by eal | May 29, 2019 | It's Edible!, Uncategorized
“So if we are Incredible EDIBLE, perhaps we ought to cook more with our own produce?” was the question Roye raised at our last reflection session. The challenge was on, and Roye and Christian set to work finding recipes that used stuff we grew in the garden. They found two recipes: for Pandan Pancakes and Vegetarian Laksa.
Last week we booked the food tech labs and arrived at the lab, clutching ingredients from the supermarket and fresh produce from our own garden: laksa leaves, pandan leaves, chillies, and limes.
It quickly emerged that we did not have all the ingredients we needed (due to a mis communicaiton around the shopping list) and so despite a valiant attempt to retrieve eggs from the boarding house by Henry, we sadly decided to ditch the Pandan plan (the dodgy looking pandan juice and sugar water went down the drain).
Instead we focused on the Laksa. Many valuable lessons were learned in this session:
- Noodles actually taste nice no matter what you do to them
- Read the recipe carefully – 3 cm of ginger is not the same as 3 sticks of ginger
- Too many cooks really do spoil the broth, but its a lot more fun when all the cooks are cooking together
- Preparation before you start to cook makes all the difference
- The Incredible Edible Wednesday group really know how to work as a team
I wont pretend that it was the best Laksa we had ever had, but it was one of our best sessions ever and I was proud of the team and how much fun we were able to have even when things did not go to plan!
Well done to Roye and Christian for planning a session that really bonded us as a group!
by eal | May 15, 2019 | Projects, Uncategorized
More good progress occurred this week. As mentioned in the last blog post we were asked to have a stall in the Grade 5 Expo and the progress has been great as we have finished all our research. However, the people in the group don’t feel confident enough to make the infographic so we are all hoping that someone (maybe an infographic professional) could step in and save the day.
A group has managed to book the food tech room for next weeks as the group will be making some delicious Pandan Pancakes and some vegetarian laksa. So stay alert for the next blog post for possibly some mouth drooling pictures (depends on if we succeed).
On the same week on Monday, the Monday group provided some small square paper pots which have been aligned in a tray and have seeds in them. We’ve learnt from our mistakes, don’t plant the seeds to deep or we will end up with nothing. As well as that, a group of daring participants went to produce some compost. And they were ambushed by heavy rain, but that didn’t stop them, they finished the job and came back with what could possibly be a gallon of water.
-Kees
by chris | May 13, 2019 | It's Edible!, Uncategorized
The upstairs gardens at Dover have a thriving Cucamelon ecosystem, so here is some cucamelon information, in case you were wondering…….
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A Cucamelon is a tiny watermelon lookalike originally from Central America that are enjoying their spot in the limelight. Home gardeners are captivated with the look of these jewel-like melons and then often fall completely in love with their crisp, crunchy, cucumber-tinged-with-lime flavor.
Why You Really Need To Grow Cucamelons
In addition to their powerful nutritional benefits, this adorable, tasty fruit is just something you’ve got to try. Unfortunately, your local grocery store or farmers market likely stocks things like watermelons and maybe even round, yellowish lemon cucumbers, but the odds of it offering cucamelons is pretty slim. That’s why growing them in your garden is the best way to go. You can enjoy them anytime you like and have fun experimenting with them in all sorts of recipes too.
This exotic plant can be a great part of your garden – they’re one of the easiest plants to grow as they suffer from very few pests, don’t require fancy pruning or need the cover of a greenhouse. Cucamelons are very drought resistant, even more so than cucumbers. While they’re well-known in Mexico and throughout Central America, they can be found growing wild in some Southern U.S. locations, though you can grow them pretty much anywhere, just like its relative, the cucumber.
Pickled Cucamelon with Dill and Mint
A brilliant way to make these crisp summer fruit last well into the depths of winter, home pickling is far easier than you would ever think!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups white vinegar – distilled malt or white wine
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 tbsp raw sugar
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh dill
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh mint
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 9 oz fresh cucamelons
- 1 fresh grape leaf or oak leaf
Instructions
- Pour the vinegar into a bowl and add salt and sugar, then whisk until they have completely dissolved. Stir in the dill, mint and coriander seeds.
- Wash the cucamelons in water and pour into a sterilized jar. (Run the jars through the dishwasher and dry in a warm oven set to its lowest temperature.)
