Spring Time= Stinging Nettles and Dandelions

Hello!  It has been quite a while since I have updated this blog and I am trying to rectify that now.  I feel like I have a good reason for not being active for such a long time....we are expecting our first little one any day now!  We found out in the middle of summer and I was just not feeling well enough to write or take photographs.  Then it turned to fall and winter and there was not much I wanted to write about, not to mention baking a baby is exhausting!  Now that it is spring again and the garden is starting to burst, I am becoming inspired once more.  Plus I am on maternity leave at this point and I have some extra time on my hands.

Iz's apprenticeship went very well.  It ended at the end of October and he misses the farm.  Luckily our yard has been keeping him busy!  I will have other posts dedicated to our plans for the season after I get some more photos taken.

The topic today is Stinging Nettles (Urtica dioica) and Dandelions.  Some people are lucky and have Nettles growing wild on their property, just like Dandelions do; but we are not so lucky, so we planted some last year.  Early Spring is the best time to harvest Nettles so we got to work today!  Once the Nettles bloom later in the summer, it is best to just keep cutting them back and throwing them in the compost or just let them go for next year and cut them back at the end of the season.

When harvesting Nettles, make sure you wear gloves.  They really do sting!  Iz used regular gardening gloves for harvest and moved to food safe gloves in the kitchen when removing the leaves from the stems. He had to double up on the gloves as he was getting stung through one layer.

We are making two things with our Nettle harvest. A potato and nettle soup and a nettle hair rinse.  Both recipes are in one of our favorite herb reference books: The Complete Herb Book by Jekka McVicar.

Scarlett and the Nettles

The hair rinse is as easy as making tea.  Add a large handful of nettles in a pot on the stove, bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes covered.  Strain into containers and let cool.  To use, pour through your hair after shampooing. We just made this so I will have to report back about how it works. This is good for general conditioning of your hair but also good for preventing hair loss, itchy scalp, and dandruff. (McVicar)  I was "Googleing" around looking for other nettle inspiration and came across another blog post about making the nettle hair rinse.

The soup includes nettles, potato, onion, milk, lovage, lemon thyme, oregano all blended after cooking together.

We had a bunch of leftover nettles so we are using a borrowed dehydrator to dry the leaves to use as tea as needed.  According to McVicar, nettles are used as a diuretic, for anemia, and as a tonic to get useful vitamins and minerals we might lack during the winter, including vitamin C and Iron.

It is important to note that to eat nettles, you must cook them!  Eating the plant raw can cause kidney damage and poisoning. (McVicar)

Here are a few external sources talking a little more about Stinging Nettles as a plant and uses.

We have plenty of Dandelions growing all over our yard.  If you are going to harvest in your yard, make sure that there haven't been any herbicides or other chemicals sprayed on or near your crop.  You don't want to eat that! Also, try to harvest away from the road as there can be all kinds of yucky stuff coming off of cars and the road. Try to harvest the leaves when they are a young as possible as they will be more tender.

All we are doing with the Dandelions is cleaning off the roots to roast and keeping the leaves to eat in salads or I'm thinking about adding them to an herb pesto with thyme and leftover nettles.

Roasted Dandelion root is used commonly as a coffee substitute.  I have not tried this yet, so I will be report back.

When dealing with herbs on your own, I strongly recommend doing a little research first to make sure there are not any contraindications for your own health status.  Some herbs can interact with drugs, and specific medical conditions.  Read more than one source to make sure you get a well rounded profile of the herb and the opinions of several experts.  Some of the resources we use are as follows:

Mountain Rose Herbs

Books by Richo Cech, owner of Horizon Herbs

Susun Weed

and as I mentioned before Jekka McVicar

CSA share, pickles and garlic

Another week has gone by! I'm afraid that the Summer is going by too quickly.  I am trying to savor it as much as possible.  This week's CSA share is below:

Summer squash, zucchini, carrots, potatoes, beets, fennel, cabbage, one beautiful heirloom tomato (first one!), four green and one purple pepper, two yellow onions, two head of garlic

Some people were worried about the last post when I said I was starting to get a little overwhelmed with the volume of veggies.  No worries!  Almost all of the veggies we get are eaten, "put up" or shared with others.  If there is any waste, it goes into the compost. (I like to think of it as recycling).  

