Fresh Pastured Poultry 11/30/10

      We will have fresh pastured poultry available 11/30/10 through 12/4/10.  After that we will typically have frozen poultry available.  I must admit, I was amazed at the difference in the taste of the pastured poultry.  It is simply fresh and natural.  Even the frozen birds taste wonderful.   The word "gourmet" comes to mind.  If you are interested in the fresh or frozen poultry, contact us at deerwoodnursery@bellsouth.net.  We also have free-range eggs available. 
      

Pastured Poultry Sat.

Processing about 50 fresh  pastured birds on Sat. No steroids or antibiotics. Give us a shout if interested. Will keep fresh for 3 days and then available frozen.

Change is the only constant in life and tomatoes

It is always nice to see the vegetables spring to life and it is sometimes nice to see them die back in the fall.  There are mixed emotions at this time of year, but the chance to take a break and rest is a welcomed change.  At least, that is what I envision all summer.  In reality, this is the time of year to reflect on the past summer and see what needs to be changed for next year.  The planning starts now. 

There will definitely be changes for next year.  Deerwood grew more vegetables than ever before, more bushels and more varieties.  Take tomatoes for example; we grew striped roman, chadwich cherry, Dr. Carolyn, jelly bean, green grape, roma, Old German, striped rainbow, yellow brandywine, red brandywine, jubilee, moskavich, mortgage lifter, Cherokee purple and rutgers.  Now we need to think about which ones produced well.  Were they easy to transport?  Which ones were more disease resistant?  Do we need to stagger plantings more next year so our crops are spread over more months?   Can we grow fewer varieties and still have the variety everyone wants? Oh, so much to think about, but now is definitely the time to plan the changes for next year’s crops.  After all, taking an afternoon nap is highly over-rated!

Variety, Variety, Variety

It's looking like a great weekend for the tailgate markets.  We have great produce that should make you smile.

Beans – Morgan beans, Blue Lake beans, and Greasy beans (just add ham hock and potatoes for a real treat)


Potatoes – red and white

Peppers – Cayenne, jalapeno, and cowhorn (for varying degrees of heat) and sweet banana and green bell peppers for good color

Eggplant – Ichiban, black beauty, and thai white (yes, white)

Tomatoes – Striped Roman, Amish Paste, Roma, Brandywine (red and yellow), Rutgers, Mortgage Lifter, Moskvich, Copia, Big Rainbow, Chadwick Cherry (red), Dr. Carolyn, (yellow cherry) and Green Grape.

Cucumbers - those great Japanese longs and pickling cukes

Grapes - they are really getting sweet

Corn – well that has a little more story attached. Our corn continues to be sought after by the most discriminating bears and raccoons. Oh, they only like the best and they like ours. What the critters don’t devour, we will offer to you. Both white and bi-color corn will be available.

Rain, Finally

Here at Deerwood Nursery, we have not had significant rain in over a month. We have been able to sit on the back porch and watch the storms all around us, but none here, until a few days ago. Thank you God for the rain!

The Veggies Are Coming!!!!

We have been waiting since the end of last summer, and the wait is finally over. We have some fresh vegetables that were grown right under God’s great sun. We have cucumbers, squash, zucchini, broccoli and eggplant. Oh, I know it’s not tomatoes, but for those of you who believed us when we said you should try the Moskvich (early tomato), we’ll be eating those in a week or two. Not to worry, the early onions, lettuces and greens are still coming in as well. I don’t know about you, but this is one of my favorite times of the year. The first cucumbers and squash always tastes the best. Come on down to the tailgate market and try some fresh vegetables yourself. You’ll be glad you did!!!

Plant Sales

  Well after another weekend at the local markets I have come to the conclusion that vegetable transplants sales have been very slow compared to last year. Seems like most people who made a big push to be more self sufficient and grow their own veggies during hard times found out it is not as easy as it may appear. You really need to enjoy this lifestyle, as trying as it can be at times. Hopefully we will have plenty of the real veggies coming in next week and throughout the rest of the season. Good Luck to all those who do like to get their hands dirty.

