Jackie Gives Grow Kit Presentation at Buncombe Partnership for Children

Jackie's presentation at Buncombe Partnership for Children

Teachers and teacher assistants with their Microgreens Grow Kits.

On February 8, 2018 Jackie gave a presentation to a group of educators at the Buncombe Partnership for Children in Woodfin, NC.

Each of the participants received a Microgreens Grow Kit funded by The Partnership and Jackie gave a one-hour session on growing procedures and hints. The teachers and teacher’s assistants will then take the kits to their classrooms and the kids will get hands-on experience growing vegetables.

Natasha Bowden, Shape NC Specialist at The Buncombe Partnership for Children, purchased 10 Microgreens Grow Kits for the Partnership and received 4 free kits under our commitment to earmark a portion of our profits to place grow kits in classrooms.  Shape NC is an early childhood initiative that works with child care programs to instill healthy behaviors early on, creating a solid foundation for a healthy life.

The class included a tasting of the products they would be growing by sampling a pineapple, banana, apple juice and microgreens smoothie–

Shape NC specialist purchased microgreens grow kits

Natasha Bowden (left), Shape Specialist and Jackie.

something any child would enjoy. Microgreens and cream cheese on crackers was also sampled as well as microgreens freshly harvested during the course of the class.

Educators can pair the growing of microgreens with any number of curricula while getting their students to appreciate the taste of freshly grown produce and the teachers eagerly participated in a detailed demonstration of the whole growing process.

My All Natural Garden Produce Is Available at Winter, Spring Markets

We’re now able to share with you some of the produce from our own garden during the winter and spring farmers markets.  This gorgeous salad blend has been very popular so I’m making an effort to provide these varieties whenever possible. No pesticides, no fertilizers– just compost and spring water.

salad mix

Click to enlarge and savor the colors and textures of Jackie’s …Naturally Salad Blend.

Salad Blend – – $6.00 per bag.

The blend contains the following:

  • Bloomsdale & Yukon Spinach
  • Red Russian & Lacinato Kale
  • Black Seeded Simpson, Buttercrunch & Red Romaine Lettuce
  • Swiss Chard
  • Beet Greens
  • Claytonia (Miner’s Lettuce)

Red Russian Kale – – $5.00 per bunch

Southern Giant Curled Mustard – – $4.00 per bunch

Microgreens – – $5.00 per small container & $8.00 per large container

Winter CSA Begins Weekly Pickups

Our first 2016 Winter CSA scheduled pickup was on November 15 at the Burnsville Health and Nutrition Store.  All our subscribers loved their boxes.  The various farmers were on hand to meet and greet CSA members and offer some delicious appetizers that featured recipes using items from the CSA boxes.

The boxes contained free range, non-soy and non-GMO eggs, microgreens, a mix of purple top and white salad turnips with greens, collards, salad mix, butternut squash and the Thai Red Chili peppers and sage needed to make Sandie’s delicious Butternut Squash Tart.  Members who signed up for some of the add-on selections received a gourmet mushroom sampler that contained Lion’s Mane, Phoenix Oyster and King’s Trumpet mushrooms.  Other add-on options included frozen hens and rabbits from Serendipity Farm and selections of pork from Hall’s Hill Farm.

With multiple pickup locations available, several CSA members opted to pick up their boxes at Hall Young’s store in Minneapolis, NC.

Celebrated Local Potter Reveals Other Talents

Bakersville, NC potter Robbie Bell, owner of Speckled Dog Pottery, has other talents as well.  Robbie is an incredible chef and we were delighted to supply microgreens for one of his recent dinners.  The Panzanella Salad pictured below was just one of many delectable dishes that delighted the evening’s guests.  Panzanella is a popular Tuscan summer salad incorporating fresh summer tomatoes and chunks of soaked bread.  Here, the salad has mushrooms and our microgreens top the salad as a delightful and nutritious garnish.  Encore, Robbie!

robbiebellssalad

Robbie Bell’s Mushroom and Tomato Panzanella with Microgreens and Shaved Parmesan

 

 

2016 Southeast Farm To School Conference

We were an exhibitor at the Growing Minds Southeast Farm to School Conference in Greenville, SC on September 24.  As the Growing Minds Website says, “Farm to school programming connects classrooms, the cafeteria, and the community—helping children develop healthy relationships with food and enriching the overall educational experience for children and adults alike. The movement is growing, nationally and here in the southeast.”

We had the pleasure of meeting many people involved in this wonderful project– from teachers and school administrators to program organizers and gardeners and to the chefs and cafeteria staff who finally serve the food to the kids.

We came away impressed with the dedication all these folks bring to their communities.  We traded ideas and met some folks who gave us some welcome advice about how we can build our own program of placing Microgreens Grow Kits in more classrooms.  It was a fun and enlightening weekend.

Here are a few photos.  Hover over an image to view its title.

 

Microgreens Grow Kits Selling at Farmers Markets

Thomas the cat napping

Sleepy Thomas on a hot afternoon.

We’re now entering the dog days of summer…

Hot mid-day temperatures make many of us long for a cool, shady little spot out of the heat. The kale, spinach and lettuce– all the cool weather veggies– are all picked and enjoyed from the garden.  It’s been a good year, experimenting with raised beds and hugelkultur mounds as a way to garden on our rocky mountainside.

And our Microgreens Grow Kits are selling well at the first two farmers markets since launching the new product!

