Bridging the Gap Between Garden and Kitchen

On Saturday, I woke up super fucking early to venture off to S. Milledge, past the State Botanical Gardens, to UGA's garden (so cleverly deemed UGArden). I was accompanied by friends Kate and the twins (Emily and Hillary). The deal is, you work in the garden for 2 or more hours as a volunteer. If you so desire, at the end of the day you may harvest fresh veggies. This is allowed only if the supply permits. Do NOT start going to UGArden just to steal their vegetables, you selfish bastards! Volunteering there is a lot of fun, and it makes you feel one step closer to your food (even if you don't take anything home).

In my summer course I learned about something called commodity

fetishism. This is the phenomenon that occurs when we are separated from the production of our food. For example, you look at this box of muffin mix (right), it seems very convenient and lovely. However, we, as the consumers, do not have any say in the manufacturing process of the product.

On Saturday, we had the opportunity to work in the UGArden on the tomato plots. Emily and I laid down mulch under the tomato plants and set up twine ropes for the trellises to keep the tomato plants growing tall and strong. Hillary and Kate were trimming the tomato plants and also got to work on some Native American-style seeding in a nearby plot.

At the end of our workday, we were allowed to peruse the autumn-season garden for vegetables to harvest for our lunch. We harvested kale, beets, snap peas, and collards. On our way out, we also noticed a blueberry bush, from which I took only a handful of berries. A worker there also offered us freshly dried garlic.

As we arrived home, we decided to make a meal; this was partially an attempt to bridge the gap between producer and consumer. We know exactly where the food came from (we picked it from the ground ourselves). Here's what we made:

Garlic Kale Sauté

1) Add olive oil and freshly minced garlic cloves to a pan on medium heat

2) Once olive oil and garlic has been heated, add chopped kale.

3) Sauté until dark green.

Roasted Rosemary Beets

1) Preheat oven to 350º.

2) Cut roots and leaves from the beets.

3) Wrap beets, covered in olive oil, in aluminum foil.

4) Roast for about 30-45 minutes until soft.

5) The skin will easily come off and the beets may be cut up and eaten right there.

6) Chop and top with rosemary. Serve warm

Warning: The juice from beets is MAGENTA. When mixed in olive oil, it appears blood red. When you open your aluminum foil from the oven, it may leak a blood-like substance. Do not fear; your beets are merely bleeding love.

Lazy Blueberry Cinnamon Muffins (mmmm... just like mom used to force you make yourself when she wasn't feeling well and you wanted noms)

1) Follow instructions on box (as seen above). Before filling muffin cups, add bluberries.

2) Continue to follow instructions on box, duhr. (And if you are fixing this with the beets, as we did, which I doubt you will do, just leave the oven on 350º.)

3) EAT 'EM UP!

Every day we fall prey to commodity fetishism. Let's bridge the gap! Grow your own veggies or herbs! Volunteer at UGArden! UGArden, for the summer 2011, will have workdays on Mondays and Thursdays at 7pm. If you want more info, let me know.

OR simply "like" the UGArden facebook page!!