| May Descrptions
Sent: May 25, 2009
Spring was celebrated in style under the maples at Eigensinn Farm this weekend. Many of our chefs made creative use of the featured wild leeks and maple syrup. But in keeping with the spring theme, there was also plently of rhubarb, fiddleheads, and asparagus. It was great to see student chefs rubbing elbows with our celebrated chefs. Funds raised from this annual event will be donated to local food banks.
George Brown College at Eigensinn Farm Maple Syrup and Wild Leek Festival
Our spring ingredients will only be around for another week or two. New this week are Spruce Candles. These tender and aromatic tips can be served as a fascinating seasonal fresh herb; or they can be used to infuse into oil, honey or vinegar for use throughout the year. Morels, the queen of mushrooms, continue to make frequent appearances, thanks to our unusually wet spring. Sweet Cicely has beautiful fern-like leaves with a lovely licoricy flavour. It is reputed to reduce the need for sugar in rhubarb. The amazing Sweet Cicely Seed Pods will be coming soon. Tulip Chives (mislabeled as Garlic Chives in last weeks’ photo) are a terrific succulent version of this popular spring-time herb. Wild Leek (a.k.a. Ramp) bulbs are now fattening up to provide more flavour and substance to this jewel of spring. As the leaves begin to yellow, this is the best time to start pickling the bulbs for winter use. Green Garlic is not getting as plump as usual this year, but it continues to be packed with fresh garlic flavour. Welsh Onion Bulbs look like green onions, but they have a firmer texture and a somewhat more garlicy flavour. The delicious Welsh Onion Flowers will soon be available for yet another wonderful springtime vegetable. We now have some terrific over-wintered Spring Leeks. Some we harvested last week as regular leeks; others we left in the ground for marvellous succulent Leek Scapes. These should begin in a couple weeks. Due to the wet and frosty weather, asparagus has been a challenge this year. Green Asparagus is becoming even more delicious as the soil finally warms. Tri-Coloured Asparagus will be more tender as it grows more quickly. And our famous White Asparagus will finally be whiter and more available. We hope you can work some of these specialties into your sprngtime menus.
Sent May 18, 2009
With all the cool days, chilly nights, and cold rains, our favourite member of the lily family, Green Asparagus, is not popping out of the ground quickly enough to meet your demand. This slow growth does make it easier to cut the Tri-Colour Asparagus at just the right moment. But White Asparagus and Asparagettes are just not yet happening. Sorry. But there are other spring lilies now doing just fine. Consider incorporating some of these springtime treats into your menus.
Wild Leeks
Garlic Chives
Green Garlic
Welsh Onion
Members of the onion family are another branch of the lily family. Welsh Onion Bulbs look like green onions, but they have a firmer texture and a somewhat more garlicy flavour. Green Garlic also looks like green onions, but these have a strong garlic flavour. Tulip Chives are rare because they do not set seeds. (We started with one bulb 20 years ago; after many divisions we now have enough to sell.) Their succulent solid leaves with gentle chive flavour are absolutely wonderful. Wild Leeks (a.k.a. Ramps) also have a lovely delicate spring-time flavour. Last winter most of our overwintered Baby Leeks succumbed to all the freeze-thaw cycles. But last fall we experimented with overwintering some trial full-size leeks. These survived the winter and have been taking advantage of the extended cool spring to firm up from a winter beating. Their texture is still a little soft, but their flavour is divine. These Spring Leeks will only be available for a short time.
Flash: We just looked in our favourite abandoned apple orchard and found a few pounds of Morels. We will part with these gems for $25 per pound.
Sent: May 11, 2009
Spring is arriving slowly. This is actually nicer than last year when spring arrived very suddenly; resulting in all our Spring delicacies arriving at the same time. We still have good supplies of True Wild Dandelion, Welsh Onion Bulbs, Tulip Chives and Fiddleheads. Green Asparagus, Tri-Colour Asparagus, and Lovage Stalks are now starting. Next week we look forward to White Asparagus, Asparagettes, Wild Leeks, Green Garlic, and possibly some Morels.
To make room for our summer Heirloom Tomato plantings, we have had to pull out some of our greenhouse Spinach, Radishes and Turnips. So there will be shortages until the outside crops start in about ten days. We sincerely apologize for the temporary inconsistency. But we are sure you will appreciate having our tomatoes a few days earlier!
