Okay, so my garden didn't go to Longwood Gardens...but I did!  Somehow in all my years of living here I'd never been to Longwood.  Crazy!  But a nice weekend and a birthday present (thanks, sweetie!) meant that it was finally time to go.  I took tons of pictures but I thought I'd share the best ones with you all.

Although I failed to get a picture of the exterior (nice one, Sarah) the huge conservatory was what I most wanted to see.  There's a fern room!  And a succulent room!  And like 500 other rooms and we went to all of them.  My boyfriend is very patient.  Here's part of the conservatory that I found particularly pretty:

The floor looks so shiny because it was designed to hold a few inches of water to reflect the plants.  If I was a better photographer I probably would have gotten more of the reflection in the picture.  But I like this shot because it's what I think of when I think of the word "conservatory."  Well, this and Clue.

Moving on!  There was a cacti room, which was awesome, and also home to these little guys:

Aren't they cute?  I feel like they need haircuts.

Along with the cacti are the succulents.  There was a lot of aloe of all different colors, but I liked these:

I like how many of them there are.  If I ever live in a place where I can grow succulents and cacti in my back yard, I'm totally growing those hairy things and lots of aloe.

I took this picture because of the Crown of Thorns, which is the tall, thorny plant in the planter:

Here's my Crown of Thorns this past summer:

Obviously mine is not as big and is also not variegated (the leaves are all green instead of green and white) but it did pretty well this winter inside and will hopefully be back outside soon.

Next we have some Spanish moss:

I love Spanish moss and would definitely grow it if I lived in the south.  It just seems so Southern Gothic, a genre of fiction that just happens to include some of my favorite American writers (William Faulkner, Truman Capote, Flannery O'Connor, Tennessee Williams, Carson McCullers to name a few.)  Don't you guys all imagine Spanish moss dripping from every branch while reading "Suddenly Last Summer"?  Okay, that's probably just me.

This is spurge:

And that's all I'm going to say about that.

They also grow bananas!

You can see actual bananas in the lower right hand corner!  I actually hate bananas but love how banana trees look.  It's a hard life I live.

On to the ferns!  This is one of my favorites:

This is a stag horn fern and I just love how they look.  Someday I will have one of my very own.

And here's this little cutie:

This is a passionflower and I would like to try my hand at growing these one summer.  Maybe next year...

This is a ginkgo bonsai:

It's a couple of feet tall and I'm not sure if you can see it, but the sign on it says that training began in 1909.  Wow!  Ginkgos are some of the oldest trees in the world; some in their native Asia are over 1,000 years old.  In fact, there is one at Bartram's Garden which is one of the oldest in North America.  Here's a good source for more ginkgo history, if you're interested, which mentions the Bartram's Garden ginkgo and also the two old ginkgos in Woodland Cemetery which have since been cut down.

Lastly, here are some adorable little venus fly traps.  Look at their little mouths!

These guys are really small - about the size of a nickel.  So don't be scared!  They won't eat you.

Hope you all enjoyed my little interlude...back to plants I have actually grown next week!

As you may have heard, the South Philly Food Co-op has been offering a discount program to members that entitles them to deals at 17 (and counting!) local businesses. It's called Shop South Philly and you can check out our Shop South Philly page for a complete list of participating businesses and the deals they are offering.

We'd like to welcome our three newest participants in the program - Wash Cycle Laundry, Zipcar and Wake Up Yoga.

Wash Cycle Laundry is offering South Philly Food Co-op member-owners a 50% discount on first service (must spend $15).

Wake Up Yoga is offering returning students a $5 discount on a 5-class card and a $10 discount on a 10-class card. And of course, they offer new students a two-week unlimited class card for just $30.

Zipcar is offering $75 in free driving with all new memberships. Limited to new Zipcar members.

Thank you to all the businesses who are participating in this program.

Do you own or manage a business in the South Philadelphia area? The South Philly Food Co-op wants to partner with locally-owned and like-minded businesses. Support the movement by joining Shop South Philly to offer a special discounts to co-op members. In turn, we encourage our supporters and members to patronize your business through cross promotion on our website, blog, e-news, and Facebook. You set your own discount and we do the rest. Contact [email protected] for more information.

This is a quick one. Barely a recipe, and more like what happened to my mustard greens.

