Infiltrating the Underground Blueberry Market

I'm a planner, and, more often than not, a tedious, painfully deliberate one. Each spring, my various planting and gardening areas become the target of my planning powers, and of my aspirations, hopes, dreams and wishes. I carefully consider each catalog, each variety, each seed--and I wait to see what germinates.

However, this season, my son and I quickly became obsessed with getting blueberry bushes. Once we discussed it, we decided immediately: we MUST have blueberry bushes. This past weekend, I had been researching what I thought might be some good mail order options online when...

Serendipitously, on Sunday, just prior to heading out to do some browsing at the local garden centers, and trying to sufficiently caffeinate myself from the switch to DST, I saw a Facebook post from a local enough blueberry farm with which I was vaguely familiar (in the Blueberry Capitol of the World, Hammonton, NJ!). This farm was selling $10 plants, but not just any plants: 4-foot, 3-year old, organic, non-GMO plants! In fact, they posted that they were open for business from 1-6 p.m. 

So, of course, we drove to DiMeo Farms in Hammonton, NJ to get four of the storied shrubs, hoping the deal wasn't too good to be true.

To be honest, many pieces of the process aroused suspicion. There were a lot of rules, too many steps, conflicting information that seemed...coded. Subterfuge (likely accidental) abounded. 

Thankfully, there were also a lot of blueberry bushes. 

After trying to decode the discrepancies between the open invitation to the farm posted on FB and the very specific directions to call the farm and "make an appointment" detailed on their website, I did call ahead (I tend to be overly conscientious). But, I got no answer. I decided to just leave a message saying that I saw their post on FB and to call me if there was any problem with us just showing up. 

I guess there wasn't a problem...

 We arrived at the farm and pulled in to the driveway, where we saw only a single truck (likely the farmer's own), parked near what is likely the owner's very lovely home, which was surrounded by blueberry plants. Somehow the only farmer working spotted us from across the fields and came hurrying over, and looked like he was making a cell phone call...the eagle has landed?

 This is not the farmer.

They do have a lot of blueberry bushes at DiMeo!

The farmer came over, directed us to park in a very specific space which he practically measured out with his precise gesticulations, and asked us how many plants we'd like. Then he went deep into the fields to choose them (rather than just grabbing four containers from the front) and put them in our car. He then told us "The Boss" was coming so we waited a bit, maybe five minutes. I asked the farmer if we could just pay him and be on our way and he laughed :-) Hmm. He went back to work. "The Boss" eventually came out. He was polite but guarded, and not particularly forthcoming with blueberry bush advice or interesting anecdotes. He gave us a handout on how to take care of the plants. I paid him (cash, of course, and, no receipt) and we (finally) made off with our plants. 

Score? Something...more?

Maybe I've been watching too much True Detective. Or, maybe I'm just thinking about that Bob's Burgers episode where the kids work at the "blueberry farm" for a summer. Hmm.

                                                       Here are our 4 plants, and a rainbow                                                        (No, Cohle, you are not hallucinating the rainbow.)

Apparently, I got a mix of organic Duke and Bluecrop blueberry varieties.

DiMeo has plenty of $10 blueberry plants right now, so if you are interested, give them a call to "schedule an appointment," or hit up their FB page to which they seem very responsive. 

Let me know if you need back up...

After stashing our blueberries, we took a side road to investigate this suspicious lake:

 

Can't decide where to plant the blueberries...I have two options, both of which have potential blueberry predators. Gonna have to choose between the pee-ers and flyers or the climbers and eaters. 

Once the blueberry issue is settled, I guess I'll have to start catchin' again.

Meantime, check out my spring planning post from last year, which includes links to past gardening adventures. 

Happy Spring!

Seeds and Seasons

It's time...for Garden Fazool!

Here is this year's new seed selection from my fave seed purveyor, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds:

 Ragged Jack Kale, Lettuce Leaf Basil, Borage, Tina James' Magic Primrose, Tall Orange Sun(flowers), 

Red Romaine Lettuce the *free gift* Grandpa's Home Hot Peppers and Sweet Marjoram.

Kinda excited for borage! It's so pretty when it comes in. 

