First Harvest

How exciting, and delicious! Today we had our first harvest from a March 28th planting of greens from the Wisconsin Families Garden demonstration garden in Mequon, WI. Our first spring harvest included thinnings of pea shoots, baby spinach, baby radishes, and dandelion greens.

In the photo, that's a pea shoot. Yes, pea plants are edible!



We cooked a great meal with local ingredients. Below are eggs from Milo's Poultry Farms (Bonduel, WI), sprouted rye bread made by Cybros (Waukesha, WI) dressed with Organic Valley of Farms Pasture Butter, and last but not least, our own delicious garden thinnings of greens.



We look forward to more tasty, garden-fresh produce soon from our urban gardens in Mequon, Grafton, and Milwaukee.

Growing Power

Wisconsin Families Garden attended Growing Power's 2010 Earth Day Celebration. What a wonderful place and what a wonderful day!

Growing Power is currently the only farm remaining in the city of Milwaukee. They grow on 1.5 acres at 5500 W. Silver Spring Dr., which is just 3 miles west off of I-43. Growing Power is dedicated to sustainable food production, youth & community education, as well as sustainable food production research.

At the Earth Day Celebration, we got a fantastic tour of Growing Power's Milwaukee facilities. We learned how they make compost from food waste they collect from locations throughout the city. We saw their bins of redworms, which help break down the compost into smooth, rich soil. We learned how they recycle water in their stormwater collection and aquaponics systems. We saw greenhouses, hoophouses, fish, chickens, turkeys, and goats. We enjoyed eating Growing Power's fresh salad mix, watercress, pea shoots, sunflower sprouts, as well as other delicious food prepared by local chefs.

For more information about this fabulous organization, please visit Growing Power's website at www.growingpower.org.

Spring Is Here!

Can you believe the amazing hot, sunny weather we're having this week?
If you haven't done so already, now is the perfect time to start planting your cold-hardy spring vegetables, like peas and spinach. These seeds will germinate well in the slightly warmed-up soil, and they won't be harmed if the weather turns back to usual Wisconsin spring temperatures.

If you don't already have an established vegetable garden, check out the latest Wisconsin Families Garden Gardening Info Series topic entitled, "How to Select a Garden Site".