7. Growing Tip, Staking pepper & eggplant.  Staking peppers & eggplant.  Very often my pepper plants flop over, especially the plants with big fruit such as corno rosso.  This is a simple way of staking plants to prevent this.  Put a three foot or so stake between every two plants.  Tie some string to the end stake and walk down the row, weaving the string around the plants.  From the stake, for example, go to the left of the first plant, then to the right of the second plant, loop it around the stake, then left, right, etc.  At the end of the row, loop it around the final stake.  Then go back down the row weaving the opposite of the other side.  Each plant is enclosed by a 'basket' of string.  I make the first tie perhaps 12" high.  A week or two later, I will do another tie, perhaps 8" higher.  Usually two ties are sufficient.  It is pretty simple and very efficient.  Here is a photo of a group of peppers with two ties.  None of them are flopping in the dirt with the various bugs & worms. 

8. New Zucchini Trial Results:  Friuli, Lunga Bianco di Palermo & San Pasquale.  Just what everyone needs, three more Italian Zucchini varieties.  Actually, there are all a bit different than many of the other zucchini I have and they have some very interesting characteristics.  

    The Friuli is from the Veneto and is described as a zuchetta, not a zucchini.  Usually this means it is a vining squash kind of like tromba d'albenga or serpent of sicily.  While it is a big plant and may run six or so feet, that is not that much more than some other Italian zucchini.  It is a bit later than most zucchini,  perhaps a week or more longer to produce fruit.  Flowers, however, come on early & strong.  It produces an amazing quantity of male flowers.  One morning I counted almost twenty of them on one of the plants.  Fruit are yellow, not as ugly as I had been led to believe, and taste very good.  Fruit are very solid with little water.  Flower holds well on the fruit.  The photo on the left is a six inch long friuli, the perfect size to pick them.  I could not resist the photo on the left, a group of baby friuli zucchini.

    The Lunga Bianco di Palermo is another runner that will go six or so feet with no problem. Leaves are huge and look more like a winter squash than a zucchini.  It should climb a trellis.  Fruit are pale green and look similar to the long white of Sicily (which makes sense since Palermo is in Sicily).  It too produces an amazing quantity of huge male flowers; take a look at the flowers next to those leaves which are probably fifteen inches across.  Fruit seem somewhat less ridged than the long white of sicily, though I find it hard to tell much of a significant difference other than flower quantity.  In the photo on the left, you can already see signs of ridges although the fruit is no more than six inches long.  

    San Pasquale.  This is a variety commonly found in Southern Italy.  It is a small bushy plant.  It does not run.  It is extremely early and produces a goodly quantity of nice tasting dark green/light green ribbed fruit.  Leaves are fairly small.  Male flower production is normal.  This is a plant for producing zucchini, not flowers.  Quite honestly, it is one of the few Italian zucchini I have seen that is so compact.  Nice plant.  

9.  Reader Comments.  I have to make a observation on one of the comments below.  One compliment concerned the size of the seed packages.  Most of them were large enough for his garden of two acres, but a few were too small;  only an Italian packet could take care of that size garden.

Buon Giorno Amigo:

I am one of your satisfied customers.
The six varieties of tomatoes; "calabrese" broccoli,
cucuzelli, eggplants, red cauliflower, cucumbers, as well as
the basil all germinated well. The marconi peppers were little slow
but, they responded.

The broccoli, red cauliflower, and basil envelopes contained enough
seed for all of Central New York. The cucumber envelopes were a
little skimpy with seed. Every other seed package was just right 
for my size of garden (about 2 acres).

You can use the above statements as a fully happy customer.
Talk to you next year. Grazie.

Tony Leotta
Oswego, New York
(on the southeast shore of the great Lake Ontario)

Hi Bill,

Just writing to let you know how pleased we are the vegetable varieties we received. Our CSA members and other customers have been intrigued by the squash and cucumber varieties. I can't wait for the beans and tomatoes, the plants look good. The squash, especially the 'Tondo Chiaro di Nizza' and 'Rugosa friulana' are amazing. And the chard, ' Bionda da Taglio' is beautiful. Also, I like the Barese. I had some others but I will update you as the Summer progresses.

