(Editor's Note: Due to an unavailable editor, Sarah's column is appearing a day later than its usual Thursday slot. Enjoy... and get out in your garden this weekend! - DP) [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Garden on June 16th"][/caption] This is getting fun!  (And I don't mean writing...that's always fun.)  I mean this gardening thing!  Up until the last few weeks I'd been worrying so much...what if everything died?  What if everything got eaten by bugs or, worse, I missed a day of watering and I killed all the plants?  I was away the first really hot weekend here (Memorial Day) and I was a mess on the drive home, picturing piles of dead, brown plants awaiting me.  But after doing this garden thing for a while now - 2 months if we count from the time I've been writing about it - I've realized that I don't have to be quite so nervous.  Plants grow.  It's what they do.  As long as they have dirt and sun and water they're going to grow pretty much no matter what.  In fact, the other day I saw some of the little basil that I had thrown in the compost bucket had found some dirt and was growing!  It's actually harder to keep something from growing than to grow it, which makes a lot of sense from a biological perspective but for some reason I was worried that wouldn't be the case. When I first started this I also thought it would be chore to tend to the garden almost every day.  Not so!  I actually look forward to my time in the garden every day (or almost every day - as long as it's not too hot I can skip a day and not freak out about it) because I can watch my little monkeys grow and remember once that they were all just seeds.  It probably helps that green is my favorite color so seeing so much green is nice, especially in the city.  Weeding can definitely be a little tedious, but I like going around and checking each plant, making sure the ties aren't too tight around the stalks and moving the ties up as the plants get taller.  The tomato plants all smell like tomatoes, the eggplant leaves are surprisingly soft to the touch and the sunflowers, squash and mint constantly surprise me by how fast they grow. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="squash is taking over! watch out, mint"][/caption] All this is just to say that this has been a lot more fun than I was expecting and it's nice that I trust my plants enough now to not be too worried when I see things like this: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="374" caption="sad"][/caption] This little tomato is in a particularly bright spot, probably the brightest in the backyard since the white door reflects light.  It's looking dry and droopy because the pot is too shallow - it doesn't hold a lot of dirt so it dries out quickly and the roots get really hot and dry since there's no deeper place for them to go, where the soil would be cooler.  By that same token I can't water it too much because the soil just doesn't hold that much water and I don't want to wash all the nutrients out.  Basically I need to move it to a less bright spot or repot it.  And that's the project for this weekend:  repot this and a few other tomatoes that are outgrowing their little pots. This past weekend I repotted some other things: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="eggplant"][/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="374" caption="and feverfew!"][/caption] You may have forgotten about my feverfew...I did!  It was just sitting in the front window growing along.  I would dump some water on it when I remembered to, probably a few times a week.  Last weekend was the time to deal with it.  I thought about just thinning it out but, again, I find it very hard to just throw out little plants (those little basils I found growing in my compost?  Yeah, I planted them because I figured they deserved it if they were willing to grow in a compost bucket.)  At the same time, I've pretty much filled all the space in our backyard that gets sun with my other pots, so I was kind of stuck.  But!  Then I took the little feverfews and planted them in some of the bigger tomato and sunflower pots, and I have one pot that's just feverfew.  I know I always say this, but the roots were insane!  I mean, seriously: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="374" caption="the roots actually continue on past the bottom of the picture"][/caption] Wow, little monkeys!  After I planted as many feverfews as I could fit, I may have gone out front and planted the rest around a tree that the city just planted in front of our house a month or so ago.  But I'm not sure if that's entirely legal so I won't tell you for sure. I'm pretty happy with the basil: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="cuties"][/caption] ...mostly because anytime I buy a little pot of basil in the supermarket (this has happened at least three times in the last five years) I always manage to kill it.  Rationally I know that the pots are small and I probably forgot to water them that often, but somehow I think that when you grow things from seed you are kind of more in tune to when they're looking healthy or thirsty or too wet.  I don't want to get too far into vibes or anything, but it's definitely true that plants have a rhythm and I think you need to understand that to feel like you know your plants.  I can't believe I just used the word "vibes."  Forgive me! In reality these basils are probably just healthier plants than anything you'd buy at a grocery store, but I like my seed theory. Finally, here are some sunflowers: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="374" caption="growing towards the sun"][/caption] Some of them are almost two feet tall.  I can't wait for them to grow up against the fence.  And here's some squash looking remarkably squash-like: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="squash is a great word"][/caption] The tomatoes are all growing along, but all of the actual tomatoes are all still green so nothing too exciting yet.  We'll see what next week brings! 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.

