Pa Joe’s Old Kentucky overalls

They usually hang from a hook in my garage, but as I write this, they are stretched across my lap.  Faded to a soft blue, the denim worn and tattered in places and one of the hooks sewed to the fabric where a button is missing, my grandfather’s Old Kentucky overalls are a tangible testament to a working man’s life and I treasure them.  Although he died in 1973 and this garment has been washed many times, in my olfactory memory bank, I can still smell a trace of Pa Joe.  A hint of stale tobacco, sweetened a bit by peppermint he sneaked from the candy dish when my grandmother’s back was turned and that singular Lava soap smell.  My grandfather was a contractor who built fine homes and denim overalls served him well when he was on the job and I find, in my role as an organic farmer, they are the perfect apparel.

In my former career as a public high school media coordinator, aka, librarian, I was required to wear “professional” dress, even though my duties often included handling filthy equipment, dusting shelving where black widow spiders lurked and even cleaning a faculty restroom.  Although, depending upon the principal in charge, there was usually not a formally adopted dress code for staff, casual attire was not encouraged.  A colleague once told me her former principal forbade female teachers to wear socks, but when my office temperatures dipped into the sixties during winter months when the ancient heater refused to work, I was grateful for thick socks.  For a few years, my coworkers and I donated money to the student benevolence fund in exchange for the privilege to wear blue jeans on Fridays.  When I retired, after thirty years of employment, I found it liberating to wear jeans every day, if I chose to do so.

At the farm, I work for long periods of time and it is convenient to carry my cell phone, a pocketknife, small tools and other items in my pockets.  With several cultivated acres, it is difficult to remember to take everything I need from one field to another and I often run back to my vehicle to retrieve something I forgot to take with me.  I quickly discovered jeans pockets could not hold everything I needed to carry along.  And then, there was that darned cell phone.  Stored in a pocket, as I bent to pull weeds or stretched to harvest tall crops, my phone would make calls or send texts.  Most of the time, the number belonged to someone I knew, but sometimes, strangers received calls from me.  Even after I added the security of a locked code, I would still have occasional problems.  Finally, I discovered the freedom of wearing overalls.

Not only are the pockets deep enough to carry (almost) everything I need, the fabric is soft and breathes with my body, making it a good choice for hot summer days and for most farm tasks, the long pants protect my legs from cuts and scratches.  After wearing overalls, I understand why Pa Joe believed they were the perfect work uniform.

When I was a child, it was not uncommon for men, especially farmers, to wear overalls, but they were almost exclusively a work garment.  On Sundays and workday evenings, these same overall-wearing men would don slacks, dress shirts, polished shoes and perhaps a hat.  In addition to Pa Joe’s overalls, I also have one of his hats.  It is made of soft gray felt, adorned with a black grosgrain ribbon and a tiny metal airplane.  A gold stamp inside the brim reveals it was purchased from “Lee & Robbins, Men’s Fashion Shop, Lenoir, North Carolina.”  Although Lee & Robbins is no longer in business, I remember that store, its rich smells of leather and shoe polish and helpful salesmen with tape measures at the ready.

Pa Joe’s hat band bears the name of a once popular men’s store

At some point, I suppose overalls fell out of favor, probably replaced by blue jeans.  When I was a young child, I recall shopping for Pa Joe’s work apparel with my grandmother.  We walked down the wide staircase to the basement department of our local Belk store, where there were stacks of dark blue denim overalls for sale.  These days, I purchase them from online stores.

More fashionable than Pa Joe’s, my overalls are functional

Although I enjoy wearing utilitarian overalls, they are certainly not trendy and I doubt they will appear on any fashion show runways in the near future.  Once, after working much longer than I planned, I realized I did not pack enough water for my trip to the farm and I was very thirsty.  I drove to a nearby convenience store and picked up a bottle of cold water.  As I walked to the cash register, a man, dressed in a nice suit, with a necktie, walked in the front door, directly in the path I walked.  I smiled at him and he looked at my feet, clad in boots, and I saw his eyes widen when he slowly looked up, noted my overalls’ dirty knees, and then, in almost horror, he turned and ran the other way.  I suppose he was not used to seeing female farmers, dressed in professional work attire.

I have learned many lessons while working at Heart & Sole Gardens.  Growing my grandmothers’ heirloom seeds, saved by my family for generations, connects me to my ancestors in ways that sometimes surprise me.  The physical work strengthens my aging body and the fresh air blows cobwebs of stress from my mind.  If you haven’t tried your hand at growing your own food, I highly recommend the job.  The dress code is an added bonus.

I first learned potatoes have eyes when, as a child, my paternal grandfather taught me to wield a sharp knife and carefully cut seed potatoes into pieces for planting.  Paw Hamby showed me how to recognize the small spots where sprouts form and how to slice around those places, leaving enough potato flesh to provide nourishment for the developing plants. Along with other gardening lessons I didn’t realize, at the time, I internalized, how to prepare seed potatoes is a skill I am thankful I learned.  As I inspect the annual late-winter delivery to my home, I can hear Paw Hamby’s voice, offering advice to maximize the harvest.

An example of LaRatte fingerling, aptly named

When I grew my first large crop of organic potatoes, several years ago, I was lucky to have a daughter, home from college for summer break, as my farm helper.  Since we did not own a plow at that time, we used shovels to turn tubers from the ground, taking care not to cut them as we repeatedly plunged the tools into dry, hard soil.  Backbreaking work, to be sure, but our rewards were buckets full of potatoes, ranging in size from tiny fingerlings to large baking and sporting beautifully colored purple, pink, gold and red skins.  We sold our wares at local farmer’s markets that summer and to Blowing Rock and Boone, NC, chefs.  Without Kate’s help, it would have been impossible to work the farm, harvest, prepare produce for market and then set up sales booths twice each week, plus make special deliveries.  No wonder she took an internship job in the city the following summer! 

The photo of Kate and Bob generated interest at the farmer’s market

When I was a child, my family gardened and we grew a lot of the food we consumed.  We and others in our rural community planted potatoes early in the spring and harvested during summer.  Locally, folks referred to the tubers we grew as “Irish,” to distinguish them from sweet potatoes.  Kennebecs and Red Pontiacs were the usual suspects; Yukon Golds came on the scene years later and were not widely cultivated in our area.  Kate and I were the first to offer fingerling potatoes at the Blowing Rock farmer’s market and they were an instant hit. 

Colorful potatoes are delicious and beautiful

A large board advertised our weekly offerings and displayed farm photos.  People often stopped to look at a photo of bikini-clad Kate, astride a friend’s huge Belgium, guiding the horse as he pulled a plow to plant potatoes.  Although the photos were great conversation starters, potatoes, freshly harvested, brought us many repeat customers.  Once, a young woman rushed to our booth and said her mother, unable to visit that day’s market, asked her to buy potatoes from “The Potato Lady.”  Another day, a customer forgot her umbrella and Kate placed it beside our table for safekeeping.  Later, we saw the woman returning and Kate waved the umbrella.  Relieved to see it, the woman said, “Oh, thank you!  I thought I left it at The Potato Lady’s booth!”  Kate and I joked that I was now “The Potato Lady.”  I did not mind the moniker; after all, there are worse titles! 

Richard and I made this potato salad recipe with some of our first-of-the-season harvest and if you like a side dish that is hearty enough for a main one, try this.

