Gardening The Community Celebrates the Harvest

It's become a family tradition to celebrate the harvest with Gardening The Community at their Pancake Breakfast and Harvest Fundraiser. This is a terrific event that supports a local food justice organization in Springfield. It's also a lot of fun, and truly a celebration. This year we brought our friend Toni and our goddaughter Parker for the first time. Our plan is to bring a few more friends every year to experience the "GTC love." It was great to see so many board and staff members of The River Valley Market Co-op also in attendance. And River Valley Market generously donated $1,000 in food to support this event and the great work of GTC!

The mission of GTC is to develop youth, urban agriculture and sustainable living to build healthy and equitable communities. There are many aspects to this organization that make it unique, innovative and inspiring. I thoroughly appreciate that GTC's youth development work builds great leaders in our community. The grit of the work is to turn unused lots in Springfield into thriving gardens. These vegetables are sold at local farmer's markets and other venues to support the work of GTC. The produce is often moved by bicycle, encouraging participants to engage in healthy activities and operate in a more sustainable way. Stop by the GTC website to learn more about their history, milestones and other programs, like GTC EATS! CSA Farm Share Program.

The pancake breakfast this year was held at The Trinity United Methodist Church near Forest Park. The place was packed with people enjoying GTC's delicious homemade pancakes, prepared by the youth. I especially love the Harvest Pancake. I'll include the recipe at the end of this post. It's wonderful eaten with their homemade compote, syrup and butter.

GTC had an excellent program lined up to celebrate the growth and accomplishments of GTC over the year. They  always recognize the youth with service awards. Awards are given to volunteers and community members who have given so much to help with the continued success of the organization. And, there's lively entertainment, such as music and poetry reading. This year, Maurice Taylor spoke and I was moved by what he had to share. I love the energy of this event and how it highlights a coming together to build something beautiful and healthful for our community. You can buy tickets for a raffle and this we won two lovely gift baskets.

The centerpieces were lovely! 

Like GTC's Facebook page so you can hear about upcoming events. They have a wonderful plant sale in the spring for all of you avid gardeners out there. Did you know GTC will also be participating in the Valley Gives Program? If you are able, support GTC during this 24 Hour Celebration of Generosity.

GTC's Harvest Pancake Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, stirred or sifted before measuring
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups milk
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 medium carrot shredded
• 1 small apple shredded
• 1/4 cup shredded sweet potato

Preparation:

Sift together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and 1 1/2 cups of milk; add to flour mixture, stirring only until smooth. Blend in melted butter, sweet potate,carrot, and apple. If the batter seems too thick to pour, add a little more milk. Cook on a hot, greased griddle, using about 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake. Cook until bubbly, a little dry around the edges, and lightly browned on the bottom; turn and brown the other side. Recipe for pancakes serves 5.

Brattleboro Beckons

The picturesque, old mill town of Brattleboro is just a short jaunt from Northampton. Only an hour away, it's a perfect day trip with plenty of terrific attractions, especially in the summertime. Brattleboro has a laid-back, mellow feel. Upon arrival, I naturally slow down, matching the easy pace of Southern VT residents. Folks are casual and outdoorsy. There is no need to put on a fancy dress to stroll Main Street, Brattleboro.

 The thing I cherish the most about Brattleboro is the Brattleboro Farmer's Market. This is no ordinary market. Visiting the market reminds me of attending church. For locals, this is where you'll find all of your friends and neighbors and make time to catch up with each other. The 50+vendors are lined up in a square, and in the center of the square are a few gorgeous mature trees to catch some shade, picnic tables for eating at, and an occasional musical act to entertain the market goers. The vendors include farmers, artisan food purveyors, restaurants and crafters. There's something for everyone. From Parisian style pastries, to Malian food to wood fired pizza, there are many choices for a tasty lunch. I usually have the Malian food and a small French pastry for dessert. There is also a very good Indian Vegetarian restaurant. I also often enjoy the amazing homemade lemon-lime aid, especially on a hot day.

