Scrap Gardening for Beginners

By Savannah Kohler, Leadership in Urban Agriculture Internship, 2020

An estimated 1/3 of all food that was made for consumption, ends up as waste instead. (1) Along with composting, scrap gardening is one of many strategies used world-wide to help with the reduction of food waste. While eating a higher quality diet is related to less cropland waste, it does have a negative association with food waste. (2) By taking the time to turn some of our kitchen scraps into a small scrap garden, we are doing our part in helping to provide a sustainable food system.

Scrap gardening is great for beginners who are wanting to experiment with their first garden and for those who just do not have room for a large garden in their yard. It is also a great way to save money on fresh food! 

How is this done? 

While each plant may vary in the amount of water used, the length cut of the scraps, and the amount of time it takes to regrow, it is all still remarkably easy and very much achievable! To begin, you will need for your plants to grow roots. See below for instructions.

What plants can I regrow?

You can regrow most of your veggies and fruits, but not all. Here are some examples of popular options that you can regrow and how to do it.

GREEN ONIONS: Cut off the top of the plant and keep the end that grows roots. Plant it in potting soil and place it in a well-lit room. Soon, the green onions will begin to grow back, and you can snip them off the plant and use them as needed.

CELERY: Cut the stalk, leaving about two inches at the bottom. Place the two-inch-long end in a bowl of very shallow water. When leaves begin to grow on top, you can move into potting soil and watch it grow.

ROMAINE LETTUCE: Cut the lettuce, leaving about two inches at the bottom. Place the two-inch-long end in a shallow bowl of water. As leaves grow, you may eat them. 

POTATOES: Wait until your potato is starting to sprout. When it does, cut the potato in slices around the sprouts. Plant in deep soil with the eye facing up. Cover the potato entirely with soil.

HERBS: Pick most leaves from the stem, while leaving the only top few remaining. Place the stems in a glass of water. Replace the water every few days. Plant stems in soil once they have grown their roots.

Helpful Links:

https://youtu.be/Jze8utzpLhg

https://www.diyncrafts.com/4732/repurpose/25-foods-can-re-grow-kitchen-scraps

References

1. Anastasia M, Alexandru J, Liliana S(C. Studies on the use of vegetable scraps. https://ibn.idsi.md/ro/vizualizare_articol/72422. Published February 20, 2019. Accessed July 27, 2020.

2. Conrad Z, Niles MT, Neher DA, Roy ED, Tichenor NE, Jahns L. Relationship between food waste, diet quality, and environmental sustainability. Plos One. 2018;13(4). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0195405

Indigenous Agricultural Practices

By Shea Metzler Leadership in Urban Agriculture Internship, Fall I 2020

Click on the image for a PDF version of the guide.

Partner Profile: North Newstead Association

Back in 2019, the fondly named “Garden Corral” was a weekly favorite among North Newstead Association (NNA) seniors.

After NNA held their elderly services workshops in the shady corner of Fresh Starts Community Garden, workshop attendees would gather around a table stacked with produce freshly picked from Urban Harvest STL farms, including the FOOD ROOF Farm, Kerr FOOD ROOF, and on-location at Fresh Starts. As seniors gathered around the Garden Corral of fresh produce, Farmer Drew from the UHSTL team would stick around to answer questions – “what can you do with a lemon cucumber?” – while they selected their favorite veggies.

Fresh Starts Community Garden, owned by NNA board member and UHSTL partner Rosie Willis, is a community hub where neighbors in the surrounding JeffVanderLou neighborhood come together to garden. Since 2017, UHSTL has been maintaining unclaimed beds in the garden and donating the majority of produce grown there to our community partners. In 2020 alone, UHSTL harvested 1,175 pounds of produce from the garden. 

This season, the lively post-workshop vegetable share had to be put on pause. However, with UHSTL farms still producing, NNA’s Community Engagement Specialist Constance Siu has found new ways to distribute produce.

Her first stop is to check in with a couple seniors she has on deck to receive produce weekly. These folks, who are over 65, are already more susceptible to severe symptoms of Covid-19, and one senior who relies on public transportation to reach the grocery store is at even higher risk if and when she leaves her home. Constance divvies up their shares and delivers it to them by the end of the day so that they don’t even need to leave the house.

Often, she gets much more produce than her seniors can handle. When this is the case, she’ll write up a mini “order form” of what’s left over and check in with her neighbors around their office in the O’Fallon neighborhood of North City – the tenants upstairs, the barber shop across the street, the folks at a nearby intersection. They fill out the form and she repackages and delivers their orders.

Sometimes, there just aren’t enough hours in the day to complete this process, so Constance will drop off extra produce at Bread of Life Church in Old North for their Free Food Wednesdays.

“They set up in front of the church with a whole line of food, but they rarely have fresh produce,” Constance explains. “Now, what I hear, is that people come early, and they’ll ask, ‘Where are the cucumbers!?’”

Sharing produce is just one branch of NNA’s many services. The two-woman team works in 21 different neighborhoods (primarily in North City) and collaborates with a wide range of community partners and nonprofits. Their range of services include affordable housing, beautification, neighborhood safety, landlord training and minor home repair.

