Boánn’s Banks Sustainable Agriculture Along the Broad River

May 24, 2003 Hello! This is the space we normally we’ve been preparing their living use to tell you what’s been going on quarters. There’s been plenty of This Week at Market at the farm this past week. This record keeping to take care of, some week, however, not much happened. of which will make future years  Radish “French Breakfast” It’s been raining every day for the easier. Much of that information so  Lettuce “Forellenschluss” and past… actually, I don’t remember the helpful to us will also be available to “Bronze Mignonette” last day it wasn’t raining. We’ve you on our website –  Italian Dandelion done what we can to prepare the www.boannsbanks.com. For  Mountain Spinach “Ruby Orach” summer beds for a planting that gets example, if you want to know more and “Golden Orach” further behind each day. We’re about the Cherokee Purple tomato or  Lambs’ Quarters nearly ready – only installing the how long it takes to go from planting  Baby Turnip Greens drip irrigation lines and the actually to harvest for the Black Spanish  Young Broccoli Greens planting remains. The forecast for radish, we’ll tell you.  Baby Collard Greens this weekend looks good, so maybe  Baby Kale “True Siberian” it’ll all finally happen. The sooner This upcoming week should be the plants go in the ground, the productive. Besides finally getting sooner we can bring you the the summer crops in, we’ll be On the horizon: Turnip and Beet tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, beans, establishing a bee hive and Greens and bottoms, Kohlrabi, okra, squash, and so on! continuing to harvest for the Locally Carrots, Rutabagas, and more! Grown cooperative. Broccoli Greens Minestrone In the meantime, we’ve been doing Thanks for coming to market this Dried beans other work around the place. The week. Eat well! 1-2 onions, chopped young and old chicken flocks are -- Chris and Eric Wagoner 4-6 cloves garlic nearly ready to integrate into one, so www.boannsbanks.com Canned tomatoes (at least two 14- ounce cans) Featured Vegetable 1 chunk parmesan rind At least a double This week’s featured vegetable is a cabbage best known for its handful of noodles , any immature flower buds: broccoli, Brassica oleracea italica. Cabbage, shape broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts are all the same species that A couple of handfuls broccoli have, over time, been bred for a specific trait. For broccoli, of course, it is greens, coarsely chopped the large head of dense flower buds. All of these plants first began as a glug red wine wild cabbage tames by a group of people who lived in present-day 1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano Turkey three thousand years ago, the Rasenna. A group of these people Cover the bottom of a soup pot with dried migrated to Italy and became the Etruscans. They brought broccoli with beans, though the layer should be no more them, and the Romans found it to be one of their favorite vegetables. One than two beans thick, and one is plenty. story involves Drusius, the son of Emperor Tiberius, who so loved Soak the beans for at least three hours in warm water; overnight is better. Drain off broccoli that he ate it to the exclusion of anything else for a whole month. the water, replace with some inches of fresh When even his urine turned bright green, Tiberius made Drusius to eat water and simmer gently over low heat until normally. Broccoli didn’t catch on in the rest of Europe until the 1700s the beans begin to be tender. Add onions, and was virtually unknown in the US until the 1920s when the D'Arrigo garlic, tomatoes and parmesan. Simmer for Brothers based their California farm around this vegetable. another half-hour or so. Add noodles. Broccoli can be hard to grow in Georgia. By the time the farmers’ Around the time the noodles just start to get markets open, the growing season is nearly over. That didn’t deter us, tender, add greens, wine and oregano (you though – the greens are just as good as the heads! They have nearly the can also add a similar amount fresh basil). same nutrition value, and the taste is similar but more mild. They can be Salt and pepper to taste, and serve when the diced and used raw in salads or steamed or sautéed like any other cooking greens are tender with crusty bread. green.