Speaking of "putting up" or preserving vegetables,  I tried my hand at two different pickles this past weekend.  Our cucumbers are going crazy and we still have some garlic scapes leftover from a little while ago.  I decided to make refrigerator pickles with the cucumber and lacto fermented garlic scapes.  I don't have a photo of the pickles yet, they are sitting in the fridge waiting for lids, so I will get around to that this week.  Here are the scapes:

I made three jars full and I can't wait to taste them in about a week!  I think I mentioned the blog where I got this recipe in my last post.  Here it is!  I pretty much followed the recipe, except I didn't have any whey so I used more salt.  I changed the spices to what I had on hand: fennel seeds, yellow mustard seeds and black peppercorns.  Smaller Footprint was cutting back their dill.  Isaac mentioned that I wanted to make pickles so they gave him the dill flower heads to take home.  They are the best! So I added probably two tablespoons of dill as well.

Here is the recipe for the refrigerator pickles.  It was not hard at all.  Notice that I haven't delved into any actual canning...I'm taking baby steps.  I'm looking forward to eating lots of homemade pickles this summer!

I ordered this so I can get my sauerkraut on, hopefully soon.  Of course, I will report back.

While I was at work on Saturday, Isaac harvested all of our garlic. If I remember correctly we have about 40 heads total.  Some of this we are going to save and plant in the Fall for next year's crop. But honestly, this should (along with the garlic we get from our 2 CSAs) last us all year, until next season.  You know when it is ready when the greens start to brown or if you know the growing time, that would be your indicator as well.  All you do is pull them out of the ground. Shake the dirt off the bulbs, you will want to make sure most of the dirt is off.  Then you want to let the garlic cure outside in a shady well ventilated area for a few days.  This will allow them to dry out and will keep longer.  When you bring your garlic inside, store it in a cool dry place.  Here are some photos from the harvest.

bundled and hanging outside

garlic looks nice in black and white

On a final note, the greens are starting to dwindle as the summer crops start thriving.  As a last hurrah until they start coming in again in the fall, I experimented and made a greens (chard and kale) pie with feta, walnuts and lemon slices.  I use this recipe for the dough. I doubled it so I could make the (poorly formed) lattice on top and I used all butter.  I really liked the slices of lemon.  They really mellowed as they roasted in the oven. I'm being lazy and not posting the recipe here. If you would like one, please let me know. It's one of those things where I made it up as a went along, but I think I could point you in the right direction.

That is all for now! We are going to Michigan in a couple of weeks to visit Isaac's family.  The plan is to obtain as many blueberries that will fit in the car.  (We look forward to this all year!)
Stay tuned!

CSA Week 7

This is getting ridiculous.  We are getting quite overwhelmed with vegetables.  I am on a mission to get a lot cooked or preserved this week to give our poor overstuffed refrigerator a break.  We are up to three heads of cabbage and way too many zucchini to count, especially now that ours in the garden are coming in.  I made a chocolate zucchini cake, but that barely put a dent in the supply.  I think I am going to make a few loaves of "regular" zucchini cake and send some to the farm with Isaac. 
Here is what we got from Hazelfield Farm this week:

Swiss Chard, green beans, cabbage, green peppers, yellow onions, zucchini and zephyr squash, new potatoes, carrots, beets, fennel, and garlic.

I'm planning on making vegetarian stuffed peppers, something kind of like this, but probably with rice instead of couscous.  I'm also going to roast all of the carrots we have and cook down all the greens (kale, chard and beet greens).

We made mini goat burgers last night with tzatziki sauce to go with them.  Isaac got some ground goat meat from a neighboring farm in Yellow Springs.  We invited some friends over and had a little barbecue. Delicious!

As I was looking up quick pickling recipes for the remaining scapes, I came across the blog cook.eat.think.  She has a recipe for lacto-fermented scapes which I think I will try.  She also shares her CSA share for the week and is also linking to other blogs sharing their CSA baskets.  If you are curious about what other people get in different regions of the US, click here and here!


On a farming note.  Check out the article "Illegal Food is better for you" from the blog Instead of the Dishes.  The article discusses Polyface Farms and the farmer/owner Joel Salatin.  He discusses many of the food regulations in the country that are contradictory to what is actually healthy for humans. One quote I will take from the blog in which they took from his discussion: “Opt out and do it.  We vote three times a day on the legacy that we will leave our grandchildren, one bite at a time.”  I can't stress this enough, we need to take a direct interest in our food, how it is grown/produced and supporting the small farms that make it possible.  This matter needs to be dealt with on a local level, not in big government.  Take a look!

CSA and Garden Update

I hope everyone had a nice Independence Day! The holiday has thrown me a little off schedule, but here I am-better late than never.