Navigating the shift to virtual work has been tough, particularly because many of NNA’s services are in-person. Many individuals need to make hard decisions on how to engage – for example, balancing the risk of getting Covid with needing to have repairs done in their homes, especially before winter comes.

When it comes to Constance’s community engagement work, she has also shared the challenges of the technology gap, particularly when working with seniors or individuals without access to wifi. However, she remains optimistic.

“What I’ve learned in the last couple of months is that they are resilient and they’re willing to learn,” Constance says. “And they probably know Zoom better than most of us do by now!”

North Newstead Association brings community partners together to promote economic well being in the North Newstead Association geographic area by providing affordable housing and family support services to the areas low and moderate-income residents. Follow them on Facebook or get in touch at northnewsteadassociationstl@gmail.com.

To volunteer or get involved with Fresh Starts Community Garden, please reach out to Ms. Rosie Willis at 314.685.5183.

Environmental Justice Initiatives in St. Louis

By Katrina Wiegand, Leadership in Urban Agriculture Internship, Summer III 2020

Click on the image for a PDF version of the guide.

Food Preservation Through a Culinary Justice Lens

By Briana Robles, Leadership in Urban Agriculture Internship, Summer II 2020

Photo by Soul Fire Farm. 

Introduction to Culinary Justice

Co-executive director of Soul Fire Farm and author of Farming While Black, Leah Penniman, eloquently stated that “our tables are healing tables, fellowship tables, and living history tables.” Likewise, our tables are also rooted in food apartheid, which presents itself in statistics such as “1 in 4 black children go to bed hungry” and the common illusion that “healthy cooking and food preservation is a ‘white people thing.’” Michael Twitty, Culinary Historian and author of  The Cooking Gene, defines culinary justice as “the idea that oppressed peoples have the right to not only be recognized for their gastronomic contributions, but they have the right to their inherent value… to derive from them, uplift and empowerment.” 

Why Culinary Justice Matters to urban growers 

As gardeners, farmers, and foodies, we participate with the food system in inherently distinct ways. Growing, preserving, cooking, and feasting are ways of honoring generational wisdom and living sustainably for the sake of those who will come after us. Chef Kabui, a Kenyan chef committed to decolonizing our food, reminds us that “everyone has a farming history in growing and preparing food. So, find it. Connect with it- with that ancestor. Carry it on.” Growing food invites us to grow in awareness of our land, ourselves, and one another.

Basic Methods of Food Preservation

Farming While Black mentions various methods for cooking and preserving the food we grow including, preserving in soil and ash, Drying, Fermentation, In-Vinegar, Canning, and Freezing. Below, Fermentation and In-Vinegar food preservation techniques will be discussed, and example recipes will be provided. To learn more about other indigenous ways of preserving food from around the world, click here.

PRESERVATION BY FERMENTATION

Fermentation is a method of food preservation used throughout the world that increases the nutritional content of food with the help of bacteria.  

Veggies that are great candidates for beginner lactic acid fermentation include: 

• Cabbage (below)

• Turnips 

• Carrots

• Cucumbers 

• Radishes

• Green beans

Photo by Emet Vitale-Penniman for Farming While Black.

HOW TO MAKE FERMENTED CABBAGE

Recipe adapted from Farming While Black by Leah Penniman 

1. Slice cabbage thinly 

2. Combine with non-iodized sea salt at a ratio of 1-pound vegetable to 1-teaspoon salt.

3. Use your hands to massage the salt into the cabbage 

4. Let it sit in brine while you sterilize the canning jars* in boiling water

   *NOTE: Standard quart-sized canning jars holds about 2 pounds of vegetable

5. Pack brined cabbage tightly into jars pressing out air as you go, so that the cabbage fills the jar up to the bottom of the rim

6. Pour liquid brine over cabbage to completely fill jar

7. Place lid on loosely

8. Arrange jars on tray/pan/dish & place at room temperature* for 3 days

   *NOTE: The hard-working bacteria will result in bubbling and loss of liquid

9. Top off each jar with brine solution of 1-teaspoon of salt per 4 cups of water

10. Secure lids on tightly & transfer to cool/ dark refrigerator or basement

Bonus: Recipe can be jazzed up using garlic, dill, mustard seeds, caraway seeds, juniper berries, & other spices.

PRESERVATION IN VINEGAR

In about 2030 B.C, vinegar was first documented for the preservation of cucumbers in Mesopotamia near the Tigris River. Below, is a recipe for Pikliz, a sour & spicy staple in creole cuisine and every Haitian household. 

Photo by Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times.

HOW TO MAKE PIKLIZ 

Recipe adapted from Farming While Black by Leah Penniman 

1. Thinly chop cabbage, carrots, & onions

2. Pack into clean jar

3. Add distilled vinegar to just cover the mixture 

4. Add spices: thyme, whole cloves, lime juice, salt, & hot peppers 

5. Cover with lid and shake 

6. Allow to sit at room temperature for 3 days before consuming 

*NOTE: Always use a clean spoon every time you add Pikliz to your meal

Bonus: Experiment by adding other veggies including, cucumber, sweet peppers, turnips, cooked beets, green peas, fennel, radish, cauliflower, green beans, & boiled eggs. 

