Sellwood Garden Club

I’m surprised no one asked me what the orange round things were, in that mountain of tomatoes that came in the baskets this week.  Well, they’re eggplants — very good in stir fry and other Asian dishes.

Weekly Produce Basket for 30 Sept.

Your basket should include:

• chard OR kale
• big mix of tomatoes
• round, orange eggplants
• jalapeno peppers
• sweet banana peppers
• peperoncini (long, yellow) mild peppers
• cherry bomb peppers
• Herbs (much basil, some thyme and marjoram)

A few oddball items were handed out to folks who’d requested to not receive a few things, or just for the heck of it, such as:

• plums
• kohlrabi
• beets
• long, purple asian eggplants (and lime basil)
• bell peppers
• old man peppers
• golden turnip

I’ve p’bly forgotten something, so do ask if you have any questions about anything.  I do hope everyone is enjoying the produce — less than two months left, but plenty of cooler weather between now and then.

As always, to tell me how much you love or hate anything, just drop me an email.

Hey Everybody!

I’m looking for an intern who wants to know about how to put food gardens down for the winter.  I have veggies to trade in exchange for help w/ the work.

I even put up an ad on Craig’sList

It reads, in part:

It’s quite the crash course — way beyond Master Gardening — all the useful crops are represented in this club.

and

We pretty much do it all on this wee-tiny distributed network of a farm. I could really use the help, the hauling capacity and the company.

Please do pass this info along to anyone you know who is interested in doing some barter work for veggies and teaching.  Emailing Marie is the best way to accomplish this.

I whippped this September Market Breakfast together on Monday after the first Hawthorne Market (aka cooking morning) I did all by myself, and thought it was worthy enough to share.

• 3 bartered market eggs
• 1 Tbs yoghurt
• dash water
• 3 banana peppers
• 2 fushimi peppers (old man peppers would work well here, too)
• 1/2 a leftover, grade-B beefsteak tomato
• 1/4 tsp cumin seed, crushed
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp corriander seed, crushed
• 1 tsp dill
• 1 big leaf of chard

Chop the peppers into small pieces and toss into a hot skillet and toss w/ cumin and salt.  Add diced tomatoes and corriander and turn heat down to med.

Whip up eggs w/ a dollup of yoghurt and just enough water so the consistancy seems loose and light.  Add dill.  Pour on the skillet.

Pull leaves off the midrib of the chard and cut into small ribbons.  cover the top of the half-way set eggs and cover.

Check and pull when the leaves are still bright green but wilted all the way down.

Drain any excess water. Pull out of pan in two pieces and eat while well warm.  top w/ black pepper if you like that sort of thing.

Yum.

Here’s a recipe that a customer from the Hawthorne Market sent me.  Someone recommended it to her from the NY Times, and she sez you’re gonna love it.

Raw Tuscan Kale Salad With Pecorino Time: 20 minutes

Time: 20 minutes

• 1 bunch Tuscan kale (also known as black or dinosaur or lacinato kale)
• 1 thin slice country bread (part whole-wheat or rye is nice), or 1/4 cup homemade bread crumbs (coarse)
• 1/2 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup finely grated pecorino cheese, more for garnish
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, more for garnish
• Freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste.

1. Trim bottom 2 inches off kale stems and discard. Slice kale, including ribs, into 3/4-inch-wide ribbons. You should have 4 to 5 cups. Place kale in a large bowl.

2. If using bread, toast it until golden on both sides. Tear it into small pieces and grind in a food processor until mixture forms coarse crumbs.

3. Using a mortar and pestle, or with the back of a knife, pound garlic into a paste. Transfer garlic to a small bowl. Add 1/4 cup cheese, 3 tablespoons oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper flakes and black pepper, and whisk to combine. Pour dressing over kale and toss very well to thoroughly combine (dressing will be thick and need lots of tossing to coat leaves).

4. Let salad sit for 5 minutes, then serve topped with bread crumbs, additional cheese and a drizzle of oil.

Yield: 2 to 4 servings.

SGC Produce Basket for 23 September

See how pretty?  Fruits and vegetables.  This is “typical” basket, though they tend to vary a bit due to availability and tastes.

Clockwise from top: lacinato kale, fresh sage, plums, asian pear, zucchini, jalapeno peppers, bell pepper, cherry bomb hot pepper, old man peppers, banana peppers, assorted heirloom tomatoes, parsley

Baskets may also include beets, celery, other herbs (sorry, didn’t write down what each is this week - includes basil, lemon/lime basil, oregano, tarragon or mint), eggplant, tiny green cabbages, melons and I can’t remember what else.

Please post me if you have any questions.

