- I just can't get over this amazing little garden oasis, truly in the middle of the city.

- I was so impressed by all the kids and youth involved in wanting to be farmers.

- It's not exactly set it and forget it.

You have to stand around and love on it some, but you don't have to do that much.

- I'm Maggie Keith and I'm the farmer.

- And I'm Lindsey McClave and I am the foodie.

- So we visited the Iroquois Urban Garden which, it's amazing to be in the middle of the city.

There's this fantastic garden.

They've got some orchards, and all the variety of vegetables.

And it was really a cool space.

Alex, thank you so much for having us out today.

- Thank you so much for coming.

- My gosh!

I can't get over this amazing little garden oasis truly in the middle of the city.

So tell me about exactly where we are.

- Yeah!

Well, welcome.

We're at Iroquois Urban Farm located in South Louisville.

Just about a block that way is Taylor Boulevard, which is a main road that runs through our community here.

- Wonderful, and how did this farm come to be?

- This actually used to be the location of Iroquois Homes, which was one of the largest public housing complexes in the state of Kentucky, and it was demolished about a decade ago.

So we've been out here farming now for four or so years.

The Food Literacy Project, a few years ago, was invited to start farming here, and it's been really beautiful.

We've been able to bring a bunch of youth as a crew onto this land to connect with the land.

Lots of groups of children have been out here to get their hands dirty and taste vegetables.

And there's just a whole new life and sense of meaning that happens out here now.

- Tell me a little bit about the program here.

- Well, this is our youth community agriculture program.

It's a seven-week program during the summer.

It's about 30 hours a week that they're out here farming.

We also create opportunities for them to engage in loccal food justice conversations.

I think one thing that's especially attractive about it is that it is an employment program.

- And I spotted a pizza oven, so there is some cooking that takes place.

Tell me a little bit about the culinary aspects of the program.

- Well, that is a cob oven, actually.

It was built a few years ago.

And it actually cooks so much more than just pizza.

We're able to use it to bake bread.

We've used it to bake brownies, all kinds of things.

Anything you cook in an oven, pretty much you can cook in that cob oven.

- So your neighbors, do they come by to say hi?

Do you get one-on-one, in-person interaction with them?

- We do, and we love to host events on the farm farm that neighbors are welcome to come to.

Actually, recently we hosted a seed and seedling giveaway to help people get their gardens started for this season.

It's just fun to be able to connect with neighbors out here in a variety of ways.

- That's wonderful.

I think it shows too, the domino effect of what you all are doing is really neverending, and that shows how much food justice and social justice really are interconnected, helping to build a healthier community.

So thank you all for that.

- Thank you.

Thanks for being here and letting us share about it.

- Hi Grace, thanks for having us out to Iroquois Urban Farm.

- Thank you so much for being here today.

We're really excited to have you.

- Tell us about Iroquois Urban Farm and food literacy project.

- Yeah, absolutely.

So the food literacy project is a nonprofit organization that focuses on food, farming and the land, and how youth can be change agents with tools around those things.

The food literacy project got started in partnership with Ivor at Field Day Family Farm and the Oxmoor Farm Properties.

A farmer that Ivor was working with took over stewardship of this land, and when he moved on to a different opportunity, they said, "Hey, Food Literacy Project, do you want to come take over at Iroquois Urban Farm?"

We've been lucky to to work here for the last couple of years.

- So maybe we can start just a little bit further down.

- I supervise the youth community agriculture program.

And these young people are between 16 and 21 years old, and they are really the main people stewarding this land.

The YCAP Crew, as we call them, is here today harvesting garlic.

And in addition to the garlic, we just have lots of different organic veggies that we're growing.

- What is it like bringing youth out here, and what are their reactions to this farm?

- They vary.

Some come super enthusiastic to get their hands dirty, some are more reluctant, but it's really exciting.

Throughout their time working on the farm, they really build a connection with the land, and so it's really a privilege for me to work alongside them and see that kind of transition as they get more comfortable with these tasks and the work we're doing out here.

- And what is it like farming in the middle of the city?

- It's really interesting.

