Inside The New York Botanical Garden
recipe
Posted in Programs and Events on October 9 2013, by Matt Newman
We’re a bit under two months from the grand conclusion of 2013’s NYBG Greenmarket season, and while the hourglass is winding down for fresh, locally-grown produce at the Garden, the quality, quantity, and variety of just-picked edibles isn’t dwindling in the least. Fall is an amazing time for fruits and vegetables from our vendors, and judging by the enormous cauliflower, bright cobs of corn, and rainbow of sweet and tart apples out on display as I passed by the stalls this morning, the chill in the air should be the last thing holding up your visit.
Today, alongside the Macoun, Empire, Golden Delicious, and other varieties of fresh fall apples, there are Niagara grapes, quince, and of course the fruit juices that Red Jacket Orchards is famous for. Migliorelli Farm is in town today with green and purple kohlrabi varieties, as well as golden beets, Japanese turnips, and flat beans in abundance. And from Gajeski Produce, plan to take home Tuscan kale, Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, tomatillos (amazing salsa from these) and at least three colors of gigantic cauliflower. It goes without saying that their mini pumpkins and gourds should also be on your list. Meredith’s Bread rounds out the vendors with cookies, carrot cakes, savory breads and rolls, homemade jams, lots of gluten-free options, and a seasonal specialty known as the “pumpkin explosion.” So if you’ve got a one-pumpkin-flavored-goodie-per-day rule, maybe skip the pumpkin spice latte.
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Posted in Programs and Events on September 4 2013, by Matt Newman
The aphorisms all say that it’s taboo through and through to lead a post with mention of the weather, but it’s so spring-like outside that I couldn’t help it if I wanted to. The sun is up, the breeze is cool, and the Greenmarket‘s been hopping since I walked in this morning. A quick scout around the vendor tents made it clear why, too: the tables are practically overflowing with plump late-summer fruits and vegetables.
From Migliorelli Farm, you’ll find ginger gold apples, Seckel and Bartlett pears, cantaloupe, delicious tomatillos (try them in a cooked salsa dish—you may have to take a hiatus from tomatoes), and mountains of corn. And from Red Jacket Orchards, there’s no dearth of donut peaches, plums, fresh Concord grapes, and sunset apples. Gajeski Produce is keeping the savory side of things covered with parsley, beets, yellow squash, cabbage, corn, and my personal favorite: peppers. Think sweet, cayenne, and jalapeno varieties. You can finish your shopping trip with a stop at Meredith’s Bread, whose cookies, macaroons, muffins, scones, rugelach, and pies make for the perfect dessert. Or just grab one of their savory breads (they’ve got organic and gluten-free varieties, for those curious).
The NYBG Greenmarket runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each Wednesday through November 27, with free short-term parking for Greenmarket shoppers. The market accepts food stamps, EBT, WIC/FMNP, and Senior coupons, in addition to cash and credit or debit cards. Learn how to use EBT, WIC and FMNP at the Greenmarket. And head below for a recipe from our staff at the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden.
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Posted in Programs and Events on August 27 2013, by Matt Newman
Sweet, savory, and that piquant point right in the middle—the Greenmarket‘s been representing our favorite flavors in equal measures of late. Judging by the number of colleagues snacking on fresh donut peaches last Wednesday, this week’s gathering should have no shortage of the fuzzy fruits out for sale. And the apples aren’t making themselves scarce, either—try the Ginger Golds if you have the chance. We’ve also seen heaps of plums, blueberries, watermelon and nectarines out on the tables of late. On the vegetable front, plan for broccoli, kale, onions, tomatoes of every shape and color, reliable radishes, a few kinds of peppers staggered over the Scoville scale, and some yellow summer squash.
There’s more, of course (fresh-baked bread, anybody?), and with each week there are new entries and exits for the various crops on offer, but this tentative list gives you an idea of what to expect. And how many bags to bring if you’ve got a stock of canvas!
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Posted in Programs and Events on August 26 2013, by Matt Newman
Don’t worry, not every aspect of the yearly back-to-school crunch has to involve elbowing your way through the school supplies aisle. In fact, with our #NYBGWFM recipe contest, you won’t even have to leave your couch.