Please join us on Wednesday June 29, 2011 at 7:00PM for the first ever General Membership Meeting of the South Philly Food Co-op where we will be electing the Inaugural Board of Directors. With membership now open to the public it is time to elect the first group of people who will guide and mold the personality and character of what the South Philly Food Co-op will become. While you must be a member-owner to vote in the elections, it's not too late to pay at least $25 toward your $200 equity and be considered a member-owner in good standing. Much more information such as directions on how to vote and who is eligible are available on the Board Elections page. Below you can find the candidate statements of all those currently nominated for the board.

• Alison Fritz
• Amy Henson
• Cassie Plummer
• Erika Owens
• Jay Tarlecki
• Joseph F. Marino
• John C. Raezer
• Josh Richards
• Julia Koprak
• Maria Camoratto
• Mary Beth Hertz
• Shani Ferguson
• Stephanie Rupertus

Directions to the meeting (held in the offices of East Passyunk Crossing) are here. In the words of our Election Committee:

In twenty years many of you may still be around and will probably still remember this first meeting and election. Take part, join the co-op today and become eligible to vote and have a say in how this local food cooperative will be run.

Garlic scapes come around for this brief window in June before garlic is harvested. When they're here, they seem to be everywhere, and then they vanish, not to be seen for another year. I showed up an hour too late to the farm market two weeks ago to find one scape for sale. Like one scallion. One radish. One sad scape. Because when they're here, they're in demand. Scapes are milder than straight up garlic but stick pack a serious punch when you bite into them raw. They're easy to saute the same way you'd do up green beans or asparagus, and cooking them tones down their flavor dramatically. Raw, they're a great addition to salads, and in the past couple of weeks I've chopped them into every salad I've eaten. I've actually used them in just about everything I've cooked lately. I was lucky enough to get enough scapes in my farmshare this week to use them in everything and even give some away. But since they are in our lives and meals for just a few short weeks, it makes sense to try to extend their stay, if just for a little while. My answer to that is scape pesto. Scape pesto goes on sandwiches, serves as the only topping on seasonal garlic bread, blends up nicely with oil and vinegar for scape vinaigrette, and acts as a very flavorful pasta sauce. It's a dip, a spread, a sauce, and it freezes. I actually have a small bit of last year's scape pesto left in the freezer. That's not ideal - it loses it's flavor over time, but it holds up for a few months very well. What I made last night is a fairly thick pesto, better as a spread. Add more oil to make it a sauce.

 I started with a bundle of scapes - I think it was about 7 -but the length of your scapes will vary - and I cut them into small pieces.

This ended up being about a cup and a half of scapes.

Sous Chef Brian was busy shredding up some parmesan, so I put the scapes and a handful of walnuts into my mini chopper. I ended up needing to do this in two batches, which worked fine. You could use a blender as well.

 

I whirred the scapes and walnuts together for a bit until they were chopped up fairly small.

 

And then drizzled in a bit of olive oil until it was fairly smooth. Then we added shredded parmesan and a bit of salt and pepper and gave it a final whirr. Once everything was smooth and combined, we were all set. About two and a half cups of scape pesto, plenty for dressings, sauces and spreads.

 

This will keep covered in the fridge for most of a week, but go ahead and freeze some so you have something scapy available once the fleeting scape season has passed.

 

Sous Chef Brian immediately spread a bit on some Italian bread. Pungent and delicious.

