Specials for this week-end Oct 28-29

Hi, Veggie Lovers! Rolo and Joann visit the Farmers Market in Plant City twice a week to bring you the freshest, most locally harvested produce available! The weather has been crazy this summer - all along the Eastern Seaboard. Some items did well, and others didn't, but somehow, Joann and Rolo manage to find healthy food for all of us to enjoy.

As they unpacked the trailer today, we sampled fabulous juicing carrots, which are sweet as can be! These will be great cooked side dishes, or shredded into any cake mix for extra fibre and firmness (if you don't tell, who will know?). There were yellow and purple onions, scallions, jalapeno peppers - all great for creating special flavors in meals, dips, and soups.

While they last, delicious Sangria Watermelons at $5 each. Bananas, Golden and Red Delicious Apples, Florida Navel Oranges, tangerines, and by popular request, Pink Grapefruit! (mmmm!) How about an apple and banana treat mixed with nuts and a little cinnamon?

Beautiful head cabbage and that dark, luscious green color, perfect for steaming, sauteing or stuffing! Have you tried stuffing cabbage leaves yet? Lightly steam, and roll the leaves with any sort of stuffing - traditional bread or cornbread stuffing, rice, meats, cheeses, and leave plain, or top with sauces like spaghetti sauce or alfredo! Whatever pleases your family.

Fragrant and firm Red and Green Bell Peppers and WONDERFUL Sweet Cubanellas! Our salad is fabulous tonight! There is some Florida sweet corn, eggplant, bakers & sweet potatoes.

On Saturday at the Hernando County Farmers Market on Hwy 19/Commercial Way, Joann and Rolo will have a New Crop of Florida Cucumbers and some of the first Florida JUMBO Tomatoes!

Not enough? Lovely, crisp Romaine Lettuce, Butternut Squash and Yellow and Zucchini squashes.

And in the meantime, lots of goodies growing at the Beasley Farm - just growing their little hearts out, so they may make their debut in your home in the next 60-90 days!

Don't forget about the Green Bean U-Pick which is going on right now! Also available from our summer-harvest on the farm are fresh-frozen, pesticide-free, Zippers, Pink-Eyes and Black-Eyes Peas - at the Produce Barn, or please phone ahead to reserve your peas for one of our satellite locations.

Rolo will be at the usual Friday location in Spring Hill (see right column for address). Joann and Rolo present an extra large booth this Saturday at the Hernando County Farmers Market. On Monday, Joann will be at the Cloverleaf location in north Brooksville. As always, the Produce Barn is open every day until 6PM.

I hear dinner calling, so I'm off! In the meantime, enjoy life, and make meal preparations fun for the whole family with those yummy veggies!

Pesticide-Free Green Beans are ready for U-PICK!

October 25, 2011

Pesticide-Free Green Beans are ready for U-PICK!

Beginning tomorrow morning after 10AM our Pesticide-free Green Bean Fields (green beans only) will be open for U-Pick! Perfect for canning or freezing, and delicious fresh! Check out our green bean recipes here.

If you'd like to pick, we recommend arriving after 10AM tomorrow to make sure you don't miss out. Our suggestion is to wear old shoes because the fields are wet in the mornings.

Green Bean Fields are open at 10AM each morning.

While bushel baskets are available during picking, we suggest bringing a clothes basket lined with a towel or sheet, or perhaps even a sheet with a string to tie the top for transporting home... whatever containers you may have at home in order to transport them conveniently.

$12 for the half bushel.

$18 for the whole bushel.

These beans are pesticide free!

After picking the beans, you're entitled to a little rest and relaxation:

Happy Picking!

Sautéed Green Beans and Onions

Thanks for the Happy Birthday Messages! That deserves a new recipe post :-)


Sautéed Green Beans (some call it Stir-Fried)

Ingredients:

Fresh Pesticide-Free Green Beans

1/2 cup of chicken stock or broth

chopped fresh thyme (if desired, or your favorite fresh herbs)

Salt and Pepper to taste

1/4 onion sliced

tbsp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1. Place olive oil, beans and onion in wok over high heat until beans begin to brown.

2. Stir in chicken stock or broth and simmer about 10 minutes (or until they are the consistency your family enjoys).

3. Season with fresh chopped thyme and salt and pepper while simmering.

NOTE: Try adding almond slivers or sliced mushrooms.

Cauliflower and Birthdays!

