Tuesday

Garden "Picks"

Lots to pick at the farm now and every week there are changes. 
The beds planted with winter squash are growing so fastwe just might 
be incorporating those varietals onto the menus 
while we are still getting creative with the summer squash. 
winter squash bed in early July 
and the same bed as August begins
Chef John recently talked to The Huffington Post about 
how the farm tells us what is in season rather than what we expect. 
He recalls: "Nature does not always work in accordance with a chef's schedule. 
You can't predict much. Normally, rhubarb means spring, 
 strawberry is spring and summer, delicata squash is fall. 
There was point last year I was harvesting all those in the same time.
Now, at the height of summer abundance, I'm hauling in tomatoes. 
Every day. We're putting them everywhere on the menu. 
Eggplant? 'Learn to love it,' I tell the sous chefs."
And with eggplant as beautiful as these Black Beauties, what's not to love?
did you know this variety of eggplant is over 100 years old?
these go directly from the farm to the kitchen to your table every day!

Sunset Magazine has a "no fail" guide for when 
to harvest the vegetables in your garden.
This is helpful with so much growing at this time of year. 
What are you harvesting now in your garden?
abundant cucumber bed
Along with our squash,cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, herbs and eggplant, 
we are also still picking chard and kale.
Here's some "super food" info on kale.

This is a delicious leafy green sautéed or in salads. 
Food writer Melissa Clark offers some delicious ideas for kale, 
including creating kale pesto and a great tip for "cheater's" blanched kale: 
"Before you add your pasta to the pot, grasp a small handful of whole kale 
by the stems, and simply dunk them into and swirl them around 
the bubbling pot for a few seconds. The stems make handles, 
which obviates the need for dropping the leaves into the pot 
and then having to drain said pot and then boil even more water to cook your pasta."

sunchoke plants loom over the squash beds
But what is really growing at the farm are our sunchokes.  
Sunchokes, also called Jerusalem artichokes, are an edible tuber 
that grows underground, much like a potato. 
They look a little bit like large knobs of ginger, and taste slightly nutty, and savory
like a cross between an artichoke heart and the best potato you've ever had.
There are reports of sunchokes growing in Cape Cod in 1605.


Since sunchokes were first cultivated by Native Americans 
and are not from Jerusalem, the reason they are also
called Jerusalem artichokes is unclear.
Does anyone know how they got that name? 


Sondra features a pan roasted black cod with roasted sunchokes in her new book, 
and served it this spring at a dinner we cooked at the James Beard House. 
photo by Phil Gross for James Beard House 
What's the best pick from your garden these days?


4 comments:

  1. Patty Pan summer squash are the highlite of our garden right now.

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  2. Thanks for checking in. We have a lot of summer squash now and will be talking about that next week. What do you like to do with the Patty Pans? And, thanks for following the blog.

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  3. The farm is looking great! Right now, too many green and purple podded beans, cherry tomatoes, beets, basil and shiso.

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  4. Yes, so much bounty this time of year-challenges our creativity about how to use it all, but it is so incredible having the choice! And oh so delicious to pick from the farm and bring to the kitchen.

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