This recipe is cross-posted at Saturday’s Mouse, where I’m working on making food out of food.  We're having a blog milestone and giving away a prize later this week, so come join the celebration. Ingredients

•  1.5 cups chopped garlic scapes
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• dash kosher salt
• dash black pepper

Instructions Whirr scapes and walnuts in food processor until finely chopped. Slowly stream in olive oil, pulsing as you go, until texture is smooth. Add cheese, salt and pepper and whirr to combine. Details

• Prep time: 10 mins
• Yield: 2.5 cups

[caption id="attachment_1506" align="aligncenter" width="576" caption="Roasted Sweet Potatoes help you use those garden herbs."][/caption] Due to the hot weather and the beautiful rain showers your herbs and vegetables might be exploding. This recipe is a good dish to use your basil, oregano and thyme. Roasted Sweet Potatoes

• 2 tbsp chopped Oregano
• 2 tbsp chopped Basil
• 2 tbsp chopped Garlic
• thyme, rosemary (other herbs if desired)
• 3 lbs cut into 1"cubes Sweet Potatoes (I mixed them with regular unpeeled potatoes)
• 4 tbsp Olive Oil
• Salt and Black Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a large mixing bowl combine all of the ingredients. Pour potatoes onto baking pan and cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake about 10 minutes until golden brown and fork tender. I served it with sour creme. Enjoy!! You can follow Katrin Bahr at her blog (which is in German) or on Twitter (in English).

I just wanted to show off some of this amazing swiss chard we got in our CSA box.  It's almost too beautiful to eat. Friday night dinners around our house lately consists of homemade pizza.  I usually pick up some whole wheat dough at the Fair Food Farm Stand and we top it off with some vegetables from our CSA share.  This week we used swiss chard, pancetta and provolone cheese.

It's hot!  And suddenly my basil was overflowing... [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Basil basil"][/caption] So I had to repot it.  I’m getting a little low on both containers and space so I ended up throwing out (or “composting” in my “compost” bucket - quotes because it’s mostly just weeds and things from the tree that I’m hoping will break down into something usable) lots of little basils.  Here are some of the casualties: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Basil aftermath"][/caption] But!  Then I had the idea to take all the baby basil leaves that I was going to compost and make pesto!  I’ve never made pesto before because I’ve never owned a food processor.  My roommate, however, does.  So I got as many of the little basil leaves as I could and ended up with a little over a cup.  Not much, and definitely less than most recipes call for, so I just washed all the dirt off of them and put them in the food processor with some pine nuts, grated parmesan, and a clove of garlic.  Once I figured out how to use the food processor (not entirely self-explanatory, okay?) I poured in a little stream of olive oil as it all whirred around and in about 5 seconds I had pesto.  Wow!  There wasn’t much of it (like I said, I only started with about a cup of basil) but it was delicious and a very pleasing shade of light green thanks to the baby basil leaves.  Sadly I have no picture because my "camera" (iPhone) was acting up.  But I’m looking forward to more basil and more pesto! [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Repotted basil looking a little sad"][/caption] You see the brown pot with the cage over it in the above picture?  Those are my heirloom tomatoes, the beauty queens.  Here’s a closer look: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="374" caption="Beauties!"][/caption] As you can see, they’re quite a bit behind the beefsteaks in terms of size.  They’ve definitely always been smaller but the beefsteaks really took off once they got outside and the beauty queens did not.  The beauty queen stems are a lot thinner and there are no signs of flowers.  But the above ones are actually bigger than these babies: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="374" caption="come on!"][/caption] Really, beauty queens??  You look like you did the day I transplanted you and that was over a month ago.  I guess some varieties of tomatoes just grow more slowly?  Or maybe their roots need to grow before the plant does?  Who knows.  All I can say is that I’m running low on space so you’d best start pulling your weight soon, beauty queens. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="374" caption="Why can’t you be like your beefsteak brethren?"][/caption] Another thing I’ve noticed is that, while most of the beefsteaks are growing straight up against their supports (bamboo stakes and one metal cage), some seem to really like growing horizontally.  Like this one: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="That’s fine, I didn’t want you to grow vertically anyway."][/caption] I assume it’s because I didn’t stake them in time, but now I’ve got two plants like this.  I tried to stake one but I accidentally snapped the stem!  So now I’m not fighting it - if they want to grow horizontally they are welcome to, I just need to move around my tomato “patch” so these two don’t get stepped on.  Whatever you like, monkeys. As for the other plants, my sunflowers and squash are coming along nicely: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="I can’t wait for sunflowers!"][/caption] And little lavender is flowering: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Obviously that’s not rain in all these pictures...I had just watered."][/caption] Tomatoes are still growing, too.  Here’s a little baby I just found: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="374" caption="Sorry for the weird angle."][/caption] And now some random things:  the deadline for that PHS city garden contest I mentioned a few weeks ago is tomorrow!  So any fellow city gardeners out there, I urge you to enter.  I just did! And the most exciting news of all is that the South Philly Food Co-op is now accepting member-owners!  One of the reasons I like co-ops so much is that, since members are also owners, everyone is really involved in all aspects, from board elections to how the co-op is run to what the co-op actually sells.  And, in this case, where it actually is!  I got involved in co-ops in college and am really excited to be a part of one again.  Here is some information on joining the South Philly Food Co-op! I'll be back next Thursday with another update!  And hopefully fewer exclamation points. 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.

