Adding Spice to Life

Esther and Lisa harvesting the garden at Rensselaer Falls IRA

OGDENSBURG If you’re cooking for a lot of people, it’s not always easy to please everyone. If you ask Lisa Alberto how she manages to please her more than a dozen diners, she will tell you to keep things as fresh as possible and to use what you have to spice things up a bit.

            As a cook for United Helpers Mosaic in Rensselaer Falls, Ms. Alberto is able to get much of her inspiration from the garden that she and other staff and residents have grown and maintained.

            “We try to use as much of what we grow as possible,” Ms. Alberto said. “We’ve made homemade spaghetti sauce from our tomatoes, basil and oregano, eggplant parmigiana and stuffed peppers. With the fresh spices we’ve grown, we are really able to create some great flavor without added salt or fat.”

            This year, the garden featured zucchini, varieties of squash, peppers, eggplants, tomatoes, sunflowers, pear trees, and many different types of herbs. Plans for a larger garden next year to include beans, peas and onions are already in the works and the team is looking to transplant some of the herbs and move them inside for the winter. “We’ve had a good year and have been able to freeze some of our vegetables,” Ms. Alberto added.  

            Mosaic and the entire United Helpers organization strive to conduct business and life in a more sustainable manner. In addition to gardening efforts, many of the United Helpers sites practice composting, have photovoltaic and solar systems and active Sustainability Committees looking for new and innovative ways to reduce the carbon footprint, both at work and at home.