So, if you have never heard of Slow Food USA, I encourage you to look into it. One of their programs is the Ark of Taste. They find foods that have a distinctive flavor of some cultural significance that was lost or near lost and support growers and producers of those food products. During the summer, we grew the Moon & Stars variety of watermelon, which is one of the Ark fruits. We had several customers inform us that although they weren't extremely sweet, they were very good down to the rind. I have to agree. even when eaten prematurely, they were very tasty. This fall/winter/spring we will be growing three new Ark of Taste crops: Speckled Lettuce, Amish Deer Tongue Lettuce and Inchelium Red Garlic. Personally, I've never tried any of these, so it will be a new experience for me. I can't vouch for the flavor yet, but we're doing everything we can to get our soil prepared to grow the best tasting and most nutritious food that we can. Hope you enjoy!
p.s. - It's not too late for special request produce!!!
8 comments:
Hey Tom...
There are so many lettuces I have grown...any and all lettuces taste much better fresh from the garden! Even if stored it in the fridge for a day after picking from your garden....it loses flavor.
So, much better off growing your own lettuce and going direct to your salad bowl after washing and cooling in ice water.
I grew Deer Tongue once, years ago. I assume it wasn't anything special because I never bought seeds for it, again.
On the Garlic...I find that the soft neck varieties grow better than the hard neck varieties in Chandler. Tell me what you experience.
Hmm...I should order some seed garlic, too. Easy to grow...but work that soil, they need it.
BTW...Moon & Stars...definite keeper. Best watermelon I have tasted in years! I was disappointed when you didn't show up at the Farmers Market with more the following week. LOL!
Love, Mary L.
Hey BFF...
One more thing I have had great luck growing here in Chandler and would be a good profit crop: Shallots.
I was just glancing through the PVF catalog for garlic when I spied the shallots. :)
Love, Mary L.
ooh, I agree. Grow shallots.
Hey- I found a site you might want to visit- who knows, you've probably already seen it. Be sure to post pictures of your plants through the process. It's fascinating! BTW- you you harvest your seeds after your plants produce? You should ask Beverly about that (that is if you ever come back to the OG class since the last one was a bust! Sorry about that!)
http://www.victoryseeds.com/information/regional/az.html
Sorry- forgot to paste it!
ok, ok I know you guys are getting sick of me but you've got to read this seed catalog's forward by this man:
http://www.victoryseeds.com/catalog/pdf/2008.pdf
I grew up in the panhandle of Florida and miss the Field Peas we used to get in the early summer. Unlike crowder peas, we picked them young and tender so they had snaps as well as shelled peas mixed together. If you would consider planting a few of these I would buy them a bushel at a time. Heck, I would even be happy to go out and pick them. I miss that too.
One other item I would just about kill to get my hands on are green peanuts. They grow the seed peanuts in the county back home. They are smaller than the ones you find roasted and are much more flavorful. I just love the taste of fresh boiled peanuts during football season. Any chance you might want to try your hand at those?
Here is a geat site to learn more about the field peas.
http://www.ajc.com/living/content/living/food/stories/2008/07/22/shelling_field_peas.html
I made the mistake when we moved here of letting the landsaper talk me into putting in rocks on all the area that is not grass. I really miss growing my own. I have tried container growing but it just doesn't work for me.
Tom - what is your email address? I have some questions, my seeds sprout and then die in plastic greenhouses, thanks,
cody
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