Boston Local Food Festival

Saturday afternoon, August 21st was billed as a very special opportunity to have an ALLocal Picnic at the home of Patti Moreno of Garden Girl TV in Roxbury. The afternoon was a remarkable one. ALL ingredients were: sourced, processed, prepared right in the backyard in Roxbury and at least within New England.

Guests enjoy the locally grown and prepared meal outdoors

Almost 60 people arrived on a warm, overcast afternoon and enjoyed a full three hours of local food – in their bellies and surrounding them with sensational smells, sights and touches. Potted flowers of many varieties lined the entry way, grapes dripped off the vine covered fences, chickens of many breeds wandered out of their garden shed and about the grounds. Fresh basil stems and watermelon rinds were tossed into the chicken yard, conveniently placed outside the back steps leading into the kitchen.

Gathering in the back patio shaded by a large oak, guests were first offered grape juice created from grapes picked out of Patti’s garden and pressed just moments earlier. This was mixed with Polar Seltzer, a local Worcester company. In addition, there was Carlson’s apple cider pressed in Harvard, MA from apples grown at Carlson Orchards and Cabot Cheese, from dairies in the New England cooperative.

Guided by Chef Nadine, Patti’s family, including husband, daughter, uncle and grandmother, had been harvesting from the garden, prepping in the kitchen and grilling since 8 am. The feast that spread across three tables included:

• salad of tomato and cucumbers from Silverman’s Farm topped with herbs picked as the dish came out of the kitchen
• roasted potatoes from Silverman’s bathed in fresh pesto
• three types of pasta created by Nella Pasta that morning using local eggs, herbs and arugula from Patti’s garden and flour from Four Star Farms in MA
• grilled pork sausage freshly made at Don Otto’s Market in the South End
• grilled bluefish and baked soul, purchased from Gloucester fishermen and delivered fresh off the boat by Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance
• grilled chicken with a pesto made from fresh basil and parsley
• watermelon freshly picked at Silverman’s Farm

As guests enjoyed the many taste treats with seconds and thirds, a number of people shared their experiences in local food. These included Commission of MA Department of Agriculture, Scott Soares; creators of Nella Pasta, Leigh Foster and Rachel Marshal; owner of Don Otto’s, Mike Otto; President of Sustainable Business Network, Susan Labandibar and Boston Local Food Festival Producer, Nicola Williams.

Afterward, Patti gave a tour of her raised 4 X 8 kitchen garden, her orchard, container porch garden, 250 Sq ft. garden and her chicken and rabbit collection that naturally create rich soil for the garden beds and serve as a disposal for produce scraps. It was an experience like no other and folks left inspired to shift, even 10%, to grow, eat, seek more locally grown food as thus improve our health, community, environment and local economy.