Here is a listing of what plants are now ready for sale as of May 14th, 2009. We do have a few more heat-loving annuals and herbs coming later. We also have a few unusual plants that we only have one or two of-you’ll have to stop by the farm to see those.  But all these guys are happy, healthy, and ready to go!

Annual Flowers

6 packs:

Painted Tongue (Salpiglossis Sinuata) ”Royale Mix’: Click Here for Dave’s Garden description & size

Celosia ‘Forest Fire’

Ageratum ‘Dondo Blue’: Up to 32″ tall, this long-stemmed cutflower version of ageratum that blooms and blooms! Try teaming them up with gem marigolds for a beatiful border. 

4″ pots:

Spilanthes: (12″ tall, 1-2 feet apart) We like to grow this low growing, dark leaved plant for its fun alien-eyeball like flowers, but it has a whole bunch of medicinal properties as well! Click here for Mountain Rose Herb’s medicinal description. 

Euphorbia ‘Kilimanjaro’: Click here for photo and description from Dave’s Garden. Here’s a tip: plant this one with other upright things so it doesn’t fall, or group a bunch together in a tomato cage to keep them upright and happy. They look really beautiful in flower bouquets!

Tithonia ‘Torch’: This big, bright plant, known as the Mexican Sunflower, reminds me of an orange zinnia. The butterflies always love this one at the farm. It gets huge, so make sure you give it plenty of space! Click here for a pretty picture. 

1 Quart Pots:

Castor Bean: We affectionately call this one the “Dr. Suess Plant”. This is one awesome plant! It can get from 6-12 feet tall, with giant leaves and funny spiked pods. Just be careful-unlike the real Dr. Suess, this is definitely not a plant for kids- it’s VERY poisonous. 

Perennial Flowers

1 Quart Pots:

Wood Betony: This cheery plant was commonly found in amulets of the middle ages to ward off evil spirits. It is astrigent and has medicinal values, but we like it because it is cheery, has pretty green leaves, and small purple flowers to 2 feet. A very nice border plant that will happily come back year after year. 

Veronica (Speedwell) ‘Sightseeing Mix’: Pointed spikey flowers in pink, white, and blue-violet. This easy plant grows to 2 1/2 feet tall and just keeps on blooming. 

Achillea ‘The Pearl’: This member of the yarrow family looks more like baby’s breath than yarrow, and as an added bonus, it makes a great dried flower. 

Rudbeckia ‘Goldstrum’: This black-eyed susan variety blooms larger and more proficiently than its wild counterpart found in fields around here. A cottage garden staple. 

Cardinal Flower (Lobelia Cardinalis): This native water-loving plant has perfect red flowers. It is my favorite perennial. It is also a favorite of hummingbirds. Just make sure you give it sun and lots and lots of water!

Jacob’s Ladder: One of our very few shade loving perennials. The leaves are reminicent of ferns, and in the spring it sends up spikes of pretty purple-blue flowers that smell like candy. 

Lychnis ‘Dancing Ladies’: Magenta, white, and pink flowers on pretty white and fuzzy leaves. Drought tolerant and the pollinators love it. Plant one for the bees!

Penstemon ‘Iron Maiden’: This hummingbird lover is tall and thin and bright red. It gets better with age, getting bigger and happier in subsequent years.  

Crazy Daisy: A double shasta- slower to grow than regular shastas, but that may not be a bad thing, considering shasta’s overly-hardy nature! 

Maltese Cross: Another bright, 3 foot tall hummingbird and butterfly attractor. This is actually a lychnis, but lacks the white fuzz of dancing ladies. 

Delphinium ‘King Arthur’: We’ve had this one for years and ooh and ahh every year when it blooms. Last year, we finally got smart and saved its seed! Beautiful spikes of incredible blue flowers. It is rumored to be short-lived, but the ones in our garden are in year 5 and still going strong. 

Delphinium ‘Black Knight’: Dark blue/purple with an even darker center. This one can get to 6 feet tall in subsequent years!

Culinary Herbs

6 Packs:

Parsley

Dill

Cilantro

Basil

4″ Pots:

Creeping Thyme: The quintessential groundcover thyme. Pretty and delicious.

German Thyme: The darker cousin of creeping. Slightly smaller leaves, nice and hardy. 

Oregano ‘Zaatar’: This variety of oregano is also known as Syrian oregano and is thought to be the true hyssop from the Bible! Only hardy to zone 8, so you’ll have to pot it up and bring it in for the winter if you want to keep it. 

Stevia: The sugar plant! Dry it and add a leaf to your tea for calorie-free sweetness. 

6″ Pots:

Chives

Medicinal/Dye Herbs

1 Quart Pots:

Angelica Archangelica: The plant has many medicinal properties and young stalks can be candied. It is huge, up to 4 feet flower stalks. These are second year plants, so they will bloom and then the plant will most likely not be coming back. There is a chance that if you cut the flower stalk before it blooms you can keep in around for another year. 

