This time the group was an intimate gathering of about 12 guests. We began in
the front yard where John introduced us to his menagerie of unique to Florida decorative plants. This collection included the Royal Palm, Thatch Palm, Buccaneer Palm, Plumeria Tree, and Lignum Vitae. The Lignum Vitae is one of the hardest woods in the world and found primarily in the Caribbean Islands and the Floriday keys. The wood of the trees had many commercial uses which caused the them to be over harvested. These once abundant flowering trees are now rare in South Florida and the Caribbean. I love to be informed and entertained at the same time! As we headed to the back garden John explained his reasons for his plantings. Not only are they decorative but they are finding a native location to thrive. John believes the best way to protect our eco-system is to become a curator of it.
The gate opened to the backyard and we stepped into a charming world of fruit trees and vegetables. The first thing John pointed out was the vanilla orchid growing up one side of a palm tree. If I remember correctly this one hails from
Mexico. The other interesting thing about this plant is it starts its roots in the ground then as it climbs up the tree it sends out aerial roots and then eventually will ignore the roots in the ground and get its nutrients from the air. Cool, eh?As we wound our way through John and Ed’s yard of plenty we saw huge papaya,
not strange you say, but have you ever seen brussel sprouts in a Florida backyard garden? I didn’t think so. There were lettuces, several varieties of greens like kale, chard, and spinach. The garden was overflowing with tomatoes and edible flowers. John added strawberries to his long list of delectable edibles as well as pigeon peas. He also added shade curtains around some of his plants. It has
been a warmer and drier than usual winter and adding the shade is a way of protecting the plants from the strong sun and heat. As part of the event we were put to work gathering ingredients for our meal. We picked pigeon peas, chard and spinach. After we turned over our bounty to the cooks of GULP! LLC we took our seats at the tables setup in the garden. At the beginning of the tour we were told food would be prepared with what we harvested from the garden so we needed to be prepared for a leisurely dining experience since everything was being made fresh for each course. 
It was a perfect day for a garden party, cool with a little blustery breeze now and again. The warm sunshine and tasty wine kept us feeling comfortable and happy as we visited until our food arrived.Before the first course John continued the discussion about why his garden and others like it are so important. Why does John take all this time to produce this bounty? It started as an experiment for his Doctorate Dissertation. His focus is on the importance of urban gardens and how they help not only the family and then community they serve a global importance as well.
I guess it would be obvious the importance of a backyard garden for the family: food. John has harvested 850lbs of food from his garden in the last 12 months. That is a savings of approximately $1300 to $2400 over this period. He didn’t have to buy these items at the store. The produce is fresher and more flavorful which makes it more attractive on the table. There have been some theories tossed about that children would eat more vegetables and fruit if they participated in the growing of them. I don’t know how accurate that is but I know growing up in the farm country of the Midwest we ate a lot of vegetables and loved them all.
As the first course came out John paused for the slurping…
Coreen and LeBeau prepared fresh tomato and basil soup with cream and herbs
topped with cheese sippets. The tomatoes and herbs came from the garden which gave the soup a tangy almost fruity quality. The herbs gave the soup its peppery flavor and the cream brought it all together. I have to say though while it was a really good tomato soup the sippet, all toasty and filled with American cheese, made this soup great. I was suddenly transported to lunchtime when I was little and mom made tomato soup and toasted cheese sandwiches. I felt warm and full and comforted. Yum.While the second course was being prepared John explained why the community benefits from gardens. He saved 1 million kilowatt hours of energy by growing his own produce. That is equal to 1 year of gas for your car! Think of this: by growing food not only did John and Eddie save money on their groceries they also saved 40,000 gallons of water! Veggies don’t require the immense amount of water all the green grass does. Palm Beach County has been experiencing drought conditions for years. Maybe we wouldn’t be so hard up for water if we were growing food instead of green carpets.
The second course arrived and I will say right up front it was my favorite course of
the day. It was a light salad of julienned kohlrabi and Pink Lady apples. It was tossed with a vinaigrette of rice wine vinegar, fish sauce, Thai chile and cilantro. It was herbaceous, refreshing and for some reason buttery. The butter had to have come from the dressing. It was delicious and I was sad when my plate was clean.As we were waiting for the third course John expounded on the benefits to the planet from having a backyard garden. 300 gallons of diesel fuel were not burned by growing instead of buying which equals 6600lbs of carbon dioxide. That is just his garden. Think about these last few years of crazy weather. Carbon dioxide is a huge contributor to global warming. If we all grew our own vegetables and fruit or came together as a community to grow them the amount of carbon dioxide not going into the atmosphere could possibly keep the icebergs floating for a few more years or stave off a devastating hurricane or blizzard!
We contemplated that incredible impact as Coreen and LeBeau served the main
course. Blackened tilapia sat atop a bed of John’s greens and pigeon peas. The fish was cooked perfectly with just the right amount of spice in the blackening rub. I was thrilled to try a new vegetable in the pigeon peas. They reminded me of pinto beans and another diner thought of black eyed peas. It was truly worth the wait.Finally, before dessert John added that it wasn’t just fresh produce but the other things he created from them like katsup, marinara, canned peaches and mango. With a little work he and Eddie are able to extend his garden through out the year and these were savings he hadn’t yet calculated. I will add an interesting tidbit from the beginning of our tour. John did a random survey for his dissertation of 300 people and while 40% percent responded it was all about the food another 60% responded it was the pleasure they derived from interacting with the earth. I think that is an intangible benefit that makes it all worthwhile. I know I get a whole lot of pleasure watching my garden grow and I am so very thankful for all the advice and information I have acquired from John and these events. Now on to dessert.
It was a worthy finale. Coreen used John’s mangos to create a smooth tangy sauce that paired with a wiggly, jiggly vanilla and almond panna cota. It was smooth, cold, refreshing and creamy all at the same time. It was light and airy too which made it a perfect dessert for a garden party.We closed the day with a toast to our hosts and then sat back and relaxed a little more amid the beauty and peace that is just one backyard.
