Closing out Music on the Porch with Zedeco Music

Hi all!

As you all know, tonight is the last Music on the Porch event of the season. My folks are in town visiting and will be dancing to good zydeco music I'm sure. Ben is still ironing out some kinks in the online produce store and once it's all in order, we'll post a new blog and send out an e-mail with all the details. We will continue to have a weekly offering of good produce for those of you interested in getting your fresh veggies close to home.

It's been great sharing a few months of Fridays with every one of you. Thank you for all your kind works, support, ideas, and conversation.

We'll see you in a few - until then, here's the produce list for this week:

Red and green leaf lettuce
Swiss chard
Turnips and greens
Green onions
Bok choi
Tatsoi
Radishes
Broccoli
Kale
Collards
Mustard greens
Beets
Chinese cabbage
Mixed greens
Hot peppers
Cherry tomatoes
Roma tomatoes

As usual, thanks for stopping by. We hope to see you this evening! Come out and see:

It's not easy being green...Greens, greens and more greens! YUM

Hi all! It's another beautiful Friday in October. We're looking forward to the next two Music on the Porch Friday's, but we are sad that it will be over so soon. It's been an awesome season and we're so thankful we talked to Guy way back in August and were provided this awesome opportunity to offer ya'll vegetables every Friday. Guy, Will, Wei, and all of you have made this such an awesome experience. Thank you so much for your support, your questions, conversations, and company! As Ben stated in our last blog, we are working on getting an online store up and running so that hopefully there will be no break in your ability to get fresh veggies close to home. We live on Sasser Street and will have a weekly pickup outside our home for anyone that's interested.

Until then, of course, we will be coming to the last two events. Today we will offer the following produce items:

- Lettuce (summer crisp and bib)
- Swiss chard
- Green onions
- Chinese cabbage
- Tatsoi
- Bok choi
- Mixed greens
- Radishes
- Kale
- Collards
- Turnips and greens
- Mustard greens
- Broccoli
- Black cherry tomatoes
- Roma tomatoes
- Sweet potatoes

We've been eating gorgeous salads with all the stuff listed above and we've also been eating the heck out of greens. It might not be easy being green, but it sure is easy to eat those yummy and nutritious greens.



This is how we like to cook our greens (collards, turnips, kale and more):
1) Start by peeling and chopping garlic and onions and browning them on medium heat in olive oil (Ben likes to use bacon fat) in the pan (i like big honkin chunks of garlic and onion - when Ben makes his greens, the pieces are usually smaller - cut these to taste).
2) Add about one cup of water to the garlic and onions. this is when you add your seasonings. I like to use vegetable/vegetarian bullion (a half piece or a whole piece depending on how many greens I'm making), a little bit of crushed red pepper, and just a small shot of Bragg's (or low sodium soy sauce, if we're out of Bragg's).
3) Rinse your greens and start tearing them up in whatever size pieces you like and put them in the pan as you do. I do this fairly quickly and haphazardly. Sometimes I include parts of the stalk if they're not woody. If they're woody, leave them out. I also like to add a splash of vinegar. You could substitute this for a vinegar based hot sauce if you like spicy foods. Cook the greens until they are wilted and voila, you have delicious greens to eat with rice, on the side with burgers, with shrimps and cheesy grits, and almost anything else really :0).

Thanks for stopping by!

Season of Change & 10/16 Produce List!

This photograph here is our lettuce patch on the farm. We've been busy and not slowing down! Strawberries are being transplanted for next spring and we are going strong with our fall & winter crops. Lots of greens, beets and carrots are sprouting and growing in time for winter harvest.

BIG NEWS!!! We will launch our online farm stand come early November after Music on the Porch is over for the season. Each week you will be able to purchase produce by the item via your virtual shopping cart and pick it up at our house in Mordecai during set hours one day a week! We have yet to work the details but we will let you know as soon as possible. !

So, here's the list of the produce that will be available at Ben's Produce Friday October 16th:

Lettuce (red & green summer crisp, you won't find it in stores!)
Baby greens salad mix - baby arugula, baby tatsoi, baby mizuna (has a mild peppery flavor)
Swiss chard
Totsoi
Collards
Kale
Chinese cabbage
Turnips & turnip greens
Green onions
Radishes
Sweet peppers
Hot peppers
Sweet potatoes
MAYBE black cherry tomatoes :0)

As usual, thanks for stopping by. We hope to see you tomorrow at Music on the Porch.

Back from Massachusetts and the 10/09/09 Produce List

That's a picture of the beach on the Cape. We're back from beautiful Massachusetts and back in good ol' North Carolina! The wedding was gorgeous. The whole weekend was a blast! We had good times with friends and family and ate lots of really good food (I had TWO lobsters!!!). We're sorry to have missed last week, but we'll be back from here on out :0).

So, here's the list of the produce that will be available at Ben's Produce Friday October 9th:

Lettuce (summer crisp and bib)
Swiss chard
Totsoi
Bok choi
Kale
Chinese cabbage
Turnip greens
Baby turnips
Asian and Italian eggplant
Sweet peppers
Spicy peppers
MAYBE radishes and black cherry tomatoes :0)

As usual, thanks for stopping by. We hope to see you tomorrow at Music on the Porch.

Ben and Patricia

The Produce List 9/25/09 and we're going to a wedding next week (so, sadly, no stand)

Hi all! Today I went with Ben to Double-T farm to help him tie tomatoes and pick some of our produce for this afternoon. I'm currently working on a couple papers on farming, I thought it would be nice to actually get out on the farm for some inspiration. While I was there, I took a few pictures to share with ya'll.

