Abundance Acres

Green Beans

Green Beans (also known as String Beans and Snap Beans) are harvested while still young (hence the ‘green’ in their name) thus the bean pods are tender and edible. Green beans can come in a range of hues; from yellow to purple to mottled cream and russet. Storage and Selection: Beans should break crisply when…

Summer Squash

Summer Squash refers to a variety of fruit in the species Cucurbita pepo. In this group you find scalloped squash, crookneck, straightneck, cocozelle, vegetable marrows, and zucchini. Since ancient times, squash, beans and maize have been an integral part of the indigenous diet of the Americas and are a mainstay even today. There are many…

Beet Burgers

This recipe is a family favorite, and we hope it will soon be yours as well! Usually near the end of the season, we make a huge recipe (10x!), form it into patties and freeze them. Wash well, peel and grate to equal: · 2 C grated beets · 2 C grated carrots Peel and chop 1…

Hot Peppers – Chilies

There are hundreds of varieties of hot peppers – varying in levels of from rather tame to ‘fire breathing,’ but all are very nutritious, high in vitamins C and A and betacarotene levels, and are also mildly antibacterial. On our farm we grow: Hungarian Hot Wax Pepper: A mild-tasting chili, practically benign when immature and…

Cucumber

Cucumbers contain silica, an essential component of healthy connective tissue and therefore are very good for the skin. There are boundless cucumber varieties, coming in round, oval shapes, yellow, pale green and bronze colors, and various sizes, from gherkins that are barely over an inch, to mammoth English types that can be over 20 inches…

Summer Bean Salad

Ingredients: · 3 cups cooked Garbanzo beans · 1 can corn · 3 carrots, grated · 1 small kohlrabi, peeled and grated · 1 cup snap peas, sliced · 1/2 cup kalamata olives · 3 garlic scapes, thinly sliced · 1/4 cup kalamata brine · Juice of 1 lemon · 1 Tbs olive oil · Matouks hot sauce, to taste · Garlic Chili oil, to taste · Fresh…

Sugar Snap Pea

The snap pea is often associated with Chinese food and currently is the main garden pea eaten in China and Japan. Interestingly though, it was the Dutch who originally grew the snap pea as early as 1536 and from there it arrived in the Orient. Sugar snap peas are around 2 1/2 – 3 inches…

Garlic Scape Hummus

Homemade hummus is easy, delicious and kid-friendly recipe. There are many different flavors to try make, but we enjoy the flavor (and fun light green color) of hummus made with garlic scapes. Ingredients: · 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas · 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice · 1/4 cup well-stirred tahini (you can substitute peanut butter) · 1 garlic scape,…

Thunder Cake

Thunder storms are now an exciting, anticipate phenomenon in our home, thanks to the lovely book by Patricia Polacco, Thunder Cake. Ingredients: 1 cup shortening (we use butter) 1 3⁄4 cups sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla 3 eggs, separated 1 cup cold water 1⁄3 cup tomato puree 2 1⁄2 cups cake flour 1⁄2 cup cocoa powder…

Rhubarb Custard Pie

I am not a pie expert, and have made less pies than I have fingers, but when an old-time Vermonter told me the ‘very best rhubarb pie’ was a Rhubarb Custard Pie, I had to try it out. I must agree… it is a winner! Make pastry for two-crust pie of desired size. I used…

Kale

Kale‘s popularity has skyrocketed in the United States of America in the last 5 years. It is boasted as a nutrition ‘superstar’ due to the high amounts of vitamins A, K, B6 and C, calcium, potassium, copper and manganese it contains. On our farm we grow Winterbor, a curly leaf, Kale and Dazzling Blue (what…

Tokyo Bekana Asian Green

Tokyo Bekana Asian Green, a leafy Chinese cabbage, is best described as a cross between Romain lettuce and Chinese Cabbage. It is sweet, a bit like lettuce with a mild cabbage flavor and crunchy stems, but best of all it never turns bitter. Selection and Storage: Refrigerate washed-and-dried greens in an airtight plastic bag for…