So we have busy streets on different sides of us, and we can hear motorcycles, and big trucks passing by.

But I really feel this sense of peace and calm in this big green space that is not only green, it's productive.

And we're able to share the harvest with our neighbors and build a sense of community using this piece of land as our starting point for that.

- So being in the city, you must have had to work really toward healing this soil.

So can you tell me about some of your agricultural practices?

- Yeah, absolutely.

So this piece of land has a really interesting history, in that at one time it was the Iroquois housing projects.

So after so many years of these buildings sitting on the soil and really compacting everything, they leveled it, and left a lot of concrete and bricks we'll find left behind.

So a lot of what we're doing is rebuilding the soil, picking up rocks, spreading chicken manure.

So we use sustainable and regenerative agriculture practices here.

Don't spray any chemicals or anything like that.

Some of our pest control methods are to just a plant extra so the bugs have plenty to eat too.

- Yes!

So do you cover crop to build that soil?

What methods are you using to build soil?

- Yeah, we do some amount of cover cropping.

Whenever we hand weed, we leave the weeds in the field so they can break down and add more organic matter to the soil.

We do some amount of tilling just to aerate and some cover cropping as well.

- So where does the food that you grow here go?

- So it kind of depends.

We, at one point, sponsored farmers market.

And maybe we'll get back to that at some point in the future.

We have done a lot of donating our produce to different community ministries, or dare to care efforts.

And we also sell some at the Save-A-Lot down the street.

We have wonderful partners there, the Taylor Boulevard location.

I should also mention our Field-to-Fork Club.

We do an afterschool club, and a lot of our produce goes home in a weekly share towards our Field-to-Fork Club participants, 3rd through 5th graders and their families.

- How fun.

And do you all cook it all together?

- We absolutely do.

So, the field to fork concept, you can learn how to grow food, but what do you do with it if you don't know how to cook it?

So we feel that's a really important piece of the puzzle.

And one of my favorite things to do with the crew is really interesting to see some of them really take to the farm work and some of them are really excited about the cooking.

Some have left this program to go on to culinary school, some leave it to pursue more farming efforts and other various directions as well.

- So what is your season here?

Do you farm all the way March through October?

- Yeah, it usually gets started towards the beginning of March and wraps up close to Thanksgiving.

- Can you tell me about what we're going to do today?

- Yeah, absolutely.

So today the crew is harvesting garlic that we planted back in October, last year.

We're also doing a little bit of hand weeding and maintenance, taking care of our tomatoes and our sweet potatoes.

- I'd love to help out.

- Awesome.

- So when you're introducing me to everyone, I noticed you had some funky names.

Can you tell me about your farm names?

- Yes, we get to pick our own farm names, which is silly, and I also really love it.

It doesn't have to be alliterative, but it can be.

The only rule is that it comes from the farm.

It's something you can find on the farm.

So mine is Grace Green Pepper.

We've got a Daniel Banana on the farm.

So really anything that feels right can be your farm name.

- We can get everything if we want, but our priority is to get what's closest to the plant.

As always with hand weeding, we're being really careful about anything that's really close to the root system, because we don't want to disturb those.

And we're just going to do this one row.

- Then you want to make sure and stomp straight down because if you hit an angle, you could damage the ball pretty easily.

Straight on down.

The soil's wet, it should be pretty easy today.

- It looks like Leo's making some good progress.

Maybe Dahlia and Madison, you can hop on that side behind him.

- I was so impressed by all the kids and youth involved in wanting to be farmers.

I felt like we had this comradery of, we don't look like the typical farmer, but we're still interested in farming.

They were super inspiring, they were excited and learned together about garlic.

And how we tied garlic together and hung it in the hoop house to dry and cure.

That was a fun experience that I got to have alongside them.

So Zach, Christian, thank you all so much for showing us what it is you've been doing with the Food Literacy Project.

We are just amazed with everything that you all have going on and these vegetables.

- Yes!

Thank you for coming out.

- So where are we right now?

- We're in the squash and zucchini area of the farm.

So we have four squash rows.

- You have a lot of squash!