But, before we get to those, I did want to let you know that Ben and I will not be setting up the produce stand next week. We're going to Massachusetts to see Ben's family as well as to go to his cousin's wedding. We're super pumped about the trip, but we're also sad to miss out on one of our Fridays. Music on the Porch is such a fabulous routine, I know it will feel strange to miss it...but we'll be back the following weeks for sure :0).

Okay, here's the list of produce we'll be offering this evening at Music on the Porch:

Bok choi*
Tatsoi*
Swiss chard*
Red Russian kale*
Basil
Eggplant (Asian and Italian)
Okra
Cubanelle peppers (sweet)
Bell peppers (sweet - multi-colored)
Anaheim Chiles (spicy)
Poblanos (spicy)
Watermelon (sugar babies)
Sun jewel melons (Asian melons)

Okay - now, for the pictures:

lettuce on the farm

the veggie cart full of the stuff we picked this morning - getting ready to be washed

ben, through the tomatoes (the one's we tied up today)
these are black cherry tomatoes - they taste kind of like cherry versions of cherokee purples (yum!)

i love okra flowers!

more gorgeous lettuce on the farm

this was first thing this morning - headed to the field to pick produce for this evening

eggplant flowers are pretty beautiful too!

ben making the supports for tying tomatoes

washing the veggies

tatsoi and bok choi

Thanks for stopping by! See you soon :0).

Yummy Ideas

A couple of you shared some ideas and recipes for our produce. I figured I'd find those recipes online and share with everyone else. Thanks for the good ideas!

Wondering what to do with your acorn squash?
Here's one recipe from Cooking Light (http://lowfatcooking.about.com/od/vegetablesandvegetarian/r/acornsquashring.htm):

These acorn squash rings make a great side dish for your Thanksgiving table or for any fall or winter dinner. They're attractive to look at and delicious to eat.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:

* 2 acorn squash
* 1/4 cup maple syrup
* 1/4 cup orange marmalade
* 1 tsp ground ginger

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Slice top and bottom from each squash and discard ends. Carefully slice each acorn squash into four rings, making eight rings in all.

Spray a large cookie sheet with cooking spray. Lay rings on cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes.

Combine maple syrup, marmalade and ginger in a small bowl.

Remove squash rings from oven and brush with maple syrup mixture. Return to oven and bake for another 15 minutes. Remove from oven and brush with glaze once again. Bake for 10 minutes, or until tender.

Serves 4

Per Serving: Calories 211, Calories from Fat 2, Total Fat 0.2g (sat 0g), Cholesterol 0mg, Sodium 20mg, Carbohydrate 50.4g, Fiber 3.5g, Protein 1.9g

--> If you don't have maple syrup on hand, or just want to play with this recipe, I strongly suggest honey and cayenne pepper. The buttery goodness of the acorn squash combined with sweet local honey and the extra kick of cayenne is a taste explosion.

Grilled Okra!!!! I've never done this before, but will be making this tonight. Thanks for the idea (we don't have any sesame oil on hand, so we'll be using olive...):

Grilled Okra
Recipe by: Steven Raichlen, Cookbook Author
This recipe serves: 4

Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 5 mins
Ingredients

* 1 pound fresh okra
* 1 tablespoon dark (Asian style) sesame oil or extra virgin olive oil
* salt and pepper,to taste

Cooking Instructions

1. Preheat the grill to high.

2. Trim the tips off the stems of the okra, but do not cut into the pods. Lay 5 pieces of okra side by side in a neat row at the edge of a cutting board. Skewer crosswise with 2 bamboo skewers, one at the top, one at the bottom. Lightly brush the skewered okra with sesame oil and season with salt and pepper.

3. Grill the okra until tender and lightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes per side, turning once with a flat spatula. Serve the okra at once, letting each guest remove the skewers.
Nutrition Facts

* Serving Size:about 5 okra
* Amount Per Serving

* Calories69
* Protein2 g
* Total Carbohydrate9 g
* Dietary Fiber4 g
* Sugar3 g
* Total Fat3 g
* Saturated Fat0 g
* Monounsaturated Fat1 g
* Polyunsaturated Fat1 g
* Percent Calories from Fat42 %
* Percent Calories from Protein12 %
* Percent Calories from Carbohydrate46 %

WWW.FOODFIT.COM

The Produce List 9/18/09

Hi ya'll!

I hope everyone has had a great week so far. Is it just us, or does it seem like Fridays keep getting here faster and faster? Tomorrow will mark our 6th week at Music on the Porch. The season is slowly changing - you can almost feel fall in the air. It seems like things are a little more magical when the seasons are in transition. More magical and more hectic. Ben's been busy on the farm; I've been busy with school. We all have our busy lives to attend to. That's why I'm so glad we have Friday evenings to just take a breath and slow it down and soak it all in just a little more than we're able to during the week.

So, since things have been so busy, we don't have any photos to share with you from this week on the farm. This week, it's just the produce list (and a little wistful rambling from yours truly).

Produce Available Tomorrow:

Cubanelle peppers (sweet)

Various colors of bell peppers (sweet)

Anaheim chiles (spicy)

Pablano peppers (spicy)

Okra

Eggplant (Italian and Asian)

Acorn squash (winter squash)

Watermelon

Sun Jewel Melons

We're sad to say that there will not be any cucumbers, summer squash, or onions this week - but hopefully the okra, acorn squash, and melons will make up for that :0).

Oh, we may have tomatoes and basil...

Thanks for stopping by!

See you tomorrow.