- Scrunch up the grape or oak leaf and place it on top of the cucamelons. The tannins in the leaf will slowly disperse outwards and help keep the fruit crisp.
- Pour the seasoned vinegar into the jar and seal tightly.
- Refrigerate for 2 weeks. The cucamelons will be pickled and ready to eat. Once opened, store in the refrigerator. They will keep up to 3 months, but most likely won’t last nearly that long!
- Yields about 1 quart.
Recipe Notes
Pick enough cucamelons to make several jars of pickles, as you will go through one jar very quickly once people get a taste of them!
Makes a most impressive and unusual gift, especially once the weather is cold. Your recipient will remember this gift for a long time!
Adapted from Homegrown Revolution
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Native growing Mexican sour gherkins hail from Mexico (of course) and Central America. The plant is an unbridled vining specimen with pointed, serrated leaves and small (grape sized) fruit that look exactly like miniature watermelon
Cucamelon Bruschetta
prep 20 minscook 20 minstotal 40 mins
yield 4 servings
Ingredients
- 1 Pint Cucamelons, cut in half
- 2 Cipollini Onions, peeled & finely diced
- 1 Bird’s Eye Chili, finely sliced. (add another if you like it really spicy)
- Small Handful of Basil or Mint, chiffonade
- 1/4 C Good Quality Olive Oil
- 2 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 Tbsp Local Organic Honey
- Juice of Half a Lime
- Coarse Sea Salt & Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
- Toasted Bread to Serve
Instructions
- Toss the first 4 ingredients in a bowl. Set aside.
- Put the rest of the ingredients in a mason jar and season to taste. Cover with a lid and shake baby shake until emulsified.
- Pour over prepared vegetables. Stir well, season if need be.Spoon over toasted bread.
- Eat.
- While most Americans have never heard of cucamelons, this fruit is definitely one you’ll want to know a lot more about. Also referred to as “Mexican sour gherkin,” or its most common name in Spanish, “sandiita” (little watermelon). It actually has a slew of other monikers in local dialects and Native American languages, most of which translate to “mouse melon.”This cute fruit is the size of a grape, looks like mini-watermelon and taste like cucumbers and lime. The sour fruit grows on a thin vine and is surrounded by ivy-like leaves. While they’re a bit bizarre looking, cucamelons aren’t some strange genetically-modified hybrid, but a delicacy from Central America that’s been eaten since pre-Columbian times and are a staple in Mexican diets.
https://www.naturallivingideas.com/how-to-grow-cucamelons/
http://sheeats.ca/2013/07/the-best-things-in-life-are-tiny-cucamelons/
by eal | May 8, 2019 | Projects, Uncategorized
An eventful Wednesday for the group this week. As per request, the Incredible Edible service will have a stall at this year’s Grade 5 Expo. We have a 3 person squad working on the research and a beautiful infographic that will be on display on the day.
We also had a group putting in the herb pot towers into action and the turnout was very successful. We put many different plants into it and it looks very promising and dare I say that it could be a great step for the Incredible Edible service.
– Kees
by chris | Apr 30, 2019 | Garden Updates, Uncategorized
Hi there from the Incredible Edibles (Monday team). We are located on the rooftop garden next to the 2nd floor of the Heritage Cafe. In the gardens, we grow Lettuce, Tomatoes, Dill, Turmeric, Black Beans and even Cucamelons! Cucamelons are small watermelons the size of grapes and taste like cucumbers with a tinge of sourness. (another blog post will tell you more about these!)
Most weeks, we weed most of the beds (big pots) and fill any beds which need to be filled with dirt and/or compost. In addition, occasionally we need to put new seeds in because we have new beds, the previous seeds don’t grow or we just have space!
We work very hard every day to keep our garden buzzing and we will replace all the old things with new things and we always have the right resources to plant many amazing foods which may sometimes have grown so well that it could be sold in the supermarket.
In gardening there are always ups and downs and sometimes we may feel happy for ourselves that we grew a seed and it was successful and some days we may be disappointed with ourselves that it didn’t work out as we thought it would. Although one thing everyone should have while gardening is resilience. Resilience is a very important virtue in gardening as gardening is not as easy as it looks.
