2015 Farm Share Week 14

Hello Everyone,

This week you will find in your shares:

Wed. August 26

• Tomatoes
• Sweet Peppers
• Hot Peppers (Poblano, Cayenne, Jalapeno and Habanero)
• Melons
• Baby Lettuce Mix

Vegetable Spotlight - Lettuce  

Nobody really knows where lettuce originated, but we do know it has been on the human menu at least since 800 BC.,when an Assyrian herbal listed it among the 250 plants growing in the gardens of King Merodach-Baladan in Babylon.  Herodotus wrote that the kings of Persia had lettuce on their tables about 550 BC and it was also being grown in Egypt.  At those times, lettuce did not form heads, but rather grew leaves on a tall stalk (much like the wild lettuce known as a “weed” found in our regions-Lactuca scariola).  The Romans cultivated a variety of lettuce that grew more “head like.”  This variety was not recognized till the 1st century AD.

Lettuce seems to be slow in reaching the far east, only in the 5th century do we see it mentioned in Chinese literature.  It was cultivated in French gardens, but water cress seemed to have been preferred as a salad green.

It appears to have enjoyed luxury status, being served at all the great medieval banquets.  By 1440 lettuce became quite popular in England, and in the 17th century, Louis XIV was quite fond of it.

Columbus is purportedly the one who introduced it to the New World, but not until after World War I, did Americans pay much attention to it.

2015 Farm Share Week 13

Hello Everyone,

This week you will find in your shares:

Wed. August 19 and Sat. 22

• Tomatoes
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Potato
• Dill
• Onions

Recipe Ideas

Crunchy Potatoes with Dill and Onion - 

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1108647/crunchy-potatoes-with-dill-and-onions

Tomato and Dill w/ Couscous -

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/tomato-dill-couscous-0

Vegetable Spotlight

Onion The onion is a lilly, sharing the same family with asparagus and the tulip. It belongs to the genus Allium. Other well know alliums include leeks, shallots, scallions and garlic. The french writer Dumay says “..the onion offers always, and especially in winter, a little of the springtime of the soil, preserved in it’s bulb.” I’d have to agree, here in Virginia onions are some the of earliest planted crops, taking much of the season to mature and then dry.

The origin of the onion remains a mystery, it way already being cultivated by prehistoric men when they were still in the collecting stage which preceded the pastoral and agricultural sages, then roots and bulbs were easy to gather, and the onion perhaps easier than most, since it gave itself away by its smell. Most authorities put it somewhere in Asia, but this is sometimes disputed.  The Code of Hammurabi (ancient Mesopotamia), stipulates that the needy shall receive a monthly ration of bread and onions. Onions were a staple for the poor, but also enjoyed by royalty. The king of Ur, Ur-Nammu(2100BC) had onions growing in his gardens. The ancient Egyptians were great onion eaters.

During the middle ages onions were a favorite food of the common people. They also appear in French feudal deeds more frequently than any other vegetable except garlic.  There were onions native to the North American continent, as witnessed by Spanish explorers, the onions we mainly eat today are from Eurasian decent.

2015 Farm Share Week 12

Hello Everyone,

This week you will find in your shares:

Wed. August 11 and Sat. August 14

• Tomatoes
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Peppers
• Dill
• Carrots
• New Zealand Spinach/Tetragonia (also known as: Botany Bay spinach, Cook's cabbage,kōkihi (in Māori),sea spinach, and tetragon. Its Australian names of warrigal greens and warrigal cabbage.)  Introduced to England by Captain Cook and his crew.

Recipe Ideas

> For New Zealand Spinach - http://chocolateandzucchini.com/recipes/pasta/pasta-with-tetragon-new-zealand-spinach-recipe/

> For Carrots and Dill - http://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/2014/04/roasted-carrots-with-dill/

2015 Farm Share Week 11

Hello Everyone,

This week you will find in your shares:

Wed. August 5 and Sat. August 7

• Tomatoes
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Peppers
• Bunching onions
• Basil
• Garlic

Recipe Ideas

- Bruschetta with Tomato and Basil
http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/bruschetta_with_tomato_and_basil/

- Tomato Mozzarella Salad

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/tomato-mozzarella-salad-2/

Vegetable Spotlight - Tomato

It’s place of origin is the lower Andes, what is today Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. Archeology has produced no information on its early history there, it’s speculated that pre-Columbian peruvians simply gathered the wild fruit in season and made no attempt to improve it. The most likely explanation for its spread to Italy was the theory that the Spaniards brought seeds to Spain, then passed them on to Naples, which was under Spanish rule in 1522. While the Spaniards accepted the new plant passively, the Italians on the other hand were quite aggressive about it. By the renaissance it had spread as far as Poland.

The rest of Europe distrusted the tomato as food for quite a while, as late as 1760 is was treated as more of an ornamental plant, even in America. It was regarded as poisonous by many early botanists, probably because it was recognized as a member of the family Solanaceae (Nightshades), which includes several toxic plants.

One of the first person to grow tomatoes in the U.S. was Thomas Jefferson, possibly getting his seeds from an Italian painter in Salem, Mass. His neighbors were afraid to taste them. By 1782 Jefferson said the plants were common in the private gardens of Virginians. And by the early 1800’s Americans seemed to have discovered the joy of a eating fresh, vine ripe tomato!