Who: Hosted by The International Wine & Food Festival

What: The Mid-Atlantic Red Fruit Festival

When: Friday, September 24, 2010 from 6-8 p.m.

Where: Woodrow Wilson Plaza at the International Trade Center and Ronald Reagan Building :: 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Why: The Mid-Atlantic Red Fruit Festival is an annual reception celebrating the spectacular regional produce of the Mid-Atlantic by pairing top area farmers with leading area chefs with enthusiastic home gardeners and cooks with tomato tastings and wine pairings. Each year the event will showcase a “red” fruit and 2010 kicks off with the TOMATO.

Of Note: We are pleased to announce The Mid-Atlantic Red Fruit Festival is the home of SEEDS TO SCHOOLS, a landmark public drive that collects and redistributes seeds to schools and community gardens in our region that have a demonstrated commitment to engaging children with life science and nutrition. SEEDS TO SCHOOLS supports the teachers and public volunteers who share the wonder of planting, nurturing, harvesting and preparing one’s own food We have also partnered with Common Good City Farm, an urban farm and education center growing food for low-income residents in Washington, DC and providing educational opportunities for all people helping to increase food security, improve health, and contribute to environmental sustainability.

Cost: $35

How To Purchase Tickets: {Tickets Will Go On Sale Soon! Please follow us on Twitter (@RedFruitFest) and Like us on Facebook to be one of the first guests to receive an invitation to this event!}

Maintaining a small local farm in an increasingly developed area of the DC suburbs is a difficult endeavor.  Eco Farms is one of DC’s last truly local farms and is in need of volunteers like you to increase its capacity.  Every Sunday, a small core group of volunteers who believe in supporting our local farms, getting outside in the sun and getting their hands dirty for a good cause come together to help Mike, the farmer, to plant, water, weed, and harvest.  With the help of this group of volunteers, this weekly effort will allow for the farm to be fully cultivated during the summer months.

Volunteers enjoy the educational component of farming, as well as the camaraderie.  Especially for individuals who are living in a city and working at desk jobs, getting outside and learning about the principles of bio-intensive agriculture, such as companion planting, etc., has significantly grown our interest in gardening back at home and in advocating for more local community gardens throughout the city.  We also have fun together!  We stick around to enjoy food together for a little bit afterwards, and to talk about things other than farming.

Wear closed toed shoes and clothes you don’t mind getting dirty; long pants helps avoid ticks but is not mandatory.  We will be meeting at 12.30, and we will work rain or shine.  We arrive at the farm at 1 pm, put on sunblock, etc., then volunteer until about 4.  Then we gather for a small meal and talk together until 5 or 5.30, and then head out back to the city, returning around 6 if by car or slightly later if we take the metro back.

There is parking available at the farm, but carpooling or taking metro is encouraged! If you plan to take metro, go to the New Carrollton stop and exit on the Kiss&Ride side (not toward Rte. 50).  We’ll pick up volunteers at the metro at 1 pm; those driving to the farm directly should plan to arrive at 1 pm as well.

All those interested in volunteering should email laura.g.toscano@gmail.com, and indicate whether they’ll need to be picked up at the metro (include your cell phone #!) or will be driving directly.

At the Neighborhood Farm Initiative, spring means planting. It means digging, fertilizing, weeding, watering, and finally, eating.

Seed it

This spring, we’ve been joined by a ton of amazing volunteers, including groups from the USDA, the Latin American Youth Center, KPMG and George Washington University’s MBA program.

Weed it: Volunteer Teshome tackles the weeds in the fennel field

Now we’re gearing up for the arrival of our Green Summer teen teams at the end of June. Along with the DC Department of Environment, DC Parks & Recreation, the Washington Youth Garden, & Thurgood Marshall Academy, we’ll train five teams of (12) 14-15 year-olds in green job skills related to urban agriculture: basic nutrition education, food preparation skills, and basic marketing. NFI will be overseeing teams at our garden site near Fort Totten (Ward 5), and at Lederer Youth Gardens in Deanwood (Ward 7).

Eat it

Although we won’t be hosting regular volunteer days until August, you’re still invited to come learn and enjoy our space. Our first Field Day of this growing season is July 10 from 10-2. Email neighborhoodfarm@gmail.com for more information or to join our email list.

