On Sunday, March 24, 2019 the Southside Place community garden with infused classical music provided by the Rice Shepherd School of Music Quartet. This community event was sponsored by Southside Place. Neighbors brought their own food, drinks, blankets and… grandkids. Music pieces included Mozart Divertimento No 1, 2 and 3, Vivaldi “Spring”, Vivaldi “Winter”, Schumann Traumerei, and Bach Arioso. What a lovely day to picnic in the garden!

The Anderson-Shimkus Family, and garden designer, Joe

The Baker Family, and picnic organizer, Tom

View from the neighbors’ new home. Chinese fringe trees in bloom

Party with your neighbors to celebrate our growth! April 28 4:30-7:30pm

Can you believe it? This is our 7th annual family-friendly garden party. This is the casual party party outside on the garden lots. Live music by Gabe Montoyo, food by Molina’s and Moeller’s Bakery, wine, cocktails and beer provided (but, of course, you can also BYOB) and fun for the whole family. There will be the Mary Had a Little Party ice cream truck to go with your cake. Also, a natural wine tasting by Scout & Cellar.

•  Kid’s seed planting!

• Bocce ball!

• Silent auction!

Bring your checkbooks! $20 per adult, payable at the garden gate. Kids are free!

The Community Garden articles generally discuss growing vegetables, but did you know that the flower beds surrounding the vegetables contain a very intentional mix of plants? We wanted a nice screen for the vegetable beds, but we also wanted to incorporate fruit trees and native plants into the edges of the garden. We have pomegranate trees, persimmons, kumquats, and figs to name a few of our fruit trees. And we planted food and nectar plants for butterflies and insects. Our milkweed is quite popular with the monarch butterflies!

The Upper Texas Coast has around 340 species of birds that either live in or migrate through the area and more than a dozen species of butterflies. Providing habitat and food for them helps them in their migrations. In addition to birds and butterflies, the native species also attract pollinators and beneficial insects that allow our vegetables to prosper without the need for insecticides or chemical fertilizers.

Attracting birds, bees, and butterflies to your own yards is not complicated. The Katy Prairie Conservancy (katyprairie.org) website has helpful information for getting started and has published a list of nine native species they encourage you to plant in your gardens. Houston Audubon (birdfriendlyhouston.org) has a page with a pre-planned garden for birds, bees, and butterflies that also includes a list of recommended plants. Both organizations have a list of sources for these native plants.

Katy Prairie Conservancy advocates the planting of “pocket prairies” in sunny locations to help ameliorate the loss of our native prairies to development. MD Anderson and Rice University both have pocket prairies as do the University of Houston (Shasta’s Prairie) and University of South Texas (Father Meyer’s Prairie) I would encourage you to walk by the Spears home at 4108 University Blvd. They have made a pocket prairie from the lot adjoining their home. I went by last summer, and a stunning amount of butterflies and dragonflies were enjoying the habitat. These are all large installations, but a pocket prairie can be any size. A small bed in a sunny location will work, too. The Katy Prairie Conservancy site has helpful guidelines for making pocket prairies look like an intentional part of your landscape rather than like a wildscape.

Native plant beds can also foster an interest in science and biology for your children or your own hidden inner scientist. Count and identify the number of insects and butterflies in the area before you plant the natives. Then document how many appear after the plants are established and blooming.  iNaturalist.org will help you log and identify plants, birds, and insects:. If you don’t know the name of what you have seen, submit a photo and users of the site will help you. It also has an interactive map which shows what has been identified around you.

If many people plant small stands of native plants, it will add up to increased beneficial habitat for wildlife and preserve our Texas heritage.  Want to get involved in the Community Garden? Questions? Contact us at sspcgarden@gmail.com

 

Urban Harvest and Southside Place Community Garden rang in the Italian tradition to Houston with Cultivated Cocktails, a fundraiser benefitting both non-profits. Aperitivo cocktails, passed and stationed hors d’oeuvres, and Roman street-food-inspired pizzas from Pizza Motus were served. While this was supposed to be an  al fresco event in the garden, the weather did not cooperate. So we partied inside the Southside Place Community Garden Clubhouse on Garnet.

WHERE

Southside Place Clubhouse

WHEN

Friday 10.19.18 | 6:00 pm

http://houston.culturemap.com/eventdetail/urban-harvest-presents-cultivated-cocktails/

 

Southside Place Community Garden Photo courtesy of Urban Harvest

Three of Houston’s top mixologists Christine Nguyen (Nancy’s Hustle), Sara Keck (Coltivare), and Josh Alden (Mongoose Vs Cobra)  created unique cocktails featuring fresh ingredients – each with an Italian twist. Attendees picked their favorite cocktail during the Cocktail Tip-Off.  All tips went to  benefit both Urban Harvest and Southside Place Community Garden. In addition to the cocktails, wine and beer will also be provided.