Picnic Potato Salad

2-3 pounds fresh potatoes, scrubbed and cut into bite size pieces 

Gently cook potatoes in salted water until fork tender.  Do not overcook!  Drain potatoes, place in a large bowl and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons herbed vinegar or red wine vinegar.  Use hands to combine.  Add the following and stir all ingredients to thoroughly combine:  1/4 cup bottled Italian salad dressing, 2 tablespoons mayonaise, 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, 2 tablespoons capers, drained, 1/4 cup chopped radishes, 1/4 cup chopped celery, 2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped, 1 tablespoon dill pickle relish, 2 tablespoons red onion, diced, 1 teaspoon fresh dill, snipped, 1 teaspoon fresh chives, snipped and 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves. 

Refrigerate several hours or overnight.

Falling snow reminds me of my grandmother.  For the first twelve years of my life, I lived four doors down the street from Lora Bolick Minton, “Granny” to me and her other grandchildren.  During summer, I was Granny’s garden helper and she taught me many lessons about growing and harvesting plants, lessons I thought I forgot, until I grew my own garden.  Often, when I reach for a cucumber, I hear her voice reminding me to take care not to step on the tender vines.  Other times, when insect pests devour seedlings, I remember which bugs she told me were “bad” and should be killed.  As much as I enjoyed working in Granny’s garden, which somehow, always felt more like play, I loved being in her kitchen, where enticing aromas wafted from her oven or stovetop, where simmering saucepans of goodness filled every gas burner.  At no time was Granny’s kitchen more inviting than when snow was falling.  As soon as she spied the first flakes, Granny began to make a huge pot of oyster stew and, without announcement or telephone calls, family soon arrived to enjoy steaming bowls of rich cream soup, topped with a thick layer of churned, melted butter and served with tiny oyster crackers. 

When I see Squash Beetles, I hear Granny’s voice: Kill It!

Oyster stew is a favorite dish in my family, also.  Even daughter Kate, who is allergic (sadly) to the bivalves, enjoys the soup base, albeit without oysters.  Although my first stews followed Granny’s basic recipe, several years ago I discovered a soup base that is perfect for oyster stew, looks deceivingly rich and buttery, but is actually very low in calories and is heart-healthy. 

Canned Soup Base

With an abundant crop of summer squash, I made creamy squash soup.  I shared some with a friend, who made her own soup and served it to her father.  After enjoying a bowl, my friend’s father declared, “The soup was great, but I didn’t get a single oyster!”  The next time I tasted the soup, I realized this man’s palate was accurate.  The soup did have an oyster stew flavor and appearance, but without oysters.  When I added oysters to my next batch, I discovered it is possible to enjoy rich stew flavor, without a dairy base.  Since the soup’s color is deceptively close to butter and cream, I call it “Trompe L’Oeil Oyster Stew,” since trompe l’oeil is a French term that means “trick the eye” and is usually applied to works of art that create an optical illusion.

With squash harvest, help is always appreciated!

In North Carolina, oysters are not in season at the same time as summer squash.  Thankfully, I am able to preserve soup base that retains the flavor and texture we enjoy during squash harvest time.  For interesting presentation, top a bowl of this soup with a single, perfectly fried, golden brown oyster.  The following recipe is for soup base, but if you are interested in the recipe for fresh squash soup, it is in the “Farm Fresh Recipes” section of this website.  I apologize for the lack of organization in that area and fully intend to overhaul it . . . when I get time.  For now, it is squash season and I am madly processing!

 Trompe L’Oeil Stew Base (aka Summer Squash Soup)

Yield: 7 pints

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large stockpot.  Add 2 cups chopped onion and 1/4 cup chopped yellow or green pepper.  (I used an heirloom Fish pepper that has a little heat, but you could substitute banana pepper, either sweet or hot.)

Saute onion and pepper in oil until translucent, about 2 minutes.  Add 4 cups vegetable stock and 12 cups summer squash, sliced into 1/4 inch pieces.  Season with 1 teaspoon sea salt, not iodized (I used French Grey) and 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper.  Cover stockpot with lid and cook over low heat for about 20 minutes, until squash begins to fall apart.  Remove pot from heat and allow to slightly cool.

Squash should be soft enough to blend

Use an immersion blender to blend squash mixture until very smooth.  Alternatively, place mixture, in small batches, in a stand blender and blend until smooth.  Heat soup base over medium heat until boiling, then remove from heat.

Immersion blenders are great tools

Immediately fill hot glass canning jars, either pints or quarts, to within one inch of the top of the jar, with soup base.  Carefully wipe jar rims with a clean damp cloth and affix lids, screwing tightly to close.  In a large pressure canner, process soup at 10 pounds of pressure, 40 minutes for quarts and 30 minutes for pints. 

Handle canning jars carefully

I know it will happen very soon.  I will drive into the fields at Heart & Sole Gardens and I will miss the greeting I usually receive from my short-term residents, the Purple Martins.  Migratory birds, these social creatures arrive mid-spring at our farm from their winter residence in South America.  From April until July, or sometimes early August, these beautiful winged birds delight us with their aerodynamic stunts, their distinctive chatter and their dramatic antics.  Since they only eat flying insects, the Martins are also valuable unpaid organic farm workers, devouring scores of pests from morning until dusk.

Purple Martins gather for a chat on the poles that hold their gourd homes

Before Richard and I erected the poles that support birdhouse gourds, inviting Martins to spend summers at our farm, we researched the birds’ possible negative impact on our honeybee colonies.  After all, we did not want to encourage predators to live in close proximity to the hives where they could eat our hardworking pollinators.  After months of reading everything we could find about the issue and discussing it with other local bee keepers and Martin enthusiasts, we found no definitive answers to our questions and since numerous other songbirds lived at the farm, we decided to take a chance with Martin housing.  In the Eastern United States, Purple Martins are dependent upon humans who provide housing, but even when clean, appealing gourds or other homes are ready for residents, there are no guarantees Martins will select what is offered.  Fortunately, a few days after we hung our first birdhouse gourds, freshly painted and cleaned, Purple Martins claimed them and eagerly began to build nests inside their new homes. 

Purple Martins seem to prefer natural birdhouse gourds

For the next few years, we welcomed “our” birds back to the farm.  They seemed to recognize us and chattered excitedly when we pulled off the highway to drive along the farm path, swooping over the truck and showing off their flying stunts.  Often, while working at the farm, I hear a cry of alarm from Martins when hawks fly too close to the nesting area or, occasionally, the predators sit on the poles, hoping to gobble a Martin baby.  When I hear that strident signal of trouble, I run toward the gourds, shouting loudly at the would-be attacker and waving arms over my head.  Long after the hawk flies away, Martins circle my head as I work, pleasantly chattering, as if they are grateful for the help. As if to celebrate ridding themselves of predatory birds, Martins will often “wing bump” each other as they fly.

Although synthetic gourds are available for purchase, we only use natural dried gourds for our Martin housing and the birds seem to prefer these.  Last winter, after years of Martin use, I found cracks in some of the gourds while I was cleaning them of old nesting material and dirt, so I began the process of creating new housing.  After cleaning dried gourds, I used a pattern to cut a half-moon shaped opening that works for Martins, but discourages English Starlings, an invasive species that will lay eggs in Martin nests, then leave the eggs for Martins to care for, along with their own offspring.  Bluebirds also love the Martin housing, but at Heart & Sole, the Martins are able to claim the gourds for their own.  This spring, however, was different. 

