The Art of Growing Cacao and Making Chocolate

As I was riding a rented bicycle south along the road from Puerto Viejo in Costa Rica to quieter Caribbean beaches away from the pueblo, I saw a sign for Chocoart at the start of a dirt road, heading west into the lush jungle. It said that it sold chocolates and conducted tours. Even though a day at the beach was my goal, how could I turn down the chance to learn more about chocolate?

 

Marcus, a rustic Swiss man who has lived in Costa Rica for almost twenty years, is the owner of the farm and was our tour guide for the afternoon. Armed with a pole with a U-shaped hook to reach cacao pods high up in trees and with a machete to hack open the fruit and any threatening snakes, Marcus led us through his farm and demonstrated each step of growing cacao and transforming it into chocolate.

The luscious food that is chocolate starts as football-shaped pods of an evergreen tree, Theobroma cacao, which is thought to have originated in the Amazon. Wherever it may have had its start, cacao grows in very specific conditions, at an elevation of 650–1300 ft, in a humid environment with regular rainfall and good soil. While on my bicycle, I could see these trees growing neglected on the side of the road, the remains of a once-vital growing area that was destroyed by a fungus that came in from Ecuador. Some think that it was an intentional introduction by multinational banana growers so that they could get land cheaply.

 I had seen a cacao pod before, but never "live" on a tree, and I certainly had never seen its petite, delicately/pink flowers, growing directly on the truck.

There are many varieties of cacao, and here Marcus is showing us two different kinds. They develop different colors when they have reached maturity and are ready to be harvested.

With his trusty machete, Marcus hacked a ripe pod in half, along its equator, and invited us to suck on the white, fleshy pulp that surrounds each seed/bean. The pulp was surprisingly yummy and tasted nothing like chocolate. It had more of a refreshing citrus flavor, maybe like a sour sop. Out of curiosity, I bit into a seed and it was horribly bitter.

After the pods have been harvested, the beans are fermented along with their fleshy pulp for three to nine days, a process which creates compounds that give the seeds their chocolate flavor. To halt fermentation, the now- dark-brown beans are dried. At Marcus' farm, where everything is done on a small scale, the beans are left to dry on a table in the sun, an apparatus that many local families used to have to make chocolate at home. When it rains, Marcus rolls a corrugated iron cover over the drying beans. They are also raked regular to aerate them and hasten drying.

At Chocoart, the discarded pods are deposited into a pile, where they decompose easily into fertile soil.

Once the beans are dry, they are toasted, like coffee beans. In this small factory (if you can call it this!), this process is done in a wok-like pan over an open fire. This is our first scent of chocolate.

The next step is to remove the husks of the beans, which this employee is doing by rolling a heavy, round stone over them.

To get rid of the husks, the employee pours the crushed beans onto the floor in front of a fan. The husks are so light that they float away from the precious beans, which are now called chocolate nibs.

 The nibs are ground into a paste by hand.

 An assistant adds melted raw sugar to the chocolate paste. Since the amount of sugar equals the weight of the chocolate beans, Chocoart's chocolate is considered 50 percent cacao. This seems quite low these days when most chocolate lovers don't settle for anything less than 70 percent, but Marcus' confections have a wonderful rich flavor, since there isn't anything else in them except sugar. On top of that, no cocoa butter has been removed.

The warm, finished product accompanied by slices of local bananas. This was definitely worth giving up a day at the beach!

Enjoy some chocolate today (preferably Fair Trade), knowing now all that goes into growing and producing it.

Cheers! Diana Pittet, the roving, chocolate-loving cheesemonger

Of Robins and Worms…

By Pat  Dumas

April 2011

I don’t know what made me sit down and write an entire essay on Robins and worms, but, I am fascinated by these common birds of spring and their menu of choice.  I find myself watching them do their thing when I am out on the back porch.