Students in NFI's Gardening Education Program learn to grow their own vegetables

And our Gardening Education Program continues: Program Director Bea Trickett teaches our season-long hands-on gardening class, where first-time gardeners learn the fundamentals of organic gardening.

Our volunteers make our little farm work.

None of it is possible without energetic, engaged volunteers. From hauling compost to creating a database, we’re incredibly grateful for the time that the people of DC have donated to our project. Email neighborhoodfarm@gmail.com if you’d like to join us!

Cross-posted at DC Food for All

Wednesday June 2nd from 3-7pm, the Crossroads Farmers Market will kick off its 4th season– and we’re coming back more vibrant, more local and sustainable, and with more delicious offerings than ever before. While all your favorite faces, tastes, and sounds that give Crossroads its distinct flavor will be back, we’ve also added a bunch of new pieces to spice things up as the market continues to grow and evolve. 

Crossroads Summer Concert Series
This week, don’t miss live Bolivian music by featuring the Charango, a small stringed instrument typical of South America. Musician Samuel Ali Encinas has been performing at the Crossroads Market since 2008. Click here for a taste of what’s in store!

New Location
Don’t worry, we haven’t gone far. But we’re thrilled to reopen in our new location, 7676 New Hampshire Avenue, just across the street from the former Holton Lane location. Look for us in the front parking lot of the building!

This Saturday, May 15th, the DC Crop Mob will descend for the third time on a local sustainable farm to lend a helping hand. After two successful events in March and April, we’re ready to bring farmers and friends together at Blueberry Gardens in Ashton, MD! But first:

Report from the April Crop Mob: Mountain View Farm

Nearly 30 mobbers converged at Mountain View Farm in April to spend the day working outdoors, learning about farming and getting to know other good food lovers.  The day’s tasks included planting onions and leeks, spreading compost, weeding garlic and peas, and transplanting beets – just to name a few! With so many hands, we accomplished days’ worth of work in just a few hours, to the sincere appreciation of farmers Shawna Dewitt and Attila Agoston.

Shawna and Attila grow vegetables and free-range eggs on 3 acres of land leased from the Blue Ridge Center, a private nature preserve in Loudon County, VA.  They have been working that land for four years, farming from the start without synthetic pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers. Their two year old daughter, Ruby, accompanied us in the fields and around the farm, totally at home amongst the peas and the goats!

Our mid-day lunch break was a delicious spread of veggie and venison chilis, rice, quinoa salad, artisan breads and several homemade desserts. There are few things better than sitting down to a homemade meal after putting in a morning’s worth of good hard work!

Everyone brought a different level of farming experience. For many mobbers, this was their first or second time just being on a farm – others were former farm workers and returned Peace Corps volunteers. The only requirement to be a mobber is an interest in agriculture and willingness to get your hands dirty. No special skills are needed – we were taught how to do everything as we went along.

After our jobs were done, Shawna and Attila took us on a tour of the farm, the highlight of which was the small menagerie of livestock they keep mainly for their own use. We walked through the pasture with nanny goats and kids, the dairy cow and her calf, and the flock of laying hens. The farm is also home to a pair of rare heritage breed pigs – Guinea Hogs – who had just recently had a batch of adorable piglets.

One of the more unique items on the farm is a portable poultry processing unit – that is, a trailer that contains all the equipment you need to slaughter and process broiler chickens. They received it through a grant and rent it out at a very low cost to any other farmers that need to use it. Because slaughter facilities and equipment can be a limiting factor for many small livestock producers, this is a great asset to the local farming community.

We were even joined by a reporter from the Lancaster Farming News, who did a story on the day’s events. Check it out! All in all, it was a fabulous day. Be sure to stop and say hello at Mountain View Farm’s two farmers market stands in DC: at Penn Quarter on Thursday afternoons and at 14th & U St. on Saturday mornings.

This month’s Mob: Saturday, May 15th!

This month’s Mob is at Blueberry Gardens, an established pick-your-own organic blueberry farm in Ashton, MD. In addition to working with the berry plants, we’ll be helping with a new vegetable farm that is starting up on the same property. You’ll have the opportunity to see an established perennial fruit farm and a startup vegetable farm, all in one day.

Carpools will leave from various spots around DC at about 8:30am. We’ll be working from 9:30 to 2:30, with a lunch break in between. No experience necessary – just curiousity and willingness to help!