Our asparagus beds on the cover
Delicious Tri-Coloured spears
Asparagettes for garnishing
For more details about growing and harvesting asparagus, please see my article in the current issue of Edible Toronto. While you are at the site, take some time to look at past issues. Then view issues from your other favourite food cities by clicking Edible Communities. This could lead to some great ideas for our own food city. To support the good work edible Toronto is doing, this might be a good publication to place some of your advertising dollars.
Sent May 4, 2009
With Mother’s Day coming up, this is the time to present Edible Flowers on her plates. They can appear beside appetizers, in salads, with main courses, and of course upon desserts. In our greenhouses it is now “early summer” with many blossoms at their peak. There are now good supplies of most varieties so we should be able to provide you with customs trays.
Twinkle Phlox are ready to bring a smile to any mother’s face.
You can of course request our always available Edible Flower Mix. For something more unique, these are now sufficiently plentiful for special orders:
· Nasturtiums - red to yellow blossoms with a gentle black pepper bite
· Gem Marigolds - small orange blossoms with a heavenly orange peel aroma
· Phlox - 5-pointed stars in purple to red shades with no flavour
· Schizanthus - mini-orchid-like blossoms with a slight tart bite
· Violas - small pansies in blues, reds and yellows with refreshing pepsin flavour
· Bachelor Buttons - blue to pink petals with many delicate frosted petals
Spring is coming, albeit not as quickly as last year. We will keep you updated as crops become available. True Wild Dandelions are now plentiful, but when individual plants come into flower we cease harvesting the leaves because they become too bitter. After the flowers are finished, we can again harvest these wonderfully aromatic leaves until the temperatures become really hot. Welsh Onions (which are actually True Asian Scallions) are now ready for wonderful garlicky “green onions”.
Next week we hope the outside Green Garlic has sufficiently sized up for harvest; and the much-anticipated Asparagus has begun to poke through the ground. Unfortunately the greenhouse radishes are finishing early, and the outside radishes are running a little late. So there will be some shortages. Sorry.
Celebrate Spring
From the Early Spring Beds
Summer birds have been returning extra early this year. This must have been the harbinger of the summery weather that surprised us in late April. It was so warm I could even have a record early enjoyable swim in our pond on April 24! The early garden vegetables wasted no time in popping out of the ground. We only hope that late frosts (which are sure to come) do not scar their leaves too much.
True Wild Dandelions have a perfumy aroma lacking in Chicory leaves, which so often masquerade as true dandelion. Our over-wintered Baby Leeks failed to survive through the three “springs” (three full snow melts) they had to endure last winter. But we do have plenty of Welsh Onion Bulbs that look similar but also have wonderful garlicky notes.
Now ready for harvest in our spring herb beds are amazing (celery-like) Lovage Stalks and (licoricy) Sweet Cicely Leaves. German Tulip Chives have sweet succulent leaves that are an intriguing alternative to the common hollow-leaved chives. You may even consider blending them into a quick “pesto”.
We hear again and again that both our Green Asparagus and White Asparagus compare with the best in Paris. Thank You. To help meet your demand, we have just planted more this year; but it will take another five years before they reach full production.
With global warming making spring weather more fickle than ever, we have decided to no longer attempt a regular supply of Wild Onions and Fiddleheads. For twenty years we have been attempting to sustainably harvest Wild Ginger. But we now sense we have been taking too much; so we will now take a three year hiatus.
From Our Spring Greenhouses
Though a few Spring vegetables are growing outside, we must continue to rely on the greenhouses until June. Baby Salad Greens continue to be our main spring greenhouse crop. With longer days and more sunshine, colours and flavours and textures are becoming evermore intense. You may even consider serving the salad with no dressing (or at least with a little dressing in a small side-bowl).
Our new Seedling Salad provides a delicious alternative to leafy salads. A little can go a very long way. Alternatively, all our seedlings remain available as single varieties.
Now that the sun has some heat, our Edible Flower Mix (with viola, bachelor button, gem marigold, phlox, dianthus, nasturtium, and borage blossoms) are blooming prolifically. Edible Flower Petals are a labour-saving way to enjoy the delicate presentation flowers can bring. What happier garnish for spring presentations is there? Also consider our Mixed Garnishing Leaves, which are a blend of attractive and luscious herbs. Fava Bean Shoots have lovely tender, buttery fava flavour that is a great spring addition to salads or cooked into sauces. Nasturtium Leaves have a great black peppery flavour that makes a fine alternative to ubiquitous watercress. White and green variegated leaves look totally stunning. Nasturtium Blossoms come in bright reds, oranges and yellows packed lovely peppery flavour.
