Partner Plot News: Honey!

This is the story, told in pictures, of how jars of fresh, artisanal honey made their way to the free produce stand in the All Peoples Darius Simmons Community Garden.

These are bee hives.  In nature, bees make their own hives, but bee keepers build these little houses which are just perfect for honey bee colonies.  Each bee in the colony has its own job.  Forager bees are the bees we see in the garden.  Their job is to go out into the world, flying from flower to flower to collect nectar (the sweet juice in the center of the flower). The nectar will be turned into food for the bees in the hive. Pollen from flowers sticks to the bees, so as the bees go from flower to flower, that pollen moves from flower to flower with them.  This pollinating process makes it possible for plants and trees to produce fruits, from apples to zucchini.  This is why taking good care of bees is so important!

When the forager bees come home to the hives, they give the nectar to the house bees. A little bit of bee spit from the forager mixes with the nectar.  A little bit more bee spit mixes in when the nectar goes to the house bee. That bee spit helps the nectar turn into honey.

Inside the hive, the house bees build little hexagonal cylinders out of wax to hold the nectar. After bees squirt the nectar into the wax hexagons, the bees inside the hive make a warm breeze with their wings to remove some of the water from the nectar.  The nectar becomes thicker.  That is how it becomes honey!  To keep the honey fresh, the bees make a little beeswax cap for each hexagonal honey pot. In this photo you can see the honeycomb - all of the little hexagons are filled with honey!

Bee keepers collect honey from the hives by removing some of the honeycomb.  It is important to leave enough honey in the hive so that the bees have food for the winter!  Remember, honey is bee food first, and people food second.

The process of collecting the honeycomb and squeezing out the honey is sticky business!

This is a honey press.

Look at all that honey!!

It's important to remember that raw honey should not be given to children under age 2.

The pressed honey is then decanted into jars.

Good to the last drop!!

And that is the story of how jars of yummy honey made it to the All Peoples produce stand. Thank you to Pastor Larry, the honey team and friends from St. Olaf for this fun Partner Plot Project!!

Chives, chives, chives!

I grew up in Wisconsin and lived pretty close to Underwood Creek, back when it was still a natural creek (or crick, as we would say).  One of my memories of springtime is the taste of wild chives.  We used to walk in the woods along that creek looking for crayfish and would munch on chives for a snack.

Maybe that was a little weird for a kid, but how many of us as adults love our sour cream and chives on baked potatoes?  You know what I am talking about.  Yum!

One of the chive pots on my front porch. This is a sister plant
to the ones that grow along the All Peoples Greenhouse.

Springtime is chive time.  Specifically, springtime is the time when chives bloom.  Different varieties of chive plants produce flowers from pale pink (almost white), to deep purple, to dusky blue (if you are growing garlic chives).  Leaves can vary in color from lime green to forest green, some are rounder and some more flat.  A fun thing to do with kids or adults is a taste test - pick a chive leaf from each different plant and see if you can taste any difference as you munch on the different leaves.

Most of the time, chive harvesting is done by cutting the leaves off of the plant with a scissors.  Cut them in bunches, leaving about an inch of leaf left at the base.  Wash and dry them, then snip away over your salads, soups and baked potatoes.  Chives are best when harvested right before you use them, and you can cut them all summer long. 

However, in early June, while it is in full bloom, before the plant produces little black seeds between the flower petals, the chive flower is delicious to eat!  The chive flower sits atop a stalk that is coarse and not good for snipping. We have all probably gotten that tough flower stem stuck in the scissors while trying to cut the leaves.  Harvest the flower by plucking the head off of the stem. Let the stem remain part of the plant and dry.  Gather a few fresh flowers in the morning to wash and break apart over your salad or sandwich.  If you aren't sure what the taste is like, sample one little bloom from the compound flower head.  Enjoy it's delightful crunch and burst of sweet, onion flavor.

To keep your chive plants healthy, leave some flowers on the plant and let them go to seed.  Most mature plants produce more flowers than are needed for seed or that can be used for salads.  Another fun thing to do with chive flowers is to make chive-infused vinegar.

Pop your clean chive flowers into small glass bottles or jars.  You can experiment
with the number of flowers needed for the flavor strength that you like.
I usually use 3 flowers for each small bottle.

My chive flowers are huge.  I try to pick smaller ones, and close them up
a bit to push them, stem first, into the bottles.  I use a chop stick to get them in there.
Don't worry if a few small pieces fall off.  I just toss them in with the flowers.

Use a funnel and carefully add distilled, white vinegar
to each bottle.  The flowers will float up a bit.  I bought bottles
with the nifty plastic tops that snap on for easy drizzles onto
salads and such, but you can use whatever bottles you have.
If you use recycled bottles (with or without the plastic toppers)
be sure to wash them super well so they don't have residual smells.

Screw the lids on tightly and set your vinegar in a cool,
dark place, like a cupboard.  After one day, you will already
see a change! Store in a cupboard, away from sunlight to retain
the pink color.  The chive flavor will grow stronger as it sits,
and after about 2 weeks it is ready to use. You can keep it for 2 years.

During the summer, you can freeze little bundles of snipped up chives to pop into your winter soups and stews.  The dry flower stalk is sturdy, and you can use it as a natural skewer.  I leave all the dead growth on my plants over the winter to protect them.  In the spring, before the leaves begin to sprout again, I remove most of the dead stuff and add it as a brown ingredient to my compost.  

What are your favorite things to do with chives?  Tell your stories and share your photos in the comments!

Submitted by Linda Muth

We Grow Artists!

You see an old bed frame.  We see a trellis.

In the All Peoples Darius Simmons Community Garden, we grow more than plants.  We grow artists!  One way in which we do that is by up-cycling donated items to create quirky, fun structures which help support our plants as they grow and help support our community's creative spirit.