Grandpa's Home...we miss you Grandpa Jim!  I'll plant some hot peppers in your memory this year.

Here's another reason to love Baker Creek.  They actually mailed me back $2 since they ended up being out of the sunflowers my son picked (sonflowers, haha) out after I had already ordered and paid for them.  I love that they just sent cash.  Old school!

I have to do some planning and see what's going to go where this year.  Then I have to plant it! :-) It seems late, but it's still totally fine if you haven't started your garden yet.  Just get to the earlier season items in the next week or two and you'll be fine.

To see what happens to seeds after you plant them, here are all of my gardening posts from the last two seasons!

Last Season, 2012:
April, 2012: Overall garden plan and early plantings and The Hell Strip*
*I highly recommend that fencing, worked great at keeping kids and dogs out
May, 2012: Mother's Day Planters (Oh, and here's who was nibbling on my runner beans!)
June/July 2012 (well, really the last day of June, so almost July): An amazing explosion of buds and bounty!  It's hard to imagine that is just two short months away...
August, 2012: A GIANT sunflower in the picture mid-post. OMG. We planted those seeds this year! Gosh, last summer was SO super hot.  Hoping (hoping!) for a more temperate summer this year (even a few degrees cooler makes such a difference).
There weren't that many gardening posts last year because I was focused on my CSA box!

Two ago, 2011:
April, 2011: Found this guy on the side of my (then new) house! It's lovage! I love lovage!
May, 2011: I did a LOT of work that month to prepare some new gardening areas around my house. I grew some stuff from seed, dug a new garden and planned out the plantings.  Then, I planted the starters in the new "rainbow" garden, then I dug another garden (that year it had tomatoes) and planted that, too.  There was action and trouble, and a thorough exploration of everything that was growing in my front yard.

June, 2011:  June is amazing.  Every year!

July, 2011: July was over the top!
August, 2011: The month of the Monster Fig!

What are you guys growing this year?

Garden Fazool, June 2012

As of June 30th, 2012...

 Zucchini Flowers on my Striata Zucchini (Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds)

 Open.

Here they are in the Zucchini Garden that I put in this year (on May 8th.)

As of June 19th.

And, ten days later (June 29th), look how much they grew in ten days!

Quite a nice tomato going on the left, there, too.  That one was a gift from my realtor!

Thanks, Bob!

My Rainbow Chard (from seed), in the garden below:

Look at those artichokes! I'm not sure if they will flower or not, but they are cool looking.  And, my Scarlet Runners have taken off up the fence.  Here's the garden in April, it's hard to believe what happens in three months.

Scarlet Runner Flowering.

 Beans on the far side fence + another little tomato behind!

Tomatoes going very well along the side beds! 

And, all the flowers...

 Bee Balm

Not sure? It grew up in the front.  Kinda looks like a purple fox glove type flower.

The front!  Fig tree is on the far right behind that bloomed sunflower head.

Sunflowers

Waiting. 

Dark Horse.

Hydrangea.

I adore the sprightly blue flowers.

Lavender Flowers, With Bees.  

And, my fig tree, loaded with tender figs!

This is why I welcome the heat of summer.

What are you all hoping to harvest?

Groundhog Pesto

For whenever a groundhog eats all your basil, cilantro, or whatever other lovely green you wanted to make a pesto with, here is a flexible pesto recipe that uses whatever herbs or greens you have on hand and whatever nuts or seeds you like.  Many, many variants are possible, with versions such as "Middle Eastern" (cilantro, basil, sesame seeds), "Classic" (basil, pine nuts), "Moroccan" (Argan oil, walnuts), "Mexican" (cilantro, jalapeno oil), "Persian" (cilantro, parsley, basil, pistachios), "Winter" (arugula or spinach, almonds or cashews) and whatever other versions you can dream of. 

Not just a pest, a pest-o!

Groundhog Pesto

Note: If you are making this to go over pasta, grab about 1 cup of pasta cooking water before you drain the pasta.

Yields about 1 cup sauce.

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3 cups (total) of herbs and/or flavorful greens.

