Families gather in the Oneida Square Community Garden –
complete with a popcorn machine! Story here.
CC image via Flickr user The Community Foundation of Herkimer & Oneida Cos.
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The seeds of this week’s frugal vegan tip were planted several years ago, when I read a piece written by Lauren of the (seemingly) now-defunct blog Faux Real Tho. If memory serves correctly, Lauren described a sort of “work party,” wherein a group of friends and family members descended upon her backyard in order to help her and her husband create a garden space in their new home. In return for food and alcohol – naturally. The ultimate garden party, if you will.

Work + wine = a work party
Work + wine + dirt + produce = a garden party

Of course, bribing and plying your friends with alcohol and shiny happy vegan cupcakes is a great way to procure a little extra help when needed. But let’s take this concept a step further, shall we? Why split only the work when you can share it all: monetary expenses, land, labor, knowledge, materials and yield?

Let’s say, for example, that you want to start growing some of your own (VEGAN!) food in order to save money and become more self-sufficient (the apocalypse, it’s coming!). You have the space to establish a good-sized garden and the funds to cover any start-up costs – but are lacking the know-how and expertise to make it a rousing success. Or perhaps you’re an experienced gardener but are currently living in an apartment space which only affords room for a small window garden. Maybe you have the time to devote to weeding, watering, harvesting and preserving, but no money with which to buy the supplies. By pooling your resources with friends, family members and/or acquaintances, all of these potential pitfalls can be overcome.

WWII – Women’s Land Army of the U.S. Crop Corps (1944);
via Northwestern University’s World War II poster collection.
In this vintage, government-issued WWII propaganda poster, women are shows harvesting veggies, milking cows and feeding chickens. The copy reads, “Pitch in and help! Join the women’s land army of the U.S. crop corps.” Clearly, in my vegan utopia, the nonhuman animals live on a sanctuary, not a farm, and the ladies pictured in this pastoral scene are vegans caring for their nonhuman friends. Also: the men-folk are working the garden as well, but off to the side and just out of frame.
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A shared garden can take a variety of forms. Perhaps one family provides the necessary land, water and supplies while their neighbors down the street assume responsibility for the daily chores required to keep it thriving – and all the produce grown is split 50/50 (or whatever seems fair to those involved).

Or let’s say that you and your friends want to try gardening, but only one of you owns a home, complete with a suitable backyard space. Why not have everyone chip in the funds required to establish and maintain the garden, and get together several times a week for a little dinner, drinks and gardening? Chores seem less tedious when performed in the company of (fed and inebriated) friends, no?

On the more extreme end of the spectrum, perhaps you’re able to rally your entire neighborhood around this cause, such that you collectively decide to allocate a public space for the garden, and divvy up all expenses, labor and crops equally. (No animals though, mkay? They’re friends, not food!)

(This sort of large-scale project begins to resemble a community garden, which is beyond awesome, particularly from a food justice standpoint. Every community should have access to fresh fruit and veggies – as well as the ability to grow them locally and sustainably – in this vegan mofo’s opinion. To find out how you can help community gardens survive and thrive in the United States, visit the American Community Gardening Association’s website and take action.)

However it’s organized, a shared garden can save you both time and money – while also fostering a sense of community and bringing you closer to the ones you love. If you’re lucky enough to have a veteran green thumb or amateur botanist join the party, laboring in a group has the added benefit of shared expertise and wisdom passed from one generation and/or population to another. And you know what they say about knowledge. It’s power, yo.

How about you? Have any of the mofo’s in the audience ever participated in a shared or community garden? Share your thoughts and experiences with us in the comments!

Boardwalk Community Garden, Coney Island, Brooklyn, 2010-09-06/
CC image via Flickr user Flatbush Gardener.
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Scraps are dealt with pretty swiftly this way, actually; for example, I had to discard many wheelbarrows full of rotten and half-nibbled apples and pears last summer. I dumped it all in the pasture nearest my house, because that wheelbarrow was just too heavy to cart any further. The bees, butterflies and (I assume) deer got to work on the heaps fairly quickly, and six months later, there’s barely a trace of the fruit piles.

