Crunching a Cucumber and Other Farm News

Have you ever gnawed on a homegrown cucumber?  What did it sound like?  Did it crunch when you first bit into it?  A homegrown cucumber tastes divine, compared to a store-bought cuke.  The same applies to homegrown herbs.

I walked into the hoophouse behind the barn this morning; an overpowering waft of rosemary filled my sinuses.  The rosemary endured a Chautauqua County winter in an unheated greenhouse.  The sun warms the greenhouse to a balmy 60 degrees Fahrenheit on a blustery 20 degree day.  And so another experiment comes to fruition; we'll overwinter rosemary year in the hoophouse.  We'll be harvesting some of the rosemary for our booth at Farm Bureau's Pride of Chautauqua event this Sunday.

 

(Rosemary in the hoophouse)

 



Here's a great recipe for using fresh rosemary.  The recipe is quick and a low-fat alternative to french fries.

Rosemary Oven-Roasted Potatoes

 

Ingredients

9"x13" baking pan

6 medium-sized potatoes (preferably red-skinned)

1 garlic clove

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

3-4 springs fresh rosemary

pepper to taste

sea salt (if desired, to taste)

 

Prep time: 8 minuates

Cooking time: Approx. 30 minutes

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Wash potatoes.  Cut potatoes in half lengthwise (do NOT peel); place cut side of potato face down on cutting board, then slice vertically, making potato wedges.  Place potato wedges into baking pan.  Mince the garlic clove and mix with potato wedges.  Drizzle olive oil atop potatoes and garlic; dust wedges with pepper, then toss wedge mixture.  Dice rosemary and sprinkle atop wedges.  Place baking pan into oven for approximately 30 minutes until golden brown.  Serve warm.

 

 

Speaking of herbs, have you ever had the urge to pinch cilantro growing outdoors or inside in a container?  I'm getting impatient to pick some cilantro we have growing as seedlings--photo below--indoors (awaiting their transfer to the little greenhouse).  I use fresh cilantro as a topping with freshly sliced tomatoes, a smidgen of olive oil, and the juice of a freshly-squeezed lime. 

 

 

(Some of our cilantro seedlings)

 



The little greenhouse is now ready to receive its guests.  Numerous flats of flower (annuals and perennials) and vegetable seedlings await their transfer to the little greenhouse before final placement in the field, garden (s), or high tunnel greenhouse.  We finished replacing the plastic on the little greenhouse last night, with Pia (cat) supervising.  Warmer, calmer weather enabled us to complete the project. 

 

 

 

(Little greenhouse for seedlings)

Note the hitching post in the foreground (post is original to the farmhouse)

 

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Bring the kids with you Sunday to the Pride of Chautauqua this Sunday, 7 April, 1:00-4:00 PM, at the Chautauqua Suites, Mayville, NY.  The event is free and open to the public and a great opportunity to meet real live local growers and farmers.  Stop by our booth.  We'll have honey; fresh rosemary, thyme, and spinach.  We may even have some posies.  Pick up your herbs and get cookin'.