AT LOCAL FARMERS MARKETS
Cooking demos:
9 a.m. Saturday: Chef Steven Satterfield of Miller Union, working with mushrooms. Morningside Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.morningsidemarket.com
10 a.m. Saturday: Chef Angus Brown of Octopus Bar and Lusca. Peachtree Road Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.peachtreeroadfarmersmarket.com
Chef demos are held at many farmers markets. Check your local market’s Facebook page or website for information.
FOR SALE
Just arriving: chestnuts
Vegetables and fruit: apples, arugula, Asian greens, beans, beets, carrots, collards, cucumbers, edamame, eggplant, field peas, figs, garlic, ginger, herbs, kale, lettuce, Malabar spinach, melons, mizuna, muscadines, mushrooms, mustard greens, okra, onions, pears, peppers, potatoes, pumpkins, radishes, roselle, sorrel, spaghetti squash, spinach, spring onions, summer squash, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, turmeric, turnips, winter squash
From local reports
Last year, Tony Scharko harvested about 30 pounds of kiwi berries. Yes, kiwi berries, the grape-size cousin of the fuzzy-skinned kiwi. His customers at the Peachtree City and East Atlanta Village farmers markets enjoyed pints of these smooth-skinned fruits. No peeling required, they’re eaten skin and all, making them an unusual and delicious fruit for snacking.
This year, he says he will be lucky to have even a few pints to put in the boxes of his community-supported agriculture customers. Why the difference in harvest? He says he has no idea.
Scharko and his wife Linda farm on 4 acres near downtown Fairburn. They bought their kiwi vines about ten years ago from Hector Black of Hidden Springs Nursery in Cookeville, Tennessee. Black’s annual harvest has been known to top 250 pounds of the sweet fruit.
“We bought these for the novelty of it. We didn’t even realize the fruits would be berry-sized,” said Scharko.
Hardy kiwi vines can grow to be 20 feet long so they need a sturdy trellis. They also require both male and female plants for pollination, so a farmer needs room for quite a few plants. And, of course, the female vines are the only ones that produce fruit.
Scharko says these aggressive vines also require patience. His plants grew for seven years before they began to bear a marketable crop.
Kiwis berries are ready to eat when the skin darkens to a dull green color and the fruit begins to look a little wrinkled. Fruits picked a little earlier are edible, but tart. Ripe fruit is very sweet with that distinctive kiwi flavor and tiny kiwi seeds for crunch.
If you can find kiwi berries, they’ll keep for up to a week refrigerated. The fruit will continue to mature off the plant so eat the softest kiwis first and allow the rest to ripen further.
Arugula and Kiwi Salad
If you can’t find hardy kiwi berries, use the larger fuzzy fruit, peel and cut into bite-size pieces.
2 tablespoons orange juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons honey
Salt and pepper
4 cups arugula
1 cup halved kiwi berries
1 apple, cut into bite-size pieces
1/2 cup crumbled fresh goat cheese
Make dressing: In a small jar with a screw top, combine orange juice, olive oil, vinegar and honey. Shake well to combine. Taste for seasoning. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine arugula, kiwi and apple. Shake dressing then pour over salad and toss. Sprinkle with goat cheese and serve immediately. Serves: 4
Per serving: 188 calories (percent of calories from fat, 56), 5 grams protein, 16 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams fiber, 12 grams fat (4 grams saturated), 15 milligrams cholesterol, 57 milligrams sodium.
About the Author
