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

Fresh Cut Herbs at Market

 I have finally made something to display my herb bunches in at the market.  For years now I have been trying to figure out a good way to display my cut herbs, and have tried may different ways, but nothing seems to work very well.  So for the past 4 or 5 years I have been thinking of building something to display them in and have finally done so.  I can not wait till I get it completely done (still have to do finishing touches and stain it), and am so excited to get to see how it looks and works at the markets.  I am going to see how it works this season and may end up building another one next winter.

Heirloom Vegetable of the Month - China Rose Radish

China Rose Radishes
I have just received one of my favorite heirloom seed catalogs in the mail and reading through all the descriptions of all the wonderful seeds has inspired me to do a new post every month about a different heirloom vegetable.  This month I will start with the China Rose Radish.  Which is one of my favorite radishes.




History:
You probably could have guessed, by the name, but the China Rose radish originated from China, and is believed to have evolved directly out of the wild radish, making it one of the oldest radishes.  It is said to have been introduced to North America by Jesuit monks in the 1950's. 

China Rose radishes are grown better in the fall/winter which is why you will most likely only find these radishes at my table in the fall and not the spring.  They are long radishes verses the normal round radish that you would find in the store, but their long root make them wonderful for slicing.

How to Eat:
Can be used just like you would any other radish, but their long root make them very easy to slice.  Many people only think of using radishes in salads or snacking on them, but radishes (especially winter radishes) are also great roasted sauteed, fried, and steamed.  Many people do not know but you can also cook with the radish tops and use them much like you would other types of greens and turnip tops.

 Here is a good site that gives some good ideas of what you can do with radishes and explains some of the best uses for some different types of radishes.
The Warmth of a Winter Radish

Nutrition Data:
~ Radish leaves are an excellent source of calcium.
~ Can be beneficial to diabetics since they are low on the glycemic-index, and may actually help stabilize blood sugar.
~ It is high in potassium which may help lower high blood pressure, caused by high sodium intake.
~ 9 Reasons to "Eat Your Radishes"!
1. Naturally Cooling  2. Sooth Sore Throats  3. Aids Digestion  4. Prevents Viral Infections  5. Eliminates Toxins  6. Protects Against Cancer  7. Relieves Indigestion  8. Low in Calories, High in Nutrients  9. Keeps you Hydrated
The above reasons come from Full Circle, 9 Reasons to "Eat Your Radishes"!  You can read the details about all the reasons, just click on the above link to visit the website.
~ Low in Calories, Cholesterol, and Saturated Fat
~ High in Vitamin A and C, Calcium, Fiber, Potassium, and Magnesium
~ Nutrition Data for Radishes, Raw

Heirloom Vegetables

Back when I started growing vegetables on my own I use to grow mainly hybrid vegetables.  Most of the vegetables in the hybrid seed catalogs all look the same, they all boast of great disease resistance, and quick maturing.  Now I look at these same seed catalogs and they kind of boar me.  When they get a new variety it is usually the same exact looking vegetable that they had last year except new and improved.  Do not get me wrong I still do grow some hybrids but over the years I have been slowly phasing them out.  I can even see myself in the near future just growing heirlooms entirely.  Now when I look through my heirloom seed catalogs most of the descriptions focus on taste and flavor, the best use of the particular variety, and one of the most interesting things is the history of the variety.  Many heirloom varieties come with a very interesting history, stories of the families that grew them and passed them down from generation to generation, and many varieties have been around for a very long time.  Many people believe that if it is a carrot and it is not orange it must be some weird mutation, or genetically engineered vegetable, but this is not true, in fact some of the more unusual vegetable varieties have actually been around longer or just as long as some of your more common varieties.

Starting this month (December) each month I will pick a different heirloom vegetable, one that I either grow or plan to grow and tell a little bit about its history, how to eat it, and nutrition data.  For the month of December I will be starting off with China Rose Radish.  A very old, beautiful and tasty radish.

To start thing off here is a little bit about some heirloom vegetable varieties.

Beets
The Crapaudine Beet is believed to be the oldest beet in existence, it is believed to possibly be around 1000 years old.  The common beets that we know today were only developed around 300 year ago.  I have never grown this variety, but after reading about it I will be adding it to my list of seeds to order for this coming year.  It is a dark beet with a red inside, a long carrot like shape, and a thick bark like skin, that is said to be very easy to peel. 

Carrots
Some of the oldest carrots are not all orange, in fact white, yellow and purple carrots have been grown since before the 1100's.  It was not until around the 1600's that the orange carrot we know of today was first grown in Holland.

Tomatoes
There are hundreds of different varieties of heirloom tomatoes.  They come in colors such as red, yellow, orange, purple, green, pink, brown, white, and striped.  There are many different sizes and shapes, such as cherry, plum, stuffing tomatoes, slicing tomatoes, paste, pear tomatoes, and many more.  Every color and variety also has its own unique taste and use.  Some are sweet, some are bitter, low acid, high acid, I can go on and on.  Just do a google image search for heirloom tomatoes and you will be amazed by the color and beauty all over your computer screen. 

How We Used Our Thanksgiving Turkey

Well our Thanksgiving turkey has now been baked, boiled, canned, and only what was left (bones) was thrown in the trash.  After Thanksgiving I had saved the extra liquid from when we had cooked the turkey and made up a large pot of gravy with it, and into that went a bunch of the leftover turkey.  I also cooked up some plain fushilli pasta and made up some red and pink mashed potatoes.  Mashed potatoes went onto the plate, then the pasta and the turkey and gravy got poured over the top of the potatoes and pasta, yum.

Mashed potatoes and pasta with turkey and gravy

15 jars of canned turkey broth

Today I made turkey broth out of the left over turkey carcass, and I ended up with 15 jars.  Last year I had also made turkey broth, and it was so nice this year to be able to pull out a jar of my homemade turkey broth and use it when I made my stuffing.

I am almost done using up all of my Thanksgiving leftovers, tomorrow I will be using up the last of my pumpkin puree, and baking up some more pumpkin pies to freeze for later use.  I also have some leftover winter squash puree that I will either be making some winter squash waffles (to freeze) or some winter squash pancakes, just depends on what I fell like.

Then I will get to relax for a little while and really start planning out and preparing for next years growing season.

Thanksgiving 2013

Just thought I would share some pictures from our Thanksgiving this year. 

My mom mashing purple potatoes

Beets with kale

Purple mashed potatoes

 

Gravy for the potatoes

Dragon Tongue Beans

Sweet corn

Winter Squash with nuts and scallions

Pumpkin bread stuffing

Macaroni salad (of course with our pasta and turnips)

 

Homemade onion bread

 Our turkey this year (from Brown Brothers Farm in Paris, Ohio)

And here is everything on my plate

 And of course, can not forget about the homemade pumpkin pie for dessert.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!