Announcing our Green Building Fellowship!
2012 Green Building Fellowship
ECO City Farms is looking for an engaged and motivated Green Building Fellow to assist with the development of our green building credentials at our flagship urban farm. A good candidate should have a solid understanding of the principles of sustainability and demonstrate strong interpersonal skills, solid writing skills, experience with organizing events, a passion for learning and a willingness to get dirty. Fellow must be available to work one day a week with farm staff to assist with hands-on sustainable building projects. Fellow will receive hands-on experience with sustainable building and construction of shipping container retrofits, small-scale greenroof, bioretention pond, greenhouse construction, solar energy systems, solar hot water systems, shallow geothermal systems and grey-water systems.
The principle responsibility of the Green Building Fellow is to administer our (DIY Institute: Green Building Series), a summer series of hands-on green building classes to be held at our farm and taught by our staff as well as other local experts. Responsibilities will include research, development, outreach and supervision of the educational mini-series of courses. Contacting partner organizations, inviting potential instructors and administering student signup are included in the job responsibilities.
This is a great opportunity to gain a survey of the green building industry for someone who wants to get into the field both in a hands-on manner as well as networking to others. The fellowship runs from March through August and will not exceed 12 hours weekly commitment, 8 hours on-farm and 2 to 4 hours on your own. Compensation will be based on commission from course fees collected for the summer series ($1000-2000). Interested individuals please contact Adam Schwartz with cover letter, resume & references by March 1st.
- Adam Schwartz, Farm Manager, ECO City Farms / adam(at)ecocityfarms.org
Kale, Strawberry, and Mandarin Orange Salad
This is a delicious salad made with a surprising ingredient – raw kale. The dressing is sweet and tart. The strawberries add a zing that really sets it apart. Our Executive Director highly recommends this one.
Ingredients:
1 bunch Kale
1 lb Strawberries, sliced
1 Can Mandarin Orange Segments (11 oz)
2 Tablespoons Sesame Seeds, toasted
Vinaigrette:
1 Tablespoons Shallots, Minced
2 Whole Lemons, Juice and Zest
2 Teaspoons Dijon Mustard
2 Teaspoons Honey/Brown Sugar
1 Tablespoon Fresh Thyme, chopped
1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
2 Teaspoons Ground Pepper
1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Directions:
Fill a large mixing bowl with tap water.
Clean the kale. Pull the curly leaves off at the stem, discarding the stems. Dunk a couple of handfuls at a time of the de-stemmed leaves in the bowl of water. Let them float there a few seconds, tapping them down into the water a bit, so that any dirt and debris can sink to the bottom of the bowl. Pluck those handfuls out of the water, placing them on a cutting board or paper towels. Repeat this until all of the kale is cleaned, it will probably take 5-10 minutes to clean one bunch. Discard the water and rinse the bowl.
Chop the kale. Working with a couple of handfuls of the kale leaves at a time, chop it into 1/2 inch pieces. You want it large enough to be speared by a fork, but not so big it’s more than a small bite. Put the chopped kale into the rinsed mixing bowl.
Make the vinaigrette. In a medium sized glass or ceramic mixing bowl, add the shallots, lemon juice, lemon zest, mustard, sugar/honey, thyme, salt, and pepper. Mix this well with a wire whisk. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while whisking to emulsify properly. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed. You want this to be a little sweet with a good tart background.
Dress the kale. Pour most of the vinaigrette over the chopped kale – reserve a few tablespoons in case you want to add more later. You don’t want to over-dress this salad.
Toss the kale. Now for the messy part – “massage” the vinaigrette into the kale. Kale has a water-resistant exterior that needs some coaxing to take hold of the dressing. I conquer this by tossing the whole mess vigorously with my hands a few times.
Marinate the kale. Cover the bowl with plastic and let it set in a refrigerator or on the counter while you’re preparing the rest of your meal. The time marinating will also help to tenderize the kale a bit.
Assemble the salad. You can do this in individual bowls or in the larger bowl. If you do it individually, place the kale in the center of a bowl. Sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds on top to taste. Add as many strawberry and orange slices as desired.
Dig in and enjoy!
Read MoreBaby Spinach Pasta
Let’s keep the baby spinach going!
Ingredients:
¾ pound of whole-wheat pasta – I used penne, but any tubular pasta would do
2 cups of fresh baby spinach leaves, loosely packed, divided
3 ounces of goat cheese
3 ounces of cream cheese
Read More
Broccoli and Baby Spinach Soup
We just started getting our baby spinach in! To celebrate, here is a simple and warming soup for those cold winter nights.
Ingredients: 
1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 medium onions, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 large garlic clove, chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground nutme
about 2 pounds 4 ounces broccoli, spears separated and stalks peeled and thinly sliced
Read MoreSweet Baby Carrots
We’ve been a bit proud of those carrots you all have been getting. Here is a little recipe to sweeten it up even more. May not be the most “nutritious” but its certainly a treat.
Ingredients:
1 bunch Baby Carrots
1/2 cup of Butter
3 tablespoons Honey
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
Read More
Mustard Greens with Cumin and Balsamic
This recipe was shared with our CSA members on January 5th. I found this recipe on the Kosher Foodies blog. It comes from someone who joined a CSA but had no idea what to do with Mustard Greens, so here’s some inspiration.
Ingredients:
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 onion, coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
2 bunches mustard greens
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
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