We hope everyone will join us for another tempting Pathfinder
Produce fresh fruit and vegetable market at the Village Commons this Thursday,
May 28, from 1 to 5 p.m.
Just a reminder … tomorrow is the end of early registration for
Splash Path. After that each registration fee goes up by $5, and later
registrants are not guaranteed a 2015 tee nor other goodies. The event,
set for Saturday, June 13, has registration at 9 am, with the color burst at 10
am. This year we’re adding a family fun post-run party with exhibits, a
DJ and a great raffle auction.
****
Well,
I haven't gotten to transplanting any strawberries, and I have to fess up that
my garden took a hit with the two untimely frosts we've had over the last two
weeks. I'll wait a little bit before I replant some of my veggies. Even my cold
weather crops were affected, so the next time I hear of frost warnings, I will
pay closer heed and cover up the raised beds.
However,
I did transplant some other plants that I was given at a family Memorial Day
get-together. The first was a small white lilac that my sister
had brought to share. The lilac has a bit of history … it started its journey
at my father's family's century-old farm in Sullivan County. My grandmother had
quite an extensive growth of both white and purple lilacs on the hill leading
up to the old post-and-beam farmhouse.
During
the 1980s, several of my sisters took shoots to propagate, just before the farm
was sold. My one sister had luck in having her lilac grow although it took
about two decades for it to bloom (it may have been in the shade). Now it's my
turn to see if the family lilac will grow at my homestead.
The
second transplant project was a tiny black walnut tree, a spindly stowaway that
was hidden in another potted plant. I did a little reading on where one should
plant these, and it now has a new home out back where the soil is rich and
seems to be well drained. If you ever plant nut trees, place them where
they are away from your house, cars and other important landscape features.
Dropping nuts will dent metal roofs and cars.
If
the little tree makes it (i.e., doesn't get eaten by critters, or mowed by the
teenage son) it will be many, many years before it bears a crop. But there's
just something very satisfactory in planting a young sprig and watching it
grow. There's also something majestic about black walnut trees … perhaps it is
just that they are distinct and more rare than our typical maples, ash and
poplar trees.
Black
walnuts are not something we typically offer at Pathfinder Produce, but they
are not difficult to find in regular stores, and even can be ordered online.
Walnuts have been hailed over the last several years, along with other tree
nuts, as being excellent additions to the diet. Walnuts are high in fiber, low
in saturated fats, high in good fats (mono- and polyunsaturated) that help
fight bad cholesterol, and offer plenty of phytonutrients that act as
antioxidants, anti-inflammatory substances and promote liver health.-Both the Worlds
Healthiest Foods and the Missouri State
Center for Agroforestry offer some extensive write-ups on how walnuts are
healthy, and how you can tastefully introduce them into your diet.
Until
next time, enjoy your garden and some healthy walnuts, and be well.
Lori
