Now that summer is in full swing…well in comparison to last year it’s pretty tame…most all of the summer crops are coming in which is wonderful. Except when you have so much you don’t know what to do with them. If you are fortunate enough as we are and have a farmer’s market, then you have the perfect place to sell your excess produce. 
As I have noticed first hand, a farmer’s market is a spectacular place to meet to people, see new crops or varieties of crops you haven’t heard of or grown before, become more involved with your local community…oh yeah and make some money.
I hope you caught my drift from the previous sentence that a farmer’s market is more than a place to make money. 
It is a culture all of its own. It can be a place that helps people who may be alone or have lost a loved one. It’s a place where friends and neighbors come together to allow their worlds to slow down for a few moments or hours and drift away to an atmosphere of laughter and merriment.
Now if that doesn’t help with solving your crop problem, then maybe the next few items will. I love seeing people sharing recipes and getting to try recipes from other people. Now I’ll admit, there are some you are never going to get from me, even if you try and pry them from my cold, dead hands. But others…I will share. The following recipe is one of mine (just to clear up who this is…this is Vista Volunteer David Mayfield). It’s Zucchini Bread; or as Cathy’s grandson calls it, “Zooni” bread. I hope you enjoy it as much as my friends and family have. Also, it freezes well, so if you enjoy it and have a lot of zucchini you want to make into bread, round up the family, crack the whip, and put them to work.
Zucchini Bread:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 beaten egg
1 cup sugar
1 cup finely shredded,unpeeled zucchini
1/4 cup cooking oil
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans toasted
- Grease the bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of an 8x4x2 loaf pan; set it aside. In a medium bowl combing flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and nutmeg. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture; then set it aside.
- In another medium bowl combine egg, sugar, zucchini, and oil. Add zucchini mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistend. Fold in nuts, then spoon the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake in a 350 degree oven for 50-55 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack. (Preferably) Wrap and store overnight before slicing.
The next recipe comes from one of our wonderful participants Cathy.
Tomato Salad
- Tomatoes
- Onion
- Cucumber
- Basil
- Kosher salt
- Pepper
- First slice the tomatoes, cucumber, onions in bowl and add a pinch salt and cracked pepper.
- Then chop the basil and add to the salad.
- Toss all ingredients together let it stand about 5 minutes. Measurements for this kind of salad doesn’t have to be exact, just depends on your preference of how many ingredients you want and which you want more of. Just remember, more vegetables means more seasonings.
So my original intent was to post nutritional information about the vegetables used in the aforementioned recipes; however, I am more of a teach a man how to fish kind of guy. So instead I have listed below a website the gives a detailed list of nutritional and health benefits for not only a good amount of vegetables, but also fruits, nuts, herbs and spices.
http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/Nutrition-facts-blog.html
Participant of the Week
Mrs. Beverly showing off her scarf!
Mrs. Beverly is such a wonderful lady to be around and enjoy her company. When we went to visit her garden, she told us if we had called ahead of time she would have made us something to eat.
Considering how wonderful her bake goods sell at the farmer’s market, this has been a lesson learned for me. She warmly invited us into her house to sit and chat about how things have been going with her garden and the farmer’s market. Mrs. Beverly is quit a busy lady. She told us how in one day made 245 fried apple pies for a local event. People tried to help her, but she said she was able to make them quicker without their help. Something I can relate to when it comes to projects in the kitchen. She also talked about how pleasant the farmer’s market has been for her.
Recently in March, her husband passed away and going to the market not only kept her busy with making baked goods, crafts to sell, as well as produce, but also, provide a place for a her and some many others to get out and enjoy being with others in the community.
Her garden is split between the road that leads to her house. On one half of the road she has tomato plants, potatoes, and corn. On the other half she has beans, cucumbers, squash, blueberries, okra and some more corn. Despite problems with crows, squirrels, and deer coming after her corn and apples, her garden looks wonderful.
I hope you will enjoy the recipes we have given you this week. And if you want more recipes, look back each week.
What a lovely story about Mrs. Beverly. Thank you for sharing. She sounds like a very authentic person. Thanks, too, for the recipes! We can smell the Zooni bread already.
Love reading about farmers’ markets. We are so proud to have GA participants selling at farmers’ markets across several states! Thanks for doing great work!