Clinton Hill Celebrates End of Growing Season With a Spicy Festival

Looking for something to spice up your weekend? Maybe an end-of-season Habanero Pepper Festival is just that heat you’re looking for.

Take a trip down to the corner of Waverly and Myrtle Avenues and you’ll find Urban Green Eco Technology, an urban farm built by Hungarian farmer Sandor Gubris. The plot, which was originally nothing more than a vacant lot at the Trilok School, now holds a lush garden for community enjoyment.

“He’s turned that dirty lot into something very full and lush,” said Kathy Sharon, a neighbor who simply appreciates what Gubris has done for Clinton Hill. “A lot of people stop by in the neighborhood and talk to him.”

And to celebrate the end of the growing season (the hot pepper growing season in particular) Gubris and Urban Eco will host the free Habanero Pepper Festival on Saturday, Nov. 2,  from 3 until 6 p.m.

Local chefs, home chefs and community members who enjoy picante platters are asked to bring their favorite pepper-infused recipes – cooked or written – to share with the community at the garden for a potluck-style feast. Cooks don’t need to make enough to feed the whole community, but enough to let neighbors sample and learn a few new food tricks. Cooks should also be sure to bring copies of the cooking directions to share.

“It’s the end of the growing season and there’s an abundance of them,” Sharon said. “It’s a nice little neighborhood event for whoever is interested in peppers.”

Gubris uses traditional plant-raising methods to cultivate his community garden – natural fertilization, recycled rainwater, sub-irrigation sustems and no toxic chemicals. Urban Green Eco Technology, which is a non-profit founded in 2011, teaches those who love nature and “desire to green the environment” to garden through the same organic processes.

“It’s connected to the community,” Sharon said. “It’s a great corner to spend a half hour talking to the gardeners and checking out all the plants.”