Harvest to Table

English Peas, Spring Onions and Roasted Almonds

2008-05-14T16:00:00Z

Just cooked English peas, sautéd spring onions and roasted, salted almonds are a delicious combination of tender sweet, sweet pungent, and crunchy just salty. You can set this side dish next to grilled fish or chicken or mashed potatoes and a roast. It's not too filling yet will holds its own.

English peas and spring onions are easy picking in spring. You'll find them plentiful at the farm market if you don't have them in your own garden. Both are sweetest and most tender early in the season.

English peas are the best eating when the pods turn bright green and just begin to bulge. To harvest the pes just split the pod open with your thumb and roll the peas out. Spring onions have just formed small bulbs. They're sweeter than mature onion but more pungent than a green onion. Spring onions don't require much cooking to be ready for the plate.

]]> Here a is a recipe that you can have on the table in minutes. The almonds will roast in ten minutes. The English peas can be steamed until just tender in less than five minutes or you can sauté them in a vegetable broth in about three minutes. You can sauté the spring onions while the peas are steaming.

Ingredients

¼ cup slivered almonds

peanut oil

1 cup small white onions

1 tablespoon butter

4 cups shelled, fresh peas

½ teaspoon ground dillweed

1 tablespoon butter

salt to taste

Directions

1 Coat slivered almonds with peanut oil and sea salt and roast at 375ºF for 5-10 minutes shaking or stirring every few minutes to make sure the almonds don't stick or burn. Set them aside to cool.

2 Steam or sauté the peas until just tender.

3 Sauté the onions in butter until tender but not brown.

4 Combine the peas and sautéed onions. Add dillweed, butter, and salt. Heat over very low heat until hot. Just before serving sprinkle the combined peas and onions with roasted almonds.

Spring Onions, Green Onions and Scallions

2008-05-14T16:00:00Z

Young onions offer a range of taste from mild and smooth to pungent and biting. You can eat raw young onions whole with a dipping sauce or chopped in a green salad or potato salad or pasta salad. Raw green onions chopped make a colorful topping for sauces or baked potatoes.

Onions cooked become mild and even sweet. Young onions require less cooking than mature onions since they are not very pungent to begin with. Just a couple of minutes of sautéing will mellow a young onion that has gained any bite. You’ll find cooked young onions mild enough to serve at breakfast.

So what do you call young onions? Spring onions, green onions, or scallions? Here we go!

Depending upon the maturity of the onion and where you live, you will pick up a bunch of young onions and say, “I’ll take these….”

Are they spring onions, green onions, or scallions?

Here are the differences:

]]> Scallions. Scallions are the youngest or least mature of onions with very thin white bases no wider than their long, straight green stalks. Scallions offer no hint at the development of a bulb-like base. Pulled from the ground a scallion resembles a large chive. Scallions are very mild flavored. Both the white base and the green stalk of the scallion are easily eaten raw. You can slice or chop scallions and add them raw to green salads. You can also serve them on the raw vegetable tray or sprinkle them raw as a topping for sauces.

Scallions can be cooked whole or chopped, but they will require no more than a couple of minutes of cooking. (Sauté or pan steam them on low heat in butter or water.) Scallions can be used as a substitute for chives in many recipes. Scallions are sometimes called green onions or bunching onions, but for onion lovers and growers there is a difference. A green onion or bunching onion has gained the hint of a bulb with maturity; a scallion has not.

Green onions. Green onions have long, green, delicate stalks and small, very, very slender, white bulbs. The bulb of a green onion is slightly defined. Green onions come out of the ground early in their lives, usually in spring. They are mild tasting having not been alive long enough to gain much pungency. Green onions can be used sliced or chopped raw in green salads or creamy salads like potato salad, pasta salads, or atop baked potatoes.

Green onions are sometimes called bunching onions. When onion seeds are planted densely they grow so close or bunched together that the bulbs have little chance of fully maturing and rounding out. Green onions are green onions in the United States; in England and Australia the green onion is also called a spring onion. Green onions are sometimes also called scallions. (But, now, you know there is a difference even if ever so slight.)

Spring onions. Spring onions have slightly rounded bulbs that are more defined and just a bit larger than the more slender green onions. Spring onions are the most pungent tasting of young onions with a bit more bite than green onions. Remember, most onions gain their sharp taste as they mature. Spring onions can be used raw or cooked. Because raw spring onions are pungent, taste to make sure their flavor does not overpower more delicate flavors. You can slice raw spring onions thinly onto green salads.

Cooked spring onions—usually sautéed—will be more delicately flavored as a result of the cooking process and are a good combination with other spring and summer vegetables. The spring onion is distinctly different than a green onion to many growers and onion lovers in the United States. In England and Australia, a spring onion and a green onion are most often considered the same bird.

Pictured above: Spring onions, but the fourth from the right is a green onion.

English Peas: Harvest and Cooking

2008-05-13T16:00:00Z

How do you cook peas? Peas are cooked in the least possible amount of water and in just the time for them to become just tender. The French cook peas in the water it takes to moisten lettuce leaves. Line a saucepan with damp greens and a few pea pods, pour in the shelled peas and cover them with moist lettuce. Steam the peas over a high heat for about 3 minutes or until they are al denté, just tender.