It’s the rainy days that draw them closer.  The earth is loose and inviting. I look out at my bare vegetable plot, and the Robins are there by the dozens—cocking their heads and standing ever so still with their eyes and ears focused on the wiggle of a worm underneath the soil.  Seemingly, out of nowhere, they pull up a juicy earthworm and swallow it whole.  Just like the typical childhood pictures you see of them—struggling with a long worm from the ground.

It used to be that Robins traveled south for the winter, and came back with much human fanfare when the weather got warmer. Not so now.  They hang around all winter—not so much in sight, but down by the warmer water areas.  There’s too much food around these days for them to go south, and you will hear them all winter long.  It’s not until the early days of spring that they will fill the lawns with the whole extended family—dozens of them—looking for sleepy worms coming up for air.

If you have a lot of Robins in your yard, you’re lucky. That means you’ve got worms.  Worms are silent little workers—tilling your soil quietly, and depositing castings to make your soil rich, aerated, and plant-friendly. 

When I lived on Cape Cod for many summers, there were absolutely no worms in the soil on Beachpoint in Truro where our house was on the bay.  The soil was probably too acidic to host them.  In 1999, I found a little old lady(really, it’s true!)  named Maggie Pipkins in a more inland part of the Cape called Buzzards Bay that was famous for her worm farm called the Cape Cod Worm Farm.  She sells worms and their castings (to be blunt, worm poop), at the local flea markets in the summer.  She ships them all over the country and world as well--  going to Europe and Africa by the tons.   Maggie is 86 now, and quite famous for her knowledge of worms and the benefits reaped from them. They aerate the soil, help retain moisture, and compost organic garbage rapidly.  

I bought a half dozen bags of worm castings to put in the new Hydrangea garden I dug out in front of the house.  The soil there was  brought in years ago, and it really had no organic matter to speak of.  Maggie’s worm castings were groveled and tilled in with the newly planted bushes, and they grew like crazy.  Although there were no worms to be found in the soil I planted in, Maggie said that worm larvae can live for years and years, and emerge when conditions are right.  The extremely acidic nature of the area on the beach deters worms, but, with added soil and debris over the years, it could become worm-friendly. It didn’t matter though—the Hydrangeas did beautifully in the aerated environment with the castings, and I was thrilled.

Worms live well here at the Jersey Shore.  If you have them, you’ll always have good, black, squishy earth to grow your plants in.  It’s easy to make a little worm farm of your own with just a few worms, rich soil, a little manure, debris, leaves, and food scraps from your own kitchen.  In the spring, I always find dozens of them under the little leaf piles that edge the driveway. The goldfish in my pond love them, and suck them down eagerly like spaghetti.  I just make a little pile of worms, leaves, earth, manure, Bumper Crop, and scraps from the kitchen and put it in a big bucket.  In time, the worms eat furiously through the gunk. Then, the  “black gold” of the worm castings is crumbly and ready—like brownie crumbs.  They make a rich and welcome commodity.  I spread them around the tomato plants and vegetables, and cultivate them in.   The results are phenomenal. 

 There’s nothing like it.  The next time you see a worm, you may think differently.  Lowly, yet vital, worms are life itself.  As very successful Maggie Pipkins would say, “it’s a wriggly business”. 

A few thoughts on my mind:

Put the bird houses up now!  The sparrows, chickadees, and wrens are looking to rent in the early spring.  Good landlords are in need.

Robins will often nest in the most unusual places. Anything undercover will attract them. Try putting a little open platform under the eaves where there is vining growth. Then get out the camera for quite a show!

There is no reason you can’t feed the birds in the spring and summer.  All season suet by Coles stands up well to the heat and doesn’t spoil. You will attract woodpeckers, chickadees, Robins, Catbirds, and Mockingbirds while feeding their young. Coles millet seed, finch seed, and hull-less sunflower are perfect for attracting summer birds when they are feeding their young.

April can see the first wave of hummingbirds coming in from Central America. Be prepared to feed these hungry and cold travelers with a hanging nectar feeder.  If they find you first, they’ll grace you with their presence all summer long.

