Greetings hearty Northwesterners!
While the sun is still hit-and-miss around here, the plants are shooting up without reservations (this goes for the weeds maybe most of all!) and we’ve got a jam-packed few weeks of workshops and specials at the co-op to help you make the most of planting season.
Visit our website for a peek at top deals and best sellers and while you’re there, please check out the proposed changes in by-laws. Voting on the by-laws ends tomorrow, just in time for our annual General Meeting, in Room 309 at 6pm. Please join us at the meeting to hear how your Co-op is doing!
We enjoyed Earth Month immensely, with thanks to the students at Westview Elementary for their great work on the decorated shopping bags and congratulations go to 11 year old Rose, who won a mountain bike for her entry in the Earth Month raffle contest.
Now…on to gardens of all kinds….and free workshops galore! You can read further descriptions on each of these workshops at http://skagitfoodcoop.com/workshops.html, and you’ll need to scroll down the page a bit to get to the offerings for mid-May.
*Tonight at 6:30 – Casey Shoenberger is giving a presentation on Perennial Food in Room 309: we’ll learn what grows well here and discuss good disease and pest resistant varieties for the organic gardener.
*Thursday the 14th at 6:30pm in Rm 309 – Jayne Uerling presents Reducing the Carbon Footprint of your Food: Garden Basics 101
*Friday the 15th at 6:30 pm in Room 309 – Patricia Herlevi leads us through the world of Animal Totems – archetypal energies that you can call upon to help you in your daily life and dreaming.
* Sat the 16th at 11am in the Co-op parking lot – Callie Martin will lead us through the wonderful world of worm bins and composting
Also on Friday the 15th, the Co-op will be hosting a booth at the Skagit Valley College Sustainability Fair! Come say hi and check out a great line up of events, including the first of TWO Green Drinks Skagit in May:
Skagit Valley College’s Mount Vernon campus will hold its 5th annual
Sustainability Fair on May 15 from 12-8. The fair features speakers, lots of
exhibits and demonstrations, free bicycle check-ups and tune-ups, food,
and music from Dana Lyons, the Prozac Mtn Boys, and Scratch Daddy.
Join us after work, from 5:30 – 7:30 for Green Drinks, an opportunity
for sustainable conversations! Local wine and beer will be featured.
Food will be available from Adrift Restaurant, where the focus is on
local food deliciously prepared, and Reverie BBQ, who owners have
performed much public service in our community. There will also be music
by local bands.
In the lead up to Friday, there are a few other speakers:
On Tuesday, May 12, Dr. William Calvin from the UW Climate Impacts
Group will give a talk entitled “Our Climate Fix Must Be Big and Quick”
at 12:30pm. A book signing of Dr. Calvin’s book Global Fever: How to
Treat Climate Change will follow the talk.
And at 10:30am on Thursday, May 14 Rosie Cayou from the Samish Nation
will give a talk on Salish Foods for the Spirit and Soul.
For more information call 360.416.7609 or visit their info page online http://www.skagit.edu/directory.asp_Q_pagenumber_E_452
Tune in next week to our radio interview on KSVR’s Speak Up Speak Out program at 5pm Wednesday, on Gardens of All Kinds. This teaser for next week’s Speaker Series on Thursday May 21st at 6:30pm will feature interviews from Callie Martin, Jayne Uerling, and Betty Carteret from the Anacortes Community Garden, a project of Skagit Beat the Heat, as well as Co-op-made seasonal Skagit Soup. This evening is free, please mark your calendar and invite a friend to come along. We hope to see you there!
Now for something to tempt your belly – this recipe has been a big hit at the Cooking Basics: Grains classes that we’ve been hosting.
Once you’ve got the chicken ready, it takes literally 6 minutes to prepare if you want to serve it warm, and is quite tasty served either hot or cold.
Thanks go to Jill Dodge, for dreaming up and sharing the yumminess!
CHICKEN AND COUSCOUS SALAD
3 c. chicken broth
1 1/2 c. couscous
1 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
1/2 tsp. thyme
2-3 c. snow peas, or frozen green peas, thawed
4-5 scallions, thinly sliced (into some of the greens)
1 1/2 c. diced cooked chicken
2 tbsp. raisins
2 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. curry powder
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Pinch of red pepper flakes
1/4 c. chopped nuts
In a medium size saucepan, bring the broth to a boil, add the couscous, parsley, and thyme and cook the mixture for 30 seconds. Remove the pan from the heat, cover it and let the couscous stand for 5 minutes.
If peas are fresh, steam them until just tender. (Do not cook frozen ones, just thaw them.) Place the peas in a large bowl; add the scallions, chicken and raisins. Pour the hot couscous over the chicken mixture and toss to combine them well.
In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice, curry, oil, black and red pepper. Pour this mixture over the couscous mixture and refrigerate for 1 hour. Sprinkle the salad with nuts before serving.
This is a salad, but can be served as a main dish as it has protein, carbohydrates, and vegetables all in 1 dish. Great for summertime.
