The Blueberries Are Here!

My good friend Jane's daughter Jenny, her husband Hugh and their children Ruth and Alan have a blueberry farm in Maine. In addition to the BEST ORGANIC fresh Blueberries I've ever come across, Intervale Blueberry Farm also sells: kick-ass homemade Chutney, Fruit Spread, Juice and Frozen Blueberries.

These berries are smaller then the ones I've been seeing at the market, they are totally unprocessed (a lot of commercial berries are grown with pesticides, and then before packing are put through a bleach bath, which removes the healthy bloom on the berry which you get when you order berries from Intervale).

This is a rare treat, blueberries grown to the highest organic standards, using traditional farming methods.

I'm re-posting this video from last year of my delivery of blueberries which I discovered when I got my computer back and have been trying to see what files remain and which ones don't.
I came across this and it made me smile. I am so obviously still figuring out the narrative thing...

Ever since I got my camera I have forsaken videos (which I used to make often) as it is so much easier to take photographs and up load them then it is the videos, anyway all this is to say that I'm going to try and start making them again. I miss them, but first I have re-download the video software...ugh. Don't get me wrong I am so happy to have been able to get my computer fixed and not have to buy a new one, I can't tell you. If you have a laptop (Mac or PC) in need of repair I highly recommend you check out the folks at The Little Laptop Shop they did a great job at a fraction of the cost as that fancy big computer store in Chelsea.

A Perfect Red Grapefruit

Over the last couple of years I have gone on about how apples are the only fruit I eat during the Winter as they are the only local fruit you can get all winter long from the farmers market. My thinking on this has changed a bit. First I noticed just this week that there are some very sweet firm and delicious pears still being sold and the Pear Mincemeat has been a big hit.

Around Thanksgiving Breezy Hill Orchard was selling heirloom cranberries so I bought huge amount and came home and froze them. My freezer has never been so full, because in addition to the cranberries are 2 five pound boxes of frozen organic blueberries from my friend Jane's daughters family farm Intervale.

Then in the last couple of weeks I've been seeing organic citrus from Texas and Florida. I have a weakness for Ruby Red Grapefruits and marmalade. My feelings about citrus are that as along as they are in season on this side of the country and are trucked or trained in they are fine. Which as best as I can tell gives you citrus for a couple of months a year. Lemons and limes are a totally other story as they have become so integral to cooking so many dishes. Still if I can find them I try to always buy citrus from Florida or Texas as it is less of a distance then California.

Marmalade has been much on my mind these days so it was with great pleasure that I opened up my Grist email today to see a wonderful article by April McGreger on Citrus and yes indeed Marmalade! The last time I made marmalade it just would not get thick so I was keeping an eye out to see if I could find a recipe that used pectin, but April's recipe doesn't so I'm feeling embolden to give it another pectin free try.

The most exciting t hing in the article (besides the Marmalade recipe) is her mention of L'Host Organic Citrus farm in Louisiana. I immediately like them because when you go to there shipping page they announce they are no longer shipping because of the bad weather, that they will resume in October, then they go on to say:

"Why are we no longer using e-commerce and credit cards?"
Well to be honest, shipping is a service we do for our loyal customer base... it is a very small part of our business that we just aren't interested in expanding. Our passion is for producing high quality fruit and passing that fruit on to those that really care about quality, taste, the environment, and organic farming. We strive to ensure our product remains true to these characteristics. So we've scaled the shipping business back to better serve those of you that have supported us for so many years.

Makes me want to go to Louisiana just to visit and pick up some satsumas!