Thursday, July 26, 2012

Tasty and Healthy - July 26, 2012

Whew! Are you surviving these hot, humid days? Any type of cold fruit salads or mixtures can cool down parched throats, and provide electrolytes to our bodies, especially for children playing outside, or anyone who finds themselves outdoors during Florida's summers. I just couldn't pass up sharing this beautiful photo - it sparks the imagination for creative ideas in making bite-sized fruit more appealing.

Many roads in our end of town have remained flooded from heavy downpours since Tropical Storm Debby. The clay-rich fields at Beasley Farm are still extremely soggy. This means a few of our summer crops are not maturing in the way we had hoped. Still, we keep our fingers crossed that our pesticide-free harvest will come to fruition soon. In the meantime, welcome to this week's newsletter! We hope your summer has been enjoyable, healthy and safe.

Pesticide-free Okra is still slowly trickling in. Later in the newsletter, we are sharing a few ideas for using Okra and traditional Southern field peas in meal planning.

If interested in SHELLED black-eye peas, conk peas, or zipper peas, please phone the farm to place an order. Peas are in our standard two pound bag. $8 per bag.

As always, please feel free to phone the farm for special requests or special orders. We'll do everything we can to accommodate you. If you need something from the Farmers Market in Plant City, it is best to phone by Wednesday afternoon.

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services visits to our farm to test our soil and plants. For more information about our farming techniques, and the testing we undergo, please click here.

By avoiding harmful chemicals, we provide local birds a safe haven where they can help with insect populations.

Gran'ma Angie thanks you for the bags! She hopes you will keep on bringing 'em. Thanks for "recycling" your plastic bags with us! It helps us keep prices down.

From the Farmers Market:

Tomatoes

Eggplant

Cucumbers
Green and Red Bell Peppers
Pablano Peppers (FANTASTIC!)
Green Jalapenos (be sure to remove the seeds!)

Sweet Cubanella Peppers

Carrots

Sweet Potatoes

Baking Potatoes

Red Skin Potatoes
White Skin Potatoes

Zucchini
Yellow Squash
Acorn Squash
Butternut Squash

Yellow Onions
Scallion Onions
Red Radish

Celery
Cabbage
Romaine

Head Lettuce
FLORIDA Avocados
Lemons

Limes

Bananas
ASPARAGUS
Shelled Zipper Peas 2lb bags $8 (phone to order)

Shelled Black-eye Peas 2lb bags $8 (phone to order)
Shelled Conk Peas 2lb bags $8 (phone to order)

From the Farm:

Reservations being taken for our specialty Traditional Southern Field Peas (phone to order please)
Pesticide-free Okra

Where we will be this week:

please note: due to demands on the farm, the Sunday and Monday locations are temporarily suspended. Produce Barn will be open as usual. Thanks for understanding.

Friday - Rolo will be at the Spring Hill location.

Saturday - Rolo and Joann will be at the Hernando County Farmers Market on Hwy 19 with 40 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.

Saturday and everyday - Gran'ma Angie, Nana Phyllis, Joann and Rolo will be at the Produce Barn until 6PM.

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

Recipes for the Week: