Warrior Fresh Content – Page 7 – Merrimack Student Blogging on Ethics and Sustainability

June 30, 2022June 30, 2022

Peppers

Overview: Peppers are another versatile vegetable that have their own measurement called scovilles. Scovilles measure how hot peppers range from bell peppers, around 0-2,000, to the hottest peppers in the world like the carolina reaper at 1.5 million scovilles and higher.

Seed Starting: plant pepper seeds 1-2 feet apart. Peppers like partial shade and well drained soil. Peppers are often

Growing Advice: Peppers do well with a trellis or fence to climb and to bear the weight of the peppers as they mature.

Harvesting: Harvest peppers with a knife or scissors when to desired size, bell peppers typically will be in full color (in accordance with seed type) and around the size of hand.

Stuffed Peppers Recipe

Preheat the oven to 425°F and set an oven rack in the middle position.
Tenderize the beef: In a medium bowl, using your hands, mash the beef with 1 teaspoon of the salt and the baking soda. Let sit for 20 minutes while you continue with the recipe.
Line a 9×13-inch baking dish with aluminum foil for easy clean-up, if you like. Place the peppers, cut side up, in the baking dish; drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the oil and sprinkle with the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt.
Roast the peppers for about 20 minutes, until slightly browned and tender-crisp. A bit of liquid will accumulate in the bottom of the peppers; that’s okay.
Meanwhile, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil over medium heat in a large nonstick skillet. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until soft and translucent, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more; do not brown. Add the ground beef mixture, chili powder, cumin, and oregano and increase the heat to medium high. Cook, breaking the meat up with a wooden spoon, until the meat is browned and almost cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the tomato sauce and bring to a boil; reduce the heat to medium low and cook, uncovered, until the meat is cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the rice and ¾ cup of the cheese, and stir until melted. Remove the skillet from the heat.
Remove the peppers from the oven and spoon the meat filling evenly into the peppers. Sprinkle with the remaining ¾ cup cheese and place back in the oven. Roast for 10 to 15 minutes, until the filling is hot and the cheese is melted and bubbling, and serve.
Make-Ahead Instructions: The peppers can be partially cooked and filled with the beef mixture up to 2 days ahead of time and refrigerated, or frozen in an airtight container for up to 3 months. When ready to serve, defrost overnight in the refrigerator if frozen, cover the dish with foil, and bake in a 425°F-oven for about 15 minutes. Remove the dish from the oven and remove and discard the foil. Top the peppers with the cheese and place back in the oven for about 5 minutes, or until the filling is heated through and the cheese is melted.
Recipe from Once Upon a Chef https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/stuffed-peppers.html

June 30, 2022June 30, 2022

Watermelon

Overview: Watermelons are Annuals (only one life cycle). They typically take 80-90 days from seed to full maturity. You’ll get 1-3 fruit per plant

Seed Starting: The best time to start the seeds would be late spring to summer for planting, the soil must reach 70º Fahrenheit before growth can start. Watermelons needs 3-5 feet between growing plants

Growing Advice: Unless living in a warm/ tropical climate, watermelons will need lots of attention and care. plastic bags, green houses, kiddie pools, etc are all commonly used to warm up that soil to start the seeds. When the melons mature to the point of weighing down to the ground, put straw underneath to prevent molding.

Harvesting: home grown melons are often much smaller than bought or farm grown, so keep this in mind when it comes time to harvest.

Recipe for Watermelon Salad

cut up watermelon and red onion into a fine mince.
Rinse onions in ice water to remove bite
Add feta cheese crumbles, basil, and top with balsamic glaze of choice.

By; Jackie Rosney

One small watermelon on vine being held — Small watermelon plant

June 30, 2022June 30, 2022

Potatoes

Overview: Potatoes are a meal staple all over the world. The starchy vegetable is one of the most versatile, there are hundreds of ways to prepare and enjoy them.

Seed Starting: Started from seed potatoes from either pieces or whole small potatoes. One potato seed can yield as many as 10 potatoes. Potatoes need full sun and loose soil.

Growing Advice: cut up seed potatoes and let them dry out, this helps prevent rot. The bigger the plot or pot the better, more room can mean more potatoes under the right circumstances.

Harvesting: the potatoes will sprout a plant with vines and flowers, when these vines start to die that’s when the potatoes are at their most mature and are ready to be dug up.

