AT LOCAL FARMERS MARKETS
Market openings:
4 - 8 p.m. Friday, June 5. Lilburn Farmers Market, Lilburn. http://www.lilburnfarmersmarket.org/
8 a.m. - noon. Saturday, June 6. Clarkston Farmers Market, Clarkston. https://www.facebook.com/ClarkstonFarmersMarket
8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Saturday, June 6. Snellville Farmers Market, Snellville. http://www.snellvillefarmersmarket.com/
Cooking demos:
4 – 8 p.m. Thursday, June 4. Chefs Sarah Dodge of The Preserving Place or Philip Meeker of Bright Seed demonstrate dishes using market produce. East Atlanta Village Farmers Market, Atlanta. http://www.farmeav.com/
10 a.m. Saturday, June 6. Chef Angus Brown of Lusca. Peachtree Road Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.peachtreeroadfarmersmarket.com
Many markets offer chef demos on an occasional or regular basis. Check your market’s website or Facebook page for more information.
FOR SALE
Just coming into season: blackberries, blueberries
Vegetables: artichokes, arugula, Asian greens, beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, celery, chard, cucumbers, endive, English peas, escarole, fennel, garlic, herbs, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, mushrooms, mustard greens, Napa cabbage, onions, peaches, pecans, potatoes, radicchio, radishes, spinach, spring onions, sugar snap peas, summer squash, strawberries, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, Tokyo bekana, turnips
From local reports
Lilburn Farmers Market opens for the 2015 season on Friday, June 5. This is the market’s sixth year, and for the first time it will be part of Wholesome Wave, an organization that works to make healthier food available to everyone by increasing access to locally grown food. One of the key features of Wholesome Wave is a coupon program that doubles the value of low-income consumers’ dollars.
Mandy McManus has been market manager for all of its six years, having helped the city of Lilburn start the market when she was a volunteer on the city’s park committee. But McManus is not just the manager. She’s also a vendor at the market, selling 4-inch potted herbs, dried herbs and seasoning mixes under the umbrella of her 20-year-old business, McManus Greenhouse.
Most of her customers are shopping for herbs for their containers and gardens, and basil and parsley are the most popular choices. But she also offers thyme, oregano, tarragon, chives and both chocolate mint and spearmint.
“There are so many varieties of mint, but chocolate and spearmint are the easiest to use. Spearmint is almost universally loved and chocolate mint is just a little something different. People brush the leaves of the plant and they end up buying it for the fragrance, even if they never end up cooking with it. They just love to walk by it and smell the leaves,” said McManus.
Generally, the biggest problem in growing mint is keeping it contained. “I recommend people grow it in a big pot and sink the pot into the ground. Mint spreads by underground runners so if you don’t want it to go wild all over your garden, you need to keep it contained. It still does send out runners above ground and if those runners touch ground, they can root. The very best way to keep it contained is to clip it and use it a lot. And never let it dry out. It doesn’t bounce back well from drying out.”
For the mint you clip but don’t use fresh, McManus recommends using a dehydrator to dry the leaves. Then they crumble right off the stem and can be stored for use throughout the year.
For customers who wonder how to use mint beyond garnishing a mojito, McManus tells them about making teas, or using mint in Greek and Middle Eastern dishes. “Those cuisines frequently call for mint in all sorts of recipes. And you can use mint to flavor simple syrup or make ice cream or sorbet. It’s even great in pesto.”
At home, McManus likes to use mint in salads. “For any kind of salad with grains like tabouli, anything with tomatoes and feta, or pasta salad, the mint adds a great Middle Eastern flavor.”
McManus’ daughters created a business that uses two products from her greenhouses – mint and parsley. “My oldest daughter Jessamy started making dog biscuits and named them ‘Sophie’s Choice Breath Busters Dog Biscuits’ after our English spaniel, Sophie. It’s Sophie’s picture on the package.”
Jessamy ran the business throughout her high school years, then two years ago passed it on to her sister Jolee, who turned the business into a fundraiser for her Girl Scout Gold Award. “Now Jolee has graduated from high school and we’ve passed the recipe along to another high school friend who is interested in continuing the tradition.”
The breath busters biscuits are not the only flavor in the product line. There’s peanut butter, which is the most popular, and now they’re experimenting with a gluten-free biscuit. “It’s a great business for kids. They can experiment and the dogs usually do not complain.”
Sophie’s Choice Breath Busters Dog Biscuits
McManus says a plastic milk bottle cap makes a great cutter and creates biscuits that work for both small dogs and large. The key to getting dog biscuits that will keep is to make sure they are completely dry. The dehydrator is great for that. If you don’t have a dehydrator, and dry your biscuits in the oven, you may want to refrigerate them in case there’s any residual moisture.
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley or 3 tablespoons dried parsley
1/3 cup fresh chopped mint or 2 tablespoons dried mint
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
3/4 cup water, or as needed
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet.
In a medium bowl, stir together flour, cornmeal, parsley, mint and oil. Add enough water so that the mixture forms a ball. Add more water if needed. Roll out mixture 1/4-inch thick and cut into shapes. Arrange biscuits on prepared baking sheet. Reroll scraps and continue cutting until all dough is used. Bake 20 minutes.
If you have a dehydrator, move the biscuits to the dehydrator and dry for 8 to 10 hours or until completely crisp. If you don’t have a dehydrator, turn off the oven after the 20 minutes of baking and leave the biscuits in the oven on hour to harden as the oven cools down. Makes: 68 1-1/2 inch biscuits
Per biscuit: 25 calories (percent of calories from fat, 42), 1 gram protein, 3 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 1 gram fat (trace saturated fat), no cholesterol, 1 milligram sodium.
About the Author
