Zinnias

Zinnia

Zinnias are native to Mexico and the American southwest. Zinnias are now grown throughout climates in America as a beautiful cutting flower. If you like cut flowers in your house during the summer, zinnias might be a good choice for you. Zinnias are easy so grow from seed. They like rich, amended soil. If you continue to cut and harvest flowers, the plant will branch, giving you a new supply of flowers every few days for weeks. At One Love Farm, we grow many different colors of zinnia along with sunflowers, grasses and other cutting flowers. They are all available in arrangements at the Richmond Farmers' Market.

Pesto

Basil

Pesto generally refers to a sause used on pasta made of crushed basil and garlic with olive oil, parmesean cheese, pine nuts and hot, red pepper. However, there are many variations on pesto. You can substitute walnuts for the pine nuts or omit the nuts altogether and still have pesto. You can even make pesto out of garlic scapes (see earlier blog entry) or arugula.

By far the most popular pesto is made with basil. Italian basil. While we grow Thai basil and purple basil among other varieties at One Love Farm, by far the most popular variety is Italian Large Leaf Basil. Most people buy our basil to make pesto, but some use the bail in garden salad or with cut tomatoes and mozerella cheese for Caprese salad.

Besides serving on pasta, there are many other ways to serve pesto. French cooking often uses a variation of pesto, called pisto, in soups. We often use pesto as a marinade for vegetables before grilling. It is also good with grilled tofu. Whatever your use for bail, now is the time of year to get it in New England, while it is local and in season!

Garlic

Pesto:

One big bunch of basil, leaves only

One clove garlic

Olive oil

Toasted pine nuts

Parmesean Cheese

Crushed Red Pepper

Salt

Mince garlic clove in food processor

Put basil leaves in food processor, but do not overfill.

Drizzle in olive oil until pesto becomse a smooth paste

Add toasted pine nuts and grated cheese and pulse. Add more olive oil if needed.

Add salt and crushed red pepper to taste

Pesto can be frozen and kept in the freezer up to a year or longer. However, I have found it best that when freezing to omit garlic, cheese and nuts as they can discolor and get bitter. I have also found it best to freeze pesto using less olive oil. Once thawed, you can add in garlic, cheese and nuts and additional olive oil.

Tomato Cages

New fangled tomato supports

I have been struggling for years with the best way to support tomato plants. They seem so puny in the spring when you plant them. How could they possibly need so much support? Eggplant is a prolific producer and needs no support. So too, most pepper plants. But tomatoes are different. Their fruit is weighted down with lots of water and are super heavy.

In the past we have used tomato cages (anyone need about 100?). They work great at the beginning of the season. But by the time harvest rolls around, they are toppled over and the plants are back on the ground. In addition, the cages make it difficult to prune branches, a very important step when growing tomatoes.

Tomato stakes work well. But they are a huge labor drain. Every tomato has to be individually staked and they have to be retied to the stake every week or two. With so many things to do in the garden this time of year, that seems less than efficient. What usually ends up happening is that you get a top heavy plant with lots of broken branches.

This year, we decided to try something new. Pantyhose! By tieing pantyhose to tomato stakes, we can get several plants per stake. In addition, pantyhose has way more give than twine, so the delicate tomato plant branches don't break or get cut. Also, pantyhose is strong enough to support even a huge tomato plant weighed down with fruit.

The only issue was getting the pantyhose home. I just couldn't bring myself to buy 60 pairs of hose by myself (what would the clerk think I was doing with them?) So, I brought Karen along and we got out with no questions asked! I'll let you know how our new experiment works for better or worse.

Foxglove and Mountain Laurel

Foxglove

Mountain Laurel

Both Foxglove and Mountain Laurel are in bloom now at One Love Farm. Foxglove (Digitalis) is native to Europe, Northern Afica and Central Asia. It is grown in North America as an ornamental biennial. Biennials take two years to bloom. The first year the foxglove produces long leaves. The second year it bolts and sends up a long spike that produce its distinctive bell shaped flowers. Some species of Foxglove are poisonous. In fact, some Foxglove are so poisonous that you can die from drinking the water that a cut stem has been in. Because of this toxicity, Foxglove is also known as Dead Man's Bells.

Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia) is native to the Eastern United States. Mountain Laurel grows well in rocky conditions. We grow it as a shrub at One Love Farm on a small hill where it is protected by small evergreens. In some very windy and exposed areas, we have found Mountain Laurel does not do well. It is also said that Mountain Laurel does not like limestone conditions. Further south, in the Carolinas, Mountain Laurel can be grown as a tree. The star shaped flowers bloom in late spring and early summer and come in many different colors. We love the striking red of the Mountain Laurel at One Love Farm.

This plant is poisonous. Mountain Laurel is also known as Spoonwood, allegedly becuase Native Americans made spoons out of the wood. I would not recommend trying this due to the plant's toxicity. Mountain Laurel was introduced to Europe in the early 17th century and is still successfully grown there today.

Garlic Scapes

Garlic Scapes

Garlic scapes are really the seed head for the garlic plant. Every plant uses some method to reproduce and this is garlic's. Most people do not start garlic from seed, though. To plant a new bed of garlic you take some of your favorite garlic, separate the head into cloves and push each clove into the ground a few inches. Just like flower bulbs you have to make sure the cloves are right side up. The pointy end goes up and blunt end down. Planting can be done in the fall in New England.

The garlic then sends up shoots in the spring. In June, the seed heads appear. They have a very exotic way of curling up like a coiled rope. Once they coil a few times you harvest your garlic scapes.

Without harvesting, the plant will sent it's energy to the creating the seed pod and the garlic bulb will stay very small. You can try this experiment in your garden. Plant a dozen garlic cloves. Next sping, harvest most of the garlic scapes, but leave a few on the plant. Then, in the fall, compare the size of your harvested bulbs. The ones with the scapes still attached will be one tenth the size of your fully mature bulbs.

There are lots of uses for garlic scapes. If you are adventurous, you can munch them raw. Just be sure that you really like garlic and your significant other really likes garlic as well! I use garlic scapes in stir fry just as you would a green onion (scallion). Other people have said they make garlic scape pesto or use the scapes in soups.
Garlic Scape Pesto
Garlic Scape Soup and other recipes
Garlic Scape Frittata and other recipes

Seed Saving

Arugula Flowers

Most organic farmers would tell you that the cost of seed is way down on their list expenses. Gasoline for machinery, electricity to heat greenhouses, compost, mulch, and labor are much greater expenses on an annual basis. So, many farmers don't bother to save seed. But, seed saving can be a fun activity for everyone.

At One Love Farm, the first corp to bolt (ie: go to seed) is arugula. We plant arugula early in the spring becuase arugula loves cool weather and bolts in the heat. This year, we had a good crop of arugula, but when the temperature reached 97 degrees on Tuesday I knew it wouldn't be long before little white flowers started to appear.

Those little white flowers then become green seed pods. After a couple of weeks, the seed pods turn brown and papery and eventually the seeds drop to the ground and become next year's crop. However, if you get the seed pods before they drop to the ground, you have a huge supply of seeds for next year.

Other plants are great for saving seeds, too. Tomatos, peppers and melons are great for savings seeds. Just remember to dry the seeds before storing them or they will mold or rot. Also, heirloom seeds should be saved. Hybrid seeds should not be saved. Hybrid seeds will not produce plants with edible fruits.

Many folks who save seeds, save them not only for themselves, but trade them with others. There are many seed saving networks all over the world, so if you are interested, start saving and trading your seeds today!


Seed Saver's Exchange

Lettuce and Beet greens!

Beet Greens

It's been a very hot few days at One Love Farm.
97 degrees was the high yesterday and the weather forecast is more of the same today. Normally, lettuce and greens would hate this kind of weather. Hot weather causes lettuce and greens to go to seed. And we do expect the Arugula to bolt (go to seed) soon.

However, due to the cooler and wetter than normal early spring, lettuce and greens were off to a slow start. This weather will cause them to grow. In fact, I was amazed at how the beets shot up in one single day of high 90 degree temperatures yesterday.

Lots of people at the farmers' market ask how to prepare beet greens. At One Love Farm, we simply wash them and add them to a mix of other lettuce or arugula greens. They add a mild beet flavor to salads.

Some people like to cook the beet greens. Here are a couple of recipes to try. Remember, you can always omit the bacon or substitute water for chicken stock if you want to make the recipe vegetarian.

http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/000308beet_greens.php

http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1750,134178-240193,00.html

Lettuce
We may have our first harvest of lettuce this week. At One Love Farm we grow a variety of red and green loose leaf lettuce. It has an amazing flavor and is wonderful with beet greens or arugula or just by itself with oil and vinegar.