Recipe

Preheat oven to 400°F.
Wash potatoes and slice into ⅛” thin slices. Slice onion as thin as possible.
Layer potatoes and onions in little stacks. Place stacks upright in a greased casserole 2.5qt to 3qt dish.
Melt butter & flour in a saucepan and cook 2-3 minutes. Add seasonings and milk. Whisk over medium heat until thick and bubbly. Remove from heat and stir in cheeses until melted.
Spoon cheese sauce over potatoes. Cover with foil (sprayed with cooking spray) and bake 60 minutes.
Remove foil and bake an additional 20-30 minutes or until lightly browned and potatoes are cooked. Cool 15 minutes before serving.
recipe from Spend with Pennies https://www.spendwithpennies.com/au-gratin-potatoes/

By: Jackie Rosney

June 29, 2022June 29, 2022

Dill

Overview: Dill is a light-tasting herb, useful in many dishes: fish, chicken soup, potato salad, dips, pickles. It’s easy to grow, helpful to pollinators, and excellent as a companion plant.

Seed Starting: Plant seeds ¼ inch deep, spaced about 8 to 10 inches apart, after danger of spring frost (Source: University of Minnesota Extension). Direct sow, as dill does not like to be transplanted. This plant will readily reseed, offering easy harvests year after year.

This is a dill plant with a yellow flower umbel on top — Flowering dill

Growing Advice: Dill will reach 2 to 4 feet tall and be 1 to 2 feet wide. It has feathery foliage and sends up several yellow flowers, reminiscent of Queen Anne’s lace. Dill, Queen Anne’s lace, carrots, and others are all in the umbelliferae family [Source: Farming While Black].

Pollinators love dill. It is a host plant for black swallowtail butterflies!

Harvesting: Harvest the feathery leaves to use fresh in many dishes. Dill also leaves dry and store nicely for future use. Let the big yellow flowers go to seed to have “volunteer” dill plants next year. Or save the seeds to make dill pickles.

Dill Potato Salad Recipe (from Spend with Pennies)

Ingredients:

3 pounds potatoes white or red skinned
1 ½ cups celery diced
3 tablespoons green onion finely sliced
¾ cup mayonnaise
½ cup sour cream
2 tablespoons lemon juice
4 tablespoons fresh dill minced
1 tablespoon dijon mustard

Steps:

Boil the potatoes until tender (approx. 15-20 minutes). Cool and cut into bite sized pieces.
In a large bowl, mix all ingredients except the potatoes.
Combine cooled potatoes with dill mixture and refrigerate at least one hour.

June 29, 2022

Lettuce

Overview: Lettuce is an easy-to-grow garden staple that prefers cooler temperatures.

Seed Starting: Lettuce can be direct-sown into gardens or containers. Several hours of sun and some shade (particularly in the afternoon) will be welcome. Cover seeds with fine soil no more than a quarter inch deep. Some folks even scatter lettuce seeds on the soil surface and gently tap or rake them in. Give newly-planted seeds a good watering.

This is a bowl of mixed greens, including speckled lettuce, red lettuce, and arugula. — Salad mixes include a variety of flavors, colors, and textures

Depending on the variety, lettuce can be spaced 6-12 inches apart. If using a salad mix, consider scattering seeds closer than that and harvesting leaves here and there to thin plants out.

Because lettuce tolerates and even prefers cooler temperatures, it can have two crops. Plant the first about 2 to 4 weeks before the last spring frost and the second in early August in New England. Lettuce can also be started in small pots and transplanted at these times.

Growing Advice: Lettuce does not like to dry out. Give it frequent waterings. Lettuce may be munched by hungry slugs and other opportunistic critters. Keep an eye on the growing lettuce and visit the “Managing Pests” section of this blog as needed.

Harvesting: Pick whole heads of lettuce or harvest leaves here and there to keep the main plant growing. Lettuce will “bolt” (grow tall and send up seeds) when the temperatures soar. At this time, lettuce can become bitter. However, harvesting leaves in the cool of the morning and soaking for a few minutes in ice water can reduce the bitterness. Store cleaned lettuce in the fridge in plastic bags or repurposed containers to preserve freshness.

Salad Recipes by Lisa

After washing lettuce a few times to remove dirt and critters, rip up the leaves into bite-sized pieces.

Experiment with seasonal pairings:

Lettuce with watermelon chunks, feta, pistachios and balsamic vinegar is divine.
Consider trying raspberries, gorgonzola, walnuts, and a dressing of your choice as well.
On a hot summer night, salad with grilled chicken and any available garden veggies hits the spot.

June 27, 2022June 27, 2022

Garlic

Overview: Garlic is one of the most versatile and popular spices in the world. Strong in flavor, smell, and health benefits, garlic can be added to many dishes as a main or supporting flavor.

Seed Starting: Garlic is grown from cloves. It takes 8-9 months for cloves to become new garlic heads. Garlic is one of the few foods planted in the fall in New England. It is harvested in late spring/early summer.

