A visit to the Parkesdale Greenhouses

Posted on October 11, 2012 by fmadmin

Last Wednesday, I stopped by the Parkesdale Greenhouses to visit Grandma Parke and Colleen.  There’s just something really neat about being in a greenhouse early in the morning.  Since 1977, Grandma Parke and Colleen have been working together at the same greenhouses.  Not much has changed since they started.  The process is always the same.  When July rolls around is time to start the “seedlings”.

All of their tomato and pepper plants are grown from seed!  How they sort out 25,000 seeds I’ll never know!

 

 

This season they’ll be growing the following tomato varieties: Big Boy, Better Boy, Whopper, Plum, Grape, Cherry and Tomatillo.  You can find these varieties at our market from October to May.  One of my favorite things to do at the market is walk around and pick out the fresh tomatoes right off the vines.  Don’t worry, I don’t take them all!  It actually helps the plant produce more tomatoes if the ripes one are removed continuously.  And I’ll do anything to help our plants produce more tomatoes!

 

 

They also grow many varieties of peppers.  This year, we’ll have the following sweet peppers: green, yellow, red, and orange bell pepper, sweet pickle and sweet banana.

 

 

If you are into hot peppers, then we’ll have the following: Thai hot, Nu Mex Twilight, Jalapeno, Long Red Slim, Orange Habanero, White Habanero (yellow), Scotch Bonnet Habanero, Purple Flesh, Anaheim, Serrano, Cherry Bomb, Bolivian Carrot, Super Chili, Prairie Fire, Purple Jalapeno and Bolivian Rainbow.  Honestly, I haven’t heard half of these names!  Have you?

 

 

According to Colleen, we should have the Poblano peppers at the market pretty soon.  These are mostly mild peppers used in Mexican cooking for Chile Relleno.  They are perfect for roasting and stuffing.  We’ll also be featuring Cajun Belle this year for the first time.  They are a miniature bell pepper with a spicy flavor that is a tasty blend of heat and sweet.

 

 

And of course, we can’t forget our beautiful Strawberry Baskets.  Between Grandma Parke and Colleen, they will plant about 5,000 strawberry baskets.  This year, they are planting Festival and Camino Real strawberries.  These strawberry baskets won’t be at our market until they are a bit bigger and are bearing fruit.  We should have the strawberry baskets at our market around Thanksgiving or early December through sometime in March or April.

As you would imagine, a lot of work goes into planning a growing season.   And a lot of help is also needed.  Thanks to Grandma Parke, Colleen and her husband Terry, who is in charge of irrigation and repair maintenance, we are very fortunate to provide our customers with the healthiest, most beautiful tomato, pepper and strawberry plants in Hillsborough County.

 

 

 

 

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Pork Chops with Honey Mustard Gravy

Posted on October 8, 2012 by fmadmin

One of the reasons I’m a big Rachel Ray fan is her recipes consists of everyday pantry staples.  And this Pork Chops with Honey-Mustard Gravy is no different: honey, apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, and chicken stock.  For the complete recipe, click here.

While I was preparing this, I thought it would be a good idea to season the pork chops with our Gator Hammock Gator Sprinkles.  That was a good idea, until my husband came around and asked if I tasted Gator Sprinkles before.  Oops.  I’d forgotten how hot it is!  A quick rinse of the pork chops was in order.  Luckily, I had some Everglades Seasoning to use instead!  Did you know both Gator Hammock and Everglades Seasoning products are made right here in Florida?  They are great for seasoning and tenderizing your meats.

 

 

Have you ever tried Cubanelle peppers?  They are so bright that they almost look fake when I walk by them at the market. Cubanelles are a very mild sweet pepper with thinner flesh and longer shaped than a regular bell pepper.  Sometimes when they are picked early they have a bright green color.  If they are allowed to ripen, they will turn bright red.

 

I brought one home and decided to brown it with the pork chops but instead of cooking them all the way through I removed them after a couple of minutes and added them to the salad.  It’s a good change on your typical green salad.

 

I’m not sure what’s being going on with the apples this season, but they’ve been amazing.  Whether it’s a Gala, a Fuji or even a Golden Delicious, they’ve all been dripping with sugary sweet juice.  I thought it would be fun to add some apples to this dish.  I didn’t have the time to make fresh apple sauce, but adding a couple of really thin apple slices to the hot pork chops warmed them out perfectly.  To round out the meal, more thin apple slices were added to the salad.

 

Have you ever tried/seen Cubanelle Peppers?

What’s your favorite recipe for Pork Chops?

 

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Bare Root Strawberry Plants are here!

Posted on October 6, 2012 by fmadmin

While our weather is still reminiscing of summer, high temperatures and afternoon showers, a quick walk around our market will surely have you thinking about the upcoming fall season. Most importantly, our strawberry plants are finally here! This year we have the Winterstar variety, which is an early berry with the traits of the Radiance and Festival strawberry. Strawberry plants are now available in bunches of 25 for $6.98.  The bare root strawberry plants need to be kept refrigerated until you are ready to plant them.  So, when you come to the market just ask one of our cashiers for the plants.  They’ll gladly get them wrapped up and ready for you to take home.

If you are looking for a great patio plant, then you should look at the Pitcher Plant baskets. These “carnivorous” plants not only look good, but they will trap bugs in their pitchers and bring you more enjoyment out of your patio. Pitcher plants are fairly easy to take care of. They must be kept in a shade/diffuse light environment, so no full sun. Most importantly, please remember to keep some water in their pitchers. Otherwise, the pitchers will dry and shrivel out.

If you are looking for an easy, plant with lots of color, then “Chenille” is the plant for you. Did you know the word Chenille is French for Caterpillar? That’s because this plant has these fuzzy worm like red flowers. These plants are great for zone 9 and warmer. In the event of a quick frost or freeze, the plant will regenerate in the spring. Chenille can tolerate full or partial sun, making it a very easy plant for our Florida conditions.

Colleen has been busy at her greenhouse too. Right now, we have quite a few varieties of tomato plants (Big Boy, Better Boy, Toma Verde) and pepper plants (Jalapeno, Sweet Banana, Thai). These are available in 4 in pots for $2.98 each.  If you are planning on preparing your fall garden, make sure to pick up some of our gardening soil too!

And of course, it wouldn’t be fall without some Mums. We’ve got a great variety of Mums: big 12” pots and small 6” pots. They are available in white, yellow and orange. Be on the look out for all the annuals coming soon as well as other vegetable plants for your garden.

 

When was the last time you walked through our garden?

Do you plant a fall garden? If so, what do you normally plant?

Have you ever seen the Pitcher Plants?

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