Summer has been so much fun in the garden! We start each class learning about vegetables and then harvesting what we are going to cook with. In August we made pico de gallo in our salsa class, ginger pickled beets in our pickles class, and these green pancakes in our garden scavenger hunt class. Pancakes are almost universally loved, and this savory green pancake packs in vegetables and is as easy as putting everything in a blender. We used soy milk in the class to make them dairy free, and you could certainly use different flours as well. Flipping pancakes is the most difficult part of this recipe, so we practiced! Each kid got a piece of paper with a circle on it, a cardboard coaster, and a spatula. They practiced flipping the coasters over in the circle before they did the real thing.
The garden still has plenty to harvest through September. At the end of this month we’ll focus on whole grains, then have our apple classes, and end October with our classes featuring orange foods while we learn about beta carotene! All classes are open enrollment, and proceeds support our hunger relief efforts.
Broccoli Head Chefs (9-12 year olds)
Apples Apples Apples! – Tuesday, October 16th, 2018, 3:30-5:30pm
The Beta Carotene Monster – Tuesday, October 30th, 2018, 3:30-5:30pm
Celery Sous Chefs (5-8 year olds)
Apples Apples Apples! – Tuesday, October 9th, 2018, 4-5pm
The Beta Carotene Monster – Tuesday, October 23rd, 4-5pm
The full schedule is available on our website and Facebook events page.
Green Pancakes
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
- 2 cups (475 ml) whole milk or soy milk
- 2 1/2 cups (325 grams) all-purpose flour
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 small onion, coarsely chopped
- 10 fresh chives, snipped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- Leaves from 10 parsley sprigs
- 5 large or 10 small Swiss chard leaves, center ribs removed, roughly chopped or ripped
- Neutral oil for the pan
To serve: Plain, thick yogurt mixed with a little lemon zest, lemon juice and salt, to taste
If you’d like to keep your finished pancakes warm while you cook them: Heat oven to 250 degrees F and line a baking sheet with foil.
Make the batter: Put everything except the Swiss chard and oil in a blender or food processor and whirl until the batter is smooth. Scrape down sides. Add chard leaves and pulse machine until they’re chopped to your desired consistency.
Cook the pancakes: Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and pour in a a bit of oil. Spoon in about 3 tablespoons batter in per pancake. Cook until browned underneath then flip, cooking on the other side until browned again. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate, and then, if you’d like to keep them warm, to the foil-lined tray in the oven.
Repeat with remaining batter. Serve with lemony yogurt or another sauce of your choice.
Do ahead: Unused batter keeps in fridge for 3 days. Finished pancakes keep in fridge for a couple days, and will freeze much longer. Separate pancakes with pieces of waxed or parchment paper so they don’t stick together.
This year we are thrilled to introduce you to our newest fundraising program for schools, Read for Seeds!
It has been a hot summer and we are looking forward to the cool, crisp fall days that so many associate with heading out to the orchard to pick apples! We have been gearing up for harvest season at the orchard and will pick our first apples at the end of August. This year also marks the first season we will harvest from our new high-density apple trees planted in 2015.
This heat has us looking forward to cooler fall weather – our Harvest Home Festival and 5K are right around the corner! Join us on November 4 for this fall festival, it’s the perfect way to celebrate the season and bring the community together in celebration of the harvest on our beautiful farm in North Grafton. All proceeds directly support CHP’s mission of building healthy and engaged communities through volunteer farming and nutrition education.
Community Harvest Project is delighted to collaborate with Broken Creek Winery for an evening of wine tasting on Thursday, September 13th at 5:30pm. Social fundraisers like these are a great opportunity for our nonprofit to partner with local companies. Each ticket includes a donation to support our hunger relief efforts, all year long!
For as long as we can remember Young Neighbors in Action has been a reliable source of volunteer support during the summer vacation lull. These great teams come out to our farms and help us at a critical time in our scheduling while many of our volunteers are on vacation. Whether it is harvesting, planting or even weeding at both our Grafton and Harvard farms they put their all into their work and find ways to have fun while doing it. We are lucky to have them on our side and would like to celebrate and thank our 2018 Young Neighbors Teams. Coming from near (St. Rose of Lima in Northborough and St. Gabriel in Upton) and far (St. Matthew in New Hampshire) we really appreciated their hard work this year. 
Summer gardens are overflowing with herbs right now. Even if you don’t have a huge garden space, a few herbs in pots are such a bounty in the kitchen. Soft herbs like cilantro, basil, and dill go to seed easily, and need to be reseeded throughout the summer to have a constant supply. Heartier herbs like oregano, thyme, sage, and rosemary can last the winter (either outside or in pots). Herbs are a great way to add flavor and nutrition to foods, but contain very few calories.