Thanks,
John Wright
Graceland Farm

10.  Recipes from the garden

     Potatoes, pepper & onions   When I was a kid, this was always one of my favorites.  While not for folks on a diet, it is really not all that bad in the calorie department.  For two people, cut up two waxy potatoes (if you have something right out of the garden, perfect) into similar sized slices (I leave the skin on & make the slices about 1/8" by 1/4".  Seed & slice up the long way some peppers (if you grew one of the frying peppers like frieriello, they are perfect;  otherwise any pepper will do).  Cut up a cup or so of onion in fair sized slices.  If you have a little zucchini or two, perfect.    Put 2-3 tablespoons of  olive oil on the bottom of a heavy pan, add the peppers, onions & potatoes.  Cook on medium heat until they get browned some (ten minutes?)  Turn from time to time with a spatula.  Lower the heat, add the zucchini if you are using them.  Cook a bit more, then put on a cover and cook until done.  Add salt & pepper.  When my wife is not around that is a summer meal for me along with a salad.

    Grilled tomato.  Mince some garlic & rough chop basil.   Thickly slice some tomatoes (if using something like Red Pear or Pantano, slice them at least 1/4 inch thick;  if using a plum tomato, slice in half lengthwise.).  Brush with the mixture.  Put on the high shelf of a grill & cook, turning once.  A minute or two before you take it off, put some grated parmesan cheese on the tomato or some other good Italian cheese.  You want them to have changed texture but not to have browned.  You can serve them as a side vegetable.  Another option is to grill some bread you brushed with olive oil until golden, remove, rub with garlic & top with the tomato & perhaps a leaf of lettuce leaf basil.  

11.  Franchi Flowers.  I have never been much of a flower guy;  I grew up on a farm & the rule of thumb was if you could not sell it or eat it, why bother growing it.  Well, I am a lot older now and times are different.   Over the years, a number of my retail outlet customers & some market growers have sent in glowing reports on Franchi Flowers.  They tell me that the colors are really vibrant & the flowers are vigorous and large.  So this year I started a bunch of different flowers having no idea what to expect.  also, since my old hoophouse blew down over the winter,  the flowers had to go up to my brother's greenhouse once they got big enough to be transplanted.  They did not receive my usual constant care and some of them got pretty leggy.   

    However, I have been very pleased.   The zinnias were really impressive.  They are now close to four feet tall & have been flowering all summer.  Colors are great, especially the reds.  The galliarda (blanket flower) are out in front of the old stone wall and so only get morning sun, but they are really turning into a show.  I was very impressed with the lemon gem marigold.  The flowers are very small (perhaps 3/4 or an inch) but incredibly prolific & look great with the green foliage.  Best of all, you do not have to dead head them.  What a blessing.  Rudbeckia was also impressive.  I was even more impressed when I saw pots of rudbeckia down the local garden center.  The pots were $12.99 & the flowers were half the size and no where near as vibrant.  I guess my customers were right. 

                           

Lemon Gem                Rudbeckia                    Zinnia                            Galliarda

12. Preview of items for next year and requests for new varieties.  It is getting on to time for me to do my ordering for next year.  If there is something you have grown that you think is worthy or know of a variety that others would like, drop me a note.  Give me as much information as possible.  Several people have mentioned zolfino bean;  I think I have found a source and hope to have it next year.  I also will probably have the solid red poppy you find all over Italy and a zucchino da fiore (it doesn't make many fruit, but does it ever produce flowers), another cima di rapa & some more peppers from Southern Italy.  It should be fun.

13.  Win an Italian Garden (ten packs of seeds actually). In addition to mail order, I also distribute to retail outlets in the Northeast and just about anywhere else where there is not a Franchi agent. I distribute to both garden centers and also to larger Italian Markets.  My best customers tend to be Italian Markets, though large garden centers in the right kind of area do well also. If any of you provide me with the name of a place that subsequently decides to become a retail outlet, you will receive ten packs of Franchi seeds. The ideal place is a large busy Italian Market with a lot of traffic through the store or a large garden center in an area where there is a fair sized Italian population. I am especially interested in finding an outlet on Arthur Ave in the Bronx and 9th Street in Philadelphia.  For those of you who sent in tips a few months ago, I am now following up.  (this is the time to chase down retail outlets during their slow season).