Now coming from the Greenhouses are springtime French Breakfast Radishes. Of course you don’t have to limit yourself to enjoying these gems only for breakfast. They look oh so elegant when presented with their fresh green leaves attached. Fresh Red Icicle Radishes are a very convenient shape for this ever-popular crunchy vegetable. Easter Egg Radishes are not intricately painted, but small orbs in an assortment of pastel pinks and purples along with various hues of red and white. Baby White Turnips with delightfully delectable green leaves are now at their springtime best. Try steaming turnips and radishes together, with their leaves standing up. WOW.
Spring is in the Air
An Early Spring means a Long Spring!
The first hint of spring is the True Dandelion Leaves (which are so much more aromatic than the Italian Chicory that masquerades as “dandelion”. Wild Leeks (a.k.a. Ramps) start very slender, but in a couple weeks the bulbs swell up for their most intense flavour. (As soon as the Maple leaves above them open, they quickly decompose and peacefully rest until next spring.) Then comes the classic indicator of Spring, Fiddleheads. (We meticulously harvest from loamy rather than sandy soils for richer flavour and to avoid trapped sand particles.) Then the Asparagus starts sprouting. (For a most attractive and unique presentation we harvest them a few hours after they have broken through the soil.) Bi Coloured Asparagus gives the best of both sweet green and bitter white styles. A little later the slender garnishing branches we call Asparagettes start coming. About the time dandelions begin to flower, the elusive Morels begin sprouting from their secret hideaways.
Baby Leeks, Welsh Onions, and Red/Green Onions are all unctuous variations on the Spring-Time Lily theme. Spring is also the finest time for pure White Turnips, red/white Breakfast Radishes, purple/pink Easter-Egg Radishes, and long Red Icicle Radishes. And of course Spring says tender, easy-to-use aromatic Mint Tips (either aromatic “chocolate” or our unique “spearmint/peppermint” cross), and small packets of baby Chervil Leaves. Refreshingly tart Sorrel Leaves are always available for the most refreshing hot-weather sauces and soups.
Colourful Rainbow of Chards and creamy Bloomsdale Spinach begin another summer of customer-friendly leafy greens. Hot Leaves are hot this year. The unique Hot Mizuna and Fordhook Mustard should be plentiful now that we plenty of room in the fields for growing enough. We also have lovely blends of various shapes of Baby Arugulas and Baby Cresses. Both work well as salads or as garnishes.
Spring also says flowers! Our mix of small (i.e. very usable) Edible Flowers and Edible Petals (i.e. extra easy-to-use) will remain steadily available throughout the summer. What an easy way to make stunning garnishes!
Delicacies from Our Root Cellar
Most of our chefs are very happy to know how well our root vegetables are keeping. Some of this has to do with the excellent growing season last year. It also has to do with good timing so most of our harvest was in cool November. But most of it has to do with getting our soils both minerally balanced and biologically active.
Fingerling, Ratte, and Roseval Potatoes are all keeping very well and should make it through the summer just fine. Think memorable Potato Salads! SP2 Frying Potatoes came about from many chefs’ complaints about their frying potatoes being too wet (making them greasy) and too sweet (making them burn). A friend is growing organic potatoes for a Potato Chip producer in Mississauga. He let you try a few varieties and everyone selected this one for their fancy chips and soufflé potatoes. (Maybe next year there will be a name for this experimental new variety from Cornell University.)
Red, Purple, Black, and Yellow Carrots are still rich and sweet (raw or cooked) for a few more weeks. Also the Red Valentine, Green Flesh, and Black Skin Radish remain absolutely gorgeous and delectable either raw, pickled or grilled. Our large and easy-to-peel Jerusalem Artichokes are great as a Summer Pickle. For more delicate flavours, make use of the Tuberous Chervil Root, Large White Salsify, and Long White Leeks.
And Starting to Move Outside
Our ever-popular and best-selling Baby Salad Greens are moving outside. May and June provide the tenderest and sweetest mix. (If your guests need a Guide to help them enjoy, provide them with one of our Watercolour Posters.)
And please don’t forget the stunning presentations, tastes and aromas you can obtain from just a splash of our many beautiful Seedlings and Garnishing Leaves.
Spring is in the air!
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