Cauliflower and Birthdays - what do they have in common? 

Drop on over to the Beasley Farm Produce Barn to wish Joann a Happy Birthday and see the nearly 4,000 Cauliflower plants she and Rolo will be planting today! 


It's a hurry scurry day to make time for birthday celebrations AND to spend a little family time this evening whooping it up.


While you're there, pick up some of the great produce finds they made at the Plant City Farmers Market - and some of the first (or maybe second, now) pickings of the sweet, tender, pesticide-free green beans!

Happy Birthday, Joann!

Yummy Green Beans, Roasted Finger Food!

Beans are so versatile! Perfect for freezing or canning, they are most delicious when freshly picked - straight from Beasley Farm - where no pesticides have been applied to them!

Bean flowers are sweet little white blossoms. Beasley Bees and other insects pollinate the flowers, and then a tiny bean emerges where each blossom was! They grow under the caring shelter of the plant's large leaves, and the watchful eyes of Joann and Rolo.

Keeping the beans weeded is a full time job, but it means more nutrients are available for the bean plants, which is transferred into the beans themselves.

Green Bean Nutritional Info

Have Roasted Green Beans been invited to your family's snack time, lunch or evening meal? They are simple to prepare, and may be eaten as finger food just like french fries!

Roasted Green Beans

After some experimentation, we found this to be a fun, interesting, and tasty addition to any meal. It also proved to be a great finger-food appetizer and healthy snack. If your family enjoys crispier treats, bake for a longer period of time. This has become one of our favorite side dishes!

One Bunch Fresh Green Beans, washed and dried

One Baggie

Cookie Sheet covered with Parchment Paper for easy cleanup

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Your family’s favorite Seasonings

We use a Cajon blend with fresh cracked pepper, kosher salt and some extra cayenne.

Place dried whole beans in baggie. Drizzle a little olive oil in baggie. Add seasonings. Shake well, coating all the beans.

On Parchment Paper-covered cookie sheet, place single row of beans, and put in preheated 400 degree oven. (Steam will escape your oven vents from the fresh beans, so you may wish to turn on the overhead stove fan.)

Bake about 15 minutes, turn beans over. (With the parchment paper, they can pretty much be “shaken” to move the beans).

Bake another 15 minutes.

Serve hot.

We found that cooking up to 40 minutes will produce crunchier, less moist beans. I prefer mine cooked less than 25 minutes, though they were more moist.

Why not try this recipe out before Thanksgiving - it will be a great side dish for the children - and adults :-) - or may be used for snacks instead of heavier foods during the activities before and after the big meal!

Have fun!

Tasty & Healthy - October 20, 2011

Good News! Lots of it, in fact.

Hi! Thanks for stopping by. To our newest members, we extend a HEARTY WELCOME. We hope you will enjoy this blog. There is a tab at the top of this page "How to Use this Blog". It will briefly explain all the features so you can enjoy using it for finding recipes, specials, and nutritional information.

First the GOOD NEWS! The Hernando County Farmers Market has a new permanent location with lots of parking and more vendors than ever! Sixty plus and counting! How fun is that? MORE GOOD NEWS - The new location will be convenient for those who live in northeast Pasco county as well as Hernando County! (details below)

In addition to our Produce Barn, we now have three satellite locations, bringing our produce to two places in Brooksville, and two places in Spring Hill!

1. See Joann and Rolo in at the Hernando County Farmers Market every Saturday from 10AM - 3PM in Spring Hill at 2450 US 19 (Commercial Way) where the old K-Mart used to be.

2. On Fridays see Rolo at our Spring Hill location from 6A-6P. 13045 Spring Hill Dr, Spring Hill, FL 34609 (at the Chevron Station - corner of Spring Hill Drive & Linden Drive) Please phone ahead for special orders. Rolo will be happy to bring whatever you want!

3. On Mondays (8AM-1PM) we are at Cloverleaf Farm Mobile Home Park Just off Hwy 41, across from the Hernando County School Compound. Turn into Cloverleaf Farm's main entrance, on the right side by the golf driving range. We're delighted to bring fresh produce to Cloverleaf folks and others in the neighborhood!

Now, on to MORE good news! Our green beans are trickling in! No, it's not time for the Big U-Pick yet, but the beans are maturing. BUT... If you will be at the New Farmers Market on Saturday, Joann and Rolo will be offering their first-pick, pesticide-free, young-and-tender, delicious-and-nutritious green beans! How's that for a mouthful?

