Written by Burpee Home Gardens Team. Burpee Home Gardens was a Supporting Sponsor of The Edible Garden.

Getting kids to make healthy food choices can be a struggle. One of the best ways to encourage children to eat more fruits and vegetable is to provide them with a sense of ownership and understanding of where their food comes from. Children-focused vegetable gardens are a great way to start.

In 2010, Burpee Home Gardens was happy to sponsor a handful of community and youth gardens all over the United States through its “I Can Grow” initiative. We saw the excitement in the participants’ eyes, and we were honored to be a part of programs like The New York Botanical Garden’s The Edible Garden, where the interest in cooking with home-grown produce was celebrated.

Now we’re thrilled to be offering even more chances for youth- and education-focused gardening programs to get the funding and plants they need to be successful and fun. The 2011 “I Can Grow” Youth Garden Award will support and sponsor urban school and community youth gardens with vegetable and herb plants, garden layout expertise, event promotion, and of course money for supplies!

Learn how to apply for this award below.

Rustin Dwyer is Visual Media Production Specialist at The New York Botanical Garden.

What makes a good olive oil? What’s the deal with whole wheat pasta? How much should I pay?

The “Master of Molto Gusto” paid us a visit last weekend and took time to answer all these questions and more. Here are some amazing images from last weekend’s event, so check it out if you missed it . . .

After a stellar summer full of produce, cooking demos, and celebrity chefs, The Edible Garden is nearing its end, but not without one final, jam packed weekend.

On Saturday catch a cooking demo with Mario Batali at 12 p.m., Michael Psilakis at 2 p.m. and Marc Forgione at 4 p.m.

Sunday’s cooking demos feature Todd English at 1 p.m. and Sara Jenkins at 4 p.m.

There will be booksignings and samples on the Tasting Terrace both days.

And once you’re back home, keep the spirit of The Edible Garden alive by trying one of these fantastic recipes.

New York’s favorite orange Crocs-wearing chef is coming to The New York Botanical Garden on Saturday, October 16, and we couldn’t be more excited!

So to celebrate we’re running a contest in conjunction with the King of Eataly himself.  All you have to do is “like” both The New York Botanical Garden and Mario Batali on Facebook, and then leave a comment on both pages answering a simple question: What would you like to have Mario Batali cook for you if he were to come to your house? On the The Garden’s page, base your answer on this post. On Mario Batali’s page, base your answer on this database of recipes.  And that’s it!

Only people who leave a comment on both pages by 1 p.m. Friday, October, 15 will be entered into a drawing from which one winner will be chosen at random. We’ll announce the winner on Friday afternoon on Facebook.

What’s the prize you ask? If you’re in New York City, we’ll reserve two front-row seats at Batali’s cooking demonstration just for you and a guest, plus you’ll receive a special gift from Mario. Not in New York? Never fear! You’ll still get the gift from Mario Batali, plus a little something from us!

So remember: Don’t leave a comment here, leave it on each of the two Facebook pages. Buona fortuna!

Mario Batali loves food.  I know. I once, quite by mistake, was fortunate enough to follow him and his wife around the Union Square Greenmarket here in New York City. My husband and I were shopping for dinner and were quite focused on the task at hand, but we kept bumping into the chef and his wife. His love of the market, the farmers and the community surrounding it was obvious. Here was a man who truly loves food.

I see this same love, dare I say gusto, in Mario’s selections for his raised garden bed in the Home Gardening Center here at The New York Botanical Garden. The inevitable waning of the growing season has naturally dwindled the selection remaining in the garden, but everything that is still in there is beautiful, fragrant, delicious and just begging to be cooked. When I go to visit the Home Gardening Center (it’s quite near the Cafe, and a lovely place to stroll around for a few minutes after lunch) I love playing a game with the Celebrity Chef gardens planted in conjunction with the Edible Garden: If so-and-so were to come to my house tonight to cook me dinner, what out of this garden would I ask them to cook?

Head below the jump for an exciting chance to win front-row seats to Mario Batali’s cooking demo at The New York Botanical Garden Saturday, October 16!

Oceana Pastry Chef Jansen Chan Shares Preview of 2 New Creations

Jansen Chan is Executive Pastry Chef of Oceana in New York. He will give cooking demonstrations at The Edible Garden on Sunday, July 4.

Summer is the toughest time for any pastry chef. The abundance of great seasonal produce to put on the menu is too overwhelming. Whether it’s cherries, peaches, strawberries, blueberries or melons, I love them all. When creating a new dish, I want to remain true to the fruit and allow its complexity to shine through—usually the produce is the star with delicious, supporting players to give contrast in texture and flavors.

For The Edible Garden this year, I have the honor of celebrating raspberries. I’ve created two dishes for the event, designed for the everyday home chef. I wanted to make easy dishes that people wouldn’t be intimidated by. I also wanted to make something that wasn’t too plain or boring.

I’m most excited by the Raspberry Yogurt Fool with Basil. A fool (besides the obvious) is simply a fruit puree folded with whipped cream. Here, I’ve lightened it with some Greek yogurt and sweetened it with just a touch of honey. The fresh basil brings freshness and relief from the natural tartness in the dishes. It’s the perfect, cool summer treat!

