What a week.
The good news this week was the rain on Saturday. Now again the soil is dry, but no matter. The rain on Saturday forced the newly seeded crops to jump, and did so much good for those that were struggling. I love, love, love going to bed at night and hearing the rain. It makes my sleep that much sounder...and makes my future so much brighter-it's true!
It's been a fun week too.
Over the last week, Maris my amazing (and I do mean that) farm intern has showed me the stuff he is made of.
"Want to try this pepper Maris, and tell me how hot it is?" "Sure" comes the answer.
I mean who does that? These are not jalapenos and scotch bonnets. These are stupid hot peppers.
Maris rates them on his own personal scale of 1-10.
His 4 is my 10.
Today-yahoo- a ripe and red Bhut Jolokia. No video cameras rolling, no pictures. Me and Maris standing in the field together as he took a good healthy bite. No timidity at all. I told him it was hot. 1,000,000 Scoville units hot.
The face went red, his forehead broke out in a sweat.
"That's pretty hot Linda, a 14."
Uh, oh. The Trinidadian Scorpion is still to come. That's a 2,000,000 Scoville unit pepper. Wonder where he'll rate that!
In sad, sad news I lost a duck this week to a four wheeled menace. It's so hard to believe and it makes me just want to scream at all the speeders, "Slow down!" If whoever hit him was going the speed limit this wouldn't have happened. I fully recognize he shouldn't have been on the road and I can't figure out why he was. RIP sweet boy.
CSA baskets today contained:
beans, beets, basil, onions, garlic, peppers, tomatoes, either zucchini, watermelon, ground cherries or eggplants, two mints ( licorice and oregano thyme) and likely something else I can't think of.
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| The Peter pepper |
Sorry if some of you got peppers that were a little odd in appearance-what do you think they look like? Not much left to the imagination with this one!
There are lots of peppers now. If hot peppers aren't your thing, best advise me now. I've got lots.
And don't forget to keep the basil lemonade pitcher topped up in the fridge. My friend Suzanne advises it is top notch with a swig of bourbon, although I haven't tried it.
As a little note on the side, please check the names on the baskets as you pick them up from the drop locations. We've had a few problems with people taking the wrong basket and it causes confusion. Thanks!
I am also selling a line of basil jellies, and will do a separate blog post on the available varieties.and this new area of business. Some varieties of the jellies are available at the St Catharines Market, Bamboo Natural Foods, Centro Market in Burlington and through me as well. As more produce comes along, more interesting preserves will be concocted by my business partner Leslie. She knows what she's doing!
Finally thanks to Kristen for sending along another recipe for me to use in the post this week. Anyone wishing to do the same, please do.
Ceci n'est pas Kimchi (translated means "This isn't Kimchi")
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 shallots, finely sliced
2 bird's eye chili, finely chopped
1 green chili, finely chopped
1 sweet pepper
handful carrots, julienned
1/2 cup unsalted cashews, coarsely chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
High heat until peppers soften
Deglaze with fish sauce
When alarming smell dissipates, add 1 cup water/stock
Add saffron, salt, soy sauce, sesame oil, and 2 tsp grated ginger
Bring to boil
Add finely shredded cabbage, cover and soften 5 minutes
Reduce heat, stir and simmer until all softened
Can be served with rice, noodles, soup, or eaten on its own.
2 comments:
Was it one of the three stooges? Sad news again. I feel for you.
Yes, one of my Indian Runners. So sad. Now the rest are in an enclosure..not the best life for them.
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