Dear Friends,
The early varieties of garden vegetables are ripe! Of the 50 varieties planted in June, nearly 10 are already available for harvest, and so our green-thumbed volunteers have been enjoying some delicious salads.
After a morning of weeding, these hungry sevadars were sustained by fresh salad from Ishwar’s jubilee garden!
This perfect head of romaine lettuce — a spectacular variety known as “Holon” — takes up the entire kitchen sink! Its dense, upright heads have exceptional flavor, and are suitable for spring, summer, and fall feasting.
This delectable oakleaf (green leaf) lettuce, known as “Sandy Oakleaf,” tastes as good as it looks. The densely packed whorls of ruffled, bright green leaves are slow to bolt, and maintain a scrumptious flavor, even through the hot weather.
Kale is a true superfood, rich in powerful antioxidants that provide impressive health benefits. The leaves are so hearty that even when steamed, sautéed, or roasted, they retain their firm texture and earthy/nutty flavor. This heirloom variety is commonly called “Dinosaur kale” — also known as Tuscan kale, Lacinato kale, and Black kale — and is distinctive with dark blue-green to black leaves that typically have a heavily crinkled texture (like dinosaur skin!). This variety of kale has been grown in Tuscany, Italy for centuries. And Thomas Jefferson grew this kale in his 1777 garden at Monticello.
“Winterbor kale” is one of the most winter-hardy kales. It is a vigorous grower (up to 2 feet tall), and proudly displays thick, finely curled, blue-green leaves.
“Sun Gold cherry tomatoes” have an explosively sweet flavor … one of nature’s genuine bonbons. Sun Gold ripens in long clusters of 10 to 15 fruits. These vines need staking or tall cages, as they are capable of growing 10 feet tall, if suitably encouraged!
Named for its banana-like shape, “Sweet Banana peppers” are mild and sweet. The 6-inch peppers will mature from green, to yellow, to orange, and then to crimson red. They are prolific, as each plant will produce up to 30 pods. Banana peppers are great for frying and pickling, and are an excellent choice for making pepper rings for sandwiches.
Broccoli is a result of careful breeding of cultivated Brassica (the cabbage family) plants in the northern Mediterranean starting in about the 6th century BC. Since the time of the Roman Empire, broccoli has been considered a uniquely valuable food among Italians. Broccoli was brought to England in the mid-18th century, and first introduced into the United States by southern Italian immigrants.
Stay tuned for more mouthwatering ISHA garden reports!
With warmest regards,
Paul Bauer
Chair of ISHA Building & Fund-Raising Committee
Paul Bauer
Chair of ISHA Building & Fund-Raising Committee