          

photo credit: David Elkin

My favorite time of the year in the garden is tomato time. The promise of home grown tomatoes is, in fact, the major reason I became involved in the garden. Yes, I am enough of a kid at heart to experience a thrill every time I harvest carrots and other root vegetables. I like the mystery of wondering how big they are beneath the soil. And despite my husband’s loathing, I love the summer okra, too. But hands down, tomatoes are my favorite!

photo by David Elkin

This year our tomatoes were babied with hand watering every day by Jim Sowers so we have a bumper crop. By the time this goes to print the harvest may be winding down in our garden, but you should still be able to find some home grown tomatoes at the farmers’ markets. Other than sliced and garnished with a drizzle of good Spanish olive oil and a little salt, my favorite way to enjoy my favorite tomatoes is to make gazpacho from them. I’m sharing my family’s favorite gazpacho recipe from the August 2002 issue of Gourmet magazine. Splurge on some good serrano and manchego to accompany the soup for an easy and refreshing meal during the dog days of July.

CLASSIC ANDALUSIAN GAZPACHO

INGREDIENTS

• • 1 (2-inch-long) piece baguette, crust disca
    

    photo by David Elkin

    rded

  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 2 tablespoons Sherry vinegar (preferably “reserva”), or to taste
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin (optional)
  • 2 1/2 lb ripe tomatoes, cored and quartered
  • 1/2 cup mild extra-virgin olive oil (preferably Andalusian hojiblanca)
  • Garnish: finely chopped red and green bell peppers

PREPARATION

• • Soak bread in 1/2 cup water 1 minute, then squeeze dry, discarding soaking water.
  • Mash garlic to a paste with salt using a mortar and pestle (or mince and mash with a large knife). Blend garlic paste, bread, 2 tablespoons vinegar, sugar, cumin, and half of tomatoes in a food processor until tomatoes are very finely chopped. Add remaining tomatoes with motor running and, when very finely chopped, gradually add oil in a slow stream, blending until as smooth as possible, about 1 minute.
  • Force so

Teresa and Pat O’Donnell are new members of the Southside Place Community Garden. And do they know something about gardening! They are the founders of Plant-it-Forward, which teaches new Texans how to become urban farmers.

Last week, we got to sit in on a Plant-it-Forward training session with farmers from the Congo, Cameron, and Darfour and then see Farmer Roy’s garden and farm stand (1318 Sul Ross, 77006).  We highly recommend a trip to the farm stand and garden on  a Saturday morning to buy fresh veggies and help a good cause.

 The story of the founding of Plant-it-forward is inspiring and can be viewed on Tedx  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLTggYKknZw (or just google Teresa O’Donnell/TED talks on YouTube).

Can you believe this is our 6th big garden bash? Come this year and see the new developments on the second lot. We have a putting green, paths and a curved bench that elevates the vacant lot to a beautiful green space, suitable for picnics and garden parties!Food will be catered by Molina’s with cake from Moeller’s bakery. An ice cream truck will be on hand. The talented John Curry will be singing and playing guitar. Tickets are $20 for adults; kids are free.

Article by Patty Tilton appeared in Southside Living Magazine June 2017

There’s a book and TedTalk by Angela Duckworth about “grit” that seems apropos of the Southside Place Community Garden Board. Not grit as in grit and grime, although we do get pretty dirty on Saturday work days. I mean the personality characteristic of grit.

SS Living Magazine Jan 2018

Grit (noun): Perseverance and passion for long-term goals.

It’s been almost five years since we embarked on the Southside Place Community Garden, a project built with sweat equity and grit. One of the original Board members, Bryan Baker, filed our application to become a 501c3 and we threw our first fundraiser in May 2013. A lot has been accomplished since then. We installed eight raised beds, planted a certified butterfly habitat border designed by Amy Bryant, and added an herb garden. The shed and pergola, designed by Joe Przybyl, were built with the help of corporate donations solicited by Lisa Roy, Kay Browning, and Linda Burdine. Linda Elkin took over Operations, making the master plan of each season’s planting. Our Treasurer, Patty Tilton kept the balance sheets and kept us all accountable. Linda Burdine kept Board meeting minutes, serving in the role of Secretary. We, as a team, purchased the furniture for the pergola, Kay Browning, being a former child care center director, took charge of Educational Outreach, bringing teachers and kids into the garden for lessons in biology and volunteerism. As a gritty team–and with the help of a growing army of garden members–we got things done.

photo credit: Ben Ballanfant

Soon we’ll be releasing the Southside Place Community Garden Board version 2.0. While it will be sad to see us founding Board members go, an infusion of new grit will revive the garden as we embark on developing the second lot. Claire Baker will take over as President, leading Board meetings and work with the Board, city and community to further the garden’s mission.  U.J. Bhandari will be the new Treasurer, keeping track of our donations and expenditures and filing our taxes. Pat Mullen will be serving as the head of Operations, deciding what to plant, where and when. Sally Lukats, formerly in charge of food pantry donations, will be in charge of Fundraising. The new director of Communications, Linda Elkin, will be sending out the emails to the garden members and (thankfully) writing the monthly column in Southside Living Magazine from now on.

Those of us stepping off the Board will likely remain active in the garden. It’s been such a rewarding experience to create such a lovely green space for the families of Southside Place and beyond. It brings us a sense of pride and purpose. If you have grit, we encourage you to get involved in the next phase of the Southside Place Community Garden.