La Casa Grande Colectiva

Tag: tasty

  • volunteer on student farm: get tons of free veggies

    I went this morning to help on the new student farm located south of campus. The farm’s manager, Zack, showed me and a group of volunteers around as we helped out harvesting.
    packing squash
    The produce from the farm is sold to University Dining Services and goes to feed kids living in the dorms. The student farm is part sponsored by the dining halls and part by the College of ACES.  This is the FIRST year planting crops and they’re supplying a lot of food to the dorms.
    squash

    basil harvest
    We picked mostly squashes but some basil and parsley too.
    zack on the van
    That’s Zack on the back of the van that Dining Services gave to the project.
    take away from volunteering at the student farm
    The best part is that after a few hours of work, they let you take home as many veggies as you can carry! My roommates will be happy when they get home.

  • paw paws, awesome

    The paw paw genus (asimina) contain the largest edible fruit indigenous to this continent (says wikipedia).  They apparently taste like a cross between a banana, a mango, and a pineapple. I’ve just begun learning about paw paws and recently was at a paw paw forest about an hour away.
    Paw paw forest
    The big leaves give the plant away, but the fruit are even more distinguishable.
    Paw paw fruit
    Paw paws a very fascinating, I would recommend the wikipedia entry as a good introduction. Kentucky State University is building a great website for paw paw information and research of which there is surprisingly little. Compared to standard orchard fruits, not a lot of people are working with paw paws because they have a very short shelf life. For the backyard orchardist who doesn’t have to worry about shipping and storage, the paw paw could be an easy delicacy. Due to the fact that they’re indigenous, they are extremely pest resistant.

    There’s one paw paw on the Urbana Fruit Map in someone’s yard and they’re not overhanging the sidewalk (yet), so don’t take any!

    Paw paws grow densely in the understory layer. Next time you take a ride down Washington St stop and take a look at the beautiful trees with the big leaves.