April 16th 2010
Did you know that the last date of possible frost here is generally considered May 30? In fact, there’s a good chance we could still get a bit of snow in the next few weeks, so hold off planting tender annuals until the end of next month. Tomatoes and peppers, basil, impatiens, petunias and other temperature-sensitive annuals don’t grow much in cool weather anyway, and they will die if temps drop below 32F.
For now, focus on hearty crops such as broccoli, cabbage and kale, greens, beets, and peas. They laugh at snow. It only makes them sweeter!
If you have deer grazing in your neighborhood this spring, you may have noticed that they love the taste of tulips and don’t touch daffodils. Adding plants that they don’t find attractive seems easier than trying to keep them away from their favorites such as coneflowers, roses, azaleas and ….oh my…the list keeps getting longer! What have you found that deer don’t eat?
March 30th 2010
Bucket and lid on a maple tree after drilling a hole for the spial
Guest Blogger Joanna on urban tree tapping!
To follow up on a previous post about Flint’s “untapped resources,” here’s an entry about our syrup-making process. In late February, a small group of us decided to go about tapping Maple trees within the city. We purchased 50 spials and buckets and went off to identify urban Maple trees. While other trees like Box Elders and Walnuts can be tapped, sugar content is highest (around 3%) in the Sugar and Black Maple. After spending a couple of hours in the urban wilds of Flint, we identified and marked 48 trees we believed to be Maples. During the winter, when there are no leaves on the trees you can ID them by the bark, leaves on the ground and organization of the branches.
When tapping a tree, you want to make sure the diameter is at least 12 inches. With a drill and drill bit of 5/16, drill a hole about 3 inches in aiming upwards so that when sap is running down the trunk, it will come out of the spial. You want to do this when there are sunny days with above freezing temperatures and cool nights below freezing to promote sap flow.
After tapping our trees, we made a schedule to check the buckets every other day. We made it out when we could, emptied the buckets into plastic five-gallon tubs and stored them in a root cellar. As long as its kept below 38 degrees, it should be fine. As days and nights got warmer (up into the 60’s!) sap stopped flowing as easily and the mosquitos came. We built a firepit with concrete blocks to contain the warmth and started boiling our first batch of sap. With Sugar Maples, usually around 40 gallons of sap will boil down to one gallon of syrup. Make sure you don’t burn it! You may want to take the sap off of the open fire and finish it off on your stove. There is a lot of steam generated by the boiling, so make sure there’s adequate ventilation in your house beforehand. You are looking to finish the boil when the temperature is seven degrees above the boiling point of water (219 degrees F here in Flint).
The sap was flowing!
To boil, we used galvanized steel tubs but have heard that this is not the best material, as it interacts with the sap in high heat. Make sure you taste the sap at all points in the process, not only to detect off flavors or sourness if something went wrong, but because this is the best liquid I have ever tasted in my whole life. Despite all of the problems we had with high temperatures, infrequent collection, mosquitoes, an inappropriate evaporator pan, the syrup is delicious and perfect. I would recommend this to anyone and everyone wanting to experience a bit of wild-crafting, self-sustainability or urban foraging. This was so rewarding and fun that we were thinking that next year, we’d explore options of marketing wild Flint edibles like maple syrup, mushrooms, mulberries and wild raspberries.
Until next time, food and love
Joanna
First drops
March 24th 2010
March 23, 2010, 11:11AM
FLINT, Michigan — A Flint deli may soon be able to pick fresh sandwich toppings from its own urban backyard.
A University of Michigan-Flint project to renovate a historic house on Garland Street has added plans to start an urban garden that would grow produce for next-door Hoffman’s Deco Deli & Café.
Officials at the UM-Flint Urban Alternative House hope to spend the next year turning a now vacant plot by the deli into a sustainable local food system in the center of Flint that offers tomatoes, spinach and other salad vegetables and herbs.
“It will help us get the freshest food possible and keep our money in Flint,” said Hoffman’s co-owner Mark Hoffman said at a press conference at the deli today.
