Farmers Market Report

Laura Avery

Mirror Contributing Writer

   Healthy soil produces healthy crops that contain vitamins and minerals, but what is really fascinating is how the soil gets healthy.

   A few fortunate farmers have land that is near stream beds or on old flood plains that have deposits of mineral and nutrient rich silt and topsoil. Crops flourish in these areas with little or no soil amendments or fertilizer; nutrients, especially minerals, are extracted by the plants directly from the soil.

   John Agulia from ABC Organics brings his Brix meter to the Market each week and has a chart that lists optimum nutrient levels in commonly purchased produce items. When a few drops of juice from any fruit or vegetable are squeezed onto the Brix lens, one can see the read-out of the percentage of soluble nutrients on a numerical scale. The higher the number, the greater the nutritional content.

   When fertilizer is added to the soil to feed plants, the fertilizer (often a synthetic compound) is taken up into the plant itself but nothing is added to the soil, creating in effect plants that are chemically dependent on fertilizing agents.

   Also, fertilizers contain no complex mineral components such as those found in living, healthy soil, and they do not feed the consumer. John sells organic soil amendments that feed the soil that feeds the plants -- and you.

   Chris Wilson of Simply Worms sells "Worm Kits" that produce pounds of organic, nutrient rich compost every two months through the activity of 1,000 red compost worms. The worm kits can be kept anywhere out of direct sunlight and are a "fast forward" compost heap that is odor-free, portable and almost as much fun to watch as one of Uncle Miltie’s Ant Farms. Harvested compost is top fed directly to all plants, and the compost can also be put into an old nylon and steeped to make "Worm Tea" -- an effective pest repellent.

In the Market

   MUSKMELONS, which are the soft-skinned, netted type of melons, are arriving. Ed Munak from Paso Robles has a delicious ROCKY SWEET MELON, which has green flesh and is extremely sweet. Also a CHARANTAIS MELON which is a smaller, round melon with exquisite creamy orange flesh. All melons should be picked at "full slip," which means that the stem comes completely off the fruit when picked, leaving only a disc-shaped indentation. CANARY MELONS are a brilliant yellow, football-shaped melon that has an almost white flesh and is very good when completely ripe -- the skin will be slightly sticky when ready to eat.

   WHOLE BABY SQUASHES include the YELLOW CROOKNECK, ZUCCHINI, and YELLOW or GREEN PATTYPAN. They can be baked, steamed or grilled whole. ZUCCHINI BLOSSOMS are also abundant --the female blossoms have a tiny zucchini attached and the male blossoms are larger yellow flowers. Both can be breaded, stuffed and fried or sauteed and put into burritos.