Plants For Sale

I have lots of vegetable and herb plants available for sale.  This year I have my usual plants available for sale, plus I started some new things that I do not usually have available.  Below is a list of most, but not all, of my plants that I have available.

Tomatoes - Around 2 dozen different varieties.  All heirlooms.  Cherry tomatoes, paste tomatoes, slicing tomatoes, stuffing tomatoes.  All different colors, red, yellow, pink, orange, purple, multi colored, and more!
Peppers - Sweet and Hot.  Sweet Peppers - green, yellow, red, orange, purple, large varieties, long sweet peppers (great for stuffing).  Hot Peppers - some varieties include, jalapeno peppers, hungarian yellows, cayenne, lightning mix, and more!
Celery - Giant Red, Chinese Pink, Utah
Parsley - Flat leaf, and Curled
Basils - Sweet, Genovese, Red Genovese, Lettuce Leaf, Lemon, Blue Spice, Cinnamon, and Pluto
Peas - Alaska, and Oregon Sugar Pod
Kohlrabi - White and Purple
Cauliflower
Chinese Broccoli
Brussels Sprouts
Spinach
Arugula
Lettuce
Zucchini
Yellow Squash
Pie Pumpkin
Spaghetti Squash
Radishes
Carrots - Mixed
Kale - Many different varieties
Swiss Chard
Cucumbers
Herbs - Sage, Feverfew, Stevia, Thyme, Greek Oregano, Wild Oregano, Marjoram

Prices -
4 packs - $2.00 - peppers, celery, most basils, peas, kohlrabi, cauliflower, chinese broccoli, burssels sprouts, spinach, arugula, lettuce, kale, swiss chard, carrots, radishes
2 packs - $2.00 - zucchini, yellow squash, pie pumpkin, spaghetti squash, cucumbers
single pack - tomatoes
4" pot - $4.00 - sage, feverfew, thyme, greek oregano, wild oregano, marjoram

If you are interested in any plants you can contact me
April
Cell - (216)324-1737
Email - amabars@aol.com
Plants are available for pick up in Brunswick, Ohio.

My new greenhouse that I just put up this year.

Inside my new greenhouse.

 Cauliflower, Broccoli, and Brussels Sprouts plants.

 Sweet and Hot Peppers

Parsley and Celery Plants

Plants are Growing!

Here are some pictures of what i currently have growing.

Celery, Parsley, and some herbs (such as thyme, wild oregano, greek oregano, marjoram)

Kohlrabi

Pluto Basil (a very tiny miniature basil, great for pots)

One of my plant light setups.  

Some of the plants here include:  Sweet peppers, hot peppers, basil, some early tomatoes, strawberries, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, rosemary, stevia, feverfew, and some others. 

Some flats that I just started yesterday.  Seven different kinds of basil, some Roma Tomato plants, yellow cherry tomato plants for handing baskets, and Minibel Tomato plants (miniature red tomato plants for pots).

Some time in the next week I am hoping to get some plants started outside in my hoophouse, it is looking like it should be warm enough.  I will be starting some kale, mustard greens, swiss chard, and maybe some other things.

Making Some New Breads

I have been experimenting with quite a few new breads this winter, a few of which I am really excited about.  In fact I made three new breads today.  Here are the new breads that I have made:

Ricotta Bread

This would make a very good sandwich bread, have not tried it yet since I just made it today.  It is a very moist, somewhat sweet, yeast bread.  I toasted a piece today, and it was very good, kind of a melt in your mouth kind of good.

 

English Muffin Bread

I was a little disappointed at first when I tried this bread because it did not seem to remind me of english muffins.  Then I toasted a piece, I gave my mom a piece and said "now that is what english muffin bread is suppose to taste like!"  Toasted it tasted just like an engish muffin, but in my opinion even better.  I forgot to take a picture of this one, sometimes I get to excited to try a new bread that I forget to take a picture, that is why most of my breads are cut in my pictures, I forget to take the picture before I cut the loaf.

 

Cast Iron Dutch Oven Bread

This one I made more or less just for us, not really planning on making it for the markets or shows.  It was a recipe that I found in one of our cast iron cookbook, and since I have been going cast iron crazy lately, figured I would give it a try.  It is a different kind of bread, would probably be good with a soup, it has a hard crust and is chewy on the inside.

 

Irish Soda Bread with Raisins

I decided that I wanted to make a couple different kinds of Irish Soda Breads for my shows that are on the weekend of St. Patrick's Day.  One I wanted to make with raisins and one without.  I found two recipes that I liked, and I got so lucky that I loved them both right away on my first try.

