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June 28, 2012 Volume 18, Issue 3 |
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Greetings!
Meet the Gardeners
 My name is Virginia Zenzen, and I am back for my third and final year of summer gardening. I grew up on an organic dairy farm near Belgrade, Minn. We sold our cows last summer because of surgeries my dad was going to have. This summer the heifers are going to start having calves again, so we are getting back into it! I am a senior nutrition-dietetics major and environmental studies minor at St. Ben's.
When I was first job searching, I initially wanted a job that I would be able to do work kind of similar to work on the farm. I started gardening for Common Ground as a freshman and fell in love with it. I have always been interested in food and the environment, but I did not know that my involvement in the garden would lead me to such opportunities after graduation. To incorporate my gardening experiences into my career path, I plan on applying for FoodCorps. This program helps set up school gardens which then teach children about growing food, as well as where their food comes from. To help me prepare for this next step in my life, I hope to volunteer for a farm to school program during the next year.
This summer, I want to work on community events. I will be planning garden programs for our community so we can all get to know each other better. We can learn about the garden and learn how to use the vegetables you will be receiving each week. We have had a really good start with the vegetables this spring, and I expect these upcoming summer months to be just as fruitful. I look forward to meeting you all!
 I am Hanna Newman and I love working in the dirt! This is what has drawn me to the Common Ground Garden and other Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) gardens. The ground is literally grounding and I have always enjoyed the magic of a seed when planted in fertile soil; by taking part in working with the soil, I am learning how organic food can grow successfully at a large scale.
I am a senior nutrition major with a concentration in dietetics at St. Ben's, originally from Somerset, Wis. Having the opportunity this summer to see successful sustainable food systems like our CSA is so promising for me, as I see them improving the health of our communities. This summer I am most excited to meet all the subscribers and to learn about how everyone prepares the food they get from the garden! I am also looking forward to continuing research on the potential benefits of our on-campus root cellar and how it could help benefit our school and community. It will also be interesting to learn more about root cellars and their effectiveness in preserving food and extending the local food season.
I am a Nutrition Club officer on campus. A goal of mine is to continue to connect the community with our campus, so if any of you have ideas on how you would like to celebrate the second annual National Food Day with our club on October 24, 2012, I would love to talk with you! Check out: foodday.org to learn more!
A Lovely Lunch
On Fridays we like to invite friends to the garden to have lunch with us. These guests we invite come from the monastery, the college, or the community. Our intent is to share food and stories and to continue building relationships and educate others about the service of the garden. On Friday, June 22, we had a delightful lunch with our College president MaryAnn Baenninger, her husband Ron Baenninger, and cabinet members Jon McGee and Mary Geller. We prepared a satisfying lunch with many of the ingredients coming from our garden: A spring green and radish salad with a balsamic vinaigrette, cream cheese radish dip with rye crackers, a hearty entrée of herbed rice and beans (dry beans from last summer's harvest), and to cleanse the palate, we finished with some dark chocolate.
As we shared this food, we of course talked about food and gardening. Our guests mentioned their past experience with gardens, and most remembered gardening with their parents in small and large gardens in both the country and urban areas. They remembered eating the fresh produce and the convenience of having food right outside your backdoor. It is this closeness to the land and the food that it provides that brings us all together. As we ate our freshly picked salad greens, we couldn't help but wonder how we could be provided with this local and freshly grown food year round. MaryAnn asked us if she thought it would be possible for the College of Saint Benedict to produce enough food each year to serve the students and staff at our dining facility. Our response was that of certainty with the use of an on-campus greenhouse and the potential use of the root cellar on campus that supplied the monastery year round with food nearly 100 years ago.
Sharing conversation and food is always time well spent and we were grateful for the time we could spend with our visitors. We look forward to similar conversations and sharing with you all in the future.
Kate Ritger
Production Manager
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lettuce spicy mix spinach pac choi broccoli
 
radish rhubarb
Bread of the Week
Multigrain
Vegetable Forecast
Salad stuff is still plentiful in the garden, and the peas are blossoming and will put on fruit before we know it.
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Distribution takes place every Thursday afternoon, unless otherwise notifed.
- 4-6 pm at the Common Ground Garden---You really can't miss the barn at Saint Benedict's Monastery. Enter at the college entrance from Minnesota Street near 4th Ave SW. Make a right at the stop sign and follow the gravel road out to the barn.
- 5-6 pm at St. John's Episcopal Church in St. Cloud. For a link on google maps, click here.
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Swap Bin
We want you to love and be able to use all of the produce you receive from us. If you know that you won't be able to use a certain vegetable, and you don't have a friend with whom to share it, leave it in the swap bin. Another subscriber who loves what you left behind can pick it up, or it will get distributed to another vegetable lover.
Bring us your Bags
We encourage you to bring your own bags to pick up vegetables--canvas bags are great. We recycle brown paper bags, plastic grocery bags, and egg cartons, too.
Composting
Bring us your food scraps! If you don't have your own home composting system, add them to the Monastery compost pile. No dairy or meat, please. The pile is located just south of the big yellow barn.
