What’s that alternative media doing in this suburban house?!

This spring, the Williams Sustainable Growers published the third issue of our zine, Germination. This issue’s theme was ‘identity.’ It addressed topics of gender, sexuality, race, favorite foods, and future careers, among other things. And it included everything from poetry to doodling, surveys to various rambling, mixed-media articles. 

As the zine’s editor, of course I am partial to this particular type of publication, for the purpose of self expression alone. But I have to say that I think the theme of ‘identity’ is especially well suited to a zine. As a self-published, anti-consumerism media, I think it makes a space to really represent pieces of our identity on the printed page.

Almost by definition, zines have small print runs. They are often distributed through informal networks. I  gave a copy to my parents. When I came home from school last week, I found it--in its bright purple glory-- displayed next to the telephone. I couldn’t help but feel proud to see Germination and everything that I like to think it stands for (creativity, self-determination, food justice...) sitting there for all to encounter. 

The Great Garlic Giveaway of 2013

Garlic has been one of our best storage crops for the past two years: we plant in the fall and yield enough to save more for planting the next year as well as plenty for events like Garlic vs. Vampires and the occasional dinner. Garden produce is always available for anyone who volunteers at work parties, but this year we had enough left over that we decided to go public with our distributions. Lucky students who happened across the right corner of Baxter Hall last week went home with their very own head of super-local garlic!

Carrie Tribble '13 was kind enough to share a photo of what she and Zoe Grueskin '14 did with theirs:

"Whole wheat with roaster garlic loaf" ...looks yummy!

Seed Starting on a Sunny Sunday

After a long winter indoors, on Sunday, March 10 the Sustainable Growers began their spring season in beautiful 50 degree weather under cloudless skies. To prepare for the upcoming growing year, about fifteen students gathered outside of Dodd House to seed start vegetables for the grow-cart. We sat outside planting, talking, and enjoying each others' company in the warmth of the afternoon.

The Growers planted cold-hearty kale and broccoli to be transplanted in mid-April when the threat of frost still persists. In addition, we started later-season varieties such as tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants that require longer time to grow indoors. 

Although the garden is still covered in remnants of the last snow, the warm and dry Dodd Basement provides a great environment to nurture the seedlings. For the next two months, we will tend to the trays and most likely add more as the season progresses. Each day a member of the garden will water the plants, check on the grow lights, and prepare the vegetables for their transplantation into either the Parsons Garden beds or the Presidential Garden.

By 1:30, the group had planted hundreds of seeds. Proudly surveying the rows of future plants on the grow-cart, the Sustainable Growers looked forward to a bountiful season!

Baking from the garden

Our garden veggies have leant themselves to many a lunch and dinner: stir fried, roasted, pickled...but all too often, dessert gets overlooked. (Though who could forget the garlic chocolate chip cookies?) But it was the end of the semester & the end of another wonderful season for the growers, and I wanted to do something special to make this gathering memorable. That's where the cake comes in.

Thanks to our hoop tunnels, the ground doesn't freeze. So we can leave beets in the ground and harvest at our leisure. Which is precisely what I did when I got it in my head to make red velvet cake dyed with beets! Surely, this would make the evening a celebration...and if the cake wasn't enough, well...the cream cheese frosting would be!

I researched. There are a lot of blogger/baker/amateur-scientists who have put their minds to the question already. The challenge, according to blogosphere, is to keep the cake acidic, so that the beet juice stays red, rather than browning in the oven.

In the end, our lack of good food processor led me to choose this recipe

this is the batter before we put it in the oven!

It was quite easy to follow. I used whole wheat flour, unrefined sugar, and I only had one cake pan so I couldn't layer it. Therefore, I only needed about half the frosting, so I mixed one 8 oz. package cream cheese with one stick of butter and added confectioner's sugar and vanilla to taste!

this is the cake out of the oven but still awaiting the frosting

Yum!

Gleaning Adventure

While we're busy harvesting greens and prepping our beds for winter here on campus, farms in the area have been rushing to get their last summer vegetables harvested before it starts to snow. Ioka Valley Farm invited a team of volunteers to harvest their squash for donation to a local food pantry, a process of sharing the harvest known as "gleaning." Erik Romano '15 had a chance to check it out--here's what he has to report!

"On Sunday October 28th, I had the opportunity of going gleaning pumpkins, squash, and gourds near Ioka Valley Farm. For those who don't know what gleaning is, we basically harvested food that would otherwise go to waste (in this case, it goes to a local pig farm, because "pigs can literally eat anything" according to one of my fellow volunteers) and donated it to the Friendship Center, a food pantry in North Adams. It was a beautiful day, a bit chilly, but the weather was refreshing. There were hundreds of pumpkins, butternut squash and gourds on the field. We obviously couldn't harvest them all seeing as our group of volunteers consisted of around 10 individuals, me being the youngest by far. Unfortunately, a lot of squash was mushy due to the frost, but we picked what we could. We picked varieties including, butternut, delicata, acorn, sugarplum, and hubbard. I didn't know this before, but there are types of pumpkins bred to be jack-o-lanterns and ones bred for consuming, and the ones on the field were large jack-o-lantern-ready pumpkins. There were some smaller, darker orange pumpkins that were pie-ready as well, but fewer in quantity. I loved looking for the craziest alien gourds, which come in all shapes, colors, and sizes. Afterward, we stopped by a local school to give pumpkins for carving, and then drove the squash and gourds to the Friendship Center, who was happy to take them off our hands. I had an amazing time, especially since I was helping out those in need!"

Viking Funeral for Blighted Tomatoes

This past Saturday night we had a traditional Viking Funeral for our blighted tomatoes.  Why you might ask did we do this?  Blighted tomatoes must be disposed of properly, and although this what most farmer's might recommend, we felt that a good old celebration of our tomatoes in viking fashion might be the wacky kind of activity college gardeners could get excited about.  And they did!  We had a great turn out of 15 brave souls to wander through the darkness down Cole Field to the Hoosatonic River.

The tomatoes were lashed to a board, which was salvaged from the transfer facility, with rope from the garden shed.  Four pallbearers carried Thorn, our viking tomato king, down through the woods to the water's edge.  As the flames were prepared, a poem in Olde English was read and the mood turned somber.  Two volunteers donned waders, typical for fly-fishing, and entered the water with Thorn.  The board was lit, and the board was pushed out onto the still water.

As the flames drifted down into the darkness a second passage in Olde English was read.  We raised our glasses to honor Thorn, and the festivities finished.  It was a spontatneous celebration and memorial of our tomatoes.

Garden Dinner

Welcome back, gardeners!

After an incredible and bountiful end-of-summer harvest, the Williams Sustainable Gardeners, with the help of Dining Services, held the second annual Harvest Dinner. This year, the superb weather allowed for the dinner to take place in Parsons Garden. Much of the menu consisted of produce that was grown right in the garden where it was served!

The Harvest Dinner Menu:

Tossed Salad

Garlic Knots

Roasted Garden Squash

Pickles and Pickled Beets

Grilled Corn on the Cob

Baked Potato Bar with Goat Cheese and Chives

Apple Pie with Maple Yogurt

While much of the produce grown this summer has since been harvested, many greens, tomatoes, and herbs continue to grow. We will also be planting more greens and wheat in the near future. We also hope to expand our horizons and our learning by partnering with other groups on campus.

Coming next time... Taste the Rainbow! WSG and QSU unite!