Your basket this week will include:

• kale or chard
• eggplant or broccolli
• purple and green snap beans
• small and large tomato mix
• lemon or slicing cucumbers

Depending upon your preferences, they may also include:

• baby cabbage
• baby corn (yes, they’re supposed to be tiny - eat in a stir fry like their pickled bretheren)
• peppers
• red beets
• european pears
• cauliflower
• summer leeks
• kincho individual japanese melon

Share and enjoy,

Marie and Kat, SGC

Time, tide and broccoli wait for no farmer, and this week was a very good example.  From no less than 6 gardens, we’ve pulled a little bit of brocs for everyone.  I think this might be the first time everyone has gotten some.  Even better, it’s coming w/ lots of peppers this time.

Your produce basket for this week includes all or most of the following:

• broccoli
• slicing cucumber
• lemon cucumbers
• summer squash OR Asian eggplant
• hot and sweet pepper mix (includes jalapeno, hot or sweet banana, cherry bomb and mild Japanese peppers)
• lacinato kale OR rainhow swiss chard OR New Zealand Spinach
• tomato mix (heirloom slicing, yellow pear, currant tomato clusters and romas)

More recipes to use this bounty, coming up very soon.

Sellwood Garden Club Produce Basket for 19 August 2009

In your basket this week you’ll find all or most of the following:

• scallions
• lemon cucumbers
• chard, rainbow swiss
• summer squash mix
• broccoli OR cauliflower
• slicing OR snake cucumbers
• lemon basil (lots for pesto - freeze in ice cube trays after blending & bag when set)
• tomato mix
• tomatillos
• jalapeno peppers
• ‘old man’ mild japanese peppers - the wrinkly ones
• sweet and/or hot banana peppers

You may have gotten subs of:

• eggplant - small and thin, asian white, purple, green or orange globe
• snap beans
• fennel bulb and leaf

Share and Enjoy!

Michigan State University Extension service published the “Preserving Food Safely” database online in August of 1999.   Even a decade later, nearly all the information is reasonably current FDA guideline recommendations for most people.

This database makes an excellent source of recipes for using vegetables, too.  You can just use the alt-F key from your browser to look for the vegetable of your choice — especially ripe w/ preservation recipes.

You can download the keyword database here.

Or, you can look them up alphabetically by clicking here.

Sellwood Garden Club Baskets for 12 August

It is still summer, isn’t it?  Thankfully the tomatoes and peppers don’t much care.  When they reach physiological maturity, it’s just time, and our nights have been reasonably warm (above 60F), ensuring good fruit set.  The beans are another story — so many for a few weeks and then, ppptttpht….  More soon thanks to Kat’s awesome succession planting and planning.  Tell her how RAD she is next time you see her.

In an effort to get everyone at least a little taste of tomato this week, we pulled a few that are very nearly ripe.  I assure you, they’re a heck of a lot riper than those picked for interstate travel and ethylene-ripened from a very sad, very green state when they arrive.  Though certianly a climacteric fruit, peak sugar and acid development only occur when the ripening process begins while still on the vine.  And, by vine, I mean one that is still attached to the plant, unlike some tomatoes that come from a certain Canadian provence.

That said, tomatoes are not fully ripe until the surface will leave an imprint from running a hard-bristled toothbrush over them.  You could just leave them on your counter, but a fast and simple way to get the job done is to put them in a paper sack with any other fruit that also emits ethylene.  Bananas do a very good job, as do apples.

Produce Basket List for 12 August

Your basket will include the following:

• scallions
• parsley
• zucchini or asian-type eggplant
• slicing  or Armenain or Japanese snake cucumber
• lemon cucumbers
• Jalapeno peppers
• Banana peppers
• Lacinato kale or collard greens
• Roma or slicing tomatoes

Just in case you’re not from the Southeast and are flummoxed by how to go about preparing a “mess of collards,” check out some of the recipes I’ve added.  I have a special place in my heart for this crop, as the progenitor of all the cole crops (aka Brassicas).  All the others are groups within the same species that have been selected for their own specific, gross abnormalities (ask me about cauliflower sometime if you’re got a strong  stomach).  Collards are very often mis-identified by Medieval European scholars as cabbages — don’t be fooled!

As the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation always says, “share and enjoy.”  And, as always, let us know if you have any questions or concerns about your order, or if there are any vegetables you despise.

A note: if you can’t use all your herbs, just hang them up to dry and pop ‘em in an old spice jar.  I like to hang mine from the onion rack w/ twist ties.  A quick rub when dry and you’re in the spice business, just like a 15th century Genoveese trader.  Sans pox, it’s positively romantic, yo.

Your personal farmers,with love and greens,

Kat and Marie