The half moon shape repels Starlings

After hanging the new gourds, we waited for our first arrivals.  And waited.  I checked the Purple Martin Conservancy’s scout report page http://www.purplemartin.org/scoutreport/ and saw that other hosts in our area welcomed birds, but ours were still no-shows.  In late March, two scouts arrived, but after a couple of days, they disappeared.  Richard and I discussed possible scenarios for our missing birds.  In late winter, work was completed for a creek restoration project at Heart & Sole, so perhaps the different terrain was not acceptable.  Could it be the scouts did not favor our new housing?  Perhaps “our” Martins found a site that was more appealing?  Just when we thought we might have to face a season without Martins, a scout arrived, much later than usual, but we were thrilled when we observed, in early May, several Purple Martins claiming gourds. 

New homes ready for Martins

Almost immediately, we noticed our latest colony exhibited different behaviors from the birds we previously hosted.  For one, they were not as social as our earlier families.  By late June, they tolerated our work when it took us near their homes, but they were not as chattery or welcoming as earlier birds.  Another difference we noted is that these Martins often perched on tomato cages, tree limbs or even freshly tilled soil, unlike other Martins that only used their gourd support poles to rest.  A few weeks ago, I watched a Martin take a “dust bath,” a first for me.  Birds will sometimes scratch to create loose soil and then flap wings to settle the dust on their feathers.  This is common among some species and helps to keep feathers healthy and groomed, however, I had never seen a Martin take a dust bath.  Since there had been weeks without rain and more birds tend to dust bathe in arid climates, I suppose this could have been the reason.  Still, it was an unusual sight.

Purple Martins

It is always a treat to watch fledgling birds fly for the first time.  Often, I witness parent birds encourage young Martins to leave the nest.  Purple Martins only eat live, flying insects, so the parents will stop feeding their young, hoping to drive the hungry young birds out of the gourds to catch their own food.  Adults fly to the gourds, where open mouths and stretched necks reach to them, only to pause briefly and then fly away, leaving the baby birds hungry enough to follow.  Several days ago, I saw two young male fledglings attempt to land at the same spot on a birdhouse support pole, only to crash into each other and fall toward the ground before gathering their wits to fly again.  When all fledglings join the adult birds and soar overhead, working to perfect those daredevil moves, it is an incredible sight.

As we prepare for the inevitable Martin departure, Richard and I are making plans to visit eastern North Carolina where thousands of Purple Martins gather before they make the long flight back to South America.  We joke about how the time these birds sped “down east” must be like attending a huge family reunion, complete with lots of food and conversation.  We hope “our” birds will have safe travels and we look forward to next spring when scouts will, hopefully, choose our gourds to raise their young.

Guess we can blame it on laziness.  After planting and caring for thousands of plants, harvesting, harvesting and harvesting and then planting fall crops, I just left end-of-summer squash in the field.  If anyone had asked, I probably would have said I left them for hungry creatures, but the truth is, I was exhausted from summer work and just did not bother to clean that area.  With typical gardener’s optimism, I reasoned the job could be done “next year.” 

Leftover summer squash dried in the field

Spring came and the squash were now dry, brittle, grayish white containers that rattled like maracas when I hefted them.  The seeds, I reasoned, must not be tasty to the GroundHOG.  Unlike my tender bean seedlings. . .but I digress.  That is a story for another day. 

I piled some of the dried squash for a photo op

With the dried squash still in the field, Richard tilled the ground for Spring planting.  Our six-foot tiller, a life-changing implement we purchased last year, made short work of the leftovers, grinding them into the rich soil and leaving the field ready to plant.  My crop rotation plan designated this area for legumes, since potatoes previously grew where the squash were and I thought the soil could use a nitrogen fixing plant.  The heirloom squash, however, had a different plan. 

Richard uses the 6-ft tiller, an implement that changed our lives

With the hiller attachment on the tractor, Richard and I planned to make long rows for Ted’s butterbeans.  (More about that seed saver and his beautiful beans another time!)  Richard drove the 1972 blue Ford, a workhorse that once served as his dad’s favorite escape vehicle, to the edge of the field and I collected seeds from my farm basket.  As I walked toward the prospective bean field, I noticed Richard standing, craning his neck to look at something ahead of the tractor’s nose.  When I made it to the end of what was to be the first bean row, Richard stopped the tractor and climbed down from the seat.  I ran to see what he was studying so intently. 

Squash seedlings grow from last year’s dried fruit

When I reached the spot where Richard stood, he pointed downward.  Growing almost in a straight row were squash seedlings.  Many, many squash seedlings.  Very healthy, robust plants.  How could we argue with Mother Nature?  How could we even consider sticking to a human plan when, obviously, those heirloom seeds were doing what they were supposed to do?  We left the squash. 

Squash beetles are hungry garden pests

A couple of weeks later, we noticed some of the plants were leafless.  Some were even stemless.  The GroundHOG, apparently, discovered those lovely heirloom squash seedlings and ravenously ate them to the nubs.  We grabbed some tomato cages and surrounded squash plants, hoping to discourage the eating machine that has no predators.  Well, none until we could remember to bring the shotgun with us. 

The cages saved the plants and they are, as of this writing, thriving and producing abundant fruit. 

Without pollinators, squash will not form

A few years ago, I devoted a large section of field to squash.  Perhaps I went overboard, but I love squash and decided to grow several varieties.  Next to my maternal grandmother’s yellow crooknecks and straightnecks, I planted my paternal grandmother’s patty pans.  Tempted by too many enticing choices in the seed catalog, I added yellow and green zucchini, Gelber Englischer, a delightful scalloped yellow fruit, lemon squash, small round green squash and one that produced a variety of different colors of striped scallops on the same plant.  When I saved seeds from these plants, I had no idea how many “new” varieties would grow the following year, due to cross-pollination.  Learning from that mistake, I now separate cucurbits with a good bit of distance and to keep my grandmothers’ seeds pure, I make sure I keep a few plants at my home, ten miles from the farm squash. 

When mature, these squash look like sea creatures

Although the new species were “mistakes,” as so often happens when growing plants, they are pleasant ones.  My favorite is a squash that has the scalloped edges of a patty pan, a smooth creamy skin and the elongated body of a zucchini.  When fully mature, it resembles some sort of sea creature, but the flavor is mild and sweet.  Another interesting plant produced a striped squash that looks like the hybrid Zephyr.  While I am not sure about some of the varieties that now happily grow at Heart & Sole, so far our harvests include zucchini, yellow straightneck, lemon,crookneck and the sea creature lookalike.  Since they are in close proximity, it will be interesting to see what grows next summer from this year’s seeds. 

A few squash that planted themselves

For now, we are enjoying this fresh summer squash harvest of plants that chose their own garden space.  Our blueberry bushes are loaded this year and will be ripe any day now.  Already, a large zucchini is waiting in my refrigerator to serve as the main ingredient in zucchini blueberry bread, a recipe I discovered at  The Olive and the Sea  A true canvas food, squash is equally delicious in savory and sweet preparations and hot and sweet peppers, herbs and spices all enhance squash flavors.  So, grab some summer squash and try these recipes.  Enjoy!

Stuffed Summer Squash with Fried Blossoms

Stuffed Summer Squash with Squash Blossom Topping

With fresh squash, I combined some ingredients I preserved from last year’s harvests.  Notes in parentheses are what I used, but make any necessary substitutions.