A growing number of community garden projects have sprouted around Flint as more groups aim to reuse the thousands of vacant lots in the city while providing the community more access to locally produced and healthy food.
March 15th 2010
What a treat to meet Majora Carter on Sat! Iwas inspired by hearing her message of reconnecting people to the land. Its about making the places live better and taking responsibility for them. Majora started by cleaning up a park in her neighborhood and inspiring her neighbors to get involved. We are all responsible for our own neighborhoods. What small step can we each take to make the places we live a little more beautiful. If everyone takes a small step those add up pretty quickly. Check out more about Majora’s inspiring story and the urban farming project she’s working on in Detroit on her website http://www.majoracartergroup.com/
March 10th 2010
Maple Syrup cooking.
Hello Erin,
I liked the article about maple syrup in Sunday`s Flint Journal. My brother does this with a couple trees he has in his yard. Does it make a difference which kind of maple you use? I know the sugar maple would be the best, but, what about other kinds of maple. I have a couple maples at my place but, I can`t tell you what kind they are. Would they still work?
Don from Holly
Thanks for the question Don,
You can tap any native species of maple. Sugars and black maples tend to have the highest sugar content in their sap. Red and silver maples usually have a lower sugar content. This is less important to those with home operations making small amounts of syrup – perhaps a few gallons – than to a commercial operations making hundreds of gallons.
March 10th 2010
I am so excited that Flint will be hosting Majora Carter on Saturday March 13th at the Social Justice Now conference at University of Michigan Flint. Majora was the Director of Sustainable South Bronx in New York City which pioneered green collar job training and built green spaces in the Bronx. Check out Majora her powerful speech at Ted http://www.ted.com/talks/majora_carter_s_tale_of_urban_renewal.html Also featured is Donele Wilkins from Detroiters working for Environmental Justice. There will be several breakout sessions that will address food issues. Registration is FREE at http://umflint.edu /eoi/sjn.htm
March 3rd 2010
I interrupt this blog for the brief reminder that spring is possible and actually inevitable.
March 1st 2010
Last week I was really excited to attend the Michigan Good Food Summit in Lansing. It is always inspiring to connect with others doing good work and it was great to be in the room with 300 other ‘foodies’. I liked the description that good food is healthy (it provides nurishment), green (produced in an enviornmentally sustainable way) fair (no one is exploited in the production) and affordable (all people have access to it). One fun fact that has stuck with me is that it is easier to transport a vegetable around the world then to the school down the street. We need to as communities reinvent the local food infrastructure. As I’ve come to expect Flint was well represented, from farmers to nutrition educators, youth training programs and resource providers I was once again convinced we are on the cutting edge of what is happening around the state. Check out www.michiganfood.org for more information!
February 19th 2010
2009 Keep Genesee County Beautiful Conference
One of my favorite events of the year is the Keep Genesee Beautiful Conference on March 6th at UM Flint. Not only does it take place at the pivotal moment where I am yearning for spring inspiration but also that I am missing all my community gardener friends. This years workshops sound inspiring!’ Yes, You Can Can’ will teach you the basics of canning and preserving vegetables. ‘How Does Your Garden Grow’ features Adam Montri from MSU sharing how to schedule our veggie garden for the best production. Skilled professionals Roxanne Adair and Shaun Smakal will join me for the workshop on ‘How to Transform a Vacant Lot’. For registration and more info email camonk@umflint.edu or call 810-767-5484.
February 19th 2010
Community Playground Build at Memorial Park
Getting to know your neighbors can seem like a challenge. Simple events like a neighborhood potluck can bring out people that might not attend a traditional block club meeting. How do we create more ways to get to know people who live down the street but we don’t know how to approach? Block parties, neighborhood gardens and outdoor concerts are just a few ideas. Up coming workshops like ‘Working Together’ on Feb 27th from 10am- 2pm at the YWCA of Greater Flint is one tool that can help you develop ideas. This workshop is part of a series called Building Neighborhood Power and is part of a collective of organizations that is focusing on neighborhoods in our community. To register or for more information contact rspeed@co.genesee.mi.us
