Tag: The Growers Exchange

Fun Food Friday…Thai Stir Fry and Julia

I haven’t spoken with my friends over at The Growers Exchange for a while, so today we say “Hi” to them, give them a big thanks as well as a nod of appreciation for both the recipe below  (yeah Caroline!) and for the donation of 5% to Plant A Row For The Hungry, if you buy their FAB Herb kit, a perfect gift for your friend the gardener or chef! However, for this deal you must act this weekend. They just wrote me yesterday and said -“We’re also getting ready to roll out our new spring 2012 lineup on Monday, which means the end of our huge fall sale. Since we’re making room for spring, all of our 4″ herbs are only $3 until Sunday evening (except for Bay and Lemon Grass.)” GREAT DEALS for the Herb lovers of the world!

First the food……Caroline’s Thai Basil Stir Fry (From The Growers Exchange)

Julia_Thai and Herbs
Julia with the Thai Basil Stir fry on one hand and the Potted Herb Kit in the other.

“This is an easy recipe for even the worst cook out there! You can add whatever you like, flavor to your desired intensity and best of all, it’s super healthy and cheap to make! Try substituting your protein source if you’re not into tofu…chicken or shrimp will also work well!

  • Canola Oil (enough to coat the bottom of the wok)
  • 1 Pkg Organic Firm Tofu
  • 1 Bag Frozen Vegetables (I used a stir fry mix that included broccoli, mushrooms, red peppers and rice noodles)
  • 3 Spears Fresh Celery
  • 1  Carrot, Shaved
  • 1/4 Chopped Onion (or add to taste)
  • 1 Cup Crushed Peanuts
  • Crushed Red Pepper Flakes (to taste)

Marinade  •1 Cup General Tso Sauce (I found this prepackaged at the grocery store)
• 1/2 Cup Thai Basil ‘Siam Queen’ (dried from fresh plants)  (Note from Julia, although it would not be nearly as exotic, or fun, you could use regular Basil)
• 2 Cloves Fresh Garlic

The  ‘Siam Queen’ Thai Basil I used was grown right here on our farm at The Growers Exchange! I salvaged one of the plants before it was done for the season and brought it home to experiment with. When I realized that my cats were going to eat it if I didn’t do something with it quickly, I snipped the stems at the soil level and dried the leafy stalks in my warm, dry pantry. (Our of their furry, destructive reach!) After it was dried, I placed it, stems and all, into a labeled zip lock baggie for later used. Removing the dried leaves were easy–just rub the sides of the bag together and they literally crumble from the stems into a perfect dried seasoning. Remove the stems and you have a delicious culinary herb with sweet, licorice and lemon flavored tones. Don’t be intimidated to use new herbs, as I was at first with this exotic Basil. Being so used to its Italian cousins, like the ‘Italian Large Leaf’ Basil, I was a bit pessimistic when planning my meal, since it was a new flavor. (‘Lemon Sweet Dani’ Basil, another lemon-anise flavored Basil, may also be a great flavor to add to your favorite Asian recipe)  Luckily, it turned out GREAT! Try using new culinary herbs in your recipes and you might surprise yourself as to the exciting new flavors you discover!
Instructions **This works best if your vegetables are either fresh or you have thawed your frozen veggies prior to cooking. Heat your wok on medium heat and add canola oil til it coats the bottom. While this is heating, slice tofu into even pieces and press excess water out. Add pressed tofu, General Tso sauce, 2 cloves of fresh garlic, and 1/2 of the Basil ‘Siam Queen’ to a bowl and let marinate. Make sure all pieces are coated. (You can also let your protein marinade over night which will make it more flavorful. Because tofu absorbs sauce or seasoning easily, it may not need as long to marinate. For chicken, shrimp or other proteins, they may take long to absorb the desired amount of flavor.)
Add a clove of garlic and the chopped onion to the heated canola oil in the wok and let them simmer for a minute to release their flavor. Then, add vegetable mix, chopped celery, crushed peanuts and season with the remaining ‘Siam Queen’ Basil and red pepper flakes. Let this simmer together, remaining on medium to low heat, and stir occasionally. Once mixture seems to be cooked thoroughly and there are no frozen pieces left, add marinated tofu. Stir and let cook for 3-5 minutes or until tofu has cooked through and mixture seems well combined and cooked. (The air in your kitchen should be brimming with aromas by now!) Top with shaved carrot and let simmer for another minute, but remove from heat before carrot is wilted. …Serve and top with more crushed peanut. You can also use an edible, aromatic herb like ‘Citrus Kitchen’ Mint as a great garnish. Eat and enjoy!” – Thanks Caroline! http://theexchange.thegrowers-exchange.com/carolines-thai-basil-stir-fry/ 

