My Basket this week

Check back here each week for a description of what is in your basket and for news of garden happenings.

April 5-9

The warm weather over the Easter weekend woke up a few things in and around the garden. A lot of the garlic is now well through its winter cover of leaves.

 

April 12-16

I had my first dish from the garden this week - roasted Jerusalem Artichokes (neither an artichoke nor from Jerusalem but a native perennial root crop related to sunflowers) with olive oil and herbs de provence. Use as you would a potato though it can be eaten raw.

June 8

Thyme to Get Started!

In your basket this Tuesday is the following (see photo below):

1. Radishes - Easter Egg Mix (beware they have some bite!)

2. Salad Mix (aka Mesclun)

3. Spinach (the smaller leaves can be added to your salad mix, the bigger can be used for cooking)

4. A taste of rhubarb (just enough to add some tartness to an apple crisp for example)

5. Lovage (a perennial herb that tastes a bit like celery - great for flavouring soups)

6. Mint

7. Thyme (the tiny flowers are edible as well)

June 10

Same as above except only those picking up in Rockland received rhubarb (just did not have enough of it - sorry).

Also, everyone received green onions. These are actually the side branches of a perennial onion we have in the garden here known as the "Egyptian Walking Onion." These are quite strong so a little goes a long way. Let me know what you think of them. If they are so strong as to be inedible I won't include them in future bins.

 

June 15

Its so easy, eating greens!

Please remember to return your empty bin from last week. It is a bag this week but will be a bin again next week and all remaining weeks. In your bag this week you will find (see attached photo);

1. Turnip greens

2. Mint

3. Scape (the flower stalk of the garlic plant. Use as you would a green onion but it tastes like garlic.)

4. Radishes (French Breakfast. Let me know if you encounter hollow ones. I had some trouble with hollow radishes last year and I would like to know if it is a problem with the variety.)

5. Salad mix (aka mesclun)

6. Lovage (perennial herb - great for flavouring soups)

7. Spinach

June 17th

Same as above.

June 22nd

Disturbing the peas

In your basket this week, please find:

1. The first taste of the peas. These are sugar snap peas so eat the whole thing - pod and all. Great raw in salads or steamed for a sidedish.

2. A small amount of spinach. This is the last of it until the fall. It is at the end of its life span and has gotten a bit tough. Best eaten cooked at this point.

3. Salad mix. A note of apology and explanation. You will likely run into some pale yellow leaves in your mix. This is not a freshness issue as it was harvested today. The yellow lettuce is a result of the excellent growth this year. The salad mix grew in very thickly. This means that some of the inner leaves have not been getting much sunlight or air lately. Hence the pale colour.

4. A head of lettuce.

5. Scapes

6. Radishes. Again this is the last of them until perhaps the fall. 

June 24

In your bin please find:

1. Salad mix

2. Head of red lettuce

3. Beet greens. There may be the odd beet of some size attached but it is in your bin for the greens. Is good steamed with a bit of butter and salt and pepper or google recipes.

4. Pak choi (aka Bok Choi) an Asian green of the cabbage family. Great in a stir fry. Some flea beetle damage but I did not feel justified in composting the whole crop.

5. Scapes

6. The last of the radishes.

As for peas, there should be some next week. I had hoped there would be enough ready for both Tuesday and Thursday but the bed of snow peas just was not quite ready. I will try to even out the two delivery days next week. 

June 29th

Beet it!

In your bin please find:

1. Beet greens. You may encounter the odd beet root of usable size but they are included here as a green. Usually eaten steamed like spinach.

2. Scape. The last of them

3. Salad mix

4. A head of romaine lettuce

5. Shelling peas. Meaning you need to take them out of the pod.

6. Pak choi (aka Bok choi). An Asian green. Great in stir frys. There is some damage from slugs and flea bettles I know but I could not bring myself to compost a whole bed of it.

Please watch out for slugs and small snails especially in your lettuce. The wet weather has brought them out in force.

June 30th and July 1st

Happy Canada Day!

In your bin please find:

1. Shelling peas - these are for those picking up in Orleans only and they are in the bigger bag. The pod is not edible - you  need to take the peas out of the pod.