Growing Advice: Plant each clove tip up and 3 to 5 inches deep. It helps to insulate garlic over winter with a layer of mulch (shredded leaves, straw, etc.). . You can plant garlic from sprouted garlic, just add it to soil. Although garlic only has one life cycle after picked, simply replant a clove or two from each harvested head, to restart the process.

Harvesting: Harvest your garlic when the lower leaves of your plant turn brown. Don’t rinse dirt from garlic with water: shake it off to preserve the papery protection.

Recipe for Garlic Confit

Remove garlic cloves from head and peel
Put in ceramic or any oven safe container.
Separate cloves and cover completely with olive oil.
Add any additional herbs to your liking (rosemary, basil, peppercorns, lemon, etc.) and bake in the oven at 300 Fahrenheit for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.
Use as a spread, add to butter, or any of your recipes there are hundreds of uses!
Save the oil and now you have garlic infused olive oil!
Since you cooked the garlic and the oil make sure to refrigerate for keeping!

Written by; Jackie Rosney

June 27, 2022June 27, 2022

Beans

Overview: When starting from seed, there are two categories that beans can be grouped into: pole beans and bush beans. Both types are almost identical, but pole beans will climb once the plants progress in growth, and will need some form of support to grow on. Bush beans will require less maintenance in this way, but pole beans will typically produce a larger quantity of beans to harvest.

Scarlet runner beans (with green pods) hang from their vine — Scarlet runner beans (pole type)

Seed Starting: Beans typically grow best when planted directly outdoors. Because they generate their own nitrogen for use in the soil, they will not need supplemental compost or fertilizer unless your soil quality is particularly poor. Sow bush beans 1 inch deep and 2 inches apart in rows that are around a foot and a half apart. Sow pole beans the same way, but be sure to set up stakes for support around them prior to planting seeds (source).

Growing, Harvest, and Special Advice: If you continue to plant beans year after year, they will benefit from crop rotation (that is, planting them in a different bed or patch of soil the next year) to prevent diseases. Beans should be watered often, about 2 inches of water per square foot of soil weekly. It is also best recommended to water on sunny days to prevent moldering of plants. Once pole beans reach the top of their supports, you can pinch off the extra stems to encourage the plant to put more energy into growing bean pods instead of getting taller. They should also be harvested in the morning when their sugar content is at its highest – the more you harvest, the more will grow!

Recipe

Easy Garlic Green Beans (original recipe can be found here):

1 pound of trimmed green beans, washed, drained, and halved crosswise
1 teaspoon kosher salt
8 to 12 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
1 small onion (½ cup), sliced
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

Bring 3 cups of water in a large pot to boil over medium high heat. Stir in the salt.
Add the beans and cook for 7 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon to cook evenly.
Remove from the heat. Drain the beans through a strainer over a bowl. Reserve ½ cup of the bean cooked water for later use.
Put the same pot back on the stove. Turn on the heat to medium high.
Add the vegetable oil and garlic, stirring with a wooden spoon for 1 minute, until the garlic start to get a little crispy and light brown.
Add the beans, the reserved ½ cup bean cooked water, soy sauce, and onion.
Cook for about 5 to 6 minutes, occasionally turning and flipping with the wooden spoon, until the soy sauce mixture boils down and the beans turn savory and tender. Remove from the heat and stir in sesame oil.
Transfer to a serving bowl or plate and serve with rice. The leftovers can be refrigerated up to 1 week.

Written By Sophia Beland.

June 27, 2022June 27, 2022

Parsley

Overview: Parsley (Petroselinum crispum) is one of the most well-known and versatile herbs out there. They are also very hardy and easy to grow for even the most novice gardeners.

Seed Starting: To sow parsley indoors, such as in a small pot to keep in your garden window, sow seeds ½ inch deep. If planting outdoors, sow seeds 1 ¼ inch deep and about 3 inches apart from one another (source).

Growing, Harvest, and Special Advice: Parsley will thrive in deep pots or beds, and will do well in heavily composted soil. Plants should be in partial shade. If planted outside, parsley will do well with companion plants of carrots, chives, onions, or tomatoes. Planting parsley around asparagus plants will repel asparagus beetles.

Recipe for Tabbouleh

Tabbouleh is a refreshing Mediterranean side dish that can be eaten with hummus and pita bread. Original recipe can be found here.

To start, combine cooked and cooled bulgur wheat (1/2 cup uncooked) finely chopped cucumber and tomatoes (1 cup each) in a bowl. Pulse parsley (around 3 medium sized bunches) in a food processor until finely chopped. Add parsley to your bowl with bulgur, tomatoes, and cucumber. You can also add fresh mint (one medium bunch) to the food processor with your parsley if you wish. To make the dressing, combine fresh minced scallion (1/3 cup), EVOO (1/3 cup), salt (1 tsp), lemon juice (1/4 cup), and a couple chopped garlic cloves. Mix everything together and serve chilled. Tabbouleh will keep in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.

