Lettuce

Washed and waiting to be bagged and priced for the farmers' market.

First Farmers' Market

Farmers' market season is upon us.  The one we sell at is Wednesdays from 3 to 6:30.  The weather was nice in April but May was cold.  Most of what we planted sat in the ground idle for three weeks so we didn't have much to bring.  We manage to get together some rhubarb, herbs, iris roots and our old fashioned goat milk soap.  The day was perfect, not too hot with a slight breeze, but it didn't bring out  many shoppers.  We did okay for the amount of product we brought, the kids both made a few dollars so they were happy.  Next week we should have radishes and the lettuce is looking promising.

Banana cake or bread

I have sold a ton of this recipe at the farmers' market and people come back for it week after week. It is bread in a bread pan or cake in a 8X8 pan.

Banana cake or bread

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup butter

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (3 to 4)

1/3 cup water

1 2/3 cups flour - I use whole wheat

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup chopped nuts - I think pecans are best in this recipe

a handful of chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter bottom of pan. Cream sugar and butter. Add eggs and mix. Add and mix in water, and bananas. Stir in rest of ingredients. Bake until wooden pick comes out clean. About 55 minutes for a bread and 35 for a cake.

What to do with rosemary

We went to the farmers' market today and brought tons of rosemary. The problem was no one seemed to know what to do with it. Those who did snapped it up because we had big bunches for a $1.00, about a quarter of what it costs in the store and this was just picked yesterday so very fresh.

Here is what we suggest for uses:

• roast with veggies, especially potatoes
• put with meat, chicken and fish
• add in cheese
• dry it and put it in homemade bread
• puree it with olive oil for a pesto
• pick the leaves off and use the stem for a kabob skewer
• throw a bunch on the grill to flavor the smoke
• throw a couple of sprigs in when you have a fire for a wonderful aroma
• make sachets for your drawers
• make it into wreaths
• tie it in bundles with a pretty ribbon
• put it in potpourri
• put it in a bag, throw it in the freezer and save it for later use
• dry it and use in the winter to remember summer
• I have even heard of a recipe for rosemary ice cream!

Three rhubarb recipes

The mantra for gardeners seems to be that you can't waste a single thing from the garden. That being said, we had some rhubarb that didn't sell at the farmers' market yesterday to use.

Dancer made a pan of these yummy bars. We just got the recipe yesterday morning from a friend and were excited to try them. They turned out so good we ate almost the whole pan. The bottom of these bars are darker because I only had hard red whole wheat flour on hand. If I had had any white flour it would had a more regular pie colored crust bottom.

Rhubarb Dream Bars

Blend together:

1 C. flour

1/2 C. butter

5 tbsp. powdered sugar

Press into a 8x8 pan and bake 15 minutes at 350 degrees

Mix together:

2 eggs

1/4 C. flour

1 1/2 C. sugar

3/4 tsp. salt

2 C. rhubarb chopped

Spoon over crust and bake for 40 minutes

Spark and I made two jars of jam. This is recipe a I just made up with what I had on hand but it turned out so good the kids were eating it with a spoon out of the jar.

Rhubarb Jam

5 C. chopped rhubarb

4 C. sugar

2 chopped apples

1 package Sure Jell

Boil rhubarb, sugar and apple together until apple is soft, about 10 minutes depending on how small the apple pieces are cut. Mash with a potato masher. Add box of Sure Jell and boil one more minute. Pour into jars and freeze. Leave a bit of room at the top of the jar for expansion when it freezes.

This next recipe I made for Dad to take to work tonight. Nurses who work all night deserve a treat now and again. This recipe is a tried and true that we have made it many, many times and it always gets rave reviews. That is how we got the recipe in the first place, it was brought to a pot luck and we asked for the recipe so round and round it goes. Not a great picture of the crisp but since it was going with to work I didn't want to cut into it.

Rhubarb Crisp - also works for apples

Rhubarb diced - fill 3/4 of an 8x8 pan

Shake over rhubarb 1 cup of sugar and a tbsp. of flour.

Topping:

1/2 c. flour

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 stick butter melted

1/2 c. oatmeal

Mix together and crumble over rhubarb. Bake until top is golden brown and fruit bubbles. Double amounts for a 9x13 pan.

First Farmers' Market

We went to our first farmers' market of the year. All we had was rhubarb, a few dozen eggs and goat milk soap. Nothing else was planned for the afternoon so we thought we would go even though we wouldn't make much money because of our lack of product. Dancer and I usually have a lot of baked goods as well but to sell baked good we have to put the tent thing up to comply with state laws. I didn't feel like doing that since Dad had to work and wouldn't be there to help set up and take down. We did surprisingly well! I am always amazed at the amount of rhubarb we sell every year since is seems as though everyone is trying to give it away. All of the eggs we brought sold. Another vendor also sold out so hopefully we do a good egg business there. Other years we were the only ones with eggs but this year there are three of us with them. All little competition never hurts, makes us work harder on our customer service.


The kids had a wonderful time reconnecting with a friend who's mother also has a stand. Another family, who has a friend for Spark and Dancer, live in the neighborhood where the market is held so they walked to their house to get them to come over to the market and they all had a good afternoon together. I need to bring more snacks next time because it seems when kids get together they want to eat!