This time of year is particularly crazy as it seems the long hot days of summer bring the garden to a crescendo of flavorful delights that you just cannot eat enough of fast enough.  Would it be wonderful if just some of these tomatoes ripened in December? 

New to the Email Produce Route this week are Mushroom Peppers.  Ours are still green, but we would like to offer them now as the cute peppers are very hot – so enjoy with your favorite salsa, as a garnish, for pickling or drying!

Happy Birthday to H. this week too!  Enjoy your day!!

One of the items listed on this past week’s Email Produce Route that is creating quite a conversation is Edamame Beans, or young soybeans.   Served frequently at Asian restaurants, these beans are sometimes boiled in the pods (as the recipe below indicates), but they can also be prepared a variety of ways.

The United States Department of Agriculture states that edamame are “a soybean that can be eaten fresh and is best known as a snack with a nutritional punch”.

Here’s what you’ll find in a half-cup serving of shelled edamame (or 1 1/8 cup edamame in the pods):

• 120 calories
• 9 grams fiber
• 2.5 grams fat
• 1.5 grams polyunsaturated fat (0.3 grams plant omega-3 fatty acids)
• 0.5 gram monounsaturated fat
• 11 grams protein
• 13 grams carbohydrate
• 15 mg sodium
• 10% of the Daily Value for vitamin C
• 10% Daily Value for iron
• 8% Daily Value for vitamin A
• 4% Daily Value for calcium

Edamame Snack – very easy to prepare and enjoy

We have been a bit remiss in posting recently

(could it be all the greenbeans? )

So here a quick “visual” tour of the last two weeks…

The guineas are growing fast.  They are almost bigger than the Bantam hens that hatched them.  And flying just comes naturally!

Then there is our resident shepherd.  He has spent several hours taking the goats (via collars and leads) all over the Farm.  Amazingly, if one is on a lead – the rest follow and stay together!

Aren’t the zinnas gorgeous?  Such a riot of color for late summer.  Don’t forget to collect the seeds this fall.  Simply store them in any paper (not plastic) sack in a cool dry place (basement works well) and replant next spring.  Almost as easy daylilies

We have been eating really, really well lately too.  J. has perfected Eggplant Parmesan, and we are all enjoying it.

Check out the following link to make your own:

http://startcooking.com/blog/383/How-to-Make-Eggplant-Parmesan

Enjoy the coming week!

What unusual weather we have had this past weekend!  I keep glancing at the calendar to assure myself it is July.  It feels like October.

New to the Produce List this week are blackberries.  Picked from the wild brambles that surround the creek that passes through the farm, these are the ones that you remember from your childhood.   This week will be a good one to pick since it won’t be completely stifling in the jeans, boots, and long sleeved shirts.

In honor of blackberries then, it is only right that we offer “digs” of Vanessa’s Blackberry Lily.  If you have purchased bouquets from Vanessa recently, you have undoubtedly noticed the delicate orange flower.  But the flower isn’t the only fabulous thing about this plant… amazingly it creates its own “blackberries” in the seed pods – very striking and great for fall decorations.

We have been very pleased with this hardy sun loving perennial and believe you will be too.  Have a great week!

This past Thursday Vanessa was invited to speak as part of a panel discussing the “Impact of Women in Agriculture” at the Leadership Illinois “Power of the Individual Conference.” (www.leadershipillinois.org)

Leadership Illinois is a unique professional development opportunity for women who have distinguished themselves as leaders in their professional fields and civic endeavors. The program offers an annual conference series to current class members, along with significant networking and additional educational opportunities for alumnae and members.

Vanessa was excited to share with the participants her relationship to agriculture from a small, family business perspective as well as how agriculture has shaped her life.

Many of the email produce route customers may remember that not so long ago, Vanessa had a baby on Saturday and delivered vegetables the following Friday morning…  Well, baby Sarah is 3!  Where did those three years go?

Happy Birthday, Sarah!  God’s blessings to you.  Love, Aunt J and company

This week we are highlighting one of our favorities from the Candy line of daylilies, the striking Strawberry Candy.  This gorgeous peach flower has a red ruffled edge,  bright yellow eye and hint of a green throat.

Feel free to contact Vanessa at vanessa@hisgloriesfarm.com if you are interested in adding this beauty to your flower garden.

CUCUMBER SOUP

Serves 6

1 cup chicken broth

¼ cup onion, finely chopped

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon dill weed, crushed

Dash of garlic powder

1 teaspoon fresh lemon peel, grated

1 tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed

1 cup plain yogurt

1 cup sour cream

2 cucumbers, peeled and chopped

Combine chicken broth, onion, salt, dill weed, garlic powder, lemon peel and lemon juice in a blender. Blend until smooth. Combine yogurt and sour cream. Add to blender and turn on just long enough to blend. Add cucumber and quickly turn blender on and off just to combine. Cucumber will be finely grated but not liquefied. Chill for one hour.

Vanessa: I substituted basil leaves for the dill as I had those and not the dill. I tasted it and added more salt, too. I hope you enjoy this. Virginia

Thanks for sharing this recipe, Virginia.  We look forward to trying it!

Thanks to everyone who has visited the Farm over the past month.   We will be open this coming Saturday morning.  The daylilies are incredible!  The gardens are beautiful too.   Vanessa’s produce list for this week is just wild… it seems like everything is available.     YUM!

Green Cabbage $1.50/head

Red Cabbage $1.50/head

Romaine Lettuce $4.00/gal. bag

Arugula $2.00/sandwich bag (limited supply)

Collard Greens $2.00/gal. bag

Scallions $1.00/10

Green onions $1.00/10

Purple Onions 2/$1.00

White Onions 2/$1.00

Oregano $1.00/bag

Basil $1.00/bag

Greenbeans $2.50/lb

New Red Potatoes $2.50/lb

New Yukon Potatoes $2.50/lb

Zucchini 2/$1.00

Butterstick Squash $1.00/ea

Beets 10/$1.00 (good size!)

Broccoli $2.00/head

Okra $2.00/sandwich bag

Cucumbers 2/$1.00 (limited supply)

Eggs $1.50/doz

Daylily – Lime Frost, Spider Yellow-Green

Bouquet $5.00/vase This week we will feature purples, yellows, oranges, very colorful!!

We hope everyone enjoyed their fourth of July celebrations with family and friends!  And Happy Birthday to Vanessa on Tuesday, July 7th!

This week will be a busy one at the Farm.  We anticipate picking green beans Monday and Wednesday evenings.  Combining those with new potatoes is always a popular meal this time of year.  Also in honor of the 4th of July – Vanessa will be creating her popular patriotic bouquets.  So for only $5, make plans to share one with your guests or host/hostess this weekend!

A rich, easy recipe that earned 4 stars from my junior high “foodie,” this Pesto Recipe will be a success at backyard cookouts this holiday weekend.

Pesto

4 cloves of garlic, peeled

2 cups of fresh basil leaves

1 cup parsley sprigs

2/3 cup of pine nuts (WalMart has them with the other nuts)

1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese

1 1/2 cups olive oil

Place garlic, basil, parsley, pine nuts and Parmesan chesse in a food processer or blender.  Blend at medium speed, adding oil in a think stream until smooth.  Place in a clean jar, cover with a think layer of oil, store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.  Pour away oil before using.

Vanessa’s bouquets – above, left

Star Spangled Daylily – above, right

Also for sale (and delivery) this week is a spider daylily, Star Spangled.

As you can see from this picture, spider daylilies are amazing as they can spread more than eight inches across.  And with their glorious combination of yellow and orange, it is remincent of fireworks.