Customer Landscape Transformation ~ Step 3:

Customer Landscape Transformation ~ Step 3:

In this installment of our landscape makeover series, Billy and Lisa make their way around the Nursery Department at Sickles Market. They have a sense of the architecture and aesthetics they're both looking

for; now their task is to start identifying the specific plants that will work within Lisa's overall plan (and budget). 

In this clip, one can really sense the excitement as actual planting gets that much closer! Keep your eyes peeled for the next installment when the planting begins.

And remember, if you want to follow along with Lisa's project at your home, here is what you'll need to to:

1. Take photos of your project area
2. Measure your space, noting sun direction
3. Rip out magazine pictures for inspiration
4. Bring everything to Sickles Market
5. Let us help you map out your landscape

A Mountain Peak Experience By Cheri the Coffee Lover & Cheesemonger

My favorite part of breakfast!

At long last, the day was finally here. Lou, the manager of our gourmet department, Efrain, our dairy and coffee buyer and I had all managed to coordinate our schedules and clear our calendars to spend an afternoon at Davan Espresso/Mountain Peak Coffee Roasters in Forked River, NJ. We were all interested to learn more about this local company that produces coffee for Sickles Market private label coffee.  I also happen to be an avid coffee drinker and couldn’t wait for my first “cupping.” We arrived at the plant, stepped out of the car, and were almost bowled over by the heady aroma of roasting coffee beans in the air. This was going to be some sensory experience! Lou introduced us to the owner Ivan, who gave us his undivided attention, sharing his thirty plus years of knowledge gained from working in the coffee industry. He gave us a brief history lesson, guided us through the various stages of coffee production, took us on a tour of the facility and then, finally, we had our coffee cupping. We tasted delicious coffee, both drip and espresso, and looked over the impressive selection of espresso machines that Ivan offers for sale through his Davan Espresso company. We drove away at last, a tad jittery after so many cups of coffee, but with a much better understanding of the bean and the business. I would like to share some of this valuable information with you so that your own interest will be peaked and you’ll be inspired to explore new coffee varieties and methods of preparation.

The History of Coffee According to Ivan
The first historical record of the consumption of coffee beans was in the country of Ethiopia. Goat herders observed their flocks eating the fruit of certain bushes and then acting more lively and animated. The milk produced was apparently different as well. The goat herders began to consume the coffee that the goats were eating by making a paste from the bean. It was not until the 1600’s in Europe that the first coffee beans were actually roasted. Coffee from roasted beans was so enjoyable, in fact, that the Church decided that it was a sin to drink coffee and banned it completely. Eventually coffee was again legalized and Lloyds of London became the first coffee shop in Europe.

Facts About Coffee
Coffee beans are the seeds of coffee tree “cherries.” The fruit or cherry is initially green, then yellow and finally turns red when it is ripe for picking. After picking, the cherries are put into large pools of water and the outer fruit is washed away, leaving the seed, or coffee bean exposed. Coffee is grown all over the world, although roughly half of the world’s coffee comes from Brazil and Columbia. The Robusta bean is the common variety, and only 5% of total coffee production is Arabica coffee. Arabica is the finest bean, grown in the Tropic of Capricorn latitude, between 3-5,000 feet. These beans need attention and plenty of water and sun. Size is an important factor for the Arabica bean: The larger the bean, the more expensive the coffee.

Cupping Room at Mountain Peak Coffee

Mountain Peak Coffee
Mountain Peak Coffee is made from only the best Arabica beans. The beans are all single origin beans, coming from one region of one country, often from one farmer on one estate. There are both regular and organic beans. All decaffeinated beans are a result of a natural water process. Mountain Peak offers a few fair trade and organic coffees as well. Fair trade means that the farmers are justly compensated for their work and that they are often part of a cooperative that works to improve an entire community’s day-to-day lives. The organic beans are grown without synthetic herbicides or pesticides. These specialty beans typically cost a little more. Sickles Market carries over 30 varieties of Mountain Peak Coffee under the Sickles Market label.

