Podcasts about edible academy

On this week's episode of Fields, Melissa (Wythe was away on jury duty) speaks with the multi-talented Annie Novak.Annie is the co-founder of Eagle Street Rooftop Farm, the director of Growing Chefs, a nonprofit that provides food education in schools and the community, the manager of the Edible Academy at the New York Botanical Garden, and the author of The Rooftop Growing Guide: How to Transform Your Roof into a Vegetable Garden or Farm. Annie began her journey into growing with commodity chain analysis (where does food come from, and where does it go?), by working at greenmarkets, and by learning from farmers in Upstate New York. She still stresses a regional perspective, emphasizing the importance of rural farms. Of course, she still loves botanical gardens and urban farms for their social impacts and educational offerings. Today, much of Annie's work focuses on education. At the Edible Academy at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, she offers children and adults first-hand experiences with plants and fungi in a vegetable garden and a greenhouse.Melissa and Annie dive into how trees communicate, the metaphors we use to talk about plants and fungi, how they relate to each other and to us, and the need for “tenderness toward nonhuman things.” The two discuss creating biodiverse farm ecosystems and revisit the idea of seeds as time travelers. Annie offers a profound appreciation for the nonhuman living world. It's a deep conversation, and one you won't want to miss!Photo courtesy of Naima Green.Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Fields by becoming a member!Fields is Powered by Simplecast.

It's Pickling Weekend at the New York Botanical Garden. Toby Adams, director of the NYBG's Edible Academy, joins us to talk about what brinetastic events are happening, why -- and how -- to get started pickling, and what the Edible Academy does.

Do I need a soil test? And what kind of amendments should I be adding to my vegetable beds or containers to get things off to a good start? And how can I fine tune my composting this year to optimize results? Those are some of the timely questions I covered with Annie Novak, manager of the Edible Academy at the New York Botanical Garden.  Annie is also founder and director of Growing Chefs, a field-to-fork food education program, and co-founder of Eagle Street Rooftop Farm in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Plus, she wrote “The Rooftop Growing Guide.” Annie will be one of the expert presenters at the upcoming Workshop Experience Weekend, May 7th and 8th, in the Hudson Valley of New York that I'm helping organize.

Mr. Adams is responsible for the site management, daily operations, programming, budgeting, long range planning, and supervision of staff and volunteers at the Edible Academy. Mr. Adams joined the Garden as a Science Education Intern at the GreenSchool in 2001. He was hired as the Coordinator of the Everett Children's Adventure Garden in 2002, and was promoted to manager of the Family Garden in 2005. He became Director of the Edible Academy in 2012. Mr. Adams was instrumental in the development of the new campus, including the design, new garden configurations, new program concepts, and staffing structures. Mr. Adams collaborated with NYBG's Professional Learning colleagues to develop and implement three teacher institutes dedicated to school gardening, and has executed several grants with local partner organizations to promote garden- education and nutrition education. Mr. Adams has presented at numerous local and national conferences dedicated to youth and garden-based education, and is involved in NYC area advisory panels focused on promoting health and wellness, garden-based education, and food education. When not involved in garden-based education at NYBG, Toby can be found watching soccer or riding a surfboard, two sports he has spent most of his life pursuing in his free time. Mr. Adams earned a B.S. in Biology from SUNY Geneseo. Hearty Black Bean Soup Ingredients; 2-1/2 cups dried Black Beans 6 cups water 2 Bay leaves 2 cloves garlic 2 onions, chopped 2 carrots, diced 1 celery stalk, diced ½ red pepper, chopped ½ yellow pepper, chopped ½ cup cilantro, chopped fine for garnish 2 t. cumin 1 t. oregano 2 t. salt 1 t. pepper 2” piece kombu _____________________________________________________________ Directions; 1. Wash and Drain beans, place in pressure cooker with 6 cups water, 2 cloves garlic, 2 Bay leaves, kombu, oregano, and cumin. Set pressure cooker for 20 min. (or in large stock pot for 2 hours or longer, until soft) 2. Meanwhile, in stock pot, sauté onions, carrots, celery and peppers in olive oil until soft. 3. When beans are done, remove bay leaves and kombu. Using an immersion blender, puree the beans until smooth. 4. Add the veggies to the beans. Add 2 t. of salt, 1 t. pepper. 5. Taste and adjust spices to your liking. Add more salt and/or cumin if desired. 6. Add approx. ½ cup cilantro. 7. When serving, garnish each bowl with chopped red onion, a little cilantro and cashew cream (recipe for cashew cream below) 8. Serve with tortilla chips. Cashew Cream Recipe- puree until smooth, ½ cup of soaked cashews with ½ cup of water and juice from ½ lime. Salt to taste, Serve as garnish on soup.

