An Honest Day's Work

My family discovered a gem in our community, thanks to Marisa letting us know about the Pick Your Own website featuring local farms. We visited the last part of June, the end of strawberry season, and I can't wait to go back when other crops ripen. We're already planning to make strawberry-picking there an annual tradition.

Was it easy-breezy? Was it all play and no work? Of course not, and therein lies the value. I think my children learned quite a bit about what it takes to put food on the table, or to make a living growing food. Yes they help in our small home garden, but this experience suggested the greater challenge and scope of a farmer's work.

It was the top of a 97-degree day. There was no shelter from the blinding, setting sun. Since it was the end of berry season, you had to constantly search, and take many footsteps to fill your basket. The sun lit far-off berries like rubies, but just when you thought you were closing in for the pick, your own body cast a disguising, disorienting shadow. There was lots of bending up and down, up and down. And this was the fun part, the harvesting. When my 7-year-old daughter saw the expansive rows she said, "Wow, you have to walk a lot to be a farmer."

The farm we visited had strawberry plants as far as the eye could see. Immense, but not big enough to drown out the cries we heard from another 7-year-old girl in the field. "Daddy! I'm sweaty! This is itchy! Eww -- there's strawberry juice on me!"

Our society certainly is disconnected from farming. This makes me sad. I guess that's why I smile that pick-your-own farms like this one help form a stronger relationship between farmer and consumer. I like how they reinforce the idea that honest work reaps worthwhile rewards. I hope you will support local farms in your own community.

I was particularly charmed by the green sign at the farm's check-out area. No

attendant was on duty when we visited, just a scale and a battered wooden cash box. Not only d

id these folks open up their acres to the uninitiated and maybe even the ungrateful, they di

d it on the honor system.

Their faith in human nature is even more delicious than their berries.

Jennifer

Pick Your Own

When searching for a farm I could take the kids to pick strawberries, I found a website dedicated to farms where you can pick your own produce.

Check it out!

~marisa

Eat the Season Friday - Basil Pesto

Today we were able to make our first batch of pesto. Pesto is one of the many gifts of summer - you can add it to pastas, sandwiches, chicken or fish for a perfect summer meal. Or you can do like we do around here and eat it with a spoon. We are admitted pesto addicts in our home and one of my favorite snacks is toasted whole wheat bread spread with a generous helping of pesto. And while we might all agree pesto tastes delicious - good pesto from the store is not only hard to find but it can be pretty spendy. Even if you try and make it on your own using basil leaves from the store it will be expensive. The best way to enjoy it is by growing your own basil - making this pesto cost only a couple dollars at most.

First let's talk about cutting the Basil. There is a right way and a wrong way. If you cut it the wrong way you will stunt it's growth and cause it to begin to flower. The trick to cutting it correctly is to cut about a third of the way down the stem right where some leaves are forming. In this image I had just cut the basil plant and you can see the new growth. If you cut the basil correctly you will actually encourage it's growth and you'll be able to harvest more and for a lot longer!

There are many recipes for pesto and they all have different variations - this one happens to be my favorite basic pesto:

2 1/2 cups packed fresh basil leaves

2 or 3 large cloves of garlic, peeled

2/3 cup good quality olive oil

1/4 cup walnuts or pine nuts(I used walnuts)

1/8 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

The first step is to wash the basil - the best method is to fill a bowl will cold water and immerse the basil giving it a few good swishes. Then combine all of the ingredients except the cheese in a food processor andpulse until it is well blended and becomes a sauce- about 10-20 seconds.

Scrape the mixture into a medium bowl with a rubber spatula and fold in the cheese. And viola - you've got pesto! Store it in the fridge in an air-tight container. If you don't plan on eating it within 3 or 4 days then throw it in the freezer where it will last for up to six months.