Be careful not to overcook peas. Boiling or long steaming will increase water absorption and cause the peas to become soggy and mushy. Both flavor and nutrients are sacrificed when peas are overcooked.

When the peas are ready, the simplest way to enjoy them is with butter, salt, and pepper.

Pea, garden pea, English pea are all the same. The pea is traditionally the first kitchen garden crop planted each year. It goes in the ground as soon as the soil can be worked. So—depending upon where you live—you are either sowing peas now or harvesting them.

]]> If it is pea harvest time where you live, follow this advice: pick peas the instant that they are bright green and the pods begin to bulge. Split the pod open with your thumb and roll the small sweet peas into your mouth or into the bowl and immediately prepare and enjoy. Young, small, tender peas are the sweetest eating.

Peas are much like corn as soon as they mature a chemical reaction occurs that causes the peas’ sugar content to decrease rapidly. A fresh, sweet, juicy pea can rapidly become starchy and hard. The same is true if the pea is shelled and then left on the kitchen counter or in a warm place for more than a few hours.

Peas that you are going to hold onto before eating should not be shelled. Set them uncovered in the coldest part of the refrigerator until you are ready to shell them. Rinse peas before you shell them not after.

If you are leaving peas in the refrigerator overnight or a day or two, they will still be tasty, but not as sweet as if you used them within two hours of harvest. If you get peas at the market, check to see when they are harvested. Farm market peas are usually sold the day after harvest.

Two pounds of peas in the shell will give you about two cups of shelled peas. That is enough to serve three or four people.

How long will peas be available? Here in the Sonoma Valley we have already sown the second crop of peas. The first crop—called the early crop-- is coming out of the garden now. Early peas are harvested from late spring to early summer and the main crop from midsummer to early fall. Peas require 55 to 70 days from sowing to harvesting and they won’t thrive if the soil temperature climbs much above 75°F (24°C). So if your growing season is long enough and the weather doesn’t grow too hot, you might get a mid-season pea crop as well.

Baby Beets and Sugar Snap Peas with Orange Butter

2008-05-12T16:00:00Z

Sweet and smooth baby beets—red, yellow, and orange—added to sugary sugar snap peas tossed with a tangy orange zest dressing and you have a seasonal salad that says Spring! You’ll have to search to find someone who doesn’t like this salad.

Baby beets and sugar snap peas are just hitting their peak in the garden. If you don’t grow these, head to the farmers’ market where they will be easy pickin’ this time of year.

We had our first supper club meeting of the season this past Saturday evening, so Becky was at the Ferry Building farmers’ market about mid-morning to pick up the beets and sugar snaps. These were fresh picked the day before.

Baby beets—about the size of a walnut—are tender, sweet, and juicy--better tasting than large ones. Choose a bunch—6 or 8 will do--all about the same size for even cooking. For this salad, the beets were individually wrapped in foil and roasted in the oven at 400ºF for about 45 minutes and then cooled in advance.

Sugar snap peas—you eat the entire pod, no shelling required—are perfect when the pods have just plumped. You’ll want to serve these within a day of harvest to enjoy the pods’ natural sweetness. About a half-pound or two cups of sugar peas will do.

Our friends Lonnie and Bruce supplied a navel orange from their backyard tree for our orange zesty dressing. You’ll only need a few slivers of zest and a tablespoon of juice, so the sections are sweet snacking while preparing the salad.

]]> Once in the kitchen, Anna was in charge of the beets and I handled the sweet peas. Becky was busy searing the ahi tuna on the grill which was a perfect match for this salad. We find that conversation and the division of duties make the supper club a fun place to improvise seasonal recipes.

So here’s what you’ll need to get this salad on the table:

Ingredients

6-8 baby beets, roasted and cut into julienne strips (about 1 cup)

½ pound sugar snap peas (about 2 cups), tips removed

1 orange

½ teaspoon finely shredded orange peel, or zest

1 tablespoon orange juice

2 teaspoons sugar

⅛ teaspoon salt

⅛ teaspoon ground ginger

⅛ teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon margarine or butter

Directions

Wrap baby beets individually in foil and roast in 400ºF oven until just tender when pierced, about 45 minutes. Set aside to cool. When cooled peel and julienne the beets.

Zest the orange and set aside the juice from one or two sections. You can now snack on the rest of the orange while preparing the beets and sugar snaps.

In a small mixing bowl combine orange peel, orange juice, sugar, salt, ginger, and pepper. Just stir.

Add the sugar snap peas to a small amount of boiling, salted water and cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until just crisp-tender. Drain well.

Combine the beets and sugar snap peas, add margarine or butter, and drizzle the dressing. Toss lightly to coat.

Warm Region Kitchen Garden Almanac for May

2008-05-09T16:00:00Z

Spring flowers like sweet peas will spill over into the garden this month. The roses will have heady days in May and the time for warm-weather vegetables like beans and peppers and tomatoes is very close.

Warm-weather vegetable starts can be transplanted into the kitchen garden probably by mid month and direct sowing of seeds will not be far behind once the soil has warmed. Beans will do best after the soil has reached 55ºF (13ºC) and corn will take off after the soil has reached 65ºF (18ºC).

You can minimize transplant shock if you hold off putting melons and summer and winter squash seedlings in the garden until a week or so after the last frost. Peppers and eggplants can be transplanted into the garden two or three weeks after the last frost.

Herbs starts like dill, Green oregano, sweet marjoram, cilantro, rosemary, sage, summer and winter thyme, and garlic chives can be transplanted into the garden this month. You might want to wait just a bit longer before planting basil and lemon grass.

Here is a kitchen garden guide for warm regions—growing zones 7-11—for the month of May.

]]> Unsettled weather. Continue to sow early summer crops in the coldframe or greenhouse or beneath cloches if the weather in your region has not yet settled. Few seeds will germinate if the soil temperature is below 45ºF (7ºC) and warm-weather crops are not going to thrive until the night temperatures stay consistently above 50ºF (10ºC). If temperatures could dip, use horticultural fleece or cloches in the garden for early warm-weather corps.

Greenhouse and coldframe. Sow tender vegetables such as outdoor tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and runner beans to plant out later. Plant greenhouse tomato plants in large pots, or plant them in grow bags. Water and feed tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers, never letting the soil dry out. Remove side-shoots from tomatoes. Attach slings or nets to greenhouse melons as they swell. Introduce biological controls to keep down pests such as greenhouse whiteflies and spider mites.

In the garden. Start sowing vegetables without protection if the soil and night time temperatures have warmed. Thin beets, carrots, lettuce, radishes, spinach and other half-hardy and hardy seedlings planted late last month. As crops are harvested, plant successions of early or start introducing summer crops.

Early month sowing. Early in the month, prepare outdoor sites for cucumbers, squashes, and tomatoes. Erect supports for runner beans, and place stakes, poles, and trellises in place for tall and climbing crops. Remove cloches from broad beans, carrots, and peas.

Mid-month sowing. Sow seeds of beans, corn, okra, squash, cucumber, cantaloupe, and other tender vegetables and herbs after temperatures have reached the 70s. Or if you have started these indoors, set out transplants after mid-month: tomato, eggplant, pepper, and sweet potato. Sow Chinese cabbage. Pinch out the tips on broad beans to encourage good pod set and to deter attack from aphids.

Harvest early crops. Start picking broad beans when the pods are finger thick. Continue to cut asparagus. As the asparagus harvest ends, cut back female plants with berries. When peas stop producing, cut vines to ground (do not pull allowing their roots to fix nitrogen in the soil). Replace early cool-weather crops with summer crops.

Successive plantings. Make successional sowings of early crops: beetroot, carrots, lettuces, and turnips. Make successive sowing of lettuce, salad crops, and summer spinach, turnips, runner beans, green beans, endive, radishes, and kohlrabi.

Late month sowing and transplants. Sow sweet corn outdoors in mild areas when further frost is unlikely. Most vegetables can be sown now, so check the packets. Sow French and runner beans, and pole beans, long-rooted beets, sea kale, salsify, and sweet corn. Plant out late-summer cauliflowers and in the north Brussels sprouts. Plant out vegetable seedlings such as cabbages, cauliflowers, celery, sweet corn, tomatoes, and marrows. Plant outdoor tomatoes, and tie them gently, but firmly, to stakes to secure them.

Herbs. Plant or pot up basil seedlings. Take cuttings of pot marjoram, rosemary, sage, and thyme. Divide any straggly mint and thyme plants.

Pests. Watch for aphids on broad beans and root flies on cabbages, carrots and onions. Keep after weeds.

Feeding and watering. Give side dressing of compost tea to half-grown plants. Keep all plants watered and well mulched.

Fruit trees. Feed summer-fruiting plants with potassium sulfate to promote good flowering and fruit. Control weeds around bush and cane fruit.

Thin the fruit on apples, peaches, nectarines pears, and plums when they reach marble-size. Thin heavy-cropping nectarines and peaches when fruit is ½ in (1-1.5 cm) in diameter. Water new plantings deeply if weather is dry. Water plentifully when fruit is swelling.

Hang coddling moth traps on apple trees. Spray against apple scab, mildew, and aphids. Watch for pests and signs of disease. Trap larvae on trunks of trees and destroy. Prune wood damaged by fire blight.

Remove any shoots on wall-trained fruits that are growing directly toward or away from the wall. Remove the blossoms from newly planted fruit trees to direct the plants energy into the production of strong new wood.

Berries. Plant new strawberries and put cloches over strawberries if you want an early corp. Harvest strawberries as they ripen. Protect strawberry fruits with straw or black plastic sheeting.

Keep new canes of blackberries and loganberries separate from the current year’s fruiting canes. Tie new canes of blackberries and hybrid berries to a system of support wires, allowing a maximum of eight canes per plant.

Remove weak shoots from brambles. Thin our raspberry canes. Spray raspberries against raspberry beetles. Apply the first spray as soon as the first fruit turns pink.

Summer-prune gooseberries by cutting back side-shoots to five leaves.

Feed blackberry and hybrid berry plants with ammonium sulfate or other high-nitrogen fertilizer. Cover berries with netting to protect them from birds.

Citrus. Plant citrus and tropical fruit this month. Feed citrus fruit with sulfate of ammonia; feed established trees with iron sulfate. Water citrus deeply in dry weather.

Containers. Plant summer container plants when the danger of frost is past. Feed new transplants with liquid fertilizer and water as needed.