Written By Sophia Beland.

June 27, 2022June 27, 2022

Tomatoes

Overview:Tomatoes are a fruit (yes a fruit–although commonly referred to as a vegetable) These fruit are sweet and acidic used all over the world

Seed Starting: Tomatoes need lots of sunlight or growing lights. Start in damp seed starting mix, 2-3 seeds per pot, and ¼ inches deep. Start tomatoes about 8 weeks before your last frost date. This is right around Merrimack’s spring break. . Space your tomatoes 2 or more feet apart.

Growing Advice: Tomatoes need full sun and lots of moisture. If the soil is dry an inch down, offer them a good soak. Tomatoes are subject to blight, a fungal disease, so keep leaves off of the ground and water at the base of the plant (rather than spraying the leaves). Tomatoes often do well with a fence or equivalent to let the vines climb rather than droop or touch the ground

Recipe for Homemade Tomato Sauce

Start with 8-10 medium to large tomatoes (this will be a smaller batch of sauce) or 14 or more to make a larger batch. (Tomatoes on the vine or Roma tomatoes work best for me!)
Slice an “X” on the bottom of your tomatoes and bring them to a boil in a large pot.
When the skin of the tomato becomes loose or is coming off completely remove from boiling water and place in a bowl of ice water.
Remove all the skin and stem parts (the white parts) from tomatoes and crush. Crushing by hand is the original and best way but if you prefer you can use a potato masher or equivalent to break down the tomatoes!
When all the tomatoes are crushed to your preference (you can crush them or even blend them to pure liquid consistency or leave some chunks of tomatoes for texture) put back in pot and return to a simmer.
Add 4-6 cloves of garlic, a hefty sprinkle of salt and pepper, a 1/2 cup of olive oil (or to your liking), Italian seasonings of your liking (basil, parsley, oregano, rosemary, etc.), and minced onion (or a whole onion with the ends cut off, also marked with an “X” on both ends, not enough to cut through the whole onion, and remove from sauce when soft or if layers begin to peel)
Simmer until all ingredients are combined and sauce thickens in consistency (if desired some prefer a thin sauce and you can just combine ingredients and use sauce as desired!)
For Gravy you can add meat to your sauce; sausage, meatballs, beef cubes, etc. (pre-cooked)

Written by: Jackie Rosney

June 27, 2022June 27, 2022

Carrots

Overview: Carrots come in a variety of colors, are easy-to-grow, and store nicely after harvest.

Seed Starting: Carrots prefer rich, sandy soil and a sunny location. They can also grow well in containers. Regular varieties prefer a soil depth of 10-12 inches. Short varieties, like “Scarlet Nantes,” “Chantenay,” or the unusually round “Parisian,” are perfect for more shallow gardens.

Three orange carrots sit on the grass. — Three orange carrots from the Merrimack Garden

Sow carrot seeds directly into soil, ¼ inch deep, in rows about a foot apart (source: Farmer’s Almanac). Thin carrots to about 3 inches apart once they’ve sprouted. Clip off little seedlings to be thinned (perhaps using nail scissors) because pulling them up might also disrupt the carrots you want to keep growing. Almost all seed starting advice says to keep seeds moist after planting, but it really is true with carrots.

Growing Advice: Carrots can even be grown twice a year in New England! Plant a spring crop (starting a few weeks before the last frost date) and a fall crop in late summer.

Harvesting: Carrots often show their “shoulders” to give a preview of how wide they are. Harvest early for “baby” carrots or wait for a bigger carrot. Carrots take 60-80 (or more) days until harvest. Try to be patient.

Carrots store well (with their tops snipped off), in a sealed bag in the fridge. Consider using the tops to make pesto!

Recipe for Carrot Cake

Try this Southern Living carrot cake recipe that Chrissy Teigen loves. Dr. Perks made it near the start of the pandemic and agrees its delicious.

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 large eggs
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups grated carrot
1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained
1 (3 1/2-ounce) can flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Baking Steps:

Step 1 Line 3 (9-inch) round cakepans with wax paper; lightly grease and flour wax paper. Set pans aside.
Step 2 Stir together first 4 ingredients.
Step 3 Beat eggs and next 4 ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add flour mixture, beating at low speed until blended. Fold in carrot and next 3 ingredients. Pour batter into prepared cakepans.
Step 4 Bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Drizzle Buttermilk Glaze evenly over layers; cool in pans on wire racks 15 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks. Spread Cream Cheese Frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake.