Fifty people attended the Food Sharing workshop on Saturday, May 9th. Everyone selected one service or skill building project based on their interest. They spent the next three hours engaged in their choice of a hands-on project. As a group, we reconvened to share lunch and reflections. Each project group reported back on insights gained, skills learned, and their most inspiring moments from the day.
Harriet Fasenfest, from Portland Preserve taught the group the basics of food preservation including all the different ways to preserve: canning, freezing, drying, and root cellaring. She demonstrated how to can asparagus as “quick pickles”. The “householding” talk consisted of helping the group prioritize choices around being producers and processors of their own food. The group was most inspired by “how simple it is to can.” One participant shared, “If you can boil water, you can can food.”
Fun Farm Work and Egg Co-op Presentation
This project took place at Zenger Farm, a local urban 16 acre farm and wetland. Prairie Hale led the group on a tour of the farm grounds teaching about the history of the land, native bee keeping and crop rotation. They met with members of the chicken cooperative and were introduced to the joys and challenges of urban chicken keeping. Attendees had the opportunity to get their hands dirty by cleaning the coop and weeding in the vegetable rows. This group was inspired to see “the diversity of people participating in the farm programs” and to learn about the synergy of the farm.
Cooking with Local Ingredients Class Ecumenical Ministries Food and Farms Partnership taught a class on cooking with local ingredients. Lisa Bersani led the group in making frittatas, hollandaise sauce, roasted asparagus, garlic, potatoes, caramelized hazelnuts, homemade salad dressing, potato and leek soup, and polenta pizza. They discussed the financial and health benefits to using locally available ingredients. “It is a good idea to adjust your menu based on the season, because it is less expensive and benefits your community”, the group shared. The recipes will be available soon.
Garden Work Party and History of a Community Garden
This group had the opportunity to volunteer at the “Seeds of Harmony” Community Garden. Jason Skipton of Janus Youth Village Gardens Programs, describes the garden as a place that unites cultures and communities through creating a community food movement. The participants observed a committee meeting of garden members and watched them creatively brainstorm ideas and solutions for the garden. Each participant was able to ask garden members for tips about planting and sowing. Four youth who attended helped out by sowing lettuce seeds for the garden. Everyone took turns rotating the compost. The group shared that, “we were most inspired by the community. Everyone knew their neighbors and they give away 9,000 lbs of free vegetables to the surrounding community…with teamwork, we can feed the community.”
Walking Tour to Identify Urban Edibles and Tincture Making
Carly Boyer, from Urban Edibles led the group on 2 hour walk through the Sabin neighborhood. They learned how to identify herbal and medicinal plants and their various uses. For example, dandelion greens can be eaten in salads and plantain leaves can be chewed and used as a salve for scrapes and burns. The tour ended with a lesson in tincture making and the group learned that “anyone can make it”. The participants were inspired by the community aspect of harvesting urban edibles and the importance of talking with your neighbors about gleaning.
