Fresh harvest Daily September 2014

Yes we have Ghosts!

Beginning of October, fear of frost approaching – but the field is full of peppers eggplant heirloom tomatoes and even ghosts! Not the halloween types – but hotter than hot ghost peppers in their own protective high tunnel. We do have beautiful pumpkins and just beginning to dig the baby ginger…

Yellow Plum Tomatoes

Peppers and Eggplant

Squash Blossom

Sweet Potato Purple

We grow several varieties and are also working on the Hawaiian Purple Heart Sweet potato.

Eating sweet potatoes

The Purple sweet potatoes make purple ink in the water when they boil…. the large potato is actually an orange not a purple potato but the submerged purple potato in the mix dyed the entire water and has hidden the other potatoes in the pot

boiling the Purple Potato

raspberries (half pints, hand picked daily) we make frozen drinks and crème pops from this fruit, too

limited citrus: currently, Calmondin oranges, kaffir limes and bitter orange (great for zest, calmondins are fantastic scissor cut into drinks [i cut them into “flowering wedges” and leave whole under ice], used as a salad dressing, marmalade, glaze etc.  The skins are much thinner and more edible than the other 2.

flats of tomatoes (the hand pollinated classics that got me addicted to farming and heirlooms from the field that are coming soon)

cases of peppers (we get all seed verified, specializing in Hatch, NM and Pepper Institute varieties…please note that we have taken the “Safe Seed Pledge”)

arugula  (8×8 box of baby green)

watercress (8×8 box of clean top growth)

tatsoi (8×8 box of baby green; all are ready to use from the box)

lemon verbena (garnish, syrups, muddled drinks, stewed with fruits, chicken, fish, tea)

rose geranium (ditto above, all applies…contains more of the chemistry of the scent for rose than a rose! )

tis the season to dress in mint!

english, thin skinned  cucumbers

squash, & squash blossoms

potatoes, check for availability… lots of Adirondack reds i can remember off the top of my head…

mixed heirloom eggplant varieties, including the Louisiana green, Japanese Bride, etc.

superb jalapeño jelly; we do have by the case… red fire jelly is the hottest variety (caution!)

pesto varieties… basil, sorrel, watercress, arugula, etc.  also made to order for vegan requests, etc.

flat leaf parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano, marjoram, spearmint, peppermint, dill, basil, thai basil, (see also microgreens for many herbs are available as such also), red shiso, lemon verbena, rose geranium, pineapple sage, nasturtium in leaf and flower, mixed edible flower chef boxes, black leaf amaranth (wine colored), baby beet leaf, mixed color Chard, fig leaves, wild grape leaves,  wildcrafted garlic mustard, now is the season for wildcrafting goldenrod, anise hyssop, Echinacea, ginger root (not harvest time yet)

its summer: did i mention basil, mint, & dill? cilantro: hard to grow in this heat, but we’ve got some!

greens, lettuces, etc: like kale, kohlrabi, colored chard, etc.

im sure there is more but i have to run out on delivery…. catch Mike at the Forest Lakes farmers market

decides to present itself in the middle of the day, munchin on my hard work, no less…

Hey, you got some pretty yummy stuff…Thanks!

Here’s a look at where i lay with my gun:

The Stand

Yes, i wildcraft meat, too.  Makes good sausages, food gifts, cat food, roasts, etc.  Makes good bar-b-q and chili.  And it satiates my desire to not ever eat meat that i didn’t prepare or catch on a hook.  I know what these deer are eating. Positioned over the lower field, all my shots are down into the ground.  And i catch the occasional breeze thru the sassafras.

BTW, venison goes great with garlic mustard (which is all thru American lands now).  Garlic mustard is on the “must wildcraft” list.  See video for chemical warfare reference.

These veggies became a steamed meal for us that evening as well as a refrigerator marinade or “pickle” garnish for my spring rolls.  The cruciferous vegetables were lightly steamed until colors brightened and rolled in butter.  These tasted so good that we ate the entire lot that we steamed and kept adding more…mostly broccoli became my dinner that night.

I had cold infused some rose petals in a vinegar base that Mike made with allspice, giving it a nice color, and this became the marinade for small slices of all the veggies you see in the photos.  The cabbage became pink; the purple cauliflower and chartreuse romanesco all bounced off of each other nicely.  I cut the stalks of the Bright Lights chard like diced celery and the slices of the multi-colored carrot rounds were about the same size.  All together it made a nice chilled salad that was ready to adorn any plate.

We brought fresh water to a boil over these potatoes for just a few minutes, until tender by a fork, and found that the Norlands needed just a minute or so more cooking time than the Adirondacks.  Also, we found a slightly creamier consistency to the Norlands, and i’m guessing, due to starch size and arrangement in the potato.   It felt on the tongue that the flesh had less “graininess” and a finer molecule build.  The cooked buds were gently rolled in soft butter and then devoured immediately

Fresh Broccoli

Multi Color Chard

Shallots, Spring Onions, Red Spring Onions

Squash Blossoms and baby Zuchinni

Russian Kale

Premier Kale

Collard Greens

Raspberries

Bamboo Shoots

Coming Soon- Potatoes as far as you can see!

Potato Fields

Baby Potatoes

Nasturtium flowers, blossoming pineapple sage & thai basil, flowering thyme, rose geranium, shingiku flowers,  blossoming stems of kaffir lime, rose buds, chive blossoms…just what was perfect to pick at that moment.

The mixed edible flower boxes are filled with the most choice selections of the day.  If you would like a particular mix or focus, just give us a call: 877-ARUGULA, ext 1.

*UPDATE: check out this recent article by C-ville Weekly on Edible Flowers!   Click on image below to open article…

Roses in the Flower House