Urban gardener planting ideas

McClatchy Newspapers (MCT) - Will Allen hopes we take parents' admonition to "Eat your vegetables" a big step further: "Grow them, too." It is this simple, clear-eyed mission for which Allen was given a so-called "genius award" by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation last year.

In his case, the description "ingenious" applies, too. Allen is an urban gardener. His mission, at its most basic, is to help low-income city dwellers tackle the plagues of obesity, diabetes and heart disease through healthier, home-grown diets. Gardens are the vehicle. But he also has designed sophisticated business and food-distribution models that get more bang out of every seed planted.

Allen speaks about urban gardening at public forums, including a Tuesday gathering at Temple Israel in Miami, where urban gardens grow in Overtown and Coconut Grove.

The 60-year-old former pro basketball player has come full circle. He grew up outside Washington, D.C., on farmland since swallowed up by development.

"We grew about 85 percent of the food we ate. We were able to feed our family and our extended family and friends," Allen says. "When I was 6 years old, I was pulling a wagon with Fordhook lima beans, selling them for 75 cents a quart. That was big money _ my first marketing experience. Now I'm selling to grocery stores and institutions. It's about moving along a continuum."

In the early 1970s, that continuum brought him to the University of Miami, where he was the team's first African-American player. He spent most of his professional career playing in Europe where, he says, "I played for Antwerp. The team gives you a car and is responsible for your housing and salary. I asked for a place in the country. I asked for a shovel and a rake and some seeds, and I was in business."

Long story short, Allen returned to the United States, settled in Milwaukee and worked for years in corporate America. One day he spotted a dilapidated greenhouse, bought it, revived it and took on a group of at-risk kids, looking to transform their lives through gardening. His nonprofit, Growing Power, was born. Since 1999, it has grown from a budget of $200,000 to more than $2 million and a staff of 36.

Through workshops and training centers, Allen has taken his model to Ghana, Macedonia, Ukraine and Canada. Closer to home, there are Growing Power training centers in Mississippi, Arkansas, Kentucky and Massachusetts.

"Fifty percent of our funding comes from our own efforts," Allen says. "We sell compost, do talks; we do tours, 15 workshops. We have a kitchen. We grow soil for urban agriculture. We grow microbiological compost to break down waste _ we feed our compost to our 5,000 pounds of worms."

Allen's visit to Temple Israel came at the invitation of Jo Anne Bander, a Miami food activist. "The senior rabbi called me and asked what role can the synagogue play in urban gardens," she said.

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Temple Israel sits near the eastern edge of Overtown, home to an urban garden founded by educator Marvin Dunn in the mid 1990s. A community garden began taking root last weekend in West Coconut Grove, Fla., created by Architects for Humanity for local families.

To Bander, urban gardening is "about driving through inner-city neighborhoods and looking at all the empty lots, abandoned buildings and half-built structures. How can we green this up in a way that's good for everyone?"

Allen says that the issues of hunger and sustainability have been well framed in books such as "In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollan. Now he wants to inspire people "to get up from the planning table, go out, and get something started."

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ZUCCHINI WITH PARMESAN

A quick and delicious zucchini dish.

4 medium zucchini

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large yellow onion, halved and cut into ˝-inch slices

1 teaspoon salt

Ľ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Ľ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Remove and discard ends of zucchini. Cut the rest in half lengthwise, then diagonally into ˝-inch slices.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Saute onions over medium-low until they start to brown. Raise heat to medium, add the zucchini, salt and pepper. Cook, tossing occasionally, for 10 to 15 minutes, until just cooked through. Sprinkle with Parmesan and cook 30 seconds more. Makes 4 servings.

Source: Adapted from "Barefoot Contessa Family Style," (Clarkson Potter, $35).

Per serving: 124 calories (58 percent from fat), 8.6 g fat (1.9 g saturated, 5.4 g monounsaturated), 4.4 mg cholesterol, 4.6 g protein, 9.4 g carbohydrates, 2.7 g fiber, 678.7 mg sodium.

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© 2009, The Miami Herald.