If you’d like to attend, email info@cropmobdc.com with your name, location and phone number, and whether you can drive or need a ride.

If you can’t make it this week, but want to stay in the loop, join the Facebook group!

Good Food, Good Jobs: Turning Food Deserts into Jobs Oases: Wednesday, May 5, 5pm Foggy Bottom FreshFarm Market. Join the Progressive Policy Institute as we present Good Food, Good Jobs: Turning Food Deserts into Jobs Oases, a policy report by Joel Berg with very special guest Tom Colicchio, Chef, Head Judge of Bravo’s Top Chef and Owner of Craft Restaurants. RSVP here.

National Public Gardens Day: Friday, May 7, 10 am–5 pm, 100 Maryland Avenue SW. The US Botanic Garden will be commemorating the national day of celebration to raise awareness of America’s public gardens and their important role in promoting environmental stewardship, education, plant conservation and water conservation nationwide. The US Botanic Garden will feature an exhibit on public gardens, distribute free sunflower seed packets for visitors and provide a sneak peak look at the Garden’s new summer exhibit on potatoes – “Spuds Unearthed! The event is free and open to the public. For more information, please visit www.PublicGardens.org.

Neighborhood Farm Initiative Plant Sales: Every Saturday from 10-2 in May, Community Forklift, 4671 Tanglewood Dr, Edmonston, MD. NFI is selling organic basil, tomato and pepper seedlings to raise funds for our programs.

Compost Happens! Workshop at Common Good City Farm: Saturday, May 8th from 11am -1pm. Learn to use your garden, yard and kitchen waste to create rich soil. We will focus on methods easy and suitable for small yards and apartments. Teacher: Kaitlin Rienzo-Stack, Master Composter since ‘05. Register Now!

GardenMart Plant Sale Saturday, May 8, 9:00am-1:00pm, Brookside Gardens Wheaton MD. The Silver Spring Garden Club’s 60th annual GardenMart Plant Sale features heirloom tomato seedlings, native plants, herbs, houseplants, and much, much more. Come early in the sale for best selection. Free event, open to the general public. Directions at http://www.brooksidegardens.org/

To subscribe to the monthly Field to Fork newsletter via email or to contribute to future newsletters, send a request to DCFieldtoFork@gmail.com.

Are you someone….
• who has never gardened before?
• with a strong desire to learn how?
• who has 3 or more hours/week to maintain your veggie garden?


The gardening education program is a season-long, hands-on training course in organic vegetable gardening.


When: Alternate Saturdays, May 8 –September 4, 10am-noon
Where: Near the Fort Totten Metro Station on the Red, Yellow, & Green Lines)
Tuition: $500 per season (payment plans & work-trade options available)


The course includes your own 12′x12′ garden plot, all materials & supplies you need to grow your garden, and bi-weekly instruction in all aspects of starting and maintaining the garden, from testing and preparing the soil to planting, maintenance, and pest management.


Please email Bea at NeighborhoodFarm@gmail.com for more information. Sign up by April 30th for a $50-tuition deduction!

By Kellie Pettyjohn

Let’s say you’ve got a 4×4 board, a big bucket and a bunch of cabbage on your hands.  Whatta ya do?  Make sauerkraut!  On a cold day in January, a few Neighborhood Farm Initiative volunteers spent the afternoon making short “how-to” video clips on making sauerkraut and freezing peaches.  The clips are the first of a series of videos which will give folks tips and tricks for taking full advantage of your garden’s bounty.

Sauerkraut connoisseur Neil Zimmerman walked through the steps of a traditional method for making sauerkraut using salt as a pickling agent.   His simple, age-old recipe highlighted the power of nature to ferment and preserve cabbage and other vegetables to last through the winter months.

The other video we shot that day focused on another way of making fruit or vegetables last past harvest season – freezing!  Using sugar, lemon juice and a freezing container, the basic steps of freezing fruit were explained with fresh peaches as models.

The videos are a part of NFI’s collaboration with the burgeoning Field to Fork Network, an internet-based resource center for DC gardeners.  Once edited, the videos will be posted on Field to Fork’s website for all to see!

Meanwhile, check out some more photos of the film-making here!

Editor’s note: We’d also love to post your how-to videos in our resources section of this site – if you’ve made a video that is gardening or cooking related you’d like us to link to, please email us at DCFieldtoFork@gmail.com