14.  A Reader Sends in Some Information on Lampascioni. 

 Lampascioni (cipollotti amari) Lampascioni, typical of Apulian and Basilicata  cuisine, are a kind of wild onions tasting  bitterish and growing naturally in uncultivated  lands. In fact, you find them by ploughing the  land. You can eat them in oil, in salad or in omelette. Unlike usual onions, lampascioni taste more  bitterish and need 4 or 5 years to grow before  being picked. In northern Italy they are not so  well-known even though they were picked and eaten  in the past. Lampascione was already well-known  for its aphrodisiac powers in the days of the Latin poet Ovidio.

Oh, a topic on which I can write a bit !!

Lampascioni is Apulian slang, you won't be easily understood from other Italians, if they have never heard before. It's Muscari comosum or Leopoldia comosa now.Yes, they are very appreciated here, but nowadays they are all cultivated bulbs, mainly imported from Morocco and Tunisie, so I would assume they also eat them.
They are prepared in several ways, but all start with the boiling of the bulbs, to remove the excess of bitterness (spelling right?). Then the bulbs can be served simply with olive oil and pepper, as a salad with bread and small tomatos (pomodorini). Alternatively, the boiled bulbs are squeezed and mixed with eggs and flour, grated cheese,parsley and fried all together. Another way is boiled in water and vinegar, in the same way for eggplants/aubergines or  artichokes and them stored in glass with olive oil. There's no garlic flavour in them anyway, but rightly a mix of mushrooms with a touch of bitter, that is...lampascioni !

I have always wondered why and how people started to eat these bulbs, considering that they grow deep a foot ot more and the work to dig would be more expensive in terms of kcal that those earned by eating !!

Two ways to say involves lampascioni too. To indicate something hard and lenghty to reach 
we say " if you want lampascioni you have to dig ! " Also it indicates anyone being tall and slim and  a bit dull, we say " he's a lampascione" figuratively referring to flower.

enjoy
Angelo
____________________________________________

http://blogs.san-lorenzo.com/fiordizucca/wild_food/
This is a gift from my mother who leaves in the south of Italy, now dated a couple of weeks back.  Fortunately, these can last long by storing them in a dry and cold place, maybe on the terrace, considering these days' temperatures. The Lampascioni are for all Apulian a delicious treat. The scientific name of this flower bulb, because this is what it is, is Muscari comosum, a wild flower which grows all over Italy. I am not sure if this bulb is used for cooking in other Italian regions but in Apulia they are never missed on the table, particularly during winter time. The Lampascione looks a bit like a little onions or shallots. They can be cooked in a few different ways, the most common being: boiled and served with olive oil, fried, with tomatoes, with dry salted cod (Baccalá) or preserved in oil. They must be cleaned as an onion and left in cold water for some time to remove all the remaining soil. In the Murgia, the wildest Apulian region, they are often cooked under hot wooden ashes then dressed with olive oil and salt. That's the best way to maintain their wild taste. If you know where to find these in England, please let me know!

Ingredients : Lampascioni, extravirgin olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper

Peel the lampascioni as you would peel an onion, removing the external side covered by earth. Soak them in water and leave it overnight. Boil them in hot water from 20 to 30 minutes, until they are soft.Drain them, put it in a dish and crash them with a fork one by one. Drizzle with lots of extravirgin olive oil, a bit of vinegar, salt and pepper

15.  Customer Recipe.  Zucchini & a spinach pie from a Chef.  I got to talking with a customer today.  I talked about how I got into doing Seeds from Italy & he told me about his cooking school and his dreams.  I asked if he was interested in donating a recipe or two.  He was and here they are.  These are courtesy of  Justin Naylor who is from Delaware.  If you would like to find out more about his cooking classes, visit his web site:  www.classicitaliancooking.com       My mother used to fry her zucchini a bit differently, but I think that fried zukes are one of the garden's greatest gifts.  The spinach pie is one I have to try as soon as my matador is ready.  Enjoy.  

 

Recipes from Justin Naylor of Classic Italian Cooking in Wilmington, DE

www.classicitaliancooking.com

 

Spinach Pie from Emilia

I learned this classic and traditional spinach pie from Anna Brevini, who farms near Scandiano in Emilia-Romagna.  It’s a great way to use up extra spinach in the fall.

