Garden to Table

Garden to Table: Add a Little Homegrown to your Cooking

By: Kaitlin Wille The phrase “cooking at home” often brings warm feelings to many. The familiarity, tradition, and serenity all give an island to jump on amid a turbulent week.

With the pandemic, cooking at home has taken on a whole new meaning. As more people avoid large crowds at restaurants, we have found inventive ways to make food. In the comfort of our own homes, we have whipped up new coffee, made the most out of three-ingredient recipes, and got creative with our presentation ways.

“Homegrown, Homelovin’” is all about celebrating the things we love about cooking at home and doing so in an organic way. One way to think outside the box is to grow food at home.

We teamed up with horticulturists at Iowa State University and some local farmers to learn how to garden for the kitchen. The one thing they both wholeheartedly agree on; nothing beats a homegrown tomato.

Aaron Steil, assistant director at Reiman Gardens, advises starting small when growing edible gardens.

“Tomatoes are great for starting a garden because of their diversity. You can grow stuff you can’t find in a store with a simple seed,” Steil said, “My kids grew some, and I’m pretty confident they only took the first bite because they did it themselves.”

Gardening is easy enough for kids and rewarding enough for the effort. Gardening has increased since the pandemic to combat food insecurity and promote wellbeing.

A Canadian study published in a sustainability journal found that “66% of new home food gardeners agree that the current pandemic influenced their decision to start producing food at home.”

1) Directly sow the seed into a small container with soil a) This could be a reused yogurt container or egg carton b) Poke holes in the bottom for drainage 2) Use a good potting soil 3) Plan them to grow by the first frost-free date (say that five times fast!) a) Typically the first week in May b) Sow six weeks before that 4) Keep consistent moisture 5) Use a window or fluorescent light 6) Short and stocky equals high quality 7) Be patient!

“If the pandemic means we stay at home, why not give gardening a try?” Steil said, “It’s low risk and high reward.”

If you don’t have space and resources for an at-home garden, there are other options. On the outskirts of Ames, Iowa, Onion Creek Farm thrives as a Farm to Folk Community Supported Agriculture production.

Owner Lonna Nachtigal has always loved gardening and wanted to grow vegetables for the local market. She later met chef Donna Prizgintas, and the two formed a likely partnership; the townie looking for the unreplicable taste of homegrown food and the farmer looking for a way to make food more local.

The two now have their own radio show, DonnaLonna Kitchen, to discuss their organic way of eating on air.

“Eating is an agricultural act,” said Prizgintas, “Even if you are not a grower, you are part of the system.”

Getting to know a farmer is a great way to get the same taste of that unique, juicy tomato while promoting community-supported agriculture. If you can’t manage farm-to-table, you can do farm-to-folk.

“Iowa is an agricultural powerhouse, and ISU is at the center of the marketplace,” Nachtigal said.

Even here on campus, locally grown food remains a priority. Newly elected Iowa State University Student Government President and Vice President Julia Campbell and Megan Decker highlight in one of their crucial platform points how they plan to increase locally sourced food.

“11% of food provided by ISU dining is locally sourced. Partnering with local producers as well as Iowa State greenhouses allows economic growth to remain in the local economy and reduce carbon emissions by traveling expenses,” according to their website.

Growing food takes time and a growing season. Start small, pick something that you like, and tend it. Visit Reiman Gardens, listen to DonnaLonna Kitchen on Tuesdays at noon, and encourage your student body officials. Most importantly, give gardening a try and promote locally grown food to stay homegrown and homelovin’.