I first want to send a little shout-out to a new reader, Nazneen.  She was nice enough to mention one of my blog posts in her blog Coffee and Crumpets.  Her blog post is about visiting her local farmer's market and shared the lovely vegetables that she purchased and her intentions for them.  Take a look!

Speaking of Farmer's Markets, I am back with photos of the CSA shares from Hazelfield Farm and Smaller Footprint.

Above: left to right

Garlic, summer squash (zephyr and zucchini), sweet peppers, new potatoes, green beans, onions, basil, beets, cabbage, kale, carrots, lettuce-phew!

 

Smaller Footprint: leaf lettuce, green beans, broccoli, zucchini, kohlrabi, kale, swiss chard-not shown: wild blackberries, a couple tomatoes and eggs

Of course the lettuce is devoted to salads.  I also added some chopped carrots, onions and kohlrabi to the salads.  Kohlrabi is in the cabbage family.  It has a mild taste but is crunchy and fresh tasting in a salad.

During our cooking extravaganza we have the day before Isaac goes back to the farm, I kind of made something up that turned out pretty good.  I found a recipe online, but I couldn't find it when it was time to cook, so I tried to go from memory.  

Mashed Potato and Zucchini Cakes

You will need to make a batch of mashed potatoes.  Make them however you usually like to.  We just boil potatoes, skin on, until tender, then drain.  I throw in a lot of butter, sour cream and half and half and mash it all up with the potatoes.  Salt and pepper to taste. I made about 2-3 cups worth.

As the potatoes are cooling, grate two medium sized zucchini on the large holes of a box grater.  Either wrap them in a clean towel, or place in a fine mesh strainer and squeeze out as much water as you can.  Once you do this, add to the potatoes and mix.  Add one or two eggs, depending on the size you have, I used one duck egg.  Mash to all together so the egg is combined. This will hold the cake together better as they cook. Add salt and pepper and any herbs you like.  We used lemon thyme.

On a large plate, place breadcrumbs and grated Parmesan cheese.  Form the potato mixture into approximately 2" wide patties and dredge in the breadcrumbs on both sides.

In a large skillet heat about 1" of oil in the pan.  When the oil is hot, fry the patties until golden brown on both sides.  Remove from pan, drain on paper towels and sprinkle with salt.

I am thinking about making sauerkraut with the cabbages that are accumulating in the refrigerator.  I need to find a large crock to do so.  If I do, I certainly will report back!

The garden is doing relatively well.  We mulched and weeded quite a bit last week, but there is always more to do.

 

 Above: Looking at the yard from the back.
Right: The large garden is doing well.  The giant green in the back are Jerusalem Artichokes.  They will bloom a pretty yellow sunflower-like bloom very soon.  We need to dig up a lot of them as they spread quickly.

A portion of the front part of the largest raised bed.  Clary Sage blooms flank chamomile (German and Roman), California Poppies (see other photo), white poppies and amaranth (not yet blooming)

One of our Elderberries is blooming, we didn't expect any blooms this year as they are new transplants, so this is exciting!

Some peas have escaped the jaws of the rabbits that hope about in the garden frequently.

Zucchini is coming in! If I knew what I was doing, I would stuff those blooms.  Maybe someday...

I added some more photos to our Flickr page. Take a look!

CSA and National Day of Action

Well, Isaac put away the veggies too quickly on Sunday for me to get a photograph and then I was too lazy to pull them all out of the fridge again.  So, here is this week's list: One head of lettuce, one cabbage, one head of broccoli, zucchini, beets, new potatoes, carrots, a bulb of fennel, and green onions. I am doing this from memory, so I may have missed something, but I think that is it. 

Isaac and I had a cooking marathon on Sunday, we made him a lot of food to take to Yellow Springs such as egg salad, cole slaw and Five Spice Beet Soup.  The soup was very easy, we cut up the beets as the recipe describes and roasted them with olive oil in a covered casserole dish in the oven at 375 for about an hour.  We decided to add some mushrooms for more flavor so we reconstituted some dried chanterelles in red wine for about an hour.  We got two beautiful red onions from Smaller Footprint so I sauted them in some olive oil. I added the beets, the mushrooms and the ginger and the vegetable broth to the pan and let it all simmer.  We didn't have pre-blended Chinese five-spice, so I "Googled" the ingredients and found that we pretty much had all the whole spices. So I ground those up in a mortar and pestle and threw them into the pan.  We didn't have any celery but we do have lovage, so I tossed in a small handful of the leaves at the end. Lovage is similar is taste to celery but a bit stronger. We use the stalks like celery sometimes as well in tuna and egg salad.  After all the ingredients simmered for about 10 minutes, I used an immersion blender to smooth everything together. I love this thing; it is much easier than moving hot liquid into a blender or food processor, but if you don't have one, you can use the others.  I ended eating the soup cold with a dollop of sour cream, it was very good. I was pretty aggressive with the spice, but I think I would still add more if I made it again. If you don't like beets, you may still like this soup, the "earthiness" of the beets and the rich texture is muted by the other ingredients. Plus it is a beautiful reddish color.

