Farmer Margie's blog!
Farmer Margie has posted on this blog, and now she’s got the blog fever and started her own, Bee Heaven Farm’s blog. The news and details will be a lot more specific to daily operations at the farm. Meanwhile, Redland Rambles will keep rambling about Bee Heaven, the CSA and its members, other growers in Redland Organics, and whatever’s going on in Redland that’s relevant and that I find out about in a timely manner. Am cutting back on the politics, though…
Posted in farmer/grower, people | Tagged Bee Heaven Farm, Margie Pikarsky | 2 Comments »
The Edible Garden Festival at Fairchild
Some people have been asking me, licking their lips, “So, what’s good from the farm this week?” Their appetites were whetted by all the fabulous fruit we’ve been having this summer. Now they’re ready for veggies. Now? You gotta be kidding! There’s nothing growing right now except for weeds! While the rest of the country in latitudes to the north of us are at the peak of their season, reveling in all kinds of veggie goodness, we’re sweltering in the heat swatting mosquitos and gnawing on the last of the fruit. There just isn’t that much growing right now. Too hot, too much rain, too many bugs, too many weeds. (Wonder how the pioneer settlers got by during the cruel late summer/early fall months.) This time of year is a food desert comparable to the dead of winter in Maine (but without the permafrost).
But October and fall and slightly cooler temperatures are around the corner, and that’s going to be a good time to start planting your own food garden. This Sunday’s Miami Herald had an extremely informative article in the Home and Design section about planting gardens in our area. It’s the second of what I hope is an ongoing series of articles written by the good folks at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Gardens.
By the way, don’t forget to check out the Edible Garden Festival on Oct. 24-25 at Fairchild. Look for the Redland Organics tent!
Posted in agritourism, food, location, locavore, market | Tagged Fairchild Tropical Botanic Gardens, gardening, Redland Organics | 1 Comment »
The first batch of lychee freezer jam
Do you remember June, when lychees were bursting everywhere? The summer fruit sale offered pesticide-free lychees from Possum Trot Nursery and I loaded up.
My friend Kattia, who grew up in Homestead and now lives in Sanford with her husband and son, was craving lychees since June, when I told her about the crazy season we had. Wasn’t able to drive up then with fresh lychees, so I filled my freezer. (Yes, you can freeze lychees, then peel and eat like mini popsicles. Kids love ’em.) With the start of the CSA season almost around the corner, it was time to unload my freezer and make a run north.
Kattia loves to make jam. She had made me delicious mango jam a few summers ago. But what to do with thawed lychees?
Came across a simple recipe for lychee freezer jam on the Lycheeyum blog. It was our starting point. But 1 1/2 cups of sugar sounded like way too much. This was the first time either one of us had heard of freezer jam. It’s a no-cook process that doesn’t require heating the fruit, or working with hot jars and boiling water. There’s a video on the Ball canning site that shows how to make freezer jam using their freezer pectin. We tweaked and combined both recipes. Here’s our version:
4 cups lychees (fresh or frozen) and their juice, peeled, seeded, chopped
1 cup sugar (or to taste)
1 packet freezer pectin1. Combine lychees, juice, and sugar in a large bowl.
2. Add freezer pectin, and stir for 3 minutes.
3. Fill plastic freezer jars. Allow mixture to sit for 30 minutes. It’s ready to use!
4. Keep jam in refrigerator for 3 weeks, or store in freezer for up to 1 year.
Got the freezer pectin and freezer jars at the Sanford Wal-Mart. (That’s where I stumbled across the Redland Best avo’s a few aisles over.) The recipe was very easy. You could even make this with your kids. A grownup would have to pit the fruit, as a sharp knife is required. The chunks of lychee were a bit big in this batch. Next time I’d run the fruit through a food processor to make the pieces smaller and more spreadable. Thawed lychee doesn’t mash very easily. Don’t know enough about canning to suggest an alternate to sugar. Wonder if agave would work as well.
Posted in food, fruits, photo, recipe | Tagged lychee, Possum Trot Nursery, recipe |
Redland Best Florida LoCal avocado
So I found myself in the Sanford Wal-Mart this afternoon browsing through produce when I discovered a taste of home looking back at me. Avocados! They look like Donnies, but not as big as Farmer Margie grows them, and they’re selling under the Redland Best label. I whipped out my old Razr cell phone and took a couple snaps (apologies for the poor quality, but that’s what I had with me at the time). Googled for Redland Best but I haven’t been able to find anything about them. Does anybody know who they are? And what’s a “lo cal avocado” anyway??
Posted in fruits, photo | Tagged avocado | 10 Comments »
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Posted in agritourism, chef, farm, food, locavore | Tagged Bee Heaven Farm, brunch, Possum Trot Nursery, Redland Organics | 2 Comments »
Redland Rambles 