White Sweet Potatoes (from Henry); Secret to Happiness (from Zoe)

Dada Mail » F&F Notes for Henry's Farm Market Friends » Archives » White Sweet Potatoes (from Henry); Secret to Happiness (from Zoe)

Date: October 29th 2009

It's been a soft-focus week with lots of drizzle and pastel leaves falling -- very peaceful in a way, but no time to write about that now. I have to run over to The Wild Tree Café for a special meeting of the Evanston Food Policy Council focused on books (join us at 7 if you can), so need to write quickly. Luckily I have Henry and Hiroko’s daughter’s essay ready to go (see end of this email for the Secret to Happiness).

And Teresa is taking this week off, so no Fruit and Herb Notes this week--but she’ll be at the Market next Sat. with her full complement of teas, culinary herbs, soaps, and more.

First, the weather, which continues to be wet, wet, wet. Seems we are stuck in week after week where we get a total of about 3 hours of sunshine, lots of clouds, and 2-3 inches of rain. We got our allotted 3 hours of sun just now, and expecting 3 inches of rain tonight, for yet another muddy, muddy harvest day. That means we did not get any more garlic planted this past week. We certainly are hoping it will dry out next week so we can get the second half of our saved-back garlic in the ground for next year. We’ve had over 8 inches of rain this October – four times more than usual – so it doesn’t look good.

It was so cold and rainy at the market last week that not many people came, and even fewer lingered to buy the 2010 Land Connection "A Year on The Land" calendar. But they are really beautiful – worth lingering over and buying -- for yourself, and for the gardener and/or food-lover in your life.

I (Terra) will actually be at the market this week, after many weeks away, so come get your calendar and/or copy of The Seasons on Henry’s Farm signed this week (since I’ll be away again next Sat.)

Before we get into the Food Notes, if you have family members near Peoria, tell them about the special Producer Dinner featuring Henry and his produce at the acclaimed June Restaurant on Nov. 12. The chef-owner Josh Adams worked under Paul Virant at Vie, and the restaurant has had great reviews (even in the Wall Street Journal), and will be featured in February's Bon Appetit.

FOOD NOTES

Henry sold out of his super-dooper ginger the past couple weeks, so don’t come early for that . . . but DO come early for the first horseradish of the year, and the last of the Japanese sweet potatoes, and also the last of most of the varieties of winter squash. The winter squashes are not keeping well with all this wetness (we had to go through them and separate out many soft ones to feed to the hogs). So if you see a squash you want for your holiday dinner, buy it this Saturday because chances are you won’t see it again this season.

SWEET POTATOES

Henry wants me to tell you about the sweet potatoes this week -- but since photos are worth 1000 words, and I’m running out of time here, I’ve posted a photo essay.

As you’ll see from the photos, the plants grow fast and furious, and the reason for such luxuriance becomes clear in autumn when the roots are dug. All that photosynthesizing foliage fattens up a fine crop of roots.

Sweet potatoes have a lot to offer nutritionally – tons of vitamin A and beta carotene, plus healthy amounts of vitamins C, B6 and E, as well as potassium. They are also a good source of fiber and complex carbohydrates. Like most vegetables, they contain no fat or cholesterol, and a medium-size sweet potato has only about 100 calories.

In the kitchen, sweet potatoes are flexible – great as appetizers, soups, side dishes and desserts. Bake them in their skin, or try them sliced, seasoned with olive oil and herbs, then grilled for just a few minutes per side.

Sweet potato varieties differ in skin color (yellow, orange, red, purple or cream); flesh color (white, yellow, reddish or orange); texture (soft and moist, or dry and firm); shape (blocky to tapered); and flavor (mild to very sweet). The moist, orange-fleshed types are most popular in the United States, but now is the time to branch out since Henry has some excellent white varieties this year.

Nancy Hall is an heirloom white sweet potato, close to a Japanese sweet potato in sweetness and texture, but with a pale skin and light yellow flesh. It is an old-time favorite, known as the “Yellow Yam” in the 30s and 40s, and is a good keeper.

The “White Yam,” sometimes called Triumphs, Southern Queen, Poplar Root, and White Bunch, are almost pure white inside and out, and very sweet.

O Henry is a large white-skinned, cream-fleshed sweet potato that cooks up drier than others, with light golden flesh that is smooth and stringless, sweet and aromatic, with the rich flavor of nuts and honey.

Remember there is only ONE more Saturday Market after this one . . . and then the special pre-Thanksgiving Market at Immanuel Lutheran Church.

So see you soon, and please consider our calendars and books as gifts for the holidays, which will be upon us in the blink of an eye.

In last week’s email I mentioned that Zoe had written an essay for her “This I Believe” assignment at school, so here it is . . . reprinted with her permission:

The Secret to Happiness

By Aozora Brockman

I used to think that my father was crazy. Every night, he would come home completely and utterly dirty--proof of his exhausting work tending to the Earth. His hands were the color of a cloudless night, the stars being bits of perlite--the sparkly white mineral used in the greenhouse potting mix--stuck here and there in the creases of his palm and fingers. Brown stains remained even after he had washed up for dinner. I thought he was crazy because, covered in sweat and mud and dirt, he was the happiest man on Earth.

I didn’t always think he was crazy. When I was little, I used to throw dirt into the air to feel it rain down on me, run around with bare feet just to feel the soft ground below me, and make black gloves out of mud and show them off to my brothers. Then I started to go to school. It was a shock to know that now, dirt was a bad thing. No one wanted to get dirty for fear of germs. Gradually, I began to stop touching the Earth with my hands unless it was absolutely necessary. After a long harvest at the farm, I would try to clean the dirt from under my fingernails, afraid of what would get said at school. Yet I can truly say that those were the most depressing years of my life.

After years of not being happy but not quite knowing why, I had an epiphany. Naturally, this occurred while I was pulling stubborn weeds out of the ground with only my thoughts to listen to one scalding, humid day. Such revelations often happened when I was weeding. So far I had figured out how I could help struggling people in Africa, what I wanted to be when I grew up, and now . . . the secret to happiness. Right then, feeling the cool, moist soil underneath my hot, sweaty hands, I felt some of the happiness from my toddler years come rushing back. And I knew that dirt is the secret to happiness.

There is a liberating, freeing feeling when you bury your hands in dirt. It is difficult to explain, but the musky, fruity smell of the soil combined with the unique texture of the Earth makes you feel connected to Nature. When you close your eyes and feel the dirt teeming with life, it makes you feel alive too.

But not all dirt is created equal. The fertile, black soil of my father’s Central Illinois farm is one that not many people have experienced. I believe that dirt that has been repeatedly damaged by poisonous chemicals or has been compacted and over-farmed will not give one the same exhilarating happiness.

Now, I am truly content. Some days I come to school with dirt under my fingernails, proud to display my closeness to the Earth. Some people send weird glances at my hands, probably thinking that I am crazy. Just like I used to think my father was crazy. I do not know why, but this thought makes me laugh.

<< Previous: p.s. 2010 Annotated Calendars - TOMORROW!

| Archive Index |

Next: Last Market - Stock up! >>

(archive rss , atom )

Food and Farm Notes: A weekly peek at what's happening on Henry's Farm and what's coming to market, and what to do with it (with a side helping of poetry, science, philosophy, and what have you) For more information: http://www.terrabrockman.com/Henrys_Farm/welcometohenry%27s.html