Build Your Community Through communEATi

Think of your favorite holiday movie. Now think of your second favorite. Now think of the one that’s kind of okay, but you mostly watch it because of tradition. Now think of the one you hate but you watch it anyway because your family loves it. There’s a point to this, we promise.

Whether you thought of It’s a Wonderful Life, Elf, Love Actually, Home Alone, or any of a slew of other holiday movies, you probably already know at least one common theme between them (aside from the obvious): bringing people together. In fact, that’s a common theme throughout the entire holiday season. With songs like I’ll Be Home for Christmas and (There’s No Place Like) Home for the Holidays playing on the radio and stories like A Christmas Carol to share, the warm feelings of togetherness and love are certainly in the air. And not to seem too sappy, but we at communEATi are all about that.

In Fact...
We’re working very hard at communEATi to keep this feeling of togetherness going year-round! It’s the main reason we’re called communEATi, not Local Food Finder App or something else equally as, uh...straightforward.

We’re called communEATi as a reminder that what we eat can help grow and support our communities, and because breaking bread together has always been a part of the human story. With communEATi, we wanted to remind you of the power a shared meal can have in forging relationships or burying anger, provoking laughter or providing comfort.

Community to communEATi
communEATi works to put you in direct contact with local gardeners and farmers ready to provide the freshest, best tasting foods for your table. Or, if you’re the grower, communEATi provides a virtual farmers' market for you to share your harvest with the people close to you. Ultimately, at the heart of communEATi is a sense of togetherness, of community, that extends beyond a monetary transaction.

We’re reminded of this sense of togetherness every year during the holidays when we actually do take the time to come together to eat, drink, and be merry. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to carry that feeling throughout the whole year? Local food, buying and selling it, helps to build communities, keeping a long established connection between local growers and consumers. By taking part in this connection, you’re able to help strengthen the support system of your community and bring people together.

I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. -Charles Dickens

We wish you a very happy holiday season and new year of friendship and prosperity. If you’d like to join the communEATi family, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to keep an eye out for updates on our program and for more information on locally grown food and growing your community.

Read More »

#DidYouKnow About County Extension Offices?

Did you know that there’s a way for you to find information about gardening, agriculture, and pest control specific to your area? That instead of Google-ing “red spots on leaves” and ending up with answers more relevant to people on other continents, you can contact a local or regional office for how to deal with your very local problem?

County Extension Offices are a part of the Cooperative Extension System, a non-formal educational program implemented in the United States designed to help people use research-based knowledge to improve their lives. The service is provided by each individual state’s designated land-grant universities.

Basically, this means that agriculture, science, military science, and engineering research are done at these universities; the information found from that research is then shared with these extension offices so that farmers, gardeners, and other members of a region have access to locally relevant information that may affect their gardening and other daily life.

Traditionally, each county of all 50 states had a local extension office. The number has declined as some county offices have consolidated into regional extension centers. Today, there are approximately 2,900 extension offices nationwide. Each office is staffed with agents who work closely with university-based Extension specialists to deliver answers to your questions about gardening, agriculture, and pest control. Today, extension offices work to:

• -Translate science for practical application,
• -Identify emerging research questions, find answers and encourage application of science and technology to improve agricultural, economic, and social conditions,
• -Prepare people to break the cycle of poverty, encourage healthful lifestyles, and prepare youth for responsible adulthood,
• -Provide rapid response regarding disasters and emergencies

According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), “the hallmarks of the extension program - openness, accessibility, and service - illuminate how cooperative extension brings evidence-based science and modern technologies to farmers, consumers, and families...Further, these services improve the lives of consumers and families through nutrition education, food safety training, and youth leadership development.”

Sound familiar? We at communEATi brought you this little blog of information about County Extension Offices because these offices provide a service, not only for your garden, but for communities in each state and/or region. Extension offices start and keep a conversation going between local agricultural experts and community members, similar to how communEATi wants to build a bond between community members, growers and consumers alike. At communEATi, we firmly believe that by starting the conversation about our food, one of the most basic of human necessities, we can help to build stronger ties in communities and grow healthier as a whole.

And if you’d like to be a part of the conversation, you can follow us on Twitter or Facebook and continue keeping up with our blog. We’re glad to have you with us!

Read More »

3 Phases of Growing Cranberries

If you’ve been keeping up with communEATi lately, you’ve probably seen us feature cranberries, everyone’s favorite holiday fruit! Tart and tasty, cranberries are commonly used in a variety of sauces, pies, and juices. Cranberries are also well-known for their healing qualities, due in large part to their high concentration of vitamin C and antioxidants. And while growing cranberries may bring to mind acres of flooded bog land, that’s actually not necessary to the cultivating process.