2. Sugar snap peas (in the milk bag). The pod is edible though you may wish to remove the "string" that runs down the seam on both sides of the pod starting at the stem. Great raw in salads or lightly steamed or in a stir fry (with your pak choi for example.)

3. Salad mix

4. Romain lettuce

5. Pak choi (aka bok choi)

6. The last of the scapes

7. Beet greens

 

July 6

First Tomato

In honour of the first few tomatoes going out today, an excerpt from “First Tomato” by Rosemary Wells (those with kids and Tree House – think Max and Ruby)

 

A ruby red tomato is hanging on the vine.

If my mother didn’t want it, the tomato would be mine.

It smells of rain and steamy earth and hot June sun.

In the whole tomato garden it’s the only ripe one.

I close my eyes and breathe in its fat, red smell.

I wish that I could eat it now and never, never tell.

 

In your bin today find:

1. A head of red lettuce

2. Salad mix

3. Bok choi

4. Herbs - thyme and a single sprig of basil (together in a clamshell)

5. Turnips - don't forget to eat the greens as well

6. Peas - most got snow peas (flat, eat the whole thing though you may wish to remove the "string"- great in stir fries) a few got sugar snap peas (fatter - eat the pod but remove the "string")

7. Two of zucchini, tomato, pepper or cucumber (yes it is supposed to be white - though one person got a green one). A word of explanation here. Typically  these would be ready much later in the season (end of July, early August). The early spring however inspired me to plant a small amount of these crops about a month earlier than I normally would. The result is that these crops are ready early but only in small amounts (I didn't want a frost to wipe out vast quantities of these cold sensitive crops). So, over the next 4 weeks (until the main crop is ready) you will be getting small amounts of these. I will ensure that everyone gets each crop at least once in the next 4 weeks. This week it breaks down like this:

Vanier: Tomato and cucumber

Beacon Hill: Tomato and Pepper

Orleans: Zucchini and Pepper

Tucker House: Cucumber and pepper

July 8

In your bin please find:

1. A head of red lettuce

2. Bok choi (the last of it)

3. Salad mix

4. Baby turnips - don't forget to use the greens

5. Peas - sugar snap or snow (flat). One person got a mix

6. Peas - shelling - labeled "shell"

7. Herbs - thyme and a sprig of basil

8. Those picking up on Riverdale or at Tucker House got the last of the beet greens.

9. Tucker House and Riverdale: zucchini and pepper

10. Orleans: Cucumber (either white or green English style) and pepper

See explanation above as to why everyone did not get zucchini or cucumber

A word about the peas - the heat has been hard on them. They have been ripening faster than we can pick them. You will encounter some shelling peas with a shriveled pod. The peas in these pods are likely to be a bit tough and bitter. Either toss them in the compost, dry them to use for seed, or put them in a soup.

July 13

24 carrot bin

In your bin today please find:

1. Peas - sugar snap. Those picking up in Beacon Hill also got shelling peas.

2. Salad mix

3. Carrots (it is a small variety - they don't get much bigger than that)

4. Mint

5. Swiss chard (the greens with the multi-coloured stems). Both the stems and leaves can be eaten though the stems take longer to cook. I would recommend then that you take off the leaves and cook them separately as you would spinach. Plenty of soup recipes call for Swiss chard. In case you are wondering based on the quantities a recipe calls for, you got about 9 oz.

6. Green onions

7. Tomatoes, peppers, cucumber (sorry about the curls - they didn't climb too well), zucchini. The break down this week is:

Vanier: zucchini and pepper

Beacon Hill: cucumber and pepper

Orleans: zucchini and cucumber

Tucker House: tomato and zucchini

No head lettuce for most people today. Between what the groundhogs ate and what the heat caused to bolt, it will be a few weeks before we are back to head lettuce. There will likely be a few more weeks of salad mix though.