For dinner we grilled some fresh sausage and some thick slices of zuchinni that were marinated in olive oil. So simple and delicious!

I have to get on my soapbox for a moment once again, so please bear with me.  As many people know the federal budget is in deliberation in the Senate right now.  The Senate is proposing to cut "$1 billion for fiscal year 2012 to the Conservation Stewardship Program, the Environmental Quality Incentive Program and the Wetlands Reserve Program.  These cuts will require USDA to break contracts with farmers who have committed to conservation practices and they are disproportionate to other spending cuts"

Please call your Senators today! Here are some talking points.

Now, I know we can expect the government to fix all of our agriculture problems.  I am a big supporter of grass roots support, where the people make choices about their food and support their local farms. However, a lot of local farms rely on some sort of government program and we can't let the government undervalue the importance of sustainable, small and local farms. I understand that this country is in a financial crisis, but there are other ways to make sure that the budget is balanced without taking steps backward when it come to sustainable agriculture.

Stepping off soap box.
Thanks for letting me add that! I will be back with more photos soon. I'm  planning on taking some pictures of the garden for an update. We will also be taking a trip to look at more land this weekend, so I hope to have an update on that as well.

CSA Week 4 and Butter!

Our CSA bag is getting heavier each week.  The fare is changing from Spring to Summer vegetables.  This week's share includes: one head of red leaf lettuce, a bunch of kale, a quart of new potatoes, snap peas, broccoli, two heads of green garlic, beets, a head of cabbage, carrots, green onions and one zucchini.  I roasted the new potatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper. They are yummy just like that but you could add sour cream for dipping to make it even more fabulous.  I'm planning on making cole slaw with the cabbage and the carrots that seem to be multiplying in the fridge. I like to make a similar dressing to the creamy one I mentioned in a previous post. I want it to be a little creamier than the dressing, so I may add a little sour cream to the mayo and yogurt.  I love cole slaw the best when it is fresh and crunchy.

 

We bought duck eggs last week and I am going to try them in pancakes tomorrow morning.  Apparently, duck eggs are good for baking, making cakes extra fluffy and moist, pancakes included. I may try making some cupcakes later this week so I can share them with Isaac this weekend.  Also, they will probably make it into my now becoming, weekly frittata.  Here is more information about duck eggs for you to consider until my next post.

Tonight I was feeling a tiny bit ambitious.  I have had two pints of heavy cream kicking around in the refrigerator for quite a while now-past their "expiration" dates even.  We have a friend who makes his own butter so I count him as inspiration.  For additional information, I use the book Self Sufficiency for the 21st Century by Dick and James Strawbridge.  It is a very interesting book with many different instructions to help you become more self-sufficeint-from making butter to farming to collecting and filtering rain water to making your own composting toilet. (yay!)  The section on making butter was very easy to follow with lots of photos explaining the details of making butter from cream.  One thing I didn't realize is that I did myself a favor by letting the cream sour a little as you want that characteristic for making butter. In the book, they don't really explain why so I found out more information.  I must admit that the cream I used was not grass fed or organic, it was ultra pasteurized heavy cream that I bought while it was on sale in the late winter. I plan on using more local and grass fed cream in the future, but you don't have to, the cream I used worked just fine.

I used a stand mixer, but you can use hand beaters, or even just shake it in the container in which it comes. I added the cream to the mixing bowl and turned it on medium high.  I let it beat until the cream broke down into little butter clumps and the buttermilk began to separate from the butter.  I drained the buttermilk, added a little cool water and beat until the butter began to come together.  I strained more butter milk and turned the butter out onto a wooden cutting board.  I then added more water and began to mix and knead it with the spatula.  This is called "washing" the butter.  You are removing the remaining buttermilk. When the water runs clear (about three series of kneading the butter and draining the buttermilk) add salt to the butter (the book recommends 2% of its weight, but I just threw some in there). 