Evening Hours in the Garden
Get your hands in the dirt on Tuesday evenings from 5-7 p.m. You all are the Common Ground Garden. Produce from the garden is widely distributed to subscribers, patrons of the Farmer's Market, Minnesota Street Market, and area food shelves, the Sisters of Saint Benedict, and friends of the garden who work in exchange for produce. Be part of the physical efforts. Kids and low mobility gardeners are welcome.
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Garden Blessing
Where: Common Ground Garden
When: 5 p.m., tomorrow, June 28
Why: We come together at the beginning of this garden season to recognize the sacredness of this land, give thanks for the goodness of God's creation, ask for continued blessing, and celebrate the communities that enjoy its bounty. Please join us and offer your voices in prayer and thanksgiving for a season of life and richness in the garden.
A Generous Donation: We will also be blessing our new apple trees! The trees were planted in gratitude for a generous donation from Nick and Helen Zaczkowski. Dr. Zaczkowski, a good friend and biology colleague of S. Phyllis Plantenberg , worked at the College of St. Benedict/St. John's University until retiring in 1996. The Zaczkowski's son and daughter-in-law, John and Mary, will join us for the blessing.
Bonus: Tours of the garden and fresh garden hors d'oeuvres made by the gardeners!
From the Catholic Worker The Central MN Catholic Worker hosts community dinner on Monday nights. Dinner at 6:30. Prayer from 7-8. All are welcome. |
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Pick up a bingo card this week at distribution. This is a playful way to engage your kids in eating from the garden. Bring them out for a tour of the garden so they know what a carrot or radish looks like when its in the ground, and then play bingo as a family. Cross off vegetables when your child has eaten it. Any child who has at least 5 in a row by the end of the season will be invited for a special craft event with the farmers.
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Rhubarb Slush (courtesy of Virginia Zenzen's mom) 8 cups rhubarb, chopped 2 quarts water 2 cups sugar (I probably used 1 cup) ½ cup lemon juice 2 (3 oz.) packages of strawberry gelatin mix 7-up or another lemon or lime soda Cook rhubarb in water until mushy. Strain rhubarb from the juice and discard the pulp. Add gelatin, sugar and lemon juice to the rhubarb juice. Mix well. Freeze in a 5-quart ice cream pail. To serve, put several spoonfuls in a tall glass and fill with 7-up. Sweet and Sour Pac Choi 2 Tbsp oil 1 onion, cut in slivers pac choi, left whole, bigger ones cut in half lengthwise 2 Tbsp maple sugar 2 Tbsp vinegar 1 Tbsp soy sauce Combine sugar, vinegar and soy sauce in a small bowl. Set aside. Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a wok or large skillet. Stir-fry the onions until browned; remove to a bowl. Add remaining Tbsp oil, stir-fry the pac choi in a couple batches until they have a few browned spots, the green tops wilt and the stems are crisp tender. Add the onions back into the wok with all the greens and stir in the sauce. Cook another 30 seconds. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes if you like. Comments: While tearing the pac choi apart and adding it to a stir-fry is fine, I really appreciate the aesthetic presentation of the whole or halved pac choi. Give it a try and feel free to add some light herbs instead of the pepper flakes. Arugula and Radish Salad
(marthastewart.com) 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice Coarse salt and ground pepper 2 tablespoons olive oil 4 to 5 bunches arugula (1 1/4 pounds total; thick stems removed), washed well and dried 1 bunch radishes (8 ounces), sliced In a large bowl, whisk together mustard and lemon juice; season with salt and pepper. Whisk in oil. (To store, refrigerate, up to 1 day.) Add arugula and radishes to bowl, and toss to coat. Serve salad immediately. Lemon Spinach (realsimple.com) 1/2 cup lemon juice 1/2 cup water 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced 1 teaspoon kosher salt 2 pounds spinach (or 3 10-ounce bags) In a skillet, combine lemon juice, water, garlic and salt. Bring to a simmer and cook spinach in batches until just wilted. Drain and serve. You should have enough for leftovers. ************* Every week we will send several recipes that make use of the produce you are receiving in your bag. We also have a significant collection of recipes on our website at http://sbm.osb.org/ministries/common_ground_garden/recipes/. Please send us your own recipes, too--either favorites from your cook books or your own concoctions. |
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Contact information
commonground@csbsju.edu
Ryan Kutter, Garden Director, cell: 320-219-3389
Kate Ritger, Production Manager, cell: 262-339-7737
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 Common Ground Garden is a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm, where members purchase a share of vegetables and each week during the farm season receive a bountiful box of fresh produce. We pride ourselves on producing fresh, clean, healthful food picked at the peak of flavor and nutrition. As much as we are able, we grow our vegetables without the use of any chemical herbicides, pesticides or fertilizers. We use cover crops, rotations, compost and ingenuity to produce your food in a way that's healthy for you and for the community. When necessary for pest control or to combat disease, we use only products approved for organic gardening. |
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Common Ground Garden is the ministry of the Sisters of the Order of Saint Bneeidct
104 Chapel Lane
St. Joseph, Minnesota 56374 |
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