Thanks for visiting us. For up to date information on urban harvest, please find us on our fan page on facebook. You do not have to be member to access the page. Produce is harvested on Sunday and Wednesday evenings at 6:30. Weeders are welcome any time. For more information contact us at 515-2781371.

Hope for the Hungry

The Third Hope for the Hungry conference will be held on Saturday, November 12, 2011 at Trinity United Methodist

Church, 1548 8th Street, Des Moines.  Doors open at 8 a.m., and the conference runs from 8:30 to 4 p.m.  The "go-forth" goal of the conference is to end childhood hunger in the Greater Des Moines area by 2015.  In addition to hearing great speakers, registrants may choose one morning and one afternoon workshop to learn how we can all take part in building a strong local foods system to end hunger for children and their families.  Workshop titles are How to Garden, Urban Farms Beyond Yards, Starting a School Garden, Starting a Faith Garden, Preparing Nutritious Meals, Joining Food Rescue Programs, Raising Urban Chickens, Starting Farm to School Programs, Food Policy and Action -- Iowans Making a Difference, and Preserving Foods.  Have a look at the registration form; you'll see several familiar names from DMARC and the Greater Des Moines faith community among the presenters. The conference is hosted by DMARC and Healthy Urban Food and Farming (HUFF). To register click here and scroll to middle of page. 11/12

I will be sharing along with representatives from Faith and Grace Garden, West Des Moines and Agape Garden in Ankeny.

This and that

Things are still growing strong at Urban Harvest.   Sunday we picked a bumper crop of “ugly” tomatoes.  The hot, cold and  dryness have them not so attractive but they taste great! The peppers are finally going to town and we will be picking until frost. After curing the sweet potatoes for 10 days we bagged them and they are hanging in the shed to cure to November.  Lettuce ,swiss chard and spinach are bountiful and we are going to do some extra cutting during the week ,  I keep watching the weather forecast for frost and It looks like we are safe this week.  Join us Sunday and Wednesday at 6 to continue harvesting.  Watch for  more details when frost is forecast.

Green Beans!

After a very slow start the green beans are finally producing.  The tomatoes keep ripening and we are getting into the rhythm of harvesting on Sunday and Wednesday evenings.  I thought I would share some favorite green bean recipes,although nothing beats fresh steamed beans.  Here is a family favorite.  ( this recipe was also featured on the food channel.) Not an everynight dish but definately a treat!

                                                   Green Beans with Carmelized Onions

• 8 ounces bacon, chopped into 1 inch pieces
• 1/2 onion, sliced thinly
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 12 ounces green beans

Preparation

1. Cook bacon until crisp in skillet, drain bacon, and set aside, reserving bacon grease.
2. In skillet with bacon grease, sauté onions with sugar, salt, pepper, and apple cider vinegar until tender. Set aside.
3. Steam or blanch green beans until tender, and toss with onion mixture and reserved bacon pieces. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Remember you can also follow us on Facebook!  Or go to desmoineschurch.org for a link to the page.

Many hands make light work!

Sunday night was a great night in the garden.   We had a great turn out for the potluck and then moved out to the garden to harvest and plant.  The green beans are finally producing and looks like there will be more over the next weeks.  Barb picked some tomatoes that were as big as two fists.  ( Ok I have little hands, but they were huge)  The rabbits are attacking the cabbage so out came the rest of them!  Bruce was able to make fast work of the planting and put in spinach, lettuce and swiss chard.  The beets we planted last Wednesday are already popping through the ground!

John Kopal continues perfecting his rain barrel project.  We have adjusted the sprinklers and added some more posts. Hopefully we will have better coverage and be able to give the beans a much needed drink!

Come join us on Wednesday night at 7.  We will be planting  the last of our fall plantings and probably harvesting a few acorn squash in addition to tomatoes. 

And last but not least  a big thanks to Tim Goldman who took time out from Faith and Grace Garden(sorry Mark!) to come work with us.

Look for us on Facebook @ Urban Harvest.  There are several but we are the only one in Urbandale!

Potluck on Sunday !

The Urban Harvest Potluck is this Sunday, August 21,

at Urban Heights Covenant Church at 6:00pm.

Meat, drink, and table service will be provided. 

Please bring 1-2 dishes to share depending on the size of your family.

Then after you’ve eaten, plan to help in the garden with the weeding

or picking of fresh produce (unless it is too wet).

If you are unable to work in the garden, still feel free

to come to the potluck and enjoy watching the garden grow.

Contact: 515-278-1371

You are welcome to come and weed in the garden at anytime

that it fits in your schedule but if you’d like to work together

with others come every Wednesday evening at around 7:00pm.

Hopefully, fall planting will be done this week.

I Spy Tomatoes!

Last Wednesday night we played "I Spy" in the garden.  Savannah and Avery found tomatoes,zucchini and potatoes.  They were amazed to discover that potatoes grow underground in the dirt! 

This week we plan to plant fall crops. The seed should be here in the next day or so I hope! We are planting more of the fantastic salad bowl mixed greens, beets, Swiss chard and spinach.  The ground is pretty well ready after the Moving On Up kids cleared the old crop off.

Join us Sunday afternoon at 6 for a little more harvesting and Wednesday night at 7 to begin planting.  Come check out the rain barrel project that is underway to provide supplemental water.

We now have a Facebook  fan page were you can check for garden updates too!  There are other Urban Harvest's in facebook world so be sure to join the one with the correct address. We are hoping to get pictures uploaded today.  The beauty of a fan page is that you can check it even if you don't have your own account.  Check us out!

Questions? Call Beth at 314-2114