Tag: fall

posts between September 22nd and December 20th

Escarole-ing In Fresh Greens and Cucumbers! Saturday ARTfarmstand!

Today’s farmstand at ARTfarm features the freshest: tender teen arugula, arugula, sweet mix, spicy mix, microgreens, radishes, beets, cucumbers, Italian basil, Thai basil, holy (Tulsi) basil, sage, garlic chives, lemongrass, dandelion greens, escarole, lettuce heads, mangoes, zinnia flowers, honey and honeycomb. You’ll find some of ARTfarm’s organically grown cucumbers and lettuce heads over at Beeston Hill’s VI Farmer’s Coop this morning, too.

What do you do with escarole? It looks like a cross between a lettuce head and a bunch of arugula, with some snap to the leaves. When young, it can be eaten in a salad, although it can be on the bitter side. It can be steamed and dressed like other strong cooking greens – steam it until tender in a pan, then sauté it with garlic and hot pepper, or add salt, olive oil, and lime juice or vinegar. Lots of people like to make white bean classic Italian soup with escarole. Yum!!

A large head of escarole grows amongst young onions, lettuce and dandelion greens at ARTfarm.
Escarole is delicious in soups or sautéed as a side dish. A large head of escarole grows amongst young onions, lettuce and dandelion greens at ARTfarm.

Wednesday ARTfarm Cucumber Mango MADNESS… and Honeycomb

A pile of freshly washed cucumbers is topped with an orangey-yellow mango, sliced open.
Cucumber and mango salad, anyone? Sweet, crunchy, refreshing! If you dare, add a little crushed red pepper! Or make a mojito out of it!

Oh, the madness. Sweet mix, spicy mix, arugula, baby greens, escarole, lettuce heads. Radishes, lots of crunchy cucumbers, garlic chives, Italian (Genovese) basil, lemon basil, Thai basil, holy basil, lemongrass, sage, dandelion greens, zinnia flowers, lots of Haitian and Julie mangoes!! Wanda’s honey, Errol’s honeycomb, Patricia’s Super Dark honey. Probably other stuff available, but we’re Mangocentric and Cucumberized and we forgot!!

What to do with honeycomb? Oh baby, let us tell you!!

Honeycomb is an uncommon and delicious, completely edible treat. It is a chunk of the comb, cut from the hive, that the bees have built from beeswax. Its intricate and symmetrical repeated form is one of the great wonders of nature. 

  1. In the old country, people often enjoyed honeycomb as a condiment on bread or bruschetta. Take a slice of warm or toasted homemade bread, slather some fresh butter on it, and spread a chunk of honeycomb with a knife over the bread (fresh, “virgin” comb is soft enough to be spreadable). If desired, top with a piece of strongly flavored cheese, such as pecorino, and enjoy.
  2. Honeycomb can be eaten as candy. It is one of the original farm sweets for children! Simply cut off a small piece and pop it in your mouth. You can chew the wax and swallow it, or you can retain it like chewing gum. It is completely digestible, and like chewing gum, will lose its flavor as it is continually chewed.
  3. Honeycomb can also be used in its traditional forms; as a tea sweetener, drizzled over ice cream, in cooking and baking etc. Simply cut a chunk of the comb off, allow the contents to drizzle and drip into your drink or recipe, then use as a garnish or pop the rest in your mouth and enjoy!

Come meet the New Cukes! ARTfarm 10am-12noon!

Saturday Salad ARTfarmstand! 10am – 12noon: Sweet mix, spicy mix, baby spicy mix, tender arugula, microgreens, lettuce heads, beets, yard long beans, dandelion greens, more crunchy cucumbers (NEW VARIETIES!!), garlic chives, holy basil, Italian basil, sage, trini perfume seasoning peppers, lemongrass, zinnia flowers, Haitian kidney mangoes, Mallika mangoes (thank you Alex!), three types of raw local honey!

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Savant, Dashi and Kendrick’s on the regular ARTfarm delivery route!

We love to grow fresh food for creative chefs almost as much as we love to supply our family and farmstand customers. We love it when these guys call us up asking about new crops or telling us what amazing dish they are going to make using our stuff. Or just to harass Luca and try to get him to play basketball.

Two chefs making pirate faces hold up bunches of fresh green herbs from ARTfarm at Savant Restaurant in Christiansted, St. Croix USVI.
The ‘double D’ chefs of Savant Restaurant (Dreads and Daryl) get sassy with some fresh herbs from ARTfarm. Jill and Ashley at Dashi, and Dave over at Kendrick’s also took on some ARTfarm produce Wednesday afternoon. Eat out in Christiansted this week and celebrate: the blessed ending of a lengthy campaign season, or butterfly season, or just awesome food!

It’s still early in the season, but Savant, Kendrick’s and Dashi are already on the ARTfarm Christiansted delivery route, and as the season continues and the heirloom tomatoes come in their orders will undoubtedly get heavier! Thanks for the support!!