Fire Fighter Grows Community Through Gardening

A fruit tree in bloom at the fire house

Firefighter paramedic Mike Robbins, not only serves our community of Mountain View, California,  by risking his life to save others, but he serves up fresh vegetables to his teammates through his love of gardening. Mike established an edible garden with vegetables and fruit trees at Mountain View Fire Station 1, that not only provides fresh produce for the station's meals together, but he also shares the bounty with the neighbors in his residential location near downtown.

I met Mike when he and his fellow fire fighters dropped into the Chez TJ kitchen garden last Spring to chat about our mutual passion for growing food. What a great idea to have an edible garden at a fire station - because as Mike has found, it's also therapeutic and relaxing to work in the garden.

Firefighter and EMT Joe Wortham in the firehouse garden

For those in stressful jobs, the activity of growing and sharing food together is certainly nurturing, nourishing, and sustaining in many ways. I dropped by the fire house recently to how the garden was coming along and to say hello. Mike had been deployed elsewhere for the day, but I met his crewmates, Joe Worthman and Steve Desirio, both fire fighters and EMTs (paramedics). 

They were happy to show me the garden, and I even cajoled one of these camera shy heroes, (Joe) into a photo. Apparently the urban legend about all fire fighters being handsome heartthrobs is true, as you can see for yourself in the photo above. Fire fighter Steve Desirio is an avid gardener at his home in San Francisco, where he grows edibles all year-round (in the fog, no less) and even starts his veggies from seed. They both gave abundant credit to Mike by saying that the garden is all his doing.


You can read an engaging article about Mike and his garden on California Bountiful Magazine.

A big thank you to Mike and his crewmates for their service to our community!

Photo: Patricia Larenas, Urban Artichoke.

Fava Shoots: From Garden to Plate

Fava shoots have become popular, and I think it's a great way to get the most out of a powerhouse cool-season vegetable. Fava plants grow big and vigorously, so eating the young leaves in a saute or lightly steamed is taking good advantage of this hardy legume. I noticed that my local farmer's market had bundles of them for sale last year in the spring.

Fava Shoots Fit for High Cuisine
At the Chez TJ restaurant garden the fava beans my son and I planted last fall are now about a 3 feet high and looking lush. The funny thing is that Executive Chef Jarad Gallagher and his staff are raiding the young leaves from the tender plants for the restaurant.

Head gardener Louise Christy remarked that they might prevent flowers from forming and therefore won't get beans come springtime. But we are always happy when the kitchen garden gets used by the staff, whether it's for the restaurant or for their own meals, and we welcome creative uses of the edibles!

Pretty fava flowers attract bees in my winter garden

Simple Saute with Fava Leaves 
Pick shoots of fresh young leaves (usually found towards the top) to saute with olive oil as you would for spinach, or ask for them at your farmer's market. They taste a bit like like fresh green peas.

The flowers are also tasty in salads, but I hate picking them because that means less beans- and when it comes to favas I'm greedy!

This spring try a simple salad of  fava beans with new potatoes  

Planning for Spring Fava Harvest
In my home garden I have my usual fava plantings in both front and back yards and they are full of flowers. Fava beans love our mild winters on the SF Peninsula and I always make sure we have plenty of tender tasty beans in spring, but I think I'll go ahead enjoy a few shoots while I wait.

For fava recipes, including soup, and tips on growing them click here.
For the fava spring salad recipe, go here.

Photos: Patricia Larenas, Urban Artichoke

Kale Season at the Chez TJ Potager

This fall I'm obsessing over kale. It began when I tasted a shredded raw kale salad made right out in the garden last spring. It was simply dressed with lemon, tamari, and sesame seeds. Strawberries added a bright garnish and flavor. It made an impression on me, so when fall approached I planned to test a few different varieties, and sowed some flats for seedlings.

Kale Likes it Cool
Kale is a cool weather crop that can be grown fall through spring in the temperate San Francisco Bay Area. It tolerates frost, as does lettuce, broccoli, cabbage and Swiss chard. Plant these in the early fall to enjoy over the winter. Cold weather and frost are said to contribute to better flavor and texture for kale.

A Rainbow of Kale 
At the Chez TJ kitchen potager, I harvested our first Lacinato Rainbow kale crop for the kitchen a few days ago. The seedlings were planted in September and they grew quickly. This pretty kale has beautiful purple-pink stems and tender frilly leaves; it's a handsome plant for the winter garden. 

I discovered that it is a hybrid made by Frank Morton who crossed Tuscan kale, (also known as Lacinato or Dinosaur kale) with Redbor kale. It looks very much like Red Russian kale. This caused some confusion, as at first I thought it had been mislabeled!

Lacinato Rainbow Kale is a cross between Tuscan and Redbor kales 

This weekend I added Tuscan kale to the garden (Dinosaur kale) that I grew from seeds at home. 

Tuscan kale is also called Dinosaur or Lacinato kale

Tuscan kale has evenly dark green, elongated leaves that have a pebbly suface. It's tender and flavorful - a popular item at my farmer's market.

Ornamental kale 

The beautiful purple, pink, and gray-green ornamental kale above is planted in my front yard bed among lettuce, onions and Red Russian kale - it makes a striking centerpiece. Ornamental kale is edible, but don't eat it if it wasn't grown organically, as it may have been sprayed with pesticides and cultivated with synthetic fertilizers.

Simple Kale Saute
A simple way to enjoy kale is to saute it in olive oil over low heat:
1. Thinly slice a bunch of kale (that has been rinsed in water  first) crosswise, leaving the stems for the compost pile.

2. Saute a clove of chopped garlic for a few minutes in the olive oil, then add the sliced kale. Toss it gently while cooking to make sure it cooks evenly. Taste after a few minutes to test if it's done enough to your liking. 

3. Season with a sprinkle of kosher salt, and add a few drops of lemon or balsamic vinegar before serving, if desired. 

You can also toss the sauteed kale with cooked pasta or rice and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds. This dish is good cold or warm, and thinly sliced red sweet pepper is a nice addition for color and bright fresh flavor. Or serve tender white beans on a bed of sauteed kale (below).

Sauteed kale with Italian Butter beans

Photos: Patricia Larenas, Urban Artichoke