Loving the Earth from a Rooftop Garden

My rooftop garden has been a meditative journey, just like my yoga practice that teaches me: patience, freedom, strength, balance, flexibility, gratitude, self-determination, awareness, courage, respect and love. That is all a mouthful — but it is true. My challenges and joys are real, similarly to my farmers who I have become in awe of. Once I started growing my own food, I began to feel more connected to the earth, even though I'm gardening from a 360° sky view. Loving the earth from above has its advantages. Sometimes I feel as if I'm in a tree house, gardening with the birds who will sit on the trellis at times while I snip and clip. The bees always find their way to the top and buzz around the chicory puntarella that I let flower for pollinators. When I look below I see the wild turkeys and deer look-up with curiosity as they go about their business eating yard bugs and clover. If they only knew what was growing on the rooftop; the turkeys might know because they do perch in the trees at times. The deer, no chance, unless Rudolph is real.

I'm sure some of you are wondering why my husband Chris and I decided to create a rooftop garden. When we began designing our sustainable home Sheridan Green we always knew we wanted a garden. As we got to know the property intimately we noticed many deer and an abundance of other wildlife that would have enjoyed a free salad bar. Instead of fighting with Mother Nature's creature's (who we are very fond of) we raised our garden to the roof.

Last year, was the first season we began to grow our own food and it surely was a learning curve. I was not focused — so much— on the varieties (heirloom vs. hybrid) I was planting, but more of the what's in season, when and how. After that growing season I pondered on varieties and the: why does it make more sense to plant an heirloom (open pollinated) tomato over a hybrid? My go-to farmer Stephanie Gaylor of Invincible Summer Farms, the Long Island Regional Seed Consortium and Salt of the Earth Seed Company is my mentor and friend. She grows rare varieties of vegetables for her farm, for seed trialing and preservation, and seed breeding. I'm in awe of her perseverance to resist the usual and plant to preserve food diversity as an action and a practice.

Heirloom for me means: more nutritious, open-pollinated so I can save the seed from year-to-year, locally-adapted to our terroir (seeds that have been selected to grow well in our region), exceptional taste, and the historical and culinary stories of these varieties that have been grown for many centuries from around the world that we can cherish for years to come.

This year, my (two) 5' x 18' garden beds are filled with rare heirloom varieties like: eggplants, beans, snow peas, tomatoes, greens, leeks, peppers, fennel, tomatillo, chicory and kale. The majority of the plants and seeds are provided by Stephanie, and a handful are seeds I saved from last year. Soon, a fall crop of carrots, beets, kale, greens, and radishes will be planted.

I'm passionate about varieties that are on the Ark of Taste, an international catalogue of endangered heritage foods that are maintained by the Slow Food movement that is designed to preserve at-risk foods that are sustainably produced, unique in taste and history and part of a distinct ecoregion. The Long Island Cheese Pumpkin is a local variety that is on the Ark of Taste and was saved in the 1970's by a local seed saver Ken Ettlinger. I partnered with the Long Island Regional Seed Consortium as an Ambassador and Coordinator for The Long Island Cheese Pumpkin Project to spread the word about this pumpkin through educational events and grow outs to revitalize this variety from the farm and garden to the palate.

Aunt Molly's Ground Cherry (part of the nightshade family, tastes like a tomato crossed with a pineapple and a strawberry) is on the Ark of Taste and is being grown in my garden, along with the Shinnecock Currant Tomato that was grown by the Shinnecock Indians here on Long Island and a variety that I will be nominating to the Ark of Taste when I proudly attend as a Slow Food East End delegate at Terra Madre Salone del Gusto in Turin, Italy. Stephanie Gaylor has adopted this orphan variety that is on the verge of extinction, (only one or two people in the world have this seed) and has been cultivating its viability for the past four years in hopes to be released in 2017 (it takes approximately five years to cultivate a seed; grow, save the seed and repeat).

Terra Madre Salone del Gusto is the most important international event dedicated to food and gastronomy that is composed of exhibitors from five continents, numerous events dedicated to the wealth and diversity of global cuisine, conferences examining issues around food production, forums of Terra Madre’s food communities and how our food is made, preserving biodiversity and securing a better food future for everyone.

The theme of this year's edition is Loving the Earth.  A perfect theme for a girl who loves the earth from a rooftop garden.

 

Slow Food East End Feasting on the Future

We all have heard of the word Fast Food and surely can name a dozen or so of these chains that participate on this fast track; however, Slow Food is a newer concept that started in Italy in 1986 by Carlo Petrini who founded the organization in 1989.