...it's a dish, not a description of his legs ;) I have been a huge fan of Jacques Pepin since I first saw him cooking alongside Julia Child. It was a great introduction to traditional French cooking in a no fuss way.  His show Fast Food My Way continues what he started with the esteemed Julia, maybe with a bit less butter. I have made these chicken thighs on several occasions and it is still hard for me to believe that such a great tasting recipe can be so simple. Here are the ingredients:

• 4 chicken thighs, skin on
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 cup onion, diced
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped garlic
• 3 cups white mushrooms, washed and diced
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon chives, chopped

The procedure for this dish can be found at The Serious Eats Recipes blog. I recently served this on a bed of couscous along with some roasted asparagus for an elegant dinner. No one knew that I did not slave over this all day.

For just over 13 months a dedicated group of dreamers, activists, planners, and foodies has been working to bring a cooperatively owned grocery store to South Philadelphia. During that time, they encountered people who are excited, curious, skeptical, wary and indifferent to the idea. (Thankfully, no one has been particularly hostile although at a few of those civic meetings, it seemed like some folks might be leaning that way.) This hearty band neighbors has pushed through, visiting over a dozen different civic associations, talking to local businesses, meeting two to three times per month (sometimes more), and attending at least 40 different community events, all in an attempt to spread the word. All the while, there was always the slightest bit of doubt. Even after the community forum on the first day of spring when over a hundred people showed up, many of whom said they were ready to join up right then and there, the co-op always wondered whether, when the time came, people would dig deep, part with their hard-earned cash and take the leap of faith that any start-up requires. Without a storefront and knowing that the timeline doesn't target a store opening until well into 2013, would people share the patience and long-term vision that has kept the volunteers of the Steering, Outreach and Legal/Finance committees grinding away for the last 13 months? Would a mailing list of close to a thousand people and a Facebook fan base of almost 900 (only 3 away!) translate to the member-owner base required to make this happen. The answer, less than a week into this critical member-owner time, is yes. As of this writing, the South Philadelphia Food Co-op has 34 members in good standing. That's 34 households who filled out their applications and made a payment of at least $25 (on their way to a full equity share of $200). That's 34 households who are now eligible to run for a position on the inaugural Board of Directors and are able to vote in the election on June 29 (stay tuned!). Best of all, that's 34 steps closer to that time when we'll all be standing around watching someone with a giant set of novelty scissors cut through a ribbon draped over the front doors of the South Philly Food Co-op. If you are waiting for everyone else to make the move so you can just show up at the ribbon cutting and start shopping for that high quality, reasonably priced, organic and/or local food and other sustainably made products, we might never get there. There are plenty of ways you can help - join one of the committees, write for this blog, volunteer to staff a table at an event - but the most important thing you can do is become a member. Now. Oh, and that group of folks mentioned at the top of this post? You can add one more word to describe them... friends. Join up. Be a part of it. ============================================================= Nominations for the inaugural Board of Directors are being accepted right now. If you have made the move to become a member you can nominate yourself for the Board. Simply answer the following questions: 1.Tell us about yourself, your work, beliefs and values. Include your experiences and accomplishments with any of the SPFC organizing committees if applicable. 2. Why do you value Cooperatives? 3. What is your definition of a Cooperative? 4. What is your vision of growth for a South Philly Food Cooperative? Please keep it to a total of 300 words for all four answers and submit your answers to David Woo woo3d (at) earthlink (dot) net by the end of the day on June 15. These questions and your answers will be distributed by email to all members and a copy will be located at the South Philly Food Coop website for at least two weeks before the membership meeting and general election June 29.