Buttery Irish Soda Bread

This one I made kind of special, because it contains quite a lot of butter and to make it even more Irishy I bought a special kind of really good Irish butter.  The crust almost has a Ritz Cracker kind of taste because of all the butter.  Soooooo good!

 

Croissants

I can not believe that I do not have a picture for this one, I have already made them a couple of times.  Shows you that I ate them so quick, since they were soooo good, that I did not get a chance to take a picture.  I have Terry (who sells at the Brunswick Farmers Market) to thank for bugging me enough to where I ended up making these.  Terry kept telling me that I have to make croissants, I told him he was crazy, and I was not going to spend a week making croissants for him.  Most recipes that I have seen for croissants (at least the ones that seemed like they would turn out good) always required around a week of playing around with the dough, knead, rise, roll out, rest, roll out, refrigerate, and on and on.  But I found a recipe, from a good source, that I could have them done in one day, so I figured I would give them a try.  I big doubts that is would work out, in fact the whole time I was making them for the first time I figured I was just wasting my time.  I figured that I would be disappointed and they would turn out dry and hard, boy was I wrong.  I think they are better than store bought croissants!

Well those are the breads that I have made this winter so far, but I still have some other types of breads that I am planning on making this winter.  I know I am planning on making some new breads this coming spring for my shows that I will be attending, so everyone can look out for some new kinds of breads on my table starting in March.  Let me know if there is any kind of bread that you would like to see me make this coming season.  Will see everyone soon!
 

2019 Garlic is in the Ground!

For almost a month now our garlic has been in the ground.  It took 3 straight days to get it all in, all 6,000 cloves of garlic.  I think it was the coldest weather that I have ever had to plant garlic in, and it was windy too.

 

 I planted garlic in two different areas this year.  Here are the two areas, covered with straw and ready for winter.

 

This picture was taken on the third and final day of garlic planting.  We had to get done with the garlic planting because it was suppose to rain all next week.  We ended up having to spread straw by the headlights of my truck.

 

This is what the ground looks like after having pealed and planted thousands of garlics.

 

Farm Update

Here are a few updates on what we have been busy with lately at Real Veggies Farm.

Inside seed planting has started just over a month ago.  Right now I have started in my basement: cabbage, swiss chard, kohlrabi, eggplant, rhubarb, asparagus, onions, sweet peppers, basil, some other herbs, and a few other things.  Over the next couple of days I need to start my kale, mustard greens, some lettuce, and a few other things.

Right now I should be planting my lettuce outside.  Unfortunately due to the weather it does not look like I will be able to get that done within the next week.  So I am planning on starting some of my lettuce in my hoophouse and transplanting it outside, that way I may have some lettuce for some of my shows in May.  Everything outside right now is like a very cold swamp, not what it is normally like this time in April.  Hopefully some time soon our weather gets a little warmer.  I am getting a little tired of seeing snow in the weather forecast.

I made a trip out to the farm last weekend to see how my garlic is doing, and it seems to be doing quite well.  You can not see the garlic very well, but it is there.

 

 I have some good news to tell everyone.  Starting this coming weekend we will now begin accepting credit cards!  A few weeks ago I decided that I was going to get a smart phone, so that I could begin accepting credit cards.  Tomorrow I am going to be retiring my flip phone for good, and switching over to my new smart phone!  Everything has been tested and ready to go, all I have to do is switch over my phone and we will be ready to accept credit cards this weekend.

Also on another happy note, this year will be our 10 year anniversary of selling at Valley City Farmers Market.  Last year 2017 was Valley City Farmers Market's 10 year anniversary.   

 

Recipe - Sweet Potato Cornbread

This is a recipe I have not made since 2012, because I have not had any of my own sweet potatoes since then.  I am thinking that this year I will have to grow some sweet potatoes, for sure.  I believe that I made it the first time for Thanksgiving in 2012.  I am not a huge cornbread fan, always seems to be a little too dry for me, but this was not your average cornbread.  It is the most moist cornbread I have ever had.  I think the sweet potatoes were what made it so very moist. 

Sweet Potato Cornbread
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup mashed sweet potato
2 tablespoons butter
    + enough milk to make 1 cup
2 eggs

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix together cornmeal, salt and baking soda.  In a separate bowl, stir together sweet potato, milk, butter (melted and cooled), and eggs.  Mix dry ingredients together with wet.  Pour into a 9"X9" casserole dish and bake for about 30 minutes.

Recipe - Stuffed Garlic Chicken Breasts (in a cast iron skillet)

Here is a recipe that I just cooked up today, for the first time, and let me tell you it was very very good.  I used a cast iron skillet, but I am sure if you do not have one you could just cook it in a regular pan on the stove, and then transfer the chicken into a casserole, but I would highly recommend using a cast iron skillet.  

