What To Do With All Those Cherry Tomatoes?Make Yellow Pear Cherry Tomato Salad With Cucumbers, Avocado And Jalapeño

A delicious and simple way to use those cherry tomatoes
and other garden veggies. Only 53 calories per serving!

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My Garden Overfloweth
While my garden zucchini has taken much of my attention, these cute and very prolific yellow pear cherry tomatoes are gathering steam. My cucumbers and jalapeños are also holding there own so what better way to use them all up than in this simple raw salad! 

Raw yellow tomatoes are low in calories and are an excellent source of Vitamin C, niacin, folate, potassium, copper and manganese.

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Yellow Pear Cherry Tomato Salad
Raw Vegan, Gluten Free
[makes 6 servings]

2 cups halved yellow pear cherry tomatoes
2 cups peeled and diced cucumbers
1 avocado, peeled, seeded, and diced
2 tablespoons minced red onion
1 small jalapeño, thinly sliced (seeds optional)
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice, or more
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste

Place the tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado, red onion, and jalapeño in a bowl. Sprinkle with lime juice, salt, and pepper and toss gently until well coated.

Per serving: 53 calories, 4 g total fat, 0.5 g saturated fat, 29 mg omega-3 and 441 mg omega-6 fatty acids, 0 mg cholesterol, 1 g protein, 5 g carbohydrates, 2 g dietary fiber, and 207 mg sodium.

And Here Come The Zucchini!Try This Delicious Raw Zucchini Salad

Baby zucchini are used in this chopped veggie salad.

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And Here They Come!
It's funny how excited I get when I harvest my first zucchini and how happy I am at the end of the summer when I pull the plants out for the season. To maintain my joy this year, I've made a promise to myself that I would harvest every zucchini while it is still relatively small. There are several advantages of doing this. First of all, the zucchini and its skin will be tender with few seeds. But most of all, it will keep me from being overwhelmed with the sheer amount of this prolific vegetable.

Female zucchini flowers

Do Your Zucchini Start to Fruit and then Wither?
As prolific as zucchini are, in the beginning of the season you may find that your plants begin to fruit only to wither. If you are having this issue, read last year's post on boy and girl zucchini flowers and how they need to develop before fertilization can take place.

Simple and Delicious Chopped Salad
Here's a simple chopped salad that uses tender baby zucchini. This raw vegan salad is gluten free and less than 100 calories per serving. It is suitable for weight loss and a raw food cleanse. And of course it is a delicious salad to serve anyone during the summer months when these wonderful fresh veggies are in season.

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Zucchini Salad
Raw Vegan, Gluten Free
[Makes six servings]

2 small zucchini, diced (2 cups)
1 red bell pepper, diced (1 cup)
Kernels from 1 ear corn (1 cup)
2 tablespoons minced red onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon cold-pressed hemp oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 avocado, diced

Place the zucchini, red bell pepper, corn, red onion, and cilantro in a medium-sized bowl.

Make the dressing in a 2-cup container by combining the lime juice, hemp oil, salt, and pepper. Mix until the salt dissolves. 

Mix the avocado into the dressing and toss gently until well coated. 

Mixing the avocado into the lime dressing
helps prevent it from turning brown.

Pour the dressing and avocado over the chopped salad. Toss gently until all the veggies are well coated and serve.

Per serving: 98 calories, 6 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 389 mg omega-3 and 1,887 mg omega-6 fatty acid, 2 g protein, 11 g carbohydrates, 3 g dietary fiber, and 205 mg sodium.

Update
Oops, we didn't get to this one in time. This guy was hiding under a big leaf!

Don't Throw Away Garden Broccoli LeavesThey Are Delicious And Nutritious!Here's What You Can Do With Them

The leaves of the broccoli plant are delicious to eat!

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Who Knew?
When you buy broccoli in the store, it's mostly the crown and stalks with very few leaves. But when you grow broccoli in your garden, the plant is mostly leaves. The first few times I grew broccoli, I thought to myself, "this is a waste of garden space - all those leaves just to make a little broccoli crown!" Maybe I'm a little dense, but I never thought about actually eating the leaves (even though they look EXACTLY like collards!) It wasn't until my daughter-in-law Karina went out to her garden and brought in a bunch of broccoli leaves for dinner that I even considered using them.

Now I feel like the broccoli crown is incidental. After all, you have to wait a long time just to get those one or two crowns from a plant but we feast on the leaves every day. 

So Nutritious Too!
Broccoli leaves are very low in calories and are a very good source of vitamin A, vitamin C, riboflavin, vitamin B6, folate, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and manganese. They also provide omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids in an optimal 3:1 ratio.

