Before she became a chef and worked with national personality and Oklahoma native Rick Bayless, Kamala Gamble was a bank examiner with a degree from the University of Oklahoma. She is also one of the founding members of the Oklahoma City Slow Food convivium. Kam offers catering, cooking classes, and private dinners featuring local food, often harvested from her own backyard, Guilford Gardens. She also runs a community-supported agriculture (CSA) program, where members receive 16 weekly baskets of produce from Guilford Gardens and a few other Oklahoma farmers. Guilford Gardens is not mechanized, so it’s a time- and labor-intensive endeavor to stay on top of pests and diseases, planting and harvesting, and soil-building. In some ways, Kam’s Kookery subsidizes Guilford Gardens. But it’s worth it, she says. “The best thing is when you make a panzanella salad with two types of basil, cucumbers, six types of tomatoes, feta, and olive oil—you’re in heaven. The ingredients stand on their own.”
Tricia is Kam’s first quasi employee to work for food. In exchange, she helps in the garden and maintains Kam’s blog. All writing and photographs are by Tricia, unless otherwise noted. Thanks for checking in!
Just a shot in the dark here… is this the same Kamala that once lived in East Ridge, Tennessee?
You owned an Akita when you were little.
[...] it all got started.) The amaranth and basil were both grown from seed. The sage leaves were from Guilford Gardens. And the hyssop was grown from a transplant from Gabe. I have referred to this handy guide for my [...]