By Joe Dennis, farmer, Walcott, IA
Since cooking is my thing, I like to celebrate Valentine’s Day with food. Keep it simple: a grilled steak, sautéed shrimp, or splurge for that lobster tail.
For dessert, a simple black forest cupcake can be whipped up in a flash using your favorite chocolate cake mix, a can of cherries and my simple homemade butter cream frosting.
Our Fresh Deli is now open at the historic Freight House market in Davenport. For Valentine’s Day we are making beignets filled with raspberry jam, topped with powdered sugar and a drizzle of chocolate. Much of our new menu is dedicated to using local ingredients, finding meat will be no problem since we are blessed with several local growers dedicated to supplying the Quad Cities with humanely raised beef, pork and poultry. Vegetables will be a seasonal thing, with more creative dishes being offered as spring turns into summer. Hours are: Monday-Saturday 8a.m.- 8p.m.
We should be harvesting spinach again by the end of the month, planting in the greenhouse will also start in force again by the middle of the month. The best tip to give any gardener is to plant less but more often. Successive planting especially of spring greens will keep you in greens well into the heat of next summer. Broccoli and cabbages also are great examples of this.
One bit of advice is to get out of the habit of planting your entire garden all at the same time. Planting can start outdoors as soon as the soil can be worked for many cool weather crops, the bulk will go in in late April to May. Winter Squash and pumpkins go in the end of May to the first week of June. A planting of cabbage and Broccoli in Mid July will give you crop by fall frost. And of course plantings of spinach, radishes, and lettuce should all start going in the ground again in Mid to late August. With minimal protection you should be able to keep produce coming for more than 8 months out of the year.
Butter Cream Frosting for Cherry Chocolate Cupcakes
Semi-Sweet Chocolate Truffle Recipe
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Joe Dennis is a farmer at Nostalgia Farms in Walcott, Iowa. Together with his partner, Ed Kraklio, they sell locally-grown, organic produce at the Freight House Farmer’s Market in downtown Davenport, IA near LeClaire Park, every Tuesday (3-6 pm) and Saturday (8 am -1 pm). You can visit the farm’s website at: www.nostalgiafarms.com. Read more of Farmer Joe’s blog posts on MVHNews, or try any of the Nostalgia Farms recipes on this website. |
