Fleur-de-Blossoming

Several of you said you enjoyed last week’s patchwork quilt poem, and this week, I have a quilting follow-up.

Milton, a customer from Brooklyn who summers in Hamburg, dropped off two boxes of plants from his country garden last week. Waiting for him from my garden were Indigofera tinctoria, the source of indigo dye, and Acanthus spinosa, the source of the Corinthian leaf motif used in Greek and Roman art and architecture. Milton is a textiles expert and was mentioned in this newsletter a while back for his publication of drawings,  “An Amaryllis Suite”.  He was expecting guests for the weekend and loaded up on produce and berries.  Milton and his guests were headed to the opening of the Allentown Art Museum’s exhibition of 34 quilts that were featured in the Great International Quilt Festival held earlier this year in Tokyo.

These quilts represent nearly 200 years of American quilting, stitching, and stories of ordinary women (including Milton’s grandmother) who created an American tradition of turning functional bedcovers into decorative works of art. Many quilts in the exhibit were made in Pennsylvania and include examples of white-on-white, floral appliqué, redwork, and crazy quilting.  Definitely worth a visit. The Allentown Art Museum, 31 N. Fifth St., is open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays, and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. 

When In Rome: Our daughter Marina was visiting her friend Abby in Rome last week. Abby’s aunt, Mujah, made Fiori de Zucca, aka stuffed zucchini blossoms. The girls loved them! Since our field is just starting to come alive with the sunny blossoms, here are the simple directions, straight from Rome: Stuff each flower with a piece of mozzarella, a little sliver of butter, a bit of anchovy, and a caper. Coat each blossom in a batter of flour, water, and egg. Twist the top of the blossom closed and lightly fry in olive oil. Serve and eat right away.

When at Home: You can use the male and female blossoms of summer and winter squash for stuffing or other recipes. The male blossoms are borne on the end of thin stems and can be harvested without affecting production (but you should leave some for pollination). Remove stamens before stuffing. The female blossoms form on the end of the buds and are harvested with the tiny squash attached. (This means you won’t be overrun with zucchini!) It is best to harvest blossoms at midday when petals are open. Cut with a knife, leaving about an inch of the stem, rinse, and store in the refrigerator in ice water.

This week at Fleur-de-Lys Farm Market: Black raspberries, black currants, eggs, lettuce, kale, garlic scapes, luffa sponges, lavender wands, and honey.

Shop Details: Fleur-de-Lys Farm Market, 440 Hottenstein Road, Kutztown, is open Wednesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., or any time the blue door is open! Our phone number is (610) 683-6418. 

Sayings on Slate: Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. -- Marcel Proust

Fleur-de-Blur

For SpringSummer 2010, Mother Nature has been on the fast track, blurring days into weeks. What is “normal” for the week of July 4 at Fleur-de-Lys Farm is happening right now, June 14-18!

We’re picking black raspberries, black currants, and blueberries, while the June-bearing strawberries are fast fading. The bee balm is sending up her blossoms exploding with streaks of crimson that usually herald July 4 fireworks. Another not-so-favorite visitor for Independence Day, the Japanese beetle, is already munching down on the roses and quince. Laurie Lynch

At Fleur-de-Lys Farm Market this week: rainbow chard, several types of kale and lettuces, sugar snap peas, garlic scapes, black raspberries and currants, cilantro, oregano, and other herbs, eggs, honey, and probably a half dozen other things I’ve missed. We still have loads of llama beans for your compost

Life is like a patchwork quilt

And each little patch is day

Some patches are rosy, happy and bright

And some are dark and gray.

But each little patch

As it’s fitted in and sewn to keep it together

Makes a finished flock in this life of ours,

Filled with sun and rainy weather.

So let me work on life’s patchwork quilt

Through the rainy days and the sun

Trusting that when I have finished my block

The Master may say, “Well Done.”

-- Author Unknown

Fleur-de-TheGraduate

I been reading Barbara Kingsolver’s new novel, “The Lacuna.” One simple sentence jumped out at me and gave me a belly laugh: “Even a feather duster will lay an egg in April.”

Ah, the predictability of life. If in April the eggs are rolling in the nesting boxes, you can be sure the 11 other months are unpredictable, at best. Too often, we find ourselves giving reasons why the girls aren’t laying: It’s too hot. It’s too cold. The days are too short. The nights are too long. It’s snowing. Well, it’s not snowing now, but you get the point.

Our son Richard returned from Juiz de For a, Brasil, last week on the heels of good news – he’s going to graduate from Kutztown Area High School June 15. He was the school’s first outbound Rotary Exchange student, so we weren’t sure how the credits and requirements would work out. But, Richard put together two portfolios of his work at the Jesuit school he attended and mailed them to KAHS. Evidently, they passed the muster.

