Spring Cucumbers?
Farm Manager Jennie Bartoletti tells me that an unseasonably warm winter and spring have led to a lot of things coming in faster and more furiously than usual, including pests!
The basket of cucumbers at Bartoletti’s feet look delicious, but across the farm are rows of mustard greens eaten up by beetles. So don’t be surprised if you find a little more insect damage on your produce this spring and summer than you expect, but rest assured that the tradeoff is worth it.
When you don’t use harsh chemicals, sometimes you get more bugs, but you also get healthier food!
“A Viney Time of Year” A story by Jim Pfitzer
The year was 1876, and the world was celebrating 100 years of the United States with the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. For the party, the Japanese government constructed a garden which Included a large-leafed vine sporting sweet-smelling blooms that captured the imagination of American gardeners. The United States turned 100, and it’s birthday present was kudzu–the gift that kept on giving!
But as obnoxious and tenacious as this fast-growing vine is, there is another vine that was gifted across the ocean two hundred years earlier that is getting more and more press these days, and for good–albeit unpleasant–reason.
Here in the South we all know at least part of that kudzu story, but very few of us know the story of the vine we sent abroad.Believe it or not, exported from the Americas to Europe as an ornamental for its pretty berries and beautiful fall color, was… poison ivy.
I bring this up now, not because it makes me feel good that we aren’t the only ones to be botanically screwed, but because we are fully into the season of gardening, yard work, hiking, picnicking and all manner of outdoor fun, and experts suggest that poison ivy is likely to only get worse in the coming years.
According to a National Geographic piece back in 2006, a Duke University study showed that increases in CO2 to levels expected by 2050, will increase poison ivy growth by 150 percent!
And the anecdotal evidence is plentiful as well. Everywhere I turn these days, the vine we love to hate is present, thick, and growing. Poison Ivy is on the march, and 85% of the population is sensitive. To add insult to injury, the Duke study also showed that the CO2-enhanced plant boasts a stronger strain of urushiol–the chemical that causes the body to react–which may prove even more poisonous to humans.
So, what to do? Get out in the garden, go for a hike, have a picnic, but keep your eyes open, wear long pants, and if you think you have come into contact, wash up with cold water. You might also consider apologizing to your European friends and be glad that kudzu doesn’t cause the same rash as our lovely native ornamental!
Or… if you are completely overwhelmed by the poison ivy in your yard… maybe try planting some kudzu. Nothing can compete with that stuff!
Crabtree’s Farm Stand is NOW OPEN!
The Farmstand at Crabtree is open Tuesdays-Saturdays, 9am-1pm.
Click here to learn more!
Examples of fresh-picked veggies available:
- Swiss Chard
- Kale
- Radishes
- Collards
- Leeks
- Lettuce
Examples of plant-starts available:
- Chocolate Cherry Tomatoes
- Cherokee Purple Tomatoes
- San Marzano Paste Tomatoes
- Marigolds
- Red Rubin Basil
- Emperor of India Nasturtium
- Jewel Nasturtium
- Spanish Eyes Lavender
Availability changes regularly. Please call 423-493-9155, x14 for a listing of what is available daily.
Seeds are beginning to sprout at Crabtree Farms!
Here is a teaser for what is to come for the Spring Plant Sale, Crabtree’s CSA, and what you will be able to find at our Farm Stand!
Start Date: Jan 17, 2012
- Tomatoes for the high tunnels: Moskvich and Paul Robeson (both Russian heirlooms=cold tolerant), Valencia and Pink Beauty (both hardy and prolific)
- Kohlrabi, and cold tolerant lettuces.
Coming Next week: Peppers for high tunnels, fennel, dill, parsley…
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Crabtree’s New High Tunnel
The inside of the old High Tunnel
The outside of the old High Tunnel
The outside of the old High Tunnel after the April storms
The inside after the storms- bad news for our Tomato plants!
The outside of the new high tunnel!
The inside with a crop of greens
Thanks again to our generous donor and volunteers- the high tunnel helps us prolong our growing season and allows us to produce fresh foods even in the winter!