2 ounces of raw broccoli leaves are only 16 calories and provide:
180% of the daily value of vitamin A (8,960 IU)
86% of vitamin C (52 mg)
10% of folate (40 mcg)
72 mg omega-3 fatty acid

How to Prepare
You can use broccoli leaves in any recipe that calls for collard greens or kale but they take less time to cook than collards, especially if they are tender and fresh from your garden.

 Of course they are wonderful raw and can be used in any of my raw kale salad recipes such as Raw Kale and Orange Salad with Pumpkin Seeds or Garbanzo Bean and Raw Kale Salad with Lemon-Turmeric Dressing. The key is to thinly slice the broccoli leaves and then marinate and tenderize them in a few teaspoons each of freshly squeezed lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil, and  a bit of salt.

Use broccoli leaves instead of kale in this
Raw Kale and Orange Salad

Broccoli leaves would be great instead of kale in
Garbanzo and Raw Kale Salad

Or whip them up in any raw soup recipe that calls for greens.

Throw a handful of broccoli leaves in raw soups

I've also been using broccoli leaves instead of kale to make my breakfast quinoa bowl.

Use broccoli leaves instead of kale in
this kale and quinoa bowl recipe.

You can also steam them with a pinch of salt and drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice over them.

Steam for 5 minutes or until tender.

Or, sauté them in a little olive oil and fresh minced garlic. 

A fun thing to do to get the kids to eat more greens is to mix long strips of broccoli leaves with spaghetti. Here's what I do:

Remove the stem and lay the leaves over each other.
Roll them up tightly.

Slice the rolled leaves up very thin.

Cook your spaghetti pasta in a large pot of boiling water.
About 2 or 3 minutes before it's done, throw in the sliced leaves.

Rinse and serve with your favorite pasta sauce.

There are so many things you can do with these tasty and nutritious leaves. But whatever you do, don't throw them out!

The EPA Takes A Small Step To Protect Honey Bees - Should They Do More? Here's What You Can Do!

A local honeybee enjoys a calendula in my organic garden.

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Colony Collapse Disorder
Colony collapse disorder (CCD) describes the drastic decline of honey bees.  Although honeybee populations have had mysterious declines throughout history, recent dramatic declines have been alarming. Between 2012 and 2013, U.S. beekeepers lost 45 percent of their colonies. Scientists fear that this could lead to widespread crop failure in the very near future.

Why you should Care about the Honey Bees
I must admit, I didn't think much about honeybees while growing up in New York City. Most city people classify insects as annoying "bugs". Now that we living in a farming community, my views have certainly changed. But bee populations effect everyone. They are responsible for pollinating $15 billion dollars of crops - about one third of the food we eat, like certain berries, fruits, tree nuts, and vegetables.

Here's an example. Did you ever wonder why almonds are so expensive? Well, they are completely dependent on honeybees for pollination. In fact they use 60 percent of all managed honey bee colonies in the United States or 1.4 million colonies of honeybees! Colony collapse disorder has severely affected the almond industry. So if you enjoy eating almonds, putting almond milk on your cereal, or eating almond butter sandwiches, you should care about honey bees.
Other crops that require honeybee pollination include apples, oranges, lemons, limes, broccoli, onions, blueberries, cherries, cranberries, cucumbers, cantaloupes, carrots, and avocados, to name just a few.

Almonds are completely dependent on
 honey bees for pollination.

What Causes Colony Collapse Disorder?
Although no one is exactly sure what is causing CCD, the main culprits, according to the USDA,  are:
* Pathogens: Several pathogens have been linked to CCD. Nosema (a gut fungi) and Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus are two candidates although no one single pathogen has been found to cause the majority of CCD incidents.

* Parasites: Varroa mites have been identified in many of the affected honeybee colonies. It is not known if these mites contribute to CCD or if they are merely acting as a carrier of a pathogen.

* Management stressors: Yes, bees can be stressed out too! Because of local scarcity, bees are transported to locations throughout the country to pollinate crops. This, in addition to apiary overcrowding, creates stress for the bees.

* Environmental stressors: These can include poor nutrition due to the scarcity or lack of diversity of nectar and pollen and limited access to good, uncontaminated water. But the big spotlight, most recently, has been on their exposure to insecticides.

Insecticides - A Big Problem!
One particular class of pesticides, neonicotinoids, which include chothianidin, thiamethoxam, and imidacloprid, have been accused of causing CCD. More than 30 separate scientific studies linking neonicotinoids to falling bee populations prompted the European union to vote to ban the use of these pesticides.

Recently in a Portland suburb, the Daily Beast reported that more than 50,000 bumblebees died in a Target parking lot after being exposed to trees that were treated with neonicotinoids. Unlike the EU, the EPA took a much smaller action to address the toxic effect of these chemicals on bees.

