Nan K. Chase is the author of Eat Your Yard! She will be at the Garden for a booksigning on October 16 at 3 p.m. during the final weekend ofThe Edible Garden.
I’m three years into a new garden, a tiny bungalow yard near downtown Asheville, N.C., that I have crammed full of dwarf fruit trees, berry bushes, fruiting vines, roses (for edible petals and nutritious “hips”), yuccas and sunflowers, short and tall herbs, and even a few vegetables.
It’s shocking how much produce the family has had this year despite searing temperatures and a shortfall of rain. Now that I have written a garden book about edible landscape design and how to preserve the harvest, readers I meet are pushing me to try more, learn more, and share more information. So now I’m moving into wines.
Garden wines are nothing new. People in ancient times made wine or the honey-rich fermentation called mead out of everything they grew: grapes, of course, but also pears, peaches, quince, plums, crab apples, berries, numerous herbs and flowers, vegetables and root crops, tender new leaves, and even grains and onions.
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?
Fall is in the air, and The Edible Garden’s season of celebrity chef cooking demonstrations is fired up! The star-studded Columbus Day Weekend (Saturday through Monday, October 9–11) lineup at the Conservatory Kitchen includes television chef and acclaimed cookbook author Lidia Bastianich, restaurateur and school lunch reform advocate Bill Telepan, and Wholesome Wave CEO and Dressing Room chef and owner Michel Nischan. All of the chefs will be cooking with pumpkins, squash, or gourds, and their children or grandchildren will join them on stage to share in the culinary excitement.
There will be plenty of delicious samples of sustainably produced food on the Tasting Terrace, booksignings by chefs and gardeners at the Cookbook Collective, guided tours of the four kitchen gardens, and musical performances to round out your visit!
An added bonus is the kickoff of Halloween Hoorah —a frightfully fun journey with creepy crawlies, pumpkin patches, spooky scarecrows, and more in the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden, on through October 31. New this year, artist Michael Anthony Natiello has carved and sculpted more than 500 pumpkins into a ghoulish menagerie—scarecrows, snakes, and spiders, oh my! All day all weekend, get hands-on with applesauce making, seed sorting, and apple stamping, and stop off for a play break in the pumpkin playhouse. Plus, there’s even more fun scheduled each day, including cider pressing, the family favorite Pumpkin Parades, and performances by the Alice Farley Dance Theater.
Even Shop in the Garden is dressed for the season, with new items such as Katchkie Farm Thunder Pickles, Acorn Windbells, and the NYBG in Flower 2011 Calendar. Save 20% off anything in the fall category when you shop online and use the promo code SHOPFALL through October 31.
Yesterday a colleague and I headed over to the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden for a video shoot with the curator of the garden, Peter Kukielski. I’m new to The New York Botanical Garden, and haven’t been able to explore the 250 acres of gardens, exhibitions and forest as fully as I would have liked to by this point (Oh meetings! Oh weather!), so imagine my surprise when we crested the hill overlooking the Rose Garden and were enveloped by the intoxicating scent of the roses welling up to meet us.
Unreal. I wish smell-o-vision existed so I could give you a small preview of the aroma! Sadly it doesn’t. And even though I had previously read about the phenomenal show that the roses put on in fall, I still wasn’t prepared for how glorious the Rose Garden is right now. So, if you’re in the New York City area this weekend and looking for something to do, come to The Garden and take time to smell the roses. You won’t be sorry.
Get the Kids to Help You, Says Award-Winning Michel Nischan
Michel Nischan is CEO of Wholesome Wave, sustainable food pioneer, and James Beard Award-winning chef and author. He will present a cooking demonstration atThe Edible Garden Conservatory Kitchen on Monday, October 11, at 1 p.m. and sign copies of his book Sustainably Delicious after the presentation.
I am so looking forward to my Edible Garden presentation on October 11. And this time I am bringing two of my sons: Ethan and Chris.
In my book Sustainably Delicious: Making the World a Better Place, One Recipe at a Time, from Rodale, I talk about my experience with my kids in the garden. There is one passage that describes how Ethan discovered the amazing and sweet taste of young carrots pulled directly from the earth. And while my oldest son, Chris, complains about having to turn compost in the summer, I have heard him telling his friends how much it helps the soil and how good the food from our garden tastes.
In “The Sustainable Family” section of Sustainably Delicious, I explain how important it is to bring that same philosophy into the kitchen. Get the kids to help you, and set aside time on a weekend morning or afternoon. Divide and conquer and see how much food gets prepped for weeks to come. These can be happy hours spent working together. While the kids may grumble at the beginning, I guarantee, in the end they won’t mind much. Talking and joking while you work is easy, and you might be surprised at how much fun you end up having. When it’s time for supper, everyone will be eager to taste the fruits of their labor.
Celebrity Chef Prepares Italian Dishes, Signs Books Columbus Day Weekend
Get Your Tickets Risotto with Winter Squash and Shrimp Risotto alla Zucca e Gamberi
By Lidia Bastianich, chef, acclaimed cookbook author, and restaurateur
Makes 6 generous servings
Ingredients
1 pound small shrimp (about 35–40 per pound)
1 pound butternut squash or pumpkin, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/4 inch cubes
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup minced onions
2 tablespoons minced shallots
2 cups Arborio or Carnaroli rice
½ cup dry white wine
6 ½ cups hot vegetable stock or water
1/2 teaspoon salt, or as needed
1/2 cup chopped scallions, greens included (about 6), plus additional garnish if desired
Pinch of ground nutmeg, preferably freshly grated
½ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano cheese
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits
Freshly ground black pepper
As the weather takes a resolute turn toward fall, the vegetable plants you’ve nurtured all summer are finally reaching their end. For many new gardeners who are experiencing their first thrill of growing success, saying good-bye to the garden is bittersweet. Many vegetables such as indeterminate tomatoes, pepper plants, and beanstalks will continue to produce fruit until frosty temperatures prevail. And even though you long to delay the inevitable (and even hedge Mother Nature by trying to bring plants indoors), the truth is, to every thing there is a season, and this one’s coming to a close.
It’s now time to take part in necessary garden cleanup to ensure the next growing season is just as successful. Begin by taking note of your garden’s layout (if you haven’t recorded this already). This helps as you plan for crop rotation next season, which will aid in disease control and soil nutrition.
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.
Years ago, I returned home to Massachusetts after living in England for 10 years and drove around my old neighborhood with a friend. I commented on a pretty purple flower I saw growing in a wetland area. When I asked her what it was, she cringed and told me it was purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria, pictured. Photo by Wikipedia user Meggar). At first I thought her reaction was severe until, continuing our drive, I realized it had taken over many wetland areas. Where were the native cattails (Typha), the sedges (Carex), and the swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) that I had grown up with?
Ecosystems are by definition complex, and the lives of their inhabitants are interconnected. When an ecosystem is thrown out of balance by an invasive intruder, more than the flora suffers.
Insects, birds, amphibians, and mammals all depend on the native flora for food, shelter, and nesting sites and materials. An area stripped of its native vegetation creates a sterile environment that is no longer inhabitable to many creatures.
I’m three years into a new garden, a tiny bungalow yard near downtown Asheville, N.C., that I have crammed full of dwarf fruit trees, berry bushes, fruiting vines, roses (for edible petals and nutritious “hips”), yuccas and sunflowers, short and tall herbs, and even a few vegetables.
