What I did Yesterday

Well yesterday I spent almost the whole day in the kitchen.  I had lots of vegetables sitting around my house that I just had to use up, so I spent the day freezing everything.  I froze beans, zucchini, tomato sauce, basil butter, basil pesto, and fried breaded zucchini.

 

Beans cut, blanched (for 3 minutes), dried and ready to be bagged and frozen.

This is a mixture of three different types of beans, Dragon Tongue Beans (yellow with purple stripes), yellow beans (do not remember what kind I planted without looking it up), and Tongue of Fire Beans (a new one for us this year it is a green bean with red stripes).

I should have all three of these beans available at my markets this weekend.

 

 

Now you are going to think I am crazy but this is a picture of some worm food, that is my scraps form the days work that I will be feeding to my worms.  I just thought it looked so pretty that I had to take a picture.  Even worm food can be beautiful!

 

Microgreens at the Market

This week was the first week that we had microgreens at our markets, and everyone seemed to like them, and I must say myself they did look beautiful at the markets.

 

I hope to have available at the markets this weekend:

Alfalfa Microgreens

Red Clover Microgreens

Red Lentil Microgreens

Broccoli Microgreens

Diakon Radish Microgreens

Brown Mustard Microgreens 

Then for the following week I am hoping to have some new exciting microgreens available, but you will just have to wait and see what they are.  

I start my microgreens in dirt, and are sold in the containers and all, so they may need to be watered, you do not want it to dry out (if keeping them inside may only need to be watered once or twice a week), and keeping them by a window is a plus.  Do be careful though if you leave them outside they can dry out very quickly on a hot day in the sun, which is why I recommend to keep them inside once you bring them home.  When you are ready to eat your microgreens all you have to do is cut them off and add to salads, wraps, eggs, stir fry (at the very end), and so much more.  Microgreens are very healthy for you, and contain lots of vitamins and minerals.  At the markets I have information about how the different types are good for your health.  I plan to post the information on here also, so check back soon (or you can come to our markets).

Below is a picture from our stand at Valley City Farmers Market this past weekend.

 

Our vegetables have been coming along very slow this year due to the excessive spring rains, a lot was lost entirely, many things I had to replant, more than half of my crops ended up getting planted late, and everything else I have had to to lots of work to finally get producing.  Lets just say it has been yet another tough growing season.  This coming weekend we should have a good selection of different varieties of zucchini and summer squash (since my second planting should be producing by the next market), we will also have Dragon Tongue Beans (my favorite type of bean), bagged kale and mustard greens, and more.  And of course do not forget about our microgreens and pasta.

 

Darrell Hudson and Friends

Tomorrow (Sunday) is the Brunswick Farmers Market (11am-3pm).  Every Sunday you can come and enjoy some entertainment while you are at the market.  Darrell Hudson and friends is in the barn, or wandering around the market, every week.  Any musician is invited to join in from noon till 3pm.  They love when others join in, so bring your instrument or just come to the market to enjoy the entertainment, fresh veggies, bakery, pasta, popcorn, and so much more.

Darrell Hudson and Friends

If you are a musician, come join in and play with Darrell and friends noon to 3pm.  They would love to have you.

For more info regarding Brunswick Farmers Market you can email Sam Boyer here.

Brunswick Farmers Market
Sundays
11a.m.- 3p.m.
June 15th, 2014 - October
Located at Brunswick Heritage Farm, 4613 Laurel Road, Brunswick, Ohio 44212

2014 Lettuce

This past Saturday I began picking lettuce for my first market of the year at Valley City Farmers Market.  This weekend I will have lettuce for both Valley City Farmers Market and the start of Brunswick Farmers Market.  Here are some pictures of the different varieties of lettuce that I am growing this year.

Romaine Lettuces:

The following lettuces are in my Ark of Taste Mix:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Salad Mixes Available for 2014:

Just Lettuce Mix

Ark of Taste Lettuce Mix

Spicy Salad Mix

Lettuce and Greens Salad Mix

Lettuce and Romaine Salad Mix

Lettuce and Spinach Salad Mix

Lettuce and Endive Salad Mix

Mr. Optimist Dahlia

I am so excited to have my first dahlia flower of the year.  It is called Mr. Optimist.  All I have to say is, isn't it beautiful!

I planted many different varieties of dahlias this year and should have a lot of beautiful cut flowers for my markets.  I can not wait to start picking them and bringing them to the market.  I love dahlias, they are so beautiful!

