Sunshine Weekly Weeder Newsletter
24 May 2018
www.sunshinecommunitygardens.org
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Board Election Results Available Next Week
On Saturday, May 19, 2018, Board Elections were held at Sunshine Gardens. The results of the absentee ballots are still being tabulated and the overall results will be reported next week. Thanks to all of the gardeners who showed up to vote and for those who made the election process go smoothly. A special thanks to Jennifer Woertz for tabulating the results.
Donation to Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired
At the Board meeting for elections last week, a $5,000 donation was made by Sunshine Community Gardens to the School for the Blind and Visually Impaired support of the program to All Blind Children of Texas which allows blind children the necessary funds to travel to complete in sporting events.
Get Your T-Shirt Now
Sunshine Community Gardens T-shirts are now available online! They are in a variety of sizes and styles and will ship directly to your door. We are trying out this new service so that gardeners have more choices and we aren't left with a large box of unsold shirts collecting dust. We will have more designs added in the next week or so. Shirts will ship out after June 1st, so check them out and sport your new Sunshine shirts this summer!
Sunshine Community Gardens | Bonfire
Some new shirts for those of you interested in sporting some Sunshine gear this summer!. In order to avoid a surplus of t-shirts, we have decided to use this service....
Recipe Column
Bacon Okra Tomato Salad (Submitted by Suzanne Bradford)
Suzanne says: This is a recipe I found in the July 28, 2010 edition of the Austin American-Statesman, and it's the recipe that made me fall in love with okra. Before this, I wasn't a fan. Renee Studebaker used to have a wonderful column in the Statesman called "Renee's Roots," and this recipe was found in her article titled "All I Am Saying Is Give Okra a Chance." This is what Renee had to say about her recipe back in 2010: This is so simple, but so tasty, and pretty to look at too. A great light meal on a too-hot night. And given how simple it is, the ingredients should be as fresh as possible. A mealy, tasteless tomato just won't do.
Ingredients:
- A variety of garden tomatoes, e.g 2 medium heirloom tomatoes such as Cherokee Purple, sliced and 1 medium sized tomato such as Green Zebra, sliced
- 6 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
- 4 or 5 pieces of good quality, thick cut bacon, cooked crisp, drained, and broken into bite-size pieces.
- About a dozen small, tender okra pods (no more than two inches long), washed, patted dry, caps trimmed and sautéed until crisp tender (see recipe below)
- 1/4 tsp cumin powder
- 1/4 tsp cayenne powder
- Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
- Balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil (or make another vinaigrette that you like)
- Sweet basil sprig for garnish
To sauté okra: Into a heated stainless steel skillet, add 2 tsp of olive oil and 2 tsp of avocado oil (or use 2 tsp of bacon drippings instead of avocado oil for extra flavor). Tilt the pan to coat. Add whole trimmed okra and seasonings to pan and sauté over medium high heat for a couple of minutes until pods are lightly browned. Put a lid on the pan, reduce heat to medium low and cook for about 2 minutes more or until pods are bright green and tender crisp.
To assemble salad: Arrange tomatoes and bacon on two salad plates. Top with sautéed okra, drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar (or other vinaigrette), garnish with basil, and serve. Serves 2.
Variation: For a creamier dressing, whisk in a splash of buttermilk or a tiny dollop of mayo.
Suzanne says: I've been crazy about okra ever since and use it in a lot of "hash" type dishes. To find out what Renee has been up to since leaving the Statesman, you can read about her here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/renee-studebaker-39b4abb
Thank you Suzanne. Please submit your receiptes to Holly by Wednesday evening each week. If it is not your own recipe, please give attribution. If you have a photo of the prepared recipe, please feel free to attach it.
Tropical Milkweed - Good or Bad at Sunshine?
Last week's Weeder had a link to an article on possible parasitic dangers of tropical milkweed to Monarch Butterflies. Randy Thompson has provided the following cites to protect the lovely Monarchs while still continuing to grow tropical milkweed in your gardens at Sunshine. Thank you Randy!
https://monarchjointventure.org/news-events/news/qa-about-research-related-to-tropical-milkweed-and-monarch-parasites
https://texasbutterflyranch.com/2015/04/30/tropical-milkweed-ok-for-monarch-butterflies-just-cut-the-dang-stuff-down/
http://nababutterfly.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Tropical-Milkweed.pdf
Weeder Content
Please email your article or suggestion to Holly Gilman by end of day Wednesday.
Officer and Zone Coordinator Contacts - Sunshine Gardens
Officers
- President - Nick Sweeney nick.sweeney@hotmail.com
- Vice President - Marilyn Landberg marilynlandberg@utexas.edu
- Secretary - Polly Porter pporter_scg@austin.rr.com
- Treasurer - Caroline Limaye scgtreasurer1@gmail.com
- Director - Bill Cason wccason@gmail.com
- Director - Lori Dobbin loridobbin@gmail.com
- Director - Randy Thompson jartdaht@gmail.com
Email the board.
Zone Coordinators
- Zone 1, Jasmine Baker austinjasmine@gmail.com
- Zone 2, Wayne Kuenstler wckuenstler@gmail.com
- Zone 3, Ludmila Voskov lvoskov@austin.rr.com
- Zone 4, Ila Falvey ila.falvey@gmail.com
- Zone 5, Mary Gifford mgifford@austin.rr.com
- Zone 6, Charlotte Jernigan charlotte@cybermesa.com
- Zone 7, Maria and Philip Wiley m.stroeva@gmail.com, philip9wiley@gmail.com
- Zone 8, Shannon Posern sposern@hotmail.com
- Zone 9, Kerry Howell casonhowell@gmail.com
- Zone 10, Christopher Schroder
christopher.s.schroder@gmail.com &
Karl Arcuri karl.w.arcuri@gmail.com
Other Personnel
- Weekly Weeder Newsletter - Holly Gilman hollyjgilman@gmail.com
- Plant Sale - Randy Thompson & Janet Adams jartdaht@gmailcom
- TSBVI Liaison & Volunteer Coordinator - Janet Adams jartdaht@gmailcom
- Plot Assignment - Kay McMurry scg.plots@gmail.com
- Compost Coordinator - Janet Adams jartdaht@gmail.com
- Education Committee - Shannon Posern shannonposern@gmail.com
- Carpentry & Repairs - Robert Jarry r.jarry@sbcglobal.net
- Water Leak Repairs - Steve Schulz sschulz784@aol.com
- Tools & Wheelbarrows - Bob Easter beaster1@austin.rr.com
- Kitchen Supplies - Anita Keese
anodekraft1@msn.com
(If supplies are needed for events, contact by email or at 512-773-2178) - Compost Tea - Jennifer Woertz jen@enjeneer.com
- Micah 6 - Dana Kuykendall kuykendall@austin.rr.com
- Micah 6 - Mary Gifford mgifford@austin.rr.com
- Website Coordinator - Sharon Rempert scgardenweb@gmail.com
- Spanish language contact - Andriana Prioleau gabp8dec65@hotmail.com
Record Service Hours Online - Green Binder