By Lisa Golden Schroeder

It can be amazing what any of us can do, if we set our minds to it. And this was the number one take-away for Susan Moores, the founder and humming engine behind the Roots for the Home Team project, at the end of their first baseball season. Her dream collaboration with local kids’ garden programs and a professional ballpark took a couple of years to fulfill, but it only took a few weeks before she knew she’d hit a home run with the young people she’s serving. “I truly underestimated what the kids were capable of—I knew they were going to be enthusiastic partners, but the level of engagement was fantastic,” Moores shared. She says she was blown away by their creativity and unique ideas, and how happy they were to discover new experiences. “The kids actually surprised themselves at what they could achieve,” she said. “And they found they could trust their instincts.” Not always typical of teenagers.

The entrepreneurial aspect of the Roots program is what impresses me the most. We can all garden with kids and introduce them to the wonders of where our food comes from, but that’s just the first step in the complex system of distributing food beyond growing and harvesting. Of course learning how to transform the food into delicious meals to share with family and friends is at the heart of every good garden program, but rippling out from there to share with a larger community has value in so many ways. Moores’ second take-away was the sheer delight of the fans at Target Field. Fans who stopped at the Garden Goodies cart, bought salads, then returned to thank the young gardeners for such tasty, fresh food. “We proved that serving healthy fare at a ballpark doesn’t have to be boring. And the positive feedback from customers, many who returned every game, was great reinforcement,” she said. Serving samples of salads to passers-by boosted visibility for the cart, along with tremendous support from the Minnesota Twins’ staff and other behind-the-scenes cheerleaders who volunteered in numerous ways to make the first season a success.

So what’s next for a new season, with twice as many games to serve? Moores says that the kids asked for more responsibility and have already stretched their creativity developing all new salad recipes that reflect what they’ll grow this summer. The number of kids involved will rise from about 22 to 50 youth manning the cart at various points during weekend home games. And another garden location will join the party, upping the number of programs involved to four, with approximately 100 kids growing and harvesting. “Last year far exceeded my expectations of what we could do the first year,” Moores says. “My goal is to stay fresh, innovative, and interesting for everyone—from the kids to the community. I want to challenge these teenagers to have an even stronger vested interest in making Roots economically stable and a smarter operation, so it can be around for awhile.” Just BARE continues to be enthusiastic supporter, and in the spirit of fan requests, chicken will be available to add to some of the new salads this year!

By Lisa Golden Schroeder

I think my yard needs an alarm clock. It’s reluctantly rousing itself from a very long winter’s nap, with a handful of bulbs finally peeking up through the sloppy wet mulch. I have to say that I’m happily surprised each year when the sprightly green foliage of daffodils and crocus appear, reaching out for sunshine that’s finally warm. Despite the lack of real spring for me this year, I feel hope and promise in the determination of my garden to wake up. But I have a few challenges before me—last season we were overrun with Japanese beetles, voracious decimators of fruit trees, leafy vegetables, and ornamentals. I’m determined to get off to a good start this year, clearing out areas that were shaggy in the extreme last September, redesigning where I plant edibles and herbs.

You might already be out in the muck, strewing mulch, pruning, and planting. But if you’re not yet there, here’s my list of essential chores I need to get to in the next month.

1. Spring clean my tools. I’ve got a favorite bucket in the garage, filled with dirty garden gloves, my favorite broken trowel I use to dig out weeds, a slightly rusty pair of pruning shears, and a handful of copper garden markers that I salvaged from my herb pots. Oh, and my red rubber garden clogs, that I think are full of spiders. It’s time to wash things up, including the rakes, shovels, hoes, and pitchfork you might use to turn a compost heap.
2. Do some research on better ways to prune & manage perennials. Every year I have to remind myself when to prune bushes and how far to go. My woody sage that’s turned into a huge bush and my hearty lavender always need attention. My raspberry canes and clumps of leggy blueberries are calling out for a trim and a bit of fertilizer.
3. Update my “big picture” garden plan. I need to move some seriously creeping thyme, which is engulfing my slate steppingstones. And I want to plant more edibles this year in my own front yard (I’ve been doing so much of my veggie gardening with the Mahtomedi kids, my own has taken a back seat). I need to recreate a master plan for where, what, and how I want to incorporate vegetables and herbs into the space I have. And figure out the best methods to protect everything from wildlife and BUGS!
4. Reign myself in when I get to the nursery or farmers market. I’m so relieved when the weather is good, I’m ready to dive in head first. But I know I tend to over-buy seedlings and can’t resist cute seed packets. So it’s like going to the grocery store, I need to make a serious list and try to stick to it (though sometimes those impulse purchases are what make the garden.)
5. Salvage and create yard ornaments with a purpose. I definitely am not a fan of goofy lawn ornaments, but I do like to add some character to my garden spaces. Trellises, decorative cages or stakes for tying up veggies or tall flowers can be fun—for the kids, we’ve collected wild branches that fall off of trees in a nearby park to create tee pees for our tomatoes. I’ve got a favorite rusty cast-iron cage that my clematis climbs every year—but it fell over last season and I need to figure out a new way to anchor it. So it’s on my list to redesign not only my plants but to also redecorate the home they live in.

