Foodie-Mom: The Bronx, Basil, Batali and More

Living in Manhattan, Gianna and I don’t have a lot of opportunity to spend gardening. Not unless you count going out with a pail and shovel and “borrowing” some dirt from a tree near the curb so our struggling houseplant can get some furnishings for a bigger home. Visits to the Greenmarket on weekends are encouraging, but not actually hands-on. Gianna gets a thrill out of tasting the different varieties of apples and smelling all the herbs, but secretly I know she’d like to be getting down and dirty, ”becoming one” with the produce.

Last month, she got to do just that. No, we did not have to drive over an hour to the country to visit Grandma. Instead we moseyed on over to the next borough and visited the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx. We spent more than 3 hours in the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden—a 1½-acre plot of land staffed by volunteers where kids have free reign to plant, play, dig for worms and learn about the many varieties of fruits and vegetables and how they are taken from seed to soil to table. Children are encouraged to come back weekly to monitor the progress of what they sow, and they can even eventually reap some of their harvests.

This spring, the garden was able to boast a bit of culinary celebrity. And if the vegetables could talk, I’m sure they’d be name-dropping through the squash vines, and among the beanstalks and tomato plants.

To celebrate the 25^th anniversary of the Family Garden, it became home to Mario Batali’s Edible Garden, and transformed into a place where families could come and see the famed chef’s favorite fruits and vegetables (berries, beets, beans, garlic and myriad greens), watch daily cooking demos from many of his restaurants’ chefs and participate in gardening activities. (Gianna particularly enjoyed the mystery-produce scavenger hunt.)

Batali visited for the final-weekend celebrations and we got to taste some of his signature dishes, such as Spicy Cucumber Fennel Salad; Whole Wheat Rigatoni with Chard, Garlic and Dandelions; and Rosemary Olive Oil Cake. He also demoed some of his Italian specialties like Grilled Radicchio, Broccoli Rabe and Bruschetta to an intimate crowed of food lovers of all ages while speaking about the importance of family gardening. “Pay attention to where your food comes from and teach your children to celebrate the produce that is local to you and your neighborhood,” he said. “That is going to be the future of food.”  

Our trip to the Family Garden at the New York Botanical Garden was the perfect end to our summer and hopefully the beginning of Gianna’s gardening future.  We cannot wait to go back next year. –Nicole Denis

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