When In Doubt - Use Thyme

Thyme is one of those wonderful and versatile herbs that is easy to grow outdoors. It needs good sun and well-drained soil that is not compacted. Plants should be spaced 10” to 12” apart since they really like to have room to grow. They are low-growing with the stems typically reaching 8” in height. These plants tolerate drought and freeze relatively well.



Wait a minute, did you say freeze? Yes, as a matter of fact, these plants can be perennials. At the end of the season, clear away any leaves or debris and push some dirt up around the bottom of the plants to help protect them from the elements. Thyme does a good job of extracting “goodness” from the soil, so you should either add manure to replenish the soil nutrients or move the plant to a different location for the following year.


If one plant it not enough for you, thyme can be propagated by seed, cuttings, or dividing sections of the plants with ample roots attached.


Great, that was easy, but now what do I do with my beautiful thyme? Eat it! Thyme can be used fresh or dried and is particularly good to add to meats, stews, tomato, eggs or lamb.


For fresh thyme there are two methods typically used for cooking. Entire sprigs (stems and leaves) can be used in a “bouquet garni” style where the sprigs are used in the cooking process, but are removed before eating. The stems are woody and you probably don’t want to eat this part of the plant. The second method is to remove the leaves and add them directly to your soups or stews or meats. Thyme is slow to release its flavor so it is best to add early in the cooking process. If you wait until the end, the flavor will be too strong.


Fresh thyme can be stored in the refrigerator if you wrap the sprigs in a moist paper towel and then cover with plastic wrap. Unfortunately it only stays fresh about a week. But not to worry, this is an easy plant to grow yourself! It doesn’t get any fresher than that.


To help make it through the winter, when you long for the fresh herbs from you garden, just pull out some of your own dried thyme. Thyme is one of the best herbs for drying since it retains so much of its flavor. You can have your own thyme for up to a year this way. When substituting dried thyme in a recipe, only use about 1/3 the amount of fresh thyme you would normally use.


Did you know thyme and lavender grow well together? They have the same growing requirements, so try this pair.


“To smell of thyme” is a compliment to the early Greeks. This meant you were admirable, brave and energetic.


Thyme also has medicinal purposes, but there is just not enough thyme in my day to get into that right now.


I have heard it said in cooking – when in doubt, use thyme!

Weekend Markets

Had a great time at the 2 markets we attended this week. Sold plenty of tomato,squash,cuke and herb plants. Also brought onions and potatoes this week along with fresh spinach, swiss chard and asian greens. We also have Free Range eggs which are always a big hit.
Most Henderson county markets should be in full swing by middle of this month so check out our weekly blogs for what we will have available.

First Big Spring Storm

Welcome to the world of Agriculture says Mother Nature! Just finished planting around 150 tomato plants,limas and greasy beans and then Wham full blown spring thunderstorm hit us. In about a 45  minute period we received about 2.3 in rain and quarter size hail here in Tuxedo. Have not checked corn or other veggies that are already up, but should know by this afternoon how things turned out.
    Going to Saluda tailgate market this afternoon with tomato plants, greens, onions and eggs. Same thing tommorow at Hendersonvill market.

Rainy Sunday

Well looks like another rainy weekend here in Tuxedo. Had a really nice B-day party for Brody yesterday with all his friends coming over. They all had a great time fishing, riding horses and chasing chicks and pigs among other activities.
   Went out a checked all the veggies this morning and everything is moving along just great. Corn is about ready to be cultivated, beans breaking through the ground, plenty of greens and onions. Wonderful time of the year here in NC

Swarm

Caught a really large swarm of honey bees yesterday. Figured they would swarm out of bee hive todaysince it was fairly dirty. Still there !!

Got our second planting of sweet corn in ground and first planting of squash. Hopefully this morning was our last frost.