What's in season? basil & garlic

New Feature - Eat the Season Fridays

We are adding a new feature which we think will enable all of us to use the food out of our gardens and from our local farmers more easily - Eat the Season Fridays. Every Friday we will post a recipe with photos containing something that is in season. Why eat in season? Here's an answer from one of our favorite sites, eattheseasons.com:

There are a number of good reasons to eat more local, seasonal food:

• to reduce the energy (and associated CO2 emissions) needed to grow and transport the food we eat

• to avoid paying a premium for food that is scarcer or has travelled a long way

• to support the local economy

• to reconnect with nature's cycles and the passing of time

But, most importantly, because

• seasonal food is fresher and so tends to be tastier and more nutritious

• 
  

Not only do we think it's really important to add more locally grown seasonal foods to our diets, we're also really excited to try out new tasty recipes and foods! Check back Friday for our first installment!

Curious as to what is in season right now? Click here!

Backyard Farming Disasters 2009 - Garden Apocalypse

We are proud of our garden. It is productive and beautiful. We were bloated with spring crops – salads, cooking greens, onion, broccoli, cabbage, etc. Our summer crops reach for the sun promising tomatoes, peppers, beans, cucumbers, and squash. It all came crashing down last week. Much of it was eaten to the ground. Particularly distressing was the damage to the peas. We were just starting to harvest them. We only got a couple of bowls full from gleaning the remnants. We are thinking about changing the name of our backyard farm from Antietam Glen (after the creek that skirts our property) to Antietam Apocalypse.

The culprit this time? Deer. The herd that roams the neighborhood has never bothered us in years. We thought we were immune. We thought the deer were afraid of the horses in pastures that surround the garden. Not so. It’s more likely that our Labrador retriever that died last fall did her job and chased them off in previous years. She certainly went after groundhogs. The family is lobbying for a new dog but I am still mourning Cinder. Maybe I will give in when we come home from vacation in August. In the mean time we have baited and charged the garden fence. We painted a peanut butter/vegetable oil mixture at intervals on the polywire rope. When the deer go up to check it out, they get a 4,000 volt jolt in the nose or tongue. I get satisfaction just thinking about it.

The garden will rise from this apocalypse. I will wake up to my twenty minute breakfast. I will eat tomato salad and squash frittata. We will have a successful garden in 2009.

Peanut butter/vegetable oil deer attractant on polywire rope.
Notice the bare wires that carry a 4000 volt charge.

Summer Lovin

Summer will officially begin in two days and her fruits are beginning to ripen. Eating in season is always a good idea but during the summer it's a pleasure. Tomatoes, strawberries, corn, cucumbers, herbs, squash, and watermelon - the list is endless of all of the wonderful things mother nature has to offer. We are already eating strawberries three meals a day - going through several pounds a week. My taste-buds are tingling in anticipation of all of the wonderful foods I am going to eat in the coming weeks and months...

The Days of our Chives

Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our Chives.

Chives are an herb that we probably take for granted. I am impressed with their durability and beauty. Let’s get to know chives a little better.

Chives are the most diminutive member of the onion family and they have a mild onion or garlic flavor depending on the type of chive. They are hollow and tubular and look like thick grass. Chives grow well in most types of soil and regenerate even after being harvested. They can be grown from seed or by dividing and transplanting existing chives. When harvesting they can be cut down to two inches above the base and they will replenish through the growing season. The growing season can be year round in a temperate climate or if you plant them in pots indoors. Chives are great fresh but they also retain much of their flavor when freeze dried. Many people think the only use for chives is to flavor potato chips but there are many other uses.

Decoration

The most surprising thing to me about growing chives is their beauty. They are a dark green color and you can see from our pictures that the purple flowers are very beautiful. We will probably plant more chives in our flower garden next year.

Pest Control

Chives are a great companion plant to have in your garden as they repel bugs due to the sulfur that they contain. Plant them with your tomatoes, grapes, roses, or carrots. The flowers also attract bees which is a plus for your garden as well.

Medical Uses

Chives are rich in Calcium, vitamin A, vitamin C, and iron. They have been used in diets to help reduce blood pressure and cholesterol, and also help with anemia due their iron content.

Cooking

Chives can be used in meals any time you want to add a mild onion flavor to your food. They are great with most savory egg dishes, potatoes in various forms, soups, salad dressings, sauces. In our home we use them in our omelet, egg drop soup, and breakfast burrito recipes, in addition to chopping them up and putting them on salads or in baked potatoes.

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE USES FOR CHIVES?