Cool Region Kitchen Garden Alamanac for May

2008-05-08T16:00:00Z

The weather in cool northern regions can remain unsettled even in May. Remember that both the soil and air temperature are important when planting the kitchen garden. Few seeds will germinate if the soil temperature is below 45ºF (7ºC) and warm-weather crops are not going to thrive until the night temperatures consistently stay above 50ºF (10ºC).

By the end of the month--or two to three weeks after your last frost, your kitchen garden will be able to welcome cucumbers, bush and pole beans, and tomatoes. In the meantime you can get these crops going in a greenhouse or coldframe or in the kitchen window. If you get the seedlings growing now, you’ll enjoy an earlier harvest next summer.

Strawberries can be planted now. June-bearing-type strawberries are vigorous and spread runners rapidly and should be producing in June. Everbearing-type strawberries will fruit in June and again later in the fall. If you are looking for the easiest to grow, try Alpine strawberries.

Cool-weather crops such as peas (see their blooms above) should be ready for harvest later this month or in June before the weather warms. Keep you eye on cauliflower and Brussels sprouts to get them out of the garden at their peak and before they bolt in warm weather.

Here is a kitchen garden guide for cool regions—growing zones 3-6—for the month of May.

]]> Greenhouse and coldframe. Open the greenhouse and coldframe for warm rain and sun; close them if the temperature drops near freezing. Early in the month, sow under cover half-hardy annual seeds: tomato, eggplant, pepper, and runner beans. Plant greenhouse tomato plants and cucumbers in large pots or grow bags.

Harden off vegetable starts in the cold frame for 10 days before setting them out. By the middle of the month, you can harden off tomato plants and ready them for setting out late in month.

Harvest asparagus and other early crops from the coldframe.

Introduce biological controls to keep down pests such as greenhouse whiteflies and spider mites.

Vegetables early in the month. As soon as the ground can be worked, add soil amendments, humus, and manure to the planting beds if these were not added in the fall. Prepare beds for planting and sowing.

Warm up the soil in cool regions with cloches or black plastic.

When the danger of heavy frost is past, sow or plant out cool-weather crops; harden off young plants from winter sowings of broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, leeks, onions, lettuce, peas, and broad beans before planting out.

Start sowing vegetables without protection if you live in mild regions. Many seeds can be sown from early spring onwards. Check seed packets as some varieties are more suitable than others for early sowing.

Direct seed broad beans, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, onions, parsnips, peas, radishes, and spinach. Plant asparagus, rhubarb, and celery. Dig well-rotted manure into celery trenches. Prepare runner-bean trenches by digging in compost or well-rotted manure. Plant early potatoes and onion sets. Use horticultural fleece or cloches for early crops. Thin out overcrowded vegetable seedlings sown earlier: thin beets, carrots, lettuce, radishes, and spinach.

Vegetable starts and transplants. Protect vegetable starts from drying winds and keep them well watered. Shade transplants from direct sun for a week or until re-established outdoors. Mulch when plants are several inches high. Weed and water as needed. Watch for insects and signs of disease.

Succession planting. Make a second sowing of early peas and other crops as the first harvest comes in. Feed lettuce and other early crops with compost tea.

Vegetables late in the month. Plant warm-weather crops and tender herbs when the danger of frost is past and the soil has warmed up and the weather settled. Sow seeds of beans, corn, okra, squash, cucumber, cantaloupe--all tender vegetables—when the weather has warmed into the 70s. Set out plants of tomato, eggplant, pepper, and sweet potato.

Fruits and berries. Plant fruit trees and brambles when soil workable. Paint white or wrap trunks of young trees to prevent sunscald. Water new plantings deeply if the weather is dry. Feed summer-fruiting plants with potassium sulfate to promote good flowering and fruit.

Plant new strawberries, and place cloches over strawberries if you want an early cop. Be sure to cover strawberries if a late frost is possible.

Plant currant bushes and raspberry canes, and water them in thoroughly. Cut the canes down to 12 inches above the ground.

Thin brambles (blackberries, raspberries, loganberries); prune away weak shoots. Prune back the stems of newly planted and two-year-old gooseberries by about one-half. Spray gooseberries and black currants for gooseberry mildew.

Fertilize or top-dress with compost established berries and grapes if not done last month. Feed blackberry and hybrid berry plants with ammonium sulfate. Control weeds around bush and cane fruit.

If fruit trees are still dormant apply dormant spray to apples, pears, and plums.

Thin the fruit on apples, pears, and plums when marble-size. Thin heavy-cropping nectarines and peaches when the fruit is ½ inch (1-1.5 cm) in diameter. Replace mulches removed last month. Prune suckers and water sprouts from trees.

Watch for pests and signs of disease. Trap larvae on trunks of trees and destroy them.

Containers. Check tender container plants moved indoors during winter. When frost danger is past, move containers outdoors again. Plant cool-weather and later warm-weather vegetables in containers when the danger of frost is past. Feed new plants with liquid fertilizer.

Mizuna

2008-05-07T16:00:00Z

Mix mizuna with other salad greens and mesclun or add shredded mizuna leaves to soups and stir fries at the end of cooking.

Mizuna has a mild and tangy flavor. Use mizuna as a bed or garnish for meat and fish, grilled seafood, poultry or barbequed pork. You will find the flavor of mizuna peppery-fresh but not overpowering.

