A virtual visit to my table at the DC State Fair

It was so fun to host the Asian vegetables demo table as part of the DC State Fair at the Barracks Row Fall Festival. In the top photo, you see clockwise from the top: flowering chives, my cutting board which I used to show people how to prepare these vegetables for cooking, bitter melon peeking into the scene, the long speckled fuzzy melon, the Chinese long bean, kabocha pumpkin, and the little gourds I've been talking about recently. I did have some things to sample, like chrysanthemum tea and winter melon soup (you can see a big wedge of the giant winter melon on the right of the table in the photo with the green shirt guy).  My little one, who ate all day long from the awesome assortment of artisan pie, cupcake, and ethnic food trucks, is sneaking some of the taro chips I had out for sampling in the photo above.  She spent the day tagging along with her older sister and sister's friend, both of whom were very watchful and tolerant today!

Above, people are trying samples, checking out the veggies and the guy in the green is checking out the free seeds basket!  Those went quick!  The visitors were mostly city folk and had lots of container/balcony gardens.  I directed them to the malabar spinach, which vines and does well in containers.  People with community garden plots took home tatsoi (aka rosette bok choy or flat cabbage), to plant now for a fall/winter crop.  Gardeners who took home other seeds have to wait till spring.  Below, I have taro chips and the three brown taro roots underneath.  These don't grow well in our zone but taro is everywhere these days (dim sum, bubble tea, pastries, etc.), so I thought I'd share.  In the middle is lemongrass that I plan to root.  I also demo'd how to actually use lemongrass.  I love that stuff!!!  On the right are luffa gourds.  The shorter, fatter one is a smooth (aka sponge) luffa, at eating size.  The two longer ones are angled luffas.  The pom-pom'd thing is a sponge I made and gifted one year.  It has a luffa sheet on one side and terrycloth on the other.

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In other goings on... above, the DC State Fair peeps are awarding the prizes for the best photograph contest (there were so many fun contests at this fair!!!!).  I think I heard an announcement that Kenneth of DC State Fair and The Indoor Garden(er) made up postcards for the runners up (the guy in yellow in the photo above is happy about that!).  I thought that was such a sweet prize to put together for the runners up.

My daughter and her friend bummed pies off of the DC State Fair's Best Pie leftovers rack.  Michael is an extra happy camper because his shirt is signed with x's and o's by the Washington Redskins Cheerleaders.  Rah! Rah! Rah! for a great day at the fair!

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If you've been following my ramblings, you know my father is obsessed with little bottle gourds this year. He's going to freak out when I show him this arrangement I spotted at Whole Foods yesterday with the little bottle gourd anchoring the decor!

What Master Gardeners do - happy and fuzzy thoughts

Intrigued by what Master Gardeners do? As a Washington DC Master Gardener (intern), I'm sent e-mails throughout the year about talks, seminars, demonstrations, and most importantly, volunteer projects, both long-term and short-term. Here's one example of a Master Gardener project. As you can see below, the plaza of UDC is about to undergo a major face lift.


You can see below where construction has already begun.

See these guys in white? Not Master Gardeners. Actually, I don't know who the hell they are. Don't they look bizarre in their hooded jumpsuits? They're probably good enough guys. But I did overhear them receiving instructions on how to demo and what new landscaping needs to go in.

See these guys in the dirty jeans? Master Gardeners. Our task for the day: to dig up all the thousands of bulbs hidden in the cement planters before everything is bulldozed away. Day 2 of the job entailed replanting the bulbs in other locations around the campus.

See the bright and shiny faces below? We're happy that we got to save the bulbs from the giant dumpster. We will be directly responsible for the spring beauty that is to come. Having put in a good number of hours with other volunteers this summer, I see the enormous impact that we make. From this project alone, it is heartbreaking to think about how a gazillion dollar project budgets the cost of demo, hauling trash, and new landscaping, but doesn't include some measure to be sustainable and replant. I'm glad to be part of a team that can put in a few hours here and there to save what can and should be saved (contented sigh).

Just about the only thing that has not made me feel thankful, helpful, and basically all fuzzy inside came via mail in the form of this photo of my car and an attached speeding ticket. It's actually really annoying now that I have a chance to reflect on it. I was leaving the Washington Youth Garden where I spent several Saturdays volunteering this summer. The posted speed was 40, I was going 51. As you can see, this is the beginning of a highway. Who drives 40 on the highway? OK...happy and fuzzy thoughts...happy and fuzzy thoughts...

WYG and pepper jelly

Lush and happy ferns welcome visitors to Fern Valley. Unfortunately, visitors are stopped in their tracks just a few feet up since there are many downed trees from recent storms. No matter, a spring visit awaits.

The National Arboretum's wide open spaces.

