Eating in season – Autumn in East Tennessee

We have a great farm market near our home here in East Tennessee. It is run by Mennonites and located off 411-South in Delano, Tennessee. The members of the Mennonite community grow all the produce they sell at the market. I like this because I can ask the growers about pesticides, fertilizers, varieties. They are not certified organic but this fact does not bother me. Most of the farmers use natural, organic methods. Their produce is beautiful, well priced, and flavorful. Combined with the produce we grow in our own garden, we buy very little produce at the grocery store.

Here’s a picture taken of the results from my shopping trip to the Delano farm market last week. This should give you some idea of what is in season this time of year in East Tennessee.

Starting at 12 o’clock and proceeding clockwise, there’s cabbage, red bell peppers, carrots, beets, potatoes, sweet potatoes, butternut (winter) squash, and green and red tomatoes. The tomatoes and peppers will be gone as soon as we get hard frost, unless they are kept in a greenhouse. These are eaten fresh with the green tomatoes allowed to ripen in a cool area. The butternut squash will last on the bookshelf until the end of December. Cabbage, carrots and beets will be fermented into kraut & pickled beets. I’ll keep some of the carrots fresh in the veggie drawer of the fridge. They will last that way for many months. Potatoes and sweet potatoes are kept in a cool place. In our case, an unheated concrete tower adjacent to our house. A garage would work well too.

Fruits in season this time of year include apples & pears. With the hard freeze we had in Tennessee in April, most of these fruits were lost so I am resigned to buying some at the store. Oranges and other citrus from Florida are beginning to ripen. Look for oranges that are not bright orange as this indicates they have been dyed.

This is also a great time to stock up on walnuts and pecans as these typically ripen in the autumn. You will get the freshest nuts purchasing them now. April over at Southeast Whole Grain is sourcing the freshest nuts right now so check out what she has in stock. Store them in the freezer. Better yet, soak your nuts in a mix of warm water and 1 tablespoon of salt then dry them in a dehydrator or on pans in your oven (at about 150 degrees). This makes the nuts more nutritious and digestible (think sprouts). It also gives them a wonderful crispy texture. Pecans in particular, if soaked and dried fresh, get a wonderful buttery flavor.

So try eating in season. You’ll find yourself eating a much wider variety of fruits and vegetables and enjoying local and U.S. grown produce that supports small family farms.

November 7th, 2007