Skip to content

Rap for Food presents the Food Mix

A new local organization Rap for Food will host its first event “The Food Mix” on Thursday, March 29 beginning at 7pm at the Yellow Barn, 416 W. Huron in Ann Arbor. The Food Mix will unite local food artisans and groups, music lovers, and gardening organizations to learn more about and generate support for the local food system.

The event kicks off at 7pm with a mixer including representatives from Project Grow, the Slow Food Huron Valley Great Lakes Heirloom Seed Trial, Gardens 350, the Folktory, Sunseed Farm CSA, and others. Attendees will have the chance to enter raffles, sample free food and get to know more about volunteer opportunities in the area. Sponsors for the evening include the Grange, Nifty Hoops, The Brinery, and Pilar’s Tamales.

The concert will be hosted by Lucas DiGia, aka ‘Homegrown’, and he’ll open the music portion of the evening. Performers of longer sets for this evening include K Serra, Dastardly (solo), and Ken Kozora. Audience members can expect to hear music that incorporates elements of rap and hiphop along with vocal percussion, middle eastern drums, folk, indie rock, or synthesizers– in other words, an evening of innovation and exploration of sound.

On the weekend, I spoke with organizer Lucas Digia to learn more about his motivation in launching the Rap for Food event and what he hopes to do in the future.

I caught up with Lucas while he was in Ocala, Florida, planting a garden for his 97 year old great-grandmother, who recently received a birthday greeting from President Obama. The vacation was a discovery for Lucas, who learned about southern gardening, differing soil conditions, and family connections to gardening. His great-grandmother informed him that his deceased great-grandfather was the real gardener of the family; she said that watching him in the garden reminded her of seeing his great-grandfather working there.

Lucas’ interest in gardening came about after college when he started cooking for himself. He discovered the magic of fresh herbs and began to grow some of his own on his apartment deck. That interest led him to wonder what he might be able to grow if he had some space, and an internet search connected him to Project Grow. His involvement with the organization has changed his perspective of where his food comes from.

For Lucas, that “first step into the garden” has become a pivotal metaphor, both as a spoken word artist and a community member. Now actively involved in Project Grow and serving as the Vice President of the board, Lucas refers to gardening as a “gateway” that leads to other relationships. Gardening deepened his connections to the older generations of his family and made him interested in buying more local food and in protecting the environment. Lucas explains, “This whole world opens up when you try to become part of that local food scene. There’s more to it than just growing your own food.” Volunteering has become an integral part of Lucas’ life; he encourages people to get involved in working with organizations like Project Grow to find a sense of fulfillment that might otherwise be missing in their lives.

One of Lucas’ goals for this event is to mix people from different groups: those who are creative or interested in independent music and those who grow their own food or support that cause. For the most part, these are separate groups, but the places where they overlap can encourage a strong sense of community. He hopes Rap for Food will attract more people to this lifestyle– one that has a higher awareness of where food comes from, how it’s made, and how important it is that we protect the environment.

I mentioned that the event sounded like an intersection of his various interests in gardening, art, and community. For Lucas’, it’s also about throwing the kind of party that he wants to be at– one with creative and artistic people who grow their own food.

The enthusiasm with which Lucas speaks of Rap for Food is the same energy he brought to working with the kids’ camp at Edible Avalon or rousing volunteers to work on Project Grow’s Potato Pledge. It’s palpable and contagious. It’s the kind of energy that gives me hope for the future of gardening and of our community– and on Thursday night– for a celebratory time full of music and food.

Find Rap for Food on Facebook
Sign up to volunteer at the event here

Posted in • Local Happenings.

Tagged with , .

Comments Off on Rap for Food presents the Food Mix

By 20 Minute Jan – March 26, 2012

The Scent of Spring

When I stepped outside on Monday morning to fetch a tool off the back porch, I finally smelled spring.

We certainly have had some mild days in the last week, both sunny and warm, but Monday was the first time I smelled the scent that means spring to me. It’s some perfect mixture of temperature and humidity, combined with a little bit of plants waking up and soil stirring. Although the dryer sheet manufacturers might try to imitate “fresh spring scent”, their concoctions always fall short of the real thing.

The mild winter — made milder still by the generous walk-shoveling habits of our new young neighbors, for which we have been very grateful — has made me leery of this weather. Could it really be spring– or is it merely some sort of tease or set-up; when we’ve relaxed enough to put away our snow shovels and salt, will real winter bury us? I’m sure we are not completely done with wintery weather, but I think the signs point to the fact that spring is here to stay.

When we lived in the city of Toronto, I had a colleague who walked to work for exercise from his home each day to his office on College Street and back. Henk’s hour long walking habit took him past the valley and parks as well as the skyscrapers and streetcars. One day after he arrived at work, he exclaimed excitedly about the appearance of the delicate “yellowish-green” of spring; the color appears only briefly, and then the seasons tumble into full spring, when the buds on the trees and shrubs quickly give way to green leaves. He singled out one of the benchmarks of spring that had previously slipped by without my noticing.

Now I watch for the flash of “yellowish green” so that I don’t miss it. Like the scent of spring, it’s another one of the signs that winter is giving way to spring and that gardening season is not far behind.

What are the signs of spring that warm your heart and give you hope?

Posted in • Sitting Still.

Comments Off on The Scent of Spring

By Jardinier – March 14, 2012

Learn about Starting Plants from Seed at the Master Gardener Talk Series at Nicola’s Books

The new Master Gardener Talk Series continues on March 15 with a presentation on Starting Plants from Seed. The talk begins at 6 pm at Nicola’s Books (2513 Jackson Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48103).

