Happy Earth Day

Happy Earth Day, Shaw! Here are some greenish things on my mind:

1. Vegetate Cooking Demonstration at Macy's Today - In honor of Earth Day, Vegetate is participating in Macy's "Turn Over a New Leaf" event at the Metro Center store. Join chef Caesare Assad at 1pm on the lower level--she will demonstrate how to make the green bean and walnut salad currently on Vegetate's menu and talk about techniques for using produce as it comes in season. Speaking of Vegetate, fantastic new dishes are arriving with the season (local green beans, eggplant, zucchini and some sweet peppers recently appeared on the menu, and the first asparagus of the season arrives any day now!).

2. Green Your Yard with Old City Green - Our wonderful neighborhood garden center at 9th and N has organic compost, topsoil you can bag yourself, mulch, an abundance of native perennial plants for the sun or shade, and blooming shrubs. Also, if you buy any plants from them, you can return the pots to be entered into a raffle to win a flat of pansies on April 11th. As the weekend forecast is gorgeous, I'm planning on a big run to OCG this Saturday morning so I can tend to my sparse looking yard.

3. Shaw Garden Groups? - I'm curious if there are any Shaw gardening groups out there. Let me know in the comments or via email (slumhistorique at yahoo dot com). Alternately, if you are not a part of a group and are interested in joining or forming one, let me/us know.

4. Mark your calendar for DDOE/DPR’s next Organic Gardening & Lawn Care Workshop, “Container & Rooftop Gardens” - Part of the DDOE/DPR Organic Gardening & Lawn Care 2009 Workshop Series is to inform gardeners about the judicious use of pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers (IPM) and will also address Stormwater Management and Sustainability topics. These workshops will be held the first Saturday of every month, from 10-12 p.m. in a variety of places. At next month's workshop, learn about alternative ways to garden, particularly in an urban setting when tiny yards and excess pavement prevail. The May workshop will be held on May 2 from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. at Twin Oaks Gardens (corner of 14th and Taylor , NW).

5. Mark Your Calendar for the Reopening of Weekly Farmers' Markets -According to the Washington Post, the Bloomingdale Farmers' Market re-opens on May 17 and the 14th and U Farmer's Market apparently resumes business on May 1. I can't wait to be able to walk to these great open air markets!