Yay, Autumn! I don't know about you, but while I'll miss zucchini and tomatoes, I'm alright with summer's passing. Not being outdoorsy, or in school, or wealthy, I just don't get it when people ask me, "How was your summer?" No one checks in during March and asks how winter went. We don't summer in the Hamptons, and I haven't had a summer "off" since before 12th grade. Summer's just a lot of sweating, and mosquito bites, and air conditioning, and trying to find a way to work around the heat (salted radishes for dinner). But then there's autumn! Autumn with it's crispness and calmness and leaves changing color and chasing each other down the street in the wind. Autumn. Skirts with sweaters! And autumn is apples and squash and cabbages and greens. We got our first load of autumnal fruit in the CSA two weeks ago. And somehow, didn't jump into high gear eating apples and pears every day. Time to make sauce. Apple-pear sauce is exactly the same thing as applesauce, only pear-ier. It's a little bit less crisp and somewhat more earthy. If you can call pears earthy. I mean, they're not root vegetables. Rarely do I post a recipe where there are required tools. Typically it's like, "mix this using whatcha got," but a wire mesh strainer is key here. Or a food mill, but I don't have that. Gather your fruit. With a paring knife (or an apple corer, or whatever), core your fruit. Toss out any bruised or ugly spots. We'd had these fruit for nearly two weeks, so I lost about a pears-worth in the process. I started with a pound of pears and two pounds of apples, pre-coring and cleaning. Four pears, five apples. No idea what kind of apples they are, something from somewhere around here. Toss the fruit into a pot, skins and all. And add the juice of a lemon. Add enough water to just about come up to the top of the fruit and simmer, medium, no boil, for 20 minutes or so. When the fruit is soft - and think like, boiling potatoes for mashed potatoes soft - turn off the heat and get your strainer set up over a large bowl. Scoop your fruit out of the water and into the strainer - hold on to the water. Smush through the strainer with a wooden spoon. Remove peels from the strainer as you go, just to make it easier for the fruit to pass through the mesh. Just keep working it with the back of the spoon.  After it's all passed through the strainer, I like to give it a second pass, so scrape out the skins and what didn't go through, give a rinse and dump the sauce back into the strainer for round two. If you like it thicker, stop here and don't give it a second strain. After two passes, I add back some of the liquid from cooking, just enough to get the texture I want. I like it pretty fine. Sure, you can add sugar and cinnamon and all, but depending on the apples you have, it might be pretty awesome just like this. You can always reheat it and simmer it with spices before serving, but natural, unsweetened, unflavored sauce is delicious straight up or for baking.  This recipe is cross-posted at Saturday’s Mouse, where I’m working on making food out of food.  You don't so much need a recipe, but this is a great way to use the apples and pears that are coming in this season. Ignore the measurements and use what you have. Ingredients

• 2 pounds apples
• 1 pound pears
• 2 cups water
• 1 lemon

Instructions

• Core the fruit and place it in a large pot.
• Add water almost to the top of the fruit.
• Add the juice of one lemon.
• Simmer medium low, avoiding boiling, until fruit is tender.
• Work fruit through a metal sieve with a wooden spoon.
• For finer sauce, take two passes through the sieve and add some reserved cooking water until you have the texture you want.

Details

• Prep time: 15 mins
• Cook time: 20 mins
• Total time: 35 mins
• Yield: 6 servings

[caption id="attachment_2230" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Anna Shipp discusses some of the goals for the Membership Committee"][/caption] Today was a very exciting day for the Co-op. About 15 committee members, representing nearly all of our committees gathered to build, discuss and plan our goals for the next 6 months to a year. We are pleased to announce that we have not only set our main goals for the co-op, but our committees have also taken on specific tasks to help us toward achieving these goals. Our biggest priority for the co-op right now is membership. As of today, we have 86 members, which is really inspiring. However, in order to begin the process of looking for a location, we need to reach our goal of 250 members. This number is based on the projections and advice of organizations like CDS Consulting, who work closely with co-ops all over the country at various phases of development. If you have a friend or neighbor who has expressed interest in the co-op, now is the time to tell them to join! They can join online, by downloading an application and mailing in a check, or by coming out to our membership meeting. Until we reach that critical mass of member support, we cannot move forward to begin looking at locations, so please help spread the co-op love around! Our second exciting announcement is that we will be releasing our new logo soon! This will be featured on all of our literature, our website and promotional materials. Don't forget to attend our General Membership Meeting on October 17th at the Church of Trinity at 2300 S. 18th Street at 6:30pm to find out more about what's in store for the co-op over the next 6 months.  You will also get a chance to participate in our first general membership vote (agenda here).