Mizuna is a spring to early summer green from the mustard family. Its leaves are finely dissected and glossy green on long, slender stems. The leaves look something like a dandelion green. Mizuna grows in a rosette to about 9 inches (23 cm) tall and 16 inches (45 cm) wide.

You can toss young mizuna leaves—which are mild tasting--in a mixed salad. Larger leaves—which can have a mustardy or bitter-green tang--are best cooked briefly. Mizuna is sometimes called pot herb mustard.

]]> Mizuna is best spring through summer. It is tender and ready for harvest about 4 weeks after sowing.

Mizuna is native to China but has been grown in Japan for centuries. It is considered one of the Japanese greens along with mibuna and komasuna. Mizuna is sometimes called kyona which means “leaf green from Kyoto”—the Japanese city.

Select. Choose mizuna with fresh, bright, fully green leaves. The leaves can be found both loose or attached at the base in the market. Select leaves without yellowing or drying.

Store. Mizuna will keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Rinse and dry the leaves before refrigerating. Wrap them in a paper towel and store them in a plastic bag.

Prepare. Trim a few inches from the base of the plant to separate the stalks; cut them into 1½ inch sections then wash or dunk them in several changes of water and dry.

Serve. Small-leafed mizuna can be served raw. User larger leaves for cooking. Leaves can be cut into short sections and steamed, boiled, stir fired, or included in soups or one-pot casseroles. Boil or steam mizuna in bite size pieces. Serve mizuna hot or tepid with olive oil and lemon, sesame oil and shoyu (soy sauce), or pickled ginger.

The botanical name for mizuna is Brassica rappa Japonica Group.

Pictured above: Mizuna.

Tokyo Turnip: Raw or Steamed

2008-05-06T16:00:00Z

The Tokyo turnip is a diminutive, small radish-sized turnip with a crunchy, juicy bitter- sweet flavor eaten raw. Steamed it is buttery-sweet and delicate.

You will find the Tokyo turnip in early spring. You might mistake it for a white radish if you don’t look closely enough. The Tokyo turnip is white through and through.

Tokyo turnips are most often harvested at 1 to 3 inches (2.5-7.6 cm) in diameter. They will be globe shaped and perhaps slightly flattened. About 8 to 12 of these pearly turnips make a pound. Look for them still attached to fresh greens.

The Japanese call these turnips kabura-type turnips, varieties include ‘Tokyo White’, ‘Tokyo Market’, and ‘Tokyo Cross’. In markets outside of Japan, all are usually simply called Tokyo turnips or white turnips.

]]> You can serve these turnips sliced with a crisp sea salt. (Try the French “fleur de sel” or “flower of salt”, a hand harvested sea salt).

Steamed Tokyo turnips are nearly a delicacy. Choose turnips of equal size and wash them thoroughly under running water or soak them until any grit or sand falls away. You don’t need to remove the greens; you can actually use them as a bed for steaming.

Spread the turnips with greens attached on a steamer rack over boiling water, cover and cook until just barely tender, about 3 to 6 minutes depending upon the size of the turnips. (Choose turnips of equal size for even steaming of the bunch.)

When tender, drain the turnips and greens on a kitchen towel and serve with a side dish of salt or butter or pepper, or all three. Steaming turnips of any type will bring out the best flavor.

Tokyo turnips can also be pickled, roasted, sautéed, or boiled in soups. You can use them as a garnish or serve them alongside poached or grilled whole fish or roasted meat. Served raw Tokyo turnips are good with a vegetable dip or you can throw them into a salad sliced or whole.

If you are growing Tokyo turnips, they will be bite-sized or about an inch in diameter about 30 days after sowing. Turnips grow best in the cool times of the year, spring and autumn. You don’t have to harvest Tokyo turnips small. You can let them grow larger and treat them just like other turnips.

Turnip originated in northern Europe in about 2000 BC. They made their way to China and Japan about 1,300 years where the Tokyo turnip developed. The Tokyo turnip has grown in popularity in the west most recently.

The botanical name for turnips is Brassica rapa, Rapifera Group.The Tokyo turnip

May Garden in the Southern Hemisphere

2008-05-02T16:00:00Z

May arrives between autumn and winter in the Southern Hemisphere.

Grays and browns replace the brilliant fall colors of April this month. Nature is beginning its rest time now as the harvest comes to a close.

There still may be a few days of hazy sunshine this month but the first chill and frost are not far away.

As the poet Rober Browning wrote: "Autumn wins you best by this, its mute appeal to sympathy for its decay."

Cool-weather crops can go into the garden this month, if hard frost seldom visits your region. In areas where frost threatens, watch the cool-weather crops planted in late summer and take them from the garden at the peak of their ripeness and before they are stung by a cold snap.

Enjoy the apple harvest as it comes to a close and celebrate the beginning of the cool-weather citrus harvest soon to be under way.

]]> Here is a list by region of vegetables and herbs to be planted in the Southern Hemisphere during May:

Temperate regions: Vegetables: artichoke suckers, broad beans, cress, lettuce, mustard, onions, peas, radish, shallots, spinach, spring onions. Herbs: caraway, chives, hyssop.

