DOOR STEP HARVEST Weekly Delivery Newsletter 7/11/11 This week you’ll find at your doorstep: salad mix,beets, onion, lambsquarters, cucumber, yard long beans, green beans, summer squash, blackberries, lavender, culinary herb bag (rosemary, thyme, oregano, sage, basil, tarragon, garlic, peppermint), flower bouquet (with more Rose of Sharon blossoms!), and the surprise of the week (Beebalm and Lemon Thyme!). Recipe of the week: MonardaSnapper
News from the garden
Black berries are ripe!!!! Okra is still not mature enough to bloom. Tomatoes are still not ripe! Scarlet Runner Beans and carrots are growing well. Bugs bugs bugs! The bugs are winning! Bugs are in the winter squash, summer squash, cucumber, and greens! We’re going to be lucky to get any more of these… We planted late squash just before I left for scout camp so maybe the bugs will be done by the time they grow and the greens will be sweet this fall as it becomes too cold for the bugs! The beets are still going strong but we keep harvesting them as babies. Late green beans are blooming and we like this variety better than the French heirloom that were too delicate for our climate (the French ones are in the delivery this week). Sunchokes will be blooming soon. Corn looks good. Cucumber was very very slow to come up but it at last is and now the bugs are getting it. Enjoy these cucumbers this week and we’ll hope the vines can survive long enough to make more for next week. Shi sho leaf is starting to take off. Yard long beans are making beans this week. Frost got the apricots and peaches but the Asian pears are okay. The plum tree I planted two years ago has tasting quantities of plums (so far) so you can look for a sample of these coming in August or September. I’m getting ready to plant more potatoes for fall next week.
*/** Salad Mix: Believe it or not, there is a small salad this week despite the heat wave.
**Beets (just red this time)
**Lambs quarters: more nutritious than most cultivated greens, these are at the height of the season. I like it when mom makes them like this- place 1 lbs ground beef with 1 quart water, 1 cup quick cooking rice (like white basmati), salt, pepper, rosemary/thyme/oregano, and lambs quarter leaves. Boil until meat is done. Great soup. You can add onion and any other veggies. Notice how ½ cup lambs quarters have 1.2 mg Iron!
**Onion: cook with stir fry mix above or enjoy with salad.
**Blackberries
**Yard Long Beans: these beans get to be very long. Cook them as any other green bean either whole or chopped small.
*Green Beans: These delicate French Heirlooms are too delicate for our climate and just are not producing very well.
*Culinary Herbs: Rosemary, Tarragon (nice with fish), Genovese Basil, Purple Basil, Box Basil, Thyme, Lemon Thyme, Sage, rosemary and Oregano WARNING: herbs are not washed. Rinse before use.
*Lavender: (WikiFact: Lavender lends a floral and slightly sweet flavor to most dishes, and is sometimes paired with sheep’s-milk and goat’s-milk cheeses. For most cooking applications the dried buds (also referred to as flowers) are used, though some chefs experiment with the leaves as well. Only the buds contain the essential oil of lavender, from which the scent and flavor of lavender are best derived.)
**Garlic: set it on the counter to dry (it may mold in the fridge).
*Herba Mentha Pepperita: On hot summer days, I make a peppermint tea by filling a quart jar half full (NOT half empty) with the fresh peppermint leaves, and fill it with boiling water. Then we let it cool, sweeten it, and enjoy.
**Cucumber: Enjoy while you can. The bugs have nearly got the vines. The vines at my house are still okay but are coming in late.
**Summer squash: Enjoy while you can. The bugs are winning at Grandma’s. The transplants I put in last month from the nursery are still bug free but they are just sitting there blooming and not growing anything.
*/**Flowers: Rose of Sharon, Lilly, and Russian Sage. Save the Rose of Sharon flowers and use in last week’s recipe!
Surprise of the week is Bee Balm! Yes, these lovely flowers are edible. Enjoy the recipe below next time you cook fish.
Monarda Snapper (Edible Flowers from Garden to Palate by Barash p. 88)
2 tbsp butter and 4 red snapper 1 clove garlic** ½ c bee balm flowers* coarsely chopped
1 tbsp lemon thyme* coarsely chopped olive oil ¼ c Riesling wine or other light white wine
Melt butter in a skillet. Add garlic and sauté for 2 minutes. Add flowers and sauté for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Heat a large skillet. Pour in just enough olive oil to lightly coat pan. Add red snapper. Cook over a medium heat for 3 minutes on one side. Turn fillets over and pour on sauce. Continue to cook until fish just turns opaque. Remove to a serving platter. Return skillet to heat. Add wine to deglaze pan, stirring continually. Four liquid over fish fillets. Serve immediately. Serves 4.
*= organically grown in my 4-H garden on Cedar Street **= grown in my 4-H garden at Grandma’s house near Talmage