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.

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:

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:

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:

and some of the kale got too wet but this pot still seems to be doing fine despite the moss:

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:

And fig is growing and growing.  I love watching the tiny new growth:

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:

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:

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.)

Chard is the new spinach. Didn't you hear? Nutritionally they're very similar - actually, spinach has slight advantages. Slight. And chard is so easy. I get it locally, six months out of the year, and it just goes with everything. That said, you could totally use spinach here, or another leafy green.

I've been using chard more and more in "Mexican"-style foods. A little chard in your black bean egg roll? Sure. In your quesadilla, of course. And in my Italian and Thai foods too. Chard plays well with others.

So we're thinking about dinner, and Sous Chef Brian says, "Mexican," and I say, "We don't have any beans ready, we don't have meat...." So butternut squash and chard it is.

I had leftover butternut squash from one of those secret recipes, so I had frozen it in cubes. Once I figured out what was going in it, dinner came together in minutes.

Wash a head of chard and chop it roughly (this photo is unchopped chard).



Find some peppers. Not necessary, but nice. I had these little sweet cherry peppers and one serrano.  You could use a jalepeno and some bell pepper.



Chop them up and add them and your chard to a frying pan with a bit of oil. I used avocado oil, but go with what you like. Saute until wilted and remove from heat.

Meanwhile, get your squash set. In fact, if you're starting from fresh, you need to do this first. Steam or bake your squash, skin it and cube it. Let's imagine everyone has a freezer full of veg like I do.

Take a cup and a half of cubed, cooked, frozen squash and defrost it. Microwave works, or an oven on 300. Once it's warm and defrosted, mash it with a fork.

 At this point, we faced a minor setback. We discovered our flour tortillas in the fridge had turned. I sent Brian to the corner store for "more tortillas." That's what I said, "more tortillas." We have flour tortillas on hand all the time, for quick sandwiches, and quesadillas and we use them for tacos too. I have no idea why we use them for tacos, but we do. We always have. So when Brian came back with (local!) blue corn tortillas, I was disappointed. Then I realized that everyone else uses corn. We're the only fools making tacos in flour tortillas. So there's been a little bit of a taco revolution at Saturday's Mouse HQ.

A spritz of oil in a frying pan, high heat, and a corn tortilla.

30 seconds, until they start to bubble a bit and get a few brown spots.



Flip and do it again.

We also cut up some scallions.



Mix the chard and squash, taste - we were surprised, we didn't season them at this point. We also knew we were adding cheese. If you weren't going to use cheese, maybe a pinch of salt. Cheese is optional, I'm calling this vegan.

Put that on a taco and you're all set. Silly me, I thought of restaurant orders of tacos on corn tortillas and put three on a plate. Three is quite a lot of taco. I'm going to say this recipe serves three, with two tacos each.

I had some Hillacres Pride chipotle smoked cheddar, which was awesome, but another cheese would work here. A dash of hot sauce and you're set.

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

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups butternut Squash (cooked and cubed)

 

• 1 head chard (cleaned and chopped)

 

• 6 corn tortillas

 

• 1/2 cup cheese (optional)

 

• 1.5 tbsp oil (avocado or whatever)

 

• Salt to taste

 

• 1/2 cup scallions, chopped

 

• 1 serrano pepper, diced (or jalepeno)

 

• 1/4 cup sweet pepper, diced (cherry or bell)

Instructions

• Saute chard and peppers in 1 tbsp of oil until wilted.

 

• Mash cooked squash with a fork. Combine with chard and peppers.

 

• Heat a spritz of oil in a frying pan, add a corn tortilla, heat until bubbles form, flip, heat another 30 seconds, set aside, repeat.

 

• Fill tacos with chard and squash mixture, top with scallions and cheese (optional).

Details

• Prep time: 5 mins

 

• Cook time: 15 mins

 

• Total time: 20 mins

 

• Yield: 3 servings

 

(That's right. These reasons do go up to 11!) 11. Every dollar raised from this event puts us one step closer to having the funds needed to conduct our market analysis and draft our business plan. These are perhaps two of the biggest start-up costs we have and are VITAL in the process of securing financing from lenders and choosing the location that gives the Co-op the best chance to thrive. 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.)