- Yeah, and some of them are big, some are small.

It just depends on the time we planted.

- So you can harvest gradually?

I love that.

Christian, what else is around here that you all are growing?

- So on that side, we have beans and I think some sunflowers.

- Nice, yeah, I can see the sunflowers popping up.

- And pumpkins.

- Some will be ready to harvest now and some in a few weeks?

- Yeah.

- We were hoping you would have us back in a few weeks to maybe harvest some of this and cook with you all?

- Yes, that would be awesome.

We would love to have you back.

- So Madison and Zach, thank you so much for taking us out to the onion beds.

I've never harvested an onion before.

I'm sure Maggie probably has, but that was a lot of fun.

And also really interesting to see what your soil is like that you're working with.

I mean, we had to do quite a bit of digging, but look at these fantastic little baby onions we got.

I love them.

I feel like they might be a little bit sweet.

We're going to find out, right?

- Yes.

- So what I would like to do today, based on all of these gorgeous veggies you all have grown and helped harvest for us.

We've got some squash, the onions, green beans, a couple little baby okra that are so sweet.

I would love to see what this cob oven is all about.

I've never used one.

And you all cook in this every week, don't you?

- We've cooked in it a few times.

- Okay, I'm super excited to try it out.

I thought we could roast veggies and put them in a risotto, which is a rice dish that's very simple and easy, loves to absorb any flavors, especially from the garden.

Does that sound fun?

- That sounds awesome.

- Maggie, if you and Zach want to tackle the garlic and the squash, then Madison, you and I can start breaking down the onions, and I maybe will snap some beans.

And we are going to roast them in just a little bit of olive oil, salt and pepper.

We want it to be all about the veggie, since you all worked so hard to grow this gorgeous food.

Once they're in the oven, we'll start with the risotto.

Have you all had risotto before?

- No, it was our first time.

- Okay, good.

So it is one of the simplest and most, I think, just wholesome dishes that you can make at home.

All you need is a particular short grain rice, arborio rice, and then a little bit of broth, or water even works, but broth has a little bit of additional flavor.

And we're going to sauté the rice.

And instead of cooking it in all the water or the liquid that you would normally cook it in, we're going to add it slowly and we're going to cook it over a medium, low heat, and just stir a lot, give it a lot of love.

And you'll see it grow and puff up, and it'll release all the starches, creating this creamy, delicious rice dish.

Then we're going to toss those amazing roasted vegetables in with it, and we've got our dish.

That sound good?

- Yes, awesome.

- Well, let's get started on the veggies.

- You all cook out here, so you're used to chopping?

- Yeah.

- So, if you want to handle a couple of these squashes and you've got that onion.

- Madison and Zach, this looks beautiful.

Well done, thank you so much.

So I think the cob oven is ready for us.

I'm going to do a little bit of olive oil and salt and pepper.

And if you all could toss everything together, and just make sure everything has a little bit of that olive oil, salt and pepper love, then into the oven, it will go.

And then into the risotto it will go.

- So when you're working with freshly harvested veggies, is this the go-to, olive oil, salt and pepper?

- This is mine, yeah.

I like to just keep it super straightforward, especially when they're this fresh.

Literally got them in the garden and walked them right up here.

We want to season them just so, and not overdo it too much.

It would not be a bad idea to throw some fresh herbs on there.

And I think I did see the herb garden.

Maybe you all could help get parsley to finish the risotto.

- Yes!

- Fantastic, we will definitely do that.

Doesn't this make cooking look easy?

- Yes!

- If y'all want to give those a quick toss.

Let me get the knife out of the way.

Let's head over to the cob oven and get things cooking.

- Okay, risotto time!

The veggies look amazing, that cob oven is fantastic.

Thank you all for introducing us to that.

I can't wait to add the roasted veggies into our risotto, but first we need our risotto.

So we're making a double batch, because we have so many wonderful mouths to enjoy what we're crafting today.

We're going to start by adding a little olive oil to our pan.

One of the things I love about risotto is it is such a simple, more of a method of technique.

So you can add whatever flavors you want to it.

