EDIBLE GARDENS

Growing your own food is nutritious, thrifty and green

By Beth Clark

Remember that moment in the movie Clueless when Cher Horowitz reaches out of her window and plucks a lemon from a tree for her tea? As laughable as a reference to that ‘90s hit movie may sound, the truth is most of us would love to have that kind of relationship with our food: fresh, within arm’s reach, flavorful and free of charge.

Well, you can have that kind of experience by creating an edible garden.

The farm-to-table movement isn't just for restaurants; it's an experience you can have at home. Indeed, some of the food on your table could come from your farm. Does that seem a little farfetched? Jason Starnes and Moe Hemmings believe that creating an edible garden at your home is easier than you think.

Hemmings is a senior horticulturist at the Atlanta Botanical Garden (ABG), and Starnes is the executive chef at Sundial Restaurant at the Westin Peachtree Plaza in Downtown. What do these two have in common? The ABG has teamed up with influential chefs around Atlanta, like Starnes, to host the demonstration series Fresh Plates and the Well-Seasoned Chef, aimed to both feed you and change the way you relate to food.

Harvesting in-season vegetables and fruits from ABG's 11,520 square foot edible garden, these four-course events take place throughout the summer and fall, and offer an intimate chance to watch and interact with chefs as they prepare creative dishes for you. You soon come to realize how much of the meal was grown a mere few feet away.

Edible gardens focus on plants of all kinds that you can eat: examples include herbs like rosemary and basil, vegetables like peppers and kale, bushes of raspberries and muscadines, and trees like persimmon and fig. If you want to start your own garden, here are a few tips from Starnes and Hemmings:

• Start small. Consider your time and space available and then select edibles that fit what you are able to take on.

Eco-Briefs

The Blue Heron Nature Preserve will host Second Saturday Safari: Identifying Amphibian Species in Metro Atlanta on Sept. 13 from 10 a.m. to noon at the preserve in Buckhead, 4055 Roswell Road. RSVP to (678) 315-0836. The cost is $10 per person, and registration forms are available at bhnp.org.

Mark Mandica from the Atlanta Botanical Garden will help visitors spot the local amphibians, plus there will be a chance to learn about volunteer opportunities with the new Metro Atlanta Amphibian Monitoring Program. Anyone interested in frogs and salamanders, and learning how to identify frogs by call is encouraged to attend.

Tailgate for Trees will be held on Sept. 12 at 7 p.m. at the Trees Atlanta Kendeda Center, 225 Chester Ave. SE. At the event, you will find your favorite tailgating activities, catering by Ibiza Bites, and silent auction featuring rare and unusual plants and trees. The auction will also feature woodcrafts and art pieces by local artist. Tickets are $50 for individuals.

• Grow what you'll eat. Don’t grow radishes if you hate them.

• Get creative with recipes. Harvest your edibles for pasta dishes, smoothies, ice cream, sauces – whatever you can think of!

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The benefits to your nutrition, budget and stress levels – not to mention cooking skills – could be huge. And think of how enjoyable it will be to have friends over for a dinner filled with ingredients lovingly grown by you.

For more about the edible gardens demonstration series, visit AtlantaBotanicalGarden.org.

Beth Clark is a writer and dancer living in Atlanta. Curiosity is her compass, and this city has irrevocably stolen her heart. Find more of her explorations at thecitydweller.me.

The Atlanta Audubon Society (AAS) will host its annual Backyard Wildlife Sanctuary Tour on Sept. 13 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The tour will feature five properties located along an 18.5-mile route between Dunwoody, Sandy Springs, Peachtree Corners and Berkeley Lake. Tickets may be purchased online at AtlantaAudubon.org. Tickets are $15 for AAS members and $20 for non-members. The tour is free for children aged 12 and under accompanied by a paying adult. Once purchased online, you can pick up your tickets at any of the sites you visit. You can also purchase tickets the day of the tour at any of the tour sites. All proceeds will support the education and conservation efforts of Atlanta Audubon Society.

Park Pride will celebrate its 25th Anniversary with The Picnic for Parks in Historic Fourth Ward Park on Sept. 18. The Picnic will commemorate all the corporate partners, volunteers, funders, and community members that have been allies to both Park Pride and to Atlanta’s greenspace since 1989. Join Honorary Co-Chairs, Frank and Liz Blake and Michael and Lovette Russell as we enjoy a Southern Picnic Supper by Chef Linton Hopkins of Restaurant Eugene and Holman and Finch Public House. Tickets are on sale now at parkpride.org.

Art on the Atlanta BeltLine returns this fall for its fifth year and will feature nearly 100 works of visual and performing art from Sept. 6 through Nov. 15. Selected installations include works of sculpture, dance, murals, theater, outdoor concerts, parades, performance art and more to be featured along the paved and interim trails of the BeltLine.

The exhibition kicks off with Lantern Parade on Sept. 6 at 7:30 p.m. Thousands will line up along the BeltLine between Irwin Street and DeKalb Avenue, where a tailgate party will also be going on. The parade will step off at 8:30 p.m. with The Seed & Feed Marching Abominables leading the way. Along the 2-mile route to Piedmont Park, more people and music will join in including the Black Sheep Ensemble, Mausuki Scales & Common Ground Collective and Wasted Potential Brass Band.

The full schedule of performers and events for the run of Art on the BeltLine hadn’t been released at press time, so visit art.beltline.org to find out everything happening for this year’s event.

Clockwise from top: “A Resting Place” mural by Kyle Brooks; “Moving Elements” by Ana Maria Paramos; residents take part in the Lantern Parade along the Eastside Trail; “Dual Nature” by Cecilia Lueza.