Additional Resources you might be interested in… 

To learn more about Karen Washington, who coined the term “food apartheid”, click here.

To watch a short video by Michael Twitty on Culinary Justice, click here.

To read an interview with Sioux Chef Oglala Lakota about decolonizing our diet, click here. 

Works Cited

Andrew Scrivani. “Pikliz”. To view, https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017277-pikliz.

Ecks Ecks. "Cabbage". Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/.

Penniman, Leah, and Karen Washington. Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm's Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land. Chelsea Green Publishing, 2018.

Twitty, Michael. “Gastronomy and the social justice reality of food”. YouTube, uploaded by TED Archives, 20, Dec. 2016. https://youtu.be/8MElzoJ2L6U. 

Vitale-Penniman, Emet. The author grates cabbage on a mandolin as an initial step in fermentation. 2018. Photograph. Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm's Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land. Whit River City Junction, Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2018. 239. Print. 

Partner Spotlight: The Fit and Food Connection

Five years ago, The Fit and Food Connection (FAFC) was born out of a shared passion for health, wellness, and equity.

Co-founders Joy Millner and Gabrielle (Gabi) Cole were hard at work in St. Louis’s underserved communities. Joy’s organization, Living Joyfully, offered free fitness and nutrition classes to local low-income neighborhoods, while Gabi’s – The Food Place – brought healthy food to North St. Louis communities where grocery stores were scarce. In 2015, they joined forces to co-found the FAFC, working with half a dozen families to provide a food access program and free weekly fitness classes.

In the following years, this grassroots program blossomed into a multifaceted wellness education, mentorship, and food pantry program serving 55 households. The FAFC empowers their clients to reach their health goals through a holistic approach that emphasizes healthy eating, physical fitness, and nutrition education. More importantly, all their programs are free.

GROWING FOOD LITERACY

FAFC reaches the community through two main program branches: food access and wellness. Their food access program incorporates food assistance and delivery, as well as an organic garden, while the wellness Program provides group fitness classes, group nutrition seminars, and customized one-on-one programs for their clients.

FAFC’s food assistance delivery program reaches residents in the region who suffer most acutely from food insecurity. Operating out of the Believer’s Temple in Ferguson, MO, a team of dedicated volunteers assembles every Sunday to sort and prepare donated food, which is delivered directly to clients’ homes by volunteer drivers.

“Many [clients] don’t have transportation; they’re on the lowest end of the financial spectrum,” explains Joy. “This includes single mothers, families, people with disabilities, the elderly – people across the board.”

Early on, Joy and Gabi recognized that food literacy was a critical component of healthy eating habits. For someone who is unfamiliar with a wide variety of produce, many greens – for example – might look similar but taste very different. This prompted FAFC to add cooking demonstrations and seminars to their programming.

“We talk about what goes best in salads or in soups. We do a lot of classes on food prepping - how to prepare food for the week, how to cook on a dime,” Joy explains. “We also put a lot of communication into the food deliveries we give out, such as recipes, nutrient information, what to do with the food.”

It was only a matter of time before FAFC and Urban Harvest STL found each other and a beautiful partnership began. Since 2017, Urban Harvest STL has provided a steady supply of seasonal produce for FAFC’s various programs. Beyond adding fresh produce to deliveries for food pantry clients, it’s also used for monthly cooking and nutrition classes and prepared in healthy snacks for well-attended “Health Hours” that combine fitness, stretching, de-stressing, and mindfulness.

COPING WITH COVID

The design of FAFC’s wellness and food delivery programs has made the organization resilient to the upheavals of the Covid-19 pandemic. While many pantries find themselves scrambling to adapt, FAFC adjusted quickly to a no-contact procedure with minimal interruption for clients. Drivers now pick up meal deliveries outside of Believer’s Temple and leave it outside clients’ homes without any direct contact. Fitness and nutrition programming has moved online. Their existing network of volunteer wellness professionals continue to serve clients in virtual support groups and consultations, while local volunteers mentor clients while social distancing.

However, the financial strain of the pandemic has led to a surge in demand for their pantry, increasing their waitlist for food delivery. Their team of five staff and seventy-five volunteers is working hard to meet the rising needs of the community, establishing a food drive and wishlist and requesting monetary donations. As they acquire more food and bring more people off the waitlist, they also need additional volunteer delivery drivers to help distribute meals.

“The unfortunate reality is that a lot of people are out of money and hungry. I think a lot of people are living under a really high level of stress right now,” says Joy. “We’re spending a lot of time on de-stressing, because you have to start somewhere...We’re finding small ways to make our clients feel better and build confidence from within. It is more important now than ever.”

Yet Joy remains optimistic that they’ll weather the pandemic alongside their clients. She is encouraged by the spirit and impact of giving that sustains their mission, “whether it's the clients’ lives we’re changing, or waking up to see these angels – all the people who give back. It’s a beautiful world that I get to see.”

The Fit and Food Connection is a long-time donation partner of Urban Harvest STL. To learn more about them, visit https://fitandfoodconnection.org