Growing Own Produce Helping Lancaster Restaurants Cut Costs

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lancaster County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

LANCASTER, PA — If you order a turkey wrap at the Lemon Street Market this summer, or drink a mojito at Lancaster Brewing Co., the tomato on your sandwich and the mint in your drink might have been grown right outside the restaurants.

Six city restaurants are planting tomatoes, cucumbers, spinach, herbs and other fresh produce in containers, hanging baskets and small beds.

They plan to harvest the fresh items and serve them to their customers, to promote healthy eating and local products, in a project sponsored by Lancaster city and a local health organization.

“We’ll use the cucumbers in our salads and the basil in sauces,” said Brent Eshelman, general manager of the Lancaster Brewing Co., which is growing plants, including hot peppers for its wing sauce, outside its new 50-seat patio at Walnut and Plum streets.

Rad more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130505/LIFE05/130509996/growing-own-produce-helping-restaurants-cut-costs#full_story

New Lancaster City Arts Manager Hits Ground Running

There was a learning curve when Lancaster city hired its first two public arts managers — the first from Colorado and the second from Indiana.

Tracy Beyl, who took over the position this month, needs no introduction to the arts in Lancaster nor to the city’s program.  She was there at its inception.

Beyl moved less than three blocks to the City Hall post from her former office at the Pennsylvania College of Art & Design.

It was there that Beyl was involved in establishing the college’s mural resource project a decade ago.  That initial effort was to provide resources to people in the community who wanted to create public art.  It later was expanded from murals to all public artworks.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/808316_New-Lancaster-city-arts-manager-hits-ground-running.html#ixzz2JHuJMPlN