Today we are pulling together our main goals for the next six months. Some great discussion, stay tuned for updates!

Last Saturday was great!  From what I saw, the Garden Tour was a huge success and lots of fun!  I met a lot of neighbors and talked to a lot of people about how great co-ops are.  I also got some pretty interesting questions about my garden so I thought I'd sum up what I've learned from my first real gardening season. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="crowded? never."][/caption] Lots of people remarked on how small but full my space was.  That's one of my favorite things about my little garden:  it's pretty tiny but I've filled it to the gills with plants because I like how they look all packed in and also I couldn't bear to throw out any of my little tomato babies.  And I've been pleasantly surprised with how many plants I can actually fit back there (my roommate may tell you otherwise). There have been some casualties, though:  I planted my sunflowers and my squash too close together and while the squash fought valiantly, the sunflowers won out and the squash eventually died.  But this was when I got smart and only planted half of my squash seeds so I'm going to try again next year.  Another thing:  tomatoes are not supposed to be this close together: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="they're close buddies"][/caption] Though I haven't had too many problems with blight or flies (one of my tomato plants had blight so I moved it to my little "alleyway" where it continues to grow somehow) tomato leaves are known for getting various diseases and keeping plants farther apart reduces the risk of moisture around the leaves which is when bacteria and fungus tend to grow.  Someone suggested a hanging tomato plant and I might try one or two of those in the future, since spreading out vertically is really my only option (thanks, Garden Tour visitor!) A lot of people asked how I cared for my tomatoes and got them so large.  First, these are mostly beefsteak, which is a very large plant on its own.  Secondly, I started with good seeds (though next year I am going to buy my seeds locally, perhaps from here, and I'm also going to try saving some seeds from the tomatoes this year) and my seedlings were always pretty strong thanks to my big front window which gets sun all day, and even more sun in the afternoon.  I fertilized my tomatoes with some fish emulsion once, in the middle of July.  Otherwise the soil was just potting soil with lots of compost (from Bennett Compost) and I would add additional compost every few weeks.  If you're using a regular fertilizer (they all will tell you the ratio of N-P-K, which stand for Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium) you want one low in nitogen, high in phosphorus and medium-high in potassium.  And that's the extent of my fertilizing knowledge. I've heard that if you're growing tomatoes in a small space you should opt for smaller varieties of tomatoes, like cherry or grape.  But I like big tomatoes, so I ignored that.  I have learned that big tomatoes need big pots, and some of my pots were too small (or I crowded too many plants into larger pots...a common problem of mine, as you can see.)  I think the key is that if you want big tomatoes, you need big pots to give them enough space.  It also makes watering easier because big pots don't dry out as quickly as small ones do.  I think this may be the problem with my eggplant also:  I threw them all in one pot not realizing how big they would get and I have yet to see an eggplant.  I'm not giving up on you yet, though, eggplant. Lots of people asked about the tree.  I have a pretty big Japanese maple tree in my backyard that was there when we moved in (I guess "big" is a relative word here.)  It limits the amount of sun my garden gets, but it also provides a place for me to grow different kinds of plants, those that like shade: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="shade lovers"][/caption] At first I was kind of annoyed that the tree was taking up all this sun, but then I realized that it was good to have some much-needed shade.  The shade is pretty dappled so I can grow partial-shade plants there, too, which is nice. So thanks for your questions, garden tourers (tourists?)!  It was fun to meet people who read this blog (!!) and maybe get some new readers, too.  And even though the summer is drawing to a close (and this post reads like a wrap-up post) I am still growing things and writing about them.  I've found fall to be a great growing season here - not as horribly hot as the summer but still fairly warm and sunny.  My little kale and chard are growing away!  The chard didn't like all that rain but now it seems to be doing better: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="374" caption="little red stems"][/caption] and some of the kale got too wet but this pot still seems to be doing fine despite the moss: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="curly ones"][/caption] So stay tuned for more plants!  I'll keep things growing as long as the weather allows. Oh, and this reads like an afterthought but it definitely isn't - I just didn't know where to stick it in other than at the end - but there were some people who deserve a shout out for making this whole thing run a lot more smoothly:  my parents, who bought Garden Tour tickets as soon as they heard about it (loyal SPFC blog readers) and came all the way down from Massachusetts for the tour.  Once I finally convinced them to leave my house they really enjoyed seeing all the gardens!  And thanks to my boyfriend who sat out front the whole time greeting people and brought me some much-needed food.  I couldn't have done it without any of you! Sarah DeGiorgis has lived in Philly for five years and is finally starting to feel like a true Philadelphian, though she still detests cheesesteaks.  She enjoys reading, watching bad tv, eating and cooking good food and digging in the dirt. Catch up with her continuing efforts to grow food in South Philly by clicking here.

