The Food Project: Youth. Food. Community.

Since our summer program started in June we have harvested roughly 14,000 pounds of produce and from this we have donated thousands of pounds to our shelter, soup kitchen, and pantry partners. To give you an idea of how we accomplish this task, let me introduce you to our Tuesday harvest. The day starts at 6:30am when the farm staff works hard to harvest greens and lettuce before the sun starts beating on them. As the youth arrive on the farm, crews quickly go out to the fields and the task of harvesting 2,000 lbs of produce begins. As crates upon crates of squash, carrots, and potatoes arrive at the wash station, one crew works on weighing, recording, washing, and packing for each different destination. After lunch it’s off to the city as we deliver the Cambridge, Somerville, and Arlington CSA shares, drop off produce at five hunger relief organizations, and then to our farmers’ market in Roxbury—all in two hours!

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scenes from the Secretary's visitPresident Obama’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, stopped by our West Cottage Farm in Dorchester the other week! She took a tour of TFP’s urban agricultural oasis and visited with 35 of our teens working on the farm. The event highlighted our work under a recent grant from the Boston Public Health Commission and the Centers for Disease Control. We were held up as a national model for obesity prevention in low- income neighborhoods.

The local media did a great job of covering the Secretary’s visit. The Boston Globe captured the mood of the special morning. Check out their article and video, which include the Secretary’s comments, as well as the experiences of some of our youth.

The photos

1. Secretary Sebelius looks on and listens intently as Food Project interns Valerie and Phil speak about their work.

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Weeding is an important part of maintaining your garden. Regular weeding (at least once a week) is most beneficial because it's more manageable and they won't grow too big, which will prevent weeds from stealing too much space, water, and nutrients from the plants you actually want in your garden. Some plants eventually go to seed if not weeded right away, which will result in more weeds growing in your garden.

Sometimes the hardest part of weeding is being able to differentiate between the weeds and plants you seeded. While labeling what you plant and keeping an accurate map of your garden bed can help with plant identification of what you planted, it is even better to know a little about the weeds you are pulling up!

Check out this chart (4 MB PDF) with some of the most common weeds you'll find in your garden. Remember, not all weeds are "bad!" We distinguish between edible and nutritious ones and those you can just get rid of!

purple fava beansIt is believed that along with lentils, peas, and chickpeas, fava beans became part of the eastern Mediterranean diet around 6000 BC or earlier. They are still often grown as a cover crop to prevent erosion, both because they can over-winter and because as a legume, they fix nitrogen in the soil.

Favas — also known as Windsor beans, English beans, horse beans, and pigeon beans — have long been diet staples in Asia, the Middle East, South America, North Africa and Europe. They were the only beans Europeans ate before they discovered America and all its legumes. The beans have a buttery texture, slight bitterness and lovely, nutty flavor.

Fava beans can be served simply boiled, mashed and spread on crostini, or added to spring stews and soups. And, favas are nutrition superheroes. They are high in fiber and iron, and low in sodium and fat. They have no cholesterol but are high in protein.

some fava recpies:

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