I have a confession to make... I cook all my greens the same way. I use greens in lots of dishes, anywhere they'll fit, but if I'm just making up a bunch of greens, it's garlic, a bit of vinegar, and if we're feeling luxurious, some bacon. But that's the routine, always.

And it's mustard green time. Yay for new veg. I got some mustard greens (this one is Mizuna, from the unGoogleable Silver Mine Farm) and I had already made salad of another variety and thought it was time to get cooking. But as much as I love garlic and vinegar on greens, it was time for a change.

You know what mustard greens go well with? It's so obvious. Mustard. These aren't as tough as collards or kale but they're not nearly as wimpy as spinach and they can take a little texture. Plus, they already have that lightly peppery thing going for them. Let's play that up. Four ingredients, happy side dish.



I started with six ounces of mustard greens, (stems and all with the Mizuna). This recipe, like everything else, is infinitely scalable, so adjust to your own greens.

Into a saute pan with a teaspoon of oil. I use olive, but use what you like. Heat to medium, stir and flip occasionally until the greens start to wilt.

The photo doesn't quite depict how wilted these greens were. They were yielding to a spatula and heading towards soft. I added a tablespoon of very grainy mustard. I don't think this is the place for yellow mustard. Stir that around, leaving the heat on, for maybe a total of 15 minutes cooking time. Then squirt with the juice of half a lemon, stir again, and serve. It's like that.

This recipe is cross-posted at Saturday’s Mouse, where I’m working on making food out of food.

Mustard Glazed Mustard Greens

Ingredients

• 6 oz Mustard Greens, chopped


• 1 teaspoon Olive oil


• 1 tablespoon Grainy Mustard


• 1 tablespoon Lemon Juice

Instructions

Chop up your mustard greens and set them in the oil on medium heat to wilt, stirring and flipping occasionally for maybe 5 minutes.
When they begin to soften, add the mustard and stir and flip. Continue to heat over medium until fully wilted, maybe another 10 minutes.
Squeeze on the juice of half a lemon, about a tablespoon or so, and stir. Serve hot.

Details

• Prep time: 2 mins


• Cook time: 15 mins


• Total time: 17 mins


• Yield: 2 servings

A few coffee shops will be hosting the Co-op over the next month - come visit us and support your local coffee shop! If you become a member-owner at one of these events, you will receive a coffee mug with our awesome logo. (One mug per new household, while supplies last.)



Saturday, 4/21 at Black N Brew on Passyunk Avenue - 9am to noon

Saturday, 5/12 at Red Hook Coffee & Tea in Queen Village - 9am to noon

Saturday, 5/19 at Ultimo in Newbold - 9am to noon

We need a few volunteers to help answer questions, pass out fliers, and take applications. If you would like to volunteer to at one of these events, please email [email protected].

Hi, friends.  Little tomatoes are coming along!  Look, they're even beginning to look like actual tomato plants:

But the best thing this past week has been my greens.  Check out my one surviving chard!

This one little (not so little anymore) chard survived the too-wet soil and winter and now is looking good!  I absolutely love those bright red stems.  I'll definitely be planting more of these and some more kale either in the late summer (for fall harvesting) or fall (for spring harvesting.)  And...

My first little spinaches!  And they taste good!  I feel like I could eat them now and call them "microgreens" (which I do when I'm thinning out the arugula and want to feel fancy, ie all the time) but I'm going to let them get a little bigger.

I have a few new plants to introduce to you but they are still settling in so we'll see them next week.  Patience!

What a great event we had today! Twenty-six people - some member-owners and some not-yet member-owners - visited the home of Co-op Board President Alison Fritz (and yours truly) for an instructional session on how to make your own mushroom log.

Instructor Rich Meyers led the group through a brief history of mushroom cultivation and the science behind how mushrooms work. Then he turned us loose with mallets, hammers, hole-filled logs and mushroom mycelia-infected wooden dowels. After a half hour or so of hammering away (wonder what my neighbors thought was happen), we stepped into the backyard where Rich guided us through sealing off the holes with melted candles and crayons. This is to prevent the mycelia from drying out while it spawns and eats the log from inside.

I uploaded some selected photos of the event to our Facebook page. No need to be a Facebook member or fan of our page to see them. Just click on this link. (But, hey, while your there, consider "Liking" our page.)

Thanks again to Rich Meyers and everyone who came by today. Oh... yeah... and one more member-owner signed up at today's event! That's one closer to our first goal!