1. 2 medium summer squash, washed, ends trimmed and sliced in half, lengthwise
2. 1/4 cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen (Hopi corn I harvested while in the milk stage last summer and stored in my freezer)
3. 3 small shallots, finely chopped (My friend, Kim, shared her spring harvest with me and fresh shallots are much tastier than supermarket dry ones)
4. 1 teaspoon minced ramp (garlic is a good substitute)
5. 1/4 cup dried tomatoes (I dehydrate fresh paste tomatoes during summer and freeze them)
6. 1/4 cup fresh or frozen green peas (The last of my fresh spring peas)
7. 1/4 cup chopped sweet pepper (A small Poblano from my freezer)
8. 1/4 cup chopped mushrooms (Frozen wild Chanterelles)
9. 1 tablespoon butter
10. Sprinkling of sea salt (Outer Banks Sea Salt)
11. 2 ounces fresh chevre

No need to steam young fresh squash before scooping

Use a sharp knife to make hashmarks in the middle of each squash slice and a sharp spoon to scoop out the inside, leaving shells with about 1/4 inch thickness.  Place squash shells in a glass dish that is lightly oiled.  In a medium size bowl, add the scooped squash from the shells, the corn, tomato, peas and pepper.  Heat butter in a large skillet and add shallot and ramp (or garlic), briefly saute until translucent.  Add mushrooms and cook for about 1-2 minutes.  Pour hot mixture into bowl, add chevre and stir until all ingredients are thoroughly combined.  Fill squash shells and bake in preheated 350 degree oven for about 12-15 minutes, until baked through, but still firm.  Remove from oven, top with fried squash blossoms and serve.

Combined ingredients, before baking

1. 4 squash blossoms, stamens removed
2. About 1 ounce fresh chevre or cream cheese, softened
3. 1/2 cup buttermilk
4. 1/2 cup seasoned flour (salt & pepper) or seasoned seafood breading mix

Fill each squash blossom about halfway with cheese, twist blossom ends to close.  Place blossoms in buttermilk for about 20-30 minutes.  Remove from buttermilk and gently shake blossoms in the breading mix, using a ziplock or paper bag.  Remove from bag and fry in hot oil until blossoms are crisp and golden.  Immediately place atop baked squash and serve..

84-year-old beekeeper, Tate Poarch, constructs a brood frame in his shop.

On Easter Sunday, guests of Heirloom Restaurant, in Charlotte’s Coulwood community, witnessed an interesting phenomenon when the restaurant’s rooftop honeybees swarmed and thousands of bees settled on a planter near Heirloom’s front door.  When a manager informed him about the incident, Chef Owner and resident beekeeper Clark Barlowe stepped away from the line, donned his bee suit and captured the swarm, using his hands to scoop bees and place workers and their queen in a new home while brunch guests crowded in the restaurant foyer, eager to watch the unexpected show.

During Easter brunch service, Heirloom Restaurant’s chef owner and beekeeper, Clark Barlowe, scoops bees into a new home.

Although Heirloom’s rooftop hives and those housed at Charlotte’s Ritz-Carlton hotel may be a novelty for urban residents, the European honeybee is arguably one of the most popular and important immigrant species in the United States and is designated as official insect in seventeen US states, including North Carolina.  First imported from England to Virginia, probably around 1622, it was not until the mid-1800s that honeybee colonies reached California.  Today, honeybees impact more than 14 billion dollars’ worth of agricultural crops in the US, a tremendous responsibility for a creature whose lifespan is about a month.

View video here: Heirloom’s Urban Beekeeper

In addition to honey, which is over a quarter of a billion dollar US product, honeybees produce beeswax, pollen, propolis, a sticky resin bees mix with wax, and royal jelly, a substance worker bees feed to queen larvae.  Both propolis and royal jelly are widely marketed as medicinal and cosmetic products, but biodynamic honeybee experts abstain from collecting royal jelly, due to the fact that robbing hives of this substance can kill developing queens.  Formic acid, the venom honeybees inject when stinging, is used to treat a variety of human medical issues such as high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol levels and arthritis.  Many US crops depend upon honeybee pollination and California almonds, the top specialty export crop in the nation, creates the largest demand upon honeybees, along with one of the most negative impacts on bee health.  Because the almond crop must be pollinated while trees are in bloom, growers employ migratory beekeepers to transport thousands of colonies to the groves and the bees often travel for many hours before they are released from their confines, stressing the health of the colony.  According to a report published by Gordon Wardell, on the USDA’s website, over 80,000 honeybee colonies were negatively affected during the 2014 almond pollination season, with most damage attributed to herbicide sprays.  With a conservative estimate of 10,000 resident honeybees in an average hive, that figure translates to more than 800 million lost lives.   Such statistics, along with a syndrome known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), a term applied to dead hives where adult worker bees mysteriously disappear, spurred honeybee activists to press for practices and legislation that will protect honeybee health and at no time in US history has this impetus been more public or its proponents more vocal.

Since 2006, US honeybee colony numbers show an annual decrease, spurring many of the estimated 200,000 beekeepers, pollinator experts, governmental agencies, corporate manufacturers and individuals to seek causes for honeybee deaths and solutions to prevent future losses.  Experts offer a variety of factors as possible bee killers.  Disease, stress, parasites, particularly the Varroa mite, a parasitic pest that can destroy honeybees, harsh winters and lack of available food are all negative forces that may harm colonies.  Perhaps the most controversial honeybee adversary comes from chemical factories that produce agricultural pesticides and herbicides, particularly a class of collective pesticides, neonicotinoids, or “neonics,” as they are commonly called.

Introduced to farmers over twenty years ago, neonicotinoid pesticides are chemically similar to nicotine and they attack the central nervous system, causing insect paralysis and death.  Touted by production companies, like Bayer and Syngenta, as being systemic seed treatments that protect plants from insects in early growing stages, pollinator proponents are increasingly concerned about the collateral damage neonics cause to non-target insects, particularly honeybees.  In North Carolina, neonicotinoid pesticides are primarily used by farmers who plant large corn and soybean crops.  According to a USDA 2014 Annual Crop Summary Report, NC farmers planted 840,000 acres of corn for grain, primarily using genetically modified (GMO) seed treated with a neonicotinoid.  With an average yield of 132 bushels per acre, these statistics reflect a decrease in 2013’s 930,000 acres planted, but corn remains an important crop for North Carolina.  When farmers use machinery to place seeds in the field, they add lubricating agents, like talc and graphite, to help seeds pass through the machine and the equipment’s exhaust system releases dust particles from the seed and lubricant, creating a “fog” of corn dust that contains pesticides.  The corn dust settles not only on the field that is planted with the treated seed, but in adjacent areas that grow plants honeybees use for food.  Because neonicotinoid pesticides are a genetic component of GMO corn seed, traces of the insecticide are also released when the plant pollen travels with wind currents.  When pollen from these treated crops settles on other plants that honeybees use for forage, pollinators are exposed to the insecticide. 

A 2013 report published by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) raised alarms about neonicotinoids’ harmful effects on honeybees.  According to EFSA’s Media Relations Officer, Jan Op Gen Oorth, EFSA scientists “identified a number of risks posed to bees by three neonicotinoid insecticides, which are clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam.”  A Bayer company employee confirms the pesticide used in treated corn seed commonly planted in North Carolina is clothianidin.   

