July 31st, 2020
COVID-Proof Date Night: Spice Up Dinner with Ingredients from your Backyard
Original article appears on VegWorldMag.com >
Aside from the hassle of going out during an ongoing pandemic, date nights have taken a drastic turn over the past several years – a turn for the worse! Shared connectedness has been replaced with phone-scrolling and the same old venues. The excitement is gone, and many are looking for ways to get back to some real quality time spent with loved ones.
What if you could help the connection between you and your partner grow by growing your dinner together in your own backyard?
Luckily, Tripp and Carmen Eldridge are here to help. Tripp and Carmen are the recently married small-scale farm experts who spearheaded the farm-to-table lifestyle at Arden, South Florida’s first ‘agrihood’ community. They can show how easy it is to revamp date-night using just your backyard, and a little bit of love!
The experience of nurturing a garden to harvest with your partner is a great way for you to connect with nature and each other in the process. Tripp and Carmen can demonstrate how to transform your backyard into a bountiful garden, some easy recipes to shake up your dinner routine, and tips on how to create a garden for date-nights through the whole summer!
Your garden will become a fun place you’ll both want to keep returning to again and again.
Everyone has a different reason for wanting to garden. The plants you choose should reflect your interests. If you’re first starting out, we recommend buying transplants for slow growers like tomatoes, onions, peppers, and eggplant. And then you can save a lot of money by direct seeding fast growers like radishes, arugula and squash.
“Flavors from homegrown produce are far superior than anything you can buy at the supermarket. And there’s a ton of satisfaction that comes with eating something that you’ve helped to grow. It really is beautiful to be that close to nature and connecting with the earth in such an intimate way”, states Carmen Eldridge.
Make Tripp and Carmen’s Vegan Sloppy Joe Recipe here.
About Tripp and Carmen:
Tripp and Carmen Eldridge are the full-time farm director at Arden, South Florida’s first master planned “Agrihood.” The talented duo plan and execute every aspect of the community’s five-acre farm. Tripp began his career as a Peace Corps volunteer and has since put his skills to use in a variety of settings ranging from botanical gardens to row crops and ranch land. Carmen also got her start building and maintaining community farms with the Peace Corps, and later went on to become the founder of a one-acre teaching farm at the University of North Florida.
Tripp and Carmen work closely with residents, who all share in the harvest of farm-fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs grown year-round. The farm and garden offer families the opportunity to learn about the full spectrum of food production and healthy living. Learn more: https://ardenfl.com/agrihood/#farm-to-fork
