Eating DC: Urban Gardeners
Written by DCist contributor Daniel Castleman
While most of the food world lately has been abuzz with discussion of “food miles,” or the calculation of energy required to transport food from the farm to the table, D.C. resident Ed Bruske has been measuring his travels in inches. Bruske, a former reporter for the Washington Post, local blogger, and personal chef, serves as the president of the D.C. Urban Gardeners, an all-volunteer organization promoting sustainable gardening in the District. Over the past five years he has transformed his small front lawn in Columbia Heights into an edible garden, brimming with fresh, organic produce for his family throughout the year.
This past Saturday, DCist got to check out Bruske’s lecture on “Spring Menus from an Urban Kitchen Garden”, the first in a series of monthly events on urban gardening at the D.C. Historical Society. Clad in a Hawaiian shirt that echoed his easy going personality, he enthusiastically explained to the intimate audience how they, too, could grow their own fruits and vegetables with whatever little space they have at home.
Bruske emphasized the importance of having a plan, no matter how small your garden will be. For those lucky enough to have a front or backyard of their own, make sure first to send some soil samples to a lab for tests. Not only will the nutrient readings of the soil help you figure out what you can grow, but also testing for lead is incredibly important due to the number of old houses with lead paint in the District, which creates lead runoff in the ground. Next, figure out how much sunlight your balcony or yard receives. Examine which direction it faces, and make sure to take into account any buildings that may block the sun during different seasons. Finally, do some research on seeds, either online or at the library, to help you determine the best time to plant. Plot out exactly where and what to plant, and start growing your own kitchen garden.
To further entice the audience to start growing their own edibles, Bruske shared a number of recipes for a variety of fruits and vegetables currently coming into season for our area. These included asparagus, fava beans, lettuces, peas, radishes, strawberries, rhubarb, herbs, and sorrel. If these aren’t already in your garden, all of these spring edibles should be appearing at local farmers markets.
Eating something you have cultivated yourself is not only environmentally friendly, but the freshness can also never be matched. Even if it’s something as small as a few pots of basil, parsley, and rosemary sitting on your windowsill, the personal satisfaction from growing it yourself makes it all taste better too.
The next Urban Gardening lecture at the D.C. Historical Society will take place on May 15, from 10 - 11:30 a.m.