Quality is paramount with Mountain Peak Coffee. When the truck arrives with the coffee bean order, Ivan first tests the size of the bean, using a stack of screened trays. The beans fall through the holes in the screens until they rest on the tray with the appropriate size holes and can fall no further. If the beans are too small, Ivan sends the coffee back to the shipper. If the beans are the correct size, Ivan takes a sample of the beans and roasts them four different ways in miniature roasters in his office, makes four cups of drip coffee, and tastes the coffee while the driver waits. If he does not like the bean for any reason, he sends the beans back. If the beans pass inspection, Ivan accepts the coffee beans, which arrive in large containers filled with 250 burlap sacks of coffee beans, weighing either 132 or 154 pounds each. The beans are loaded into a high tech Roasters Exchange coffee roaster, which can handle up to 66 pounds at one time. The organic beans are roasted separately in a smaller machine that holds 26 pounds of coffee beans. The coffee is roasted to a City Roast or Cinnamon Roast, which is lighter, Viennese Roast, which is darker, or French Roast, which is very dark and causes the natural oils of the coffee to emerge. One of the most interesting facts about coffee roasting is that the darker the roast, the less caffeine is actually left in the bean. At Mountain Peak, the beans are roasted on the weekend or Mondays and delivered to Sickles Market on Tuesdays so they are always very fresh.

Tips For Making a Great Cup Of Coffee
There are many factors involved in making a great cup of coffee. Always use filtered water, with a ratio of about 2 level tablespoons of coffee to 6 ounces of water. It is important to use the correct grind of bean with the correct coffee machine. If you are having the beans ground for you, be sure to let the sales person know what kind of coffee maker you are using. Also, metal coffee filters require a slightly coarser grind than paper filters, so you may want to indicate the type of filter as well. If you are using a Melitta, Chemex or French press, you should always let the boiling water sit for 7-10 seconds before pouring the water through the filter. The water should not be at boiling point when it passes over the beans. If you do not drink your coffee within 20 minutes, do not reheat the coffee. Do not freeze your beans. Instead, buy smaller quantities and store them in an airtight container in a cool, dark, dry place. Just grind as much as you need for that particular coffee drinking. Mountain Peak’s one way valve bags keep the coffee fresh for up to 3 months, but once a bag is opened, the whole beans keep for 30 days and the ground beans for a week. If you are interested in investing in an espresso/cappuccino machine, keep in mind that the best machines have a vibration pump. They are more expensive than other machines, but you will have a cup of coffee that is equal to any in the cafes of Paris or Rome.

Sickles Coffee

I have been enjoying mixing and matching various of beans since my trip to Mountain Peak. I came up with a rather intensely bold blend that I really got excited about, so Lou decided to christen it “Cheri’s Blend” and had Ivan create a whole new Sickles Coffee! I hope you’ll stop by and try some, and let me know what you think. I’ll caution you now, it’s not for the faint of heart!

Sickles Customer Landscape Step 2

Lisa’s Landscape Transformation, 2nd Installment…after last week’s initial site visit, Billy Faccidomo,(Sickles Market’s Nursery Specialist) sat down with our Marketing Manager Lisa to start planning & get a sense of the scope of work for this project…..this is a critical step in the process

This direct consultation helps Billy to specifically select the best types of plants that will work into Lisa’s yard. Some areas need privacy….others just need a fresh look, while the whole project will help Lisa achieve the soft and inviting feel she wants for curb appeal in the front and outdoor living space in the back.

Watch “Lisa’s Landscape Transformation - Part Two” & pick up some great ideas that you can implement when it comes time to transform your outdoor space.

Sickles Market's latest video... Landscape Makeover! "Step 1"

Spring arrives every year on March 21st, no matter what Punxsutawney Phil says! Groundhog shadow sightings notwithstanding, we all know that Spring has really arrived when the days last longer, songbirds start chirping, and we feel the urge to start sprucing up our yards.