Headboards and baby crib rails make perfect trellises for our raspberry hedge.  We planted the hedge next to the public sidewalk to serve both as a perimeter for our garden and so passers-by can grab a couple of berries for a snack as they walk along.  Every spring, we prune the dead canes and weave the new growth into the slats and curves of our re-purposed trellises.  Of course, we love to paint our trellises with bright, cheery colors, which helps remind our neighbors not to step on baby bushes as they are growing.

During this season's stay-at-home time, families have picked up old vinyl banners (blank on the back side) and permanent markers to create positive message posters.  Positive messages of hope, faith and love are as important to building a healthy community as are fruits and vegetables!  One of All Peoples core values is:  We Serve Soul Food.  The community garden is a great example of how we live into that core value spiritually and nutritionally.

A few weeks ago, we put out the word to friends and partners that we would gladly accept donations of planting pots, trellis items, plant stakes and fencing items.  Friends responded to the call, safely dropped their items outside of their church, and after checking in with us, dropped them off at our garden table.  We sprayed them down and then had great fun checking out our newest treasures! 

Ladders, old kitchen racks, tomato cages, planters, wire, whirly flowers, sprinkling cans, vinyl sheets, fencing...you name it, we create with it!  Especially in times of unrest and uncertainty, creating and sharing hopeful and cheerful art in a natural space which grows heathy food brings life and peace to our neighborhood.  

If you have items for us to repurpose, please contact the church office at 414-264-1616.

Submitted by Linda Muth


Flor de jamaica - Rosa de jamaica - Te de jamaica - Frozen de jamaica...

Jamaica (pronounced huh-my-kuh) means "hibiscus,"


However it is written on the menu, I order it.  Hot. Cold. Frozen.  You can order it by the pitcher at Pizza Hut and Pollo Campero.  At fancy restaurants it is served in big goblets, and with its deep red color you might mistake it for a glass of robust burgundy. 


You can buy jamaica at the Super - crushed in tea bags or as whole dried flowers in big plastic bags.  You can often find the dried flowers in small markets and artisan shops.  I almost always have a pitcher of it in my fridge. 


Nutritionally speaking, hibiscus tea contains important vitamins and minerals (A, B1, C, E and iron).  Salvadoran grandmothers will tell you it is good for your kidneys, digestion, your liver and helps to lower your blood pressure.  These are important health benefits, but I drink it because I like it.  I recently added a new twist to my hibiscus tea after I made boiled plantains.  I think my grandma would be very proud of me for this excellent use of resources. In the US, Rosa or Flor de Jamaica is available at markets that feature foods from Latina cultures.  Many supermarkets also carry the flowers or tea bags.


Boiled Plantains with CinnamonFill a pot with water, enough so your plantains, once cut, can swim around freely. Add one large or two small sticks of cinnamon.Bring water to a boil.Peel and cut 1-3 large plantains cross-ways into chunks about 1 1/2" long.Drop the plantain chunks into the water.  Boil until very tender, but not so long that they lose their shape.Scoop the plantains out of the water, and enjoy eating them!  Sprinkle a touch of brown sugar or raw sugar over them if they are not sweet enough for your taste.Save the water, and let it cool.

Hibiscus TeaPlace about 1 cup (2 handfuls) rosas de jamaica (hibiscus roses/hibiscus flowers) in a glass jar that has a tight-fitting lid (1.5 liters)  Add a few extra if your jar is bigger.(To make this with tea bags, toss about 8-10 tea bags into the jar, depending on the size.)Pour the cooled plantain liquid with cinnamon into the jar.Add water until the jar is full.  Put on the lid.


Set the jar out in a sunny spot.  (I put mine out in the morning before I head out for the day, and take it in at night when I get back.  A couple of hours in the sun should be sufficient - in El Salvador, anyway.)

I usually enjoy my first cup warm.  If the tea seems too tart for your taste, add sugar to the whole batch while it is warm.  I do not add any extra sugar to mine.




You can strain the tea, but I find it easier just to dump the tea, flowers and cinnamon all into a plastic pitcher that has a lid with a little strainer, and just pop the whole thing into the fridge.

Chill.  The tea keeps fine for a week, probably longer, but I always drink it up in a few days.

Enjoy!  

Red Clover Tea

When the red clover plants came up next to the chive plants, we decided to encourage the clover to grow and produce flowers.  Red clover is a wonderful attractor for pollinators, and the flowers also can be used to to brew tea.

Fresh flowers can be used immediately, or the flowers can be dried to use later on.  Gently wash the flowers or brush off any dirt or insects.  Remove leaves (some people use the leaves, but they have quite a bitter taste).  Red clover can be used on its own, but we like to combine it with other garden herbs or mix it with green tea to create a tasty and healthy beverage.

Place 10-12 clover flowers into a coffee press or tea pot (you can use a strainer later to remove the flowers and herbs).  Add a big handful of fresh or dried mint.  Spearmint, peppermint or lemon mint work well.  Pour 4 cups of boiling water over the herbs.  Allow to steep 4 to 5 minutes.  Add lemon and honey to taste.

As with any herb, it is important to consult with your medical professionals to make sure that the effects of the herb do not interfere with medications which you may be taking or do not worsen a condition you may have.  As with all things, moderation is advised.  Many women in our community have found that red clover tea can help with symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes.  Some people also believe that red clover tea can help to prevent cancer and lower cholesterol.

Red clover tea - a healthy and tasty warm beverage option!

(To make ice tea, use a couple of extra flowers and brew for a longer time.  This tea drinker prefers red clover tea warm.)

Herbs available at our free farm stand