My other dish is pure indulgence: It’s an Upside-Down Raspberry Chocolate Cake. It’s exactly as it sounds—a moist, chocolate cake baked with a sticky, sweet, and tart raspberry topping. How could it go wrong?

Come to The Edible Garden Sunday to see Chef Jansen Chan prepare these desserts, so that you can make them at home.

Get Your Tickets

Nick Leshi is Associate Director of Public Relations and Electronic Media.

Last year, Martha Stewart Living Radio visited The New York Botanical Garden for a full day of live broadcasting. We are happy to report that they are returning for another daylong broadcast from the Jane Watson Irwin Perennial Garden, near Martha Stewart’s Culinary Herb Garden.

From 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. on June 24, subscribers of Sirius XM satellite radio (Sirius 112 and XM 157) not only can listen to all their favorites—Morning Living, Whole Living, Everyday Food, Homegrown, Living Today, and Eat Drink—but see them airing live. (Even if you are not a subscriber to Sirius XM you can see Martha Stewart’s team of lifestyle experts broadcasting live at the Garden!) For a full schedule, visit Martha Stewart Living Radio.

A number of interesting guests are scheduled to chat about a broad range of topics, including gardening, food, holistic therapy, and more. New York Botanical Garden experts who will be interviewed include Jodie Colon, Compost Educator, NYC Compost Project in the Bronx; Annie Novak, Coordinator of the Children’s Gardening Program; Kristin Schleiter, Curator of Outdoor Gardens; Sonia Uyterhoeven, Gardener for Public Education; and Peter Kukielski, Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden Curator.

Among the topics of discussion will be The Edible Garden, the four-month long festival of growing and preparing good food, which runs through October 17 at the Botanical Garden.

Get your tickets now for The Edible Garden.

Sonia Uyterhoeven is Gardener for Public Education. Join her each weekend for home gardening demonstrations on a variety of topics in the Home Gardening Center.

There is a magic to marigolds. They are ubiquitous—you can find them in any garden center and voilá, instant color in the vegetable garden that will last all summer long. 

The power of marigolds extend far beyond their color. Companion planting gurus extol the virtues of marigolds, claiming that they deter aphids, thrips, whiteflies, Mexican bean beetles, squash bugs, and tomato hornworms. With this kind of a reputation, what respectable vegetable gardener would go without them? 

Some marigolds are supposed to deter nematodes that can attack tomato plants. This particular type of nematode tends to strike in sandy soils and is more prevalent in California, Florida, and the Gulf Coast region. If you see a marigold named ‘Nema-gone’ you know what it is advertising. Apparently, ‘Jolly Jester’ works, too.

The common name “marigold” applies to two genera: Tagetes and Calendula. The former (Tagetes) is the marigold that we are all familiar with. These marigolds are indigenous to the southwestern United States, Mexico, and into Central and South America and are generally broken down into four or five types. read more »

Sonia Uyterhoeven is Gardener for Public Education. Join her each weekend for home gardening demonstrations on a variety of topics in the Home Gardening Center.

Edible flowers are not to everyone’s taste. Some are wonderfully fragrant and delicious, others are lemony, some are spicy and tangy, others taste green and weedy, and some even taste fishy. Edible flowers are a good way to add color and seasoning to your summer salads. They brighten up herb butters and dress up desserts. When added to a bowl of sugar or to a bottle of vinegar and left to steep for several weeks, they create inventive, tasty combinations.

Some flowers need a little bit of preparation before they are ready to tickle your tongue. The sepals, stamens, and stigmas of some flowers such as borage (Borago), tulips (Tulipa), and daylilies (Hemerocallis) should be removed before eating—only the petals are eaten.

Pinks (Dianthus) and roses (Rosa) can have a bitter white edge at the base of the petal, which should be cut off before using. Some marigolds (Tagetes) are divine, but others are not—try the lemon-flavored Tagetes tenuifolia ‘‘Tangerine Gem’ and ‘Lemon Gem’.

For the best flavor, harvest flowers either when they are in bud or have just opened. Harvest on a dry day, mid-morning after the dew has evaporated and before it gets too hot. It is best to use flowers when they are fresh. They can be refrigerated for several days, but they do not dry or freeze well. read more »

Jessica Blohm is Interpretive Specialist for Public Education.

The Garden’s 250-acre National Historic Landmark landscape includes thousands of edible trees and plants. Through signs and audio interpretation, visitors can learn about 57 of these edible plants on the Edible Plant Tour during The Edible Garden.

The tour features an array of plants, from the tropical coconut palm (Cocos nucifera) to our native sugar maple (Acer saccharum), source of that favorite breakfast topping, maple syrup. The tour also offers visitors a chance to share their stories and traditions about various plants and to listen to stories from other visitors, an exciting new feature.

Lotus (Nelumbo), pictured here, which has edible flowers, leaves, stems, and seeds, is just one of the many interesting plants featured on the Edible Plant Tour. Through the interpretive signage on the tour you would learn that the flower petals of the lotus can be used as a garnish and the stamens dried to create a fragrant tea. The leaves are used in infusions or to wrap other foods, and the seeds are eaten whole or combined with sugar to yield the paste found in pastries such as mooncakes. Its rhizomes or underground stems (often called lotus roots) can be stir-fried, braised, deep-fried, or even pickled in Asian cuisines.

See this plant and many others up close and personal when you visit The Edible Garden.