84-Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, May 2, 1998
Karin Buchan
{Continued from Page B 3)
Lifter** tomato. Legend has it that a
farmer was going to lose his farm.
He received this seed, and grew
and sold such a tremendous
amount of large, tasty tomatoes
that he saved his farm.
Not all seeds saved ate to pro
duce food. Many beautiful flowers
are grown from seeds passed down
through families.
“Many heirloom roses are being
rediscovered in cemeteries and
along roadsides, just waiting for
someone to dig them 19 and give
them some tender loving care,”
Karin said.
Some of the heirloom veget
ables, herbs, and flowers that
Karin encourages people to grow
in their gardens, and are available
at her farm and at other green
houses that specialize in heirloom
seeds, include the following;
• Lemon Cucumber was first
introduced in the early 1890 s as a
novelty but has been reintroduced
by many organic gardeners
because the variety is fungus and
rust resistant. It is productive
throughout the season and is fairly
drought resistant It is best used
fresh.
• Purple Podded Pole Beans are
a French heirloom dated from
1775. The beans are extremely
productive and attractive with
lovely lavendar-purple flowers.
Hie vines can reach seven feet in
height and require support. A bean
teepee wdrks nicely. Unfortunate
ly, the beans do not retain their col
or when cooked.
• “Vermont Cranberry Bean.”
This cultivar was known before
1670. it is one of the oldest culti
vated beans in America. It adds
color and is easy to grow, but you
need a larger area for any type of
storing yield. Storage requires
drying.
• “Five Color” Silver Beet or
“Neon Lights” Swiss Chard. This
is a beautiful vegetable and adds a
lot of color to the garden. Origin
ally offered by the Thompson &
Morgan Seed House of England, it
dropped out of commercial pro
duction and was almost lost. It is
being offered for the 1998 season
by Johnny’s Seeds and Shum
way’s. It can survive the cold and
adds tremendous color to any gar
den.
• “Golden” and “Detroit Red”
Beets are good additions to gar
dens in this area. The Golden Beet
dates before 1828 and is from Eur
ope. It does have a lower germina
tion rate so seed heavily and thin.
It can be canned and used in sal
ads. Detroit Red dates from 1828
and is an all around variety.
• Nasturtiums were very much
part of kitchen gardens in the
1500 s They are edible and the
plant and flowers are high in vita
min C. They can be used ill vine
gars or in salads. The plants lend
themselves very well to climbing
and color in a garden. The flowers
and leaves are great in salads.
When planted with squash they
will help keep away the squash
bugs.
• The marigold, which started
out as the Calendula, or Pot Mari
gold, were the golden flowers
painted in assciation with the Vir
gin Mary. Thus the name, Mary’s
Gold or now marigold. The flow
ers lend color to salads. Plant
around root crops to discourage
nematodes.
• “Blue Solaise” Leeks should
be part of everyone’s garden in
this area especially. Cold tolerant
and no pests to speak of bother
these gems. They are interplanting
companionable they keep bugs
away from carrots and potatoes.
They take up very little garden
space.
• “Clemson Spineless” Okra
was brought from Africa with the
slave trade and is related to the
Malva family which includes hol
lyhocks and hibiscus. Okra lends
height and the flowers are a beau
tiful addition to any garden. “Red
Velvet” Okra is also a worthy ad
dition. Okra needs full sun and hot
dry weather to produce, but is well
worth the effort.
• “All Blue” Potatoes are dis
ease resistant and maintain their
color when cooked. There are
many colors and textures of pota
toes that are overlooked. Whole
seed potatoes are best for planting.
Just think of a red, white and blue
potato salad.
• “Rouge Vif d’ E’tampes” or
“Cinderella” Pumpkin the
pumpkin that was described in the
famous fair tale. A decorative
pumpkin, used since the early
1800 s and introduced to the
American market in 1883 by
Burpee.