Kneading the butter

I then added chopped fresh herbs to the butter and incorporated it all together.

A combo of parsley, thyme and sage

I then rolled it up in waxed paper and put it in the freezer to firm it up a bit.  I made another batch with lemon balm, lemon verbena and lemon zest.  I plan on using the buttermilk in the pancakes and the lemony herb butter on top when they are ready to eat.  I don't have a fancy butter mold, but maybe I'll come across one someday!

CSA Week 3

We had a busy weekend so this is the first chance I have to do our weekly CSA update.  It still looks like spring in the CSA share: two heads of lettuce; one red, one romaine; three small heads of broccoli, a large bag of those peas that I am loving, green onions, carrots, fennel (yum!) and apple mint (super yum).

We also get a share from Smaller Footprint, but I didn't take a photo of that for the week. It is pretty similar except for the addition of radishes, swiss chard, and strawberries!

I went to the farm on Friday and helped out for the day.  One of the tasks was to pick strawberries for CSA shares.  After competing with spiky thistle, very tall grass and one angry bird squawking at us the whole time, we got to take home some literal fruits of our labor.  Tart and sweet. They didn't last long enough for me to consider what to do with them. We just ate them as is.

I made a frittata with spinach, garlic scapes, green onions and feta cheese last week.  Fritattas are easy to make and easy to take to work for lunch.  I'm planning on making another one tomorrow morning using the broccoli, onions, scapes and swiss chard.  I don't use a recipe, I just cook the vegetables first, remove from the pan, add the eggs (about 6) whipped with a little bit of cream to the pan, let them set in the pan and then add the cooked veggies and cheese.  Put under the broiler for a few minutes until set. I'll try to take a photo of my creation tomorrow. Here is an inspiring recipe for those who would rather have one. 
I haven't forgotten about the fava beans! I will make something with them soon.

Isaac and I are in the process of looking for our own little piece of land; 6-12 acres to be exact.  If anyone has any leads, or has a friend of a friend etc., please let us know!

CSA Week 2/Farmer's Markets

This is the first week that the Hyde Park Farmer's Market is on Hyde Park Square. This creates an increased visibility for the market, more space for everyone to walk around, more shade as the square had many lovely well established trees and possibly more traffic to the stores that flank the square if they are open on Sundays.
We don't live in Hyde Park, so why do we go to this Farmer's Market versus others? It really is mainly because Hazelfield Farm sells there and that is where we pick-up our CSA every week. We have met other farmers that we like and buy from every week.  The market is on a Sunday, so that helps too as I work on some Saturdays.  There are plenty of other Farmer's Markets to visit in the city and I would like to try to go to others sometime this summer.  Here is a list of just a few.
Not just a Farmer's Market but definitely worth mentioning: Findlay Market. The busiest day is on Saturday and there is a whole wing devoted to local farmers during the growing season. There is also meat vendors, bakeries, cheese shops etc.
Anderson: Saturday's 9:00-1:00
Loveland: Tuesday's 3:00-7:00
Sayler Park: Tuesday's 4:00-7:00
Wyoming Farmer's Market: Tuesday's 3:00-7:00
Northside: Wednesday's 4:00-7:30
College Hill: Thursday's 3:00-6:30
Cheviot:  Friday's 3:00-7:00
Here is a link to even more!
What/Where is your favorite farmer's market? 

We are beginning to experience first hand how much work goes into bringing food to market.  10-12 hour days are the norm for a farmer during the growing season.  There is constantly something that needs attention, whether it is mulching to keep the weeds down, or chopping weeds; preparing beds, feeding animals, sowing seeds or planting seedlings and much more.  This doesn't even include harvest days.  All of those portioned out pints of peas, or bunches of radishes were most likely be done by the farmer or their family.  All of this and then they still have to go to market and sell the product. Then finally they will get paid for their work.  Vegetables at the grocery store may be slightly less expensive, but most of it comes from large farms with large machinery and cheap migrant labor to help. Even then, those farmers don't make a lot of money based on the amount of work they put into the crops.  What I'm trying to say is that if you go to the farmer's market, know that most likely the money you hand the farmers goes into his or her pocket to take care of their farm and family.  This is the essence of a local economy that is waning in the time of large corporations.  Don't think for a second that a lot of farming isn't  part of a large corporation.  If you have ever heard of Monsanto, Cargill, Conagra-to name a few- these are agri-businesses that are pushing small family farms out of business.  By supporting local farmers, and other businesses you are investing in your community and getting fresh, healthy food in the process. By local I mean a 100 to 200 mile radius of where you live. Some people would even say buying American is akin to buying local.
Ok, I will step off my soapbox, in a moment.  It is not my mission to preach to people I don't want anyone to feel bad that they are not doing anything that I mention.  I just feel the need to let you know my viewpoint, where I am coming from. I am not an economist, I don't have statistics or fancy charts to back up my opinions. I am just trying to communicate what makes sense to me.  I encourage discussion, so please do not hesitate to ask questions and continue the dialogue.  Everyone has a different perspective there is no one right answer for everyone. Not everyone can have a garden, not everyone has access to farmer's markets, however, there is no denying that Americans need to eat more fresh food.  We are all creative and thoughtful human beings and it is important to discuss how we can try to create a healthier life for ourselves, our children and future generations.

