Here's a mini reference library of some of the less common vegetables that we grow here on the farm.
Included are some of our members' favorite recipes.

MAY
Lemon Sorrel
	Lemon Sorrel is a perennial green that tastes like lemony spinach. It can be used fresh or cooked, like spinach. I love to add a little to a salad, mixed with lettuce and spinach for a light lemony zing.
Lovage
	Lovage is also a perennial. It can be used in any recipe that calls for parsley and celery, which it is related to.

*********************JUNE******************************

Edible weeds - purslane and lambsquarter

PURSLANE - This is a common weed that also is delicious and super nutritious. it might have the highest amount of omega-3 of all plants. i think its good for everyone to learn some common edibles so that in case of crisis, we all know how to find some food. purslane (and lambsquarters - described in attachment, but not in your box) are extremely common in iowa in recently disturbed soil (like a freshly hoed garden bed). Lambsquarters is nicer in the spring, while purslane thrives in warmer weather.

Garlic Scapes

Garlic Scapes are the edible flower stalk of the garlic plant. We remove them to encourage the garlic plant to divert its energy into bigger bulb production. This stalk has a milder garlic flavor than the bulb and a little firmer texture. It can be used just like garlic - cut up fine and cooked with other vegetables to add flavor. it can also be a main dish - like our classic, slightly strange, scape-getti, where we steam/sautee the scapes and serve them like noodles, with a pasta sauce. The scapes grow quickly and we usually have a bumper crop over about a 2 week period, so enjoy this rare special treat.

BERRIES

Currants (red, white, and black), Gooseberries, Raspberries (black and red), Juneberries, Honeyberries, Mulberries, Strawberries, Blueberries,

We have a diversity of edible berries growing on our farm. Some of them are common at the grocery store, but others are less well known.

Honeyberry

Honeyberries (also known as haskaps) are native to Russia, and related to blueberry, huckleberry, and honeysuckle. These bushes are incredibly cold hardy and one of the first berries to ripen. Taste is similar to blueberry or raspberry, but they are easier to grow than blueberries because they don't need such acidic soil. 2020 was our first year harvesting these fruit, so we still have a lot to learn.

Juneberry

Native to North America, there are many wild and cultivated variaties of Amelanchier genus that go by the name juneberry, serviceberry, and saskatoon. Because these trees and shrubs are so easy to grow and so lovely (nice spring blossoms, cute blue berries, nice fall colors) they are commonly planted by landscapers. ONce you have learned to identify them, you can easily find this tasty snack all around - there are many planted in Ames, Story City, Iowa State campus, and basically in any town in northern US that I've ever looked. Just like any time you forage in the "wild", make sure that they haven't been sprayed with any chemicals before you eat them.

Gooseberry

KOHLRABI AND TURNIPS

*************JULY***************************************

******************AUGUST*********************************

Aronia berries

Aronia is great in smoothies, and freezes well. It's native to North America, incredibly rich in antioxidants, high in vitamin C, and the rich purple hue comes from healthy anthocyanins. It's incredibly flexible and cold tolerant, and yields reliably across a range of conditions. Freezing gets rid of most of the astringency. Like cranberry it pairs well with other, sweeter fruits like apple, melons, kiwi or banana in smoothies or pies. Lately we have been adding a small amount to fruit salads.

for info about HOT PEPPERS, go to this blog post http://mustardseedfarm.org/?q=blog

….please ignore this corner bit from a past cider pressing flier....

WINE GRAPES and Concord-y Grapes

We have a number of hardy "wine" grapes growing on our farm, and the adjacent vineyard that we care for. We have Edelweiss, La Crescent, Frontenac, Frontenac Gris, Petite Amie, Bluebell, Bluemoon, Moore's diamond, Marquette, Elmer, Mars, and also various concord type grapes taken from local cuttings.
These have more flavor and seeds than your normal grocery store table grapes, but are very delicious and exciting to eat fresh. They also make great juice, jam, and decent wine, but you will probably only get enough for snacking. These grapes are also popular with the birds, so we are trying to protect them with bird netting until they ripen fully.

**************SEPTEMBER***********************************

CELERIAC, WINTER SQUASH AND MORE

CELERIAC OR CELERY ROOT

Every part of this strange looking plant is edible. it is a variety of celery, but bred to have a bigger root, and smaller stems. The root can be cooked like other root vegetables: roasted, or boiled, or cooked in a soup. it's fun to make mashed potatoes, mixing half potatoes/half celeriac. The leaves and stem have a lovely celery flavor and can be added to soups. the stems are tougher than grocery store celery stalks, so i recommend cooking them.

SWEET POTATO VINE

cook and eat the leaves.
The leaves of the sweet potato vine are edible, nutritious, and delicious. i like to cook them like other hardy greens - a sort of combination of sauteing and steaming. i chop them up, saute them with a little oil, garlic and/or onions, maybe a tiny bit of water, but also put a lid on the pot for a few minutes so that they steam in their own juices. They have a unique, slightly floral taste. i just found this on the iternet about their health benefits - it sounds quite impressive, though i can't vouch for it's complete accuracy:
sweet Potato vine plant leaves are packed with nutrients. For starters, the leaves are an excellent source of antioxidants and contain high levels of vitamin A and C, as well as riboflavin, thiamin, folic acid and niacin. Sweet potato vine leaves also provide impressive amounts of fiber, along with calcium, magnesium, manganese, zinc, copper, potassium and iron.

HAZELNUTS

Havelnuts are native to the US and Iowa and we have a bumper crop this year. Besides being yummy for humans, they are a big favorite of the woodland creatures, so we pick them when the bracts are yellow/just starting to brown, but before they fall on the ground. (don't worry - we leave lots of nuts for our creature friends!) We will probably give it to you when the nut is inside a shell which is inside of a quirky looking bract. It will take a few weeks and a little work until they are ready to eat, but the steps are simple.

1. Spread them out in a single layer on trays or screens (or a shallow cardboard box) in a warm, dry place out of the sun.

2. Turn them every few days until the outer bracts are brown and easy to remove. This should take about two to four weeks.

3. They can then be shelled, or stored in the shells.

4. In the shell, they can be stored at room temperature for several months.

Shelled, eat them within a few weeks, or store them in the refrigerator for up to a year. To increase their shelf life, wait to process them until just before use.
We have cracked open a few nuts and some of them are VERY TINY! some of them are medium. We are still learning! There are so many nuts on the trees and it seems like an amazing yield, but with this year's extreme drought, maybe the plants didn't have a lot of energy to spare to make big nuts.

*******************October*********************************

Sunchokes

Sunchokes: The Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus), also called sunroot, sunchoke, or earth apple, is a species of sunflower native to central North America.[2][3] It was cultivated by indigenous people’s across the temperate zone for its tuber, which is used as a root vegetable. They are easy to grow and easy to eat. You can cook them anyway that you would cook a potato, but they are also good eaten fresh (unlike potatoes!). They taste a little bit like artichokes. They are not from Jeruselem, and perhaps the name originated from the Italian word for sunflower: girasole.

Chestnuts

This was our first ever harvest of chestnuts, here in 2020. it might be a few more years before we have enough to share with the public!

for winter storage tips:
https://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/root-cellaring/storage-crops-z...