Stuffed Garlic Chicken Breasts (in a cast iron skillet)
Ingredients:
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 large onion, chopped
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
4 boneless chicken breasts
salt and pepper
3 tablespoons canola oil
1/4 cup salted butter
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 tablespoons barbecue sauce
1/3 cup parmesan cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine the cream cheese, 3/4 the garlic and onion, and the red pepper flakes. 
Cut each chicken breast almost in half, to create a pocket for stuffing.  Stuff each chicken breast with cream cheese mixture, and secure breast closed with toothpicks.  Season each side of chicken with salt and pepper. 
Heat oil over medium heat in a cast iron skillet.  Sear chicken on each side for 3-4 minutes.
Transfer to oven and bake covered for 25 minutes.
Meanwhile melt butter in a small skillet over medium heat.  Add onion and garlic, and cook until almost translucent.  Add vinegar and barbecue sauce, and heat through. 
Remove skillet from oven and pour the sauce over the chicken.  Sprinkle the parmesan cheese over the chicken.
Return the chicken to the oven and bake covered for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until done.


To be served with the chicken I made some rice, but not just plain ordinary white rice.  Instead of adding water to the rice I added a can of my homemade vegetable stock and a can of homemade turkey stock.  I will have to explain in a future post how I make my homemade canned stock.  I use them in everything. 

Recipe - Slow Cooker Creamed Corn

This recipe is the perfect Thanksgiving recipe because it is so easy, all you have to do is throw it all together in a slow cooker and mix it every now and then.  It can pretty much stay in the crock pot on low until you are ready to serve.  So easy, and so much better than plain sweet corn.

Slow Cooker Creamed Corn
1 quart and 1 pint of canned corn (or an equivalent amount of frozen corn or store bought canned corn)
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker.  Cook on high for the first hour, then lower temperature to low for 2 to 4 more hours.

Recipe- Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake

This is one of the pumpkin pies that I make for Thanksgiving this year, and I know pumpkin time is pretty much over now, but it was so good that I just have to share the recipe.  I was not sure how I would like the idea of a pumpkin cheesecake, it just did not sound to great to me, but boy was I wrong.  It is very good, and so easy to make.

Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 (9 inch) deep dish prepared graham cracker crust
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pinch ground cloves
1 pinch ground nutmeg

In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla.  Beat until smooth. Blend in eggs one at a time.  Remove 1/2 of the batter and spread into the bottom of crust, and set aside.  To the remaining batter in the bowl add pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, an stir gently until well blended, and spread over the batter in the crust.  Bake in a preheated oven at 325 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes, or until center is set.  Allow to cool, then refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight.  Enjoy!


Graham Cracker Crust
(use for Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake)
1 1/2 cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup white sugar
6 tablespoons butter, melted

Mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter until well blended.  Press mixture into a 9 inch (for above recipe deep dish) pie plate.  Bake at 375 degrees for 7 minutes.  Cool.  If recipe calls of unbaked pie shell, just chill for about 1 hour.  (For above recipe I did not chill.) 

Recipe - Toasted Garlic Bread

Someone has brought it to my attention that I need to post some of my recipes from Thanksgiving.  I use to post recipes, but have not done so for a long time, so now that I have been inspired, here we go.  I have decided to try and post a recipe every week (at least for the next couple months, since I do not have any shows or markets to attend), so here is my first recipe of the week:  Toasted Garlic Bread

I made this the first time for Thanksgiving this year.  It is sooo easy and sooooo good!  After Thanksgiving I made this again to use up some french bread I had sitting around.  I cooked up about a half a loaf of french bread and me and my parents ate the hole thing  right away.

Toasted Garlic Bread
 about 1/2 a loaf of my French Bread (sliced)
5 tablespoons butter, softened
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic (minced)
2 teaspoons fresh oregano
salt and pepper to taste
shredded mozzarella cheese for to of bread

In a small bowl mix butter, olive oil, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper.  Spread the mixture on the bread slices.  Low broil for about 5 minutes, or until bread just starts to brown.  Watch carefully to make sure they do not burn.  Remove from oven and top with cheese, return to broiler for 2 to 3 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bread is desired brownness.  Enjoy! 

Thanksgiving Pics!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!  It took me a while but I am finally getting around to posting my pictures from Thanksgiving!  Like always we made way too much food, but it all tasted so good!

Our Thanksgiving Turkey!

From Fair View Meadow Farm in Wellington.