On which committee do you serve? Steering Committee. What do you do for a living? Associate Relationship Manager within PNC Bank's Commercial Banking Group in Philadelphia. How did you get involved with the food co-op? I met Glenn and Ned from Weavers Way through work and told them that they should open a store in South Philly so I could be a member. They informed me about the South Philly Food Co-Op and told me that the co-op is always looking for help. I met with Cassie and Alison and began getting involved. Why do you want a food co-op in South Philly? To have access to better quality food and to help bring the community together. Why should people join a food co-op? People should join a food co-op for the reasons I described above. In addition, people should care about what they eat because it effects their health and ultimately their quality of life. What is your favorite meal to cook and why? I love to cook period but my signature dish is definitely spicy homefries with onion, peppers and bacon with over easy eggs on top. Yum.

I found my first tomato! [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="374" caption="Tomato!"][/caption] It's really only a little bigger than my thumb: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="374" caption="Just a baby"][/caption] but that's okay.  It's from the first flowers; actually, these here: that I wrote about two weeks ago.  Neat!  They're on the biggest beefsteak plant which is over 5' tall.  It's the one in the corner that's, well, the tallest. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="It can peek over the wall now!"][/caption] So yeah, that wall's about 5' tall, maybe a little taller.  I must say, I wasn't expecting such tall plants but hey, I'm not complaining.  They smell GREAT - just like fresh tomatoes.  And the stalks are really thick!  Here is one, not the plant with all the tomatoes, but another beefsteak: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="374" caption="Strong"][/caption] Now I need to admit something.  When I moved all the tomatoes outside, I didn't bother to label which were beefsteaks and which were beauty queens (a smaller - thank god - heirloom variety) because I was all like "I know all these plants as intimately as my [non-existent] children, of course I will be able to tell which is which!  Pshaw, I don't need labels."  Well maybe I didn't think exactly that, but I definitely figured that I would be able to tell the plants apart at the very least by where I placed each pot.  There's only so much room, ya know?  Well, that was a month ago; since then I've moved the pots around so much trying to get them all enough sun and water that beyond the 4 or 5 biggest beefsteaks and two pots that I remember are beauty queens, I actually can't tell the rest apart.  So:  label your plants even if you are sure you'll remember! But hey, I do have other plants besides tomatoes.  Here's one of the eggplant, with a weird shot of my hand and arm that was supposed to be for scale but kind of just looks weird: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Sorry for the weird glowing arm"][/caption] I heard and read that eggplants are really picky and hard to grow and compared to everything else I've planted I'd say that is definitely true.  They apparently need very warm soil to actually grow, which is why they didn't do much the first few weeks I had them outside.  I had to take them inside or cover them outside because apparently temperatures under 50 degrees can kill them.  This black container is all eggplant: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Little ones"][/caption] and, even though I took that about a week ago, that's pretty much what they still look like.  The ones in the bigger containers are definitely doing better (or at least are bigger) so this weekend I'm going to repot the smaller eggplants in much larger pots to give their roots lots of room.  Hopefully I won't kill them.  Fingers crossed. I am really impressed with how fast the sunflowers and squash are growing.  Here's the squash now large enough to hold its own (hopefully) against the mint: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Dwarfing the lavender now!"][/caption] And here are the sunflowers and a few more squash growing nicely: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Lots of new leaves!"][/caption] I like that with the squash you can still see the two original leaves at the bottom of each stem.  Hopefully the sunflowers will be tall enough that the squash can grow on the ground around them and they can both live in harmony. That's right, my garden will be harmonious. This weekend the plan is to move things in smaller pots to larger ones so that I don't freak out as much when I can't get home to water them and it's 95 degrees and sunny.  Right now I'm watering everything twice a day since it's been so hot and the smallest pots are still completely dry by the afternoon.  That said, they survived the hot Memorial Day weekend with only being watered Friday afternoon, Sunday and Monday night when I got home and everything was fine.  I am thankful for my raised bed, though, since it takes a while for that to dry out and the roots can go nice and deep. I'm leaving you with a picture of the second tomato, which is so cute I couldn't help but take a picture of it. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="374" caption="I think it looks like it's wearing a hat"][/caption] See you next week! 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.