At this presentation, you’ll learn how to and when to plant seeds and how care for them, resulting in vegetable and flower plants for your garden beds. Join with local garden enthusiasts to gain information and tips on beginning your garden in an economical fashion.

Future talks are scheduled for the second Monday of each month. Planned topics include The “Dirt” on Soils, Fertilizers, etc. (April 9) and Shade Gardens and Spring Ephemerals (May 14).

The talk will be led by Master Gardener Alumni of the Wastenaw County Association. Master Gardeners are enthusiastic gardeners/volunteers trained by the Extension Service in horticultural information and research-based gardening methods. For more information about the local MSU Extension program, see their website.

Plan to join this informative discussion that will aid in making this year’s garden starts successful.

Posted in • Local Happenings.

Tagged with , , .

rev="post-3093" 1 comment

By 20 Minute Jan – March 11, 2012

Wondering what to plant? Grow what you love that will thrive in your space

This is the second post in a series aimed at encouraging new gardeners.

Dear Mark (and other New Gardeners),

What are you going to grow in your vegetable garden? I have three suggestions to guide planning for your garden.

The first step is simple: grow what you love.

Make a list of what you think you’d like to grow and eat. Think of your favorites and write them down. You may not be able to grow all of your best-loved vegetables in your Michigan garden, but we have the ideal climate for many plants, so you’ll likely be able to grow some of them.

Don’t make your plans around what is easy or plentiful. Having lots of turnips, for example, if you don’t really like turnips is poor choice, even though turnips are quick and easy growing vegetables. In our climate, a gardener can easily get in two and perhaps even three turnip crops in a season. Still, what’s the point of growing a whole lot of something that you or your loved ones will not enjoy eating.

Therefore, consult your heart and appetite. What vegetables do you appreciate the most? What will other family members enjoy? Make sure that you use your precious space to produce vegetables you and yours will be excited about harvesting and eating. You’ll be more motivated to take care of vegetables you actually like.

The second step is to investigate what grows well in your area.

What grows well in Michigan? Many vegetables (and fruits) do.

We’ve had success with many varieties of tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, broccoli, cabbage, kale, lettuces, carrots, potatoes, green beans, peas, summer and winter squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, radishes, and beets as well as lots of herbs. Fellow gardeners grow onions and sweet corn. If you know specific varieties of vegetables that you’ve enjoyed, look for those when you are purchasing seeds or seedlings.

You can also spy on your neighbors– or maybe just talk to them, particularly the ones whose vegetables gardens you’ve admired over the fences. The chances are that if your neighbors have had good luck with growing certain plants, you will too.

As you study up on plants you are considering, you’ll have to make some judgments about the care or special requirements they have. We choose not to grow corn in our space because we don’t think the amount of yield we’d get from a small yard is worth our time or garden space. Other gardeners do think corn is worthwhile and so they are happy with their success. Some gardeners are willing to put in the extra efforts needed to grow blueberries in our area; the pH requirements of blueberries are very specific and are not the common soil quality in this part of Michigan. Some gardeners will work to adjust their soil, but for us it makes the most sense to plant things that have the most chance of thriving.

The third step is “Think small” — for starts

The temptation to have a “huge” vegetable plot from the get-go is a strong one. If you are going to bother gardening, why not make it really count? Why not dig up half the yard and fill it will plants? Why not grow all of your own food?

You shouldn’t entertain that idea for long, however.

In gardening, as in many things, there is no quicker path to failure than planting more than you have time or energy or interest to take care of.

Instead, aim for a modest garden of manageable proportions. What is top on your list of things to grow? Pick maybe 3 or 4 for your first garden. There is always next year for building on your success and expanding your garden. Remember to keep notes so you can look back on your first garden experience and see how much you’ve learned.

These suggestions probably don’t answer all of your questions, but they should help you get started with planning. You might be wondering how many plants you should put in the ground or whether to go with seeds or seedlings. We’ll cover those questions in our next post.

Janice

Posted in • Growing.

Tagged with , .

Comments Off on Wondering what to plant? Grow what you love that will thrive in your space

By 20 Minute Jan – March 7, 2012

Attend a Maple Syrup Tasting Event at the Pittsfield Grange on March 11

We call him "Maple Syrup Bear"

The word on the street is that maple syrup time is coming early this year, due to our mild winter.

What better way to celebrate the rising of the sap and the coming spring than by attending a Maple Syrup Tasting event on Saturday, March 11 from 2pm until 4:30pm at the Pittsfield Grange. The Grange is located at 3337 Ann Arbor-Saline Rd in Ann Arbor.

Participants will have the opportunity to taste several local (and a non-local) maple syrups. This comparison will help tasters find their favorite sugar bush! All varieties will be easily available at local markets, so you’ll be able to find your favorite again after the event. Attendees will also learn about “vintages” of maple syrup, what makes for ideal syrup-growing conditions, and other maple syrup facts.

If you wish to attend, you must register here. Events tend to fill up quickly, so register early to ensure your spot.

This event is sponsored by Preserving Traditions, a local organization that “seeks to de-mystify home food preservation so folks can eat local foods year-round. Through workshops and demonstrations, you’ll learn the skills you need to can, pickle, bake, and make specialty items like cheese.”

I’ve attended lots of workshops from Preserving Traditions. They are always fun and interesting and definitely worthwhile. I am excited about attending the maple syrup tasting with a roomful of maple syrup lovers!

Posted in • Local Happenings.

Tagged with , , .

Comments Off on Attend a Maple Syrup Tasting Event at the Pittsfield Grange on March 11

By 20 Minute Jan – February 29, 2012