THE GREAT DEALS. If your Herbs did not make it inside, or they got a frost bite nibble, like mine did. You can purchase from The Growers Exchange a lovely Home For The Holidays Herb Garden Kit, it is even on Sale! (picture of it above in Julia’s right hand.) “Purchase this kit during our Fall shipping season and we’ll donate 5% of every sale to Plant A Row For the Hungry! …This custom culinary kit includes Bay, Prostrate Rosemary, English Thyme and Garden Sage – four all natural, farm fresh herbs that will compliment all of your favorite holiday dishes. Also included is a hand thrown clay pot, one bag of rich soil, four of our very own favorite family recipes, a gift card and decorative packaging —all topped with a big, bright bow…Not only is this a great gift for someone you love, but it also helps hungry families across America this holiday season. Every time you purchase this flavorful custom kit through our fall shipping season, we’ll donate 5% of each sale to Plant A Row For The Hungry.

LIST PRICE: $59.95   OUR PRICE: $49.95      YOU SAVE $10.00! ”
… and don’t forget about the $4.00 Herbs as well.   click here for web page to buy

Eat Well, Do Good and Be good!

See you all on Monday – have a great weekend, and don’t forget about Daylight Savings Time if you live in place that changes.

Basil, smazzle and dazzle!

O.K, yes, smazzle, is a word I made up, but don’t you think it is fun to say Basil smazzle & dazzle? I do! Everyone that grows Basil has an overabundance by this time of the summer. What’s one of the classics? Why, PESTO of course! To wrap up our week with our new “BF” (The Growers Exchange) I have gone back to their website and want to make sure you all know that one of the sidebar listings is Gardening Advice: The Cook’s Exchange. The two recipes blowe are thanks to that.  Lets give a big round of applause and Big Thanks to The Growers Exchange for all their input and wise advise this week, especially Caroline!  https://www.thegrowers-exchange.com/

Perfect Pesto (on web from thegowers-echange.com)

handmade-basil-pesto
handmade basil pesto

Add your favorite herbs, nuts or cheeses to this pesto and transform your favorite food! This tastes amazing on everything–whether it’s pizza, pasta, salmon, asparagus, rice– this pesto will add a punch of fresh flavor to your next meal. If you’re not ready to use it quite yet, but want to make the most of your garden, make your pesto (leave out the cheese) and freeze it for future use! Just line an ice-cube tray with plastic wrap and pour your pesto in the tray molds. Freeze and enjoy when you’d like!

Makes 1 cup of pesto.
Ingredients:

Preparation: {Note: this is the smazzle part!}

1) In a food processor, combine Basil, Arugula, nuts, and garlic and pulse until nuts and garlic are chopped well.
2) Continue to mix on low while drizzling extra virgin olive oil into the mixture as it turns.
3) Pause and scrape ingredients from the sides of the bowl and add cheese, salt and pepper. Continue to pulse until mixture is a creamy paste.

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I know your mint is most likely going crazy too, so, how about a friday unwind of pesto pizza and a little Mojito to dance the eve away with? Sound good? Hope so! You probably are not growing Mojito mint, but a mix of your mint and Mojito would work too.

Ron La Feur Limes and Mijitos
Ron is ready for the weekend! See you all on Monday! Click on Ron to see the image larger.

MOJITOS (on web from thegrowers-exchage.com)

Ingredients:

  • 2 Tsp. Sugar
  • 10 Small Mojito Mint Leaves
  • 1/4 Cup White Rum
  • 2 Tbs. Fresh Lime Juice
  • 1 6 oz. Bottle Club Soda (chilled)
  • 1 Mint Sprig  (for garnish)

Preparation: Place sugar and Mojito Mint leaves in a tall glass and crush the leaves with the back of a spoon.  Fill the glass with crushed ice, add rum, lime juice and club soda. Garnish with a mint sprig and enjoy!

