Handmade for the Holidays Gift Show

Local 98856 is looking a lot like Christmas!  Our shop is filling with incredible, local gift ideas!  From Paperwhites, amarylilis and mesmerizing succulents to handmade chocolates, jewelry, and more. This year we've added the Greenhouse Gallery where you can find one of a kind treasures for those special home and garden spaces. Our premiere holiday show opens weekend, December 17 and 18 from 10-5pm and will run daily through December 24. Feel free to stop by Local from 9-2pm this week for a sneak preview!  And don't forget, support your local economy by spending your dollars locally!

Fresh Tomatoes at Thanksgiving

At Local 98856, we take a great amount of pride from providing our Thanksgiving Day meal totally from our agricultural bounty of the area. By that time, the gardens are long since done, the canning and processing of fresh vegetables is finished and the root crops are safely tucked into their spots in the root cellar. So having something on the November table like a fresh ripe tomato is quite a feat! If you're harvesting the last of the summer tomatoes right now, here's a little trick that our pioneer forefathers practiced that can give you the same results!

Mature size tomatoes picked green on the vine contain a surprising level of nutritional value when compared to their ripe counterpart. They will continue to ripen once picked, and can then be eaten or processed. But their ripening can be postponed for later eating by this simple technique.
- Clip the green tomatoes from the vine leaving the stem intact up to the first knuckle (you'll see it - usually an inch or so from the tomato)
- Check for any punctures, cracks or blemishes. You'll want to use only perfect fruit.
- Wrap each tomato separately  in newspaper or packing paper. Place them in a box in a single layer.
- Cover the box and place in a dark location that is about 60-65 degrees. No cooler. Remember that     tomatoes will not ripen if the temperature is less than 50 degrees. And we do want them to ripen - just slowly!
- Check periodically for any fruit that is not storing well or that is ripening.
- Bring out any fruit that appears to be close to ripe. Set out on the table for a day or two to complete process if necessary.

Enjoy the bounty of your harvest and savor the flavor until next year!

Ratatouille - one delicious way to put up the garden harvest

Harvest season is in full swing in the garden at Local 98856 with a new challenge - to  stay ahead of all the boxes of fresh produce in the kitchen. An easy answer? Ratatouille!  This versatile and delicious peasant food can quickly use up stashes of tomatoes, eggplant, onions, garlic, green pepper, zucchini and fresh herbs and transform them into a tasty and colorful addition that freezes well for winter pasta and rice dishes.  Here's a loose recipe to try. We usually combine ingredients in parts that  use up the harvest. So if we have lots of eggplant in our kitchen, then there's lots of eggplant in our ratatouille! The following will give you a starting point. Feel free to modify to fit your taste!

8 C chopped garden ripe tomatoes
2 large eggplant cut into 1 inch pieces
2 large zucchini cut into 1 inch pieces
2 large onions, diced large
1 head garlic, cloves smashed & peeled
2 bell peppers (any color), seeded & diced large
2 T fresh chopped herbs - basil, thyme, oregano, marjoram all work great!
6 T olive oil
3 T red-wine vinegar
salt & pepper to taste

Start by heating oil in skillet, add garlic & onions and cook until translucent, add eggplant, zucchini, pepper and cook over medium heat until soft.  Add tomatoes & fresh herbs and continue cooking over low heat until ingredients are soft and some of the moisture has cooked off, about 20 minutes.  Season with salt , pepper & vinegar.

When mixture has completely cooled, ratatouille can be frozen for later use.  These flavors served over your favorite pasta or rice in the depths of winter will remind you why you planted your summer garden and encourage you to do it again!

Planting Fall Garlic Class

Late Summer in the Garden

This is the time we dreamed about in January, back when the days were dark and cold and the seed catalogs piled up next to our chair by the wood stove. Back when we thought about all the fresh fruits and vegetables we'd grow, and the brown hands we'd tend it all with.

The reality of this time of year is always a blur - so many things to do along the garden path between here and there. One really needs to make the best use of every move if this time of year is to be any fun at all. The morning may start out with beans to pick, but first the eggs need to be gathered, the water moved, the last of the summer raspberries rescued before the sun gets too high in the sky and bakes the juice from their red bodies. Then there is garlic to clean and store, water to move again and a quick check of the peaches to determine their place in line. And finally, the beans.

And late summer in our garden always demands a chair, hidden somewhere in the shade of a mulberry tree or in the tall grass under the hazelnut bushes, where we sit out the hottest hour of the day and do nothing but listen to the language of the garden - the sound of hummingbirds as they zoom past on their way to colorful flowers, the silence of cabbage moths fluttering by on their brief road to reproduction, the clinking of ice cubes in a glass. Fall will come soon enough with kids returning to school in big yellow buses, bright red chrysanthemums filling garden pots and the fall garden on its final push to the finish line.

You can always look to Local 98856 to help you during the fall season with supplies you may need to extend the harvest and put the garden to bed. We have seed garlic arriving soon and have planned a fall garlic planting class packed with tips to help you successfully add this favorite crop to your garden beds. Check out the details on our events page. And as always, we are a great source for plant starts that will bring to your garden world both beauty and bounty, indoor and out.

See you soon!

Local 98856 and Ground Support can help make your garden season happen!

Just like you, we're looking forward to a season of fresh foods straight from our backyard garden and baskets of fresh herbs and flowers to brighten our lives. With a bit of planning and some enjoyable time tending the crops, this season holds  immense potential for bringing us many of the mouth watering foods we all enjoy - greens, sweet corn, juicy berries, red ripe tomatoes, and spicy chilies, to name a few.  Growing food and flowers can be a rewarding experience, filling our pantries with ingredients high in nutritional value and flavor and adding a dimension to our lives that deepens our respect for the land, our communities and our future. 

This season we have added our new garden and gallery shop 'Ground Support' to bring you a fun and useful array of gardening products, as well as pots and local artisan goods for the home and patio. And, as always,  Local 98856 can help you along your garden path by providing the quality seeds, plants and flowers you've come to expect from us.  Our knowledgeable staff is always happy to answer any gardening questions and share how-to tips as well.

We wish you a bountiful gardening season and look forward to serving you again this season!

Spring is the Perfect Time to Grow Greens

Early spring is the perfect time to begin filling your plate with fresh seasonal foods - especially greens.  And if you want to grow some of your own in a backyard garden, now is the time to make your move!  Here in our garden at Local 98856 in Twisp, we're taking advantage of the cool spring to seed and grow those early greens that prefer these conditions - especially the spinach and arugula's.   It's been a long winter and those tender shoots are a welcomed sight as we pause from time to time and marvel at the cycle and beauty of the growing season. 

To help you get started in your own garden pursuits, we have stocked our seed rack with a wide variety of nutrient packed greens, as well as an abundance of other vegetable seeds.  And we've scheduled a class "Growing Early Spring Greens", full of demonstrations, tips and tricks to help you master the art of growing a wide variety of greens. Find all the details for the April 16th class on our events page.

So pull out the plates, blend up a batch of your favorite salad dressing, and lets get going. Time's a wasting!

And happy spring from all of us at Local 98856!