• Tomatoes —Variety, harvest
ing times, color and variety. These
are just some of the best dungs
about tomatoes. Listed below are
just a few of many varieties:
• “Brandywine.” The most fam
ous of American heirlooms dating
from 1889. A potato leaf variety
with large beefsteak-like fruit
• “Yellow Pear.” Dated some
where during die 1600 s. Hants
bear many sweet one ounce pear
shaped fruit Great for salads.
• “Stupice.” A Czech heirloom.
Very early, excellent tasting toma
to. Bears fruit throughout season.
Fruit can set easily in colder
weather.
• “Aunt Molly’s Ground Cher
ry.” Dated around early 1600 s. A
small husk tomato with a very
bushy habit Can use in pies, tart*
or cookies. Keeps well in the re
frigerator as long as die husk is not
removed.
• “Moon & Stars” Watermelon.
Early 1900 s. Name comes from
the appearance of yellow splotch
es on the fruit and leaves.
• “Delicata” Squash. First intro
duced in 1894. It has an excellent
flavor and color. The Delicata
Squash has compact vines and
produces many fruits. Great for
small gardens.
• “Cocozelle” Squash. The clas
sic zucchini. Introduced in the late
1800 s. The flowers are edible.
• “Deer Tongue” Lettuce. Dated
from the 17405. A loose-leaf
variety with leaves shaped like a
deer’s tongue. Tolerant of cold
and heat.
The varieties above are just a
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few of the many wonderful plants
and seeds that are available to the
gardener at some greenhouses and
garden centers. Heirlooms are a
tremendous addition to any garden
and definitely worth trying.
Simple heirloom recipes using
heirloom produce are:
Walnut & Ground
Cherry Cookies
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
1 egg.
'A teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup ground cherry preserves
Heat oven to 300. Beat pow
dered sugar and margarine until
fluffy. Add vanilla and egg. Blend
well. Add remaining ingredients,
reserving 'A cup walnuts. Drop
teaspoonfuls of dough onto un
greased cookie sheets, with flour
ed spoon make imprints in center
of cookie and fill with ground
cherry preserves. Bake for ap
proximately five minutes and
sprinkle with remaining walnuts.
Continue baking until light golden
brown. Remove from sheets to
cod.
Heirloom Tomato Salad
7 varieties of tomatoes (use dif
ferent sizes and colors)
6-8 springs fresh basil
10 large nasturtium leaves and
nasturtium flowers and calendula
flowers
Italian salad dressing
On a large plate place clean
Nasturium leaves. Slice tomatoes
and arrange on plate. Drizzle Ital
ian salad dressing over tomatoes
and garnish with fresh basil. Nas
turtium, and Calendula flowers.
Chill before serving.
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295 Woodcorner Rd. • Lititz, PA 17543
717/738-7365
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Hinge for 3/4" pin
welded to gate
Slant Bar Feed Thru
Fence Section
Roasted Tomatoes
Medium to large 10 tomatoes of
different colors
Fresh herbs of basil, oregano,
parsley
4-S cloves garlic depending on
taste
Olive oil
Remove skins from tomatoes.
Wash herbs. Peel garlic and loose
ly chop. Place tomatoes in a bak
ing dish and spread garlic and
herbs evenly over tomatoes. Pour
(dive oil over tomatoes until half
covered. Bake at 300 degrees for
35-40 minutes. Serve warm. Great
as an appetizer dip.
Stuffed Squash Blossoms
10-12 large fresh squash
blossoms
'/ cup shredded provolone
cheese
'A cup shredded mozzarella
cheese
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 tablespoon Parmesan Cheese
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
Wash squash blossoms well and
place on paper towel to drain. In a
medium size bowl, mix all cheeses
together. Stuff Squash blossoms,
slightly twisting open end of blos
som. Dip blossom in egg and roll
in bread cnibs. Place in a lightly
died frying pan. and cook until
cheeses are melting and the bread
ing mix is-golden brown.
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• 4 bar: 38” high
• 5 bar: 48” high
• 6 bar: 54” high
Round comers for
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Stub welded to gate
for automatic latch
Vertical bracing
Custom Built
to Any Length
Hours
Mon -Fn 7-5
Sat 7-11