Tropical and sub-tropical northern regions: Vegetables: asparagus, beans, beets, broad beans, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, cress, endive, lettuce, mustard, onions, spring onions, parsnip, peas, potatoes, radish, shallots, silverbeet (Swiss chard), spinach, strawberry runners, tomato, turnip. Herbs: angelica, basil, borage, caraway, celeriac, chervil, chives, coriander, dill, lemon balm, marjoram, oregano, parsley, salad burnet, thyme.

Cooler southern regions: Vegetables: cress, lettuce, shallots, spinach.

May Harvest Schedule for the Southern Hemisphere:

Here is a roundup of vegetables and fruits ready for harvest during May in the Southern Hemisphere:

Vegetables: beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, carrots, celeriac, chilies, Chinese cabbage, corn, kale, lettuce, parsnip, peas, purslane, radish, rutabaga (Swede), spinach, turnips.

Fruits and nuts: late apples, avocadoes, banana, feijoa, guavas, early kiwifruit, kumquat, limes, early mandarins, olives, late Valencia oranges, early navel oranges, late passionfruit, pomegranate, late raspberries, tarmarilloes, tangeloes.

Pictured above: Pink Lady apples.

May Garden in the Northern Hemisphere

2008-05-01T16:00:00Z

Is May the most beautiful month of the year in the northern hemisphere?

Well, it's certainly one of the most beautiful months. The snow and ice are gone and the heat of summer has not yet arrived.

Wild flowers are in bloom everywhere and the garden is either moving towards its spring peak or well underway.

May was the third month of the year until Julius Caeser made it the fifth month. May has always had 31 days.

In ancient Roman, May arrived at a time that was sacred to Flora, the goddess of floweres. The Romans celebrated the first of May with flower-strewn parades. May is believed by some to be named after Maia, the Roman goddess of spring and growth.

In old England the first day of May was celebrated with Maypoles. Children gathered "Mayflowers" or hawthorn blossoms to trim the Maypole, and little girls dressed in their best to win the title May queen.

Mother's Day is celebrated in May. You will find that most birds have built their nests by now, and mother birds are sitting on their eggs awaiting the new arrivals.

]]> Here is a list of vegetables and fruits ready for harvest in the northern hemisphere during May: Vegetables: artichokes, asparagus, beets, broccoli, carrot, celery, cucumbers, lettuce, snow peas, purslane, Swiss chard, spinach, zucchini. Fruits: early apricots, early cherries, grapefruit, lemons, limes, loquats, oranges, ealry nectarines, early peaches, raspberries, strawberries.

Here is a planting list for May in the northern hemisphere:

Cool northern regions—Zones 3-6. Vegetables: beans, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cape gooseberry, capsicum, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chard (silverbeet), cress, cucumber, eggplant, endive, leeks, lettuce, marrow, melons, okra, spring onion, parsnip, potato tubers, pumpkin, radish, rhubarb crowns, rutabaga (Swedes), salsify, Swiss chard (silverbeet), spinach, squash, sweet corn, tomato, zucchini. Herbs: basil, boarage, caraway, celeriac, chamomile, chervil, chives, coriander, hyssop, lemon balm, oregano, parsley, salad burnet, thyme.

Temperate Regions—Zones 7-9. Vegetables: beans, beets (beetroot), cabbage, cape gooseberry, capsicum, carrots, celery, chard (silverbeet), chicory, cress, cucumber, eggplant, endive, leeks, lettuce, marrow, melons, mustard, spring onions, parsnip, peas, pumpkin, radish, rhubarb crowns, salsify, squash, sweet corn, sweet potato, tomato, zucchini. Herbs: basil, borage, caraway, celeriac, chamomile, chervil, chicory, chilli, chives, coriander, dill, fennel, hyssop, lemon balm, oregano, parsley, salad burnet, thyme.

Subtropical and Tropical Regions—Zones 10-12. Vegetables: beans, cabbage, cape gooseberry, capsicum, carrots, celery, Chinese cabbage, cress, cucumber, eggplant, fennel, lettuce, marrow, melons, mustard, okra, parsnip, peas, pumpkin, radish, rhubarb crowns, Swiss chard (silverbeet), spring onion, squash, strawberry runners, sweet corn, sweet potato, tomato, zucchini. Herbs: borage, caraway, celeriac.

Pictured above: A bearded iris in the May garden.

Growing Mint

2008-04-30T16:00:00Z

Use mint fresh or dried to flavor vegetables—cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, eggplants, peas, potatoes, tomatoes, and zucchini. You can add fresh mint to cold and hot soups and beverages.

There are all types of mint to choose from: spearmint, peppermint, pineapple mint, orange bergamot, and apple mint to name a few. Mint has a striking aroma, a sweet warm flavor, and a cool aftertaste.

Growing your own mint is not difficult. You can sow mint in the garden or in a small container to sit in the kitchen window. If a neighbor or friend has mint, anytime after the last spring frost is a good time to take a stem cutting or division and get it started. From seed, mint is ready to use in about eight weeks.

]]> Site. Mint prefers full sun but will grow just fine in partial shade. Mint prefers temperatures between 55 and 70°F (13–21ºC). If you live in a cold-winter region, protect mint through the winter in a container placed under a covered patio, in the garage, or in the kitchen.

Soil. Grow mint in moist, well-drained soil. A container is great for growing mint since mint will spread via its roots and can take over a garden if not controlled.

