Urban Edibles!

[Guest guest]

So, how many of you made it to the event at Bachman's yesterday with MARK

CAMPBELL?

I was there but the place was packed to the ceiling with folks, probably 150

people crammed into their excellent auditorium. All to hear Mark discuss his

gardens. Here is a man with 20 years experience raising herbs, vegetables,

greens, edible flowers and much more for gourmet chefs (LUCIA WATSON a

customer!).

However, Mark, a chef himself at BEAUJO WINEBAR & BISTRO on 50th and France in

Edina, talked mostly about his own gardens at the Minneapolis home he returned

to in 2000. Mark had been raising restaurant vegetables and greens in California

for many years and came back to the house where he formerly lived and gardened.

His fascinating pictures show how the garden had been neglected and

concretized-over since he left, then sequential pictures showing the renaissance

of beauty and productivity. This is a chef who totally " gets " the concept of

Slow Food and growing one's own amazing taste treats. He brought us his dried

cherries (fantastic!) and demonstrated many of his home-made jams and jellies.

There are recipes on his blog, especially for his favorite, GOOSEBERRY jams and

sauces.

Mark currently raises 54 varieties of fruit on his home lot! He has 9 varieties

of apples, 3 cherry varieties, 3 plum varieties, 3 apricot varieties, and even 2

kiwi trees. Everything really needs to be ZONE 4 HARDY he says or you are

probably wasting time. Mark loves HOSTAS for their hardiness and wilingness to

live in shade and now curates 450 varieties~!

If you go to Mark's BLOG (http://campbellmark.blogspot.com/) you will see the

listing he gave at the workshop yesterday which should help you start making

selections. Pay attention to the ORGANIC SOURCES he lists for seeds and plants,

as well as for products for keeping the garden healthy. An example I liked was

the clay dust SURROUND which goes into a backpack sprayer with water for

prevention of APPLE MAGGOTS. Spray just before the bud stage then, if you can,

every two weeks. It only takes a few minutes and it's very effective.

Mark shared information about starting your own WORM RANCH in your basement.

He's got one. This can be as simple as buying the three-tiered " A Can of Worms "

apparatus, the RED WIGGLERS and then adding table scraps for them to eat (no

meat, dairy or citrus, but do add coffee grounds and eggshells). The worms

create the magical soil additive worm castings (poop!) and then one can extract

worm tea (the worms should not be released into nature). Interestingly, there is

zero odor with the set-up. Mark says though it makes for a very interesting

conversation starter with guests! When he moves all his citrus and tropical

plants indoors, there isn't much room for guests he says! This guy is serious!

Those who were asking about the " best " place to get medicinal herbs..... guess

where that would be? In your own yard, many times. Famed local herbalist MATT

WOOD (and many others) have noted that the very herb you need for your health

(mental, physical and even spiritual) will often spring up spontaneously in your

very yard! This has happened to me with more than one herb!

Anyway, read the blog, get your seed catalogs and THINK SPRING!

[Guest guest]

I've had a 'Can of Worms' bin for about 10 years. Mark is correct, there is

no odor. His feeding recommendations pretty well match what works for me,

although we eat too many eggs to give them all the shells. It really does

reduce the amount of kitchen garbage going out to the curb. And I have had

guests specifically ask if they could see the worms.

Greg

>

> Mark shared information about starting your own WORM RANCH in your

> basement. He's got one. This can be as simple as buying the three-tiered " A

> Can of Worms " apparatus, the RED WIGGLERS and then adding table scraps for

> them to eat (no meat, dairy or citrus, but do add coffee grounds and

> eggshells). The worms create the magical soil additive worm castings (poop!)

> and then one can extract worm tea (the worms should not be released into

> nature). Interestingly, there is zero odor with the set-up. Mark says though

> it makes for a very interesting conversation starter with guests! When he

> moves all his citrus and tropical plants indoors, there isn't much room for

> guests he says! This guy is serious!

>

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