Green"er" Acres Farm

Let's Do Some Healthy Baking

Welcome Appalachia Malting, LLC

We would like to welcome our newest grower/producer, Appalachia Malting, this week. Father and son team Vince and Andy Golden of Portage, PA are both farmer veterans and run the Certified Organic Golden Farm where their grains are grown. They then sprout and mill their grains at their Appalachia Malting facility. They currently carry spelt and buckwheat flour, both regular and sprouted.

Spelt flour comes from an ancient strain of wheat. It’s high in protein and has a nutty, complex flavor that’s sweeter and lighter than that of whole wheat. Gluten-containing spelt is a good source of fiber, iron, and manganese.

• Flavor: Sweet with a taste of whole wheat.
• Texture effect: Soft and moist in small amounts; dry in larger quantities.
• Works best in: Pancakes, quick breads, and muffins.

Buckwheat flour is hearty, gluten-free, and a good source of magnesium, copper, and dietary fiber. We enjoy its health benefits, but also turn to it again and again for its bold, nutty flavor.

• Flavor: Bold, toasty, and rich.
• Texture effect: Moist and tender in small amounts; chalky in larger quantities.
• Works best in: Pancakes and quick breads.

We have included recipes for Spelt Muffins and Buckwheat Pancakes under our ‘Recipes’ tab to give you some ideas. Keep in mind, when working with these grains, they act similar to whole wheat flour, in that if you use them at 100% your end product with have a denser texture and nuttier flavor. Some people like that, while others will mix it at 25% or 50% with regular white flour in order to keep some of the nutritional factors while keeping some of the lightness and rise of white flour.
For those who avoid gluten, buckwheat is naturally gluten-free. Note: to those who are very sensitive to gluten (people with celiac disease) this product is milled in the same facility that mills wheat products.

New Produce Items

We have a few new produce items this week in very limited quantities: zucchini, sugar snap peas, broccoli, cauliflower and mixed radishes. We also have limited quantities of various lettuces, swiss chard, kale, spinach and rhubarb.

Try Some Fresh Culinary Herbs

Many people seem to be afraid to try using fresh herbs in their cooking. You have no idea what you are missing. Fresh herbs add a bright splash of flavor and color to any dish. And they are surprisingly easy to use.

Because dried herbs are generally more potent and concentrated than fresh herbs, you’ll need less dried herbs than fresh — typically three times the amount of fresh herbs as dry. For example, if a recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of fresh oregano, you need only 1 teaspoon of dried, since 3 teaspoons equal 1 tablespoon.

Our herb gardens are just bursting this time of year and we currently are carrying:

• Borage (edible flowers that taste mildly of cucumber and are a beautiful blue color)
• Cilantro (add a spicy mexican flavor for any dish)
• Stevia (all natural sweetener, also known as ‘sweet leaf’, that is approximately 200-300 times as sweet as white sugar)
• Parsley, flat Italian or curly leaf (great as a garnish or added to boiled potatoes with butter)
• Rosemary (great in some melted butter and brushed on grilled meat, or try some when making a homemade bread)
• Oregano, thyme, tarragon and sage
• And mints of all flavors, including peppermint, spearmint, chocolate mint, pineapple mint and strawberry mint.