Not that Bayer is completely ignoring the purported ill effects of clothianidin.  In a February, 2014, press release, Bayer CropScience announced a new seed lubricant “Fluency Agent” to be available to US farmers.  As stated in the release, the “Fluency Agent is a seed lubricant for corn and soybean seeds, which is designed to replace standard talc and graphite seed lubricants. In lab tests, the product was shown to help reduce the amount of total dust released in treated seeds by 90 percent versus talc and 60 percent versus graphite, thus reducing the potential risk of exposure to pollinators, if they come in direct contact with the dust during the planting process.”  Although Bayer stops short of taking responsibility for contributing to honeybee deaths, marketing Bayer Fluency Agent (BFA) indicates a certain corporate culpability.

Of course, BFA is only effective if farmers are informed about the product and choose to purchase it when buying GMO seed and agricultural chemicals.  Sixth generation farmer Brent Barbee, of Barbee Farms, in Concord, NC, joined a national trend several years ago when his farm replaced GMO corn with hybrid sweet corn.  For Barbee, owner of a designated North Carolina Century Farm that has produced fruits and vegetables for over one hundred years, the switch was made to satisfy customer demand and to better fit his growing principles.  Barbee “advocates for the best products.  We never use broad spectrum anything.  We always target one or two pests because chemicals are like antibiotics: too much of a good thing is a bad thing.”  When Barbee heard about Bayer’s Fluency Agent, he was reminded of a story his grandfather told him about a traveling salesman who sold a product called “snake oil.”  The salesman claimed the product could cure any ill, but was actually almost worthless.  BFA, according to Barbee, “sounds a lot like snake oil.” 

In 2013, San Francisco-based Pollinator Partnership, a non-profit organization devoted to pollinator species’ health and protection, formed the Corn Dust Research Consortium (CDRC) “to explore potential exposure routes of honey bees to seed treatment dust as well as potential options to mitigate exposure.”  Executive Director Laurie Davies Adams states that “Nearly a dozen stakeholder groups that comprise the CDRC invested their time and resources to ensure that the research was conducted and presented in the most un-biased, open, and useful form.”  Including representatives from the National Corn Growers Association, the American Beekeeping Federation, the American Seed Trade Association, Bayer CropScience, Syngenta and other organizations, the CDRC report includes research findings that show BFA, compared to standard lubricants, such as talc and graphite, reduced total dust emissions, but there was a higher concentration of pesticides in the dust.  In contrast to figures reported by Bayer, Adams states, “The amount of dust produced decreased by 67% compared to conventional lubricants, and the quantity of neonicotinoid active ingredient detected in the dust decreased by 28% compared to conventional lubricants. The overall amount of dust produced when using BFA decreased, as did the amount of pesticide in the dust, but if the decrease in dust is greater than the decrease in pesticide in the dust, then the pesticide concentration will actually increase.”  Adams cautions that while “there is clear scientific evidence suggesting that exposure at acute levels to most insecticides, including neonicotinoids like Clothianidin, is harmful to bees . . . . It is important to avoid narrowing our focus to one single factor affecting pollinator health. The public is often tempted to look for the “smoking gun” and demonize what seems like an obvious answer to the question of why bees and other pollinators are declining.”  Adams, along with other experts, stresses that “further research like the CDRC will be necessary to fully understand the different avenues by which pollinators are exposed to pesticides like neonicotinoids and to implement mitigating best management practices and forward-thinking regulations.”

With over four thousand North Carolina members, the National Corn Growers Association aims to “create and increase opportunities for corn growers,” according to the organization’s website, “while increasing corn farmers’ environmental and economic sustainability.”  According to an organization spokesperson, the Corn Growers Association of North Carolina “works directly with Extension Specialists at NC State University and agronomists at the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to develop recommendation about the use and performance of agricultural chemicals, seeds and equipment.  The Association provides financial support for projects that compare new products, seeds, and equipment for their efficacy in increasing yield, reducing chemical use, improving soil properties and reducing grower costs.”  When asked if the Corn Growers Association of NC provides information about BFA to member farmers, the spokesperson stated that fluency agents are not discussed with farmers because “there is a lack of research proving that corn dust is harmful to off target species and on how effective these fluency agents are in reducing corn dust.  Before we ask growers to accept the increase cost there needs to be good evidence that these fluency agents are needed and are effective.” 

Outside the US, measures are in place to ban or limit neonicotinoid insecticides.  Concerned about neonicotinoid use, the European Commission asked the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to “assess the risks associated with the use of these neonics as seed treatment or as granules, with particular regard to: their acute and chronic effects of bee colony survival and development; their effects of bee larvae and bee behavior; and the risks posed by sub-lethal doses of the three substances.”   In December, 2013, after examining the EFSA report, the European Union (EU) banned the use of neonicotinoids for two years.  The EFSA’s press release, dated January, 2013, includes the following statements: “Given the importance of bees in the ecosystem and the food chain and given the multiple services they provide to humans, their protection is essential.  With its mandate to improve EU food safety and to ensure a high level of consumer protection, EFSA has an important role to play in ensuring their survival.  The Authority’s review of neonicotinoids is one element in a range of activities it is undertaking on bee health.” 

Adding to concerns about neonicotinoid pesticide use, recent studies, like one published in the science periodical, Nature, indicate honey bees and other wild pollinators, such as bumblebees, prefer food that contains neonics, even though the poison-laced forage food tastes bitter, suggesting that bees, like humans, may become addicted to nicotine.  Chemically similar to nicotine, neonicotinoids may be especially damaging to wild bees, report scientists from Newcastle University.

In the United States, neonicicotinoid opponents appear to be gaining ground.  In August, 2014, the US Fish and Wildlife service announced neonicotinoid pesticides will be completely banned on wildlife refuges by January, 2016.  Recently, Lowe’s Home Improvement’s annual corporate responsibility report included plans, over the next four years, to phase out selling products that contain neonicotinoids.  After environmental protection group, Friends of the Earth, released a June, 2014 study that reported over fifty percent of sampled “bee friendly” plants sold by major retailers in eighteen cities in the United States and Canada contained neonicotinoid pesticides, some companies, including Home Depot and BJ’s Wholesale Club, required wholesalers to label neonicotinoid-treated plants. 

Identifying the presence of neonicotinoids, this label is included in flowering plants bees use as forage.

In June of 2014, faced with reports of an annual thirty percent colony loss of honeybees, every year since 2006, more than two times earlier recorded losses, President Obama announced representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) would lead a Pollinator Health Task Force, a group whose mission is to develop an action plan to protect pollinators and create healthy habitats to restore their numbers. In early March, a group of concerned environmental and food safety advocates, along with honeybee activists, rallied in Washington, D.C., urging the Obama administration to protect pollinators and presenting over 4 million petition signatures in support of their cause. Recently, Portland, Oregon, elected officials passed a pesticide ban that prohibits insecticide use on any public municipal property and on March 19^th, HF 2029, a bill authored by three members of Minnesota’s House of Representatives, was presented to that governing body for consideration.  HF 2029 calls for a five year moratorium on the use of neonicotinoids and fipronil, pesticides identified as harmful to honeybees.

In North Carolina, Associate Professor and Extension Specialist of Entomology at NCSU, Dr. Dominic Reisig, is currently researching to see “how effective neonicotinoids are in corn for various soil insect pests compared to granular and liquid-in furrow non-neonicotinoid insecticides” while NC Farm Bureau’s Director of Specialty Crops, Debbie Hamrick, is serving as “the point person for an interagency working group that is facilitating discussions between farmers and beekeepers in North Carolina.”  Comprised of representatives from various agencies and groups, including commodity growers, NC Department of Agriculture, Farm Bureau and others, the group is looking at successful endeavors like Mississippi’s “Bee Aware” flag program.  A component of the state’s Cooperative Standards for row crop farmers and beekeepers, 8 foot tall poles and flags are presented to beekeepers to locate hives, thereby alerting farmers to sensitive areas before pesticides are used.  Ultimately, Hamrick hopes the group, working with no allocated funds, will help encourage North Carolina to develop a Pollinator Protection Plan, a document currently discussed by the North Carolina Beekeepers Association, the largest organization of its kind in the US, according to Hamrick.