(Click through to embiggen and see all the little buggers.*)

During the spring, summer and fall, I’ll usually gather banana peels, potato skins, watermelon rinds and the like in a garbage bin in the garage, and empty it out as needed. It starts to smell if I leave it out too long, but it rarely sits for more than a day or two; leaves and sticks fill it quickly. Or if I’ve got a few minutes to spare, I’ll walk to the perimeter of the property and toss my waste as soon as I’ve made it, while the evening’s dinner is cooking or whatever.

Naturally, in the coldest months of the year, I’ve no inclination to go for a stroll – not even out to the barn. And storing food waste in the attached garage isn’t really an appealing prospect. So sometimes I find myself getting lazy and (*gasp*) tossing orange peels in the garbage. Bad Kelly, bad! Since I’ve been doing more and more cooking lately, I wanted to make it as pain-free as possible to recycle my plant waste, so I won’t find myself tempted to send it to the landfill.

Here’s what I came up with: when I generate plant waste, I toss it in a designated Tupperware container, which I then store in the fridge or freezer (whichever has some extra space). When the weather’s sufficiently agreeable, I’ll go recycle whatever I’ve gathered, and start the process anew. Of course, the freezer is the safer choice, but I haven’t yet had anything go moldy or goo up in the fridge (*fingers crossed*). I suppose our wacky Midwestern 75 degrees one day, wind chill of zero degrees the next day, winters help; so far I’ve been able to discard of my waste once every 7 to 10 days.

If you find yourself getting lazy about your composting in the winter months, give it a try. What works for you?

* Can you tell that I’m totally jazzed for spring?!

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Tagged: recycle compost composting plant waste diy photos garden gardening environment green flickr photos

Sigh. Next thing you know, I’ll be wearing a Snuggie. Or a Slanket. Probably a Slanket. For some inexplicable reason, they’re currently donating a portion of their proceeds to NRDC.

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Tagged: video video blogging gardening tomatoes infomercial tomato tree topsy turvy food vegan veganism vegetarian vegetarianism vegetables diy

As I mentioned last night, yesterday Shane and I spent the day outside, disassembling a fairly large planter. No complaints here, though; it was a gorgeous day, and I’d much rather spend a sunny day doing manual labor outside than be cooped up in the house, plugging away on office work or somesuch.

And can I just say that Midwestern autumns are effin’ gorgeous?

Even though it’s starting to get a bit colder at night, the garden’s holding up fairly well. Yesterday’s haul, while significantly smaller than those in September, was still decent: a watermelon, a few zucchinis, a small bowl of tomatoes and five peppers. Not bad, eh? There’s still a motherload of gourds out there, too, I just haven’t picked ‘em yet since we have no clue what to do with ‘em all. *shrug*

After spending the day outside with us, the dogs were delightfully exhausted, too:

Oh, how I love a sleepy doggeh!

Anyway, on to today’s recipe, for Pumpkin Applesauce. I made this one up myself, and it’s quite yummy, if I do say so myself. (And I do!) If it seems like a ridiculously large serving size, that’s because it is – and it all went into my food dehydrator last night to make fruit leather. Which was also delish, I might add. But if you’re making this to eat, I’d recommend cutting it by a third or more. You can also make the full recipe and can it, or use it for baking, for example, in bread recipes. Hopefully sometime this weekend I’ll get around to using the Pumpkin Applesauce to make these Pumpkin-Applesauce Squares.

Pumpkin Applesauce

Ingredients

4-6 cups of water
30 apples, peeled, cored and sliced
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

Directions

1. Peel, core and slice your apples and toss them in a large pot.

2. Add enough water to fill the bottom of your pot and coat the bottom layer of apples. Add lemon juice and bring to a boil.

3. Set to simmer and stir in the sugar and spice to taste. If you’re going to dehydrate the finished batch of applesauce into fruit leather, err on the side of blandness when seasoning: once the applesauce is dried, the spices become concentrated.

Note: If you don’t have any pumpkin pie spice on hand, make your own by combining cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice.

4. Simmer until the apples are adequately mushy and the water, dissolved. If necessary, use a masher to achieve maximum mushiness. If you’re going to make this batch into fruit leather, let it thicken up a bit before using.

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Tagged: veganmofo vegan veganism vegetarian vegetarianism blog swarm october food carnival recipe recipes applesauce pumpkin applesauce apples pumpkin garden gardening my furbabies ralphie dachshund wiener dog flickr photos fruit veggies