We're keeping this really straightforward with the garlic that you all have been drying in your high tunnel.

It's all about the veggies today.

And I'm super excited about that.

So we're going to add half of that to this pan.

I love that sizzle.

The other half over here.

Now that for me was the first time I'd ever strung garlic up.

What about you guys, was that... - Yeah, it was our first time.

- I love that.

If you all want to stir what's going on in that pot.

What I love about garlic, it definitely can burn super fast, so we don't want to leave it alone too long.

But you know it's kind of ready to go when it's aromatic.

Do you all smell it?

- Yes.

- Zach, if you can add a tiny pinch of these red pepper flakes to each pot.

Maggie actually made these red pepper flakes.

A pinch goes a very long way.

- Is that good?

- That's fantastic, just right in there.

Same for the other pan.

Now we are going to add our rice.

So risotto is generally made with arborio rice, which is this short grain rice.

You all can see it.

They're short and fat.

And what's beautiful about that is they have lots of starch built up in them.

So what we are going to do is coax that starchy goodness right on out of each kernel, nice and slow.

To start that, I want to toast the actual rice a little bit.

This is a step for a lot of different types of rice that gets left out often, but it does kind of add a bit of a light, nutty flavor to the dish.

And it just develops that much more flavor in your rice when you let it toast a little bit in the pan.

Not burn, but it also allows each grain of rice, hopefully, to have a little bit of that oil on it.

So we're going to make sure... Good job.

- Do you toast quinoa like that too?

- You can toast quinoa as well, yes.

When you're thinking about adding flavor, there are lots of little things that you can do and that is one of them.

Other ways to add flavor is the broth.

So if you were making risotto in a pinch and you just had water, go for it.

But why not add a lot of additional flavor in the form of a veggie broth, chicken broth, beef broth.

But this is where risotto...

It's not exactly set it and forget it.

You have to stand around and love on it some, but you don't have to do that much.

I think a lot of people feel intimidated by risotto.

It's actually so, so easy.

So we're going to add about...

I just eyeball it, about a cup or so of the broth to each pan.

There we go.

Then we're going to turn it, and we're just going to start... We want to see some little bubbling in the liquid, but we don't want it to boil or anything like that.

As soon as the rice has absorbed almost all the liquid, we're going to add some more, and then we're going to repeat, repeat, repeat.

And slowly but surely, our rice will grow.

The starch in the kernels is going to release adding this nice natural creaminess to the dish.

We'll doll it up at the end with some fresh lemon juice.

I saw your herbs in your garden.

Y'all are going to hook me up with those, a bit of butter and Parmesan to really drive home that richness.

I think everybody's really going to like it, especially when we add the veggies in.

So let's just love on this some, keep an eye on it.

But in the meantime, you all had some peach trees that have some gorgeous peaches.

If you help us cut those up, I think we should take advantage of that hot cob oven, and make a little dessert ourselves.

- Both: Yes!

-All right!

Maggie is getting the peaches.

So we'll get to slicing those up and getting them in the oven.

- So Madison and Zach, do you want to help me top these off with a little bit of cinnamon and honey?

- Yeah, I would love to.

- Then we'll put it in the cob oven.

So just a couple pitches.

The wind will help you.

[ Laughing ] - You think that's about good?

- Yeah, that's perfect, yum.

And then Lindsay's made some whipped cream, and we'll get some fresh herbs to mix with it.

Great honey job.

Okay, so if you all want to open the oven for me, I'll go ahead and put it in.

- That's perfect, oh my gosh!

Our risotto is ready!

It is beautiful in this pot.

You can see how it's just slowly cooked to this nice creaminess.

Madison, you were such a diligent stirrer.

Thank you very, very much.

It paid off, I think.

So now we're just going to finish it off.

And these are just ways to round out all the flavors.

So, always love to have some fresh citrus added in so lemon juice is our friend here.

It's just going to brighten everything up and help counterbalance some of the extra ingredients we're going to add, like this butter and this Parmesan cheese.

Butter just adds an additional richness to the risotto.

So if you want to take a good fork full of that butter.

