B2o—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 28,1984
(Continued from Page B 18)
“You have to create your own
market,” she said. “You have to
let them know you’re out here.”
Selling the flowers from the bam
proved to be a very time
comsuming method of marketing
their flowers, Marilu said. People
came to the house at all hours of
the day, and sometimes came on
Sundays, even though a sign out
front said “Closed Sunday.”
Each year, they have sold more
of their flowers to wholesalers,
which has proved to be a much
easier method of marketing their
flowers. Marilu said that selling a
large amount to one company
gives her more time to spend to
spend with her two-year-old
daughter, Krissy.
Wholesalers are eager to buy
from local growers because they
can avoid shipping costs and the
plants arrive in good condition.
When plants are shipped, they are
often crushed, forcing the buyer to
spend time and money steaming
them open, Marilu explained.
While she could make more
money selling her product to in
dividual flower shops, Marilu
doesn’t believe it’s worth the
hassle.
If this year proves to be as
successful as they think it will be,
Marilu said they plan to rent more
land and plant even more flowers
next year.
“It looks very promising,” she
said. “As we can afford to buy
more plants, we’re buying them.”
Even though flowers are now
their main product, Marilu said
she will keep her herb garden and
will continue to provide fresh herbs
to a few people.
Now that herbs aren’t a top
priority, she will be incorporating
vegetables into her herb garden
like early German gardeners did,
Marilu said. She explained that
years ago common people kept
herb gardens because they could
not afford to buy the herbs they
needed for cooking and for
medicinal purposes. The wealthier
people, she said, kept them for
decorative purposes, like many
people do today.
Marilu said her grandmother
and mother always had herbs and
she created the demonstration
garden “to get people a little closer
to nature.” She encourages her
customers to use herbs in place of
salt to season their foods and says
that adding herbs to prepared
foods is a good way to add variety.
Herb vinegars are simple to
make, Marilu explained, and taste
great on fresh salads. To make her
vinegars, Marilu said she pours
white vinegar over the herbs, and
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lets the mixture sit for about one
week. The vinegar should not be
kept in the sunlight because it
takes the flavor out of the herbs.
Marilu recommended tarragon,
salad bumet and purple basil for
producing good vinegars.
A rose geranium added to apple
jelly gives the jelly a rose color and
adds a different flavor. Adding
herbs to butter or margarine and
molding it is a simple way to add a
touph of elegance to the table,
Marilu suggested.
To create a natural snack for
Krissy, Marilu makes mint sherbet
by putting mint in three cups of
boiling water until the water tastes
minty. She then strains the mint
from the water, adds two cups
orange juice and a drop or two of
green food coloring and places it in
the freezer. To give the sherbet a
grainy texture, she stirs the
mixture once before it is com
pletely set. For adult tastes, she
suggests adding a cup of sugar
while the water is still hot enough
to dissolve it.
Marilu suggests that beginning
herb cooks pick up a copy of
“Hildy’s Herb Recipes,” which
gives many practical and simple
recipes. One of the book’s best
features though, is the index,
which lists recipes according to the
herbs they use. This feature makes
it easy to find a way to use a
specific herb, Marilu said.
As in any other activity, greater
skill comes with experience. “You
become a better cook with herbs by
cooking more with herbs,” Marilu
said.
No matter what she grows -
herbs, flowers or vegetables -
Marilu enjoys working in the soil.
Her grandparents have a dairy
farm near Newark, Delaware,
where their ancestors have been
farming for 200 years. Although
she did not grow up on the farm,
Marilu said she spent her summers
there bringing in the cows, digging
potatoes and doing other chores.
When she moved to Lancaster
from her home in Bucks County
she said found that family and
church are more important here
than anywhere else she has lived.
“You don’t appreciate what you
have here until you leave,” she
said.
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WASHINGTON, D.C. -
Secretary of Agriculture John R.
Block has announced a delegation
of 20 to 25 U.S. farm women will
visit the European Community
later this year.
The two-week trip will include
stops in England, France, Ger
many, The Netherlands and the EC
headquarters in Brussels,
Belgium. The U.S. women will
meet with leaders of EC farm
organizations and EC government
officials; tour food processing
plants; and meet the EC farm
women.
“The problems we have en
countered in our relations with the
EC point out the need for broader
understanding,” Block said.
“Visits like those by President
Mitterrand to my farm have
served a very useful purpose. To
date, however, most of these ex
change visits have been limited to
male farmers.”
Block said the purpose of the trip
is for the delegation members and
the people they meet to achieve
greater understanding of each
other’s agricultural systems and
philosophies; provide an
educational experience for
Slate
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Ag women to visit Europe
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Surplus food distributed
HARRISBURG - Penn
sylvania’s needy families received
$16,667,351 worth of federal surplus
foods during the April distributions
across the state, according to
State Agriculture Secretary
Penrose Hallowell.
Hallowell said the month marks
the first quarterly distribution of
cheese and butter under the state’s
new surplus food distribution plan
approved by the U.S. Department
of Agriculture in late January.
“With the recent regularity of
allocations from USDA, the
relative stability of a two-year
program and a commitment of
federal funding through the Dole
Bill, the local agencies and the
state have an opportunity to in
crease efficiency and better meet
♦fc? needs of ou r needv families,”
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Delegates will be chosen by farm
organizations and commodity
groups. The trip will be sponsored
jointly by USDA and the Dwight
Eisenhower People to People
International Organization, Block
said.
he said.
The plan has also revised the
eligibility requirements to insure
that the most needy families
receive these free commodities. A
family can be identified as needy if
it participates in the state’s Public
Assistance (cash assistance)
Program, the Food Stamp
Program, Medicaid Program, or
the Supplemental Security Income
(SSI) Program.
USDA has projected that Penn
sylvania will receive more than $4B
million worth of cheese, butter, dry
milk, honey, cornmeal and flour
through Sept. 30. USDA also
projected that additional products
may be available for reallocations
from other states throughout the
remainder of this year.
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