July 15

In your bin please find:

1. Peas - snow for most, a few got sugar snap. This will likely be the last of them.

2. Green onions

3. Salad mix

4. Beets (chiogga, red, gold) for those picking up in Orleans and Riverdale

5. Swiss Chard: for those picking up at Tucker House

6. Zucchini and Pepper: for those picking up in Orleans (one person got a Patty Pan - looks like a flying saucer - use as you would a zucchini)

7. Pepper and Pepper: for those picking up at Tucker House and on Riverdale

8. Mint

9. Carrots - will require some washing

No head lettuce this week see explanation above about my arch nemesis.

 

July 20

Pesto anyone?

In your basket please find:

1. Turnips: the wire worm damage is superficial

2. Salad mix

3. Carrots

4. Basil

5. Green onions

6. Zucchini

7. For Orleans: Tomatoes

8. For Tucker House, Beacon Hill and Vanier: cucumber

9. Cauliflower: This is my second year attempting to grow cauliflower and as you can see it hasn't been much more successful than last year when it was consumed by groundhogs. It can be quite tricky to grow. Sunlight will turn the curd yellow/ brown as yours is. It is not a big fan of heat and it is quite sensitive to micro-nutrient deficiencies (lack of boron will give it a purple tinge. Add to that insect pressure and other factors and you get the less than stellar result you see in your bin. But, give it a try. With a bit of dip or roasted it may be OK. 

10. A flyer advertising the Green Theatre Camp. If you know any youth who may be interested in drama and/ or environmental issues, please pass it along.

 

July 22

Same items as above.As for the cucumber, zucchini, tomato, pepper breakdown:

Tucker House: Tomato and cucumber

Riverdale:cucumber and pepper

Orleans: zucchini and pepper

Those getting summer squash would have received either a green zucchini, a yellow zucchini (deep yellow in colour) a patty pan (light green - looks a bit like a flying saucer) or a yellow crookneck. These all taste and are used in more or less the same way. I had grilled zucchini and patty pan last night on the barbecue and it was excellent.

See explanatory note above regarding the cauliflower. I gave it a shot but it is a real finicky crop.

A word of warning/ hope depending on your vegetable preferences. The main crop of cucumber and zucchini has started. Over the next few weeks you will begin to get a lot of these two crops. So, dig out your recipes. There are a lot of cold cucumber soup recipes that are tasty and refreshing.

 

July 27th

Vampires beware!

All bins are the same today. In your bin, please find:

1. Summer squash - either zucchini (green or deep yellow), patty pan (looks like a flying saucer) or yellow crook-neck (pale yellow, elongated pear shape, not to be confused with the cucumber which is nearly white)

2. Cucumber - most got a white cucumber a few got a green English style. These ones have a bit of scale on the skin. It will be taken care of by peeling.

3. A pepper

4. A few tomatoes

5. Beets

6. Garlic

7. Herbs - basil plus a sprig of rosemary and a sprig of sage

8. A taste of Swiss chard

9. A few people got some extras - carrots that came out when we weeded, the few remaining peas, some potatoes from a few plants I dug up to see if they are ready (not quite).

There is no lettuce this week. Probably by next week we will be back into head lettuce if the groundhogs leave it alone.

July 29

Same as above except some people got peas instead of a pepper.

August 3

...they're good for your heart...

In your bin please find:

1. Beans - purple, green, yellow. The purple ones turn green when cooked.

2. Summer squash: green or yellow zucchini, yellow crookneck or patty pan.

3. Tomatoes. The main crop is just starting to show some colour you should start getting more by next week or the week after.

4. Cucumber - everyone got the type that requires peeling - either green "market more" or the "ivory" variety.

5. Turnip greens from the golden turnips

6. Basil

7. For Vanier and Beacon Hill - beets

8. For Orleans - hot pepper

9. For Tucker House - bell pepper (the bulk of the peppers should be ready by the 3rd week of August)

August 5th

1-6 same as above.

7. Either a hot pepper (long and skinny) or a bell pepper.

August 10

This spud's for you!

In your bin please find:

1. Potatoes - both white and purple

2. Beans - yellow, green, purple

3. A few carrots

4. Either hot pepper or bell pepper

5. Tomatoes

6. A cucumber

7. Summer squash

8. Beets

9. Garlic

August 12

In your bin please find:

1. Potatoes - both white and purple

2. Beans

3. A few carrots

4. Garlic

5. Tomatoes

6. Cucumber

7. Either hot or bell pepper

8. Either summer squash or swiss chard

9. Either turnips or beets

August 15

Hot stuff!