Treehugger.com is a great website to get news about all different aspects of environmental policy, clean energy innovations and climate change implications. Recently I came across a post about the growing trend of organic and local food showing up on the shelves and in the bins of major grocery chains. While this is a welcome change, it still leaves a lot of questions like how local is local? Are the organic foods raised in a sustainable and environmentally sensitive way? It's important to remember that the bottom line for the grocery chains is exactly that... the bottom line. Profit. Organic and local are "in" right now. The general public is picking up on it and increasing their demand for these products. Large food retailers are only too happy to jump in and provide these goods at a premium price (for what may actually be cheaper for them to purchase given savings on transportation costs). A food co-op that carries local, organic and sustainably produced foods has a different motivation. For a food co-op devoted to carrying these products as part of its mission there really is no choice but to carry local, organic and sustainably produced foods. On top of that, the food co-op seeks to educated consumers about why these "buzz words" are actually important to the overall environment and to their own public health. Finally, the co-op seeks to make the connection between consumers and the source of their food. Offering "local" is great. But offering tomatoes from "XYZ Farm in Bucks County, owned by John Doe who has been raising his tomatoes in such and such fashion" tells the story behind the food. And if we can't raise our own tomatoes (and have our own stories), then knowing the story behind the tomatoes we do eat is almost as good.  

(Editor's note: Don't forget... Sarah's Garden is one of 20 gardens featured in the 1st Annual South Philly Garden Tour, taking place tomorrow from 11am to 3pm. Check-in begins at 10:30am at Urban Jungle. Click here for information about how to get your tickets in advance and to learn about the great food and drink specials being offered by local businesses throughout the neighborhood. Special thanks again to our sponsors: PhillyCarShare, Bennett Compost and Urban Jungle!) Maybe I spoke too soon last week?  This rain seems never-ending!  On the plus side, my basil seems to be enjoying itself: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="374" caption="bright green!"][/caption] And fig is growing and growing.  I love watching the tiny new growth: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="374" caption="figs!"][/caption] The fig seems to love these really steamy days when the air is so humid it's almost raining but not quite and it kind of feels like a steam room (not that I've ever been in a steam room, I'm just assuming.) Something that is probably not enjoying the steamishness of the weather is this little creature: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="374" caption="nice one"][/caption] This is a Crown of Thorns and it really is quite thorny:  the other day I asked it if it was enjoying its spot by the sunflowers and it totally ignored me!  The nerve!  (Sorry, couldn't help it.)  It may have even bristled!  (Okay, now I'm really done.)  But seriously, I love how this little one looks and its stems are truly covered in long, sharp thorns.  But!  It's a succulent and likes things on the dry side.  Oops!  Maybe if you adjusted your attitude, little prickly one... The interesting thing about the Crown of Thorns is that it flowers nearly year-round.  And the flowers are actually very small - it's the little leaves around the flowers that are that nice shade of pink.  I hope all this rain doesn't kill you, Crown of Thorns, cause I like you, even if you are...caught myself!  Actually I just can't think of any more synonyms for "thorny" right now, so thank your lucky stars, reader(s), and be glad I'm too lazy to use even an online thesaurus. If you made it this far you either have a high tolerance for bad puns or maybe you're just awesome.  Either way, please enjoy my littlest sunflower, peeking its head up over the table just barely: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="baby"][/caption] This one was in a perhaps over-planted pot (what?  space is limited out here) and somehow it's only about half the size of its neighbors.  But that's okay, sunflower, you're adorable and bees will still love you for your pollen. Garden tour is Saturday!  Hopefully we'll have no rain and a good turnout.  I've got lots more horrible puns up my sleeve that I will happily regale you with if you just ask. Sarah DeGiorgis has lived in Philly for five years and is finally starting to feel like a true Philadelphian, though she still detests cheesesteaks.  She enjoys reading, watching bad tv, eating and cooking good food and digging in the dirt. Catch up with her continuing efforts to grow food in South Philly by clicking here.