That said, cranberries aren’t exactly an “easy” fruit to grow either. They require a lot of attention and a lot of water. So if you’re up for a gardening challenge, here’s how to grow cranberries:

Planting the Cranberries
First you’ll need to choose what variety of cranberry you’d like to grow. We recommend Howes cranberries (smaller) or Stevens cranberries (larger) for first time growers.

Cranberries are best grown in cooler climates, between zones two and five. Cuttings (1-year-old plants) and seedlings (3-year-olds) can be planted throughout autumn (Oct.-Nov.) and in springtime (Apr.-May). Cranberries need soil with a low pH and a high level of organic matter. It’s often necessary to replace your existing soil instead of trying to alter it:

• -Plan your plot for 4’ by 8’. You can also use a 2’ by 2’ planter for a single plant.
• -Dig out the existing soil to a depth of 6-8”. Fill the plot with peat moss, then mix in ½ lb. of bone meal and 1 lb. of blood meal. Wet the soil thoroughly without saturating it.
• -Plant cuttings 1’ apart and 2” deep; plant seedlings 3’ apart and 2” deep.

Caring for Your Cranberries
Cranberry plants do not compete well against weeds, so it’s very important to weed the bed regularly. Luckily, the peat moss used in your plot will inhibit the growth of most weeds.

Make sure to keep your plants well-watered. The soil should always be wet or damp to the touch, but be sure not to oversaturate or submerge your plants. Too much water can slow down root growth and prevent them from reaching the necessary depth.

Soon after planting, your cranberry plants will start to put out runners, which will fill the bed before taking root and sprouting “uprights,” which is the part of the plant that grows flowers and fruit. You’ll need to fertilize your bed well to encourage the growth of these runners:

• -For the first year after planting, fertilize your bed with a high-nitrogen fertilizer 3 times: at the beginning of growth, when the flowers bud, and when the berries start forming.
• -After the first year, use a non-nitrogen fertilizer to encourage the runners to take root.
• -At the start of the second year (and every couple years after that), cover the soil with a thin (½”) layer of sand to help root the runners and prevent weeds.

Pests and diseases are relatively easy to deal with if you know what you’re looking for with cranberries. A common pest is fruitworms, which come from gray moths eggs in the berries. If you spot gray moths around your plants, spray the plot with insecticides to kill the eggs. Other common diseases are red spot and berry fruit rot. You can treat these by spraying the plants with an organic, copper-based fungicide between late June and early August.

From the third year of growth onwards, you’ll need to prune your plants each spring to control the runners and encourage uprights. Comb the cranberry plot with a landscape rake until all the runners are going in the same direction, and cut the longest back. Don’t prune existing uprights.

Harvest Time
If you planted seedlings, your cranberry plant may be producing fruit by the following autumn. If you planted cuttings, however, you may need to wait 3-4 years before your plant produces fruit.

• -Your berries should be ready to harvest in September and October each year
• -Ripe berries will be a bright or dark red color (depending on variety) with brown seeds.
• -Fresh cranberries keep up to 2 months when stored in the fridge in an airtight container.
• -Cooked cranberries can last in the fridge for up to a month.
• -Dried cranberries can keep for up to a year.

Cover your plot with a heavy layer of mulch to prevent your plants from freezing over the winter. You can uncover the plants in springtime (around April 1st), but cover them any night you expect frost. Never cover your plants with clear or black plastic, though, as this could kill them.

Once your cranberry plants are in place and thriving, imagine the uses you’ll find for them throughout the holiday season! What are some of your favorite cranberry-inclusive recipes? Tell us about them in the comments! And don’t forget to follow communEATi on Facebook and Twitter for more information on all things homegrown.

Read More »

Get Your Garden Ready for Winter!

Although the claim has been made that 2015 is likely to be the hottest year ever recorded, things are starting to cool off now that December has hit. With December comes the official beginning of winter, and for many states in our largely temperate nation, this means the beginning of winter weather: from daily frosts to full-on snowstorms, depending on where you are.

So how will you take care of your garden during the long winter months? Well, we at communEATi are here to help you get your garden winter-ready so that when spring comes, your garden will be a little more orderly, healthy, and productive.

Typically, you’ll want to start getting your garden ready for winter right after the first frost has killed off most of your annual plants. If you’re unsure of when the frost is there to stay in your area, you can look up a Frost Dates Calculator by state through the Farmer’s Almanac website. If you live anywhere that gets frost, it’s important to put your garden “to bed.”

