On February 20th, a friend invited me to join her for a workshop called Rooting DC 2010 at the Historical Society of Washington, DC. We dropped off my littleest son around 10:30-ish at the very fun-looking, all-smiles, Wiggle Wonders romper room for the day and set our minds to make some big decisions: Starting Seeds Indoors or Vegetales en Macetas? We settled on coffee and to skip the first workshop session so we could thaw out.
Breaking through the Barriers-The Business of Better Food for All by Rober Egger, president of the DC Central Kitchen was the first session we attended. There was so much excitement in the room as he defined and described his vision for a DC Nutrition Center. Local food would be grown in several places in the city and the food production would offer job opportunities, training, community services, social enterprising. It sounded utopian-like. People working together, intersecting, collaborating, growing toward sustainability for our food, our economy and healthy lifestyles. My kind of talk.
We left a little early to catch the end of Green Smoothies: The Ultimate Nutrition by Steve Seuser, "enthusiastic gardener and for the past 7 years a raw foodist." My thoughts: lots of kale to make a smoothie you eat with a fork. Not exactly what you would get when you open an Odawala bottle. But it was actually tasty, just not what my palate expects when one says smoothie. Ahhhhh, yes; mango, papaya, banana, rasberries, strawberries, frothy, creamy, refreshing through a straw smoothie. Nonetheless, I got on his email list and he sent several recipes that I have yet to try. But I'm looking forward to it.
So the green smoothie wasn't quite hitting the spot but lunch was served right after and that did it. My friend and I took a break from all of the green talk and talked about raising sons. As people started gearing up for the afternoon session we decided to peruse the informational booths. City Blossoms I took most interest in. They host volunteer Family Workshops where families can come out to a local school and help work out in their garden.
Finally, we ended on the best note as we attended Jennifer Jefferson's, Container Gardening session. This was the real inspirational piece for me. Jennifer kept it simple and fun. By the time I left, I was ready to till the land, plow, hoe, weed, mulch, sow, water, harvest, cook vegetables, brew herbs, and can fruit. Of course, that's if I can get my tomatoe plant to grow again this year. I did get my herb seeds started in various vegetable cans but I might need to give Jennifer a call for assistance on a few.
After a day of dig-in-the-dirt-and-free-your-mind-body-spirit-and-wallet talk, I knew my desire for gardening was leading me to the right path to healing.
No comments:
Post a Comment