Basil - This special herb adds incredible opportunity for anyone looking for new opportunities in the kitchen.  Add it to virtually anything with tomatoes, and the combination is unbeatable.  It is very popular for its use in making pesto, and has been an anchor of Italian cuisine since the Roman days. You can use basil as a bruschetta topping on your favorite toasted breads, spread it on cooked meats, use it in your favorite spaghetti sauce, or even in soups. For variety, throw some in your fresh salad.  The combination of this savory, aromatic herb with our garden fresh tomatoes will make your mouth water.  Want to try to make pesto?  You'll be glad you did....

Beans - Our green beans are hand selected for just the right size to maximize tenderness and quality.  Slice them just right and be sure not to overcook...you won't believe the flavor.  Make sure to let us know if you need , as these will freeze or can wonderfully.  We have been growing this special variety for over 20 years, and just can't find any variety better or as consistent as this one.  It's tried and true, and guaranteed to please.  Here's a link that shows you how to can green beans http://www.pickyourown.org/pdfs/canninggreenbeans.pdf , an excellent guide! 

Beets - You can get them here.  The tops are an excellent source of vitamin A, and the beet itself is an excellent source for vitamin C.  Pickle them for salads, cook them whole, cut and slice any way you wish.  If you are really brave, throw one in your juicer, and if you don't like beets that much, camouflage the flavor with sweet apples and carrots.  These babies are extremely healthy for you,  rich in folate and natural red pigments which may be cancer fighters.  They are also high in fiber, beta-carotene, potassium, magnesium, iron, and calcium.  Beets are believed to help promote a healthy digestive tract.  Most people prefer to steam beets, just make sure not to overdo it.  Lightly peel the beet, cut into 1/4" slices and steam for about 8 minutes or until they become tender.  Who knows, maybe you can trick your children into liking them if you prepare them just so...

Broccoli - Did you know broccoli has as much calcium as milk?  It is a great source of vitamins A & C, potassium, iron, folacin, and fiber, and is highly recognized for its anti-cancer nutrients.  Steaming is the best way to prepare it, much better than boiling.  By steaming you retain much more of the vitamins and minerals. I'm just happy that after 25 years I can finally spell it right.























Cauliflower - This vegetable is also considered among many to be a potential cancer fighter.  Cauliflower is a member of the 'white' family in terms of fruits and vegetables. Included in this group are other natural foods such as bananas, mushrooms, onions, and garlic. Cauliflower contains allicin, which can improve heart health and reduce the risk of strokes, and selenium, a chemical that works well with Vitamin C to strengthen the immune system. Cauliflower can also help to maintain a healthy cholesterol level.

Folate is also found in cauliflower, which is a B vitamin that is needed for cell growth and replication. For this reason, it is often recommended that women who are pregnant or may become pregnant eat significant amounts of cauliflower in order to help their unborn children develop properly.

Of course, cauliflower is an excellent source of fiber, which helps to improve colon health and can even help prevent cancer. And, most recently, it has been discovered that cauliflower, as well as other cruciferous vegetables, such as brussel sprouts and cabbage, contain indole-3-carbinol, a substance that can affect the metabolism of estrogen in the body, and prevent breast and other female cancers.   Don't forget, it is loaded with vitamin C!

Cabbage - Cabbage, oh wonderful cabbage.  I remember as a child, trying to slip some of a cabbage dish unnoticed to the dog who was waiting under the dinner table.  The idea being to palm it off on the dog, and make it look like I had eaten the cabbage all by my own self.  It worked, wonderfully, until the dog began to gag in the other room and I got caught.  Even the dog didn't like it, so I didn't feel too bad. Now however, years later, I have learned to absolutely love it in our home made cole slaw and other salads.  Rich in nutrition and fiber, cabbage is an absolutely phenomenal source of Vitamin C. Even more impressive is that cabbage is famous for a specialized, naturally occurring, nitrogenous compound known as indoles. Current research indicates that indoles can lower the risk of various forms of cancer.  Cabbage is relatively cheap yet one of the richest when it comes to protective vitamins. Talk about the original weight loss food! One cup of cabbage contains only around 15 calories.  

Cabbage is rich in the following nutrients:

Vitamin A: responsible for the protection of your skin and eyes.

