Tasty & Healthy - March 1, 2012

Hello, everyone! We are delighted to see you again.  
Hopefully last week was happy for you. 


Aren't the Red Rhubarb Swiss Chard beautiful? These were harvested yesterday! Rolo will be bringing some to the Spring Hill Drive location on Friday!

It's always a pleasure seeing you at any of our locations every week! Please feel free to phone the farm for special requests or special orders. We'll do everything we can to accommodate you. It is best to phone by Wednesday afternoon for special orders from the Farmers Market.


We also have some great soup recipes, and finger food ideas for March Madness.

This beautiful weather is helping our squash seeds germinate. We risked planting early and hope to offer pesticide-free squash varieties in about 2 months.

St. Patrick's Day will soon be here. You know what that means - Corned Beef and Cabbage.


Have you tried our beautiful Savoy Cabbage? It has a sweeter flavor than traditional green cabbage. Arrange a few of these spectacularly-gorgeous leaves under your main entrée, or cradling a finger-veggie tray. Whether cooked or raw in slaws or on sandwiches, Savoy Cabbage is a wonderful addition to any meal. One head can provide a number of meals -- stuffed, Sautéed, combined with other greens or vegetables, boiled, roasted, grilled, steamed. With Beasley Farm's pesticide-free Savoy Cabbage, it's a great time to experiment!


We're still busy harvesting pesticide-free CRUCIFEROUS vegetables! To read all about Cruciferous Veggies and see our farm photos, just click here.


This week we are harvesting Yummy Red Rhubarb Swiss Chard. It is somewhat milder and less textured than the "white" (or green) Swiss Chard. Great in salads and sandwiches, or cooked, the red chard is a terrific way of adding color, flavor and nutrients to your meals. We're also harvesting some collards and turnips.

Please phone if you would like us to bring greens to the satellite locations. It's our way of ensuring the freshest, best quality produce available.

Did you know the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services regularly makes "surprise" visits to our farm to test our soil and plants? We always pass with flying colors and tests reveal no trace pesticides. For more information about our farming techniques, and the testing we undergo, please click here.

Gran'ma Angie is still in need of bags! Thanks for "recycling" your plastic bags with us! It helps us keep prices down.


From the Farmers Market:

Strawberries: We waited at the Strawberry Fields while they were being picked to bring you the freshest ever strawberries!


We also picked up:


Magnificent Florida tomatoes
Eggplant
Cucumbers
Red and Green Bell Peppers
Red Hot Jalapenos (be sure to remove the seeds!)
Sweet Cubanella Peppers
Radishes
Carrots
Sweet Potatoes
Baking Potatoes
Red Skin Potatoes
Red and White onions
Sweet Florida onions with their tops
Celery
Romaine (sweet and super fresh!)
Baby Bok Choy
Butternut Squash
Yellow Squash
Zucchini
Lemons and Limes
Bananas (and strawberries)
Awesome fresh herbs in the 4" pot
  (these look fantastic!)
Cabbage - green and red (and our own Savoy)

Where we will be this week:

Monday - we will be at the Cloverleaf location. If you would like any of the pesticide-free greens, please phone to reserve them, so that we know to bring them with us.

Friday - Rolo will be at the Spring Hill location. If you would like any of the pesticide-free greens, please phone to reserve them, so that we know to bring them with him.

Saturday - Rolo and Joann will be at the Hernando County Farmers Market on Hwy 19 with nearly 80 other vendors! Come browse, shop, and visit with your neighbors - it's an all 'round enjoyable time. You'll also be supporting local businesses by visiting their booths. If you would like any of the pesticide-free greens, please phone to reserve them, so that we know to bring them with us.

Saturday and everyday - Gran'ma Angie, Nana Phyllis, Joann and Rolo will be at the Produce Barn until 6PM. Fresh Cut Pesticide-free Greens will be eagerly awaiting you in their little wading pool.


Sunday - Rolo will be at the Towne Square Market Place in Spring Hill near Chili's on Hwy 19 from 8AM-3PM.  If you would like any of the pesticide-free greens, please phone to reserve them, so that we know to bring them with him.

For our Calendar of Locations, and special times and dates for February and March, please click here, or click on the Calendar Tab at the top of this page.

It's the perfect time to be making soups and stews which contain Greens. Collards, Swiss Chard, Cabbage -- chop them at the very last minute. Allow their magical phytochemicals to activate by letting set for a few moments, place them in your pot for 3-5 minutes, and serve. Freeze your leftovers. We freeze ours in single serving containers, as well as double-portion containers. Perfect for quick lunches or dinners. Freezing soups and stews stretches your Food Dollar, maximizes your time spent in the kitchen, and frees you up for other things. AND they are healthy. It's important not to overcook vegetables, or they lose important nutrients, vitamins and minerals. Some of our favorite "freezeables" are shown below.

Sausage and Lentil Soup with Tomatoes

Cabbage Soup

Are you a sports party organizer? 

How about these recipes for your March Madness events?

Jalapeno Poppers

Flat Bread, Herbs and Tomatoes

Quotes for this week:

“You were given life; it is your duty 

(and also your entitlement as a human being) 

to find something beautiful within life, 

no matter how slight."

~ Elizabeth Gilbert

“Your life is an occasion. 

Rise to it.” 

~ Suzanne Weyn

As always, thank you for your encouragement and support. Without you, we wouldn't be able to do what we love most - FARM!


Looking forward to seeing you soon,