GrayLike us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterFind us on Pinterest
March 2014            Find us on Facebook, Twitter & Pinterest  
Your Community Natural Grocer Since 1995. 
spring-word-flowers.jpg
"Springtime is the land awakening.  
The March winds are the morning yawn." 
- Lewis Grizzard 
 
The first day of Spring is March 20, and marks a moment in time when the days and nights are equal everywhere, and the sun rises and sets due East and West. The Vernal Equinox can be celebrated in many ways, according to Mental_Floss Magazine, like by balancing an egg on a flat surface, telling a story, or finally understanding why the Easter bunny lays eggs. 
 
Dig into Spring with our Spring Garden Give-Away, featuring Seed Savers and Botanical Interests Seeds, and Organic Mechanics Organic Soil. Enter to win one of four prizes every time you come to Harvest Market before March 20. No purchase necessary to win. One entry per day, per person. 
 
The Grand Garden Prize includes: 
          • One bag of Organic Mechanics Soil (Potting or Seed Starter Blend)
          • 10 packs of seeds of the winner's choice
          • One gardening magazine of winner's choice
Three Rototiller Runner Up's will receive three seed packs of their choice. Growing your own food helps connect you with the Earth, your food, a variety of new and tasty produce choices, while also lowering your grocery bill at the same time!
 
Spring starts a full season of busy bee activity, and our Harvest Market Calendar of the Events is already filling up! We'll be hosting a free film screening of the "American Meat" Documentary at Hockessin Memorial Hall this Spring, date TBD, and
Emma's Spring Herb Walk
takes place
on
Saturday, May 3 at 10am. 
Stay tuned for more details for both events, and in the meantime, check out our March events below, on our website and our Facebook page.
 
*Are you articulate and enthusiastic about natural foods? We are currently hiring! Please stop by Customer Service for an application.*
Local Farm Profile
Mother Earth Organic Mushrooms   
Landenberg, PA

Mother Earth Organic Mushrooms is the premier year-round grower of Certified Organic Mushrooms, not only for those of us locals, but for millions of Americans nationwide. We have the good fortune of being neighbors to the mushroom growing capital of the world, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, and the numerous outlying cement block buildings, chicken houses, and hay fields that make up the backbone of the edible fungus industry in the United States.

Harvest Market offers a selection of Mother Earth Organic Mushrooms in our well-stocked Organic Produce case, including: White Button, Baby Bella (Criminis), Portabella Caps and Shiitake. The company, located in Landenberg, Pennsylvania, has been family-owned and operated for 90 years, and in 2011, was featured alongside the Kennett Square Farmers Market in the SeriousEats.com's journey: "A Tour of Mushroom Country".

Mushroom farming, past and present, has a direct impact on our local economy and landscape. Every September, you can visit the Mushroom Festival in Kennett Square to experience the internal operations of a mushroom farm or learn how to prepare mushrooms at a cooking demonstration along the State Street Fair. Any way you cut them, mushrooms have long-since been known for their varied tastes and textures, in addition to their immunity-building and medicinal properties. 

 
Crimini mushrooms from SeriousEats.coms's 
"A Tour of Mushroom Country." 
Consider adding a handful of Mother Earth mushrooms to your next meal, using any number of The Mushroom Council's mouth-water recipes, or try the
Farm Fresh Frittata Recipe from the Little Bites of Everything food blog, below. Get your package of locally-grown, always seasonal, Mother Earth Organic Mushrooms today at Harvest Market. Thanks for helping us support local farmers!

Farm Fresh Recipe: 
Asaparagus, Leek and Mushroom Frittata with Bacon 
Photos and Recipe Adapted from the Little Bites of Everything Blog.  
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

  • 8 pastured eggs
  • Splash of Organic milk
  • 2 Tbsp coconut oil or butter 
  • 1 cup asparagus, chopped into bite size pieces
  • 1 cup Mother Earth Organic Mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 cup leeks, white part chopped
  • 1 cup bacon, cooked and chopped (try one of our new Vermont Smoke and Cure Bacons)  
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp pepper
  • ¾ cup Fontina cheese, diced
  • Asiago cheese, shredded, to taste (about ½ cup)  

Instructions:

 

Notes from the author, Kristy: 

 

"A few notes about some of the frittata ingredients: For the bacon, I am totally obsessed with baking it instead of frying it lately so I baked it for this recipe and then chopped it up. Baking it is so much less messy and the slices bake perfectly flat (no shrinking and bending). I put it in a 400 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes. For the leeks, you just want to use the white part, so cut off the root and the green leaves. Cut it in half lengthwise, remove the outer layer, and then cut each half into strips (crosswise). Once the leek is all chopped up, just place them in a bowl of cold water for a few minutes and break up all the layers so the sand and dirt is removed. Dry them off and you are ready to go!

 

I've seen other recipes that use Fontina cheese diced up and thought that it seemed weird, like it wouldn't melt all the way.  I tried it anyway.  I'm glad I did!  It's such a soft cheese which is why it melts so well and the chunks create little pockets of gooey melted cheese so I highly recommend using diced Fontina!" 

 

Cover skillet with oil or butter. Heat the oil over medium heat and sauté the leeks, mushrooms, and asparagus for a few minutes until they start to soften. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs and milk together with salt and pepper in a medium bowl and set aside. Once the veggies are soft, pour the egg mixture into the skillet and be sure to throughly mix the egg with the veggies.

Add in the diced Fontina and make sure that it is spread out evenly. Let the eggs cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes or until set (don't stir!). While the eggs are cooking, preheat the broiler.

When the eggs have set around the edges, sprinkle some Asiago cheese over top to taste and place the pan under the broiler for about 5 minutes (keep your eye on it). Once it is nice and brown on top, remove and let sit for a few minutes and then enjoy!  
New Products for Spring 
Check out the Cheese case for two new cheeses:
Beemster's Aged Gouda and Vlaskass

Beemster cheeses come from a farmers' co-op in The Netherlands that has been making delicious cheeses for over a century. Beemster cheeses originate in the quiet, canal lined pastures of North Holland where cows have grazed freely for 400 years. The milk from this region is renowned for its rich texture and sweet taste. In 1612, Dutch engineers, using a system of dykes and windmills, drained the marshes and bogs of the Beemster polder and converted the land into pastures. The polder is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. Nourished by sea water, the clay soil left behind is nutrient and mineral rich,with a distinctive slate blue color. This terroir yields grasses that are more fertile and thicker and longer than others, giving the milk produced here an especially sweet and creamy quality.

 

Using only natural ingredients, Beemster's Master Cheesemakers follow traditional, secret recipes handed down through generations. During an apprenticeship under the Master Cheesemaker himself, Beemster's Master craftsmen learn the historic, artisanal techniques used to make each wheel of Beemster the finest of its class. The result is exceptionally smooth and creamy cheeses that have won gold medals in competitions all over the world.

 

Beemster Aged is regarded in the Netherlands as the signature Dutch cheese. Its complex taste is developed through natural aging for over 18 months in historic cheese warehouses, making it a true tradition in cheese making.  Beemster Aged Gouda has a profound flavor, mixing a firm and bold flavor with the smooth, rich feel that is Beemster's hallmark. Pairs well with red wines, port wines and dark, stout breads. Ingredients include: pasteurized cow's milk, salt, cheese culture, rennet, annatto. This aged gouda is lactose and gluten free.

 

Historically, Vlaskaas was made only once a year to celebrate the Flax Harvest. Its creamy sweetness is loved by children and cheese connoisseurs. In 2004, the Vlaskaas recipe was discovered and recreated by Beemster. Since then, Vlaskaas has won gold medals around the world and is now made year-round.  It pairs nicely with beers and white wines. Ingredients include: pasteurized cow's milk, salt, cheese culture, rennet, annatto. This cheese is also lactose and gluten free.

 

Check out this yummy, simple recipe for an  Aged Gouda Tuna Melt from their Beemster's website. Use gluten-free bread to make it allergen-friendly.  
Events and Activism
 
JEM Nut Butter Tasting



Monday,  
March 10 
11am - 2pm

Back by popular demand, JEM Nut Butter Tastings are totally nuts! JEM Raw Organics are independent artisans bringing together exotic flavors from around the world.  They create healthy, indulgent nut butters that are good for people and the planet. Blended with pure raw, organic activated ingredients, and free from gluten, dairy, soy and processed sugar, JEM's products are sprouted, stone ground and hand assembled in Bend, Oregon. Choose from Coconut Cardamom Almond Butter, Cinnamon Red Maca Almond Butter, and Hazlenut Raw Cacao Spread.
St. Patrick's Day Green Smoothie Demo

Monday,
March 17
11am - 2pm

Our Green Smoothie Girl, Kim Lemberg, has found the pot of green gold at the end of the rainbow! Join us on St. Patrick's Day as she shares her wealth (health, that is) with all those lucky folks out there who love to blend nutrient-dense whole foods into a delicious drink or meal replacement. Kim will have recipes and ingredients on hand to show customers how her magic is made. To get inspired, check out this recipe list of 9 Green Drinks for St. Patrick's Day from In Sonnet's Kitchen, pictured above.

irish-music-header.jpg
D.I.Y. Spring Cleaning Demo
Saturday,  
March 22 
12 - 3pm
 
Open your windows and let the Spring winds air out your indoor spaces. Welcome a new, brighter season with a clean home. Stop by Harvest Market and learn some simple tips on how to clean your home with basic, all natural ingredients that many people have in their homes already. Baking soda, vinegar, lemons, and essential oils comprise the bulk of many non-toxic all purpose cleaning products that we will share. For inspiration and D.I.Y. (Do-It-Yourself) suggestions on home cleaners, check out our Spring Cleaning Pinterest Board.
Take Action:
Red Clay Creek Clean Up

Saturday,
March 22
8am - 1pm

For the past 25 years, the Red Clay Valley Association and the Delaware Nature Society
have orchestrated this rite of Spring. It is a perfect
opportunity for volunteers to come out and pick up the trash and debris from our local roads and streams. This year's clean up encompasses nearly 65 miles of streams and roads in the Red Clay Watershed. Discarded trash is not only unsightly to you but is potentially harmful to fish and wildlife. For more information, click here or call 610-793-1090. 

This event is FREE with materials provided. 
Harvest Market Kitchen

March Specials 
Staff Pick of the Month
Harvest Market Manager Kate Brown is known for her Gluten-Free Store Tours and giving advice to those with Celiac Disease or Food Allergies. She can also be seen enjoying two of her favorites from the Harvest Market Kitchen: Gluten-Free Turkey Noodle Soup and Garlic Ginger Green Beans. Ask for a fork, spoon and napkin at the registers and you're on your way to a healthy meal on the go!
It's Essential
Embrace the Ides of March with our new Synergistic Blend from Wyndemere called "Believe." This combination of essential oils promotes confidence and belief in oneself, and helps dispel feelings of defensiveness and fear of failure. The ingredients include the pure essential oils of Geranium, Sweet Fennel, Peppermint, Cedarwood, Sandalwood, Rosemary, and Yarrow.

These small but powerful Synergistic Blends create harmony for your health. Using Wyndmere's 100% therapeutic essential oils, these combinations enhance the quality of your everyday life, positively influence your emotions and delight your senses.
Food for Thought
pills.jpg
It's official--and I'll bet you did not know this--"Prescription medications kill 100,000 people each year when properly prescribed, while vitamins have not caused a single death in 27 years," according to this very important article authored by Dr. Joseph Mercola.  Allow me to extend the math on this. In the past 27 years, more than 2,700,000 people--in the U.S. alone--have died because they took one or more drugs prescribed by their doctors. No one--according to a review of statistics from the American Association of Poison Control Centers--has died from taking vitamin supplements during those 27 years.

 

Recently, Dr. Mercola, who has the internet's most read alternative health newsletter, was on the Dr. Oz show--television's number one watched health show. Dr. Mercola had a lot he wanted to say about the difference between the safety and efficacy of nutritional supplements and prescription drugs. Unfortunately, due to the constraints of TV time, most was left unsaid. So I invite you to read  Dr. Mercola's thoughtful and thought provoking article and remember it the next time you see another "expert" condemning nutritional supplements as useless or dangerous. 

2014 marks my 35th year selling vitamins and nutritional supplements and about my 40th year of using them as part of my evolving version of a healthy lifestyle. While I am convinced that how you eat, how you exercise and how you balance your emotions are the key elements in creating and maintaining a lifetime of health, I also believe that almost everyone can benefit by optimizing their health with an individually-appropriate selection of vitamins, herbs and other nutritional supplements.

 

Thank you for considering this and thank you for trusting what we do at Harvest Market.  

 

Bob Kleszics
Owner
Harvest Market Natural Foods
green-flower.jpg