For the May 6, 2013 meeting of Sustainable Monroeville, we will have a pot luck dinner at 6:00 PM. What is the challenge for this pot luck? See if you can make a vegetarian or vegan dish that has at least one ingredient that is a wildly collected edible from a non-sprayed area in this region!
The meeting, beginning at 7:00 PM, will feature 17 year old, Jake Cothern, teaching us about native wild edibles and supplying some delectables made of the soon sprouting exotic invasive Japanese Knotweed, Polygonum cuspidatum (that's the technical genus and species name for knotweed!).
The other speakers for our May meeting on Monday evening, May 6, will be Jeff Newman of Steel City Soils & The Pittsburgh Garden Experiment, and Jeff Jaeger of Octopus Organics. Jeff Jaeger and Jeff Newman will talk briefly about non-toxic soil management and the importance of soil biology. They will cover basic vegetable, lawn, and flower garden soils and how to do soil testing, balance the minerals, then maintain using the magic formula of compost, mulch, and aerated compost teas.
Jerusalem Artichoke: Helianthus tuberosus, from the Aster family
Jerusalem artichoke is not from Jerusalem and it's not an artichoke, it's a kind of sunflower, but whatever it's called, it has fleshy edible roots that are sold in grocery storesas "sunchokes." from The Joy of Foraging by Gary Lincoff, page 126.