Moving on!  This week's CSA varies a little bit from last week's.

Two heads of Red Leaf Lettuce, a bunch of green onions, swiss chard, carrots, garlic scapes, broccoli, snap peas (the sweetest I have ever eaten, I have to restrain myself or they will be gone in a day!), and fava beans.  The lettuce is cleaned, dried, chopped and put in a bowl in the fridge with a damp paper towel over it. I cut up a carrot, radishes from Smaller Footprint, green onion and scapes. Add some walnuts, Craisins and Parmesan slivers and we had some delicious salad! I made a new salad dressing this week, sort of like a ranch, but better. I added the following ingredients into medium mason jar, largest quantity to smallest. I don't measure, so the amounts are approximate. You can change the ratios to make more or less.

1/2 c. whole milk yogurt

1/4 c. mayonnaise

1/4 c. olive oil

2 Tbl. white wine vinegar (or lemon juice)

1 Tbl. Dijon mustard

2 tsp. honey

1 large garlic clove finely chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Any fresh or dried herbs you like 

( I added fresh oregano, apple mint, lemon and regular thyme)

Shake it up vigorously until emulsified. Enjoy!

I am still deciding what to do with the fava beans.  We bought a whole chicken at the market today, so I'm thinking about making this.  We have radishes, and the arugula in our garden is quite abundant, so that would use some of it up.  Or maybe I will just do something simple like this subbing the creme fraiche with yogurt or sour cream. I want to use what I have on hand, not buy extra stuff for a recipe. I know this will not always be possible, but I'll do my best.  I'm also thinking of a puree of some sort, like a hummus with the fava beans. I'll report back when I make up my mind.

Getting the most out of your food

My friend K, asks

"Do you have suggestions/comments for people like me with many mouths to feed on a small budget? Obviously, anything we can grow in our own yard is awesome but any tips you may have on where to shop or how to stretch a particular item (like using the chicken carcass) would be very helpful."

This is a very good question and I think most of us want to try and stretch our dollar and our food to its maximum potential.  I am not a food storage or economics expert, so I have found some other resources to help us, along with what works for Iz and I, and some tips that just make sense.

First of all,  if you want to try and incorporate more fresh produce, eggs, meat etc. from the farmer's market, that is great!   You also don't have to break your budget doing so.  Start small and see how it goes.  For example,  make it a goal to go to a farmer's market and budget to buy one thing.  Whatever looks fresh and yummy to you, buy it and take it home.  It will be fun to come up with a recipe for your item and you'll have invested minimum dollars and time in the process.  

If you are past this point and know you want to incorporate the farmer's market into your grocery budget for the week, month (however you budget) you can go about this a few ways.  Here is a blog post that shows one approach to budgeting for the farmer's market. There are some really good ideas that I agree with in this blog post.  To summarize:  

• Make a list 
• Prioritize what is important to you. Are you willing to spend a little more on eggs or certain produce at the market that you can budget into your grocery list?; what can you simply not give up that you buy at the store? (whether it be a time saver that you would rip your hair out if you didn't have, or if you have a picky eater, for example)
• Eat less meat
• Find some fast/easy recipes that you can make ahead and freeze or put in the fridge. (see below to get started)
• Try to grow your own herbs. This doesn't have to be fancy.  You can start herbs from seed rather easily and for about the price of a one use "fresh" herb in the grocery store. Pick which ones you will likely use the most. I recommend basil, parsley, oregano, chives, and thyme as staples. 
• Don't waste.  This can be hard! Just do your best. If your greens look wilt-y, just give them a quick saute in garlic and olive oil; if your tomatoes are a little overripe, cook them into a sauce. Also, save all of your vegetable trimmings in a freezer bag, keep them in the freezer until you have enough to make a stock. If you are a gardener, I would recommend setting up a compost bin or pile of you don't already have one. 