Motherwort: A tincture made from this herb is highly touted by famed herbalist Susun Weed. We like the spikey pink mint-like flowers. 

Skullcap ‘Mad-Dog’ (Scuttelaria lateriflora): Fedco claims this produces a restful sleep when dried and put in your pillow. 

Japanese Indigo (Polygonum tinctorium): This is the first year we were able to get seed for this annual dye plant! Here is a great tutorial on what to do with it once you’ve planted it. 

Madder (Rubia tinctorum): A famous vivid red is obtained from the roots. 2 year old plants means you can start harvesting madder as early as next year! Click here for detailed instructions on what to do with all your red roots. 

Agastache: The girls call this one the “jellybean plant”. Also known as anise hyssop, this licorice flavored herb makes an excellent tea. The Native Americans used it for a variety of illnesses, including soothing coughs and sore throats. This perennial self-seeds abundantly, but not in an agressive way-it’s easy to pull out any unwanted volunteers. 

Vitex Negundo: Also known as Nergundi, Huang-jing-zi and Cut-Leaf Chaste Tree, we were really pleased to discover that this zone 6 shrub was hardy enough to survive this past winter. This is actually a small tree that sends out many braches, giving it a shrub-like appearance. The flowers are rumored to make the best flavored honey, and the leaves are very decorative and pretty, almost like a Japanese Maple. For headaches, dizziness, coughs, and mental unrest (according to Richter’s seeds). In India, it is called Nirgundi and is prized for many healing properties. It is also said that a pile of dried Vitex leaves lit on fire will repel mosquitoes. 

Echinacea Purpurea: This is the most medicinal of all the echinacheas. Last year we dug up some two year roots and made quite a powerful, zingy tincture out of them! 

4″ Pots:

Mugwort: According to everyone’s favorite news source, Wikipedia: “In North and South America, indigenous peoples regard mugwort as a sacred plant of divination and spiritual healing, as well as a panacea. Mugwort amongst other herbs were often bound into smudge sticks. Europeans placed sprigs of mugwort under pillows to provoke dreams; and the herb had associations with the practice of magic in Anglo-Saxon times.” Mugwort is dried and ground to form moxa for use in moxibustion, a Chinese medicine practice older than acupuncture. 

Pyrethrum: This is where the organic bug killer comes from. Plant it in with your veggies to help deter pests. 

Burdock ‘Gobo’: It is Richo Cech and his family’s enthusiasm for Burdock that convinced us it was worth growing. You can read about why they love it so much here. 

Ashwaganda: This Ayurvedic herb translates to “smell of a horse” and the roots are said to restore vitality. You can read more about it here. 

Soapwort: This easy to grow perennial can be used as an alternative to soap. Here is a fun recipe to make your own shampoo!

Hyssop: This under-appreciated herb is one of my favorite herbs. It stays neat, tidy and pretty in the herb bed, gets pretty dark blue flower spikes that dry perfectly, and the minty flavor is great for making a tea for colds. Grown from seed collected on our farm. Plant a few-you’ll be glad you did! 

Vanilla Grass: This grass smells very sweet when dried. Native Americans used to dry and braid the stalks and burn them as incense. Warning- this plant is aggressive like mint. It is best to cut the flower stalks so seed can’t spread and to put it in a spot where you can mow around it to keep it under control. Alternatively, you could grow it in a pot. 

Motherwort: see 1 quart pot section

Angelica: see 1 quart pot section

1 Gallon Pots:

Hops: The flowers of this hardy vine induce sleep. They are the main ingredient in making beer. An excellent choice for climbing- perfect for covering a trellis. 

Vegetables

6 Packs:

Swiss Chard: Pick the leaves when young for slicing and cooking- let them get big and you can use them as a wrapper for other foods. A rainbow of stem colors make your vegetable garden look festive. 

Orach: This is a green that can be cooked or eaten raw. We have both purple and green. If you let it flower, it will self-seed. The flowering stalks of the purple variety look stunning teamed up with silver artemisias in a vase. It is tradtionally cooked with sorrel in Europe. 

Lettuce: we have several different varieties. Stop by the farm and Kevin, our resident lettuce differentiator, will help you. 

Tomatoes!

Many Heirloom and Hybrid varieties available. They are available in the following sizes: 1 Gallon, 1 Quart, 4″ pot, and 6 pack. A detailed description of tomato varieties might be available soon- in the meantime, stop by the farm to find out, or email us if you’re hunting for a specific variety. 

Tis the season where the green beans start coming in full-swing! What are these snappy delights, and what can you do besides green bean casserole? Let’s explore!

Green beans are simply common beans (think pinto, navy, black, kidney, etc.) that are not yet ripened, eaten pod and all. They have been grown and selected for hundreds of years for the best flavor & tenderness rather than the cooking quality of the fully-ripened bean itself. Older varieties often had a tough and fibrous string running down the side of the pod that needed to be removed before eating. This is why they are nicknamed “string beans”. These days, most varieties have been selected to be sans-string for less work.