A honeybee pollinates a squash blossom.

Gunther Hauk, author of the 2002 book, Toward Saving the Honeybee, and co-founder (with his wife, Vivian) of the Spikenard Honeybee Sanctuary, in Floyd, Virginia, is one of the most visible biodynamic beekeepers in the United States.  Both at Spikenard, a non-profit education and research center, and throughout the world, Hauk offers instruction in sustainable and biodynamic beekeeping practices and he is in demand as a public speaker.  Featured in two documentary films, Vanishing of the Bees (2009) and Queen of the Sun (2010), Hauk states that, unlike wild bees, “honeybees are excellent pollinators because they overwinter as a colony,” and they are prepared for late winter work, while other bee pollinator species are emerging from hibernation and slowly building a functional colony, often too late to pollinate early blooming crops.  Hauk also says, “aside from their “usefulness,” the honeybees are probably the most important single animal species, seen from a spiritual point of view.”

Hauk believes pollinating practices employed by almond and other fruit growers are detrimental to honeybees.  Faced with what he believes to be an imminent crisis in honeybee health, as Hauk gazes in the future’s crystal ball, he predicts “growers relying on migratory beekeepers will have to keep their own bees with sustainable methods, diversify their monocultures to give forage for the bees throughout the season and greatly reduce poisons.”  Convinced these practices will bring positive change to pollinator health, Hauk sees growers, beekeepers and other vested entities “accepting a new paradigm: Care for nature and her beings instead of exploiting with short-term monetary gains.”

While professional beekeepers employ sustainable, healthy practices, what can individuals do to support honeybee health?  As we celebrate Pollinator Partnership and US Department of Agriculture’s designated National Pollinator Week, June 15-21, 2015, consider one or all of the following suggestions:

*Before purchasing plants for backyard gardens, check to be sure the plants are not treated with neonicotinoid insecticides.  If there is no label to indicate such, ask the seller.  Better yet, grow flowering plants from heirloom seed and enjoy the gardening process as you provide healthy, chemical-free forage for pollinators. 

*Give up that 1950s perfectly-manicured, weed and bug free lawn dream and allow your yard to provide a bee forage habitat, complete with blooming clover and dandelions.

*Support local beekeepers by purchasing honey from them.  Prepare to be awed by the variety of flavors, like blackberry, wild cherry and clover, bees produce during blossom season for these plants.  Consider joining a beekeepers association and following this link to complete a survey that will help NC beekeepers in the quest to develop a Pollinator Protection Plan:  http://www.ncagr.gov/SPCAP/pesticides/surveys/pollinator/index.htm

*Decrease, or try to eliminate, grain corn from your diet.  Purchase non-GMO seed corn when possible.  If you are unsure if corn is non-GMO, buy from a reliable grower and ask about the seed he/she planted.

*Above all, consider the tiny worker bees that pollinate many of the foods you eat and pause to be grateful for their efforts. 

Garlic is a very satisfying plant to grow.  Few pests attack it, it prolifically multiplies, it peacefully coexists with weeds and, in the kitchen, it is a very versatile and delicious food ingredient.

The garlic at Heart & Sole Gardens grows from parent plants that are likely well over 100 years old.  We transplanted our first bulbs from an old “home place” where, although a house no longer stands, garlic and daffodils are abundant. Fast forward eight years and our garlic rows now hold hundreds of plants.  This garlic, we believe, is very special. To begin our garlic tale, it is necessary to examine the history of these plants. 

The property adjoining Heart & Sole Gardens, until recently, belonged to a man who had no interest in harvesting the garlic or using the land in any way.  Left to their own devices, the garlic bulbs multiplied freely and now grow in clusters over much of the property.  With permission from the owner, Richard and I transplanted bulbs to Heart & Sole, but we often worried about what would become of the garlic, daffodils and other heirloom plants that remained at the home place.  As we learned more about the woman who once lived on this property and probably planted the original garlic bulbs, we became increasingly intrigued by her story and her land. . .

According to my mother-in-law, now eighty-eight years of age, the land adjoining Heart & Sole belonged to a woman named Laura Watson.  By all accounts, Laura was a strong woman who worked her farm and raised her children.  When Richard’s mother was a young child, she lived with her family not far from Laura’s home.  Fiercely independent, Laura managed to provide for her children without a husband in her home.  Perhaps she was a widow or maybe her husband abandoned her, but by the time my mother-in-law was old enough to notice, Laura was the sole provider for her family. 

Today, a dry well, some scattered stones and rusty cans and broken glass, remnants of what was once a trash pile, mark where Laura’s home stood.  Garlic, daffodils and a few other flowering plants are her living legacy. 

A couple of years ago, the man who owned Laura’s property died and his heirs decided to sell the land.  Richard and I worried about what would happen to our farm if someone bought the adjoining land and decided to clear cut the trees, build a commercial building or cultivate the land, using chemicals we avoid.  Several months ago, I told Richard I thought Laura wanted us to have the tract of land that adjoined our farm.  I could not explain the feeling I had, but every time I went to the farm, I felt a strong pull to walk over to Laura’s home place.  Richard shook his head, but agreed to ask the listing real estate agent about the property.  When we learned a contract to sell Laura’s place had just been accepted a short time before, we were sad, but philosophical about the situation.  After all, we reasoned, we really could not afford to buy the land. A few weeks later, the agent called Richard and informed him the contract for Laura’s property was voided and the agent wondered if we would be interested in making an offer.  As we discussed possibilities, I again told Richard I thought Laura wanted us to have the property.  We decided to make an offer, one we could afford, but the amount was much lower than the listing price.  Richard presented our offer and the owners countered with a number that was much higher than our offer.  “If Laura wants us to have the property, the owners will accept our offer.  If they reject it, it is not meant to be,” I told Richard when he told me the amount of the counter offer.  When Richard called to tell me our original offer was accepted, I felt a shiver run down my spine.  Smiling, I whispered, “Thank you, Laura.”

On the day we became the new owners of Laura’s home place, I worked at the farm for several hours.  It was a hot, sunny, dry day and when I finished my work, I decided to walk over to Laura’s.  I sipped from a cup of cool water as I made my way up the path that led to the dry well.  Although the day was blistering hot and there had been no breeze for hours, as soon as I stepped over the property line, I felt as though the temperature dropped by twenty degrees.  A cool breeze began to blow, tall grass stirred and tree branches began to sway, their leaves beckoning me forward.  As I stood beside the sight of Laura’s former home, I promised to be a good caretaker for her property and I thanked her for sharing her home, her plants and, most of all, for sharing her garlic.

A garlic scape and other edible blossoms make a beautiful garnish for garlic soup.

When fully mature, Laura’s garlic is too large to fit in a garlic roaster.

My grandmother’s recipe notebook includes many handwritten recipes.

