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What's happening on the farm right now:
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The zinnias are just about to start really blooming so the Japanese beetles have moved in. The beetles love to eat lots of different plants but they seem to especially love the zinnias and basil. We pick hundreds of them off by hand and drop them in soapy water where they drown. Surprisingly, if we go over these patches a few times, the beetles don't come back. We'll have plenty of beetles later in the season, especially the smartweed that grows around our fields, but the later hatchings leave the zinnias and basil alone. Maybe it is only the early ones that like their taste?
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Beside killing beetles, we are also having fun making lots of pretty bouquets. We lay out the flowers on long tables and then, moving quickly so the flowers don't wilt, we walk down and pick up a blooms or two from each pile. Some folks choose a color palate and do some arranging. Others just let the flowers do the work. Either way, the ends results are beautiful.
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What's available in the store and at market this week?
I'm sorry to say that the tomatoes are taking their time turning red. Maybe these sunny days will encourage them and we'll have some at market on Saturday but right now, we can only be sure that we will have mixed pints of cherry tomatoes. Don't worry though. The tomatoes will ripen eventually!
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We've started digging all the potatoes and have four kinds, red, yellow, blue and the pinto golds. We have cucumbers and summer squash. We are almost out of red onions so we just have the yellow listed online this week. There will be more red onions available later in the season. We have lots of beets and carrots. This is the last week to get them with their tops. Next week they will be bagged. The head lettuce is looking really good, red leaf, red butter, romaine and green oak leaf. Lots of lettuce mix. Green kale and rainbow Swiss chard.
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Plenty of flower bouquets, sunflowers and snapdragon bunches.
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Alas, no more blueberries. I think they ripened just before all that rain and got blown off the bushes. There was a lot of the ground after last weeks storms.
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North Asheville Tailgate Market hours are
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Saturdays 8am-12pm on the campus of UNC Asheville.
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River Arts District Farmers Market hours are
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Wednesdays 3-6pm at the Smoky Park Supper Club, 350 Riverside Drive.
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We dug a lot of the carrots this week and I pulled out the one pictured above with its super long root. I think they all have roots that long but they usually break off when you pull them. That root wasn't even the longest. One of them had a 40" taproot. If I was that carrot, I would have been buried up to my waist!
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John's Recipe of the Week
| John Loyd is our dear friend, neighbor, CSA worker member and a gourmet Southern cook. His delightful observations on gardening and cooking appear here each week. |
“The only thing I like better than talking about food is eating food.”
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Here are some carrot ideas from Renee Shepard. She is widely regarded as a pioneering innovator who introduced many international specially vegetables. Shepard’s seeds are heirloom, certified organic, vegetable, flower and herb products for a home garden. Through the years we have found her seeds to be outstanding. reneesgarden.com
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CARROTS WITH LEMON AND DILL – From her 1991 cookbook, volume two. Serves 4
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1 pound carrots cut into ½ inch slices
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2 tbsp. minced fresh dill
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Steam carrots for seven or eight minutes until tender crisp.
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Heat butter until foamy, add onion and sauté until softened.
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Add carrots, wine, lemon rind and one tbsp. of lemon juice, and cook stirring until most of the liquid is reduced, about 2 minutes.
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Add the dill, salt and white pepper and additional lemon juice to taste.
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1 pound of small round carrots, or quartered larger ones, trimmed and cut into 3 inch pieces
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1 tsp. each: salt, mustard seed and peppercorns
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Combine all ingredients and cook until carrots are tender crisp. The cooking time will depend on the size of the carrots.
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Cool the carrots in the mixture and then drain and chill in glass, in your refrigerator. Makes one pint.
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NOTE – They will keep for a week or 10 days.
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TOMATOES – Tomatoes loose flavor if put in your refrigerator. If you don’t use all of a slicer, cool it, but eat it as soon as you can.
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BLUEBERRIES – Every season we process some of our berries buy placing them in a single layer on a cookie sheet and freezing them. Usually storing in bags holding a two-cup measure. If you are keeping them fresh, don’t wash them until you use them.
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A little flower heart for you.
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Your farmers, Vanessa and Alex
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Love the flowers. Honor the vegetables. Let the weeds go!
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- Cheri Huber and Ashwini Narayanan
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