The Farmer's Wife Guide To Fabulous Fruits And Berries: Growing, Storing, Freezing, and Cooking Your Own Fruits and Berries

263 Pages·2002·3.3 MB·English

by  Barbara Brabec

THE FARMER’S WIFE
GUIDE TO
FABULOUS FRUITS AND
BERRIES
THE FARMER’S WIFE
GUIDE TO
FABULOUS FRUITS
AND BERRIES
GROWING, STORING, FREEZING,
AND COOKING YOUR OWN
200+ RECIPES
AND SERVING IDEAS!
WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED BY
Barbara Doyen
Copyright © 2002 by Barbara Doyen All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of the publisher.
M. Evans and Company, Inc.
216 East 49th Street
New York, New York 10017
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Doyen, Barbara.
The farmer’s wife guide to fabulous fruits and berries : growing, storing, freezing, and cooking your
own / by Barbara Doyen,
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ).
ISBN: 978-0-87131-975-3
1. Fruit-culture. 2. Fruit. 3. Berries. 5. Cookery (Berries) I. Title: Fabulous Fruits and berries. II. Title.
SB355.D77 2002
634—dc21 2002020244
Book design by Rik Lain Schell
Printed in the United States of America 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Why Raise Fruits and Berries?
Garden Notes
Kitchen Notes
Apples
Apricots
Blackberries
Blueberries
Cantaloupe
Cherries
Elderberries
Gooseberries
Grapes
Kiwi
Mulberries
Peaches and Nectarines
Pears
Plums
Raspberries
Rhubarb
Strawberries
Watermelon
Sources
Index
To my husband, The Farmer (also known as Bob Doyen),
who talked me into becoming The Farmer's Wife.
“T
HE WEALTH OF MAN STARTS WITH
.”
FOOD PRODUCED FROM THE SOIL
—Arnie Waldstein
WHY RAISE FRUITS
AND BERRIES?
In the old days, farm folk had to be self-sufficient. When times were tough, the
only fruit you might have was what you could raise yourself. Today, fruit is
available in abundance, nearly year-round. So why raise your own?
It’s Satisfying
There is something wonderful about stepping out your back door to pick crisp,
juicy apples off your very own tree or tangy-sweet raspberries off bushes planted
with your own hands, to serve fresh for supper. Or to make your own
homegrown fruits and berries into flavorful pies or ice cream to share with
friends as you sit and visit on your patio under a grape or kiwi arbor.
Home-Raised Fruit Tastes Better
You can harvest it at just the right time, at the peak of flavor. Store-bought fruit
is often harvested unripe because it ships better that way. Sometimes fruit is
altered by processing: for instance, it might be gassed to induce ripeness. Or
waxed to prevent moisture loss. Or dyed to look prettier. Your own fruit is the
real thing, wholesome in its natural goodness, the way nature intended.
You Can Grow Exactly
the Varieties You Desire
For each fruit type, there are several choices that would be appropriate for your
growing conditions. Each one has different attributes and a different flavor—you
select what is right for you. Sometimes, the variety you prefer is not available in
the store, like the Wealthy apples that were my Grandpa Hartsock’s favorite, so I
have planted a tree in my orchard in his memory.
Nutrition Is Improved
Did you know that strawberries picked on a sunny day have lots more vitamin C
than those harvested on a cloudy day? Beyond this, shipping delays, premature
harvest, and processing techniques rob the fruit of valuable nutrients.
You Have Control of the
Pesticides You’re Consuming
Fruit, especially when imported from other countries, may have been sprayed
with toxic chemicals. By growing your own, you will know exactly what was
used on your fruit, and since you have many choices, why not select products
that work in cooperation with nature and are not harmful to our bodies?
Your Home and Yard Are Beautified
Fruited plants provide a landscape that is ever-changing from spring through fall
and even into the winter. Your fruit trees, shrubs, vines, and plants will be
pleasing from the eagerly awaited first budding in the spring, through the
spectacular beauty of full blossoming, to the bright flashes of developing fruit,
and even past the harvest when the foliage goes into fall color. The bare
branches will add stark accents to your winter landscape as they throw soft
shadows from the weaker winter sun; become painted with frost on a crisp, cool
morning; or as they are quietly coated with the first snow on a gray November
day.
Growing Your Own Fruit Is Easy!
Once established, it takes little time and minimal effort for great rewards!
It’s Good for Your Mental, Spiritual,
and Physical Well-Being
and Physical Well-Being
Raising your own fruits and berries presents you with a built-in opportunity to
turn your attention away from your hectic day-to-day existence and tune in to the
calming infinity of nature. Just as the fruit is connected and in harmony to the
earth via roots and leaves and vital energy, you’ll discover yourself becoming
deeply connected and in harmony, too. This connection is not only mental and
spiritual, but I believe it to be physical as well. The produce you raise likely has
properties that help your body prepare for the conditions of the season to come
via the same mechanism that triggers the woolly caterpillars to grow more hair,
or wild animals to have thicker pelts and dig deeper holes for hibernation in
anticipation of a harsher-than-normal winter. Perhaps eating locally grown fruit
is important for your body’s preparation for whatever the next season will bring.
I hope this book inspires you to grow fruits and berries, no matter what your
situation. You’ll look forward to walking around outside to observe and tend
your crops or to caring for your indoor container plants. You’ll find yourself
reaping a dual harvest: wholesome fruits and berries for your body, and, as a
bonus, nourishing fruits of the spirit for your soul.