            I love a hand-written recipe.  Some of my favorite recipes are ones that were hurriedly scrawled on the backs of church bulletins, while others are beautifully scripted on special cards.  When a cook takes time to write a recipe by hand, I believe that document seems to reflect some of the writer’s personality.  Although I enjoy the convenience of word processing, I treasure my collection of hand-written recipes.  Don’t get me wrong; I also love a good cookbook.  Every time I vow I will never again buy another one, there is always a tempting new publication, filled with mouth-watering recipes and beautiful color photographs, which finds a spot on my bookshelf.  There should probably be a twelve-step program for cookbook addicts like me.

            Not long before she died, my maternal grandmother, Lora Bolick Minton, gave me her recipe collection.  When she presented me with the three-ring recycled notebook that held directions to make some of the most delicious dishes I ever ate, I realized I owned something that was truly priceless to me.  At the time, we both knew cancer was invading her body and against my feeble protests that she still needed her recipes, she replied, “I want you to have them.  I don’t need them anymore.” 

            I understand the need to have recipes.  While cooking is my stress relief and my dream job would be to professionally develop new recipes with the organic ingredients I grow at my farm, it is comforting to read step-by-step instructions that combine specified ingredients to produce consistent results.  Recipes satisfy the librarian in me and I appreciate their orderliness, but perhaps there is more to recipes than just making delicious food.

            Along with Granny’s handwritten recipes are others she clipped from newspapers, picked up at the supermarket in the store’s weekly newsletter or received in the mail from friends.  One unique recipe is “for pneumonia” and is in Granny’s mother’s handwriting.  Mary Elizabeth Bean Bolick, born in 1885, raised ten of her eleven children to adulthood and in the early 1900s, with no nearby hospitals and few local physicians, Caldwell County residents often relied upon medicinal herbs, tinctures and other homemade medicines to treat illnesses.  This home folk remedy is a mixture of camphor oil, carbolic acid, turpentine, and lard, dissolved over heat.  The recipe instructs to dip warm, clean cloths into the mixture and apply them to the chest of the sick person, changing cloths every fifteen minutes.  I am not sure if Granny ever used this recipe, but I am glad to have this special gift, with its insight into a more self-sufficient time, from my great-grandmother. 

            Other recipes I treasure are those shared with me by friends.  Margaret Carter Martine, a longtime friend, has given me many recipes over the years, some in her handwriting, such as a delicious roasted potato dish, and others copied from typed cards, magazine articles and cookbooks.  Margaret and I share a love of good food, prepared well, and enjoyed with friends and family.  Of all the recipes Margaret has given me over the years, my favorite is one that was created by her grandmother, Edith Kyles Ferguson.  A resourceful woman, Mrs. Ferguson used the bamboo growing on her farm to make pickles and it was her recipe, prepared by her daughter, Edith Ferguson Carter, that delighted my children’s taste buds with the salty, tangy flavor and crisp texture.  When Margaret taught me to harvest and pickle bamboo, my kids were thrilled to finally have all the bamboo pickles they wanted and they often, for a snack, opened jars and ate every single pickle.

            I make pickled bamboo each year and though my pickling solution is slightly different than the original recipe, (I use the handwritten recipe given to me by my husband’s grandmother, Vestal Anderson) my children, now adults, eagerly look forward to enjoying this special treat.  Last fall, I shared some pickled bamboo with a group of my high school classmates.  (Yes, we still stay in touch and although we live in different towns, we often speak and frequently visit each other.)  Two of my friends asked if I would share the recipe and we made plans to harvest and pickle this spring. 

            Last week, we met at the home of our former high school English teacher, Louise Adderholdt, who allowed us to harvest from her abundant crop of bamboo.  Louise’s husband, George, graciously showed us the property where a thick grove of mature canes and emerging shoots were visible.  We set to work, and despite the warm day, we donned long-sleeved shirts, jeans and gloves to protect us from prickly bamboo limbs and lurking creatures in the thick vegetation.  Wielding pruning shears and a sharp machete, we cut our way through the patch and dragged the shoots to a collection point.  Karen and Kim decided to take some mature canes to use in their gardens to trellis bean vines and we trimmed branches until the long poles were clean. 

Karen and Kim display our harvest

            After dividing our harvest, we loaded our vehicles and lashed the long poles to Kim’s Jeep and Karen’s truck with cords and a bit of duct tape supplied by helpful George.  As we drove away, we noted we were hot, dirty and extremely happy.  Bamboo harvesting is probably not an activity most people would enjoy, but our group looked forward to processing pickles and eating the fruits of our labor. 

Bamboo fills the back of Karen’s truck. These shoots will yield thousands of tasty pickles.

Kim with her Jeep, packed full of bamboo

Karen with bamboo poles lashed to the side of her truck. She reported some strange looks from other drivers

Bamboo Pickles

Harvest tender shoots of fresh bamboo.  Carefully strip each outer husk from one section at a time.  Working quickly, slice the bamboo into rings.  Bamboo begins to harden when it is exposed to air, so it is easier to immediately slice each section as it is peeled.

Kim demonstrates slicing exposed bamboo.

Work carefully around each joint section and peel the tough outer skin from the joint sections.  The joints, canned separately, make excellent canape servers for egg salad or other appetizers.  The tender tops of the shoots are difficult to work for pickles, so those may be used for another dish or discarded.  When slicing, if you notice a dull sound, discard the bamboo, since it will be too tough for pickling.

Bamboo joints

After all bamboo is prepared, place in a large pot, cover with water and bring to a gentle boil, cooking for about 10 minutes and then drain bamboo and immediately place in ice water to blanch.  Using pint jars (wide mouth are easier), add a tiny bit of alum, a dash of red pepper flakes and a clove or two of garlic (I use fresh from my garden) and a sprig of dill.  Dried dill may be substituted.  To make the pickling solution, combine 2 cups white vinegar and 1 3/4 cups water in a large pot.  Add 4 tablespoons kosher salt and heat and stir over medium heat until salt is dissolved.  Note: Gran Anderson’s original recipe includes 3 tablespoons sugar, but I eliminate this from my pickling solution.

Dill, garlic, red pepper and alum are in the bottom of each jar

Pack hot jars with bamboo rings, separating joints, if you like.  Gently press to pack tightly.  Add pickling solution and leave about 1/2 inch head space.  Place hot jars in water bath, boil for about 10 minutes.

Water should completely cover jars, boil gently

Immediately remove jars from water, invert onto large, heavy towel for six minutes.  Inverting helps to sterilize the head space.

Invert jars for 6 minutes, then upright

After jars are inverted for six minutes, place upright and cover jars with towel.  Leave for 24 hours and check to be sure each jar is sealed.  If any do not seal, you may repeat the water bath process or store in the refrigerator.

This year, I added some hot and sweet peppers to some jars, for visual interest and added flavor

Canned bamboo joints

For a delicious, crisp pickle, full of tart flavor, these bamboo pickles are hard to beat.  Harvesting bamboo with friends is a bonding experience.  Making pickles with a generations-old family recipe?  Priceless . . .

Chef Clark Barlowe, of Heirloom Restaurant, Charlotte, NC.

Not only delicious, but loaded with nutritional value that is lacking in supermarket wares, wild edibles are becoming popular ingredients with professional chefs and home cooks.  For those of us who grow our own produce, particularly in harsh winter climates, wild edibles are a welcome addition to our diets and provide a fresh taste that awakens our senses and prepares us for the bounty to come. NOTE: ALWAYS have permission from a land owner before harvesting any wild edibles!