Creamy Cheesy Turnips

Steamed Cabbage

Homemade Gravy

Mashed Potatoes with Chives

 Creamed Corn

 

Sweet and Sour Green Beans

 

Spaghetti Squash

 

Steamed Purple Cauliflower and more Steamed Cabbage

 

Macaroni Salad

Roasted Chinese Cabbage with a Chive-Mustard Vinaigrette

Garlic Bread Stuffing

 

Roasted Delicata Squash

 

Garlic Bread (Made out of my French Bread)

 

My plate at Thanksgiving, full of a little bit of everything!

 

 

My dad carving our turkey.

 

 

And my mom, having fun and toasting the camera, and waiting to eat.

 

This years pies.  

For some reason when I got up on Thanksgiving Eve and started to think about what kind of pies I was going to make that day for Thanksgiving, I must have lost my mind.  I was planning on making three regular pumpkin pies, but for some crazy reason, I decided that was not enough pies, for four people.

So I made 3 pumpkin pies, 1 honey pumpkin pie, and 1 cheesecake pumpkin pie. 

 

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I hope everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving!

From everyone at Real Veggies Farm!

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We have been really busy lately canning and freezing all our leftover vegetables that we bring home from the market.  The last 4 or 5 weeks we have been canning every week.

 This weeks canned foods:  Pasta Sauce, Tomatillo Salsa, and Canned Chicken

 

Here is most, but not all, of our canned foods.

Okra, zucchini relish, garlic scapes, tomato juice, corn, collard rolls, tomato soup, pickled beans, zucchini pickles, perch, pears, beans, pasta sauce, turkey stock, vegetable stock, chicken stock, yard long beans, summer squash pickles, zucchini bread and butter pickles, pickle relish, jellies, and more!

We still have to can some apples, more collard rolls, more pasta sauce, more perch, turkey stock after Thanksgiving, salsa, garlic, and I might try to can some radishes and turnips this year. 

Bruswick Farmers Market Pictures

This past Sunday I took some pictures at the market.  Here some of the pictures of our table at Brunswick Farmers Market.

 

You can get fresh cut herbs at the market!  Pineapple Mint, Chocolate Mint, Strawberry Mint, Chewing Gum Mint, Stevia, Oregano, Thyme, and more, are available to be fresh cut for you at the market.  You can not get any fresher than that!  Available only at Brunswick Farmers Market.

We also have available at both Valley City Farmers Market and Brunswick Farmers Market:

Golden Delicious Apples

Red Delicious Apples

Sweet Peppers (green, purple, and yellow)

Zucchini and Summers Squash (many different varieties)

Cherry Tomatoes (over 12 different varieties available, red, purple, green, yellow, pink, orange, and more!)

Slicing Tomatoes (Many different varieties)

Beans (Dragon Tongue Beans- yellow with purple stripes, Rattlesnake Beans- green with purple stripes, and Green Beans)

Purple, White, and Yellow Scallions

Potatoes (German Butterball, fingerlings)

Green and Purple Kohlarabi

Mixed Kale (around 6 different varieties)

Parsley Bunches

 Bagged Mixed Basil

Dill

Garlic (over 10 different varieties)

Garlic Braids

Garlic Grab Bags

Homemade Dried Pasta

Onion Bread

Garlic Herb Braided Bread

Cinnamon Swirl Raisin Bread

Zucchini Bread

and More!

Lots of Canning and Freezing

I have been busy lately canning and freezing.  I think I am starting to run out of jars, and I still have to can some pears, collard rolls (just like cabbage rolls but with collards), and have not even canned any tomatoes yet.  I will also have to can some more turkey stock after Thanksgiving.

Last week I canned some beans, made zucchini pickles, summer squash pickles, zucchini relish, and also froze some zucchini pancakes.  Can you guess what I have had a lot of lately?

Beans during the process of being canned.

 Zucchini Relish

Summer Squash Pickles & Canned Beans

Today was more zucchini pickles, froze 7 bags of shredded zucchini for zucchini bread, made two pear pies, made zucchini fries, and prepped some zucchini for bread and butter pickles which will be canned tomorrow (they have to soak overnight in salt).

 Zucchini Pickles

Shredded Zucchini, Some Zucchini Fries (the rest are in the oven), Pear Pies, and the Zucchini Pickles

Tomorrow I will be canning the zucchini bread and butter pickles, freezing beans, freezing peppers, and can some pears.  I am so tired of dealing with zucchini, but my plants are slowing down so I should not have much more zucchini to deal with, it should be time to move on to tomatoes.

This was the first year that I have tried canning zucchini, and I am very happy with how everything has turned out.  The zucchini pickles look just like cucumber pickles, and actually taste very similar to cucumbers too.  I ate my first jar of zucchini pickles in just a couple days, when it does not last long then it has to be good.