April 2nd Exchange -- See you there!

Hello everyone and happy Spring! Produce in the Park will be meeting at Monrovia Library Park (corner of Myrtle and Palm) this Saturday, April 2nd from 9-11am! We hope you can all make it.

This Produce in the Park promises two exciting new things: banners and agua fresca! A thank you goes out to Nancy Matthews for ordering us two banners that will definitely help get our name out into the community. As for agua fresca, it's been hot outside the past few days and we have a lot of citrus. That seems like reason enough.

We had a great time at last weekend's Gospel Expo. Thanks again to Monrovia City Council Member Clarence Shaw for inviting us to participate. Heather and some willing volunteers were able to harvest several local trees before the event, allowing us to pass out more than 6 bags of tangelos, tangerines, oranges, and lemons. Our booth even got a shout out from the young hip hoppers rapping about the benefits of eating 5-7 servings of fruits and veggies a day.

Bring what you have – take what you want. That’s what we do if you’re just joining us here. If what you have is time, we welcome help for harvesting trees or setting up our monthly event. Join our team of volunteers by sending an e-mail to Produceinthepark@gmail.com or talk
to Greg on Saturday.

Please note, the Foothill quarantine is still in effect for a part of Monrovia. For more information, see this post.

Grapefruit Mint Sorbet

Please excuse the late post on this most delicious recipe. Fortunately, grapefruits (and most citrus in general) last anywhere from 3-6 weeks in the fridge, so you should still have everything you need from our last March exchange. This is my version, but feel free to change the recipe according to your tastes. For instance, many recipes only boil the simple syrup and mint and then add the grapefruit juice before freezing. Regardless of your method, it will be tasty and refreshing as the season starts warming up.

Makes about 2 pints

2 cups of grapefruit juice (and some pulp if you’d like)
2 cups of water
1.5-2 cups of sugar (according to taste and sweetness of your fruit, but start on the low end)
2-4 sprigs of mint
1-2 shots of vodka or tequila

In a small pot, combine the juice, water, 1.5 cups of sugar, and mint. Bring to a boil, and then simmer on low for 10 minutes. Let steep for an additional 10-20 minutes, remove the mint, pour in the alcohol, then chill (the juice, that is). At this point, you can either place the juice in an ice cream maker for about 25 minutes, or put it in the freezer. If you opt for the freezer, just make sure to scrape/mix it every 30 minutes while it’s freezing to incorporate some air.

Congratulations, you’ve made sorbet! Thank your neighbor for sharing their fruit at the next Produce in the Park.

March 5 Exchange -- See you there!

Hello everyone! Produce in the Park will be meeting at Monrovia Library Park (corner of Myrtle and Palm) this Saturday, March 5 from 9-11am! We hope you can all make it.

Only in Southern California can you get so much great fruit and sunshine on a morning in March. It almost makes you feel bad for the majority of the country that’s buried under snow.

As we said before, we had a fantastic Produce in the Park group last month. Library Park is the perfect meeting place, and we got a lot of interested looks from passerbyers, too. Citrus definitely ruled the exchange. In fact, we’ve been eating an orange a day for the last month, and we’re still not sick of them. So please bring lemons, oranges, grapefruits, etc, to share with everyone. Please note, the Foothill quarantine is still in effect for a part of Monrovia. For more information, see this post.

Bring what you have – take what you want. That’s what we do if you’re just joining us here. If what you have is time, we welcome help for harvesting trees or setting up our monthly event. Join our team of volunteers by sending an e-mail to Produceinthepark@gmail.com or talk
to Greg, Heather or Melanie on Saturday.