 

Our own Marketing Manager, Lisa, is no exception.  She decided this is the time to spruce up her home's basic landscaping, make it a little less basic, and all of us here at Sickles Market are excited to share her “Landscape Transformation” story.

 

Lisa enlisted the help of Billy Faccidomo, one of Sickles Market’s resident Nursery Specialists, to assess the possibilities for landscaping her property.  They'll be working together to develop and execute a plan that fits with her tastes, lifestyle and budget.

 

In this first installment of Lisa's landscape transformation, Billy comes to Lisa’s house for his first on-site consultation.  And be on the lookout for the next installments of our video diary as Lisa’s property transforms from “basic” to “beautiful." 

 

If you'd like to do some of what Lisa's doing in your own yard, we'll give you step by step instructions at the end of each video diary installment. 

Spicing Up Your Life!

Are you goin’ to Scarborough Fair?

Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme…

                             --Simon and Garfunkel

Simon and Garfunkel would definitely have had something to croon about last weekend at the Girls’ Night Out event at Sickles Market.  The greenhouse was decked out in swaying Japanese lanterns, lush foliage and flowers, gift baskets and bouquets of pink balloons in honor of this fabulous fundraiser’s recipient, the Jacqueline M. Wilentz Comprehensive Breast Center.  Herbs were well represented and resplendent at our “All About Herbs” table.  There were flats of springy herb plants, ready for planting, fresh herb packets from Urban Roots, herb scented candles and soaps, herb infused kitchen products and herbed cheeses.  We even served fresh ricotta on crackers sprinkled with lavender sea salt as a creative hors d’oeuvre.  Some of the more popular products were the Votivo Candles scented with Forgotten Sage and Vanilla Bergamot Blossom, the Caldrea Kitchen Counter Cleaner in Basil Blue Sage and the colorful herbal Mistral soaps from Provence.  The collection of herbed cheeses included Romeo, a rosemary and oil rubbed sheep’s milk cheese from Spain, Vento D’Estate, an unusual cow’s milk cheese from Italy covered in hay with an herbaceous aroma, Cyprus Grove’s Purple Haze, small goat’s milk disks dusted with lavender and fennel, New Jersey’s Nettlesome, a sheep’s milk cheese with nettles from Valley Shepherd of Tewksbury, and Cotswold, the traditional Double Gloucester with chives and onions from Great Britain.  That’s a lot of herb products!

Herbs and their close cousin spices, which are generally the dried parts of aromatic plants, have tickled the fancy of us humans as far back as our history books can take us.  From the earliest ancient Chinese civilizations to the Greek philosopher Aristotle (who wrote a 10-volume compendium entitled The History of Plants,) we have looked to this vast array of plant life to improve our health, beauty, and to add depth and richness to our cuisine.  Ana Sortun, the James Beard award winning chef-owner of Oleana, an Eastern Mediterranean style restaurant in the Boston area, has produced a cookbook called Spice, where she reveals her philosophy of using herbs and spices.  She has found that the “artful use of spices and herbs rather than fat and cream is key to the full, rich flavors of Mediterranean cuisine – and the way it leaves you feeling satisfied afterward.”   I had the pleasure of dining at Oleana when I was visiting my daughter in Cambridge, and the intensity and combinations of the herbs and spices were intoxicating.  Dishes like Chicken Bisteeya with Moroccan Spices, Blood Orange and Cinnamon Almonds, or Vermont Quail with Baharat, Barberries, and Pistachio sent my senses skyrocketing.  Every bite was thrilling!  I replicated the experience at home using Ms. Sortun’s recipe for Turkish-Spiced Chicken Kebabs,  found in the January issue of Bon Appetit.  The Baharat seasoning in the recipe is a blend of spices including mint, oregano, cumin and nutmeg.  It is very simple to make using a mortar and pestle and is also delicious with eggplant or lamb.

