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.

ARTfarm Saturday Stand – De-stress!

A close up photo shows a flower spike on a clump of green tulsi leaves, or holy basil.
Bees love the nectar from the purple flower spikes that grow from holy basil. The plant is purported to have anti-stress medicinal qualities, and makes a refreshing ‘bush’ or herbal tea. We grow holy basil organically at ARTfarm and cut it fresh for the farmstand.

Happy ARTfarm Saturday! This morning starting at 10am we’ll have: sweet salad mix, spicy salad mix, arugula greens, mAcro greens, beets, radishes, tender young cucumbers, dandelion greens, escarole, red mustard greens, garlic chives, sage, thyme, fresh cut zinnias; Italian, Thai, lemon and holy basil, lemongrass, and local honey from Wanda and Patricia. Come out to St. Croix’s South shore this morning and enjoy the cool breeze!

Refreshing, de-stressing drink recipe:

Steep a bunch of fresh cut holy (tulsi, pictured above) basil with a bunch of lemongrass in a couple of gallons of freshly boiled water. Pull out the herbs after 10 minutes and add some local honey to taste. Enjoy hot or cold! Sip, be refreshed, be de-stressed, enjoy a local beverage! Costs pennies per serving!

Salad Saturday at ARTfarm

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Remember when it rained a lot a few weeks ago? We can now enjoy that precipitation in an abundance of salad greens!

For today’s stand, 10am – 12 noon, we’ll have: Microgreens, spicy mix and sweet mix; sweet bell peppers, hot peppers, small seasoning peppers; cooking greens including kale, collards and broccoli greens; fresh herbs including the Four Basils (Italian, holy, lemon, and Thai), garlic chives, lemongrass, sage, thyme; pumpkin, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, beets; and a rainbow of giant fuzzy zinnia flowers for your Easter table!

Happy spring!

Monday Post-Pond Farmstand

At today’s farmstand we’ll have: Sweet mix, spicy mix, arugula, cucumbers, tomatoes, kale, broccoli greens, sweet peppers, hot peppers, pumpkin, onions, scallions, holy basil, Italian basil, parsley, chocolate, ice cream!

Sorry we haven’t posted in a few days but we were very busy building a giant pond! Thanks to our super volunteers who assisted us this weekend in getting that two-year project completed.

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