Be sure to head over to the Just BARE Pinterest page to see an inspiring board filled with gardening ideas called “How Does Your Garden Grow?”

By Lisa Golden Schroeder

I just landed back home after a week in California, bounced around in an unseasonal—well, maybe not entirely—snowstorm. I do live in Minnesota, where conventional gardening wisdom is to wait to plant until after Memorial Day. As I stopped to pick up a gallon of milk, I sadly shook my head at the local garden center outlet under construction in the grocery parking lot. Today icicles are dripping from the eaves of the portable green house.

Just 24 hours ago I was sitting in the sun outside the San Francisco Ferry Building, an amazing revitalized portal to the bay. Ten years ago the historic, but long neglected Ferry Building was renovated to house a public market—transformed into a vibrant celebration of local food purveyors and sustainably grown produce, meats, cheeses, bread, chocolate, and wines. The gentle climate of California makes it the perfect incubator for agriculture—if I live in the breadbasket of the U.S., California is the salad bar. So the whole concept of urban agriculture—city dwellers embracing food they can buy directly from the source, or growing it themselves in communal gardens—organically springs from the Golden State. The mission of everything that happens at the Ferry Building is summed up through CUESA (Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture), a program dedicated to cultivating sustainable food systems and educating everyone who shops at the farmers market on the outdoor plaza, eats and shops inside, and the kids who learn about growing and selling their own harvests from school or neighborhood gardens. Green living is part of the fabric of the city.

So I’m back in my own city, dreaming about planting my own garden or finding any locally grown produce. But guess what? Earth Day (April 22) is nearly here, the harbinger of warm hazy days filled with outdoor living. And my own community will celebrate our 7th Annual RITE (Really into the Earth) of Spring. What’s really cool are the unique, family-friendly activities that underscore how we can easily live like Californians. Pick up free tree saplings, herb seedlings, faucet aerators, or score a chance to win a water conserving (and money saving) low-flow showerhead. Or be part of a drawing to win a gas grill if I sign up for online utility billing and payment. But my favorite feature is the Free Market. In the spirit of the reduce/reuse/recycle mantra, the market is a place to bring unwanted household items to be traded for someone else’s cast-offs. Truly, one man’s trash is another one’s treasure. On the heels of the RITE of Spring will be a ribbon-cutting for the face-lifted Mahtomedi Area Community Gardens, sporting new fences and a brand new sign. Every community can grow great food and rally the cry for being good stewards of our resources—check out your own Earth Day celebrations. And have an excellent time modeling better ways to live for our kids!

By Lisa Golden Schroeder

Fennel is one of those mysterious inhabitants of the fresh veggie bin. Its flavor, like sweet anise or licorice, has a firm foothold in Mediterranean cooking. In southern French fish stews, as a grilled Italian side, slow-braised as an elegant first course, or thinly sliced in salads, fennel is versatile and adds a unique edge to recipes. I’ve chopped it up and simmered some in spaghetti sauce, with a palmful of fennel seed, and tossed it in a creamy coleslaw. It does have that love-hate element—everyone has a relationship with licorice-tasting foods in some way. But it’s a beloved flavor in many parts of the world.

Spring fennel, plump pale green bulbs with long stalks and feathery fronds (they look like fresh dill), is a treat as far as I’m concerned. Mild and crisp if served up raw, think about subbing it in recipes where you might use celery. Chopped into a chicken salad, with a spoonful of chopped fronds stirred into mayonnaise? Made into a salsa with multi-colored cherry tomatoes and lime…or trimmed into wedges you can grill with chunks of bell pepper and baby Yukon gold new potatoes? Or just sauté fennel slices with lots of spring onion and boneless chicken breasts. If you’d like to experiment, look for bulbs that are creamy white with few spots or blemishes and lively green stalks and leaves. A nice big fennel bulb will keep in the fridge for several days, but the stalks will dry out quickly. To prep fennel, cut the bulb in half and slice out the core. Cut into wedges or thinly slice—it’s tailor-made for a mandolin slicer.

