Weekly Newsletter for Doorstep Harvest for 11/2/11
VEGGIES ARE NOT WASHED THIS WEEK. Please wash before using
Hi folks. This is Alex’s mom. I’m covering the newsletter for him this week. He volunteered yesterday to stand in last minute for a part in the musical this weekend after someone quit. This means his nights this week are booked solid and there is no time to write the newsletter or wash the veggies. There is such a variety in the harvest this week that he just couldn’t bear canceling the delivery so, here we go… without wikifacts but I’ll do my best…You will find the following freshly harvested vegetables in your delivery this week:
Organic Beets: planted early in the spring these beets have not filled out. Enjoy their tops. Highly nutritious.
Horseradish root: freshly dug. Wash when ready to use and make horseradish sauce using recipe provided to you last spring. Some people like the spring digging more than fall because the winter freezing mellows the flavor. Some people like the fall digging better.
Sweet potato winter squash: Stuff with ground meat (spiced) and bake or stuff and boil or put into soup.
Tomatoes: These are from the winter hoop house. Slice and drizzle with olive oil, salt, and finely chopped basil (feta is nice too).
Arugula: Chop finely and eat as a salad with toasted walnut, pecan, or almonds, with feta, olive oil, vinegar.
Single serving of lettuce: His lettuce for fall is growing larger than it was for the last deliver but it still is “small.”
Spinach: this is the heat loving variety that is thriving in the heat from the hoop house in this warm fall weather. Saute with garlic and olive oil, then drizzle with a dash of vinegar, mirin, and salt. Yum!
Organic Yams: This is it. Small harvest because the plants were put in a couple of weeks too late. They must be harvested immediately after frost so he dug them and stored them in the fridge for delivery this week. After washing, the tiny ones can be sliced into soups. Next year he plans to plant them sooner. They are sooooo yummy and the “test” plants did very well in the location they were planted in!
Organic red potatoes: These are the ones he planted near the 4th of July to make up for the ones that rotted in the cold spring rains. They turned out terrific! Find some larger ones for baking and smaller ones for boiling. Try seasoning with fennel from the herb bag.
Wild crafted black walnuts: Enjoy one black walnut a day for brain health. Materia Medica of Chinese Medicinal Herbs states that black walnuts tonify the Kidney Yang Qi (something we all in America need more of!)
Wild crafted Stinging Nettle: Steam in one inch of water in covered pot for 10 minutes or until they turn dark neon green. By now, the stingers have been disabled and they are edible! Snip the leaves off of the stems and eat as is or prepare as follows: chop fine, sprinkle with garlic powder, dash vinegar, mirin, sea salt. Save cooking water and drink as tonic tea. Wild nettles contain more vitamins/minerals than cultivated greens.
Daikon Radish: the last harvest for the year. Enjoy on sandwich or grate and add raison or dried cranberry with olive oil/vinegar/mirin dressing.
Sunchokes: aka Jeruselum Artichokes. They taste like Artichokes but the plant looks like a sunflower. The roots were a staple in the Native American diet. Picking up in popularity in the mainstream health market, they have been found to be the diabetic’s wonder-food because this starchy vegetable does not affect blood sugar levels they way other carbs do. Be advised that some people find these roots cause gas and abdominal bloating. It is said that peeling first reduces this affect as well as cooking in two to three changes of water. Maybe you’ll be lucky and not get gas from them! Beyond this, treat them as you would a potato. They can be cooked in soup, boiled, enjoyed raw sliced or grated, and the artichoke flavor is at its best when they are baked. Bake at 350 degrees until tender (time depends on size of choke). I like to boil the tiny ones and bake the big ones.
Herb mix of: basil, oregano, rosemary, parsley, thyme, sage, parsley, fennel.
Edible flowers: Call it a Tea bouquet! Oswego tea (bee balm) is the red flowered one & Pineapple Sage is the pink flowered one. Don’t eat the pretty purple salvia – it’s just to add color. Bee Balm flowers can be added to vanilla ice cream, sprinkled onto fish at end of cooking time, or added to baked goods. The leaves can be cooked into to tea by adding boiling water. Here is a recipe for pineapple sage from Edible Flowers: Toss together the following and let stand for 1 hour: 1 medium diced tomato, 1 medium peeled/diced cucumbers, 1 Tbsp mint, 1 Tbsp pineapple sage flowers, 1/2 cup plain yogurt.
This week Alex helped build a raised bed and he purchased supplies to put a season extending hoop house over it. He helped plant 25 second year asparagus plants and 100 strawberry plants in this frame. We are hoping for asparagus in March and strawberries in April/May to share with you! Earlier in the month he planted two Medlar trees (European medival delicacy J), three varieties of gooseberry, and 5 sea berry bushes (these may take two more years to set fruit). He has two fig trees he needs to transplant and mulch (it’s possible they may produce next year). We are hoping for the northern hardy kiwi and currants to bear this year coming and if there isn’t a late frost in spring, there should be several varieties of pear, plum, peach, and apricot! Last year’s newly planted bed of 2nd year asparagus should produce abundantly (at Alex’s Grandma’s house) and if he finds time to put a cold frame (hoop house) over it before winter, the ground may warm enough for March harvest! We hope you have enjoyed the deliveries this year and are aware of the impact of your participation on this young man J He has thoroughly enjoyed this new “business” (how many 14 year olds run their own business these days?) I’ve watched him gain a deeper understanding of income/expenses, have seen repeated “awe” that comes of earning from hard work, and he has begun purchasing supplies to expand his project. He is learning a tremendous amount of information from experience that makes the biological sciences in school have more meaning, and 4-H projects like Forestry and Plant Science have more depth. He feels great to be providing healthy food to make people strong and wise and is learning about environmental impact of various growing methods. As a mother, I feel gratitude that this project is an option for him, and I whole heartedly support him in it. (Our family enjoys gardening and this experience has sparked many a joyful conversation between three generations!) I can hear him now, even though he’s a block away at the football field, “mom stop it… this is a news letter, not a mom’s blog spot!” Please share the “Doorstep Harvest Delivery” idea with a friend who may be interested as Alex may be ready to add more a few more clients in spring. This season is winding down and will be over soon this year. This winter he may send out a brief survey so that improvements may be made in the year ahead to suit you. We hope the deliveries have brought variety, interest, conversation, inspiration, health, and joy to your family this year. Blessings to you! -“Mom”