Vitamin C: an all important anti-oxidant and helps the mitochondria to burn fat.

Vitamin E: a fat soluble anti-oxidant which plays a role in skin integrity.

Vitamin B: helps maintain integrity of nerve endings and boosts energy metabolism.

Modern science has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the health benefits and therapeutic value of cabbage, which also plays a role in the inhibition of infections and ulcers. Cabbage extracts have been proven to kill certain viruses and bacteria in the laboratory setting. Cabbage boosts the immune system's ability to produce more antibodies. Cabbage provides high levels of iron and sulphur, minerals that work in part as cleansing agents for the digestive system.

So, believe it or not, it is really, really good for you.

Cucumber - Our slicers are sweet, crisp, and  a wonderful addition to any salad.  You'll know a fresh cucumber when you get one...the blossom end isn't soft, and it won't be bitter to the taste.  The farmer's favorite...ever since I was  a small boy we'd take a jar of mayonnaise out into the field and pick fresh slicing cucumbers, peel them on the spot, and slather them with mayonnaise.  Unbelieveable... even thinking about it makes it difficult to wait for one of those cucumbers.  A good cucumber, like a good tomato, often will make or break a salad or sandwich.  Our variety is selected for its flavor, crispness, and value...often they grow in excess of 12" and still retain their flavor and quality.  Note this from WH Foods...

Health Benefits

The flesh of cucumbers is primarily composed of water but also contains ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and caffeic acid, both of which help soothe skin irritations and reduce swelling. A cucumber's skin is rich in fiber and contains a variety of beneficial minerals including silica, potassium and magnesium.

A Radiant Complexion

The silica in cucumber is an essential component of healthy connective tissue, which includes muscles, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, and bone. Cucumber juice is often recommended as a source of silica to improve the complexion and health of the skin, plus cucumber's high water content makes it naturally hydrating—a must for glowing skin. Cucumbers are also used topically for various types of skin problems, including swelling under the eyes and sunburn. Two compounds in cucumbers, ascorbic acid and caffeic acid, prevent water retention, which may explain why cucumbers applied topically are often helpful for swollen eyes, burns and dermatitis.

An Easy Way to Increase Your Consumption of Both Fiber and Water

Trying to get adequate dietary fiber on a daily basis is a challenge for many Americans. Adding a crunchy cool cucumber to your salads is an especially good way to increase your fiber intake because cucumber comes naturally prepackaged with the extra fluid you need when consuming more fiber. Plus, you get the added bonus of vitamin C, silica, potassium and magnesium.

Dill - Dill is yet another wonderful, versatile herb.  It is commonly used in making pickling cucumbers, but is also widely used in various culinary applications.  Season white meats, such as pork, poultry and fish, with dill. Yogurt or mayonnaise seasoned with dill and Dijon mustard make a good seasoning for fish. It also complements some vegetables such as onions, cauliflower, spinach, cucumbers and carrots.  You can grind the seeds or use them whole in many types of dishes.  It also smells really, really good!

Eggplant -What in the world to do with an eggplant?  Eggplant is quite versatile. Bread it and fry it, sauce it, bake it, make a dip from it. Check out these eggplant recipes... Also, note the following  from WH Foods...In addition to featuring a host of vitamins and minerals, eggplant also contains important phytonutrients, many which have antioxidant activity. Phytonutrients contained in eggplant include phenolic compounds, such caffeic and chlorogenic acid, and flavonoids, such as nasunin.

Brain Food

Research on eggplant has focused on an anthocyanin phytonutrient found in eggplant skin called nasunin. Nasunin is a potent antioxidant and free radical scavenger that has been shown to protect cell membranes from damage. In animal studies, nasunin has been found to protect the lipids (fats) in brain cell membranes. Cell membranes are almost entirely composed of lipids and are responsible for protecting the cell from free radicals, letting nutrients in and wastes out, and receiving instructions from messenger molecules that tell the cell which activities it should perform.

Cardiovascular Health and Free Radical Protection

When laboratory animals with high cholesterol were given eggplant juice, their blood cholesterol, the cholesterol in their artery walls and the cholesterol in their aortas (the aorta is the artery that returns blood from the heart back into circulation into the body) was significantly reduced, while the walls of their blood vessels relaxed, improving blood flow. These positive effects were likely due not only to nasunin but also to several other terpene phytonutrients in eggplant.