The real proof of the value of his year in Brasil came his first night back when he went to a Rotary picnic. My shy son of a year ago walked up to many of the Rotarians who guided him through the Rotary exchange application process, greeting each with a kiss on each cheek.  Richard is speaking fluent Portuguese with Celso (who stayed with us when he was a Rotary Exchange high school student and who is now a senior at Kutztown University) and he is rocking to the Brasilian beat of reggae, rap and favela funk.

Richard summed up the experience, “It was my best year ever.”

What more could a parent want?

And actually, if he would have been in Kutztown instead of Juiz de Fora for his senior year, I might have been more worried than I was when he was a hemisphere away. First of all, he had a wonderful host mom, Meire, She often reassured me in English (she was a Rotary Exchange student visitig the U.S. in the 1970s) that Richard was doing well. And, had Richard been here, he might have been involved in a senior prank, and I might have been his accomplice. And boy, would we have gotten in trouble!

Our neighbor Lisa once shared this story about a senior prank. Apparently, some students suffering from Senioritis released three chickens in their high school. There was quite a bit of squawking and ruffled feathers. But the chickens were finally captured, and each had a number hanging from her neck: No. 1, No. 2, and No. 4 …  Oh, how those teachers and administrators looked for chicken No. 3!  Laurie Lynch

At Fleur-de-Lys Farm this week:  eggs if you are lucky, garlic scapes, lots of herbs, honey, sugar snap peas, kale, lettuces, and strawberries.

Fleur-de-MysteryRose

Ruth and Jack Flounders run a small heirloom rose nursery in Schuylkill County called Roses in Thyme. I think we first met when they came down to buy garlic for their Sculps Hill Vinegars, and throughout the years we’ve exchanged occasional emails. Last week, they drove down with their grandson to show him the llamas and to buy sweet potato slips.

Draven loved touching Griffey’s (the retired Mennonite Buggy Horse) soft muzzle, got to see the girls sunbathing on llama beach, and even cranked the bucket on the wishing well as he toddled around the farm. Before they left, they gave us a gift: a beautiful old shrub rose. It is just like the ones they sell at their nursery, only it was mislabeled and they only sell correctly labeled old roses. (Check out their website: rosesinthyme.com). So, the mystery rose has taken harbor with our mystery peonies and our mystery rugosa rose, an alleyway of pink fragrance from the house to the barn. Laurie Lynch

At Fleur-de-Lys Farm this week: We’ve got strawberries, garlic scapes, elderblossoms for making Elderblossom Cordial, lettuces, red Russian kale, radishes, honey, assorted fresh herbs, and eggs.

No Boys from Brasil, Just a Young Man: Our 18-year-old son Richard returns from his Rotary Exchange year in Juiz de Fora, Brasil, tomorrow. So, it will be help-yourself day at Fleur-de-Lys Farm Market.

Starting Thursday: Orphan tomato seedlings – St. Pierre, Rose de Berne, Green Zebra, Taxi, Rowdy Red, Egg Yolk and plum tomatoes Assalito Family, Pompeii and Roughwood Garden.

Llama Beans: They are here for the taking! Pick up a bag and cook up your compost.

Written on Slate: One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today.

-- Dale Carnegie

Fleur-de-LastDaysofMay

Everything is abloom at Fleur-de-Lys Farm this week! We’ve got strawberries, lettuces, baby Jade bok choy, Russian red kale, radishes, assorted fresh herbs, and eggs.

Sweet Potato Slip Special: Bunch of 25 slips for $15.

Llama Shearing Status: One done, one to go.

Coming Soon: Orphan tomato seedlings.

Written on Slate:

I sing of brooks,

Of blossoms, birds, and bowers;

Of April, May

Of June and July flowers.

                        Robert Herrick

Fleur-de-SchuylkillShastas

 

The best thing about the Fleur-de-Lys email newsletters is the feedback they generate.

Farming can be a solitary life, which is why I treasure customers stopping by and emails from readers. Ruthie lives up in Schuylkill County so I don’t see her often but I love her wisdom and recollections. And yes, I love it that I can occasionally use words to make her smile:

“Your tale about the milkweed brings a happy smile to my face.  When one of my step-daughters was a little girl she asked me to show her how to plant Shasta daisy seeds on our little mini farm.  We planted the packet in a neat little row in my flower section (aside from my husband's very serious vegetable section.)  Archer is now attending grad school in Seattle, Washington, married and has a darling baby girl.  But each summer the Shasta daisies continue to bloom all over that 4 l/2 acres and probably for miles around. My son now owns that property so I still get to see the daisies.  Our little ones do grow up quickly but mine still thank me for all the little things that I taught them.”

We thank you too, Ruthie. Enjoy this sweet potato and Shasta daisy planting weather.  Laurie Lynch

At Fleur-de-Lys Farm Market this week: eggs, asparagus, lettuce, kale, rhubarb, herbs and lovely peonies!