Back in July, The New York Botanical Garden and Whole Foods Market teamed up to launch the first in a series of quick and easy recipe contests in our area, asking you all to submit your favorite no-cook cherry recipes for a chance at a Whole Foods gift card. This time around, we’re looking for the unique treats that spruce up your kid’s lunchbox. Whether it’s a tried and true variation on Ants on a Log, a neat spin on ham and cheese, or your student’s favorite cafeteria confection, we want to know what makes your brown bag skills the best on the block!
We make the submission process as pain-free as possible, too. If you’re on Twitter, just tweet your no-cook (that’s an important requirement) recipe or the recipe link using the #NYBGWFM hashtag. If you’d prefer, you can also leave us your recipe in the comments at the bottom of this post. After the August 30 deadline, Whole Foods Market Culinary Demonstration Specialists will pick a winner local to the New York City area to receive a $50 Whole Foods gift card. Better yet, that recipe will be prepared in the winner’s local Whole Foods Market store and made available for visitors to sample.
Again, this particular contest ends on Friday, August 30. We’re planning one more come September, but seeing as you can double up on your chances by participating in both, there’s no reason to miss out on this round!
Posted in Programs and Events on July 16 2013, by Matt Newman
Last week’s Greenmarket saw the addition of eggs, red raspberries, cauliflower, cucumbers, and red currants. Meanwhile, the rhubarb (so glad strawberry-rhubarb pie is making a comeback) was on its way out. You may still find some this week, however, as we continue the important harvest month of July with some of the freshest produce in New York!
We’re hoping to see more blueberries, peaches, and plums going forward, but as always, what shows up each Wednesday is something of a surprise. You can get a better idea of what to look forward to by visiting our friends’ harvest chart at GrowNYC. Or you can just plan on the pies, fresh breads, cookies, and quiches to be found here otherwise—they are absurdly delicious.
The NYBG Greenmarket runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each Wednesday through November 27, with free short-term parking for Greenmarket shoppers and—as on every Wednesday—free Grounds Admission for visitors. The market accepts food stamps, EBT, WIC/FMNP, and Senior coupons, in addition to cash and credit or debit cards. Learn how to use EBT, WIC and FMNP at the Greenmarket. And head below for a recipe from our staff at the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden.
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Posted in Programs and Events on July 16 2013, by Matt Newman
For the next few months, it can’t be helped: you’ll see more New Yorkers fanning themselves with their newspapers than reading them. We’re all looking for a little relief from the summer heat, and for some it’s lemonade (or an Arnold Palmer if you’re next-level about your refreshments). For us, it’s a heaped bowl of cherries—chilled to frosty perfection! But there are so many ways to enjoy these summer treats that even we don’t know each and every one. That said, telling us about your recipe might just win you something!
The New York Botanical Garden is teaming up with Whole Foods Market this summer, and we’re on a quest to beat the heat. Naturally, that means uncovering novel ways to prepare some of our favorite hot-weather fruits and vegetables, whether they’re topping ice cream, filling out a fruit salad, or sitting pretty at the bottom of a juice glass. Whatever you can come up with—sudden epiphany, family recipe, a neat idea, anything—we want to try it out! Of course, we wouldn’t think to take this on without putting a reward up for grabs. After you’ve submitted your recipes, Whole Foods Market Culinary Demonstration Specialists will pick a winning dish to receive a $50 Whole Foods Gift card. Better yet, that recipe will be prepared in your local Whole Foods Market store and made available for visitors to sample.
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Posted in Programs and Events on July 9 2013, by Matt Newman
It’s Tuesday, which means it’s almost Wednesday. And Wednesday, of course, means Greenmarket goodies! Come 9 a.m. tomorrow we’ll be out along Garden Way with our visiting vendors, buying our fill of fresh-picked fruits, vegetables, and baked treats. That said, we would love some company from our visitors.
As of last week’s Greenmarket offerings, we saw heaps of fresh blueberries, grape tomatoes, cabbage, bok choy, potatoes, green beans, and beets from Gajeski Produce. From Migliorelli Farm, there was all manner of flavorful herbs, along with summer squash, zucchini, peas of different kinds, and all the kale, spinach, and collards that could possibly fit in your crisper drawer. From Red Jacket Orchards, apricots, strawberries, and cherries, along with buckets of fresh chilled fruit juices. And of course there was Meredith’s Bread, which supplied us with stacks of fresh-baked pies, breads, scones, and muffins. They even had quiche!