Nasunin is not only a potent free-radical scavenger, but is also an iron chelator. Although iron is an essential nutrient and is necessary for oxygen transport, normal immune function and collagen synthesis, too much iron is not a good thing. Excess iron increases free radical production and is associated with an increased risk of heart disease and cancer. Menstruating women, who lose iron every month in their menstrual flow, are unlikely to be at risk, but in postmenopausal women and men, iron, which is not easily excreted, can accumulate. By chelating iron, nasunin lessens free radical formation with numerous beneficial results, including protecting blood cholesterol (which is also a type of lipid or fat) from peroxidation; preventing cellular damage that can promote cancer; and lessening free radical damage in joints, which is a primary factor in rheumatoid arthritis.

Onions - 25 years of playing around with onions has led us to this...Large, softball sized onions, as sweet as can be, enough to make anyone proud.  State fair show quality is our goal with these alliums, and with any luck they should be on your dinner table by mid-August.  They are awesome on hamburgers, great in soups, and sometimes people just plain eat them raw, claiming they can be eaten just like an apple.  Personally, if I want an apple I'd eat an apple, but nonetheless their enthusiasm is much appreciated!

Note the following  from WH Foods...

Health Benefits

Onions, like garlic, are members of the Allium family, and both are rich in powerful sulfur-containing compounds that are responsible for their pungent odors and for many of their health-promoting effects. Onions contain allyl propyl disulphide, while garlic is rich in allicin, diallyl disulphide, diallyl trisulfide and others. In addition, onions are very rich in chromium, a trace mineral that helps cells respond to insulin, plus vitamin C, and numerous flavonoids, most notably, quercitin.

Blood Sugar-Lowering Effects

The higher the intake of onion, the lower the level of glucose found during oral or intravenous glucose tolerance tests. Experimental and clinical evidence suggests that allyl propyl disulfide is responsible for this effect and lowers blood sugar levels by increasing the amount of free insulin available. Allyl propyl disulfide does this by competing with insulin, which is also a disulphide, to occupy the sites in the liver where insulin is inactivated. This results is an increase in the amount of insulin available to usher glucose into cells causing a lowering of blood sugar.

In addition, onions are a very good source of chromium, the mineral component in glucose tolerance factor, a molecule that helps cells respond appropriately to insulin. Clinical studies of diabetics have shown that chromium can decrease fasting blood glucose levels, improve glucose tolerance, lower insulin levels, and decrease total cholesterol and triglyceride levels, while increasing good HDL-cholesterol levels. Marginal chromium deficiency is common in the United States, not surprising since chromium levels are depleted by the consumption refined sugars and white flour products as well as the lack of exercise. One cup of raw onion contains over 20% of the Daily Value for this important trace mineral.

Cardiovascular Benefits

The regular consumption of onions has, like garlic, been shown to lower high cholesterol levels and high blood pressure, both of which help prevent atherosclerosis and diabetic heart disease, and reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke. These beneficial effects are likely due to onions' sulfur compounds, its chromium and its vitamin B6, which helps prevent heart disease by lowering high homocysteine levels, another significant risk factor for heart attack and stroke.

Support Gastrointestinal Health

The regular consumption of onions, as little as two or more times per week, is associated with a significantly reduced risk of developing colon cancer. Onions contain a number of flavonoids, the most studied of which, quercitin, has been shown to halt the growth of tumors in animals and to protect colon cells from the damaging effects of certain cancer-causing substances. Cooking meats with onions may help reduce the amount of carcinogens produced when meat is cooked using high heat methods.

Anti-Inflammatory and Anti-Bacterial Activity

Several anti-inflammatory agents in onions render them helpful in reducing the severity of symptoms associated with inflammatory conditions such as the pain and swelling of osteo- and rheumatoid arthritis, the allergic inflammatory response of asthma, and the respiratory congestion associated with the common cold. Both onions and garlic contain compounds that inhibit lipoxygenase and cyclooxygenase (the enzymes that generate inflammatory prostaglandins and thromboxanes), thus markedly reducing inflammation. Onions' anti-inflammatory effects are due not only to their vitamin C and quercitin, but to other active components called isothiocyanates. These compounds work synergistically to spell relief from inflammation. In addition, quercitin and other flavonoids found in onions work with vitamin C to help kill harmful bacteria, making onions an especially good addition to soups and stews during cold and flu season.