Sweet Potato Slips:  This morning I emailed my sweet potato supplier in Tennessee asking when I should expect the slips. I think he’s busy. I didn’t even get one word in reply, and this is a talkative fellow. The message? “ASAP.” That email came at 9:56 a.m. The UPS man arrived at 11:07 a.m. … with a box of sweet potato slips! ASAP means ASAP down in Tennessee. As always, I ordered more than I can possibly plant, so if you’d like to try your green thumb, give me a call (610) 683-6418, email or stop by.

Brownie Points: Well, Trig’s homemade brownies arrived in Brasil last week. She won Brasilian brownie points from my son Richard and his host mom Meire! And, I just got word this afternoon that the brownie mixes I sent made it too! Happy baking, Richard.

Llama Beans: We’ve got bags of llama manure pellets (AKA Llama Beans) to get your compost bin cooking. Who says nothing is free?

Written on Slate: “My dream is to become a farmer. Just a Bohemian guy pulling up his own sweet potatoes for dinner.” – Lenny Kravitz

Fleur-de-Milkweed

You have all heard of Johnny Appleseed, the pioneer nurseryman who introduced apple trees to the Midwest and became an American legend.

Well, in this part of Maxatawny Township we have Marina Milkweed. Yes, I’m talking about my daughter. She’s been living in Belgium for the past two years, but her legacy is showing up in our asparagus field, our strawberry patch, under the basketball hoop, and in the meadow.

Ever since she was a barefoot scamp, Marina was drawn to milkweed pods growing along our stream. Her favorite thing to do at summer’s end was to pluck the teardrop-shaped pods from the plant, pry the sticky, milky shells open with her fingers, and then scatter the hundreds of seeds with their silky parachutes into the breeze.

After 10 years of spreading milkweed seeds, her handiwork is evident everywhere I look. And that’s a good thing, especially this year, which is thought to be one of the worst for the monarch butterfly.

The monarch butterfly, with its beautiful black-and-orange wings, is one of those select creatures that lays her eggs on one type of plant, and one type only, the milkweed. There, the eggs hatch into larvae, and the larvae feed on the foliage.

This past winter, hailstorms in Mexico left 2 inches of ice on the trees where the monarch butterflies spend the winter. This was followed with 15 inches of rain. Scientists from Monarch Watch at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, estimate that more than 50 percent of the monarchs were killed, and the monarch population was already small to begin with.

As spring came to Mexico, the remaining female monarchs began flying north, depositing eggs on milkweed leaves. The migrating monarch mommas die, the eggs hatch, and the offspring continue the migration. It takes three to four generations for the monarchs to reach Canada. In the fall, the final generation migrates back to Mexico.

It isn’t just the severe weather that hurt the monarch population. Illegal logging in Mexico has destroyed its habitat and the use of genetically engineered corn and soy in the Midwest has also had a deleterious effect. Farmers can spray herbicides on the genetically modified corn and soy without killing the crops, but the herbicides kill the milkweed.

So, if you would like to help the monarchs this summer, stop by Fleur-de-Lys Farm and I’ll dig up a milkweed plant for you. Plant it in a wild spot on your property and you will create a much-needed habitat for the beautiful monarch. Special Note: Our milkweed is called common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) and is considered invasive, i.e., a weed. There are two other milkweeds, butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) and swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), both good for the monarch and the garden. Laurie Lynch

This Week at Fleur-de-Lys Farm Market: Eggs, asparagus, sorrel, chives and other spring herbs, and a 19^th-centruy French heirloom lettuce called Sanguine Ameliore. A photograph of this butterhead-type or “cabbage” lettuce caught my eye in this year’s Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog. The catalog calls it by its French name, “Sanguine Ameliore” or “strawberry cabbage lettuce”. As you know, my knowledge of the French language is extremely limited but I was curious. To me, “sanguine” has something to do with blood, and that is the color of the “sprinkles” of red on the chartreuse leaves of this lettuce. So, I Google-translated “sanguine ameliore” to “blood improves” and double-checked it with my French-speaking Marina Milkweed. I guess in seed cataloguese, “blood improves” translates into “strawberry cabbage”.

Sweet Potato Slips: They should be arriving any day. When they arrive, I will send out emails to everyone who pre-ordered. If you’d like to reserve slips (12 slips for $10), let me know. We still have the following varieties: Carolina Ruby, Centennial, Yellow Jewel, Red Japanese (white flesh), White Triumph, and Nancy Hall (white flesh).

Llama Bean Bonus: We are attempting to spread goodwill and llama beans throughout the Lehigh Valley and Berks County, one bag at a time. Mix these llama beans (AKA llama manure pellets) into your compost pile and you won’t be sorry. Free!

While the Cat’s Away: This weekend Paul will be getting a much-needed break sailing on the Chesapeake. If you are in the Fleur-de-Lys neighborhood, stop by for a glass of refreshing elder-blossom cordial and give me a much-needed break.