Heirloom Plant Show
The Garfield Farm Museum is celebrating heirloom plants on August 28th! Come learn about heirloom varieties, seed saving, and more!
EVENTS: Come visit us! We’ll be at the Logan Square Farmer’s Market on June 19th & July 17th, feeling pulses and giving out food recommendations. Stop by, get some nutrition handouts, and pick up some delicious farm-to-kitchen produce!
Moving Into Summer
STAYING COOL: Cucumber Water
It is, of course, important to drink lots of water during the hot summer months. Though ice water might feel more refreshing, it can actually make you warmer. Digesting food, even water, takes energy and your body has to work extra hard to warm the cold water in your stomach. To get a cooling sensation without the ice, add a few slices of cucumber to your water. Cucumber cools the body, refreshes the skin, and if you let it steep in the water on the counter for a bit will infuse the water with mild, sweet flavor.
THE RIGHT BITES: In Season Now
June: peas, rhubarb, strawberries, greens (lettuce, arugula, spinach, beet greens, mustard greens), broccoli rabe, green onions, cilantro, basil
July: cherries, raspberries, peaches, beans, celery, cucumbers, zucchini, summer squash, tomatoes, peppers
August: blueberries, plums, grapes, melons, blackberries, cucumbers, eggplant
THE WRONG BITES: Coping With Mosquitoes
Mosquitoes are an inevitable summertime presence, and while they’re hard to fend off there’s an easy herbal way to stop their bites from itching. Purslane is a plant used in Chinese herbal medicine (called ma chi xian) that grows everywhere in Chicago; you may recognize it as the small, spreading weed that grows up through the cracks in the sidewalk (see the above photo). You can find it in just about any sunny spot where there isn’t much grass, from June until October—just in time for mosquito season.
If you’ve been bitten, pick some purslane, rinse it and rub it between your fingers or chew it briefly. You’ll notice it’s a little mucilaginous— or gummy— like aloe, and like aloe it is soothing to the skin. It calms bug bites, cools and soothes the pain of a wasp sting, and reduces swelling. Apply the mashed herb to the bite and feel the itch fade away!
Cilantro - Nature’s Chelator
Cilantro are the leaves of Coriander (Coriandrum sativum) and is also known as Chinese Parsley. Cilantro is a fast growing annual reaching 12-24 inches tall. The entire plant, leaves, seeds and roots, are edible. It can easily grow in pots. Simply pick or trim fresh leaves of whole stalks as required. The leaves do get a stronger flavor as they get older and larger. For harvesting seed for your next crop; do so after the leaves and flowers turn brown. It is a member of the carrot family and has a distinct taste people either hate or love.
Why the interest in cilantro? Cilantro has been proven to be a natural chelator of heavy metals, such as mercury, lead and aluminum, from the nervous system and body tissues. Chelation is the process of removing certain heavy metals from the blood stream. Cilantro is the one of the natural substances that demonstrates this ability. To help with the chelation of metals from the body it is recommended to add cilantro to your diet everyday for two weeks. It is also recommended to add chlorella during this time period to help flush the mercury from your system.
Cilantro is also attributed to helping digestion by being an appetite stimulant. The essential oils of the cilantro leaves contain antibacterial properties and can be used as a fungicide.
Season: available year-round, though available fresh locally in June
How to select: Easily confused with flat-leaf parsley in appearance. Look for a bunch with unwilted leaves in medium green. Found fresh year round in most markets.
How to store: Store in refrigerator with cut ends in a jar of water and leaves loosely covered with a plastic bag for several days. Change water every 2 days. Or store in a plastic bag for a week.
How to prepare: Wash and pat dry before using, as the leaves attract sand.
Recipes:
Cilantro Chutney (from our friend Tom):
1 bunch of cilantro
5ish tomatillos (you want a 4:3 ratio, cilantro to tomatillos)
hot green chili peppers to taste
salt…chutney’s supposed to be salty, maybe a tbsp?
3-6 cloves garlic
juice of 2 juicy limes
you can also substitute roma tomatoes for tomatillos. you want to use tart tomatoes, not sweet ones
when you put it in the blender (don’t use a food processor), i’ve found that it’s super helpful to put the tomatillos/tomatoes in first, then the rest on top of them.
Cilantro Pesto:
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup almonds, cashews or other nuts
1 cup packed fresh cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons lemon juice
6 tablespoons olive or flaxseed oil
salt to taste
Put the cilantro and oil in blender and process until the cilantro is chopped. Add the rest of the ingredients and process to a lumpy paste. You may need to add a touch of hot water and scrape the sides of the blender. If you want to change the consistency of the pesto, alter the amount of olive oil and lemon juice but keep a 3:1 ratio of oil to juice. It also freezes well.
Happy Cooking!
Fun This Week in Chicago
The Shedd Aquarium is offering FREE admission June 12-17
Community Discount Week:
On our Community Discount Days, admission to the aquarium’s original galleries is free. This includes the Waters of the World, Amazon Rising, and the Caribbean Reef. Packages including Wild Reef, Polar Play Zone and Abbott Oceanarium are available at a discounted rate.
Hours of operation are: 9am - 5pm Monday thru Friday
9am - 6pm Saturday and Sunday
