow and intensive. The land that we work on is part of the heart of Urban Roots; it is what lets us nourish our community, and what brings our youth and our community together. We wouldn’t be what we are today without the earth we farm on, and the intimate connection it makes between crops and community, food, and people.
While there is much work to do to reduce our impact on global warming and improve our environment, some of the most effective and lasting ways we can make change around us is by investing in our local communities and organizations that are doing the work to improve our planet. So what are some ways you can get involved in Austin? Below are some ways you can invest in our planet (this year’s Earth Day theme) and your local community.
– Join the Earth Day Austin clean up this year, and other initiatives in town. Learn more about Earth Day volunteer opportunities in Austin here!
– We can’t separate our food systems from our ecosystem, and getting involved in local, earth-conscious food efforts like Urban Roots can be a great step! There’s different types of food efforts, from urban farms, to food forests, to community gardens. Volunteering with organizations like Urban Roots or our partners, such as Go Austin! Vamos Austin or Farmshare Austin, can also help you learn more about your community and local food system.
– If you want to live more sustainably, small changes like swapping napkins for rags and alternatives like Swedish Dish Towels can add up. If you have a local refill store or similar online services, you can save waste and still get things you need. Can you think of any small changes you can make in your day to day life?
– And of course, you can always invest in organizations that are making a difference. We have some great smaller and local efforts in town… like Urban Roots! Consider making a donation to Urban Roots this Earth Day, and help us nourish our neighbors and empower youth.
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