So excited to welcome Toby Adams, the Director of the Edible Academy for the New York Botanical Garden onto the show to talk all things vegetable gardening! The NYBG Edible Academy is a state-of-the-art educational facility featuring hands-on activities and innovative programs that help children, families, teachers, and the general public learn about growing and preparing vegetables, fruit, and herbs while encouraging a lifelong interest in gardening, nutrition awareness, and environmental stewardship. Toby has worked at the NYBG for almost 20 years, and has a passion for helping people understand how to grow food- as you’ll see in our interview. We don't talk a lot of about herbs because I've already done an Herb Garden 101 episode with a horticulturalist from NYBG on another episode! If you are interested in growing herbs check out Episode 22: Windowsill Herb Gardening 101 I’ve been taking a lot of online courses in this time of isolation and spending a lot of time focusing on what I will grow on my tiny balcony garden this spring and summer. The New York Botanical Garden has an unbelievable array of online courses and even have a Horticulture Certificate degree you can complete! I've taken several NYBG courses and am totally hooked! The first course I took was Fundamentals of Gardening and I’m currently enrolled in the virtual Soil Science 101 class. Plant friends… I am loving these classes so much, as I’m finding they are teaching me the underlying reasons behind so many basic plant care techniques I know. Learn with me! I’ll be taking Intro to Plant Science with the NYBG  starting April 23rd and I’d love for you to join me! I cannot WAIT to dive into the scientific processes our plants go through that I don’t quite understand and would love to have you in class with me! In case this episode gets you excited and you want to learn more about vegetable gardening, they also have four virtual courses focusing on vegetable gardening coming up! Rooftop Gardening (Starts April 22) Mastering the Art of Tomato Gardening (April 23) Vegetable Gardening Saturday (April 25) Super Small Space Veggie Gardening (Starts April 28) In this episode we learn: Maria's overview of the main takeaways she took from her Fundamentals of Gardening Class Annual vs Perennial Compost vs Mulch Basic Garden Design Strategies What is the Edible Academy at NYBG and how is it reconnect kids with food What are the Fundamentals of Vegetable Gardening Understanding what you want to grow Understanding what you CAN grow Understanding your growing conditions The pluses and minuses to container gardening vs bed gardening Best soil to use for vegetables and herbs How to assess your garden sunlight General fertilizing guidelines Easy to grow Spring edibles: Lettuce, Radishes, Sugar Snap Peas Easy to grow Summer edibles: tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, beans What not to grow (and why) Why everyone should try vegetable gardening this year Mentioned in the episode: Take the Plant Parent Personality Test!:  Unlock your Plant Parent Potential by taking the test below and get curated recommendations for plants, projects and resources inspired by your lifestyle. NYBG Online Courses Intro to Plant Science (Starts April 23 and I'll be taking it!) Rooftop Gardening (Starts April 22) Mastering the Art of Tomato Gardening (April 23) Vegetable Gardening Saturday (April 25) Super Small Space Veggie Gardening (Starts April 28) All of NYBG's virtual content, including a link to online classes, can be accessed through NYBG at Home USDA Hardiness Zones: enter your zip code in the map here to find yours! Soil Testing: find your local cooperative agent for testing guidelines Thank you to this week's episode sponsors! For more information on Modern Sprout's amazing *NEW* line of indoor grow lights and adorable and innovative hydroponic grow kits, seed starter kits, seed pops, planty accessories and more visit www.modernsprout.com and use code "15BLOOM" at checkout for 15% off.  For responsibly made, fabulous indoor and outdoor organic soils, fertilizers, pest control sprays and more visit espoma.com to find your local dealer or check out my amazon storefront of my favorite Espoma products here. Follow The New York Botanical Garden: IG: www.instagram.com/nybg Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NYBotanicalGarden/ www.nybg.org Follow Maria and Bloom and Grow Radio: Take the Plant Parent Personality Test!:  Unlock your Plant Parent Potential by taking the test below and get curated recommendations for plants, projects and resources inspired by your lifestyle. Support Bloom and Grow Radio by becoming a Plant Friend on Patreon! Instagram and Facebook: @BloomandGrowRadio Subscribe to the Bloom and Grow Youtube Show! /Bloomandgrowradio Website: www.bloomandgrowradio.com Join the (free) Garden Club: www.bloomandgrowradio.com/garden-club  