Now that spring is upon us (or so I am told!), I am determined to plant more herbs and to use them frequently in my cooking throughout the year.  I’m having fun discovering new herbs, interesting combinations and even surprising ways to integrate them into traditional menus.  For example, the Eatwell Farm Lavender Salt that we tasted on fresh ricotta at the Girls Night Out gathering also works surprisingly well on a classic Caprese salad of sliced tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and basil leaves.  In looking for new ways to use lemon thyme, one of my favorite herbs, I found a Zucchini Carpaccio  that is full of interesting textures, with the thinly sliced zucchini, rich avocado and the crunchiness of the pistachio nuts.  I am also enamored with chervil, a delightfully delicate herb that is at home in the French kitchen, but rarely seen in American cuisine.  Along with tarragon, chives and parsley, chervil is one of the fines herbes, an essential part of French cooking.  It resembles flat leaf parsley, but the flavor brings to mind tarragon and fennel.  This simple yet elegant sauce for seafood or vegetables is the perfect way to start using chervil in your own cooking.

Designing your own herbed oils is another fun and creative way to use herbs.  You can select almost any attractive glass bottle, fill it with a fine extra virgin olive oil, and add the herbs and spices of your choice.  You may want to experiment with different combinations, such as fresh chilies, juniper berries, lemongrass, rosemary, crushed garlic and black peppercorns.  Or perhaps cilantro, dill, caraway and fennel seeds.  Once you decide on your herbs and spices, store the filled bottle for one month before using, and remember to keep the opened bottle of herbed oil in the refrigerator.  As much as I enjoy traditional favorites like parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, I’m spicing up my life this spring with a whole new collection of herbs and spices.  As they say:  “Variety is the spice of life!”

Enjoy!

Cheri the Cheesemonger

The Trees of Early Spring.

 What is better than seeing a flurry of blossoms light up a dark landscape in early spring? Everything else looks dead.  But, the plum, peach, redbud, and cherry trees are in a hurry to lure the first sluggish bees into an intoxicating blossom party.

You don’t need to plan a complicated orchard to enjoy opulent blossoms on your trees in early spring.  There are fruiting trees and pollen-less ones that both produce sweet spring flowers for every garden.

Before Mr. Sickles Sr. planted his raspberry field beside the road, I remember the exquisitely pale pink blossoms of his short, vigorously pruned Peach trees. They were surreal—like pink gauze covering the sky.  The peach orchard resembled a Van Gogh landscape in the middle of Little Silver.  The trees, planted in rows, gave forth magnificent, snowy blossoms every spring. In my almost daily trips to the farm, I would invariably forget my camera after promising myself I had to have a photo of this sight.  Now, the vision is only in my minds eye forever, as I pass the field everyday on my way to work. 

Peach trees were always a symbol to me of the old days. My grandfather in Long Branch had a couple, and the big deal every year was that he presented my father with one.  Not hard to take care of, the peaches produced well without any big deal spraying, and they were always there to remind us that Pop Sr. or Pop Jr. planted them.  Worth more than a bushel of peaches, the spring blossoms took my breath away. If we got some useable fruit, that was good.  If not, if was a family “thing”—you just had to have a peach tree in your yard.

Redbud trees don’t fruit, but they are the most luxurious and wild color of fuchsia I have ever seen.  Long, straight branches are stuffed with hundreds of pea blossom-type flowers in April.  They almost seem fake in the natural landscape.  Blooming for only about 2 weeks, the pleasure is fleeting.  They do well as an “under story” tree—planted under larger trees in moister soil.  I always say “I gotta have one of those” and then it's too late—until next year when their stunning flowers catch my eye again. 

Last year, I had to severely cut back my Kwanzan cherry.  The tree, known for its famous blooms in Washington DC every spring, has choking fluffy blossoms that create a pink snowstorm against the sky—and utility wires.  It’s a beauty to behold when it is kept pruned.  There is nothing more exotic than wading through a pile of pink flowers on the ground after they fall.  Elegant and sophisticated, the more graceful Weeping cherry grows a  little slower. There’s no time like the present to put one in the ground—once they take off, they are magnificent in the landscape with their all-encompassing pink arching branches.  This tree is one of the arborist's true successes.  Grafted (special taping) with precision on to a common cherry tree trunk, the top holds the secret that makes the cherry branches cascade over. The tree will get quite large, up to 30 ft at maturity.  I’m afraid I planted mine too late. How long am I going to live?  No problem- my children might remember me down the road for a few things when they see it.  Coming back as a tree isn’t bad at all.