In your bin this week please find:

1. Tomatoes - starting to get a few more. They aren't in the best shape. The all day rain on Sunday caused a lot of them to crack. I had to throw away several pounds of them. The wet weather is also bringing out the slugs. You will may encounter several colours - yellow pear, a green/ purple/ brown tomato, a purplish cherry tomato, a green and orange/ red "green sausage" tomato or a red and orange "tigerella."

2. Peppers - one sweet and one hot. One person got the 1st of the few yellow peppers I planted. Someone got a bunch of small red peppers known as "mini apple"

3. One large and one small summer squash

4. Garlic

5. Cucumber - some of these suffered a bit as well. Some were submerged in water in the now frog inhabited front garden.

6. Potatoes

7. Beans

8. Herbs - basil and thyme

9. Lettuce

10. For those picking up in Vanier - the first of the cantaloupes.

August 17th

Your bin is the same as Tuesday above with some minor variability:

- most got two small or one larger summer squash. These are reaching the end of their lives unfortunately. Many of them have been infected with bacterial wilt spread by insects. The warm winter and early spring was great at the time but it made for an extra generation of bugs this summer and allowed for greater survival of insects over the winter. At home you have likely noticed this effect in terms of earwigs.

- I did not send out any cantaloupes - I want to wait a bit longer to ensure they are ripe. They certainly are the right size but they are not quite there yet.

- fewer beans than last week - they are in bloom again so we will take a break from them next week and hopefully have more the following few weeks.

August 23rd

A raise in celery

In your bin this week please find:

1. Celery

2. Potatoes

3. Tomatoes - you Tuesday folks just can't catch a break with the rain. The rainy weekend yet again means that you'll see quite a few cracked tomatoes - most prevalent in the cherry tomatoes. There are a fair number of Roma tomatoes in your bin today. The crate is very handy - please return it with your empty bin next week.

4. Cucumber

5. Zucchini (Orleans) or Swiss chard (Tucker House and Vanier) or Kale (Beacon Hill). Many of the zucchini plants have succumbed to bacterial wilt.

6. Basil

7. Peppers - one sweet pepper and one hot

8. Odds and ends (crops that for whatever reason we only have a small amount of): parsley or fennel or Brussels sprouts or green onions or beans (there may be more of these later but for now we are taking a week off from the beans)

9. Garlic - this is the last week for it

August 26th

In your bin please find:

1. Tomatoes (please return the crate - thanks)

2. Potatoes

3. Zucchini or cucumber

4. Herbs: basil, rosemary and sage

5. Swiss chard

6. Garlic - the last of it

7. Peppers - one hot, one sweet

8. Celery

Just a reminder that Tucker House is holding an open house today from 4:00-8:00

August 31st

Melon-camp

In your bin this week please find:

1. Melons - despite what they look like these are actually honeydews so they should be green inside. It is possible that one or two of what went out were canteloupes. Most of them are not quite ripe yet. Wait until you can smell the melon through the rind. I sent them out because a lot of the vines are starting to die. I would rather the melons ripen on your counter than rot in the garden. Also, it is easier if everyone gets it the same day.

2. A whole lot of tomatoes. Last weekend was perfect tomato ripening weather.

3. Edemame - green soybeans. These are eaten as a snack/ appetiser. Steam them in the pod until the bean is tender, sprinkle with a little coarse salt then eat them by squeezing the bean out of the pod into your mouth. In Japanese bars these are served like peanuts.

4. Cucumber or zucchini

5. A few peppers

6. Salad mix

7. Beans

8. Potatoes

September 2

In your bin please find:

1. A whole lot of tomatoes

2. Peppers

3. For Orleans: cucumber or summer squash

4. For Tucker House and Riverdale: cabbage (we'll reverse this next week)

5. Celery

6. Potatoes

7. Beans

8. Salad mix

9. Egyptian walking onions - beware - very pungen; a little goes a long way

You will get your melons next week. I harvested the biggest ones on Tuesday and hopefully next week your's will be a bit bigger.