The kits contain grow trays, seed, organic potting soil mix and a food safe spray bottle– enough to grow two cycles of the six vegetable varieties that make up our popular “Balanced Blend.”  We’re proud to say that half of the profits from the sale of the kits will go toward placing free Grow Kits in an elementary of middle school.  We feel strongly about helping teachers demonstrate to their students where their food comes from and to develop healthy eating habits before the fast food world consumes them.  The sales from the first two farmers market appearances will support the first free kits to a classroom.  Stay tuned, as we will document which schools and classrooms are the recipients.

Kits can be purchased at our current farmers markets or online.  Here’s our up-to-date list of current farmers markets.

Here’s our store page that gives more information about the kits.

 

To Market, to Market . . .

salad mixWe’re heading to the Spruce Pine, NC farmer’s market today with our usual nutritious microgreens and some salad mix and other baby greens as well!  Eat local whenever you can and, by all means, eat organic!  This lovely salad blend was just harvested yesterday but I have picked salad for my own eating pleasure and had leftovers in the fridge that were still fresh and crisp two weeks later!  What does that tell us about the junk that sits around on the grocery shelves after being shipped thousands of miles from where it was picked???

 

Microgreens Ravioli by The Salted Ravioli Company

Mike and Lisa from The Salted Ravioli Company have used our microgreens in their first River Arts District Farmers Market “Ravioli of the Week.”

Ingredients include our Balanced Blend microgreens, honey from the Asheville Honey Company, ricotta cheese and toasted walnuts. Their new creation goes on sale at the River Arts District Farmers Market on Wednesday, June 8.  They plan to offer a different ravioli creation each week, using fresh ingredients from a RAD vendor.

Ravioli with microgreens, rocotta, honey, walnuts.

Photo courtesy of The Salted Ravioli Company

We had already tried their butternut squash ravioli, with spinach and walnut, at home and it was a delightful taste–  something completely new to us and a good experience.  My spring garden greens were coming in and I felt adventurous, so to honor this unusual ravioli I decided to opt out of the traditional italian marinara sauce.  I experimented with a kale sauce and as you can imagine it was quite a visual and taste departure from the norm.  Paired with a colorful salad from our garden– harvested only a half hour before– and a workmanlike merlot, the ravioli was delicious.

Salted Ravioli Company microgreens pasta mix

Photo courtesy of The Salted Ravioli Company

We dined at the patio table, surrounded by the solitude of forest greenery and wild songbirds.  It was the end of the work day and life was good.

Mike and Lisa have created an exceptional niche with this handcrafted product for discriminating diners, and we’re going to be hearing more about them!

 

Contact The Salted Ravioli Company:
E-mail: [email protected]
Facebook.com/TheSaltedRavioli
Lisa:  954-658-8343
Mike:  954-303-2963

 

A Great Testimonial for Eating Healthy

We met some really nice folks last week at the farmer’s market where we were selling our microgreens.  Kevin and Julie stopped by to buy microgreens and ended up telling us their story…

Kevin and Julie talked about how both suffered with various health issues, from high blood pressure to high cholesterol to the typical weight gain that most adults experience as they mature.  Not wanting to accept the typical, “in-the-door-here’s-your-prescription-out-the-door” medical solution, Kevin and Julie opted for a more holistic approach.

What did they do?  They simply changed their diets.  They “re-trained” their taste buds to delight in fresh, naturally grown local products.  They cut down on fats and all of those “if you eat just one, you’ll be addicted” snacks that jump out at you from the supermarket aisles.  And Julie, a dyed-in-the-wool “cheese-aholic” even gave that up to get healthy (if you don’t know how seriously dangerous cheese and other dairy products can be, watch the documentary Forks Over Knives).

Now, months later, Kevin and Julie have shed pounds, lowered their cholesterol and their blood pressure.  Their holistic doctor is just about ready to have them ditch the prescription medicines.  And while all that is great, the one thing we noticed about Kevin and Julie that they may or may not even realize, is that their very demeanor is indicative of their current wellness.  Their skin is clear and glowing, their eyes are bright and their joie de vivre shines through their speech and actions.  In short, Kevin and Julie are happy– and it shows!  They’re happy because they are healthy and they feel great.

We love it when we meet people who have changed their diets and lifestyles.  The change they feel and see in themselves is always remarkable and it keeps us excited about sharing what we have discovered about eating microgreens and other fresh, organic fruits and vegetables.  Sure, Jackie’s …Naturally is a business and it’s an important source of income for us.  But it’s so much more than that.  It’s getting the word out to folks about how important our diets and lifestyles are.  And it’s getting to know and be inspired by people like Kevin and Julie who made the right choice and are now enjoying the rewards of that choice.

So, go out there and graze!  Eat fresh green vegetables and enjoy all that life can offer from having a healthy body!  And stay tuned, because we’re getting ready to launch something new.  Because we’re committed to putting healthy food out there, we’re going to offer Grow Your Own microgreens kits.  Stay tuned!

Rosemary Can Boost Memory 15%

The UK Telegraph has an article citing scientific studies at Northumbria University in the UK that rosemary can enhance memory significantly.  Even being in the same room with the live plants was found to improve the memory of a group of retirees in the study.

“English folklore advises slipping rosemary into the pocket of an errant lover to help them remember their vows, while Ophelia confirmed the herb is ‘for remembrance’ in Shakespeare’s Hamlet.  Now scientists have shown that the plant really is linked to better memory.”

Read the full Telegraph article here.  Included is a guide to growing herbs.  There are also some good recipes, along with findings by the same research team that peppermint tea can boost memory.