This week at the market you'll find tasty treats for your Mother's Day get-togethers on Sunday: from-scratch baked goodies, smoked meats and delicious barbecue, farm fresh eggs with deep golden yolks, beautiful lettuce to make a dazzling salad, salad dressing made from fresh ingredients, as well as vanilla extract in beautiful gift bottles, and locally-roasted coffee. Don't forget to pick up a flower bouquet, too. Choose from a variety of vegetable and herbs plants to start your own garden, which is the cheapest way to eat healthy!
It's just now time to start putting out your summer crops, like tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, and beans. But with just a little extra effort, you can get an early spring start on crops like lettuce, kale, chard, mustards, even collards and extend your backyard harvest through the winter!
Use plastic or fabric row cover to provide warmth and frost protection. We make hoops out of #9 gauge bracing wire, which is inexpensive and available at local farm supply stores. Cut into four-foot lengths with either end pushed several inches into the ground, the wire hoops hold the cover material off the plants. Weigh down the fabric or plastic using rocks, soil, or landscape material pins.
Including lots of leafy greens in your diet supports healthy digestion, a robust immune system, and overall good health. I've been known to throw fresh chopped greens into almost everything I cook. For breakfast, I'll add greens to quiche, frittatas, omelets, and scrambled eggs. For lunch, in pasta, egg, chicken, and tuna salad-deviled eggs, too! For dinner, in casseroles, curries, soups, and stews.
Being creative in the kitchen and open to new foods is a great way to keep your diet varied and never boring!