Harvest Party Pictures

Announcing our Harvest Party

Please join us at RockStAr Garden at 19th and Burke St. SE on Saturday, October 20 at noon for our 2012 Harvest Party.  We will clean up the garden, harvest the rest of what we have growing, enjoy food together, and continue to build relationships in our neighborhood.  Please bring something to share (your favorite fall dish or drink).  Gloves and tools will be provided.  Look forward to seeing you there!

Pictures from August Party

A wonderful time was had by all during our August garden party.  Chef Anthony led several neighbors in a delightful experience of cooking and eating food together.

The menu included:
-Jambalaya (using spices from the garden)
-Lamb and Lentil and Carrot Stew (carrots and herbs from the garden) -
-Swiss chard wraps filled with rice, almonds, and raisins (swiss chard from the garden)
-Stuffed squash blossoms (squash blossoms from the garden)
-Herb bread (adapted recipe used basil, oregano, and rosemary from the garden)
-Hibiscus and lemon balm tea (lemon balm from the garden)
-Ice cream: mint, lavender, and strawberry/apple/beet (mint, lavender, and beet from the garden)

A few pictures:

Announcing our August 25th party

We're going to have another community garden party on Saturday, August 25, featuring more produce from the garden. 

Want to participate?  Here's how:

Option 1: Be one of the first 10 to sign up to prepare food with our neighborhood Chef Anthony.  He will begin cooking at 4:30pm on Saturday.  Items on the menu include: lamb and lentil soup, swiss chard wraps, and stuffed squash blossoms.  Don't miss this chance to learn from a culinary expert.  Email rockstargarden@gmail.com to sign up.

Option 2: Use some of the herbs and produce from the garden to bring your own dish to share.  A few ideas: rosemary chicken, lemon balm pesto with fish, basil and tomato bruschetta, or zucchini with garlic, basil, and mint.  Stop by the garden to see what inspires you.  Email rockstargarden@gmail.com if you need help finding any of these herbs. 

We will meet at 6:30pm on Saturday to enjoy our food together.  Don't miss this opportunity to join your neighbors for a delicious and delightful evening together.

 

A RockStAr Photographer

One of our RockStAr regulars volunteered to take pictures of what's growing and did a fantastic job.  Check out her photos below: the RockStAr sign, a watermelon, a zucchini, and tomatoes.

Bursting with orange colors

The garden has become quite colorful, and here are a few examples of what we've got growing.  Marigolds are planted throughout the garden to keep the bad bugs away (mosquitos, aphids, etc).  Sunflowers were planted as a companion plant for cucumbers.  The variety of cucumber we planted actually had a yellow-orange peel, which can be seen in the photo next to the St. John's Wort, carrot, and poppy.  And one friend of the garden shows off how much he loves carrots!

Potatoes: From the Ground to a Delicious Dish

The pictures below capture some of the transformation of our garden's potatoes, from the moment we dug them up to when it turned into a delicious potato salad, thanks to some great helpers. 

Improvements thanks to Washington Parks and People

Thanks to Washington Parks and People, we received a mini-grant that allowed us to purchase storage containers and some new tools for our garden.  See below for the update we sent WP&P about our garden and a few pictures of how the garden was looking in July.

It's been a great year so far at RockStar Garden.  We've had dozens of
volunteers help with all aspects of the garden, from planting and
watering to weeding and harvesting.  The WP&P grant enabled us to get
some much needed tools and supplies.  Now the kids have gloves that
fit them, we have more shovels for everyone, and we have storage
containers at the site so that all of the key volunteers can access
the tools and water hoses to make sure the site is cared for.  We've
teamed up a few times with Playtime Project, which is an evening
recreation program at the DC General Family Homeless Shelter, and
found this to be a useful partnership.  Our practice has been to work
communally in the garden, so this has meant quite a few parties and
group meals and snacks.  For instance, once we had a cookout with
fresh salad greens and meat that was grilled with an herb marinade.
Another time, kids dug the potatoes and one of the mothers made potato
salad for all to enjoy.  The vegetables and herbs we've enjoyed have
been diverse: cucumbers, lettuce, bok choy, swiss chard, carrots,
beets, potatoes, basil, cilantro, mint, and more.  We're eagerly
watching others that are continuing to ripen: tomatoes, watermelon,
butternut squash, pumpkins, and eggplant.  Meanwhile, beautiful
flowers bring smiles to many passers-by: marigolds, zinnias,
sunflowers, and poppies.

Beautiful Blossoms

There are colorful blossoms all over RockStAr Garden.  Here are a few that Adam captured in striking photographs in late June: day lily, St. John's Wort, and zinnias.

Pictures from June 8 Garden Party

We had a fantastic garden party, with our resident chef Anthony as grill master, cooking up a variety of delicious meats that Thomas selected.  Meanwhile, our salad came directly from our garden - lettuce, peas, swiss chard, beet leaves, onions, and more!  We had a great turn out and time to get to know our neighbors.  Here's a few pictures from the party, taken by Adam Russell, a photographer with incredible skills.