In conclusion, the Incredible Edibles are a reliable team of workers and gardeners who help to contribute to a more sustainable future one step at a time.
by eal | Apr 9, 2019 | Garden Updates, It's Edible!, Uncategorized
In our last Wednesday session for Incredible Edibles we celebrated by harvesting our pineapple and eating it together. It was absolutely delicious and tasted all the sweeter for having been grown by us!
We also had a reflection session in which we each answered the following questions:
- What has been your highlight in Incredible Edibles so far?
- What have you learned?
- What should be a focus for our work next term?
You can see our group reflections in the Reflection video
by eal | Mar 22, 2019 | Garden Updates, Uncategorized
This week we mainly worked on our zen garden at the rooftop garden and were split into three separate groups. One group was responsible for gathering sand to put on top of the soil as a base to prepare to apply the special “zen” sand while another group were working on both watering and weeding the rooftop and the lower gardens as usual.
The main group worked on the zen garden by adding swirls and designs to the sand as well as creating patterns with rocks until we unfortunately discovered that the pandan plants that were planted last week had died due to the watering system malfunctioning so the decorative plants may be put on hold until we find a solution to the issue.
by Ethan
by chris | Mar 18, 2019 | Garden Updates, Uncategorized
The Monday team have been working at the rooftop garden for nearly a term! Despite only working once a week, we have actually made quite a lot of progress.
Of course, we did quite a lot of watering and weeding. We tended to these two things every session, and even got all the old beds with only weeds growing in them clean.
One of the very important things we did with these cleaned beds was preparing them for new plants. Working in teams, one weeding the beds and another transporting soil, compost, and mulch from the other side of the school using wheelbarrows and pots to be laid out in the beds, we made them looking good and ready for new plant life again.
beetle baby
pepper
Using the new beds, we experimented with planting eggplant and chilies. Unfortunately, after two and three weeks of allowing them to take root, we haven’t seen a bud sprouting, which meant that the seeds failed to grow. This might’ve been caused by overwatering after the planting – learning from the mistake we’re sure to never overwater again.
After the eggplant and chilies, we planted leek and bok choy in the new bed. Hopefully they will sprout and grow, and give us a bountiful harvest!
(Boyi Li)
by chris | Mar 18, 2019 | Garden Updates, Student Experiences, Uncategorized
A visit from our neighbours
A few weeks ago, two IB students from Dover Court, a school nearby, came to visit our service, Incredible Edible and took some samples to create their own garden at their school. They came to one of our Monday sessions, and we took them for a tour of all the produce we grow and explained to them a bit about our mission and how we started Incredible Edible at our school.
We first started by showing them what we grow at school, and what grows easily in Singapore, for example, we gave them some samples of dill, Moringa and okra to grow in their school, as these are all fast-growing foods that are easy to produce. We talked about the origins of the Incredible Edible Project and that it actually started in England, and a parent from our school brought the idea to UWC. The project aims to bring people together over local produce, and some groups who participate in Incredible Edible rely solely on the food they produce to eat. We then took them to the other main edible garden we have on campus, which is the one the Wednesday team usually work in. We gave them samples of basil, mint and some other herbs that are grown in the garden.
Before they left, we exchanged emails so that they could contact us with any concerns they might have in growing produce or building a community of gardeners. One question they asked was how we got people to join in with the gardening, and we told them how we run it as a service and that we work with middle schoolers and some primary school students as well. Overall I think it’s really good that we were able to spread the Incredible Edible project to another school in Singapore and I hope to spread the initiative to many other schools in Singapore so that we can all take part in Incredible Edible.
(Kyla McHugh)
by eal | Mar 17, 2019 | It's Edible!, Uncategorized
One of the groups made a delicious pesto made with some of the fresh ingredients grown in our gardens, such as, the laksa leaves and the chilli’s. They had some obstacles, but since they made two batches of pesto, they managed to correct their mistakes. The pesto was served pasta (prepared by Sodexo) and even some teachers and maintenance people tried it!
As we are planning to make a zen garden in the upper garden, one other group helped out with clearing out the upper garden, like weeding it and making the ground even, preparing it to be made into the garden.
And because we are making a zen garden, of course we need sand, so two girls helped bring up the sand. And more about the zen garden, others helped carefully dig out some of the Pandan plants (and possibly dill), and transport it to the upper garden for planting.
By Inaya