Have a good weekend and don’t forget:
REUSE your energy
  REDUCE your waste
    RECYCLE your stuff

Preserving your Herb Harvest

Well, now it is mid August. Summer is all too quickly coming to an end, hopefully your home-grown herbs are robust and healthy. Now what? Well, I assume you want to be able to use the delightful flavors of summer all year round. Therefore, todays post is about ways for Preserving your Herbs at home. Freezing, drying, hanging in the sun, dry in the sun, and/or dry in the oven, it is all below for you! This information comes from our wonderful new friends at the Growers exchange. An all-natural online garden center that specializes in rare and traditional herbs for culinary, aromatic and medicinal use. They have been in business for over twenty years.. http://www.thegrowers-exchange.com. AND from the website of The Herb Companion – http://www.herbcompanion.com. (check them out, well worth your time.)

Caroline (at The Growers Exchange) tells us …”For preserving herbs, I’ve had great success with freezing them for later use, especially with Basil….When freezing, I just washed and chopped my Basil, added a little water to each cup of an empty ice-cube tray, then packed the chopped Basil into each cup and added more water. I’ve also heard of people coating the tray with olive oil to make them easier to remove, but once they freeze, you can just store them in a Tupperware container or freezer proof baggie (to make pesto or whatever you like, later in the season:) It retains the flavor longer and it’s super quick and easy to do!

I also found recently when I didn’t have time to plant two extra flats of Catnip, that clipping the plants at the base, drying them for a month, then shedding all the leaves into a Tupperware container to keep in the freezer works great. My cats actually enjoyed the dried version better than the fresh leaves. They didn’t even care when I brought the live plants in for them, but went nuts for the dried stuff!

For herbs like Stevia, you can extract the essential oils (in this case, the natural sweetener) and store it for later use in the fridge! Check out this blog as a reference on how to do so: http://theexchange.thegrowers-exchange.com/sweeten-your-life-naturally-with-stevia-extract/

We have lots of herbs that retain their scent better after drying or were used for specific purposes such as Costmary, which has very broad leaves and was placed in between pages of people’s bibles (giving it the common name, “Bible Leaf”) as its slight, minty scent kept pests away. Just one of the many little tidbits and facts I’ve learned from doing much of the research for our herbs.” – Thanks to Caroline for all that great info! 

Ron La Fleur Pinching-Rosemary
Ron La Fleur Pinching his Rosemary back, standing amongst the mint! FYI: He is holding “The Best Gardening Scissor” from the Growers Exchange! 

… on to a wonderful piece from THE HERB COMPANION – Ways to Dry your herbs.

Website. http://www.herbcompanion.com/gardening/fresh-clips-how-to-dry-herbs-at-home.aspx

“Preserve the flavors of your herb garden all year by using the ancient practice of drying. 

Drying is believed to be the oldest form of food preservation. According to the University of Minnesota Extension Service, recently discovered food samples are believed to have been dried in Jericho about 4,000 years ago. Drying herbs removes excess water to prevent the growth of bacteria and mold—an easy and safe way to preserve herbs year-round.

Here are three ways to do it.

1. Hang Herbs to Dry

Hanging herbs to dry is probably the easiest method. This method works best with low-moisture herbs, such as dill, rosemary, summer savory and thyme. First, remove the lower leaves and gather four to six branches into bundles and tie them with a string. Then, place the bundles in a brown paper bag upside-down with the stems sticking out from the bag and tie. Next, punch holes in the bag to promote air circulation. In a dark, cool place, hang the bags for a few weeks.

2. Sun-dry Your Herbs

Sun-drying is another cost-effective way to dry herbs. Lay a towel on a hard, dry surface, such as a back porch or patio. Place the herbs on the towel while making sure the herbs are not touching each other. Bring the herbs inside at night to ensure the dryness of your herbs.

3. Dry Herbs in the Oven

Use the oven to dry herbs quickly and effectively. Place the leaves and stems of the herb on a flat baking sheet. Heat the oven to about 180 degrees and warm the herbs for two to three hours. Microwave ovens also may be used to dry herbs, although this method can cause herbs to dry too quickly and lose flavor. If you decide to try it, place the plant on a paper towel and microwave on high for about three minutes.