Pictures and Plants Everywhere

Just thought I would do a walk around and take some pictures of my spring plants.  This year I have plants everywhere. Moving and watering my plants everyday day take up a big portion of my time everyday, I can not wait to finally start getting things in the ground this weekend so I do not have to worry about them as much.
So here are some of my pictures that I took today.

 

My spring lettuce.  The hail that we got last week set the lettuce back a bit, but it is finally starting to take off again.  Looks small, but it grows fast, and should be ready for picking just in time for the beginning of the markets (June 7th Valley City).

 

My hoophouse full of plants and some of my pallets full of plants.

 

 

Some of my dahlias in my hoophouse, that I will be selling as cut flowers at the markets this year.  A few are already beginning to bud up, and will be flowering before I know it.

 

 

Pallets full of plants.  The one with the shade cloth on it I use to get my plants use to being outside a couple of days before they get exposed to full sun.  Since I start a lot of my plants inside under lights it is a good idea to keep them out of direct sunlight for a couple of days to get them use to the sun so that they do not get burned.

 

 

A pallet full of some of my sweet potatoes, parsley and some other herbs.

 

 

My plants in my basement waiting for room to be moved outside or night temperatures to get just a little bit warmer.

Since I will be doing a bunch of planting this weekend I will have to take some more pictures of out at the farm and post them.  It is going to be so nice to finally get out at the farm and do some work.  One thing is for sure, it has been one long and rough winter and spring.

Just wanted to let everyone know that Valley City Farmers Market will be starting on Saturday, June 7th this year and Brunswick Farmers Market will be starting on Sunday, June 15th.

 

Herbs and Their Uses

I just spent some time today doing a little research on herbs, so that I will have some charts printed out, to hand out this year at the markets.  I ended up (so far) with three different charts: herbs and vegetables, herbs and their cooking uses, and a herbs and health chart. 

Here are the some of herbs that I am growing for this market season.  They will be available at the market as fresh cut bunches.

Basil, Sweet
Basil, Gevonese
Basil,  Lemon
Basil, Cinnamon
Basil, Opal
Basil, Anise
Cilanto
Dill
Oregano
Wild Oregano
Spearmint
Tarragon
Fennel
Thyme
Rosemary
Lovage
Chervil
Parsley (Three different varieties)
Marjoram
Sage

 I know there are some varieties that I forgot but those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.  So this year at market when you are picking up your favorite veggies do not forget to get some herbs to add to your favorite dish.

Here is the vegetables and herbs chart.
 

Vegetable	Herbs
Asparagus	Chervil, Dill, Tarragon
Beets	Basil, Fennel Seeds, Tarragon, Coriander
Broccoli	Dill, Mint, Oregano
Cabbage	Dill, Fennel Seeds, Mint, Thyme, Coriander
Carrots	Basil, Chervil, Fennel, Parsley, Thyme, Coriander
Cauliflower	Basil, Dill, Fennel, Thyme, Paprika
Celery	Basil, Chervil, Dill, Lovage, Parsley, Paprika
Cucumber	Basil, Borage, Dill, Mint, Parsley, Tarragon, Coriander
Green Beans	Basil, Chives, Dill, Lovage, Oregano, Rosemary
Eggplant	Basil, Oregano, Parsley, Rosemary, Thyme
Kale	Caraway, Dill, Marjoram, Tarragon, Thyme, Coriander
Kohlrabi	Basil, Chervil, Chives, Dill, Fennel, Lovage, Parsley, Coriander
Leeks	Dill, Lovage, Sage, Thyme, Paprika
Onions	Basil, Parsley, Thyme, Paprika
Peas	Chervil, Chives, Dill, Mint, Parsley, Rosemary, Thyme
Peppers	Basil, Lovage, Oregano, Parsley, Rosemary, Thyme
Potatoes	Chervil, Marjoram, Parsley, Rosemary, Sage, Thyme, Paprika
Pumpkin	Celery, Chives, Sage, Thyme
Radishes	Basil, Borage, Chives, Dill, Lovage, Mint, Parsley
Spinach	Basil, Chives, Dill, Lovage, Thyme,
Squash, Summer	Basil, Chives, Dill, Marjoram, Oregano, Coriander
Squash, Winter	Celery, Marjoram, Parsley, Sage, Thyme
Sweet Corn	Basil, Cilantro, Parsley, Rosemary, Thyme
Sweet Potatoes	Sage, Thyme
Swiss Chard	Lovage, Marjoram, Parsley, Paprika
Tomatoes	Basil, Cilantro, Dill, Oregano, Parsley, Rosemary, Paprika
Turnips	Basil, Borage, Dill, Marjoram, Parsley, Rosemary