Fennel loves citrus, pungent cheese like Parmesan, and garlic (though what doesn’t?) It’s a happy partner in leafy salads, and a combo of baby arugula, thin strips of fennel, and sliced ripe avocado with a lemon or orange vinaigrette is about as refreshing a salad you can make. Serve it up with smoky grilled drumsticks or thighs. Or make the following 5-ingredient salad, with crisply crumb-coated boneless chicken breasts on a bed of fennel, red onion, and sweet oranges. The combination is just slightly addicting!

By Lisa Golden Schroeder

I live by what I call the “7-day Rule.”  Any prepared food in my fridge that lasts that long is unceremoniously dispatched (hopefully to the compost drawer). Some cooks I know have a much stricter 3-day rule. I grew up with a mom who put every drip and drab of leftover suppers in old cottage cheese containers (never saw any Tupperware in her kitchen). Her fridge was a petri dish for seriously interesting science experiments that horrified my father. Lucky for him that the sum total of his exposure to those little mystery containers filled with scary stuff was superficial searches for a chunk of cheese to snack on or a glass of milk.

And what about all those open bottles and jars of condiments crowding the refrigerator door? Or those packages of pasta, canisters of baking ingredients, or meat in the freezer? We all hate food waste, so it is important to pay attention to how long you store food. Food safety is top on the list, but quality and taste are a very close second. And the nutritional heft of foodstuffs you’ve stockpiled diminishes over time. We live in a time of almost shelf-stable anything, but what’s the price of convenience?

I’m in my annual spring cleaning mode (the current chill in the air is keeping me indoors, so clearing out the clutter is hitting me early.) A quick peek into my pantry is a snapshot of overflowing shelves. And the contents of that cupboard where most of my herbs and spices live just about topple onto my head each time I crack the door open. I’m not sharing what my refrigerator looks like today—suffice it to say that I’m taking advantage of the cold weather, using my screened porch as a back up. So that’s what I’m tackling first. The Good Housekeeping Institute (how can you argue with a group with that name? I can only aspire to the title “good housekeeper”) offers up their advice for stopping food waste—and thus advancing better storage practices…

Pay attention to expiration or “use by” dates on containers. Food may seem okay after those dates (especially on dry packaged goods), but for fresh foods it’s best not to argue. Don’t wait for mold or rancidity to set in.

Really use the veggie crisper and meat drawer the right way. Refrigerator manufacturers have put lots of engineering thought into temperature and moisture-controlled places in your fridge that are optimum for specific foods. Don’t shove the sliced lunchmeat into the veggie crisper because the meat drawer is too full.

Freeze or better yet, USE, your leftovers. Take leftovers to work for lunch or turn them into a great second meal that’s super-quick. The idea of planned-over meals is tailor-made for weeknights. Just be sure to package up foods safely and securely—using food-safe containers (no old cottage cheese containers).

Challenge yourself to use what you have before buying more. Check the fridge and your shopping list before heading out. I’ve gone for a week (when I thought I had “nothing” in the house) making pretty creative suppers, scrounging in the fridge, freezer, and cupboards.

Rotate foods in and out of storage, like at the grocery store. Put the newest pantry members on the back of the shelf so you don’t lose sight of older leftovers, condiments, or other ingredients. This is the rule my mom forgot to follow… hence the mystery containers filled with green mold.

So whose rule is right about how long to allow food to hang around? If we’re talking cooked leftovers, the official governing consensus is about 4 days. If it’s fresh poultry or meats (and it depends on how fresh they were when you bought them), don’t push them more than a couple of days before either cooking or freezing. Fresh veggies and fruit usually tell you themselves when it’s time (try to avoid the crisper filled with slime). Condiments, because they’re often high in salt and sugar, can live happily for up to a year. What I’m doing now is deleting the duplicates—how on earth did I end up with three jars of apricot jam, two bottles each of ketchup, Thai peanut sauce, and whole grain mustard, and about four different kinds of salsa?

For more information about food shelf life, visit the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) web site or www.foodsafety.gov.