What's at the Local Farmers Markets in Central PA?

It's coming kids...the local produce is about ready to start making it's debut in Central PA. Move aside winter veges and make room for fresh, spring produce. Farmers that have hoop houses have probably already been providing greens -- kale, spinach, collards, turnip greens - and maybe even some of the root crops like carrots, beets, and turnips. But for those that don't grow all winter, you can start to count on rhubarb, asparagus, some herbs (chives, sage, fennel leaves, maybe some rosemary if they were able to keep in alive this winter - mine bit the dust this year) watercress, and a spattering of other early greens. I'm in Zone 5 (1 hour north of Harrisburg) and I'll be picking asparagus and rhubarb this weekend. I found this incredible-sounding recipe for rhubarb and lentils that I'm dying to try and this weekend will be the test. The cookbook is Flexitarian Table, by Peter Berley, and it has wonderful recipes that mix fruit with vegetables in grains, but then also has a "side" of meat for the meat-lover in the family. Hubby's in heaven.

Lentil and Rhubarb Curry with Potatoes and Peas (Flexitarian Cookbook, by Peter Berley)
Ingredients
Spice Blend
1 tablespoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground fennel
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Lentils
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, chopped
2 large shallots, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon chopped peeled fresh ginger
sea salt or kosher salt
3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
2 cups coarsely chopped green cabbage
2 cups diced potatoes (1/2 inch)
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced rhubarb
1 cup French lentils, soaked for 4-6 hours and drained
2 teaspoons dark brown sugar
1 bay leaf
1 cup thawed frozen peas

Directions:
For the Spice Blend: In a bowl, stir together all the ingredients.

For the Lentils: In a heavy 3 to 4 quart saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion, shallots, ginger, and a large pinch of salt, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft, 8-10 minutes. Uncover, stir in the garlic and the spice blend, and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.

Add the cabbage, potatoes, rhubarb, lentils, brown sugar, and bay leaf, along with enough cold water to cover by 1 inch. Raise the heat to high and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer gently, uncovered, until the lentils are tender, about 30 minutes. Stir occasionally and add more water as necessary to keep the dish fairly soupy.

When lentils are tender, season with salt to taste, stir in the peas, and simmer until the peas are just tender, about 4 minutes.

Shameless Seven - They Claim They Are "Organic"

Man oh man... I'm tired of reading this stuff! Lately there's been a bunch of hoohah about "organics" not really being "organic" -- that the cows in some organic milk products are still raised in feedlots (No USDA Organic standards regulate the conditions the animals are raised in -- only that they eat organic feed and do not receive antibiotics) and the fuel consumption in the production process of these industrial organics is huge -- more costly to the enviornmental than not using the pesticides. Now, I come to find out, the Silk soymilk is also "tainted" and the source of the soybeans is as far away as Chile and Brazil according to the Organic Consumers Association. What the heck are we to drink? Local milk is best, but I still have a problem with veal production and saturated fat and whole milk is the best because the processing to remove fat, then put garbage back in to replace the fat is less than desired). Stoneyfield claims their local organic farms raise their beef for organic meat which may be ok. Oh... the confusion! Will have to look more at non-dairy sources for calcium (and non-SILK soymilk) too! Here's a list of the best sources of non-dairy calcium.

Sustainable Food Budget Challenge - An Eye Opener

Tomorrow will be the mid-way point for the Sustainable food Budget Challenge and I’m $4.00 away from my limit. I didn’t pass this test. But I can pinpoint where the extra costs were and know I could do this. Here’s how: 1) Easter dinner at a restaurant – total failure, it wasn’t organic, it wasn’t vegan, and it wasn’t local, AND it cost me $15.00. We’ll never eat out again, both of us (Rick complained about the prices mostly). 2) Industrialized organics – I’ve learned a lot about organic produce offered at a decent price by the agribusinesses like Earthbound and Cascadia Farms – the only difference with the big companies is they don’t use pesticides, which is a good thing, but all the processing/use of diesel in huge tractors/hiring of migrant workers to work the fields, etc. isn’t any different that commercially produced food. No more industrial organics for me – its better for the environment to simply eat locally. 3) The food from my freezer and storage was absolutely the cheapest way to go – for $1.79 in a pack of seeds, I can grow 9 tomato plants and can about 30 quarts of tomatoes. Each quart costs about $3.00 if I would buy it (28 oz can) – There’s $90.00 I’d save just on tomatoes alone. Hmmmm… I think I hear my backyard calling– there’s money to be saved back there!

Manure - Mainstream?

Organictobe.org has an interesting post on manure suddenly being in demand. Why? We wish it would be for an increased demand in organic gardening, but the demand is more about economics. Seems commercial fertilizers are getting pricey with some ingredients getting scarce; thus, farmers are heading to the manure piles. Provoking thoughts for the future -- will commercial fertilizers become a thing of the past?

400 Stuttgarters - Let the Spring Planting Continue

I'm forever grateful to my boss for allowing me to take the 3rd Friday in a row off to plant, plant, and plant some more. Thursday evening was about as pretty as it gets -- 65, sunny, dry, and a big box of even more stuff to plant was waiting for me -- the 100 strawberry plants and 2 blueberry bushes I ordered (my onions and potatoes came on Monday). What perfect timing being off on Friday. Taking advantage of the beautiful evening, the Stuttgarter onion sets went in the ground as did the broccoli. Broccoli can take a light frost and they got their first icy christening this morning. Planning on some rain, I got up early and was planting the strawberries and blueberries at daybreak. I hadn't expected it to take two hours -- even with well prepped soil (I just dug out a bunch of rhubarb which grows fairly deep - so the ground was very well dug). But again the timing was perfect as the rains started just as I finished up around 9:00 am. But it only rained a short time and I was back out prepping the tater patch.

