Going Green @ Haverford

I have to admit that part of the reason for this blog is that it keeps Sustainability at Haverford on the college’s main page. Go Green!!

With that little confession out of the way, I’d like to introduce you to the pressure cooker. I’m a big beef and root vegetable person. Stews, soups you name it, it’s on my plate. These types of foods are perfect for the pressure cooker. Okay, you ask, so how does all this relate to sustainability?

Let me give you a little example.  Sunday, with the cooler temperatures, I decided it was beef stew season. I whipped out the pressure cooker, chopped the vegetables and threw everything in. 10 minutes to achieve pressure, 16 minutes cooking time. Voila!  Mouth watering stew. Gone are the days of letting it simmer for hours. Less simmering, less energy. Pressure cookers, because you use very little liquid, maintain most of the vitamins and minerals. You also keep good vegetable color.

Also gone is the somewhat volatile nature of the appliance. I’ve never seen it, but I believe there is an I love Lucy episode where it exploded and she had food dripping off the ceiling. Pressure cookers today are state of the art, you really can’t go wrong.

I’ve added a couple links below. The first, gives you all the benefits of using a pressure cooker, including the environmental and economical. The second is an article I found in Organic Gardening Magazine by Lorna Sass. Sass has written several books on pressure cooking, two of which I own, and has really perfected the technique.

With local food markets and home vegetable gardens, the pressure cooker is the perfect compliment to anyone’s kitchen.

missvickie.com/library/whyuseapc.html#Safe%20and%20Dependable

www.organicgardening.com/cook/cooking-under-pressure

Tucked away on Featherbed Lane, a little stone house built circa 1935 by  Mathematics Professor Cletus Oakley, houses one of Haverford’s many hidden garden treasures. Five years ago Richard Ball took over the reins when Professor Lyle Roelof moved on to Colgate University and he has waged war on invasive plant species ever since.  Gout weed, Lesser celandine and Norway maple don’t stand a chance when faced with Richard’s boundless energy. He won’t admit how many hours he spends in the garden but looking at what he’s accomplished over the last several years, it’s quite a lot.

While Richard loves most plants he considers himself a tree man.  Scattered around his wooded garden are, at last count, 25 small trees that he has planted. Whether he bought them from the Forest Farm nursery catalog, a local native plant sale, or plucked them out of cracks in the sidewalk in Avalon, each plant is lovingly labeled the year it was planted and fenced off. Not just for protecting it from deer, but his own feet as he moves through the garden.

Chemical free, Richard has some unique ways of dealing with invasive species. Lesser celandine over the last decade has taken over our local woodlands, choking out the native flora. Richard has hand dug the bulbs, wheelbarrowed them over to a remote part of the property, and has covered the bulbs with a tarp. He’s hoping, one day, to be able to use the soil again. Another technique is picking up discarded boxes from the Dining Center and laying them over the plants he wants to eradicate and covering them with compost or wood chips. Previously, he had been using old carpet to smother the plants, but felt the cardboard boxes were a more sustainable approach as they can be tilled in once they break down.

Moving through the Dahlias, Crocosmia and Daylilies you come upon a grove with stone picnic benches built by Oakley, the home’s original owner. Shaded by evergreens, the tables and benches are covered with rocks.  When asked about them Richard replied, “They just grow by themselves.” What to do with them? “My plan is to make a plan,” he replied.

His love for the garden is unmistakable. As horticulturists, the Arboretum crews have often walked through his garden and appreciated his work. Richard commented that this is the first year he feels that he’s seeing results that even the lay person can appreciate.  So next time you bump into Richard on campus, ask him about his garden, he’ll be happy to fill you in.