Another steamy day of weed-pulling at the National Arboretum's Washington Youth Garden. Unfortunately,I don't have photos to show you of all the cool vegetables the families are harvesting right now - gourds, chard, squash, peppers. One thing I love about the National Arboretum is the expanse of it all. There are little concentrated areas to visit, such as the WYG, the peaceful, shady Fern Valley just across from it, and the perfect bonsai and penjing collection just to name a few, but all the separate areas sit on 446 acres in the middle of DC. Once you enter the National Arboretum, you just want to take deep breaths in and out and enjoy the wide open space. The photo below shows what I mean. Your company? Garden visitors, walkers, joggers, bikers, children, dogs, workers, volunteers, and a billion butterflies!

Undeveloped acres at the National Arboretum.

This summer, I've been volunteering at the WYG and I love how the energetic and passionate coordinators invite speakers to discuss and demonstrate different topics. Saturday's topic - my current obsession, food preservation. I got to listen in while weeding the arugula bed.

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Below, a beautiful jelly I canned last week. I love how it looks like little pieces of confetti suspended in the translucent gold jelly. What's inside: apricots, habanero peppers, jalapenos, red bell peppers, and red onion. The perfect balance of spicy and sweet. My daily after school snack all week: bread or crackers, brie, and this delicious jelly. I've also been reminiscing about a sandwich I used to have at an amazing Rhode Island deli I worked at when I was in college a lifetime ago: pepper jelly, cream cheese, lettuce, and black forest ham on pumpernickel. Yuuuummmm, a visit to the supermarket must fit into the day's agenda.

WYG: what a difference a few weeks makes

A gorgeous planter near the entrance of the Administration Building of the National Arboretum.

Below are beets that I helped sow in the Washington Youth Garden just three weeks ago. Rows are labeled with pieces of old vinyl blinds.



A few other sights around the Washington Youth Garden on this very hot early summer day...

Things were smelling as good as they were looking - and I'm not just talking about the rosemary shrub we were weeding around. A local chef was doing an outdoor cooking demonstration for some WYG families. Can you smell the freshly harvested garlic sauteing in the pan?

Today's duties for the volunteers consisted mostly of taking care of the Bermuda grass - pulling, covering with cardboard, mulching...not fun, but like all weeding tasks, somewhat fulfilling as well. Here are some of us, sweaty but proud of how things in the perennial border look. I'm in the red shirt.

Here's Mamoi weeding (sorry - I'm spelling his name phonetically because I can't remember the proper spelling!). I learned the most interesting thing from him today. We were talking about bamboo when he mentioned having seen bamboo seeds in his country. He said that unfortunately, seeds bring poverty and famine (to which I was very confused). I did a little research on this later on and here's the explanation in short: Bamboo flowers/seeds about once every 100 years. There is actually a mass flowering of a certain type of bamboo, regardless of location or region. Due to the mass fruit/seed production, the rodent population booms. This boom in the population also means they will eat whatever is available, including food stores and farm crops. Many of these pestilent rodents also carry disease. Now if that's not enough, after the mass flowering, the bamboo dies. This is a huge loss of a natural resource used for building material, floors, furniture, many other products and for trade. All this could be really devastating to many countries that are just barely making it anyway.

Anyway, in addition to the knowledge I always gain from either the WYG staff or other volunteers, this week I also gained a fresh bulb of garlic! This is no small token for my 3 hours of labor on a 95 degree day because have you seen my garlic stock? Me neither but 8 months ago, it was here...

Profile of a volunteer (cont'd - and MYG)

In my post about both human and flora volunteers, I described some of the stories behind why people volunteer. Here, you see other volunteers in action. Scenes from today's morning at the Washington Youth Garden at the National Arboretum...

Weeding, weeding, weeding. Many hands make quick work of this necessary chore.

Cheerfully mulching tomato plants.

Chris - one of a few WYG employees - skilled in gardening and giving orders in the kindest manner, with the ability to detect from 200 feet away with eyes closed when one of the army of volunteers is stepping in a garden bed. Chris is particularly happy today (does the energy jump off your computer screen like it does mine?). This is Chris moments before he calls out, "Who's feeling good?!!"

Volunteer gardeners wheeling mulch over and planting new rows of carrots, beets, Swiss chard, and pak choi (need info on pak choi - try this post). I should really alert people before I take pictures of their butts.

In the distance at the National Arboretum. It definitely catches your eye. Perhaps if the weather looked less ominous, it would appear less creepy.

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Now for an update on the flora volunteers I posted about a few weeks ago...

The grass that sprouted on my back slope turned out to be something really pretty. It's a keeper.

The plant I thought could have been the Japanese lanterns I planted and forgot about was...not. Not a keeper.

Allium shubertii ended up being really spectacular. Their tendrils reach probably close to 2 feet from end to end. These bulbs bloomed this year for the first time, after turning to mush the past few years (late frost). Interestingly, these bulbs volunteered to live in their new spots (talk about creepy).

Poor schubertii. The good news is that the garden attracts butterflies. The bad news is that the butterflies attract the kids down the street who don't get the difference between a play area and a do-not-trample area. Allium schubertii - definitely a keeper. Neighborhood kids who trample my garden - well, I won't say it publicly.