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The San Ramon Nature Park Foundation is now offering a four-week Expert Growers’ Series featuring growers and chefs teaching how to cook with unique or unusual ingredients.
Due to COVID-19, tasting and sampling ingredients, which were originally a part of the series, have been accommodated to social distancing. Instead of having in-person tasting, ingredients can optionally be delivered or picked up by class participants.
On Tuesday (Aug. 18), Dr. Fred Hemple, plant scientist and owner of Green Bee Farms will be sharing his tomatoes which have only been available for 5-star chefs. His presentation will discuss plant hybrids, the difference between open pollination and genetic engineering, how he cultivates his farm in Sunol, tips for pest control, fertilization, and other gardening topics.
Franette Armstrong will also demonstrate how the variety of Hemple’s tomatoes inspired her to create two separate recipes.
Elana O’Loskey, an herb educator and radio host and staff writer for Orinda News will be teaching the Aug. 25 class on unusual herbs. In this course, she will discuss herbs in her garden and how to grow them for their best quality.
Sandi Hunt, who teaches herbs and scents will also demonstrate different methods of using herbs as ingredients. Participants who pay for the sampling will receive a herb bouquet.
For the Sept. 1 class, Hemple will be returning to discuss the cultivation of sweet and hot peppers alongside unusual herbs and edible flowers.
Ethné and Phillipe de Vienne of Epices de Cru will also be demonstrating how to use Aji Amarillo peppers the Peruvian way. Samples will include a selection of Green Bee Farms peppers, including Aji Amarillos, and some herbs.
The final class, set for Sept. 15, will include TV and radio host, Buzz Bertolero, who has been nicknamed “The Dirt Gardener”. In this lesson, participants will virtually walk through a 53-year-old orchard and discuss the cultivation of a variety of fruit trees.
Karen Cordeiro, pastry chef and owner of Danville Bakery will teach how to bake an apple pie from scratch, using apples from Mudd’s orchard. The sampling will include an “apple pie in a bag” which includes every item needed to bake an apple pie.
Participants will also receive a private YouTube link of each class as well. To register for the entire series, participants must pay $105, while for individual class it costs $30 each. Registration must be completed five days before a class if samples are desired. Sampler supplies could possibly be limited, according to the San Ramon Nature Park Foundation. As a result, samplings will come on a first come first serve basis for each given class.
The San Ramon Nature Park Foundation is also raising funds to renovate the remaining space of a 10-acre park, renovating Mudd’s restaurant into a Nature Education Center.
The Nature Education Center will include “classes and a cooking school, landscape the land around it, including a new celebration garden for classes and private events,” San Ramon Nature Park wrote in a statement.
The fund aims to add a hiking trail loop, a new meadow area for special events, new picnic amenities, and more educational features for the celebration garden.
To donate or join the foundation, those can visit SanRamonNaturePark.org.