One of the fine products I tried for the first time this year was the Nasturtium Vinegar from Circle Mountain Farm, located in Guilford, VT. They grow and prepare food for their CSA and for area Farmer's Markets. I also appreciate their mission to work their land in a sustainable way and to be activists for the local food movement. You can sample some lovely, local wines from the celebrated Putney Mountain Winery.  I always snag a loaf of delicious bread from Orchard Hill Breadworks. They sell lovely savory breads such as Sweet Pepper & Cheddar or Onion, Pepper and Parmesan bread.

As you can see here, I found my funny bone at the Brattleboro Farmer's Market. I can be quite menacing when I have a couple of fresh and local daikon radishes for weapons.

Fresh produce includes favorites like daikon radishes, strawberries, lettuces, and many other gorgeous local fruits and vegetables. There are lovely perennial herb plants and vegetable seedlings to take home and plant in the garden.

I usually bring a cooler, because there are plenty of meat and dairy products at the market, to include eggs, pork, beef and lamb. I make sure not to miss out on buying cheese from one of the cheese makers. Vermont cheese is the best cheese around!

 Strawberries at Dutton Farm

 Here is one of the many crafters from the market. Crafts include artisan jewelry, hand-made clothing and textiles as well as hand-felted alpaca products.

I appreciate that I can also pick up handmade soap or other bath and body products. These are products that are all natural and often organic. I find it to be quite a relief to know that I can trust what is in these products for their safety and for their sustainability.

There are many household items as well such as pottery, wooden cutting boards and area rugs. It's one stop shopping at the Brattleboro Farmer's Market. If you decide to pay a visit, set aside a couple of hours to thoroughly enjoy the experience!

I went back to Brattleboro with Donna to FINALLY try out Dosa Kitchen Restaurant. I have been meaning to go for months. I'm glad we were able to carve out a little time for a visit to this fine establishment. We met up with our friends Patti & Jerry in Brattleboro and they took us over to the Dosa Restaurant owned by Leda Weintraub and her husband Nash Patel.

Dosa Kitchen is a food truck that is open from spring to October. Nash serves up their fine food on Saturdays at the Brattleboro Winter Farmer's Market.

The cuisine at Dosa is authentic South Indian. They believe strongly in farm to table cuisine, using organic foods and locally grown foods as much as possible. I especially appreciate that they never use factory farmed meat products.

Being newbies to Dosa Kitchen, we decided to try just about everything on the menu and had ourselves quite the spread.  We ordered the cheese dosa, chicken curry with uttapam, a butternut squash dish and a couple of the all-natural sodas. Our dishes also came with greens and chutney.

Donna and I were both very impressed with all the food. Although it was quite a lot of food, it was light and we weren't too full after our lunch.
We'll certainly be returning in the near future. I'm also hankering to check out the Winter Market, which takes place on Saturdays.

 Here is our incredibly delicious spread. 

To top off our day, I had the pleasure of purchasing a copy of Leda's wonderful new cookbook, Cultured Foods For your Kitchen: 100 Recipes Featuring the Bold Flavors of Fermentation. This is an exciting new cookbook that teaches about the art of making fermented foods in your own kitchen. There are recipes for making these foods as well as for dishes that include fermented foods.

I plan on cooking my way through this cookbook this fall and am excited to explore pickling, making kefir and other fun foodie experiments.

Thank you Leda, for signing my book and for the photo!

In addition to The Farmers Market and Dosa Kitchen, there are so many fun places to stop in Brattleboro. I also enjoy kayaking on the West River or taking a dip at the swimming hole, stopping by the unique Sam's Outdoor Outfitters, poking around through bookstores or trying one of the other excellent in town restaurants. And, a trip isn't complete without stopping in at the Brattleboro Food Co-op. Brattleboro is a thriving arts community and there are also plenty of interesting events and festivals throughout the year. I hope you have a chance to pay a visit to Brattleboro soon!