Roots, Stems, Leaves, and Seeds…and Pea Shoots!
Roots, Stems, Leaves, and Seeds…and Pea Shoots!
As I pondered what I ought to do with this new food, I was reminded of a time almost fifteen years ago when I introduced some folks to foods and concepts new to them.Peppers, Peppers, and more Peppers! A story by Jim Pfitzer
Peppers, Peppers, and more Peppers!
Along with the chilling temperatures and turning leaves that make autumn my favorite season for all things out of doors, the final harvest of fall is hard to beat. Greens have come back, winter squash is on the counter ready for being turned into hot soups, and sweet potatoes are abundant. It is a great time to experiment with cooking.
Fortunately for me, while on the road the past three weeks, my hosts have shared my passion for local, fresh, healthy food. They have opened their gardens and CSA shares, and taken me to their local farmers markets. With the bounty, we have made some delicious soups and simple pasta dishes. We have enjoyed stirfries and mixed greens seasoned every which way.
With all the variety in the meals we have prepared, there have been a couple of ingredients that seem to end up everywhere. The first I expect, as I rarely cook anything without it, and firmly believe that there are two things one can never get enough of: love and garlic. The second, however, is an ingredient I rarely focus on, but when they are in season seem to make it into everything: sweet peppers.
Along with the last tomatoes in Minnesota, peppers were chopped and minced into delicious salsa, and roasted and slow-cooked into pasta sauce. Diced with onions and garlic they flavored our greens. When I wanted a snack in Wisconsin, a ripe sweet pepper sliced with cheese and crackers or eaten alone fit the bill.
In short, my culinary season has thus far been if not defined by, at least dominated by peppers.
And it isn’t just pepper season in he Land-of-the-windchill-factor. Peppers are in season here to, and there are more to come. With the advancing cold, peppers will need to be harvested, so to prepare us, here some ideas for large quantities of sweet peppers:
From Mtnlaurel.com comes a recipe for
Southern Appalachian Chow-chow.
Note that the ratios of cabbage, onion, and peppers are arbitrary. Use them in the amounts you have, and have some fun with it!
Ingredients:
1/2 cup sweet onions chopped fine
2 quarts shredded cabbage
1/2 cup chopped bell peppers
2 Tablespoons salt
2 cups vinegar
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons celery seeds
2 teaspoons mustard seed
Combine chopped vegetables and sprinkle with salt. Let stand 4 to 6 hours in the refrigerator. Drain well.
Combine the following vinegar, sugar, mustard, turmeric, ginger, celery seeds, and mustard seed and simmer 10 minutes. Use a pot large enough to put the vegetable mix in later.
Add vegetables to vinegar-sugar-spice mixture and simmer another 10 minutes. Bring to a boil. Then pack, boiling hot, into clean, heated canning jars, leaving only a 1/8 inch head space. Place canning lids and rings on jars and tighten. I usually turn the jars upside down so that all the heat is on the seals. I don’t turn them back upright until the jars are completely cool.
This recipe doesn’t have to sit before it’s ready to eat. After it cools, you can start tasting it. You won’t be able to tell where the cabbage starts and the onions end. The flavors blend together perfectly.
And from the Falmouth Farmers Market in Rhode Island, comes this recipe for Pickled Sweet Peppers!
Makes about 4 pints (recipe may safely be halved)
4 pounds red or green sweet peppers, or a combination
3 cups distilled white vinegar
2 cups water
¼ cup sugar
1 tablespoon Kosher salt
Remove the stems, seeds and ribs from the peppers, and cut into 1-inch strips. Bring the vinegar, water and salt to a boil in a large nonreactive pot. Add the peppers and return to a boil, stirring to ensure all of the peppers are heated through.
To refrigerate: Ladle into bowls or jars. Cool, cover, and refrigerate for up to 3 weeks.
To can: Use the boiling-water method. Ladle into half-pint or pint canning jars. Cover the peppers with ¼ inch liquid and leave ¼ inch headspace. Screw on lids. Process for 10 minutes. Store in a cool dark place for up to one year.