Putting Your Veggies to Bed
You can try to postpone the inevitable (winter, that is) in your garden for a while by covering your vegetables with old sheets or bedspreads on cold nights, but the declining light and chilly daytime temperatures will naturally bring plant growth to a halt.

• -Leave carrots, garlic, horseradish, leeks, parsnips, radishes, and turnips in your garden for harvesting through the early winter.
• -Mark the rows with tall stakes to find them in the snow.
• -Cover with a heavy layer of mulch to keep the ground from thawing.
• -Pull up tomato, squash, pea, and bean plants and any stakes.
• -If they’re disease-free, compost them.
• -If they’re diseased, burn them or discard separately.
• -Remove all weeds and debris before the ground gets too hard.
• -Gently till the soil to expose any insects who plan to overwinter.
• -Add a layer of compost, leaves, and manure (if you have it) once most of the garden soil is exposed and till into the soil.

Preparing Your Herbs for Winter

• -Sage and thyme are considered perennials, going dormant in the fall and reviving themselves by spring without special treatment for the winter.
• -Rosemary needs to be sheltered outside (Zone 6) or brought in (Zones 5 and colder).
• -Parsley can withstand a light frost but should be covered at night in Zones 5 or colder.
• -Dig up a clump of chives and pot, letting the foliage die down and freeze for several weeks. Bring the pot inside to a sunny, cool spot; water well to harvest throughout winter.

Winterizing Your Perennials and Flowers
A perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. It’s important to water your perennials and flowering shrubs in the fall to ensure a good winter.

• -Once the ground has frozen, cut your perennials back to 3” and mulch them with a thick layer of leaves or straw.
• -If putting in a new flower bed next spring, cover the area with mulch or heavy plastic.
• -Before a heavy snowfall, cover pachysandra with a mulch of pine needles.
• -Move potted chrysanthemums to a sheltered spot when their flowers fade. Water well and cover with a thick layer of straw.
• -When the leaves of dahlias, gladioli, and cannas are blackened by frost, carefully dig them up and let them dry indoors on newspaper for a few days. Then pack in Styrofoam peanuts, dry peat moss, or shredded newspaper and store in a dark, humid spot at 40-50℉ until spring.

Garden Odds and Ends
In addition to your garden, you’ll need to prepare your gardening tools for winter.

• -Empty all of your outdoor containers and store them upside down.
• -Hang a bucket on a hook in your tool shed or garage and use it to store hose nozzles and sprinkler attachments.
• -Run your garden hose up over a railing to remove all the water; roll it up and put it away.
• -Cover your compost pile with plastic or a thick layer of straw before snow falls.
• -Drain the fuel tank on your lawn mower and any other power equipment.
• -Scrub down and put away your tools. You can also oil your tools to avoid rust.

By taking the steps to bed your garden and care for your tools before winter, you can ensure a healthier and more fruitful garden. And for more tips on gardening throughout the winter, yummy recipes, and other homegrown topics, be sure to stay up-to-date with our blog and follow communEATi on Facebook and Twitter!

Read More »

After the Feast: Tasty Ways to Use Your Thanksgiving Leftovers

Happy belated Thanksgiving from communEATi! Thanksgiving feasts are strange because it seems like no matter how stuffed everyone is Thursday, there are always enough leftovers to last for days, or even weeks, if you’re good with cling wrap.

But as you sit surrounded by mounds of potatoes, at least half of a turkey, and more dinner rolls than you remember making, you may find yourself wondering, “What the heck am I supposed to do with all of this food??”

Well, before you decide to start eating turkey sandwiches from now until Christmas while stuffing stockings with actual stuffing, take a look at these delicious recipes you can make with your Thanksgiving leftovers!

Leftover Turkey Soup

What You’ll Need:
-1 large sweet potato, peeled, halved, crosswise, and cut into ½” thick wedges
-1 onion, halved and thinly sliced       -4 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
-½ tsp. dried oregano             -¼ tsp. ground coriander                 -½ tsp. coarse salt
-¼ tsp. cayenne pepper          -2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice                 -Freshly ground pepper
-2 Tbsp. coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley        -1.5 c large shreds cooked turkey
-2 bunches watercress, trimmed and cut into 2” pieces (5 c)
-6 radishes, quartered             -2 oz. crumbled cotija cheese (½ c), feta cheese, or ricotta salata

Treat yourself to a gourmet Sunday brunch right at home with this delectable salad. Pair with a classic Mimosa, or a more seasonal Poinsettia (champagne and cranberry juice), for a healthier meal you can make with your leftovers.