A lot of folks have been putting in a lot of time and effort to make the 1st Annual South Philly Garden Tour a reality but a few have added their financial support and deserve our recognition and your support. Please show your appreciation to Urban Jungle, Bennett Compost, and PhillyCarShare for helping to defray many of the costs of Garden Tour. All three do great things for the community and have been longtime supporters of the effort to make the South Philly Food Co-op a reality. Best of all, all three businesses operate with a philosophy very similar to ours with emphasis on high-quality, local, sustainable solutions to your needs for gardening supplies, compost and transportation. So visit their websites or support them the old-fashioned way by visiting Urban Jungle (where you can also purchase compost from Bennett Compost).

We've talked a little about some of the great gardens on the Tour and we mentioned some of the great food and drink specials available throughout the day to Tour participants and the party we're having after the Tour. Well, we have one more special to add. $1 off at Rita's - first 70 people who check-in! So there's some incentive for you to get to Urban Jungle as soon after the 10:30am start time for check-in as you can. This special is in addition to: Free cookie at Black N Brew Free coffee or tea at Grindcore house $1 off drafts and menu items at 2nd St Brew House Half off all drafts from 11am to 3pm at Pope AND: 20% off drink and food at the Cantina from 3pm to 5pm. So come ready to see some great gardens and come hungry.

Former Inquirer columnist and current new media guru Tom Ferrick has been running the news website Metropolis for some time now. Metropolis is a great mix of hard news, political analysis and cultural and lifestyle pieces by a number of contributors. And it's all local. This week, reporter Elise Vider profiles the plethora of new food companies that are springing up all over the city. Working in facilities like shared kitchens or in their own kitchens, these innovative small businesses are following the mantra of keeping it local and finding varying degrees of success. Of course, we co-op'ers love anything local and look forward to a time when the South Philly Food Co-op can be yet another outlet - along with Weaver's Way, Mariposa, the Kensington Community Food Co-op, specialty stores and even - really - supermarkets - for these local food makers. If you are someone who is interested not just in purchasing these locally made foods but also giving a go at starting your own business, check out Vider's second piece on how these businesses are navigating the city's business regulations.

12. Kids can do the tour for FREE! That's right. Now, not only do the little ones get you a fat tax credit from the federal government, they can also come along and take pictures of you with the fig tree planted by Mayor Nutter AND you won't have to pay for them. Twenty (twenty!) gardens all throughout South Philadelphia have signed on to be on the Tour which goes from 11am to 3pm on Saturday, September 10. Gardens range from individual backyards to community gardens to parks. You can visit all the gardens or just target a few since they’re all in a 5-mile radius (perfect for walking or biking). Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 on the day of, and can be purchased now at:

• Urban Jungle, 1526 E. Passyunk Avenue
• Grindcore House, 1515 S. 4th Street
• Ultimo Coffee Bar, 1900 S. 15th Street
• Online by clicking here.

Check-in will begin at 10:30am on Saturday at Urban Jungle (1526 E. Passyunk) where you can also purchase tickets if you haven’t gotten them by then. Following the Tour, participants are invited to the Cantina (East Passyunk Ave and Morris St.) for an after party from 3pm to 5pm. Anyone with their Garden Tour ticket will receive 20 percent off food and drinks. We’ll see you on the Tour! Our goal is to sell at least 100 tickets. We can only do this if you dig deep and pull out a twenty (or two) at one of the locations below and purchase a ticket. (Heck, the food and drink specials alone make it a worthwhile purchase.)