Looking to make a new friend this summer?

New friendships and relationships are right at your fingertip when you become a regular visitor to your local farmers market! As you meander your way around your local market don’t just admire the produce, make conversation with the local farmers from your community. You will be making an invaluable investment to your community when you do so! If you are like me, you want to support the business of your neighbors next door. When we buy from local farms we make an investment in the tax base in our own town. Purchasing locally grown foods benefits our local community, thus making it sustainable.

Visiting your local farmers markets can broaden your horizons in several ways. You may make a new friend with a local farmer, gain new knowledge about produce you may not have seen or tasted before and you may learn to make a new dish, thus expanding your culinary repertoire. Here are some ideas to make your next visit more rewarding:

1. Know what is in season. This week look for peas, cherries, blueberries (because of the early and abundant spring rain and warm temperatures blueberries are ready a few weeks earlier this summer), beans, lettuce, radishes and perhaps strawberries.

2. Decide which of the “in season” produce your family most enjoys. Also consider trying one that you have yet to eat and be willing to give it a try.

3. If you are not an experienced cook, before leaving home, select a recipe using the produce you have decided to purchase and prepare a list of the ingredients you will need.

4. When at the market here is your chance to have a conversation with the local farmers. Ask for their help, suggestions, recipe idea etc. Just enjoy yourself.

5. Once you have made your purchases and brought your produce home, keep it fresh.
a. Spinach, salad greens etc should be washed, patted dry and kept in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.
b. Berries should not be washed until you are ready to eat them, as prewashing will encourage mold and spoil the fruit faster.
c. If the fruit you purchased seems very ripe, eat it immediately or keep in refrigerator to slow down the ripening process. Note that some fruit, like peaches, will not fare well in the refrigerator, which causes them to become mealy. Leave them on the counter for best results.

6. If you end up purchasing more than you can immediately use or just want to preserve summer’s bounty for those cold winter months:
a. Preserve berries by making jams and jellies.
b. Freeze berries by laying them in a single layer on a cookie tray. When berries have frozen place them in a zip lock freezer bag, return berries to the freezer to be enjoyed in the cold winter months.
c. Preserve stone fruit, like peaches and nectarines, by canning or freezing them. If you have never canned before and would like to learn how, contact your local Extension office for a class near you.
http://www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension
http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/index.html
d. Share your purchase with a friend!
e. If time just escapes you and your produce spoils before you are able to eat it, then by all means- Compost it! Don’t have a compost bin? Start one. Check out this site to get you started. http://eartheasy.com/grow_compost.html

7. Add a few new cookbooks or cooking magazines to your library to keep meals fresh and exciting for your family. Some of my favorites include:
a. Simply in Season by Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert http://store.mpn.net/productdetails.cfm?PC=1298
b. Eating Well magazine http://www.eatingwell.com
c. Cooking Light magazine http://www.cookinglight.com

Enjoy this wonderful food season!

Three Sisters! Not what you think.

There has long been an Indian custom surrounding the Three Sisters. No, they are not 3 women, but 3 vegtables who provide protection and nutrients to each other.

According to the Iroqujois Native Indian Legend, corn, beans and squash are inseparable "sisters" who only grow and thrive together. This tradition of interplanting corn, beans and squash in the same mound, is a sophisticated and sustainable system that provides long-term soil fertility and a healthy diet. Growing a Three Sisters garden is a wonderful way to feel more connected to the history of this land, regardless of our ancestry.

Corn provides a natural pole for bean vines to climb. Beans fix nitrogen on their roots, improving the overall fertility of the plot by providing nitrogen to the following years corn. Bean vines also help stabilize the corn plants, making them less vulnerable to blowing over in the wind. Shallow-rooted squash vines become a living mulch, shading emerging weeds and preventing soil moisture from evaporating, thereby improving the overall crops chances of survival in dry years. Spiny squash plants also help discourage predators from approaching the corn and beans. The large amount of crop residue from this planting combination can be incorporated back into the mound at the end of the season, to build up the organic matter in the soil and improve its structure.

Corn, beans and squash also complement each other nutritionally. Corn provides carbohydrates, the dried beans are rich in protein, balancing the lack of necessary amino acids found in corn. Finally, squash yields both vitamins from the fruit and healthful, delicious oil from the seeds.

(Excerpts taken from Renee's Garden)

How do you plant a three sister garden?

Proper positioning of the seeds is key to a successful garden.

1. In late May or early June, select a spot for your garden. Hoe the ground and create mounds of dirt.Flattend the centerof your mound .

2. In the center of the mound, plant five or six corn kernels in a small circle.

3. After a week or two, when the corn reaches approximately 5 inches, plant seven or eight pole beans in a circle about six inches away from the corn kernels.

4. A week later, at the edge of the mound about a foot away from the beans, plant seven or eight squash or pumpkin seeds.

5. When the plants begin to grow, weed out all but a few of the sturdiest of the corn plants. Keep the sturdiest of the bean and squash plants and weed out the weaker ones.

6. As the corn and beans grow, you want to make sure that the beans are supported by cornstalks, wrapping them around the corn. The squash will crawl out and between the corn and beans.

To learn more about this ancient Indian tradition you may want to visit the following website:

http://http//faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/teach/2003045238014436.html

http://http//horizon.nmsu.edu/kids/webquests/wqthreesisters_k.html

Buzzing with the Bees!

If you want to learn how to work hard and play nice with others you may want to consult a bee colony. Today I suited up in a bee keepers garb and got up close and personal with a colony of bees. I was not at all afraid. With smoker in hand, we uncovered the bee house and entered the incredible world of bee life. There is so much going on in that little house, with thousands of drones tending to the Queen, new bees coming to life, honey being produced- it's incredible. If you are interested in learning more about bee colonies click on the following link.

http://http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSk_ev1eZec

Here are some facts about honey you may not have known before:

1. Honey has an antiseptic quality, so the next time you cut yourself don't run to the medicine cabinet, run to the kitchen instead. Smear a little honey on top of the abrasion and relief will soon follow.

2.If you have allergies, honey can be beneficial and if you eat honey that is local to your area, it may prevent your seasonal allergies. Bees use the pollen from local plants and eventually it ends up in your honey.

3. If your throat is sore, eat a little honey.

4. Want to wash and moisturize your face, use honey instead of Alpha hydroxy. It is great for sensitive skin.

5. There is evidence that honey diluted in water will help with your stomachaches and dehydration.

6. Burns, too, heal better with honey, studies show. The advantage of honey is that it not only prevents infections from occurring, it actually accelerates skin healing.

7. Honey may also be effective in the treatment of your ulcers. In Europe, honey has been used internally to help cure ulcers, particularly stomach ulcers.

Interested in it's nutritional properties?

Honey is composed of sugars like glucose and fructose and minerals like magnesium, potassium, calcium, sodium chlorine, sulphur, iron and phosphate. It contains vitamins B1, B2, C, B6, B5 and B3 all of which change according to the qualities of the nectar and pollen. Besides the above, copper, iodine, and zinc exist in it in small quantities. Several kinds of hormones are also present in it.

My recommendation to you is to visit one of your local farmers markets or produce stands and pick up a jar of local honey. It will serve you in so many ways. And remember honey never goes bad. If you have a jar tucked way back in one of your kitchen cupboards and it has become solid- no problem. Place the jar, lid removed, in your microwave and heat for 40 seconds or until honey has returned to a liquid state.

If you want a really exciting experience this summer, visit a local honey bee keeper and ask if you can suit up and visit with the bees. You won't regret it!