Here is another good blog post with a list of how to maximize your time and budget at the farmer's market. 
They mention going early or late.  This is good since it won't be as crowded. Early is good because you get a better selection. Late is better because some farmers, rather than throw out unsold produce, or take it home with them where it may not last until the next week, might be willing to give you a two for one price, or even just give you some produce.  I was talking to Isaac's cousin who's husband has a small farm in Michigan.  She said that she will just give people extra tomatoes because she doesn't want to take them home and they couldn't possibly eat the leftovers before they go bad.  This will be on a farmer by farmer basis, but if you develop a relationship with someone, it wouldn't hurt to ask.



If you are even more gung-ho about the farmer's market, I would suggest trying out a CSA.  These are weekly baskets of produce that the farmer sets aside for you.  You pay a fee in the winter (we pay ours in February) and then start picking up your basket at the designated time and place.  You really get more for your money in this case.  Our CSA, for a full share of produce (which you will start seeing when we start picking up this weekend) adds up to approximately $30.00 a week.  If you buy a lot of produce "a la carte" at the farmer's market, you may save money by joining the CSA.  The upfront fee can be large, so if you want to try it for a season, I suggest asking an interested friend or family member to share the cost with you.  We did this for the first two years we participated in a CSA and it worked out rather well. You just need to have someone available to pick it up each week.
Local Harvest is a great website to learn more about CSAs in your area. 


This post is getting rather long, and I will talk more about this in the future.  But allow me to list some cookbooks and website that you can check out at the library or on your computer to get you started.  


Time for Dinner: Strategies, Inspirations, and Recipes for Family Meals Every Night of the Week
This has some really nice time saving ideas for make ahead staples.

Everyday Food: great food fast from the kitchens of Martha Stewart Living
I own this book and use it regularly. There are minimal ingredients, easy prep and cooking. It is organized by season which is nice.

Joy of Cooking
I cannot live without this book.  It is a handy reference for any type of recipe you will need in the kitchen.

Cook and Freeze: 150 Delicious Dishes to Serve Now and Later

Vegetable Harvest: vegetables at the center of the plate
I also love this book.  It goes through vegetables by season. Simple but unique preparation.


Websites:
Food & Wine: Healthy Farmer's Market Recipes
Sunset Magazine: More Ways to Love produce from the farmer's market
Food Gawker: Just type in any ingredient and you will get a list of blog posts with beautiful ideas
Epicurious.com


What are your favorite websites or cook books? 

Farmer's Market Visit

Isaac and I made our first visit of the season to the Hyde Park Farmer's Market.  This is the market where we will pick-up our CSA baskets from Hazelfield Farm, starting next week.

Top Chef was filming their 2011 Tour at the market today; there was a line all they way out to the sidewalk with people waiting to get into the filming tent.  Since we are not big Top Chef viewers (I have no idea who any of the contestants are), Isaac and I made the rounds, visiting some of our favorite tents at the market.  The season is still young, so there was not a ton of fresh produce yet, but we were able to pick-up some fresh asparagus, shitake mushrooms, eggs and a whole small chicken.

The eggs came from B & D Goats.  As the name states, they also have a handful of goats and the milk is used to make soaps and lotions.  Isaac and I talked to the owner, whom we have become friendly with over the past few years, and found out they just had a new goat born just recently.  We mentioned that we are interested in visiting their farm as we are thinking about raising dairy goats in the future.  She welcomed us to the farm whenever we wanted to come.  Hopefully I will have more to report on that soon.

The chicken came from Eaton Farm.  We have purchased many chickens from them in the past and are happy with the quality. We know that the chickens have good, healthy lives before they are processed for consumption.  Of course, the chickens are smaller than those you find at the supermarket, but that is because they are not fed any hormones and are allowed to roam free-getting more exercise than those who are confined to a small pen. A small whole chicken is enough for a meal and we use the carcass for stock.

The mushrooms and asparagus came from Sheltowee Farm.  They cultivate all the mushrooms they sell. Check out their website, there are lots of pictures of their process, it's pretty cool.

We also stopped at the La Terza Coffee booth.  Isaac had a dark roast drip coffee and I had a latte.  I didn't have a chance to take a photo until I was finished. It was very good, I think the fact that the beans are locally and freshly roasted certainly helps. I'm not a coffee connoisseur but I actually prefer La Terza to Starbucks.  The taste is much more nuanced and flavorful than Starbucks, which I find to be a overpowering (burnt tasting) at times.  Their store and roasting facility is actually not that far from our house, so when I get a creamy latte craving, I will try to make the effort and go to La Terza rather than the 'Bux.