Who can we thank for green beans? The same folks who brought us potatoes and peppers, and many more culinary delights-the Indian tribes of Central and South America. They grew the first common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), which all common bean varieties came from. The Spanish learned about the bean in the 16th century and they spread the good bean cheer all around the world.

On the farm, our favorite variety is the rattlesnake bean. The beautiful purple marbles look striking against the dark green pod, and their flavor is crisp and delicate. We also grow Haricots verts, a fancy French word for small, thin green beans. New this year is a yellow wax bean called Gold of Bacau.

Green beans are really good for you! They have lots of vitamins and minerals including vitamin K for strong bones, vitamin C for strong everything and vitamin A for healthy eyes and lungs. They also contain manganese, which you body uses for many things, including maintaining blood sugar levels and helping your thyroid gland to function properly. They even have iron, so important for your body to run. Throw in the fact that one cup contains just 43 calories, and you have yourself an excellent way to eat your vitamins!

Speaking of eating, what’s the best way to enjoy these yummy treats? How about trying The bean salad from the World’s Healthiest Foods website:

This is a great dish that you can keep in your refrigerator for 3-4 days and its flavor gets better each day!

Prep and Cook Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups fresh green beans cut into 1-inch lengths
• 1 15 oz can lima beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 15oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 TBS minced onion
• 3 medium cloves garlic, pressed
• 1 large ripe fresh tomato, chopped
• 2 TBS chopped fresh basil
• 1 TBS chopped fresh oregano
• 1 TBS chopped fresh parsley
• 3 TBS fresh lemon juice
• 2-3 TBS extra virgin olive oil
• salt and cracked black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Mince onion and press garlic and let sit for 5 minutes to bring out its health-promoting benefits.
2. Fill the bottom of a steamer with 2 inches of water.
3. While steam is building up in steamer cut green beans.
4. Steam for 5 minutes. A fork should pierce them easily when they are done.
5. Drain and rinse canned beans. Let beans sit in colander for another couple of minutes to drain excess water.
6. Mix all ingredients together. If you have the time, let it marinate for at least 15 minutes. It can keep in the refrigerator for a few days. Keep on hand for a quick meal. Serves 4

Healthy Cooking Tips:

This salad is even better if it has at least a couple hours to marinate. Make sure the beans are well drained or your salad will taste flat and weak. Also, be sure to use fresh herbs for the best flavor.

I must admit, I’ve never liked radishes much. I don’t think I’m alone. On veggie dip trays, they always seem to be the last item standing, the little red and white rings looking dull and rubbery after a day of abandonment. They are often discreetly pushed aside on the salad plate, along with the massive wedges of grocery store tomatoes. (Why do so many restaurants serve such massive hunks of yucky tomatoes, anyway?)

Much like the difference between meaty slices of heirloom garden tomatoes and the pathetic version mentioned, there is also a huge difference between just-picked brightly colored radishes bunched with their greens and the topless, dull, bagged-in-plastic grocery store kind. Let’s explore some fun facts you can share and then try them in new and exciting ways!

Fun Facts:

• Radishes were grown by every ancient civilization you can think of-the Greeks, Egyptians, Romans, and Chinese. Even Confucius had something to say about them.
• Radishes were very large until the 1500s, when they were miniaturized into the little globes we have now.
• In the past, radishes were used as deodorant (!) and to heal many skin problems
• Radishes are part of the Brassica family along with its cousins cabbage, broccoli, kale, turnip and many more. Brassicas all contain important cancer fighting ingredients.
• In Mexico, December 23rd is known as Noche de Rabanos (Night of the Radishes). There is a festival in Oaxaca where artists compete for cash by carving elaborate sculptures out of radishes (and you thought that radish tulips were impressive!)

These people love radishes. Wait a minute-these people are radishes! Click Here to see more fun radish photos.

Radish Recipes:

Have your radishes gone soft while waiting for the perfect dish? You can revive them by soaking them in ice water.

Mariquita Farm has a huge selection of radish recipes, from the root (technically the swollen stem bottom) to the tops! Click here to see it.

Here is a beautiful looking salad twist using two seasonal ingredients (radishes and spring onions) brought to you by the Ontario Liquor Control Board’s Food and Drink Magazine, by way of the diet, dessert, and dogs blog (thank you for holding on to this recipe for 4 years!) This one looks so good, even I can’t wait to try it!

Radish and Grapefruit Salad

from Food and Drink, Spring 2004

SALAD:
4 small grapefruit
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup (125 ml.) pitted black olives
12 radishes, thinly sliced

DRESSING:
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 Tbsp. grapefruit juice
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Peel the grapefruit and cut into sections over a bowl to catch the juice (this should give you enough juice–or more than enough–to make the dressing). Place the grapefruit sections, green onions, olives and radishes in a salad bowl. Chill until ready to serve. Whisk together the dressing ingredients. Just before serving, pour dressing over the salad and gently toss together. Serves four. Best eaten right away. If you want to make it in advance, cut all the ingredients but keep the grapefruit and dressing separate and assemble just before serving.