And finally, if you want to save your peppers for later, visit Inmykitchengarden.blogspot.com for easy tips on freezing peppers!
Soup Season! A story (and recipe) by Jim Pfitzer
Soup Season!
An Easy (and Delicious) Meal…
I received a text from my host in Minneapolis yesterday afternoon informing that she would be later than planned by an hour or so.
“Shall I make supper?”
“Sure!”
My offer came without much (any) thought. Tracy had been out of town for a week prior to my arrival, so I was pretty certain there would be little in the way of fresh foods other than the handful of things we had picked up together the day before at the Whole Foods.
I rummaged through cabinets, making a mental inventory of my findings. A box of organic chicken broth sat next to a back of dried Northern Beans. With highs in the forties this week, hot soup sounded perfect! I would not have time to soak the beans overnight as I prefer, so I did a quick two-minute boil, then set them off the heat to soak for an hour.
In the spice cabinet I found rubbed sage and rosemary, in a bowl on the counter a yellow onion and a head of garlic, and from the fridge a couple carrots, a bunch of parsley, some lime juice, and the magic for my creation: Link 41 bacon I brought with me from home!
I went back to my computer for about an hour then jumped into action. I cooked the bacon to a slight crisp and removed it from the skillet, poured off half of the grease into the old fashioned aluminum grease can with which I travel, leaving enough for cooking the onions and carrots, then drizzled a tablespoon or so over Riker’s food. (Nothing makes a better friend out of a standard poodle than bacon grease!)
Since I was now getting into the real work, I retrieved a Bancreagie Peated Scotch Ale from the fridge and got down to business. (If you don’t know this Minnesota beer, look for it! Medium malty flavor, peaty smoke overtones, great head, and just a hint of wheat in a beer that one would expect to be much heavier than it is. Delightful!)
I put the beans back on the burner, added the chicken broth and turned up the heat. Meanwhile, I chopped the bacon into ¼” latitudinal strips. When the beans and broth neared a boil, I turned it back down to simmer and added the bacon. I then diced up the onion and added it to the remaining bacon grease. While the onions softened, I chopped up the carrots, adding them when the onions were nearly translucent.
Before the carrots became too soft, I dumped the contents of my skillet into the soup, shook in a little rosemary and sage, and retired to the couch for some writing and the rest of my beer. A half hour later, the kitchen smelled wonderful, but I wasn’t finished. Knowing I wouldn’t be turning the heat back up, I diced up a huge garlic clove, the equivalent of four or five average cloves (making me wonder what the hell they feed their garlic in Minnesota) and added it.
I went ahead and chopped up a fat handful of cilantro and left it on the counter with the limejuice for later, then gave the broth a taste. The bacon gave the soup a nice subtle saltiness, leaving no need for more, but I did add a modest dash of black pepper before getting back to my writing.
When the beans were soft enough to enjoy, I threw in the cilantro and limejuice-I’m guessing the equivalent of one juicy lime-and let it simmer for another 20 minutes or so. Served with a simple salad and a second beer, this soup was perfect for an early winterish day.
After supper and conversation, we ended the evening with a Caol Ila 12 Year Islay Single Malt Scotch that brought the smokiness of the bacon right back and complimented the Bancreagie perfectly.
From opening the bag of beans to serving, total cooking time was about 2 ½ hours, but actual work time probably wasn’t more than 30 minutes–an easy feat. As the temps drop, give it a try. Your family and guests will love it and I’m pretty sure it will make great leftovers too!
Be a Farmer for a Day!
Crabtree Farms invites you to help with a big planting day next Tuesday, October 25th!
We will be planting our garlic and would love to have some help from anyone that is interested. Invite your friends if they would want to play in the dirt!
We plan to start at 9am and will work until it’s done! We will also have a potluck lunch to follow with roasted meat provided by Crabtree farms (don’t worry veggies and vegans we will have alternate options!).
Please email Jennie if you’re interested in helping
. Thank you!