Recommendations:

Basil, Cilantro, Parsley, Arugula, Baby Spinach, even Garlic Scapes from your CSA! Try to use organic if possible. I just made GHP with 1 cup herbs (cilantro & basil) and 2 cups arugula and it was wonderful.

 2-4 garlic cloves (2 is standard, 4 is, well, a lot)

½ to 1 scant cup pasta cooking water OR ¼ to ½ cup olive (or other) oil

You can drizzle some oil in if you are using pasta water, too, or split the difference (ex:  ½ cup pasta water + ¼ cup olive oil, whatever). 

¼ to ½ cup nuts or seeds

Recommendations:

Pine Nuts, Sesame Seeds, Pepitas (Pumpkin Seeds), Cashews, Almonds, Walnuts, Pistachios, etc. You can use your nuts and seeds either raw or roasted/toasted.  If using roasted versions, be sure to soak them or use some hot pasta water in the pesto to soften them a bit.  If you have a VitaMix it probably doesn’t matter J

Juice of ½ to 1 lemon, add some zest, too, if you want it more lemony

1-2 tsps of salt (depends on your taste)

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

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Wash your herbs or greens.  If using basil, take leaves off of the stalks.  If using cilantro, go ahead and use stems AND leaves! Did you know you can use the whole bunch of cilantro, stems and all, when making pesto?  The stems taste just like the leaves, not bitter at all like basil stems.  You can cut the bunch in half or thirds if you want to fit it better in your blender or processor, though. 

Put everything in a high-speed blender (like a VitaMix!) and blend for 30-60 seconds on high.  That’s it. 

If you are using a food processor, start by adding the garlic, pulse to chop, and scrape it down.  Then, add your nuts/seeds and pulse and scrape down alternately until you have a nice paste.  Then, add your greens/herbs salt, pepper and lemon juice and process.  With the machine on, drizzle the olive oil (or pasta water) in until it incorporates fully into the pesto.  Scrape down as needed.

Taste for seasoning and add whatever is lacking before serving.  Serve over pasta, beans, in tofu, seitan, or in soups, in salad dressings, etc.  You can use some more pasta water to thin it out to your desired consistency if needed.

Storage tips & tricks:

You can freeze pesto in an ice cube tray (put it inside a plastic zipper bag when freezing so pesto doesn’t get all over the place).  Once it’s frozen, you can pop out the cubes into that plastic zipper bag and store.  Use a cube to wake up sauces, soups, etc., or use multiple cubes to amp up your pesto power.

 My Precious.

Middle Eastern Pesto.

What is your favorite way to use pesto?

Grillin' and Gardenin'

A thing of beauty!

 Grilled, Caramelized Onions

They are easy! On a large piece of foil, put thinly sliced Vidalia (or any sweeter onion) inside, add tiny bits of cubed butter (EB or whatever you like) probably about 1 Tbs per every two onions, organic brown sugar (about 1 tsp. per sliced onion), and sea salt (sprinkle generously over the onions).  Mix with your hands.  Fold up the foil into a nice packet.  Add another piece of foil and wrap again, sealing up all the seams.  Grill until tender and as caramelized as you want them.  

Here's the foil packet as I was about to open it.  You can see I unfolded the left side already.  

Other wonderful things to grill in the packet:

 Fresh, Jersey Asparagus (peeled, French style :-)

 Green Beans with Salt and Sesame Oil 

Really, any food that will fall through the grill cracks can be grilled in a foil packet.  Don't forget it! Just add your seasonings and a little oil, mix with your hands, and fold up that packet.  Yeah!

And, some gardening for you.  I made Mother's Day planters for my mom, my husband's mom, and my sister:

 Planted with Organic Basil and Organic Chives.  

My son picked out the pots, I loved them!

My planter:

Also basil & chives.  This way I don't have to go outside to get them! I think I threw in a bunch of arugula, too, so, it's gonna be crazy in there.

Also, my artichokes have "taken," and I see new growth on them, my Scarlet Runners were raided by something that ate all the leaves off 3/5 of my plants (but left the two healthiest, largest ones), I have tons of primroses blooming, my fig tree is leafing out like crazy, and I put in my Zucchini Garden with four hierloom zucchini plants!

What are you guys cooking & planting?