Community Gardening

Community gardening is a wonderful thing. You can grow yourself some veg, help out the environment, and hopefully make a few new friends all at the same time.

My good friend Emily recently called me up, and said, “Nathan, I want a plot at the local garden this year, but I need a partner to keep me motivated and help split the work. Are you interested?” Well, anything to do with food, of course I’m interested, so here we are, sharing a double-plot at the Curtis Park Community Garden in our neighborhood.

When I say you'll make a few friends, I mean that it’s inevitable that you’ll run into a other people at the garden during the season only to swap some friendly advice or just share in the camaraderie. Just on my first weekend alone I met Jeff, Aaron, and Meredith. Jeff was kind enough to tell me that Pacific Mercantile, a local Asian food store, had a number of seedlings on sale for $.89 each. Naturally I had to rush over to pick up a few jalapeño and Anaheim plants.

I should tell you that I don’t have a lot of gardening experience, so the opportunity to share the load with someone who does have experience is a great way to work through my first real gardening season. There are a load of online resources, but sharing the work with a friend is preferable, even if neither of you have a clue as to what’s going on.

Though we’re starting a little late in the season (planting three weeks ago might have been ideal), we’ll still yield hundred of dollars of produce, even with a few hundred invested in our elaborate set up (willow wigwams, bamboo fencing, etc). Dismiss our frivolities and Keep in mind that this can be simply done with just minimal start up costs.

Most if not all community gardens will charge a fee for your plot, usually based on the size. If you’re just starting out, you should ask for a starter plot just to get a feel for how this all works out. Most vegetables can be grown from seeds or seedlings, without much more investment. Things like peas, squash, tomatoes and such might need some specialty items like trellises to grow. Even given all that, you’re still spending far less for the late-summer early fall harvest than what you would probably spend at the grocery store.

Because we have a double-plot and can share the work, we’re growing a lot:

• ·     Two different eggplant varieties
  
• ·     Two peppers
  
• ·     Two chilies
  
• ·     Two different thyme varieties
  
• ·     Three mint varieties
  
• ·     Two basil varieties
  
• ·     Marjoram
  
• ·     Fennel
  
• ·      Four lettuce varieties, with two more in a second planting (red leaf, green leaf, mixed Asian greens, bok choy, chard, kale, etc)
  
• ·      Snap peas and English shelling peas
  
• ·      Lemon and English cucumbers
  
• ·      A variety of squash
  
• ·      Carrots
  

Many of these plants will mature in about 60 days. If you happen to get a plot with healthy soil, your upfront costs really are relatively low. Even if you need to buy a few bags of compost, you’re still saving money in the long run.

For the most part you can follow the directions on the seed packets or on the sticks in the seedlings. It’s not too late. If you’re local garden or backyard still has space, consider grown a few items, easing yourself into the process. It’s easier than you think. Really!

I’ll continue to update you throughout our growing season, and in the meantime, good luck with your own crops!

Cheap Meats, Part I: Flank Steak

Alright, flank steak is one of my favorite beef cuts. This isn’t a steak that’s served the same as something like a rib eye or a New York strip. This steak is almost always served thinly sliced. It works well for sandwiches, burritos, served over polenta or rice, etc. It is, however, easy to prepare, and a single steak will serve 4-6 people. The last sale I saw on flank steak was about $1.99 per pound, with an average steak around 1 ½ to 2 pounds.

I always start by seasoning a flank steak with salt and pepper. Dry and wet rubs work well too. One favorite is several minced cloves of garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil, and a few squirts of lemon juice or a bit of lemon zest. Mix into a paste, rub over the steak. Marinate for up to one day in the refrigerator.

Another favorite is a dry rub of a few tablespoons of smoked paprika, a half teaspoon of cayenne, 2 teaspoons each salt and pepper.

Flank steak is also great with Asian flavors, try several minced cloves of garlic, a knob of minced or shredded ginger, a quarter cup of orange juice, and a few dashes of soy sauce. A tablespoon or so of lime juice works well in place of the orange juice.

Now that you’ve got a flank steak prepared, you can do this easily in a large skillet, a grill pan, or an outdoor grill. Heat any of these implements to a medium high temp. In any case, add a little vegetable oil to the skillet, or brush onto the grill pan or grill.

Add steak and wait. Don’t touch it. Give it about 6-8 minutes.  The only exception here is if you want that pretty diamond pattern from the grill. About halfway through, you can pick up the steak, turn it 45 degrees, then leave it alone again.

After this 6-8 minutes, flip the steak, give it another 6-8 minutes on this side. I’m not going to go into too much detail here about checking doneness, but I will say that flank steak really is best served at medium rare (anything more is almost pointless). Remove steak from cooking surface to a cutting board. Tent with foil and don’t touch it for another five minutes. Seriously people, this step is critical to any meat cooking, from Thanksgiving turkey, to the humble flank steak. By letting the meat rest, the juices redistribute, offering up a more tender, juicy meal.

If you happen to be cooking this in a skillet, you can use whatever drippings or fond you might have in the pan to make small bit of sauce. I like to add a bit of butter or bacon fat to the pan, then deglaze with a little white wine or dry vermouth. Reduce until a slightly thickened, then drizzle over your meal.

After resting, thinly slice across the grain at a slight diagonal. A good sharp chef’s knife or carving knife works best.

Again, you can serve this many ways. Most seasoning blends work well on sandwiches with some caramelized onions, sautéed mushrooms, and wilted spinach. You can even do this same thing over a nice soft polenta.

If you go with Asian seasonings on the meat, try serving it over brown rice with some steamed bok choy and carrots, with a bit of soy sauce.

The more southwestern or Mexican sort of seasonings work inside a burrito with hot sauce or salsa, beans, rice, some lettuce, maybe some bell peppers if these happen to be on sale in the produce section.              

Cheers!