Community garden educates and inspires
Kelly Tunney | 蘑菇视频
Dashawn Reid, 7, left, and his brother Calvin Reid, 9, both of Uniontown, watch chef Joe Carei warn the crowd not to over-reduce their balsamic vinegar.
Chef Joe Carei mixes up a salad of spinach, strawberries, and feta cheese with a dressing of reduced balsamic vinegar.
Joanne McGee of Uniontown gets a skewer of chicken from the tasting line at the Lafayette Community Garden on Thursday night.
Lori Ashton, center, laughs as she gives out some squash during a fresh food demo at the Lafayette Neighborhood Community Garden on Thursday night.
Chef Joe Carei saut茅es tomatoes on Thursday evening during a demonstration incorporating fresh fruits and vegetables that would soon be in season at the Lafayette Community Garden.
Zrasyah McLee, 6, and Veronica Howard, 17, both of Uniontown, debate over whether Zrasyah meant to check off "frog" or "flag" on their scavenger hunt at the Lafayette Neighborhood Community Garden on Thursday evening.
It takes a village to raise a鈥� tomato 鈥� or herbs, squash, spinach, such is the case of the Lafayette Neighborhood Community Garden. In an effort to educate and inspire, Saint Peter蘑菇视频 Lutheran Church has partnered with Lafayette Elementary School and the surrounding community to revitalize the Community Garden at the School.
In 2013, Uniontown Hospital Community Health Needs Assessment pointed out that one of the top areas needing addressed was improving healthy behavior. Lafayette School acted upon that and started the community garden and also created an outdoor Environmental Learning Area. To make the space more viable and interactive, Lafayette蘑菇视频 reading intervention specialist Erica Seaver-Engle, created a partnership with St. Peter蘑菇视频 in March of this year. 鈥淢any of our parishioners are avid gardeners, and we love to reach out and make our community a better place for all.鈥� Seaver-Engle蘑菇视频 husband, Jim, is the pastor at St. Peters Lutheran Church.
The aim of the garden is to have it aspire to be a real community garden. Seaver-Engles would like to see the community around the garden have a hand in its viability.
鈥淲e would like to see neighbors get involved for their advice, manpower and experience. We would also like to see them harvest the bounty for their use,鈥� she said.
This would help complete the mission of having the students and community working hand in hand to create a space that would allow them to nurture and harvest a healthy lifestyle.
The Environmental Learning Center has been paired with the garden to promote inner creativity by putting focus on the outdoor world. Lafayette has begun to use the outdoor classroom for science, art and life learning lessons. 鈥淲e had several classes out here during the spring; I liked learning outside,鈥� said student April Wivell, who will be a freshman at the Uniontown Area High School in the fall. Lafayette school is looking to merge the garden and learning center into the curriculum and use it on a regular basis.
The garden project was also aided by the 鈥淪eeds of Change鈥� grant. Seeds of Change is an organic seed and food company that uses some of its profit to encourage seed to plate initiatives. Seaver-Engle applied for the grant to achieve 4 goals; 1)renew the raised beds, shed/greenhouse, tools and supplies, 2)outreach to galvanize students and community, 3)sow, grow and harvest community accessible, local produce and 4)provide experiential learning experiences for students and the community. It seems that all four goals are being realized.
The future goal is to expand the garden and to start and/or revive other community gardens around Uniontown. 鈥淭he bigger vision for this community garden is to establish a working community garden, sustained by the community, in every neighborhood in Uniontown,鈥� said Seaver-Engle.
The garden committee is looking for volunteers to help with the weeding, watering and general upkeep of the garden. You can call St. Peters Lutheran Church or go to the facebook page: www.facebook/growlafayette or plug in Lafayette Neighborhood Community Garden in subject line. They are also looking for sponsors both monetarily and with supplies to extend and expand the project. They also welcome those who would like to bring children蘑菇视频 groups or camps to the garden or classroom. Those that want to get herbs or vegetables from the garden can contact, also.
I had the honor of doing an interactive cooking demonstration right in the middle of the the Lafayette Neighborhood Community Garden. Although the vegetables weren鈥檛 quite ready, the herbs were very viable and really gave pop to the dishes I cooked. Mark Duda was kind enough to donate some products from Fayette County蘑菇视频 largest garden, Duda蘑菇视频 Farm, to fill in the gaps. The spinach was recently harvested from the garden and we are looking forward to another planting. Those attending the open garden, got to experience first hand, what fresh from the garden tastes like. And for those who have been working on the garden, I鈥檓 sure, it tasted a little better.
Again it takes a villag
Italian satay
2 lbs chicken breast
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp brown sugar
2 clove garlic minced.
录 cup fresh sage chopped
2 Tbsp fresh thyme
Salt and pepper
Trim chicken breasts. Cut into strips around 录 inch thick. Place in baking dish. Chop sage and oregano. Whisk rest of ingredients, add sage and oregano. Pour over chicken and marinade for a couple of hours to overnight. Thread chicken onto bamboo skewars that have been soaked in water. Cook skewers on grill or in grill pan.
Fresh tomato marinara or Pomodoro
4 medium garden tomatoes or 8 roma tomatoes
3 clove garlic
2 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
Chop garlic and sweat in olive oil, chop tomatoes and add to garlic. Cook for around 5 minutes until tomato softens. Season with salt and pepper, chop and add basil. Toss in your favorite pasta or top fish/chicken.
Scalloped zucchini
2 lbs squash(zucchini, yellow squash and/or yellow zucchini)
1 medium onion
录 cup butter-melted
Tsp salt
Pepper
Tablespooon of chopped Herb of choice
1/3 cup parmesan cheese.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut squash in thin circles(coins). Slice onion thin. Toss zucchini and onions with butter, salt, pepper and herb. In buttered casserole dish approx. 8 inch. Layer zucchini mix in 2 layers. Top each layer with 陆 of the parmesan cheese. Bake covered for 20 minutes, then uncover and bake another 20 minutes.
Berry Salad
Pound (quart) of strawberries
Pint blueberries
4oz feta cheese
录 cup balsamic reduction
4 cups fresh spinach
录 cup toasted chopped nuts(optional)
Quarter cut strawberries. Crumble Feta cheese. Mix together berries and feta cheese. Toss with spinach and balsamic reduction. Top with nuts if desired.