Fall Harvest Dinner & Fundraiser

If you have been to the farm or Catholic Charities office lately, you have probably heard the buzz ~ we have been busy planning a big party and fundraiser at the farm on October 4th!

It is going to be a special night featuring food grown by our farmers. Attendees will dine under the stars on food grown, harvested, and prepared only inches from the table.

While sampling hors d’oeuvres prepared and served by New Roots farmers, enjoy a silent auction. As you find your seat, and are served the “rainbow” course prepared by Heidi VanPelt-Belle, Executive chef and co-founder of the Westside neighborhood restaurant Fud, live performances by refugee youth will begin. A hearty main course prepared by chef and restaurateur Todd Schulte of Genessee Royale Bistro and Happy Gillis Café will celebrate the farm’s bounty by pairing with Boulevard beer. The evening will culminate with a very special dessert created by Executive Chef Michael Foust of The Farmhouse, and will be accompanied by the second live entertainment portion of the evening, featuring ethnic dances by the New Roots community. Locally roasted coffee will also be in abundance thanks to The Roasterie's generous donation. We hope that you will join us to celebrate a great season!

Join us at the Juniper Gardens Training farm, 100 Richmond Avenue, KC KS 66101, on Tuesday October 4th, 2011 at 6pm (rain date Wednesday, October 5th) for an elegant and organic fundraiser in support of the New Roots for Refugees program.

Tickets for the 4 course meal are $65.oo per person or $330.oo per table of 6.

Dinner will be outside at the farm, please dress accordingly!!

To maintain an intimate atmosphere, seating is limited. Reserve your seat by calling 913.906.8981 or by visiting this Catholic Charities of NE Kansas webpage. We are happy and able to accommodate special dietary restrictions if notified of these preferences and needs at time of ticket purchase.

A new Rachel at New Roots!

Hello from the newest member of the team! I'm Rachel Friesen, and I'm just beginning a year-long term with Mennonite Voluntary Service here at New Roots for Refugees.

(Already there is much confusion at the office and the farm due to having two Rachels around, so I am encouraging people to call me by my nickname "Scratch".)

In addition to odds and ends around the office, I will be primarily involved with the development of the new community gardens this year. At the moment, however, my main project is putting together a cookbook of recipes from our farmers. Some of these recipes have already been featured on the blog, but several are new! In the last couple weeks I have gotten the chance to cook with Mari Mi and Maku Gurung, and both of these women cooked me DELICIOUS food from their fresh veggies. Mary Mi made a spicy Karenni-style soup with pumpkin and bamboo shoots (it made me sweat a little, but was so good!), and Maku cooked me 4 different variations of vegetable curry. Here is her recipe:


Maku's Nepali Curry

Basic ingredients:
Vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
1 small sweet red pepper, chopped (seeds removed)
1 teaspoon turmeric
salt to taste
2 cloves garlic
1-2 teaspoons cumin seed
1-2” section of ginger
1 medium tomato, chopped
2 or more types fresh vegetables of choice--here are a list of the veggies in Maku's 4 variations:

• 1 medium potato, peeled and chopped thinly


• 1/2 lauka gourd, sliced thinly and quartered


• 5-6 Thai or Asian eggplant, stems removed, chopped


• 2 bitter melons, thinly sliced


• 1-2 Asian cucumbers or "luffa gourds," cut into 2” pieces and then chopped lengthwise


• 1 small blue pumpkin, thinly sliced


• 1 handful shell beans, chopped (Maku used cranberry beans)

Preheat oil in pan on stove, then stir in chopped vegetables (except tomato). Add turmeric and salt, stirring in water as needed to prevent sticking. Crush garlic, ginger and cumin seed in a mortar and pestle or food processor, then stir into pan. When vegetables are tender, add the chopped tomato and sauté a few more minutes. Serve alone or with rice. Yum!

Last week we invited our CSA friends out to the farm to work along side their farmers. The cool breeze was refreshing while digging in the late afternoon earth, and these golden sweet potatoes were the perfect treasure to uncover!

Below New Roots farmer Nyakang and her CSA friend Ashley harvest together.

A nice tree shades produce and farmers at the Juniper Gardens Farmers' Market.

Children played the veggie guessing game and got their faces painted while their parents shopped for produce. The fall harvest festival was a hit this year!

tiny Thai eggplants!

A Chin Baung Harvest to Celebrate

In last month's issue of Tastebud magazine, Editor Jennifer Roe poetically likened the month of August to a prolonged Sunday evening: a final bittersweet goodbye to summer heralding the return of homework, alarm clocks, and schedules. Well, September is here & while it may emotionally be the end of summer, the continued heat wave means local farmers (and their summer crops) are not through yet!

There are a lot of exciting things going on around here as we gear up for fall: we have said farewell to both of our summer staff & welcomed one new full-time MVS volunteer, are looking forward to two upcoming Work-the-Farm days for CSA friends, and are in the midst of planning an end of season potluck as well as an autumn farm-to-table fundraiser AND helping our first batch of graduates make the move onto their own land! whew. None of this, however, compares with the intense excitement surrounding the Chin Baung harvest.

Chin Baung, commonly known as Burmese Sorrel, is a species of Hibiscus. Culinarily & culturally significant for many different ethnic communities from Burma, the late summer bounty lends itself to a time of communal celebration. No where is this more evident than at the Monday farmers' market at Juniper Gardens. This market is hoppin' folks! And this Monday, September 5th will be even more so. We will celebrate not only the bountiful harvest, but the intense love and labor that New Roots farmers have poured into their fields this season. So join us for face painting, world music, free books, and food tasting!

Chin Baung is so important that at least one farmer has half of her 1/4 acre plot dedicated solely to growing it!