Spring is finally here, and we're kicking off the growing season with a Please Explain that’s all about urban agriculture and city gardens! Find out the best ways to maximize your green space - whether it’s a window box, rooftop plot or a community garden. We’ll also look at the city’s growing rooftop-farm movement, discuss public garden spaces and find out why rooftop gardens are an ecological necessity in our urban landscape. Joining us is Annie Novak, co-founder and head farmer of the nation’s first commercial green roof row farm, Eagle Street Rooftop Farm in Brooklyn. She’s also the manager of the Edible Academy at New York Botanical Garden, founder and director of Growing Chefs and author of The Rooftop Growing Guide. We’ll also be joined by Gerard Lordahl, Director of Open Space Greening Program at GrowNYC, a non-profit which operates local environmental programs, including the city Greenmarkets.  Send us your questions in a comment below, or let us know on Twitter or Facebook!

This week on Feast Yr Ears , host Harry Rosenblum is on the line with Annie Novak, the head farmer and cofounder of the nation’s first commercial green roof vegetable farm, the Eagle Street Rooftop Farm atop Broadway Stages in Brooklyn, as well as the manager of the Edible Academy at the New York Botanical Garden, and founder and director of Growing Chefs, a field-to-fork food education program. Her new book “The Rooftop Growing Guide” is a stylish, easy-to-use book for urban gardeners interested in utilizing their roof space for growing food. Tune in to hear her food and life story plus highlights from the book!

Interview with Annie Novak, the Brooklyn-based horticulturalist, rooftop farmer, and author. Annie is founder and director of Growing Chefs, a field-to-fork food education program; Manager of the Edible Academy at the New York Botanical Garden, and co-founder and farmer of Eagle Street Rooftop Farm in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Her writings have been published in The Atlantic, Diner Journal, and others, and she has a book coming out! It’s called The Rooftop Growing Guide: How to Transform Your Roof into a Vegetable Garden or Farm, and it comes out in early 2016. This episode has a few literary and cultural references thrown in - it’s all detailed in the show notes at tastygrinds.com. Hosted by Dabney Gough. Theme music by Tyler McMahon.

Ignore the recent chilly blast of weather, spring is here and so are the blooms. Some of those cheerful flowers aren’t just a treat for the eye—they’re tasty, too. Violas are one edible variety. They’re part of the pansy family, and you can find them at farmers markets now. “Fresh flowers are one of the few things that you’ll be hard pressed to find packaged in a store,” says Annie Novak, a rooftop farmer and co-founder of Eagle Street Rooftop Farm. “So really the pleasure of eating a flower garnish is you can almost guarantee it’s coming right out of a garden nearby.” Novak is also the manager of the New York Botanical Garden’s Edible Academy, where she works to teach children about the connection between gardening and healthy eating. She points out that, as a children’s educator, edible flowers like violas are an easy way to get kids interested in food. Even simple tricks like floral ice cubes (directions below) can be an incentive for them to stay hydrated. For the adults, the appeal of eating violas is also simple. “They’re one of the easiest ways to make a very simple dish appear quite fancy,” says Novak. Naturally, not all flowers are edible, so do your research before chomping away. (The New York Botanical Garden has this list for reference.) Novak advises the sensible step of planting only nontoxic flowers if you’re introducing your kids to edible blooms. She recommends avoiding things like angel's trumpet, which reportedly causes hallucinations. Sound advice, that. (Photo: Annie Novak with Julia and Janine Gayenelo at the New York Botanical Garden/Victor Chu) As for the rest of us worried about ingesting unexpected chemicals or pesticides, Novak recommends starting the flowers from seed or asking your plant purveyor if they were treated in any way with chemicals. “And if it was, you can wash it or pick off the flowers before you start to eat them,” Novak adds. “Picking off the flowers will actually encourage more blooms and more growth so it will work out the best.” Violas should be a hit with kids and adults alike, since they’re sweet and have a mild floral taste. “The texture is a really important part of the taste of flowers because the petals themselves are very soft,” adds Novak. “It’s a weird combination but [they have] like a crystalline, velvety, melt-in-your-mouth kind of texture. If you're looking to keep your little ones entertained this weekend, The New York Botanical Garden's Culinary Kids Food Festival has a variety of food and plant focused activities going on through Monday, April 21.  Floral Ice Cubes Ice cube tray: larger sizes work better because the ice will melt less quickly Boiled, distilled water: This makes for the clearest-looking ice cubes Edible flowers (such as violas), enough for each ice cube Fill the trays ⅓ of the way with the boiled, distilled water. Place the flowers face down in the water and freeze. Fill ⅔ of the way with more of the water, freeze. Fill to the top and freeze.