Michael Carroll Green's Blog – February 2012 Archive (4)

Certified Farmers Market Fresh Pick of the Week: Mandarinquats!

Mandarinquats?!? Mandarin – what?!?  Despite their strange name, Mandarinquats, the hybrid between the Mandarin orange and the Kumquat, inherited the best of both their progenitors.  Larger, plumper and juicier than Kumquats, they are…

Locally-grown organic Kale is this week’s Fresh Pick of the Week at all four Coachella Valley Certified Farmers’ Markets. Kale is a dark green (and sometimes purple) leafy vegetable that is filled with all sorts of vitamins and nutrients - beta carotene, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Sulforaphane, lutein, calcium, manganese,…

Southern California’s annual crop of Blood Oranges are already arriving at the Coachella Valley’s Certified Farmers’ Markets, and the reception, as always, is quite enthusiastic. Blood Oranges, so-called because they contain an abundance of the red pigment, anthocyanin, are quite tasty; sweet and tart, with a somewhat…

 Fresh-picked Green Beans (or string beans or snap beans) are this week’s Fresh Pick of the Week from the Certified Farmers’ Markets. Ours are grown locally and picked at the point of perfection. The ideal green bean should have a firm, fleshy and sweet pod, but also have well-formed beans inside.  They should also be tender and have…