Chances are we’ll see similar offerings on the table tomorrow, but with so many harvests beginning and ending in July, there may be a few surprises. In the meantime, head below for a recipe from our Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden crew.
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Posted in Programs and Events on July 2 2013, by Matt Newman
Potatoes for mashing, strawberries for snacking, carrots for crunching, garlic for…well, anything you can feasibly put it in shy of ice cream. We’re into week three of the Greenmarket this Wednesday, and things are only ramping up (except the actual ramps—those oniony wonders are more of an April thing) as the summer matures. Last week saw a big focus on summer squash, and while we’re likely to see more of that this week, the start of July traditionally sounds the trumpet for a bunch of other harvests—whether they’re beginning or ending.
Cherries are commonly a July thing, but we’ve been seeing them for a couple of weeks now, so plan to pick up a few hefty handfuls while you’re here. This month also marks the beginning of the fresh potato harvest at large, and the tail end of outdoor-grown rhubarb in our area. Peppers and tomatoes will be coming into vogue from here on out, along with blueberries, peaches, plums, and raspberries, so err on the side of caution and think about bringing your big produce bag in the coming weeks. It’ll be one of your better decisions.
Oh, and keep in mind this is just a tentative schedule—with the weather as unpredictable as it’s been over the last year, the harvests rarely have a cut and dry beginning or end. We just do our best to predict. I’ve got another recipe from the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden for you, so head below for that, and we’ll see you at the Greenmarket tomorrow!
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Posted in Around the Garden on June 25 2013, by Sonia Uyterhoeven
Sonia Uyterhoeven is the NYBG‘s Gardener for Public Education.
This past weekend, we were out in the Louise Loeb Vegetable Garden in the Home Gardening Center covering vegetable gardening basics. Knowing how to plant and grow vegetables is one thing, but the love and the labor means nothing if you don’t know what to do with the harvest. Bearing that in mind, I made the visitors a simple tomato and bread salad that was loaded with fresh herbs. Traditionally it is an old Tuscan recipe made from left-over (read: stale) bread. It is a quick and easy recipe that adds life to everyday meals.
The ingredients for the recipe toss together the most basic herbs and vegetables from the home garden:
– 4 ripe tomatoes cut into ½-inch cubes
– 3 small Persian cucumbers cut into ½-inch cubes (or one small regular cucumber, deseeded)
– Handful of basil (approx. 2 tablespoons)
– Handful of parsley (approx. 2 tablespoons)
– Small handful of oregano (approx. 1 tablespoon)
– 4 scallions chopped into small pieces
– 1-2 garlic cloves minced (optional)
– 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar (optional: tear a few basil leaves and soak them in vinegar for a few hours overnight to give the vinegar more flavor)
– ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
– 2 cups few-days-old Italian or French bread cut into small cubes (optional: toast the bread lightly in the oven)
– Salt and pepper to taste
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Posted in Programs and Events on November 13 2012, by Matt Newman
We’re seeing a lot of countdowns, lately. Fall is drawing to a close, the IGPOTY submission deadline is on the horizon, and we’re pipping off the days until the opening of the Holiday Train Show. Near at hand, we’re also staring down the November 21 close of 2012’s Greenmarket season; tomorrow–Wednesday, November 14–marks the penultimate chance to get your fresh fruits, vegetables, baked goods and cheeses before our vendors close up shop until next summer. And why, oh why, would you choose to skip out on fresh eats?
I didn’t think you would!
Last week’s menu was stuffed with fresh-from-the-oven goodies by both The Little Bake Shop and Meredith’s Bakery (you’ll find a reliable herd of staffers making a mad dash for the whoopie pies each Wednesday morning). Chocolate croissants, cupcakes, cookies, fruit pies, and plenty of freshly-baked breads took center stage, while Migliorelli Farm’s apple cider donuts weren’t exactly flying under the radar, either.
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We’re a bit under two months from the grand conclusion of 2013’s NYBG Greenmarket season, and while the hourglass is winding down for fresh, locally-grown produce at the Garden, the quality, quantity, and variety of just-picked edibles isn’t dwindling in the least. Fall is an amazing time for fruits and vegetables from our vendors, and judging by the enormous cauliflower, bright cobs of corn, and rainbow of sweet and tart apples out on display as I passed by the stalls this morning, the chill in the air should be the last thing holding up your visit.