Planting. Sow mint seed at a depth of ¼ inch (6 mm). Mint seed germinates in 7 to 10 days. The best time to start divisions is before spring growth starts. After spring and the weather warms, root stem-tip cuttings in water or moist soil will be most successful. You can divide mint again in the fall.

Watering. Don’t let mint dry out; keep the soil moist but not wet.

Feeding. Mint is a light feeder; its nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium needs are low. Top-dress your mint bed with compost or well-rotted manure in autumn. Spray mint with liquid seaweed extract a couple of times during the growing season.

Companions. Mint will grow well next to asparagus, carrots, celery, cucumbers, onions, parsley, peppers, and tomatoes. Remember it can be invasive so watch to control its spread.

Pests. Control aphids and mites that find your mint with a strong spray of water or with a botanical insecticidal soap; use a floating row cover to exclude beetles and caterpillars.

Diseases. To prevent root and foliage diseases such as rust, thin crowded clumps of mint to ensure good air circulation.

Harvest. Mint will grow to maturity and is ready for harvest about 60 days after sowing. Cut top, tender fresh leaves as needed. To dry, cut stalks just before blooming then hang in bunches to dry. Store fresh mint air-tight containers or dry or freeze it.

Botanical names. Here are the botanical names for some favorite mints: Mentha spp., Mentha piperita (peppermint); Mentha spicata (spearmint); M. rotundifolia (apple mint); M. x gracilis (Golden apple mint); M requienii (Corsican mint, Jewel mint of Corsica); M. x piperita var. cirtata (Eau-de-cologne mint); M. arvensis var. piperescens (Japanese mint).

Pictured above: Mint in the spring garden.

Baby Beets: Steamed, Baked, Pickled

2008-04-29T16:00:00Z

Baby beets are beets harvested just as they have started to round out. Leave these beets until they mature and you can call them table beets.

Baby beets—just about the size of a ping-pong ball—have the most delicate taste and texture. Table beets—as big as your fist—still taste good, but don’t let them grow much larger as their flavor will be sacrificed to size.

Choose baby beets for the crudité platter or for pickling to use as a condiment or salad addition. Opt for table beets if you plan to grate the beets for relish or to add textural interest to a salad or salsa; they’ll be easier to handle.

When it comes to color golden or yellow beets are not as sweet and mild as red beets, but they won’t bleed onto your other ingredients, your work surface or hands.

You can capture the sweetness of baby beets by steaming or baking or pickling.

]]> Steaming. Steam baby beats in a steamer rack over 1 to 2 inches of boiling water. Aromatize the water with orange peel, anise or fennel seeds, cardamom, cinnamon stick, tarragon, marjoram, or thyme. Cover and cook until fork tender about 10 minutes or less.

Baking. There are at least two ways to bake baby beets (baking beets will preserve their flavor and enhance their color):

• Wrap each individually in heavy-duty foil to minimize staining. Place on oven rack in 375ºF oven; bake until tender when pierced, about 40 minutes or less.

• Place several beets in a baking dish with a tight-fitting lid and 4 to 5 tablespoons of water. Place a double layer of foil over the dish before covering and then bake in a low oven for 2 to 3 hours or until tender.

Pickling. Cook the beets (a dozen or so baby beets) in boiling water for about 30 to 40 minutes, or until tender. Cool; rub off the skins. Combine 1 cup red wine, 1 cup vinegar, ½ cup sugar in a medium saucepan. Tie the following spices in a piece of cheesecloth: sliced shallots, cloves, cinnamon stick, anise seeds, and peppercorns. Place the spice bag in the saucepan and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the beets and bring to a boil. Cool, then chill in liquid.

Pictured above: baby golden beets.

Bok Choy

2008-04-28T16:00:00Z

Bok choy is sometimes called Chinese cabbage. You may also find it by its Cantonese variation, pak choy, and you may also find it by the names white cabbage and Chinese chard.

As if the names were not confusing enough, if you look for bok choy at the farm market you may find the same plant in one of its many incarnations: seedling or “baby”, mature, and flowering. Bok choy does not look the same in its differing stages of growth.

To this, you can add various varieties of bok choy: Canton or dwarf bok choy, Shanghai or green-stemmed bok choy, Taiwan or Fengshan bok choy and additional variations known as choy sum, tatsoi, and yau choy.

Bok choy originated in China. “Choy" or “choi” is the romanized word for the Chinese character that means “vegetable.” “Bok” or “pak” means white. Sometimes the word “sum” is added, which means “heart.”

The best way to navigate the world of bok choy is to talk to the growers at the farm market and to try bok choy in as many of its incarnations as you can.

]]> The bok choy most commonly found in markets is Canton or dwarf bok choy. It is short and squat with plump, pearly-white stalks that are tender, very juicy, and bland tasting. Dwarf bok choy’s leaves are dark green, somewhat curled, looking a bit like the leaves of chard. They have a cabbagey flavor.

“Baby” bok choy is used to describe both the dwarf Canton bok choy and other bok choys picked small and immature.

Either way expect bok choy cooked right to have a light, refreshing taste. Expect overcooked bok choy to be mushy and dull tasting.

To prepare mature bok choy, cut the head in half lengthwise or into quarters and wash it thoroughly under the faucet or soak and dunk it in water until the stalks are clean of any dirt or sand from the garden. Baby bok choy can be rinsed without cutting it in half.