We're going to add that in, and we'll do one more equal size.

I know that seems like a lot of butter, but we're feeding a lot of people, and it's delicious.

Fantastic.

- I've never complained that you've added too much butter.

- No, me either.

And then now if you want to micro plain a little bit of Parmesan cheese in there, that adds an additional saltiness.

And speaking of salt and pepper, I am definitely going to add some salt and pepper.

We haven't done that yet.

And we want to make sure those flavor profiles are not missed.

Without further ado, we will throw in our fantastic veggies.

Zach, you and Madison got some herbs for us in the garden?

What did you pick?

- We picked chives, parsley for the risotto, and then we got mint and thyme for the dessert.

- Oh, my gosh, that's perfect.

I'm so excited.

Perfect, Good job!

Okay, thank you for that.

Now I am going to...

I'll stir this in.

This is still nice and warm.

So the butter just melts and it adds... Finishing dishes with butter is never a bad idea, if you ask me.

It adds a glistening quality, not necessarily a fatty one, but you can see how it brings everything together that much more.

It's not going to be too heavy because of that bright lemon component.

And now all of our-- - The veggies!

-- gorgeous veggies you all worked so hard to not only cook, but grow.

So literally the vegetable fruits of your labor right here.

- Yeah, you planted those onions in March.

So those have really been waiting for you.

- I love it.

And the garlic is in here.

There are a few whole cloves here, so somebody's going to get a treat in those bites.

But really when you roast garlic whole like that, it really becomes more sweet and delicious.

So, we'll give that all a really good stir.

And it's just a nice, big, gorgeous -- - This is a good, hardy meal for a good day of farm work.

- Yes, I think so too.

- I might need to take a nap under that tree.

[ Laughing ] - We made gumbo last week, and I did exactly that.

- Well, that sounds good, what'd you put in your gumbo?

-It was a bunch of vegetables, okra, bell peppers, tomato, onion, garlic.

- Do you think you'll cook more now that you've been part YCAP, and been able to not only farm, but cook and grasp some cooking skills as well?

- Yes.

- I definitely think I've learned a lot of things that...

I think cooking, you can play around with it a lot.

It's not as strict as baking is.

So I'm getting more into cooking now.

- Good.

- You too, Zach, you think?

- Yes, more vegetables that I've tried and started to like, so I have more options.

- Love it, love it, love it.

Herbs, additional color, freshness, brightness.

Always a good idea.

- Stir those in.

- Thank you, Maggie.

- Here you go.

- All right, and this is where we decide to be-- - This is my favorite part.

- I know this is always the best part.

So everybody just take a little bit.

So it's super creamy.

Just what we're going for, if you ask me.

I got a piece of squash, and I got a little bit of that roastiness from the cob oven.

I think it's delicious.

- Yeah, the bite of the rice is perfect.

- Yes, yes, not mushy.

It has some form to it, but also just soothing and cozy.

Do you all like risotto?

- Yes, I love it.

Have we created some risotto fans!

- Sold, yay!

- Fantastic, well, let's go let everybody try it!

- Hi, and thank you all for growing this food for us.

We're very excited to have a meal with you and we hope you enjoy.

We've got a roasted YCAP vegetable risotto.

- We also used your amazing cob oven to make some peaches.

- We'll be passing whipped cream around to top off the peaches if you are so inclined.

So we're going to get serving.

- The way our peaches came out, my gosh, it was amazing.

It had this natural smokiness to it.

Sharing food while you're doing farm work has traditionally been a big part of farming cultures, having that big lunch together.

- Yeah, that was a cool treat.

And I think it was neat to show them that with a couple of Sterno burners right here in the middle of this garden, we can create fantastic risotto with vegetables they had.

Pretty much everything but the rice was from something we harvested within that day.

- Cheers everybody.

- Thanks for letting us learn from you and see everything.

We really appreciate all the time you've given us.

- So glad you could come out.

It's a delicious treat for us too.

- Wow!

This is amazing.

- Well, I know it's this program's last week.

So, a bittersweet day.

- A good sendoff!