Are you Kidding Me?
Rather than banning these pesticides, the EPA has developed new labels to warn users that some pesticides may kill honeybees (can you hear me yawning?) Yes, we know how few people read labels and, even if they did, wouldn't hesitate to use a product that they've grown familiar with just because it says that it "can kill bees and other insect pollinators." If they cared that much, they would already have an organic garden and wouldn't think of using these toxic chemicals to grow their food.

What you Can Do!
Representative Earl Blumenauer of Oregon and Representative John Conyers of Detroit introduced  a bill to put a temporary ban on all suspect insecticides until the EPA thoroughly understands pesticides' true effect on pollinators. It's no surprise that the GMO manufacturers (whose seeds were develop to withstand these toxic chemicals) are against this measure. And I'm sure the chemical companies who manufacture the pesticides are lining up.

Earl Blumenauer and John Conyers asks that everyone contact their representative and encourage them to include the "Save America's pollinators Act"  in the Farm Bill.

Help save me!
Contact your representative now!

More to be Aware of when you Shop for Plants
Are you shopping for bee-friendly plants like sunflowers for your garden? A report from the Earth and the Pesticide Research Institute claims that some garden plants sold at Home Depot, Lowe's, and other garden centers have already been pre-treated with these bee-killing pesticides! 

Products to Avoid
Here's a list of products that contain neonicotinoids. To avoid killing bees, the Center for Food Safety recommends you avoid these common home and garden products.

Is Organic Farming the Answer?
It's difficult to farm organically. I know that firsthand. My husband and I are one of the very few organic vineyards in Sonoma county (only 3 percent of the roughly 1,800 vineyards in Sonoma county are organic). It's a constant struggle fighting weeds, mildew and other problems that arise. Organic solutions to these issues are also more expensive. But in the end, it's worth it. Even though wine grapes don't require pollination, our land is just buzzing with bees! They like it here. They know our flowers and vegetable gardens are safe to buzz around because they are free of these horrible chemicals. 

So when you are selecting seeds or plants for your garden or buying fruits and vegetables in the store, select organic when you can. It encourages organic agricultural practices which is not only good for your health and the health of the planet, but it's good for the bees!

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Does Your Zucchini Begin To Fruit And Then Wither? What You Need To Know.

Why did this zucchini begin to set and then wither?

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But Aren't Zucchini Prolific?

Some years I plant zucchini and have no problems at all and other years, like this one, I have had a rocky start. The problem is always the same. The plants look healthy, start fruiting and then when the baby zucchini is about 3 inches long, it withers and rots. 


This is extremely bothersome. Isn't zucchini the most prolific vegetable around? Not being able to grow zucchini can really effect ones self esteem! Why is this happening?


The Mating Game
It turns out that it takes a boy flower and a girl flower to make a zucchini. Who knew? I never paid much attention to it before. I just noticed pretty yellow flowers and a few weeks later I was plucking baseball bat-sized zucchini from my garden. 


Upon further examination I discovered that the flowers were indeed different.

It's a girl!
Girl flowers have small zucchini attached below them. 

It's a boy!
Boy flowers have a stem that connects to the plant with no fruit.

Patience
Before even realizing all this, I just waited to see if the plant would eventually grow normal zucchini. My patience paid off. Eventually the boy and girl flowers finally got together (I assume the bees helped out a bit since I'm not aware of any zucchini internet dating sites) and produced big, beautiful zucchini.

With a little patience, and eventual pollination, the plants began to yield big, beautiful zucchini!

Pollination 
While I was being patient, the male and female flowers developed and pollination occurred. There are some things you can do to help this along:
* Don't water overhead when the flowers are open. It could possibly wash away or dilute the pollen.
* Don't use insecticides as it will kill the bees and other insects who are responsible for pollinating your zucchini.
* Plant more than one zucchini. This will give the plants a better chance at getting properly pollinated.


If all else fails, you may have to resort to hand pollination. I have never tried this but according to some experienced gardeners, you can do it. Here's how:

The boy flower has a center stamen covered with pollen. This pollen must make it over to the girl.

The girl has a multi-segmented stigma in its center which needs to be pollinated in order to make fruit.

* Manually pollinate in the morning when the flowers open and they are fresh.
* Make sure the male stamen is mature with dusty, yellow specs of pollen.
* You may transfer this pollen to all sections of the female stigma in several ways. 
     (1) You may use a little artists brush or a cotton swab to transfer the pollen
     (2) or you can pick the male flower, remove its petals and use the stamen directly to transfer the pollen.
* When pollinating, make sure you get the male pollen on every segment of the female stigma. 
* You can use this male for fertilizing several female flowers.


OK, now you can sit back and start looking at zucchini recipes. You'll need them soon. Enjoy!