And so it starts! Well, it started with the eggs but I can never see them so here are some pictures of my milkweed plants, pods and caterpillars. I have about 75 plants and will offer the seed pods to anyone interested when they have finished growing. Awareness is rising around the importance of milkweed (as well as other native plants) for pollinators, because the fact is, planting the right species of milkweed for your area can be a huge help to monarchs and a number of other species. Milkweed is a beneficial wildflower. Planting milkweed is a sure way to help save the monarch. With completion of the status assessment in December 2020, the Fish and Wildlife Service will determine whether protecting the monarch under the Endangered Species Act is warranted. 

Yesterday morning we were able to harvest our first beans from the IE site at Wellwood Park tennis courts. Our first pick of the season yielded about 60 mature Provider green beans and 1 Golden Rocky bean. We hope our Red Silk beans - which need 85 days to mature - will recover from all the rain, begin to flower and bear beautiful red beans! You can store unwashed fresh beans in a reusable container or plastic bag in the refrigerator crisper where they should keep for about seven days. Green beans can also retain valuable amounts of nutrients for 3-6 months after freezing, so if you choose the freezing option, rinse them in cool water, drain, cut to your desired size, then place them in freezer bags and storing them in your freezer.

What can an Incredible Edible group do relating to the business plate? Just by growing food in public places, allowing people to see plants in the ground and harvesting the produce when it’s ready, you’re encouraging people to think about where their food comes from – and that isn’t a vacuum packed plastic tub from the supermarket. There are other things you can do so people think about where their food comes from when they decide what they’re next going to spend their well-earned money on. Our own Eclipse Brewing is a super example spinning the IE business plate.