After having seen all the pictures of the progress of their new store that Mariposa Food Co-op has been posting on their Facebook page, I'm about as close as one co-op supporter can get to being jealous of another co-op. And for good reason. The place is awesome! On Saturday, April 21, we'll all get to check it out in person when Mariposa celebrates it's Grand Opening. Store opens at 10am; festivities begin at 11am. Their new address is 4824 Baltimore Avenue in West Philadelphia. Join Congressman Chaka Fattah and other very special guests in celebrating Mariposa's new location and successful capital campaign! Featuring food demonstrations, special sales and more.

Growing Home is Nationalities Service Center’s (NSC) urban farm. The farm offers newly arrived refugees the opportunity to reconnect with their agricultural roots, strengthen bonds within their own ethnic community and connect with South Philadelphia’s other communities. Growing Home is also improving the participants’ health by increasing their access to affordable and nutritious food. Located at 8th and Emily (just north of Snyder Ave), the Refugee Urban Farm was also featured in last fall's South Philly Food Co-op Garden Tour. We're helping them spread the word about some upcoming workdays. They are also seeking extra garden hoes and flower plants as donations to help spruce up the block. Vist http://nscfarming.wordpress.com for more info about the farm. This Saturday (TOMORROW!), March 31, from 10 am - 2 pm they are having a workday in the garden!! They're looking for help to distribute soil to fill a few new beds and to clean up the gardens, plant, and mulch. On Saturday April 14, from 2pm - 5pm they will be doing a block clean up as part of the Philly Spring Clean-up. They will also be out every Monday from 11-5, Thursday from 1-6, and most Tuesdays and welcome any volunteer help they can get. Email [email protected] or call 609-577-1471 with any questions.

File this under co-ops helping co-ops. The Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance (PACA) is an umbrella organization that includes representatives from several major cooperative organizations in the regions, from credit unions to grocery stores to cooperative housing arrangements. Last month they held a great event attended by more than 70 people interested in co-ops and credit unions.  There was a lot of excitement in the room about the resolution that was passed by the City of Philadelphia and the work that PACA's doing and going to do in support of co-ops in the region. If you are excited about what the South Philly Food Co-op has accomplished so far and are looking for ways to strengthen the cooperative movement in other sectors of the regional economy, consider volunteering some time with PACA. They are forming three committees to work on:

• Planning and promoting future events for the Interational Year of Cooperatives, like a celebratory event in October (co-op month!)
• Public policy research and advocacy
• Coordinating local co-op communicators and developing PACA's own communications

If you are interested in getting involved with one or more of these committees, or have other ideas about how to get involved go to: http://philadelphiacoops.wufoo.com/forms/get-involved-with-paca/. PS - If you haven't already signed up for the free co-op conference this June, there's still time.  Sign up today!

For our friends at the East Passyunk Avenue Business Improvement District we're passing along information about a couple of really fun events that are happening soon. On Saturday, March 31, 2012 (that's THIS Saturday), EPABID is hosting an Easter Egg hunt at Le Virtu's garden (1927 East Passyunk Avenue). Bring your kids to the Avenue for a FREE Easter Egg Hunt! Kids will receive bags to decorate and use to hunt for Zitner's Fine Confections and candy filled eggs. The Easter Bunny will be hopping around. Lucky egg hunters will find "golden ticket" eggs with certificates for large one-pound Zitner's chocolate eggs and treats from Ms. Goody Cupcakes, who is debuting her cupcake truck at the event. Times are staggered by age group: 11am - ages 4 and under, 12 noon - ages 5 to 7, 1pm - ages 8 to 10. Select restaurants will offer kid-friendly brunch that day, including Black N Brew, South Philly Bar & Grill and $1 pancakes at Fuel. Many of the child-oriented shops will have special Easter sales. This event is free and rain or shine. Special thanks to Zitner's, Le Virtu, Ms. Goody Cupcakes and the South Philly Review. And on Saturday, April 28 from noon to 4pm, East Passyunk Avenue will once again host Flavors of the Avenue. Tickets are on sale at VisitEastPassyunk.org. Proceeds from the event will be used to hire police again to patrol the Avenue on Fridays & Saturdays during the summer from 12:30am-3:30am. So start your day at the southern end of East Passyunk Avenue for Flavors before moving on up to Passyunk Gardens at East Passyunk and Wharton for the Happy 2nd Anniversary, South Philly Food Co-op party from 1pm to 4pm.