For weeks last summer, rain fell almost constantly on my western North Carolina farm and our winter was exceptionally cold and wet.  Very few crops produced significant yields and many were a total loss.  Last week, I surveyed the greens I planted in the fall and noted they were only just beginning to develop mature leaves, although arugula and mustard are both blooming, signaling the end of their season.  I hope to gather seeds to save for the next planting, but even those will be fewer than in past seasons.  Thankfully, creasy greens, a type of wild cress, is plentiful this spring and we enjoy this spicy green in fresh salads and as an addition to cooked greens.

Blooming creasy greens & early spring lizard

For early Appalachian mountain settlers, creasy greens were the saving grace that helped these pioneers avoid scurvy, a condition caused by Vitamin C deficiency.  Loaded with an impressive amount of that vitamin, as well as a significant dose of Vitamin A, creasy greens are easy to identify, gather and prepare.  I enjoy them lightly sauteed with wild onion bulbs and dandelion greens.  Dandelion greens are also easy to identify and are equally packed with healthy vitamins and minerals.

Now that spring is finally warming our days, fiddlehead ferns are appearing in wooded areas and alongside streams.  This week, I was fortunate to be invited to accompany Chef Clark Barlowe, owner of Heirloom Restaurant, in Charlotte, NC, on a foraging expedition.  The fiddleheads, wild violet blossoms and saw brier tips he harvested will appear on the restaurant’s menu this week.  If you would like to try these delicious spring treats, make plans now to visit Heirloom.

Chef Clark harvests fiddlehead ferns.

Saw brier tips, small tender shoots that form on thorny green brambles, are delicious eaten raw, in salads, or lightly heated in a small amount of olive oil and served with a sprinkling of sea salt.  Deer love saw brier tips and Chef Clark often pulled from high overhead to gather tips that were out of reach for those four-legged eating machines.  Wild violets are blooming abundantly and their blossoms are as daintily beautiful as they are delicious.  I like to dip violets in beaten egg white, sprinkle them with sugar and allow them to completely dry.  As an edible dessert garnish, they are lovely.

Spring on a plate, by Heirloom’s pastry chef Joselyn Perlmutter

Wild violet blooms on a mossy rock

Beautiful foraged harvest

For a simple, delicious and packed-with-healthy-goodness dish, toss a handful of creasy greens, dandelion greens and wild onion bulbs, diced or whole, in a large skillet with a bit of hot olive oil.  Briefly cook and then add cooked pasta to the skillet. Season with salt and pepper.  Toss to combine, serve hot, with grated Parmesan cheese and crusty bread.  Finish with a splash of herbed vinegar, if you like.

Wild edibles with pasta

I thank Chef Clark Barlowe for allowing me to accompany him as he foraged for wild edibles and I look forward to enjoying his unique, delicious cuisine at Heirloom.  As we left the forest, Chef Clark remarked it will soon be time to gather fresh morel mushrooms.

Ahhhh, Spring!

These are some of the last of the NC coastal tomatoes and the tiny one is the last from my garden.

     January is always a difficult time for those of us who love to garden in Western North Carolina.  It’s too early to start seeds for most summer crops and with recent single-digit temperatures, many fall food crops are severely limited.  When I visited Heart & Sole Gardens yesterday, it was painful to see frozen bok choy and other greens that were viable just a couple of weeks ago.  Thankfully, I was able to peel back frozen arugula leaves and harvest some tender salad and although most of the kale, mustard and turnip greens were too bitten to eat, I was able to pick a nice basket of young leaves from those plants.  The spinach was almost untouched by cold temperatures and I happily gathered that green in another basket and dug a few green garlic bulbs. 

Bok Choy did not survive the January freeze.

            Back at my home, I used the last fresh tomatoes Richard and I purchased during our late fall trip to the NC coast and made a sauce.  Although too much wet weather this summer made for a poor tomato crop in my area, the fruit we bought at the eastern market was still nice.  I know they were grown with “conventional” methods, i.e. added chemicals, and they are not heirloom fruit, but I know the farm where they grow and they are sort of local and in January, I am very thankful for these tomatoes.  Recently, spots began developing on the skin and I knew it was time to “use it or lose it,” so I cut the tomatoes into sections and placed them in a pot to cook on the stovetop over low heat.  When the tomatoes were completely soft, I allowed them to cool and then used a potato ricer to remove the skins.  I put the pureed tomato sauce in a smaller pot and added onion and garlic granules, dried basil and oregano, and sea salt and a few grinds of black pepper.  After the sauce cooked for a couple of hours, it reduced to about 1 ¼ cups. 

            I picked up some beautiful baby and portabella mushroom caps at our local supermarket and decided to serve those with the tomato sauce for our dinner.  Since I also had fresh baby arugula leaves, I thought they would make a nice addition to a mushroom “pizza.”  With a fresh spinach side salad, it was a perfect meal for a cold January night.  Use a small, pointed spoon, such as a grapefruit spoon, to remove the mushroom gills from the portabella caps, taking care to keep them intact. 

Fresh green garlic bulb next to chopped baby bellas.

Portabella Pizzas with Fresh Tomato Sauce

8 ounces baby bella mushrooms, chopped

4 portabella mushroom caps, stems and gills removed (compost stems and gills)

2 tablespoons minced garlic (I used about ½ bulb of fresh)

½ cup chopped onion

3-4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

¼ cup dry white wine

1 ¼ cups tomato sauce

¼ cup pickled eggplant (optional)*

¼ cup chopped kalamata olives (optional)

4 slices fresh mozzarella cheese

1 cup fresh arugula leaves

¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper, to taste

In a large skillet, heat 1-2 tablespoons olive oil and then add onions and garlic, cooking until translucent, about 2 minutes.  Keeping skillet hot, add wine and stir.  Cook until vegetables are almost dry, stirring often, about 3-4 minutes.  Push vegetables to the sides of the skillet, making a well, and add chopped mushrooms, shaking pan to level them over the heat.  Cook mushrooms until they begin to brown, (about 6 minutes), and then stir to combine them with the onions and garlic.  Add eggplant and olives, if you like or any other ingredients you normally enjoy on pizza.  Stir in the tomato sauce and lower heat.  Simmer about 3-4 minutes and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Remove skillet from heat.

Making a well in the skillet allows the onion and garlic to cook while the mushrooms brown.

In a separate skillet, heat remaining olive oil over medium high heat and add portabella caps, top side down.  Oil will quickly absorb and caps will lightly sear, 1-2 minutes.  Do not cook underside (the side that will hold filling).  Remove caps from pan and place on baking sheet covered with foil, parchment paper or nonstick baking mat. 

Portabella mushroom pizzas with fresh arugula hit the spot on a cold January night.

Fill caps with sauce and top with mozzarella cheese slices.  Bake in a preheated, 375 degree, oven for about 12-14 minutes, until cheese begins to brown.  Remove from oven and set oven to broil.  Top each mushroom with ¼ of the fresh arugula leaves and sprinkle ¼ of the Parmesan cheese over each.  Briefly broil in oven until cheese just melts, 1-2 minutes.

For a non-vegetarian dish, ground beef, venison or sausage, browned, may be added to the tomato sauce mixture. 

*During their season, I preserve fresh eggplants in a mixture of olive oil, vinegar, peppers, herbs and spices.  Stored in the refrigerator, we often use the eggplants in a variety of dishes or just eat them from the jar.  Refrigerated eggplant should be removed from the fridge prior to using to allow the solidified olive oil time to return to a liquid state.