DOORSTEP HARVEST NEWSLETTER 06/16/2012
With all new foods, it is wise to test first by eating a small amount as every body is unique (and even peanuts are poison to some)! Potatoes are blooming (they make roots after blooming). June black berries are ripening and the July berries are pink. Enjoy tasting quantities of them in the berry bag. The dry weather is causing fruit drop in the peach and pears but the ones still hanging on are getting bigger. Tomato, peppers, and eggplants are taking off in the heat. Tomato has set fruit and growing tomatoes. Tomatillo is blooming. Cucumber and squash starts are transplanted and seem happy in the ground. The melon seeds didn’t germinate. Okra is planted. Mulberries are pretty much done. Enjoy the few remaining in the berry bag. Autumn Olive berries are doing well in the heat. Black Currants planted three years ago still are not bearing but “Crandall currants” are ripe and in the berry bag. That’s it for Crandals and Gooseberries. They endured the transplant but took a beating this year. The newly planted Medlar trees are struggling but the new bush cherries are, as promised by the company, bearing fruit the first year (tasting quantities). They are ripe when completely BLACK and then and only then are they sweet and unique tasting. I hope you like them as the bushes seem okay with the drought. Some plums are hanging in there and may ripen soon. 2 more weeks and the “Hollywood Plums” may be ripe. Grapes are filling out and may be ready in two more weeks. Goji berry and aronia should have tasting quantities this year and the Chinese Red Date trees (Jujube) are blooming profusely both in town and on the farm but we can’t see fruit set yet. Carrots are up and will be thinned next week-look for these tiny bits then. Purple perennial potato is up and appears happy. Yard long beans are up but growing slow (they like lots of heat so should take off later in season). Sunchokes are four feet tall already and bearing the drought well. Young asparagus beds are holding their own with extra water and if we get them through the drought should make even more asparagus next year. This week is it for radish for a while. Potatoes are very happy but still too little to harvest for baby size. Garlic looks good and onions are larger too. Spinach is done for the season until fall.
JJ/JAsparagus: still small amount due to the youngness of the plants. Each year there will be more. I love it baked drenched in olive oil and some salt in the oven at 350 until the ends are crisped.
Radish Bag-enjoy in your salads or on sandwiches
JJ Organic Heirloom French Breakfast: 1880
JJEarly Scarlet Globe
J Rat-tail Radish (edible radish seed- volunteered back in from last year’s crop) to eat, pop open outer shell and nibble fragile green seeds inside or eat pod and all..
J Apricots: what little didn’t get blown off the tree all ripened at once. This is it for the year.
JJ Garlic: on the young side, these are wild. Blend the white bulb into salad dressing and chop the greens into stews.
JJ Beets & tops
JJ Green Beens: Provider and Romano flat bean.
Wildcrafted Elder Flower: enjoy recipe enclosed
Salad Mix Bag
JJ Organic Encore Lettuce Mix
J Organic Nasturtium, bee balm petals, hyssop petals, violet: peppery addition to salads and pastas or when used as garnish
JJ Licorice Mint: use in salad or tea
J JPeppermint: use in salad or tea (drought is getting to it… need to water it more…)
J Fennel: use in salad or tea or garnish. Also nice with pasta.
JJ Organic Sugarsnap pea: use alone or enjoy in the salad. To be eaten raw- shell and all (it’s a very sweet crunchy snack). Easy to grow in NY, it seems to be hard here to get a significant crop because the plants are so delicate the wind and heat tear them up and dry them out. This tasting quantity might be it for the year and will try again next year in a more protected place.
Green/Stir Fry Bag: Shred and cook separately or together.
JJ Organic Baby Ruby Red Chard (related to beets)
JJ Organic Baby Lacinato & Red Russian Kale: Organic Italian Heirloom that dates back to the eighteenth century.
JJ Beet tops
JJ Lambsquarters (higher in vitamins and minerals than spinach or beet tops) tastes good chopped and added to meat loaf.
Berry Bag: Can cook into a syrup, or eat on cereal… J Mulberry, Gooseberry, Blackbery, Crandal Currant, Bush Cherry
JJCulinary Herb Bag: Basil, Lemon Thyme, Oregano, Sage
JJHerbal Tea Bag: Place one herb into quart jar, fill jar to top with boiling water, add honey/maple syrup/agave or stevia, steep until cool. Drink one cup serving (one quart serves 4). Enjoy one herb per day.
Shisho (Perillia): Used in Japanese cooking/stir fry, it is used to color pickled ginger, eaten with sushi, and can also be used as garnish, in salad, or as tea.
Bee Balm: see last news letter for info
Comfrey leaf: Comfrey is not good for you if used in great quantities (like large dose) over a long period of time (like for years) as it harms the kidneys if you do that, however, if used in small quantities (like a handful of leaves) and drink once a week, it is to be very beneficial for bones and tendons. The amounts that we’re giving are in not even ¼ of the recommended required medicinal dosage and therefore well below the max dose. As with all foods, sample first to see how your body responds.
Yarrow: see last news letter for info
Lemon balm: sooths the nerves and calms stomach disturbances.
Warning: herbs are not washed in order to preserve flavor. Wash before immediate use (although some sources discourage washing herbs ever.
Flower bouquet: Rose of Sharon (enjoy the flowers stuffed with cream cheese mix in enclosed recipe.)
JJ Organically grown in my urban forest garden
JGrown in my gardens in the country at Grandma’s house. Most of the time it is organic and sometimes it is wild crafted.