When to Harvest Your Herbs

Every herb, root and berry has a different peak time for harvesting. Here are a few tips:

• Leaves should be clipped before the flowers of the plant have opened. Leaves often are the most fragrant at this stage. Gather flowers such as lavender when the plant first starts to open.
• Roots should be collected in the fall after the plant has begun to die. However, dandelion roots should be collected in the early spring.
• Seeds should be gathered in the fall when the seed starts to ripen.
• Harvest berries as soon as they are ripe, which is usually mid-summer to early fall.”

 ( Check out the Herb Companion it is a beautiful publication! )

Read more: http://www.herbcompanion.com/gardening/fresh-clips-how-to-dry-herbs-at-home.aspx#ixzz1V7gXmgkw

Dog days of summer, and your garden.

Ron La Fleur: August Garden Chores
August Garden Chores!

Thanks to The Growers Exchange for this info!  (http://theexchange.thegrowers-exchange.com)  “August Gardening Chores: Ten Tips for A Tip Top Garden!

August is an unforgiving month.  The summer sun is at its peak and in many zones, rainfall has been scarce. Your plants are going into survival mode and need a little pick me up, before they either bolt or kick the bucket. With our tips for August gardening, your plants will perk up and look as good as the day you planted them!

1) Pruning is key right now: To keep your favorite plants healthy and happy, make sure to break out your scissors and prune your plants back. It’s best to do this in the evening when the sun isn’t as intense, and don’t get too scissor-happy –a moderate trimming will do wonders to add shape and strength to your plants. We recommend our Best Gardening Scissor for pruning small plants.

2) Don’t lose your head over fading blooms…lose theirs: We mean deadheading of course! For many flowering shrubs and annuals, you can continue to enjoy two or even three rounds of beautiful blooms that will last you into the fall by removing spent blossoms from your favorite flowers.

3) Pinch your herbs: Not to be a bully, but pinching your herbs back before they go to bolt will allow you to enjoy a more pleasant flavor. In this sweltering heat, plants tend to bolt more quickly, conserving their energy and using it to produce seed.  Prolong their useful (and delicious) life by keeping them pinched tightly for tastier herbs.

4) Weed like the wind: The more unwanted stragglers you can prevent from popping up overnight, the less you’ll have to deal with when they begin to go to seed and spread. Weeding your garden regularly also saves what little water may still be lingering in the soil, for your plants to use.

5) Put your woody plants on a diet: Now’s the time to begin hardening them off for winter. Don’t fertilize woody plants like Rosemary again until spring. Doing so now only encourages growth at the tips, not strong growth in the plant’s core.

6) Turn on the waterworks: Your garden is at its thirstiest right now. Make sure to water in the early morning or late afternoon, around the sun’s schedule. If possible, rotate a soaker hose that will continuously drip water in to the dried, powdery soil so that it actually penetrates down to the roots, without just evaporating. Focus your watering on tender young plants, as they don’t have the most established root systems yet.

7) Protect your pots: Don’t neglect your potted plants. Especially those that are in terra cotta or clay pottery. Make sure to continuously water them, as with the added heat and the seepage from their pot, they tend to lose moisture quickly. Try a self watering pot!

8) Make your bed: Get ready for this fall by beginning to prepare your garden beds. Layer your fall garden with grass clippings (or just neglect weeding for a week or so) and lay down wet cardboard, topped with compost and mulch. This will help encourage healthier soil and give the earthworms plenty to nibble on.

9) Movin on up: Time to repot your houseplants! Don’t overwhelm them by moving them from a condo to a castle, just give them a few inches more and they’ll be very comfortable. It’s a good time for this now, as they can get plenty of sunshine while it’s hot out and excess water can seep out of the soil without lingering and causing your plant any “wet feet.”

10) Mulch ado about nothing: Make sure to re-mulch your beds to retain moisture and to help plants stay cool.”

Again, Thanks to The Growers Exchange: Where gardeners go to grow. Check them out, there is all sorts of good stuff on their site! http://www.thegrowers-exchange.com

 

Briscoe White is owner and head grower at The Growers Exchange (http://www.thegrowers-exchange.com), an all-natural online garden center that specializes in rare and traditional herbs for culinary, aromatic and medicinal use. He has been in business for over twenty years, but his love of nature and gardening date back ever since he can remember. Member of many garden and nature-related organizations including the Garden Writers Association and The Herb Society of America, when not tending his greenhouse or writing for his blog, Briscoe’s Seeds For Thought, he spends what little free time he has planning his next garden and playing with his dogs on his family farm in Charles City, Virginia.