Turkey, Sweet Potato, and Watercress Salad
What You’ll Need:
-1 large sweet potato, peeled, halved, crosswise, and cut into ½” thick wedges
-1 onion, halved and thinly sliced     -4 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
-½ tsp. dried oregano             -¼ tsp. ground coriander                   -½ tsp. coarse salt
-¼ tsp. cayenne pepper          -2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice                   -Freshly ground pepper
-2 Tbsp. coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley     -1.5 c large shreds cooked turkey
-2 bunches watercress, trimmed and cut into 2” pieces (5 c)
-6 radishes, quartered            -2 oz. crumbled cotija cheese (½ c), feta cheese, or ricotta salata

Treat yourself to a gourmet Sunday brunch right at home with this delectable salad. Pair with a classic Mimosa, or a more seasonal Poinsettia (champagne and cranberry juice), for a healthier meal you can make with your leftovers.

Curried Turkey Casserole
What You’ll Need:
-¼ c (½ stick) plus 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter        -1 small yellow onion, diced
-2 garlic cloves, minced         -¼ c all-purpose flour                 -3 c whole milk, room temperature
-2 tsp. curry powder               -coarse salt & ground pepper      -6.5 c broccoli florets
-4 c cooked turkey, cut into ¾” pieces               -3 c day-old bread, diced medium

If you like turkey pot pie, you’ll love this quick alternative. Try buttering the bread to give it a nice, crunchy texture on top of the casserole.

Apple Crisp with Cranberry Sauce

What You’ll Need:
-4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced       -1.5 c whole berry cranberry sauce
-1 c whole wheat pastry flour            -1 c rolled oats               -⅔ c packed brown sugar
-⅔ tsp. ground cinnamon                   -½ c butter, melted

This delicious little dessert is the perfect way to use up those cranberries! Serve with vanilla ice cream for a real treat.

Don’t forget to follow communEATi on Twitter and like us on Facebook for more holiday tips and recipes throughout the season. And we hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that the rest of your holiday season is full of joy and togetherness.

Read More »

Homegrown Foods to Use this Thanksgiving

In some of the past few communEATi blogs and posts, we’ve talked about fruits and veggies that you can grow right in your own backyard to use in your Thanksgiving meal as a part of the #GrowYourThanksgiving movement. While your garden may not be ready until next year, you can still have a homegrown Thanksgiving meal this year!

Instead of stocking up on canned and processed foods from who-knows-where for all your cooking, seek out your local gardeners and farmers to see what’s available and try out these holiday favorites made with fruits, vegetables, and herbs right from your hometown.

The Main Dish
Instead of buying a prepackaged seasoning for the brine, try preparing your turkey with freshly grown herbs! This recipe works for a 16- to 25-pound turkey and is sure to please your guests. If there are any apple orchards nearby, swing by and grab a gallon of fresh apple juice. You’ll also need fresh ginger, peppercorns, allspice berries, cloves, and bay leaves. When you roast the turkey, try using freshly grown rosemary, thyme, and oregano. Dried herbs don’t necessarily lose nutritional value like fruits and vegetables do, but for the maximum flavor possible, fresh herbs are unbeatable.

Green Bean Casserole
This classic 1950s Thanksgiving side is usually made with canned beans and heavily processed onion crisps. Try reviving this dish with green beans grown locally and flash-frying locally grown sweet onions to top it. You can even ditch the sodium-heavy canned cream of mushroom soup and instead make your own to complete your homegrown recipe.

Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are a great excuse to eat dessert during your meal. While they may not taste like it, these sweet little roots are an excellent source of vitamins A, C, B6, B1, and B2. They are also a very good source of manganese, copper, pantothenic acid, potassium, dietary fiber, niacin, and phosphorus. So feel free to go overboard on the sweet potatoes this year: try your classic sweet potato casserole, sweet potato pie, or a roasted root-vegetable medley with winter squash and freshly pulled turnips this year with sweet potatoes right from your neighborhood.

Pumpkin Pie
Ahh, dessert. What Thanksgiving feast would be complete without a sweet and savory pumpkin dessert? And during this time of the year, pumpkin patches and produce stands are overflowing with locally grown pumpkins ripe and ready for the taking (just make sure you pay first). Delight your guests’ tastebuds by adding a healthy and fresh twist to your traditional Thanksgiving dessert with locally grown pumpkins!

Whatever traditional dishes your family puts on the table, the meal will be even more special with homegrown ingredients. Give it a try this Thanksgiving, and you might decide you want to #GrowYourThanksgiving for years to come. And from all of us at communEATi, we hope you enjoy your holidays, may they be full of togetherness and flavor!

Read More »

#GrowYourThanksgiving with Pumpkins!