Sustainable Food Budget Challenge Week 1

I cant' say I kept it totally honest with the start of the challenge. I'll admit my guilt -- I ate a banana, some non-local or organic spaghetti sauce, and some nutritional yeast. Nope, none of them are on the sustainable food budget list of things to eat. They fall in no categories other than off limits. Can I blame my husband? He has to eat too, and the banana is actually his fault 'cause he bought too many and it was going bad and he told me to eat it or it'll get thrown. God forbid we throw food out. The same was the case with the spaghetti sauce... it went on home-made pizza (which had the nutritional yeast for the cheesy flavoring and nutrition on my half). The sauce was a left-over bottle in the fridge that also was gonna go bad if we didn't use it up. The point being made here is as long as you eat sustainably most of the time, are a whoopsies ok? I'd say yes. And I'm also saying yes to required vegan nutrition that may not be organic or local -- like the nutritional yeast (although it IS non-GMO which is ok in my book). Once again, another food challenge is an eye-opener and the food knowledge database is filling up. If you're wondering what the heck I'm talking about, I'm participating in a Sustainable food Budget Challenge for the Month of April -- trying to keep the budget under $176 a month eating only sustainable (local) or organic food. And since there are very little local foods in early April, I'm buying organic and it ain't cheap -- thus, the challenge. And how is that budget coming along? Well...we'll see how it ends up at the end of the month. I'm 2/3 at my limit already one week into the challenge ($110 of $176.00), but that includes a bunch of bulk (its cheaper buying bulk) items that I may not use by the end of the month (10 lbs of potatoes?). So there will likely be some recalculations. I found it very interesting that many folks are concerned about staying in the budgetary guidelines. Read some of the other challenger's comments here.

Spring is Popping Up Everywhere

All it takes is a good soaking rain, sunshine afterwards, and temps in the 60's and there's no stopping spurts of growth all over the place. Herbs, perenniels, weeds, and of course all the seeds I planted have sprouted -- lettuce, spinach, radishes, turnips, carrots, beets, kale and greens. And on the doorstep when I got home were the heirloom onions and potatoes, but they'll have to wait a week or so until I get some time to plant. The potatoes surprised me. Since this is my first experience at growing potatoes, I expected tiny little potato "sets", like onion sets. Instead, there's full size potatoes in the bag, and only about 5 of them. Say what? I paid good money for something that looks like a potato I get at the grocery store? My dear hubby had to set me straight on the potato growing education. "Honey, you have to let them sit in the warmth and let them sprout, then you cut the potato into a couple pieces and plant the pieces." Geez, thanks hubby -- I didn't know you were a potato grower in another life. "Yup, me and the Irish." What a jokester. So the next couple weeks will be busy. My wonderful boss was already forwarned about the need for a day for planting - it might be next Monday since Easter Sunday will be a little busy with family stuff.

The Bee Balm "Mess?" Hardly!

One of my favorite plants of all time is Monarda Didyma, more commonly known as Bee Balm. It's a favored flower for hummingbirds, but herbalists like it for the fragrant tea it makes. In my 17 years of growing it, the plant has moved no less than about a dozen times because of its mint-like prolific, sprawling nature. It started in the appropriate place -- the herb garden (yes, it's a perenniel herb), but was moved to the back of the house at one point (it tolerates shade), to the native plant bed (yes, certain varieties are considered "native" to north america), and more recently in the rose garden just because I had a space that needed some summer color and the Bee Balm fit the bill. The plant is making its move again and is slowly creeping from one corner of the rose bed to another. But this time I'm letting it go. The patch has grown SO big, that I can't fathom trying to dig it up. So yesterday was spent cleaning it up and tidying up the edges so it doesn't sprout in the walk-way. It makes a mess! The tall, 3-foot sturdy flower stalks hang around long after the flowers fade and need removed come spring. It also makes a lovely cut flower in arrangements. If a neighbor offers you a start, take it! It's worth the effort. The hummingbirds will entertain you for many weeks enjoying the flowers.

Volunteers

"Volunteers," in the gardening world, are plants that volunteer coming up and growing without your assistance of planting the seed or seedling. They usually are reseeded from nearby plants of the previous year. Sunflowers, and some of the easy-to-reseed herbs like Lamb's Ears, garlic chives, and dill happily volunteer just about anywhere and make me crazy each season pulling and ditching them. Cherry tomatoes also enjoy volunteering at the oddest of spots. It's been probably 15 years since I bought and planted Sweet Annie (artemesia annua), a fragrant herb used in wreath making, but also a host plant for beneficial insects like ladybugs. Some folks use the herb medicinally. I'm still finding volunteers growing in the strangest of places. The plant in the pic was dug up in the rhubarb patch. Sweet Annie doesn't get ditched... it was replanted in the herb garden so the ladys have a home for the summer.

Staying in the Sustainable Food Budget - Growing Pains

Damn this is hard. If I don’t lose weight this month, I never will! Keeping the focus local and/or organic really changes up the daily habits. No more reaching for the sugar-free candies to settle the hunger pangs. No more grabbing a bag of pretzels at the vending machine… no more digging in the snack drawer and munching on the soynuts or other nuts – because they ain’t organic! No more heading to the café for an order of onion rings, or a bagel. My snack today was fried potatoes from home. But that’s ok… I sorta planned it that way knowing I’d be hungry. I’m seeing already I’ll have to think more about consuming fulfilling foods – foods with fiber – so I don’t crave anything and feel fuller all the time. Oh, and that cup of coffee I constantly have in my hand? It ain’t organic, so it ain’t there. ARGH!!! This is painful… but I’ll endure. Habits will truly be changed -- all for the better!