Stop Garden Harvest Parade

Attended the Stop's Garden Harvest Party on Saturday, John & I walked in the parade. I carried a couple of large mask standards while John accompanied the drummers. We started at Earlscourt Park and walked a few blocks to the Stop Community Center, people came out of their houses to watch us.

When we arrived we 'invaded' the Speakers Forum which was going on at the time and took center stage along with the drummers. The crowd was very enthusiac and applauded us loudly. It was alot of fun and an experience I'll remember for a long time.

The mask making activities were done by Three Communities Mask Mosaic, the picture shows John wearing the mask he's made for the parade.

Window Farming - Beets

I planted beets on my living room window sill, in coffee-can sized plastic pots. You can use coffee cans (make holes for drainage) I just happened to have the outdoor plant containers in that size. The seeds I plantted are shallow rooted but they don't have to be. A coffee size pot is good for three seeds, plant the seeds about i/2 inch down and an inch abart making a triangle and cover lightly with soil and give abit of water. The soil should be fairly light with good organic material. I'm using a general purpose houseplant and planter potting soil.

The beets will be ready in 54 days, plant seeds every two weeks for an ongoing supply. It's recommended to have a southern exposure with plenty of sun and beets prefer it on the cool side, I'm facing south west and they're over a radiator but they should stay cool next to the window. I have put a wooden ledge on the rad held in place on brichs to widen the window sill, on that I placed a wooden dresser drawer with the bottom knocked out right in the window, the 'box' is now two shelf spaces, it'll easily hold 6 coffee cans or pots.

Rupini & Sport Finals

On Saturday, after clearing out some of the tomato patch we prepared the soil and re-planted the rupini (a leafy green vegetable) that had been grown from seeds that were started in another bed about a month ago. We also harvested more tomatoes, green beans and vegetable leaves.

It was a beautiful day after raining on and off for over a week it was nice to be back in the community garden. The garden is located near a community center, playground and park, where they also hold well attended local track and sports events. There have been large crowds for the sport finals that have been going on for a few weeks now, some of the local parents with their children visit our garden to see what we're doing and ask questions about what we're growing there.

In November we'll be moving to the greenhouse, where we raise seedlings to plant in the garden.The greenhouse is located on the roof of a downtown school.

Salad Daze

I've been invited to make some of my salads for the shop downstairs in my apartment building! I'm really excited about it, be great once my garden starts to grow out on the balcony next year, but for now I'll have to rely on the grocery store. Lots of ideas but I think I'll start with a sweet and sour bean salad...

Remember the tomato & pea plants?

Well guess what? They're actually growing!!! LOL Well i'm new at this, it's the first time I've tried to grow vegetables and I feel like a proud parent or something! ;-) So here ta da is the tomato and my pea plants...drum roll please!

Callaloo Soup Recipe

Trinidad and Tobago Recipe

Callaloo

by Dave DeWitt and Mary Jane Wilan

This remarkable, bright green soup is often called "the national dish of T&T." It features callaloo (taro leaves or dasheen), but spinach is an excellent substitute.

Yield: 8 to 10 servings

Ingredients:

3 bundles callaloo or 3 bunches fresh spinach, washed, tough ribs removed, coarsely chopped
4 cups coconut milk
2 cups milk
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium onions, chopped
1 bunch scallions, chopped
¼ pound pumpkin or Hubbard squash, peeled and coarsely chopped
¼ pound butter or margarine
salt and pepper to taste
Method:
In a stockpot or soup pot, combine all the ingredients and boil for 4 minutes. Reduce the heat and simmer for 40 minutes. If too thick, add more coconut milk. Remove from the heat, cool, and puree in a blender in small batches. Reheat the soup and serve.

More recipes by Dave DeWitt & Mary Jane Wilan:
CaribSeek Recipes
Dave Dewitt's Website

Callaloo Seeds

Last night I was "cleaning" Callaloo seeds, the process is difficult to describe but basically the short seed bearing branches are cut from the plant, leaves are removed and the branch is stripped of it's seeds, then they'll be spread out on paper and sun dried. Always use a couple of large paper bags for this process of seperating seed as the material sweats, once the seeds are dry they can be stored in a plastic baggy.

In the spring, wet the soil then plant a pinch of seed (they don't all come up) and cover lightly (rake) with about an inch of soil. I'm going to plant mine in a large plastic bucket for my garden on the balcony, drill holes in the bottom and elevate for proper drainage.