Even since before the days of the seasonal “PSL” craze, pumpkins have been a staple of the autumnal spirit. Beginning every October, when we slice-n-dice ‘em into silly-faced heads, these sturdy orange veggies are with us right through to the last slices of pumpkin pie of our holiday meals. That’s why this installment of #GrowYourThanksgiving is all about pumpkins!

Before you decide whether or not you’d like to add pumpkins to your home garden, keep in mind that pumpkins require a lot of moisture, compost-enriched soil, and a long, warm growing season (generally 75-100 frost-free days). This means you’ll need to begin planting them by late May in northern locations to early July in extremely southern states. That said, pumpkins are easy to maintain if you have the space.

Planting
Selecting a Site

• -Pick a site with full sun (light shade is fine) and lots of space for sprawling vines. Vine varieties need 50-100 square feet per hill.
• -If you don’t have that much space, that’s okay! You can plant pumpkins at the edge of your garden and direct vine growth across the lawn or sidewalk. Doing this will also help keep the pumpkin’s vines, which can grow pretty aggressively, from taking over your garden.
• -You can also grow pumpkins in big 5-10 gallon buckets or (carefully) on a trellis!
• -Or, you can consider growing miniature pumpkins!
• -Pumpkins are pretty greedy feeders. They’ll require very rich soil that is well-drained and not too soggy. Mix lots of compost and aged manure into the planting site before you sow your seeds or transplant.

Pumpkins demand warm, fertile soil for growth, and your soil pH should be 6.0-6.8. Plan to give each vine at least a 3-foot diameter mound, or hill, of warm, enriched soil. You can test your soil every year or two to determine how to amend it for ideal pumpkin growth. In cool climates, you can warm your soil a week before planting by covering it with a piece of black plastic; then, cut a hole in the plastic and plant through the hole.

Care
Pumpkins need ample water when flowers and fruits are forming. It’s best to use a drip system or soaker hose to directly water soil at the base of the vines to avoid wetting the foliage. Try to water early in the morning; most vines will wilt under the bright, hot afternoon sun, but if you see foliage wilting before 11:00 a.m., that’s a sign that they need water. Pumpkins are also heavy feeders; regular treatments of manure or compost mixed with water will sustain good growth, and fertilize on a regular basis.

The first few flowers on pumpkin vines will be male blooms. Their pollen attracts bees so that when female blossoms begin to open, the bees will have the pumpkin vines on their daily flights. Bees are essential for pollination, so be mindful when using insecticides to kill pests.

Some gardeners promote branching to get more pumpkins by pinching the tips out of main vines when they reach about 2 feet long. For a higher yield on a vine, remove all the female flowers (those with a small swelling at the base of the bloom) for the first 3 weeks. This will produce a sturdier vine with more, albeit smaller, pumpkins. If your goal is fewer, larger pumpkins per vine, once you have 3-4 fruits on a vine, pinch off all the remaining flowers as they form. Encourage an even shape by carefully turning the fruits as they develop.

Pests and Diseases
Squash bugs and cucumber beetles are common, especially late in the summer. You can contact your local County Extension office for dealing with pests specific to your area. Be on the lookout for other pests, like aphids, or fungal diseases like Powdery Mildew and Anthracnose. Slip a thin board or piece of cardboard beneath the fruits to prevent possible rot.

Harvest and Storage

• -Toward the end of the season, remove any leaves that shade ripening pumpkins.
• -A pumpkin is ripe when the outside is fully colored, skin is hard, and the stem begins to shrivel and dry.
• -To harvest the pumpkin, cut the fruit off the vine carefully with a sharp knife or pruners.
• -Do not tear the stem. About 3-4 inches of stem will increase the pumpkin’s keeping time.
• -Before storing, cure pumpkins by setting them in the sun 10-14 days to harden the skin.
• -Store cured pumpkins so they don’t touch in a cool place (ideally 50-55℉).
• -Under ideal conditions your cured pumpkins should store for 2-3 months.

#GrowYourThanksgiving with Pumpkins
Pumpkins are such a Thanksgiving staple that it’s likely you already have a pumpkin dish as a part of your traditional meal. Now imagine a slice of your favorite pie made with pumpkins from your very own garden...yum! Or, if you’d like to do something new with your crop, why not try a delicious Pumpkin Risotto or a savory Pumpkin Cheesecake? When you wake from your food coma the morning after, you can enjoy this baked Pumpkin French Toast. And don’t forget the seeds! You can roast them with salt or cinnamon for a tasty snack.

Be sure to keep following our blog and and follow us on Twitter and Facebook for more tips for your garden and ideas on how you can #GrowYourThanksgiving!

Read More »