"Bees" is the word

Is the word, is the word, is the word . . .   With so much sunshine, the weeds grow quite quickly and flower so there is a bee on almost every plant on our property.  I have been stung five times in the last week.   On Monday while moving water hoses around I changed from my flip flops to boots so I’d be less likely to get stung.  Nope, a bumble bee got caught in between my shin and my boot – OUCH!  Luckily for me I was at Dr. Shawn Yakimovich’s talk at the Backyard Apothecary Saturday and learned to grab a leaf or two of plantain (which happens to grow on every square foot of our property), rub it to create a “juice”, then apply it to the stung area.  I did this right away.  The sting stopped in a minute and I applied Dapis gel when I got back to the house.   It hurt again yesterday so I took some echinacea to combat any infection the bee might have left with me, then put some calendula ointment on it last night.  I think I got it right because the rash stopped getting larger and it doesn’t hurt anymore.

Tomatoes are changing colour rapidly so I have many for you this week.  I’m getting about 2 or 3 cukes a day now.  It’s a very good year for eggplant.  I’m still eager to try some eggplant recipes but have been a tad busy with all the other veggies.  The sweet peppers are large and green and are also available for you. 

Garlic is ready although I need to move it into the basement as it’s too humid in the garage to cure properly. 

Some green cabbages are large enough to grace your table.   The red cabbage is taking a little longer.

Zucchini plants are producing like crazy.  I can hardly pick them fast enough before the fruits become huge and I’m talking about hours between normal size and Z.O.U.S. (Zucchini of Unusual Size).  And it turns out I have more spaghetti squash plants than I realized – oh my.  Watermelons are doing well – can you believe it - and we should get musk melons in a few weeks.  Two other squash plants were entirely done in by the notorious squash vine borer – ugh.  There are some lovely green acorn squash and pumpkins growing. 

The basil just keeps growing and doing its wonderful smell thing. 

I find myself spending as much time in the kitchen these hot afternoons as I spend in the gardens in the cool mornings.  I think of salsa while picking tomatoes, tzatziki while picking cukes, hummus while trimming the curing garlic, slaw while picking cabbages, veggie tray for all of the above – you get the picture.  I made about 20 jars of salsa this long weekend and dehydrated zucchini, cucumber and eggplant slices.  I made tzatziki and hummus today and will make fresh salsa tomorrow.  

There’s definitely some zucchini baked goods in the foreseeable future. 

As promised I started microgreens for you.

The list keeps getting larger each week as you can see:

APPLES, organic, dehydrated  $2 / snack bag

BASIL:   Genovese, Greek, Large Leaf Italian or Purple  $3 / HUGE bunch

BASIL PLANTS   $3 each   Genovese, Greek, Large Leaf Italian or Purple

CABBAGE, green  NEW $3 / head

CELERY   $2 / bunch  and you can freeze the leaves for future use

CUCUMBERS   $2 each

EGGPLANT:   Striped or Purple  $4.00 / pound

GARLIC   NEW  $13 / pound

HERBS, fresh:  Bay leaf, Chives, Citrus Thyme, Dill, Marjoram, Oregano, Parsley, Thyme    $3 / bunch

HUMMUS  NEW chickpeas, tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, ground hot pepper, cumin  $5 / 250mL jar

  not sealed, to be eaten fresh

MICROGREENS  $2 / snack bag

  Arugula

  Broccoli

  Kale

  Mustard

  Radish

MICROGREENS MIX  $3 / sandwich bag 

ONIONS:   $3 / pound

  Sweet Spanish, Sweet White or a Mix

PEPPERS:  

  Green Sweet NEW  $4 / pound

  Jalapeno  $0.50 each

PESTO, Basil   (garlic, fresh basil, parmesan cheese, walnuts or almonds, lemon juice, pepper)  $5 / 125 mL jar

PESTO, Basil  NO CHEESE  (garlic, fresh basil, walnuts or almonds, cashews, lemon juice, pepper)  $5 / 125 mL jar

Red ORACH   $4 / bag

SALSA, Fresh   $4 / 250mL jar  not sealed, to be eaten fresh

SPROUTS  $3 / 4oz bag

  Sandwich Booster (clover, alfalfa, radish & mustard)

  Premium Mix  (Alfalfa, Red Clover, Broccoli, Arugula and Basil)

  Spring Salad Mix (broccoli, radish, red clover & alfalfa)

SQUASH, Spaghetti NEW  $4 each

TOMATOES, Cherry   all colours, shapes and sizes  $3.50 / pound

TOMATOES, heirloom  all colours  $3 / pound

TZATZIKI  NEW  Biemond organic yogurt, cucumbers, garlic olive oil, chives, salt & pepper  $4 / 250mL jar    not sealed, to be eaten fresh

ZUCCHINI, green and yellow  $2 / pound  

You can order less than a pound of anything, it’s just easier to price this way.

Day Brighteners is a non-certified organic farm where we practice sustainable methods free of any

GMOs, synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides or “cides” or any kind.

We use organic ingredients in our creations whenever possible. 

I look forward to receiving Your Special Order.  Call or email me with amounts you’d like and any questions.  

Thanks. 

Until next post, have a great every day.

Jo             

613-258-7970

joanne.daybrighteners@gmail.com