Plant a Row for the Hungry in your Garden

Share your harvest

Plant-a-Row

for the Hungry

• Plant-a-Row for the Hungry is an ongoing, annual campaign sponsored by the Garden Writers Association (GWA)
• GardenCuizine blog is by Diana Wind, member of the GWA
• Plant vegetables, fruits, and herbs
  
• Bring your extra produce to a GardenCuizine drop off point, or a soup kitchen or food pantry nearest you 
• Diana can mail you receipt(s) to have verified at the drop off site 

If you would like you, your family, your group or company to be recognized in social or print media, email GardenCuizine a copy of the verified receipt, along with any photos you wish to have included. Diana will gladly write a press release about your efforts for your local paper, GWA and GardenCuizine's blog. 

 You can make a difference!

2010 Plant-a-Row Supporters include:

• Whole Foods Market, Marlton, NJ - at their new community organic garden, Marlton Garden at Springside, breaking ground Friday, April 16th! For those in need of a garden plot contact: Marlton.Garden@WholeFoods.com or http://twitter.com/MarltonGarden

• Would you like to Plant-a-Row?

• www.foodbanksj.org The Food Bank of South Jersey - a nonprofit organization whose mission is to help eliminate hunger and malnutrition in the four counties it serves in southern New Jersey - Burlington, Camden, Gloucester and Salem.

• www.cathedralkitchen.org Camden Cathedral Soup Kitchen

Search for a Food Pantry: www.AmpleHarvest.org  

For more information contact:

Diana Wind - GardenCuizine @gmail.com

 Plant-A-Row for the Hungry is sponsored by The Garden Writers Association -  
www.gardenwriters.org or Call Toll Free (877) 492-2727

Related Links:    
USDA Food Security  
Fruits and Veggies, More Matters 

Italian Easter Bread

Italian Easter Bread

Italian Easter bread makes a spectacular and festive addition to an Easter table setting. My tradition has been to make the bread dough Easter morning before church, cover it and let the dough rise. Then Easter day, after church, I assemble and braid the dough into a ring with eggs and let it rise again. The Easter bread is baked off around 4 pm or so, just in time for dinner. Of course, if you plan to have Easter dinner earlier in the day, you could move up your baking schedule to either earlier in the morning, or the day before.

To color or not to color the eggs?

My mama recalls the Easter bread Granddad would bring home came from an Italian Bakery in New York City. She remembers it  having white eggs, not dyed - similar to how Ferrara's Bakery makes their Easter bread today. 

Traditional Greek Easter bread, tsoureki, incorporates red dyed eggs to symbolize the blood of Christ. I like baking the bread with pastel colored eggs - the choice is yours. The eggs are placed uncooked in the bread dough and will become hard cooked when the dough is baked in the oven. I find it works best to color the eggs the night before Easter, so the color can thoroughly dry.  

Growing Anise

Anise seeds add a hint of traditional Italian licorice flavor to the Easter bread dough. Anise (Pimpinella anisum) plants are lovely and easy to grow in the yard or garden. 

The plants grow similar to fennel with flowers that bloom in umbels. After flowering the blooms will go to seed. The seeds can be collected by cutting off the umbels and drying them on sheet pans. Anise seeds enhance breads and baked goods, such as Anise Biscotti and Pizzelles.

Check out my recipe!

Related Links

Diana's Anise Biscotti 
Copyright © 2010 Wind. All rights reserved.

Gardens Teach Children Nutrition

Gardens Teach Children Nutrition 

March brings us National Nutrition Month, an annual program sponsored by the American Dietetic Association. This year's theme, 'Nutrition from the Ground Up', brings to mind my favorite subjects: gardening, food, health and nutrition. We all know that in order to live, we need nutrition and energy from food. And, where does all food originate? Wholesome, nutritious food, both for us and for farm animals, grows from seeds planted in the garden! Gardens and farms offer learning opportunities that can provide meaningful experiences and influence healthy-lifestyle changes for all of us - especially children.  

Grains, grasses, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and edible flowers, all come from a farm or garden somewhere. Children find farms and gardens absolutely fascinating and welcome the opportunity to participate. Children actually enjoy, and even ask for more, fruits and vegetables after having a helping-hand in planting and harvesting them. Children who experience gardening have multiple opportunities to learn about working cooperatively, science, math, art, reading, writing, weather, wildlife, insects, and all about plant life, food, health and nutrition.

Gardens do not have to be located just in your own backyard either; school, camp, and public children's gardens are gaining popularity throughout the nation. During recent years, I have had the pleasure and opportunity to visit and research several children's gardens. Look for my top 10 Plant Picks for a Children's Garden in articles published on www.davesgarden.com. 

'Celebrate National Nutrition Month by Gardening with Children' 
Part 1- Best Plants for Gardening with Kids

Related Links: 
Camden Children's Garden
HealthBarn USA
Fruits and Veggies, More Matters 
Benefits of Gardening for Children 
"Mommy, look what I picked!" Improving Children's Nutrition and Health through Gardening by Diana Wind

• A Garden Pilot project enhances Fruit and Vegetable Consumption among Children 
• Impact of Garden-Based Youth Nutrition Intervention Programs: A Review
• Understanding gardening and dietary habits among youth garden program participants using the Theory of Planned Behavior

Credits: Eat Right logo is a registered trademark of the American Dietetic Association. Children in Garden Photograph taken at HealthBarnUSA with permission.   

Copyright © 2010 Wind. All rights reserved.