All Gone! :(

I was FINALLY able to do some cooking in the kitchen.  Everything is not back where it belongs, but I wanted to make Isaac some food to take back with him.

In progress

 Herbed Egg casserole with spinach, onions, asparagus.

Lasagne with herb-y ricotta, home-made red sauce, and fresh mozzarella

(It rained [again!] today so the lighting in the house is not optimal for food pictures, but you get the idea)

The spinach, asparagus, herbs (oregano, thyme, sage, parsley) came from either a farm or our yard. I'm hoping someday that the cheese will be home-made too!

There was some steamed asparagus left over so we had it as a snack. They were so good, we ate them plain.

Catching Up&Weeds

It's been raining cats and dogs here this April.  It has literally put a damper on our outside activity so far this month.  Isaac only has one more week at home and we are scrambling to finish some home projects before he leaves.  We are currently in the middle of a medium sized kitchen remodel which has also kept us from the yard.  Despite all of this, we have had a little garden activity.

A lot of our two year old parsley did really well over the winter, we were able to dig under the snow and clip off a few sprigs of fresh parsley which was nice during this past bitter winter.  However, this parsley is biennial, which means that it during the second year it will flower, set seed and die. Parsley is a very nutritious herb and easy to grow. It is a great staple if you have limited garden or container space for your herb garden. Here is some nutritional information about parsley.  Although the parsley we have is abundant (5 very large chunks) all of it is going to flower soon, so we are trying to use it up before then.  Isaac removed three large plants and we made pesto with it.  I LOVE pesto!  Fresh basil pesto is my favorite, but I will eat it made with parsley, thyme and arugula to name a few.  We don't really follow a recipe, just eyeball everything (that is how I make salad dressing too).
All you need it a food processor or blender. If you are really hardcore, like some people we know and admire, you can make this with a mortar and pestle.

Take a handful of your herb, in this case parsley.  Place in your mixer of choice.  Add 3-4 smashed cloves of garlic. (This can be more or less to taste, but for me garlic, next to the herb, is the most important flavor in pesto.)  Next add 1/4 c. or so of nuts.  We use walnuts because they are cheaper than pine nuts, but you can really use any kind of nut or seed. Add 1/4 c. of Parmesan cheese, either grated or in small chunks.  Add a small amount of your oil of choice, we use olive, to the rest.  Pulse the processor until the ingredients start to incorporate. Next add more olive oil until the ingredients start to blend finely and becomes a loose paste.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Add to pasta, sandwiches, veggies, bread etc.


We also had quite a bit of red Russian kale that overwintered nicely.  It was starting to bolt so we pulled it up and made Kale chips!
I learned about this from Isaac's lovely sister.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Wash, dry and separate your kale. Spread on a baking sheet. Spray or drizzle olive oil onto the kale. Sprinkle with sea salt and any other seasonings that you like. Bake for 10-15 minutes until the kale shrinks and starts to crisp and lightly brown. Let cool and enjoy! These taste like or better than regular chips. They are light crispy and almost melt in your mouth. If you get kale at the farmer's market, your yard or even the store-give it a try! Here is a very nice blog post about kale chips. Here is a photo of some of our kale chips after they came out of the oven. Ignore the messy stove!

 

I suspect many of the plants are enjoying the warmer weather and copious rain. Including the "weeds".  We don't weed in the garden per-se, only when the grass or trees or other somewhat large or invasive plants start growing where we want other stuff to grow.  We treat the plants that volunteer in our garden as allies.  Dandelions aerate the soil and bring up nutrients with their long tap roots and attract pollinators, clover fixes nitrogen and is food for the rabbits (instead of our veggies!), dead nettle is a nice ground cover as their roots grow mainly lightly along the top of the soil, they also attract bees and other beneficial insects.  Here is a photo of all three hanging out in the garden.

So before you start spraying the RoundUp, spend hours on your hands and knees or call your local chemical lawn service.  Remember that lots of these plants are beneficial to your soil, food for animals, attracts beneficial insects and look pretty as well!  Here is another informative blog post on this matter.
I hope to be updating this much more often.  This week will be busy for us, but I should have more time to blog once Isaac is settled and the kitchen is back together.
I'm sure I speak for everyone, I am so happy that it is getting warmer and greener everyday!