Trim the base and discard blemished leaves. Separate the stalks as you would celery. Shred the leaves from the stalks. Tear the leaves into bite-size pieces. Cut the stalks lengthwise and then crosswise, again into bite-sized pieces.

You can stir-fry or steam the leaves and stems. The leaves will cook almost instantly. The stalks can simmer for about 5 minutes, or you can boil the stalks in salted water for a minute or two and then drain.

For the most delicate flavor, cook bok choy until just cooked and not a moment longer.

Pictured above: Canton bok choy

Russian Red Kale

2008-04-25T16:00:00Z

Russian Red kale is thick, juicy and chewy. Match this kale with grilled sausages, pork or turkey. You can also match Russian Red with grains, roots, dried fruits and nuts.

Russian Red has silvery-green to blue-gray leaves that look like a cross between a turnip green and a highly lobed oak leaf. This kale doesn’t have the frills of the curly kales or the deep folded crinkles of Tuscan kale. Its flat and the lobes reach almost to the stem.

You’ll find Russian Red more magenta to ruby red about the veins, particularly in early spring. That’s what cold weather will do to this kale. When the weather moderates, you’ll find Russian Red more gray or green than red. Either way, after cooking this kale turns deep green.

Don’t expect Russian Red to be tender when harvested young like other kales. From the get-go Russian Red leaves are chewy. Don’t even think about sinking your teeth into the stems.

]]> Here’s how to prepare Russian Red: strip out the mature stems, no amount of cooking will soften them. Hold the lower leaf base up in one hand and pull the stem downward with the other. Simply strip away the leaf. Be sure to rinse the leaf pieces.

Blanch Russian Red in salted water, drain then sauté. Sauté this kale in olive or nut oil, butter, bacon, or pancetta. You can season with olives, garlic, chilli, cumin, caraway, fennel, anise, or toasted sesame oil. If you want a stronger flavor, braise Russian Red in stock. Cook until tender, but remember this kale is not going to melt in your mouth like curly kale.

The very smallest Russian Red leaves can be used as garnish or in salad. When you pick this kale up at the farm market, pick up a little extra. Once the stems are stripped away the highly lobed leaves offer less leaf surface than other kales.

Similar cultivars to Russian Red are Siberian, Ragged Jack, White Russian, Red Ursa, and Winter Red.

The botanical name for Russian Red is Brassica napus, Paularia Group.

Pictured above is Russian Red kale.

Spring Kale Steamed

2008-04-24T16:00:00Z

Kale is usually cooked and rarely eaten raw because of its strong pungent flavor. Small amounts of raw, young kale can be added to salads to bring a spicy note. Steam kale and serve with butter, lemon juice, and chopped bacon.

Kale has large cabbage-like curled leaves, usually soft green but also shades of blue-green and variegated shadings from red to white and yellow to white. Curly-leafed kales form compact clusters of tightly curled leaves.

Kale can be prepared just as you would spinach. It should not be overcooked otherwise it will lose its hearty flavor and texture. Cook kale until it is just tender, usually 5 minutes or less. To moderate the strong flavor and fibrous texture of some kale, you can blanch kale for 5 minutes before cooking depending upon the toughness of the green.

Steaming kale. Place 1 to 2 inches of water in the bottom of a pot and bring to a rapid boil. Place the kale in the steamer basket. Turn the heat under the boiling water to medium. Place the kale in the steamer basket in the pot and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Cook with the lid on for 2-5 minutes.

Italians steam kale until tender, then add olive oil, a little garlic, breadcrumbs, and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese in the last minute or two of cooking.

]]> Kale is harvested autumn to mid-spring, 55 to 75 days after direct seeding. In mild-winter regions where there is no snow on the ground, kale can be grown in the garden through the winter for winter harvest. In snowy regions, kale is hardy enough to stay in the garden with the protection of row covers.

Kale leaves are the best eating when they are 8 to10 inches (20-25 cm) long. Individual outside leaves are best when young and tender. Inside leaves are generally tastier than outside leaves. The flavor of kale is actually enhanced when the plant is touched by frost.

Spring kale can be tender. The roots of harvested kale that is left in place will sprout new heads in one or two weeks. “Cut and come again” is the term for leaf vegetables that can be brought to harvest more than once. Spring kale is often the new growth of plants sown last autumn. New, tender growth can go directly into salads.

You are likely to find tall kale varieties at the farm market in spring; look for ‘Lacinato’, ‘Toscano’, and ‘Red Russian’. Compact kale with curly leaves include ‘Dwarf Blue Curled Vates’ and ‘Dwarf Siberian’. The frilly kale used for garnishes include ‘Winterbor’, with green leaves, and ‘Redbor’, with purple leaves.

Kale was grown by the Greeks and Romans. Kale arrived in northern Europe in the sixteenth century and from there traveled to North America.

A related plant to kale is Portuguese kale or Scotch kale, also known as curly kale. This is a short-lived perennial with a single or branched stem with broad, oblong leaves that have crispy margins. Portuguese kale leaves are used in soups and as vegetable dishes.

The botanical name for kale is Brassica oleracea var. acephala. The botanical name of Portuguese or curly kale is B. o. var. sabellica.

Pictured above is 'Lacinato' kale.