Herb of the Week: Lavender!

I was delighted to see the Lavender bursting out in the herb garden over the past few days. It is beautiful and can be seen from fifty yards away. I have been reading about and using Lavender for the past couple of years. Lavender has many interesting uses besides cooking. I do cook with it sometimes, but it has many other interesting uses. It is a good edition to any potpourri dish - dried lavender can be used to make little sachet bags by using a piece of lace or the toe of clean knee-highs. Tie a ribbon or string around it and hang it over the edge of the mirror or place it in an underwear or towel drawer. Some other ideas are to sew a pocket on the back of your pillow for tucking in fresh lavender. Soon, you may feel like a Queen.

In fact, one source says that both Queen Elizabeth I of England and Queen Victoria valued and used lavender. Queen Elizabeth apparently commanded that she should never be without a conserve of lavender and instructed her gardens that fresh lavender flowers should always be around. She also drank an abundance of Lavender tea for migraines while Queen Victoria used it to wash floors, put sweet smells in the air and had it strewn among her lines. The story also goes, that during the First World War, nurses bathed injured soldiers in lavender washes.

Cooking With Lavender
Lavender is a member of the mint family and is close to rosemary, sage and thyme. It is best used with fennel, oregano, rosemary, thyme, sage and savory. The lavender flower adds a beautiful colour to salads and can be substituted for rosemary in many bread recipes. It can also be put in sugar and sealed tightly in a jar for a couple of weeks, then substituted for ordinary sugar when making a cake or buns. The flowers look beautiful and taste good in glaze for chocolate cake or as a garnish for sorbets or ice cream. A few blooms add a mysterious tastes to custards and stews.

Be cautious! If you have not used lavender before, most sources suggest to experiment; start out with a small amount, adding more as you go. The strength and taste may vary with different types of lavender. Adding too much may seem like eating perfume. Use flowers only and discard stems, unless your recipe calls for the stems as well as flowers.

Harvesting
Flowers and leaves can be used fresh, and both buds and stems can be used dried. Flowers may be put in a cool place until you are ready to use them, i.e. a zip lock bag in the refrigerator. Rinse just before you plan to use by immersing in cold water. Then lay the flowers gently on paper or cloth towels, and/or gently spin dry in a salad spinner. If necessary, lay them between moist paper towels in the refrigerator until you are ready. Enjoy!

WHAT’S HAPPENING ON THE FARM!

Help Wanted
We are seeking a full-time and/or two part-time staff to finish up the season. Some of our highest production needs will be in early fall. Preference will be given to people who are able to work through September and possibly October. Anyone interested should send an e-mail, indicating his or her interest and availability.

The Farm is rocking!!
We are so busy here, weeding, picking and packing that you might think you were in a hive of bees. Veggie Coop orders on Mondays and Wednesdays. Restaurant Orders on Tuesdays and Fridays, overlapping with Farm Store on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

What about Thursdays, you say? Ask Alice about Thursdays. Thursday is Claire’s day off because it is suppose to be a slow day. Alice’s role on Thursday is to set up the sprouts and wheat grass, order supplies, sterilize the chill room, etc. We always have a little action, but Thursday was more than usual. Someone had driven from St. John’s because the promotional cards don’t give the time we are open. (We’ll take care of that by adding a sticker!) Both Chefs from the restaurants in the Cove appeared about midday. Jeremy from Atlantica and Paulette insist on driving up when they need something and walking around with Louis or Alice, getting their undivided attention and having it picked and packed while they watch. Something like their own little Farmer’s Market! We also had some unexpected visitors from New York, who had driven up from Petty Harbour. So, all in all, we were behind before Friday even began. But, hey! We still hope our VEGGIE COOP Customers will drop out with friends and/or children. Preferably when the Farm Store is open and we have staff in place to show you around!

Every week brings interesting visitors! Women and men, who have created regimes of organics to combat cancer. One woman stops by two times a week to buy whatever we have that she can juice or cook for her Dad. We are learning a great deal - there's an artist living at the Artists’ Residence in Pouch Cove, though I haven’t had time to look her up on the Internet. There is also a photographer, here for a month, living in St. John’s. On Saturday, it was Kevin Major, his wife and his Cousin, Mr. Wadden. Mr. Wadden works as a Chef for an Embassy in New York City. The Majors come by often and introduced Mr. Wadden to the farm last year. He grew up in Central Newfoundland but has been working in New York for twenty years. He expressed surprised to see so many of the things he uses in the City, growing organically “right here in Newfoundland.” A CBC Radio writer, who was with him last year for an interview with Mike, also came along. I was so busy that all I could do was shake their hands and find Mike and Alice, then buzz off with my special project crew, moving rocks and setting up the washing operation for sterilizing pots and trays in the back yard.

This is Rosa from Ontario Calling!
“Hello, I just read the article about your farm in the July Issue of Down Home Magazine. I need a rest and a holiday. I am thinking of driving over to your farm in September. What do you think about that? I have never worked on a farm, but I am strong and willing to learn and I can bring a tent. By the way, I have a German Shepard. She is very friendly and well behaved? Do you have animals? Do you think that will work out? I can keep her in the car or whatever it takes so I can bring her along. And before I hang up, is it true that you don’t have any poison ivy in Newfoundland? When I read that, I looked up everything I could about Newfoundland and Labrador. It is beautiful. I don’t use e-mail, but if it is O.K., I will call you again, when I get my plans made. “ (As I said, it is never a dull moment, with WOOFERS, Farm Stayers, Couch Surfers and people allergic to Poison Ivy. Stay tuned for the next installment on Rosa!)

Ferry Troubles!
Vince, one of our core workers lives on Bell Island. We dropped him off at the Ferry on Friday afternoon around 5:20 to catch the Ferry. When I picked him up on Saturday morning, I remarked on the number of cars parked alongside the road, going up the hill from the ferry - probably 30 or 40. He said those belonged to the people who had parked their cars and walked on Friday evening. He went on to explain that one of the ferries was out of service and even though he was a walk-on, he couldn’t get on a ferry until 7:30, as the walk-on limit was also filled. The trip across is around 20 minutes, and with the loading, it takes one ferry about an hour to do a turn around trip. I suspect the line up on the other side was equally long and also included lots of tourists. Friday was a beautiful day. When I was at the post office, mid-afternoon, I gave directions to Bell Island and the ferry to a couple of women from Ontario.

WHAT’S HAPPENING OFF THE FARM!

Customers wanted - For Quidi Vidi Picnics
Carolyn Power, Owner and Chef, Epicurean Kitchen, is working with the Community Centre Alliance to provide employment and work experience for young people. Together they are operating a kiosk, which sells muffins and sandwiches on the Boulevard side of the Lake. You can help make this a success by stopping by or placing an order by phone. Click Here to learn more or to place an order. Besides tasting some of Carolyn’s unusual creations, you will be supporting an important social enterprise. The Community Centre Alliance is an umbrella agency that coordinates projects for the community centres serving the low income housing areas, managed by Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation.

Register Now for the first ever, Food Security Assembly, to be held in October 2007. Click here to Learn More.

DO YOU HAVE SOME TIDBITS OR GOSSIP TO SHARE?
Effective this week, Farm Notes will go out weekly. Please submit your information by Sunday evening.

Thanks,
Melba