Friday, November 29, 2013

We are still harvesting!




Garden greetings!

While our garden is finally settling down for its winter slumber, we are still sharing plentiful harvests of Swiss chard, Kale, Salad mix, Spinach, Turnips, Radishes, Arugula, and Collards; Thanks be to God!  We are continuing to meet Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, along with Saturdays mornings to harvest and work on final garden tasks for the next couple of weeks. 

We look forward to our “Final Fruits Luncheon” on Saturday, December 14th at 12:30pm as we celebrate God’s many blessings this year in our garden.   Join us as we fire up our new brick oven, bake lots of pizzas, and enjoy tasty sides!  We are hoping for good weather but will also have the church basement set up for “Plan B”!  Any donations will be most appreciated to help pay for pizza ingredients. 

Our 2014 Garden calendars have been ordered and will be arriving soon!  A limited number have been ordered so please let me know if you would like to have one (or more!) saved for you!  Your donations of $25 per calendar will provide many seeds and supplies for our garden next year.  Any additional donations are always welcomed as we remain completely self-funded through garden memberships and individual donations. 

We are committed to continuing our mission of feeding the hungry in our community through shared harvests while experiencing Christian fellowship, love, joy, and unity by working and taking care of God’s creation.   Over 750 lbs of fresh produce has been donated to S.A.F.E. since their opening and we look forward to substantially increasing our donations for next year.   We have also been offering free memberships to all S.A.F.E. families and we are thankful for the several dedicated families that have joined our garden.  With our garden plantings now focused on meeting our local food pantry’s needs, it is our hope and prayer that we will continue to increase in garden memberships as well as funding in order to provide an abundance of fresh produce to our neighbors.

Come grow with us!  We are now accepting new members for the 2014 garden season; still only $10 per season or $25 for the year with a commitment to work one hour per week for a share of the daily harvest.   You don’t have to have a green thumb (or even get your hands dirty!) to be a member!   Prayerfully consider joining as a “Garden Angel” for $50 to help support our garden ministry. There are many parts and positions to the planting process! 

Thank you all for your continued support and prayers for our garden!

It WILL be good!
-Donna Poe
Garden Coordinator

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Many Sweet Blessings in the Garden!



Greetings garden friends!

We had a sweet surprise this past week with the readiness of our sweet potato crop two weeks before the expected harvest date.  HUGE spuds have been unearthed along with lots of nice sized and several smaller treasures perfect for roasting and stir fries…and don’t forget the pies!  Be sure to check out all the great sweet potato recipes posted on our previous blog post. Our collards are delicious along with turnip greens, beets, baby lettuce, Romaine, and soon to harvest Kale!  We are still picking a few summer tomatoes, plenty of eggplant, and leeks along with the spring planted Swiss chard (the best producing crop ever!!)  We look forward to fall planted spinach, arugula, carrots, turnip roots, and radishes. 

Catch up with some of our fall pics posted recently on Facebook by using the following link:  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.597393023632288.1073741836.129413523763576&type=1&l=649c63da67

It is never too late to join the garden.  Still plenty of things to work on, take care of, and harvest till the end of our fall season.  Our garden nights will continue through the end of October  from 5:30pm-dark and our Saturdays (10-noon), will conclude on December 14th.

We welcome back Thomas Irby (and Leah and Judah!) as a Concord UMC ministerial interns for the 2013-2014 academic year!  We also welcome our new ministerial intern, Melisa Peebles, who is very excited to learn and share with us in the garden every Saturday workday!   

Last weekend, I was re-inspired through my attendance at a 2-day Food and Faith gathering in Durham entitled, Summoned Toward Wholeness: A Conference on Food, Farming, and the Life of Faith. In the words of biblical scholar Ellen Davis, who gave the opening plenary, the biblical witness is quite clear that, "The life of the land is inseparable from our own life; its health is inseparable from ours." The entire two days' worth of conversations, you might say, were an extended commentary on that scriptural witness. 

We continually give thanks and praise to our Lord our God for His gift of the Garden of Concord and all of His creation.  In Genesis 2:15, we are invited to know and share in God’s love by nurturing human life as God “took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it”.  As quoted in a book by author and theologian, Dr. Norman Wirzba, Making Peace with the Land, “When we garden well, we do not only grow food for our bodies and flowers for our tables; we share in and extend God’s feeding, healing and sustaining ways with the world.  We demonstrate an appreciation for the divine love that forever cherishes the earth. 

Thank you for your continued support, love, and prayers for our garden as we continue to be stewards of “the land in the east” and throughout the world together.   It WILL be good!

-Donna Poe
Garden Coordinator

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

SWEET POTATO SEASON!

Greetings garden friends.  I will be posting my regularly scheduled blog post in a week or so, but I wanted to share with you right away the good news of our sweet potato harvest happening NOW along with a few of my favorite recipes!  What are some of yours?  See you in the garden soon!  It WILL be good!

**Some of the listings are not displaying clearly on the final blog post.  If you highlight and/or copy/paste to a word document, they should come through ok..sorry!**


Roasted Sweet Potatoes
3 potatoes, peeled and cut into bite size cubes
2 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp of brown sugar
1 tsp of ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp of ground nutmeg
Pinch of ground ginger
salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Coat a small baking dish with cooking spray.
Peel and dice the sweet potatoes into bite size cubes and place in the baking dish.
Melt butter in the microwave and pour over the potatoes along with
the olive oil, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt.

Add more sugar or cinnamon if desired.
Toss to coat evenly.
Bake in the oven for 60 minutes


Sweet  Potato Pie (this is a traditional recipe-my husband's favorite.  I have a vegan-healthier version below:)
2 ½ cups cups cooked mashed sweet potato
½ cup butter slightly melted
1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
½ tsp each of cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice

Beat together potatoes and butter.  Add rest of ingredients and beat till smooth.  Pour into pie shell and bake at 350 degrees for 60 minutes.


Sweet potato pie (almost) vegan/gluten free  (I do use eggs in my baking)
4 medium sweet potatoes (2-2 1/2 cups mashed spuds)
¼ cup coconut oil
2/3 cup agave nectar
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup coconut milk
1 unbaked pie crust (can use any type pie crust or use the gluten free recipe below)
Whipped cream, optional, (see Vegan whipped cream recipe).

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degree F.

Bake sweet potatoes for 1 hour in the oven on a baking sheet. When done, let cool. Scrape the pulp out of the skin, transfer to a large bowl, and mash. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, beat together coconut oil and agave nectar until creamy. Add eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and salt. Add coconut milk and stir mixture into sweet potatoes. Beat together with mixer until smooth and pour into an unbaked pie shell.

Bake on bottom rack of oven for 1 hour or until center of pie is firm. Serve warm. Add dollop of whipped cream if desired.

Adapted from http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/calleys-sweet-potato-pie-recipe/index.html?oc=linkback



Almond flour Pie Crust
1½ cups blanched almond flour
¼ teaspoon
celtic sea salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup
grapeseed oil
2 tablespoons
agave nectar
1 teaspoon
vanilla extract
 
In a medium bowl, combine almond flour, salt and baking soda
In a small bowl, combine grapeseed oil, agave and vanilla
Stir wet ingredients into dry 
Pat dough into a 9½-inch glass pie dish

Vegan Whipped Cream
1 (15 ounce) can of full fat coconut milk (sometimes in the Asian section)
1 teaspoon vanilla
sugar (stevia), to your taste

Directions:

Chill the coconut milk in the fridge overnight.  Do not shake the coconut milk. You want the coconut fat that accumulates on the top to stay there. Hold the can over a bowl. Using a manual can opener with a sharp end, puncture a hole on either side of the bottom of the can. Let the coconut water run out. You can save this and use for curries, rice pudding, etc.
 
Open the top of the can. See all that creamy stuff? That's what you want. Scoop it all out into a bowl. Add vanilla and sugar and whisk or beat for 1 minute. Put this into your refrigerator. Wait an hour. The best vegan whipped cream you've ever had - guaranteed.

http://www.food.com/recipe/vegan-whipped-cream-459454
*You can keep coconut whipped cream in the fridge for a few hours before using it. Since it's coconut, it will firm up as it cools. Being mixed with the icing sugar will keep it from separating out. But if you need to keep it in the fridge longer, like overnight, take it out an hour ahead so it won't be too firm when you use it


Another recipe called for adding 1-2 TB of coconut flour to thicken:  http://www.savvyvegetarian.com/vegetarian-recipes/coconut-whipped-cream.php


Sweet Potato Muffins (gluten free)  These are delicious!!
2 cups blanched almond flour 
1/2 teaspoon sea salt 
1 teaspoon baking soda 
2 tablespoon cinnamon 
2 teaspoon nutmeg 
1 teaspoon cloves 
1 cup cooked mashed sweet potato 
4 tablespoons honey 
5 eggs 
In a food processorhttp://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=&l=as2&o=1&a=B002I5DMTQ combine almond flour, salt, baking soda and spices 
Add pumpkin, honey, and eggs and pulse for 2 minutes 
Scoop batter into lined or greased muffin pan filled to the top. 
Bake at 350° for 20-25 min. Makes 12 muffins

Optional Topping:
1/2 cup quinoa flakes
1/4 cup flaxseed flour
1/2 cup organic light brown sugar
1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup organic coconut oil-solid
In a mixing bowl, combine the quinoa flakes, flaxseed flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and sea salt and whisk to blend. Add the coconut oil in pieces and using a whisk or a pastry cutter, cut the coconut oil into the flour blend until you have an even, sandy mixture.  Sprinkle over uncooked muffins.



Sweet Potato Chocolate Chip Cookies (Submitted by Cindy Shetter..always a favorite at the Christmas Cheers Chocolate Festival!)
Makes about 24 good sized cookies.
INGREDIENTS
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) Softened Unsalted Butter
  • 1 large Egg
  • 1/2 cup Pure Maple Syrup
  • 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
  • 1 Tbs Vanilla Extract or Vanilla Bean Paste
  • 2 cups Unbleached All Purpose Flour (for GF, use 2 cups almond flour and ½ cup oatmeal)
  • 1/4 tsp Salt
  • 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
  • 1 Tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice, or Cinnamon
  • 1 Cup Mashed Sweet Potatoes: I baked 2 large sweet potatoes at 400˚F for one hour, until soft.  Let them cool a bit and the skin peels right off. You can also buy canned Organic Sweet Potatoes, just make sure the only ingredient in the can is Sweet Potato.
  • 12 oz. High Quality Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
  • Optional: Powdered Sugar for dusting
METHOD
  1. Combine Butter, Egg, Maple Syrup, Brown Sugar, Vanilla, in medium bowl.  I mixed the ingredients with a spatula, you can also mix with electric mixer until well blended.
  2. In a separate bowl mix together dry ingredients: Flour, Salt, Baking Soda, Pumpkin Pie Spice.
  3. Stir 1/2 the flour mixture into the wet ingredients, stir in remaining flour mix until well combined.
  4. Stir in sweet potatoes and chocolate chips. 
  5. Putting the dough in the fridge for a little bit helps keep the cookie shape.
  6. Preheat oven to 350˚F, lightly grease baking sheets.
  7. Heap large tablespoons of batter onto cookie sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart.
  8. Bake for about approx.15 minutes, until cooked thorough and tops of cookies are golden. Use your judgement and taste preference to determine baking time.)
  9. Let cool about 5 minutes and place on cooling racks.
  10. Dust with powdered sugar.
Fresh Variations
    1. You can use 1 Cup of Pumpkin instead of Sweet Potato.
    2. Add 1/2 cup of Toasted Nuts: Pecans would be delicious!
    3. Add 1/2 cup of Toasted Coconut.
http://www.familyfreshcooking.com/2009/10/18/sweet-potato-chocolate-chip-cookies/#.UkTQ0D9afCY
 


Chocolate Sweet Potato Torte     Absolutely heavenly!  Freezes well too.
Puréed sweet potato, cocoa, almond flour, and eggs yield a rich, dense, and fudgy cake perfect for chocolate lovers.
  • 1 ½ cups sugar, divided
  • 1 cup packed cooked, mashed orange-fleshed sweet potato.
  • 1 cup almond flour
  • ½ cup unsweetened dark-chocolate cocoa powder
  • ⅛ tsp. salt
  • 4 large eggs
  • 3 oz. bittersweet chocolate
  • 3 Tbs. canned coconut milk
1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Coat 9-inch spring form pan with cooking spray.
2. Blend sweet potato, 1 cup sugar, almond flour, cocoa, and salt in food processor 30 seconds, or until smooth, scraping bowl as necessary.
3. Separate 3 eggs, placing whites in bowl of electric mixer. Add 3 yolks and remaining whole egg to sweet potato mixture; pulse to combine. Transfer sweet potato mixture to large bowl.
4. Beat egg whites with electric mixer at high speed until soft peaks form. Add remaining 1/2 cup sugar; beat 2 minutes more, or until stiff, glossy peaks form.
5. Fold one-third egg white mixture into sweet potato mixture with spatula. Gently fold in remaining whites. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on wire rack. Remove spring form sides; cool completely.
6. Melt chocolate in small saucepan over medium-low heat (or microwave). Stir in coconut milk. Spread chocolate mixture over top of cake. Let stand until chocolate sets
7.Optional: Top with nuts, chocolate chips, or raspberries..dust with powdered sugar.
http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/chocolate-sweet-potato-torte/


Nutty Sweet Potato Soup with Harissa and Spinach   Too good!
Serves 8
30 minutes or fewer
Harissa is a smoky North African chili paste made from smoked chiles, olive oil, spices, and sometimes tomatoes. Heat and flavor vary from brand to brand. This recipe was made with a French-produced harissa with a mild heat and extra sweetness from tomatoes.

2 Tbs. olive oil 
2 medium leeks, white and light green parts thinly sliced (2 cups) 
3 Tbs. tomato paste 
3 Tbs. creamy peanut butter 
1 ½ Tbs. harissa paste 
2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp.) 
1 tsp. ground turmeric 
¾ tsp. ground cumin 
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced ¼-inch thick (5 cups) 
3 ½ cups low-sodium vegetable broth 
3 oz. spinach leaves, thinly sliced (2 packed cups) 
 Lemon wedges, for garnish

1. Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add leeks, and sauté 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, peanut butter, harissa, garlic, turmeric, and cumin; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add sweet potatoes, broth, and 1 1/2 cups water, and simmer over medium-low heat, partially covered, 20 to 25 minutes, or until sweet potatoes are tender.
2. Blend mixture with immersion blender, adding more water if soup is too thick. Bring soup back to a simmer, and stir in spinach leaves. Serve with lemon wedges.


Vegan Sweet Potato Soup
5-6 cups cooked mashed sweet potato 
1 Large onion, chopped 
1 Large zucchini, chopped 
2 garlic cloves minced 
2 cups chopped kale  
¼ cup pure maple syrup 
2 TB coconut oil 
32 oz carton of vegetable broth 
1 can of coconut milk 
Salt, cumin, chilli powder,  nutmeg, cinnamon to taste 

Saute the onion and garlic in coconut oil till almost tender.   
Add the zucchini and leave it for another 5 minutes.   
Puree the vegetables, along with the kale adding some of the vegetable broth in the food processor to help the process.  
Place in slow cooker along with mashed sweet potatoes and the rest of the vegetable broth.   
Add seasonings and maple syrup. 
Add the can of coconut milk and blend all ingredients.  Add more veg broth/coconut milk if needed and if available or water. 
Cook on low for 6-8 hours (adding more seasonings as needed)