And if that's not good enough, they will have pesticide-free okra and zucchini fresh from the farm!

From the Plant City Farmers Market, Joann and Rolo visited two days in a row to bring you the freshest, best quality produce available at reasonable prices, and as close to Florida as possible.

How about a fruit salad with some fresh Walnuts or Pecans tossed in? Perfect for Breakfast or Lunch, Dessert or a snack!

Rolo and Joann trudged the market faithfully and found:

Red and Golden Delicious Apples
Navel Oranges
Bananas
Lemons and Limes

Or maybe a salad, whether it be a traditional tossed salad or a cucumber and tomato salad?

Romaine Lettuce
Regular and Pickling cucumbers
Tomatoes
Scallions
Onions
Red and Green Bell Peppers

A great side to go with dinner tonight -

Eggplant (grilled, fried, baked or roasted)
Cabbage (raw, stir-fried, boiled or in a slaw?)
Carrots (braised, boiled, raw, or roasted)
Sweet Potato (a healthy alternative to traditional bakers)
Peppers (grilled, friend, baked, stir-fried or sauteed)

Also available are lots of other goodies! Let's not forget the hot peppers! Maybe some stuffed jalapeno pepper boats?

Want more good news? We love our customers, and appreciate all your efforts in supporting us. Please never hesitate making suggestions for how we might better serve you.

At the bottom of this post are the tiny words "comments". Let us know what recipes you would like us to add. We're slowly moving all our recipes into the blog. They may be found in the right column. Just scroll down to the section called LABELS, and click on a recipe!

Always Veggie Hugs,
Donna

Wanna See What 6,000 Collards Look Like?

We've been BUSY BUSY BUSY! Here are 6,000 baby Collard Green plants awaiting their new in-ground home.

 They are such whiners - only a few days and they were planted, but like all babies, these need coddling. It takes a few weeks for them to adapt to their new home, and then begin growing.

We lovingly nurture each plant, using sustainable farming techniques.

Sustainable Farming Techniques can be interpreted differently by farmers. Our interpretation includes treating the environment with the utmost respect, using as few chemicals as possible, avoiding pesticides, composting with as many organic compounds as we can lay our hands on, and treating our farm animals with great respect and gentleness.

In addition to the collards, we've been busy planting a host of other greens! Take a look at the top of our blog to see what has been planted!

Because of the warmer-than-normal temperatures last month, our Collards may not be ready for Thanksgiving. 

But Hope springs eternal! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Streusel-Topped Key Lime Squares

This came from the "My Recipes" website.

Yield: 16 servings (serving size: 1 square)

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon grated lime rind
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon lemon extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• Cooking spray
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup fresh key lime juice
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon powdered sugar

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350°.
• Place first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until creamy (about 2 minutes). Lightly spoon 1 cup flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Gradually add 1 cup flour to butter mixture, beating at low speed until mixture resembles coarse meal. Gently press two-thirds of mixture (about 1 1/3 cups) into bottom of an 8-inch square baking pan coated with cooking spray; set remaining 2/3 cup flour mixture aside. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes or until just beginning to brown.
• 3. Combine 2/3 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, baking powder, and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add lime juice and eggs, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Pour mixture over crust. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes. Remove pan from oven (do not turn oven off); sprinkle remaining 2/3 cup flour mixture evenly over egg mixture. Bake an additional 8 to 10 minutes or until set. Remove from oven; cool in pan on a wire rack. Sprinkle evenly with powdered sugar.

Ann Taylor Pittman, Cooking Light 
JUNE 2005

Jack’s Iced Lemon Cookies

Jack’s Iced Lemon Cookies

Ingredients 

COOKIES

• 3 cups unsifted flour (all purpose)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (approx 3 lemons)
• Zest 3 lemons
• Saran Wrap

GLAZE

• 1  c confectioners sugar
• 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp fresh lemon juice 
• 2 tsp water

Directions 

COOKIES

1. Combine flour, baking powder, zest of 3 lemons, sugar and soda into large bowl and mix.
2. Melt butter. Squeeze lemons.
3. Add butter & lemon juice to dry mixture, placing in mixer until thoroughly blended.
4. Divide dough in half. Place each half on sheet of saran wrap, adding another sheet  on top. Press gently so that the dough is sandwiched between saran wrap, and is slightly flat (about 8” round).
5. Chill dough 1 hour (or longer if more convenient).
6. On floured surface, roll half of dough to 1/8-inch thickness.
7. Cut cookies out using cookie cutters or biscuit cutter.
8. Place on ungreased baking sheets and bake at 400 degrees for 9 minutes.