So what does Slow Food mean exactly? Well, it is quite simply the opposite of what Fast Food means and this is their philosophy:

Slow Food stands at the crossroads of ecology and gastronomy, ethics and pleasure. It opposes the standardization of taste and culture, and the unrestrained power of the food industry multinationals and industrial agriculture. We believe that everyone has a fundamental right to the pleasure of good food and consequently the responsibility to protect the heritage of food, tradition and culture that make this pleasure possible. Our association believes in the concept of neo-gastronomy - recognition of the strong connections between plate, planet, people and culture.

This concept counters the rise of fast food, the disappearance of local artisanal traditions and the disconnect of where the food comes from, how it tastes and how the choices we make affect our own local communities and the environment worldwide.

Slow Food is a global, grassroots organization with supporters in 150 countries, 1,300 local chapters, 2,000 food communities who practice small-scale sustainable production of quality foods and 100,000 members worldwide.

Slow Food East End

Slow Food East End is feasting on the pleasures of good food with a commitment to their community and the environment. ​I experienced this recently at their Potluck and Annual Meeting which was held at the Hayground School in Bridgehampton, NY in Jeff's Kitchen, which is a professional grade kitchen and classroom with classes in nutrition, food science and cooking for both children and adults. I found it fitting to have such a gathering at a school which promotes health and nutrition through gardening and culinary arts for children.

​How amazing is it that these kids can plan their menu and lunch for the day? They go to their school garden, pick out their vegetables, and visit with the chicken coop to get their eggs and then partake in the making of it! When I was a child lunch was a mystery. Vegetables were not of the primary color, spaghetti floated in a neon maroon oil substance and Sloopy Joe's was just that slop on a cardboard bun.

​I met with passionate Slow Foodies of the East End Community and together we did a tour of the Hayground Facility and grounds given by Arjun Achuthan who is one of the Founder's and Director of the Hayground Culinary Arts Program.

Arjun Achuthan who is one of the Founder's and Director of the Hayground Culinary Arts Program with Pizza Oven.

Slow Food East End first School Greenhouse at the Hayground School, Bridgehampton NY

After our tour we were able to feast our eyes and palates on local delights prepared by the members of Slow Food East End and friends.​ Mingling amongst like minded folks we shared stories of our own heritage and discussed the bounty of the East End Community. 

collage.jpg

​Mary Morgan, president of Slow Food East End kicked off the Annual Meeting. We were introduced to three New School Garden Coordinators which were given by Slow Food East End and funded by the generosity of the Josh Levine Memorial Foundation.

Jeff Negron and Peter Priolo spoke about their experience, unfortunately, KK Haspel had a prior engagement, however I am very much looking forward to meeting her in the near future. The common link amongst these three individuals is undeniably obvious. They are environmental stewards within their local communities, influencing the next generation, our children on what it means to nurture a local garden and the positive impact it has within its community. You can read about each Garden Coordinator here.

​Top: Mary Morgan, President of Slow Food East End Bottom Left: Jeff Negron Bottom Right: Peter Prioli

​Top: Mary Morgan, President of Slow Food East End
Bottom Left: Jeff Negron Bottom Right: Peter Prioli

School Grants were announced by Bryan Futerman the chef and owner of Foody’s in Water Mill, NY and Slow Food East End educational coordinator. It has been Slow Food East End's mission since their founding in 2004 to help local schools start and develop school gardens. Grants of $500 each went to eight area schools: Bridgehampton School, East Hampton High School, Greenport School, Hampton Bays Middle School, Sag Harbor School, Southold School, Springs School, and Tuckahoe School. You can read about Bryan Futerman here.  

​Bryan Futerman the chef of Foody's in Water Mill, NY and the Slow Food East End educational coordinator.

​Bryan Futerman the chef of Foody's in Water Mill, NY and the Slow Food East End educational coordinator.

New leaders were elected at the annual​ meeting. They are Jeannie Calderale, Sheryl Stair, Ivo Tomasini and Joan Turturro. You can read about these leaders here.

After the Slow Food East End Annual Meeting I realized how fortunate I was to be living amongst passionate and like minded individuals with a commitment to community, the environment and the future of our children. I am proud to say that I am now an official member of Slow Food East End. I made new friends, tasted some fabulous fare and met passionate individuals who are doing incredible work within our local communities. 

slowfood.png

If you would like to become a member of a Slow Food Community here is where you can start: Slow Food International, Slow Food USA and Slow Food East End.​