August 31, 2017

Hello Dear Friends!

This week you will have even more tomatoes and peppers! We hope you are finding fun things to do with your repeat perfor-mances. Don’t forget to send in your favorite recipes for the rest of us! I personally love fresh zucchini. I like to shred it along with cucumbers for salads with carrots, tomatoes and feta cheese or use a mandolin to make long julienne slices, throw it in boiling water for a few minutes, drain and top with my favorite spaghetti or pesto sauce and parmesan cheese.

The peppers have such a wonderful crisp taste when they come straight from the farm to table and we are enjoying them raw for snacking, in salads and stuffed. As our summer produce slowly comes to a close, we are busy doing our Autumn, Winter and Spring plantings. Don’t forget to let me know if you would like more fresh herbs.

I am working on a Cottage Industry application and an Egg Handler’s license so I can supplement diminishing crops with some other fun items.

Thank you so much for those of you who are sending in your “Shareholder” contributions for the Autumn/Winter Garden. Your contribution ensures fresh garden produce September, October, November and is also literally “seed” money for the Winter/Spring season.

One other item. Do you have a favorite herb or vegetable you would like us to plant for you? Now is the time to put in your special requests! Do you usually plant annuals in your planter boxes like Pansies, Johnny Jump Ups, (Violas) or other things? If you let us know, we can be your on demand nursery :)

One Man’s Trash is Another Man’s Treasure

I am quite sure you have heard some variation of the saying, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” In the culinary world, that might be like the garden variety snail that has been elevated to a French delicacy called Escargot. I am sorry my dear Escargot loving friends, but all the butter and garlic in the world has not helped me get past the texture of snail meat. Still, it is wonderful that we humans have such a diverse pallet!

One of my favorite things about gardening is how much there is to learn! However, learning is often painful and I was quite disappointed that our corn crop began to show signs of some kind of infestation. Imagine my surprise to learn that the same fungus that ruined my corn crop is actually a wonderful delicacy in Mexico. That is correct! Our Master Gardener, Anna Hazen, assured me that a little corn smut never hurt any-one. In fact, she went on to explain, when the smut erupts from the head of corn into a plume of powdery grey kernels, it is even more desirable. She also told me that corn smut adds taste like that of say, mushrooms. Yes, they are both a fungus. So, if you accidently saw a little grey streak on the corn you had in your basket, you can be assured it was not an insect but a wonderful delicacy that lent a lovely, smoky, mushroom flavor to the corn dish of your making. I decided not to include this delicacy in your baskets, and to be honest, I hope I can find a way to prevent it next summer!