GLAZE

1. Mix sugar and lemon juice together.
2. Gradually add water until obtaining desired thickness.
3. Once cookies have cooled, top with glaze.
4. Let set before eating.

Makes 4 dozen cookies cut 2 to 2 1/2 inches

Specials & Important Information - October 13

We are sad to share some disappointing news. The Hernando County Farmers Market will not be available this Saturday. We will keep you posted for future times and dates. In the meantime, Rolo will be happy to serve you both days at the Spring Hill location from 6AM - 6PM for our Friday and Saturday crowds. The Produce Barn at the Farm will also be open. We are sorry for any inconvenience this is causing. The Spring Hill location is:

(13045 Spring Hill Dr, Spring Hill at the Chevron Station - corner of Spring Hill Drive & Linden Drive). 

Now... on to the fun stuff!

Joann and Rolo braved the crowds at the Plant City Farmers Market in search of the freshest, best produce available. They try to purchase as locally as possible. 

Today's specials include HAAS AVOCADOS! These nutritious fruits have a delicious flavor, and can be used alone, in dips, as sandwich spreads, or sliced on sandwiches. Avocado Salads are versatile, nutritious ways of incorporating many vitamins to one's diet. High in Omega Three Oils, low in sugar, Avocados are helpful in fighting inflammation and heart disease. Haas Avocados are especially flavorful. Haas avocados tend to be richer, creamier and more flavorful.

Avocados are also a great vitamin source - C, E, K, folate and fiber and others in trace amounts.

Click here for the following Avocado recipes.

Avocado and Meat-Poultry-Fish Sandwiches

Avocado and Tomato Sandwich

Guacamole

Avocado Cottage Cheese Salad

To see all the Avocado recipes, just click here.

So what else did Joann and Rolo discover at the Farmers Market?

Lemons, Limes, Bananas, Fuji Apples, Johnny Gold Apples (YUM!), white and purple onions, Romaine, Tomatoes, Red and green Bell Peppers (fantastic!), Carrots, Celery, Egg Plant, Jalapenos, Poblanos, and more!

How does Chicken with Bell Peppers sound for dinner? Served with easy homemade corn bread and a quick cucumber salad, this meal is high in nutrition and low in calories. That means you can serve dessert! LOL

So drop by the Produce Barn or see Rolo out on Spring Hill Drive. We appreciate your support more than we can say!

Cucumber Onion Salad

A wide variety of Cucumbers enables most people to enjoy at least one type!

On a hot summer day, enjoy sliced cucumbers as finger foods or in quick salads.

They are delicious low calorie, low carb snacks. At room temperature, they are perfect for cold-day sides.

We offer standard cucumbers, as well as the smaller "pickling" or "salad" cucumbers.

Cool, Crisp Cucumber Salad

Slice cucumbers as desired, and add your favorite sweet peppers, onions, chopped herbs, and salad dressing.

For changes, try adding green or black olives, diced tomatoes and sunflower seeds.

Corn Bread

Great with Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner, complementing eggs, soups, salads, and evening meals, Corn Bread is an often overlooked, inexpensive way of stretching the grocery dollar.

Add assorted peppers, vegetables, cheeses and onions, serve with sliced tomatoes and watch your family smile!

Buttermilk Cornbread with Jalapeno Peppers and Bacon

2 cups Corn Meal

1 cup all-purpose Flour

Chopped Jalapenos

Crumbled bacon

4 eggs

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp salt

2 tsp sugar

2 cups buttermilk (or regular milk if that's all that is on hand)

10" round cast iron skillet (or other baking dish)

3-4 strips of bacon

Fry bacon to desired doneness, leaving drippings in skillet. Set skillet aside to slightly cool.

Crumble bacon into bits, set aside.

Two medium jalapenos, deveined and seeded, finely diced.

Mix dry ingredients and set aside. 

Mix wet ingredients separately and then combine with dry.

Loosely stir in the jalapenos and bacon bits.

Pour into skillet (which still has drippings in it), and bake at 375 for approximately 20 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. 

Remove from pan and allow to cool if desired.