To make the crust, cut 12 Tbspns cold butter into 2 cups flour and 1 tspn salt until the butter pieces are the size of small peas.  Very slowly drizzle in a Tbspn or two of cold water.  Continue adding water just a little at a time until the dough just holds together, using your hands gently to form the dough into a ball if necessary.  It might take up to ½ cup of water or so.  Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for 30 to 60 minutes.

 While the dough is chilling, steam about 1 pound of spinach in a pot with ½ inch of abundantly salted water for just a few minutes, until wilted and tender.  When the spinach is cool enough to handle, squeeze out as much liquid as possible and chop coarsely. 

In a sauté pan, sauté about ½ cup chopped onion in butter until golden, and then add some pancetta, chopped garlic, and parsley, cooking until the pancetta is colored but not crisp.  Allow the mixture to cool somewhat, and then combine it with an egg, ½ cup parmigiano, salt, pepper, maybe some bread crumbs, and maybe even some nutmeg if you like.  Taste and correct for salt.

Take the dough from the refrigerator and divide it into two parts.  Roll out one until it is a little less than ¼ inch thick.  Place it in a pie plate and add the spinach roll.  Roll out the second crust and place it on top.  Cut two slashes for ventilation, and brush a beaten egg all over the top crust.  Bake at 350 for 30 to 45 minutes, until the crust is a lovely olden-brown. 

 

Zucchini Fried in a Pastella Batter

Fried food gets a bad rap today because of badly fried and unhealthy fast foods.  Frying done right, however, produces delicious and light results, and Italian are masters of the method..  This batter is a perfect example.

Slice some zucchini into slices 1/8 inch thick.  In a bowl, combine some water and flour in roughly equal parts, favoring the water slightly (around 1/3 cup flour for ½ cup water, but experiment).  Put enough oil (olive oil or vegetable oil) in a pan so that it comes up ½ to ¾ inch up the sides, and heat it to 375 degrees or so (a slice of zucchini will instantly and vigorously sizzle when the oil is hot enough).  Toss the zucchini slices thoroughly with the batter, and fry about a minute on each side, until nicely colored (don’t crowd the zucchini, frying in batches if necessary).  As they come out of the oil, drain on paper towels and then toss in a bowl with salt.  Serve at once.

16.  BLT.  What does Seeds from Italy have to do with a BLT aka bacon, lettuce & tomato.  How non-Italian can this be:  bacon, usually smoked with something (more likely smoke flavor), cain's mayonaise, etc.  No pancetta here.   Well, there is a connection for me, a couple of them actually.  My wife & I try to eat 'well' which each of us defines a bit differently, but in general we concur that junk food is out, stuff from the garden is good, olive oil is (me, great;  her, avoided like all oils).  BLT's made with the real article, however, are not junk food  and are defined as good.

    We also very much enjoy eating with our family, even though the young male members prefer eating something from the forbidden fast food places, usually accompanied by fries and a carbonated drink.  The exception is dad's BLT's.  So the ripening of the first Red Pear tomato is a cause for celebration and BLT's.  Why Red Pear?  It is the perfect BLT tomato.  First, it is huge.  A slice covers an entire piece of bread.  It tastes incredibly good.  The skin is thin.  Juice drips everywhere.  Texture is pefect.  It is the only tomato capable of inaugurating BLT season.   The ceremony occurs after the first 16 ounce Red Pear ripens.  

    Tonight was the night.  I called my wife and told her to stop on her way home from work at the bakery and get a loaf of really good tuscan bread (actually it is not tuscan bread since it has salt in it, but that actually makes it better.  Who would eat saltless bread, especially for a BLT.)  I called the sons and invited them over for BLT's. Cooked the bacon (apple smoked?, but who cares).  Went to the garden.  Picked three huge Red Pear tomatoes.  Not enough I thought.  However,  there were a bunch of ripe St. Pierre (these may now be my second favorite tomatoes).  Washed some crunchy lettuce.  Got out the Cain's mayonaise (Best Food west of the Mississippi River?).  Laid out a spread.  Summer is here.  They were really good.

Good growing and may your garden be woodchuck & deer free.

 

Bill McKay