Cooking up a Landscape

  With the focus on the local foods movement this week our field trips today sort of help us pull all the pieces together.  Day four of 4-H Jr. Chef Day Camp took us to Fuquay Varina and then to Raleigh.  Our first stop, Brie Arthur's home.  Mrs. Arthur is an author, foodscaper, and self proclaimed plant nerd.  The first thing our 4-H'ers noticed pulling up to her house was the landscape.  Their exact words, "Boy there sure are a lot of plants here."  What they found out is all those plants have a purpose, and much of the purpose is an edible one.
We found traditional items such as tomatoes, cucumbers, and various herbs.  What they weren't expecting to find in the landscape were things like wheat, corn, and rye.  For some of the more invasive items, such as mint, she has a living wall that things grow on and are contained in.  Our youth learned about gardening based on soil temperatures vs. air temperature and why Hydroponics may be the future of food growth.  We saw some really neat ideas such as layering plants, strawberries growing under blueberry bushes, with peppers on the border.  In other areas peanuts are a ground cover while flowers are mixed in with vegetable plants.  The flowers attract pollinators which the plants need for fruits and vegetables.  Another neat thing we saw were bottles being recycled as edging.  The glass is actually a good heat conductor and will allow the ground to be warmer in the winter making it a more hospitable home for the plants.  Every time we turned around there was another surprise, and learning opportunity.  At the end of our time Mrs. Arthur even gave us a copy of her book, The Foodscape Revolution, and signed it to the entire group.  It was really nice of her and we really appreciate her time and enthusiasm.
After that we headed to N.C. State University for lunch.  We actually ate at one of the dining Halls with college students and sampled the famous Howling Cow Ice Cream.  How much fun is that?

After that we headed to downtown Raleigh to visit Videri Chocolate Factory.  We did a self guided tour and learned the process from the bean room, to roaster, grinder, and all the steps in-between growing a cocoa bean and molding a bar of chocolate.  At the end we got to watch bon bons being made and sample three of their chocolates; dark, sea salt, and dark milk chocolate.  Although it was not what many of us were expecting in terms of taste (it is richer and darker than a Hershey's bar), it was a great experience and we were excited to take home a bar each for our families to try.
At the end of the day we had a chance to play a few games and enjoy our new friends.  Today may have been bitter sweet in terms of taste but tomorrow will be sweet on taste and bitter sweet with our emotions as we say goodbye to all of our friends.
Stay tuned as we turn up the heat tomorrow for our last day of 4-H Jr. Chef Academy.