Ladies Member guest Golf tournament

The Ladies Member guest Golf tournament was held today at the Club, We had a great turn out and great weather ! Even this late in the season the Garden is still productive and making a contribution to our salad bar , menus and Banquets .

A Long Season

The Garden was planted 5 months ago today, The first picture is September 2010 before ground breaking, the last picture was taken today a late season S. Florida garden ; Some of the highlights ; The Kids from Temple Beth Am planted November 22nd. , We survived 2 hard frosts , We won first and second place in Jungle Islands plant contest, A successful Garden workshop with the Members kids including a presentation from Slow Food President Donna Reno. We linked our Blog with all the Top local food blogs , Mango-Lime, Slow Food, Redland Rambles, Food for thought and Little River Market Garden. We have garnished 100’s of plates with our edible flowers. We also served Garden fresh produce every day for the last 115 days including our own Garden fresh selection on the salad bar. We utilized all the produce, we used the carrot tops to garnish the salad bar , we even utilized the caterpillars .

Metamorphosis of the Black Swallowtail Butterfly

One of my favorite things is to talk Gardening Sunday morning at the Farmers Market. People frequently ask about butterfly gardens , my best advice to them is keep it simple; Fennel, Dill assorted garden flowers and Spring time = Butterflies. This will not attract Monarch Butterflies but it will attract Black Swallowtails . Monarch’s are attracted to milk weed that is toxic to mammals, so in the interest of safety don’t plant milk weed. A few weeks ago we began finding Caterpillars in the Fennel and Dill , Chef Paula started taking them home in pickle jars . Paula and her friend Connie Whelahan have been raising Butterflies and setting them free

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Hollyhock !

Our Garden is showing signs of stress from Increasing sunlight and it’s intensity as well as heat and humidity . We only have a few more weeks to enjoy our Garden fresh vegetables ! This weeks harvest includes Tomatoes, bok choy, arugula, mint, edible flowers, golden beets, carrots, sorrel and much more ! There is one more reason to go see the garden , back in November I planted a Hollyhock and it is just now beginning to bloom. Chef Paula is pictured standing next to 1 of 3 Hollyhock’s , don’t miss a great opportunity to see a rare visitor to South Florida ! I also added a few random pictures from the kitchen and the garden.