Growing Power Workshop at Lynchburg Grows

Will Allen of Growing Power, a recent MacArthur Fellowship Recipient, came to Lynchburg Grows last weekend to talk about urban gardening. LG asked me to donate my time to do the food, and so 4 of us (Keith, Addison, Thadd, and I) set to work getting a lot done with very little time or money. I had about a week-and-a-half’s notice to plan and cook, and had to work 4 of those days. The budget was tiny, and there was a stated goal to source as much locally as possible.

It was a zoo, but it went off spectacularly well!

Above: my most requested recipe of the event (see sidebar) was Three-Potato salad, with gold, sweet, and redskin potatoes dressed in a vinegar, oil & sea salt dressing with fresh garlic, rosemary, and thyme. Below: fresh ciabatta rolls made by Thadd. No par-baking here! These are hand-kneaded from scratch.

Above: Vegetarian lasagna, with hand-made noodles and sauce.

There was 100% gress-fed beef from Pannill’s Gate Farms, fresh ground & roast coffee from World Bean Roasthers, amazing breakfast smoked turkey & veggie casseroles from Keith & Addison’s children’s fresh eggs, local bagels from Bagel’licious (I can’t find their website, so if you know it, please send it to me!), fresh homemade applesauce, organic salad, vegan black bean burgers with baba ganoush sauce, creamy apple & peach oatmeal, and more.

Thanks to everyone who helped out and made it great. If you’re interested in any of my producers, just drop me a line and I’ll get you in contact with them if there’s no website listed here! You can see more of the food and read some of the story behind it here!