If edible cherries are what you like, you can always plant a vigorously growing Montmorency cherry tree.  The fruits in summer are tart, and extremely productive. It’s a show in itself if you want to see a tremendous variety of birds. The Robins go absolutely crazy high up in the branches. It’s a tweeting fest where babies are fed and fattened with the good life before they take on independence.

One of the earliest flowering trees is the delicately blooming ornamental Plum.  There is no fruit here but their branches cloud the air with pink and white blossoms. Plums develop glossy burgundy leaves after blooming, providing all season beauty.  Hardy and stout, they need a little pruning every couple of years to keep it broad and healthy.   

 I think apple trees are the dream of many a backyard farmer.  Thoughts of lush springtime blossoms and crisp fall fruit entice us to plant one. But two is better.  They have to cross-pollinate with a different variety to get fruit.  The blossoms of an apple tree are historically poetic.  Old, abandoned orchards still put forth flowers in the spring, and evoke songs to the tune of “In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree”. There’s a little more work involved in apple trees—spraying every couple of weeks is crucial to decent fruit and disease-free branches.  It’s not hard, just a little more of a challenge. But still, if you grow them for the blossoms, birds, squirrels and other wildlife, they are fine just the way they are.  Slicing the top off your apple trees (coppicing) in late winter keeps the fruit coming strong, whether you choose to spray or not. I still harvest the “not so perfect” apples of my neighbors’ tree.  I cut out the bruised, and have plenty of flesh for a good, homemade pie. 

If the care of apple fruit doesn’t suit your sensibilities, there are the gorgeous ornamental flowerings Crabapples.  The ornamentals don’t produce fruit, but the reward of fabulous white, pink, or deep raspberry blossoms in the spring.  Don’t be afraid to prune these either—the more you prune apple, the better they will grow.  Stop in and talk with some of our fruit tree-loving staff for more info when you get a chance.

I have to admit that I love a tree for just being a tree.  A tree is solid- a giver of shade, beauty, shelter, and unspoken history. When a tree grows in your yard, you are firmly planted —and you have a place in the world.  To us, a tree is family, and is cared for and spoken about for years to come. Remember when that old Cherry tree that bloomed against your grandfathers windows each summer you visited? The one you used to lie in bed and look at?   I do. 

           

Early Garden thoughts on my mind:

The moles are on the move.  Although it is the shrews and the voles that will eat your plants, a mole will not usually feed on vegetation underground.  They’ll just soften the soil and tumble things around a bit.  Nothing is better for stopping them than getting to their source of food-- grubs. That’s where the homely Starling comes in. When these birds poke their beaks in and around our lawns, they are eating the grubs that moles love.  Keep the Starlings happy with Coles Suet cake for year round feeding. They’ll be encouraged to stay and feed on the grubs while starving out the moles.

Start pruning back your roses now.  The ever blooming roses (ones that bloom off and on all season) can be pruned back now for thicker growth with more blooms.  The one-time June bloomers can be cut back after they finish blooming. 

Get a good head start with planting young perennials.  They are used to being in the cool ground, and by the time June and July comes along, you will have a bigger plant with lots of flowers. 

Stinkbugs again.  These little Asian hitchhikers need light every day to survive—that’s why you’ll usually see them crawling on your brightest windows.  If you put flypaper on your window, they’ll get stuck.  Picking them off one by one helps too.  Keep at it-- the agricultural world is working hard and furiously on finding the right (and beneficial) insect that will eat the little stinkers, yet not cause another problem.

-Pat Dumas