Pepper - This year's plans include a nice sized planting of green bell peppers, with some varieties that turn a nice, deep red. 


Pickling Cucumber

Summer Squash - This year's plans include 4 varieties of summer squash...yellow and green zucchini, summer yellow, peter pan, and summer gold.  All are wonderful in a stir fry, or slightly basted with olive oil and lightly sauteed.  Summer squash is very healthy, containing loads of magnesium, vitamin A, dietary fiber, potassium, copper, folate, and phosphorous.  It also is  a good source of omega - 3 fatty acids, vitamin B1, B2, B6, calcium, zinc, niacin, and protein.  Whew!  I'm convinced.  WH Foods says the following about summer squash...

Many of these nutrients have been shown in studies to be helpful for the prevention of atherosclerosis and diabetic heart disease. Summer squash's magnesium has been shown to be helpful for reducing the risk of heart attack and stroke. Together with the potassium in summer squash, magnesium is also helpful for reducing high blood pressure. The vitamin C and beta-carotene found in summer squash can help to prevent the oxidation of cholesterol. Since oxidized cholesterol is the type that builds up in blood vessel walls, these nutrients may help to reduce the progression of atherosclerosis. The vitamin folate found in summer squash are needed by the body to break down a dangerous metabolic byproduct called homocysteine, which can contribute to heart attack and stroke risk if levels get too high. Finally, summer squash's fiber has been shown to lower high cholesterol levels, which can help to reduce the risk of atherosclerosis and diabetic heart disease.

A Disease-Fighting Food

The nutrients in summer squash are useful for the prevention of other conditions as well. High intakes of fiber-rich foods help to keep cancer-causing toxins away from cells in the colon, while the folate, vitamin C, and beta-carotene help to protect these cells from the chemicals that can lead to colon cancer. The antioxidants vitamin C and beta-carotene also have anti-inflammatory properties that make them helpful for conditions like asthma, osteoarthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis, where inflammation plays a big role. The copper found in summer squash is also helpful for reducing the painful symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis.

Sweet Potatoes - I never, ever thought I'd enjoy a sweet potato.  Too many early memories of family get togethers, with all the relatives pinching my cheeks and telling me how good sweet potatoes taste.  Yuk.  However, as with many things, time changes tastes.  I have found a way to enjoy sweet potatoes that even kids will love...see THE FARMER'S SWEET POTATO RECIPE. I know they are healthy...Ok, here we go... They are an excellent source of vitamins A & C, manganese, dietary fiber, potassium and iron. Obviously, they are loaded with antioxidants. The intensity of the sweet potato's yellow or orange flesh color is directly correlated to its beta-carotene content. The beta-carotene in orange-fleshed sweet potato, which our bodies can use to produce vitamin A and is therefore called "Provitamin A," has been reported to be more bioavailable than that from dark green leafy vegetables.  Interestingly, the antioxidant activity in sweet potato skin, regardless of its color, is almost three times higher than in the rest of the tissue. Trust me, if you don't like them cooked in the traditional way, the Farmer's Sweet Potato Recipe will leave you reeling with delight.  They tend to come on fairly late in the season, so keep your fingers crossed for us as they make a fantastic addition to any cuisine. 

Tomatoes

Sugar Pod Peas

Zucchini - Zucchini makes wonderful baked bread or muffins; try mixing it with blueberries, lemon, nuts, raisins, or coconut. It can be sliced and used like eggplant in casserole or eggplant Parmesan, sautéed with Vidalia onions, or grilled on skewers. Once grilled, it makes a nice addition to cold pasta salad or green salads. Zucchini can also be eaten raw or used to make a relish for chicken or fish by combining chopped zucchini with onion, red pepper, fresh basil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. You can stuff zucchini like you would tomatoes or green peppers, or bake slices like homemade potato chips. It can even be used in slaws, dips, or salsa. Summer squash can be used in many of the same ways as zucchini, and it tastes great whether grilled, sautéed, or baked.  Farmer's tip... Slice it to 1/8" thickness, lightly cover it in olive oil, season to your taste, and just cook it enough so that it is only slightly crisp.  Wonderful?