For the past two weeks we joined Dumont farmer market. It was our first farmers market and well...we were excited! We offered fresh cut flowers, fresh cut herbs, herb plants, perennials, succulents and more! It was great to meet fellow vendors and see new smiling customers each week. We will be returning back to the farm, so come visit us on River Road! Just look for the little yellow house!
For more updates, join us on our Facebook & Twitter pages.
It's that time of year when friends visit looking for their favorite vegetables to add to their home gardens (one of our favorite times of year). Lettuce, tomatoes, eggplants & herbs! What to grow, what not to grow? Try something new or stick with the standard? We can help you with all of these questions and more. For under $12 you can leave Fresh & Fancy Farms with vegetable and herb plants that will provide fresh produce all summer long. Here are some shots of our vegetables - come visit us today and we will help you plan your vegetable & herb garden!
The sun has been hiding, the rain has been falling and we don't mind. The flowers are happy and our field of tomatoes won't need a drink for a week or so after today! When it rains it's quiet on the farm. People are busy at work or snuggled in their homes. So it give us time to visit all of our plants and say hello. A little pruning here, a transplant there and a deep breathe. We have been planting herbs in pots, perfect for the back deck or patio. The fragrance of fresh herbs make us smile. Cilantro, chives, parsley, sage, rosemary, lemon thyme, mint, pineapple sage, oregano and more. They are all unique and can add life to your favorite dish, drink or cup of tea. So visit us for all your flowers, shrubs, trees and vegetables...but don't forget your herbs!
We hope to see you soon! Happy, happy Mother's Day! Enjoy!
This fabulous recipe you're about to embark on is brought to us fresh from the fabulous blog, JohnandElana.com. John and Elana are an Italian brother/sister combination who write about their food adventures and generally just love food! Check out their blog for recipes, restaurant reviews and beautiful food photography!
Did you know that pumpkin seeds are for eating? It's true, I promise.
Pumpkin seeds are a meaty seed. Large and puffy, almost like a bean and they provide a chewy contrast to the snappier cashew nuts I included in this recipe. And with the added salt from a sprinkling of roasted sunflower seeds, I also promise that this recipe for roasted and spiced pumpkin seeds will make you happier than a smiling Jack-O-Lantern.
Now, you could buy some pumpkin seeds. OR you could get enthusiastic, break out a large, sharp knife and serving spoon and a pumpkin of your choosing and harvest the seeds yourself. Do this while you are carving up your Halloween Jack-O-Lantern. It's fun. It's a mess. You'll love it.
Shameless plug: you should go get this pumpkin of your choosing at Fresh and Fancy Farms, where I hear that the pumpkins are abundant and ripe for the picking. Also I painted the barn sign there, so you should check that out, too.
What You Need:
3 Tbsp sugar 1 tsp paprika 1 tsp ground cinnamon Pinch of ground cloves 3/4 tsp salt 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 large egg white 1 cup unsalted cashews 1 cup pumpkin seeds (not roasted) 1 cup roasted salted sunflower seeds (to be mixed in later)
OPTIONAL HERBS! If you would like to get a touch "crazy" you can sprinkle some fresh herbs over the nuts while they are roasting. Sage would work nicely here as well as tarragon. Go for it!
What To Do:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a 4-sided sheet pan. Whisk together the sugar, spices and salt in a small bowl. Whisk the egg white in a medium bowl until frothy, then stir in the nuts. Add the spice mixture and toss to coat evenly.
Spread the nut mixture on the sheet pan in one layer. Bake, stirring once or twice until dry and toasted, about 20 - 25 minutes. Loosen nuts from the pan and cool completely.
Add in your salted sunflower seeds and mix well!
You can even make this one ahead and store in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to a week.
* Recipe adapted from Gourmet Magazine.
If I were an herb, I would want to be rosemary. It’s pretty, smells good and is pest-resistant. Not to mention it comes from the Latin words ros marinus aka dew of the sea. In many locations it needs no other water than the humidity carried by the sea breeze to live. Sounds nice right! Okay, enough about me. There is nothing like growing and cooking with your own herbs. I can almost guarantee what you’re serving will suddenly taste magical. This past summer was a learning experience for myself; filled with trial and error, sunshine and rain. I went from taking care of a small potted herb garden to being the official caretaker of a farms worth of herbs at Fresh & Fancy Farms.
And with summer at its end and herbs on their last life, storing them seems like a wonderful option! I am going to give you a few tips on how to store your herbs so you can enjoy them year round.
Oh and we’re going to keep it simple, because simple is good. You will do one of two things with your herbs, hang dry or freeze. Hang drying works best for herbs that don’t have high moisture content (oregano, rosemary, thyme). For moisture dense herbs (basil, chives, mint, sage) using a dehydrator or freezing them is best.
1. Cut your herbs. Check them out and make sure you’re not selecting anything that doesn’t look up to par – no mold, dry spots, or signs of disease.
2. Wash them and let them dry really well. You don’t want any mold growing.
3. Remove lower leaves from the bottom of the branch/stem.
4. Bundle and secure your herbs together using string, wire, binder clips, etc.
5. Hang them in a dry, warm (not humid) place for about two weeks.
6. Store in labeled and dated zip lock bag or mason jar.
1. Follow steps 1&2
2. Chop up your moisture dense herb and place 1/3 in an ice cube tray and fill the remainder with water.
3. Once frozen throw them into a large labeled and dated zip lock bag.
4. You can also take the whole leaf and store them in zip lock bag – that works too!
The 1st Annual Fresh & Fancy Fall Festival is here...Hooray! It's such an exciting day for us at Fresh & Fancy Farms. We are celebrating fall and inviting all of our friends, family and the local community to do it with us. The more the merrier, that's (one) of our mottos!
Excited, early morning texts have been rolling in from my favorite sister Kadie. Love it! If you're excited for today's crafts, she's the pretty and crafty gal to thank! Did we mention Brian is making the trip home from school just to celebrate with us, college boy & his lovely lady, Grace, can't get enough of the farm and who can blame them! Tim we're excited you're joining us too (obviously)!
Balloons, top hats, face painting, arts, crafts, cider, popcorn & more - did we mention this is all on the house! From us to you, because well...we like you!
This is not your typical fall festival and that's the way we like it! Hope to see you today on the farm, and if not today soon! Happy Day.
Peace & Love,
Fresh & Fancy Farms
There was a lot of work done in the vegetable garden this past weekend at Fresh & Fancy Farms! From re-securing tomato plants to pruning, watering and weeding. The garden has given us crimson tomatoes and deep purple eggplant in various shapes and sizes. We harvest what we can and put together baskets for family and friends to enjoy along with some of our favorite recipes. Below are two simple recipes inspired by Nigel Slater where eggplant is the star! Roasted Eggplant: On a baking pan or in a pyrex, toss the following ingredients and throw em' in the oven for about 45min or until tender at about 400°F .
Eggplant Bruschetta: Grill up the eggplant (grill marks are good) remove from the grill chop up and mix with the following ingredients. Let the mixture sit for about 30min. Top it on a toasted piece of bread brushed with olive oil. Serve to the happy crowd.
Summer is winding down and we are headed straight for fall. But before we get ourselves too excited about crisp pumpkins and colorful mums we are going to enjoy what’s left of the world’s warmest season. Here are three things we are going to hold onto before the leaves begin to change. 1. Fresh herbs One of our favorite things is to grow fresh herbs. Sage, rosemary, basil, oregano, you name it we grow it. If you have enough space indoors for colder months, bring your herbs indoors. If not, dry them and use them for your fall and winter cooking. Later this month we will have an herb drying “how to” so stay tuned.
2. Homegrown vegetables It’s about that time when your vegetables are in their prime! Six cucumbers here, 12 tomatoes there, you have an over abundance and soon it will be winding down so enjoy them! There is nothing more exciting than harvesting homegrown vegetables so don’t let anything go to waste, jar some salsa or pickle those cucumbers!
3. Final blooms Currently at the farm we are offering our hanging baskets for $10. Yes, we said it, $10 buckaroos! The flowers are still blooming and are sure to brighten any yard. Don’t take those final annual blooms for granted. Sit back, relax and enjoy the flowers!
