A blister beetle in hand

[HOST INTRO] What do you do when your garden is invaded by bugs?  If you’re an organic gardener, a plague of pests can test your convictions.  Do you patiently pick the bugs off, accept serious losses or pull out the big chemical guns?

In this installment of the Market & Garden Report correspondent Guy Hand visits an organic gardening class struggling to balance idealism with practicality when pests threaten to destroy their crops.

(Hand) So what are these? (Clay) They’re black blister beetles.

(Hand) Clay Erskine is showing me the pests that have invaded his organic gardening class garden.

(Clay) And it looks like just in a five by five square food area there’s about maybe a thousand bugs.

Blister beetles on potato plants

(Hand) These shiny black beetles have descended on the classes previously idyllic organic garden in horror movie numbers.  But rather than bring out chemical sprays, albeit organic ones, Erskine sees the infestation as a way to put fundamental organic gardening principals to the test.

Kids with a tray of freshly-picked blister beetles in vegetable oil (not as appetizing as it may sound).

(Clay) That’s the philosophical idea of organics is that you just don’t knee-jerk spray no matter what.  Organics is more of trying the least invasive process of just monitoring, hand picking and make sure you’re following all the processes before you step it up the next notch rather going straight to the great big gun.

(Hand) The great big gun would be organic pesticides, which can kill beneficial insects as well as pests.  Instead, the class is trying the least invasive method: picking the bugs off plants by hand.  After a long week of handpicking, I ask the class if they’re still committed.

(Hand) Why don’t you just spray rather than spend all this time picking bugs? (Ellie Rodgers) I don’t want to kill the beneficial insects.  Some of it is keeping the natural balance of things and realize you can’t have this perfect, beautiful garden with out pests because a lot of them serve a purpose.  (Hand) Are most of you on board with that, that you’d rather do all those other things before you spray?  (Heather Cooper) I actually would have voted for spraying.  I find that the time issue is just not an option for myself.  And I think it might deter some people that might try organic gardening because if you go and you say you gotta pick all the bugs off and they’re lucky to get the seeds in the ground and consistently watered, but that’s just my own tolerance level.  (Hand) If it got down to losing your tomato plants or spraying, would you feel good about spraying then?  (Class) I’d spray, I think so, I would spray, I wouldn’t lose tomatoes . . .

Gardening class member picking beetles off tomato plants one by one. It's tedious, but less invasive than spraying pesticides, even organic pesticides, on the garden.

(Hand) So far, the class hasn’t resorted to sprays.  As one more alternative, Clay Erskine offers a little gardening philosophy.

(Clay)  When you look at the garden you can’t focus on the worst.  Because there’s always going to be something bad and something going wrong and some bug that’s driving you crazy.  So when you come out, look at all the beautiful things . . .

(Hand) For Edible Idaho’s Market & Garden Report and Boise State Public Radio, I’m Guy Hand.

Deborah Jantzi of Treasured Sunrise Acres with raw cow milk

Idaho, however, recently changed it’s laws to allow the selling of raw milk.  In this installment of the Market & Garden Report, correspondent Guy Hand  goes to the farmers’ market to talk to Idaho’s first licensed raw milk dairywoman

(Woman at Market) So can you tell me about this? (Jantzi) It’s raw milk.  I have raw cow and goat milk.

(Hand) You know we’ve been living in a processed, pasteurized world a long time when people ask “what’s raw milk.”  In the few weeks that Deborah Jantzi has been selling raw goat and cows milk at the Capital City Public Market, she’s been asked that question many times.

(Jantzi) Raw milk comes straight from the cow or the goat.  We don’t do anything to it except filter it and flash cool it and bottle it.  We don’t do anything else, no processing to it.

(Hand) We humans drank raw milk for millenia.  Only after Louis Pasteur discovered that pasteurization killed pathogens, did raw milk fall out of favor.  But Jantzi says there’s a downside to pasteurization.

(Jantzi) When you pasteurize something you heat it up and it kills all the bacteria in it, good and bad, there’s bacteria on everything and if the milk comes from a healthy animal and handled clean you have no bad bacteria in it.  So you’re killing all the good bacteria that’s beneficial to your gut to help digest your food.  It also has a lot of enzymes in it and when you pasteurize it you kill them.

(Hand)  Not everyone in the raw milk debate would agree with Jantzi, but the State of Idaho says raw milk is safe if it’s produced in impeccably clean conditions.

Raw goat milk

(Jantzi)  To be licensed to sell raw milk, I had to have a grade A dairy to start with.  But then I have to go beyond that. I have to test every batch of my milk before I can bottle it.  The dairy inspector comes to my farm on average of once a month, takes that milk back to the state lab and they run all kinds of tests to make sure that it is healthy and that there is nothing in there that’s going to cause any problems for any body.

Cooler full of raw milk

(Hand) Jantzi sells her raw milk at her own dairy, at several farmers’ markets and the Boise Coop.  She’s got other plans as well.

(Jantzi) I am working on a licensed kitchen in my dairy.  I will then be able to do like chocolate milk, raw milk ice cream, we’re working on putting a cheese plant in and then we’ll be doing soft and possibly hard cheeses.  We will also be doing yogurt.

(Hand) But does raw milk taste different?

(Jantzi) Yeah, there’s a difference in taste.  It tastes a lot fuller, a lot creamier, I think a lot better (laughing).

(Hand) If you’re interested in raw milk, Deborah Jantzi will be at the Capital City Public Market every Saturday.  For the Market & Garden Report and Boise State Public Radio, I’m Guy Hand.

Here are several articles on the raw milk issue:

Some Like It Raw
The Truth About Raw Milk Part 1
The Truth About Raw Milk Part 2
Want raw milk? Lease a farm—and hire a lawyer
Is raw milk becoming too popular for its own good?

Renee Davies / Idaho Statesman Borshch, a Russian beet soup, is a favorite at the Russian Bear Cafe. The soup consists of cabbage, potatoes, carrots, onion, beets, and spices. Although the soup is served hot, restaurant owner Oleg Mironov said this does not affect its popularity in the summer. "When it's really hot outside, there are still people that want it," Mironov said.

Among borshch aficionados, the origins and essential ingredients of this Central and Eastern European beet soup are as varied and hotly contested as chili at a chili contest. There’s Russian borshch, Polish borshch, Jewish borscht, hot borshch, cold borshch, thick borshch, thin borshch, meaty borshch, meatless borshch and borshch without beets. There’s also little to no consensus on the spelling of the actual word: borscht, bortsch, borstch, borsh, barszcz, borsch or borshch.

In deference to Oleg and Svetlana Mironov of Russian Bear Cafe in Eagle, I’ll go with borshch. It’s the way they spell it – and with beet soup as good as theirs, I’ll trust the Mironov’s culinary literacy.

Lighter than many versions, their vegetable based borshch is clear, seemingly uncomplicated, even a little insipid at first slurp. But flavors blossom with each bite like shapes rising out of Eurasian shadows. By spoonful number three, I could sense the dill, the bay, the rising heat of black pepper and the sweet earthiness of beet, cabbage and onion. An occasional nip from a dollop of sour cream floating autonomously in that ruby-red broth gave this meatless soup a little zing and welcomed substance. By the bottom of the bowl, I was hooked.

Accompanying that borshch as a lunch combination ($10.76) was a simple, savory blini or crepe. With a deli ham and cheese filling, it was only a degree or two more exotic than a sandwich shop ham and cheese, but the blini itself was thick, chewy and, like that borshch, grew more interesting with each bite.

The equally simple sweet blini, a tight, jam-filled cylinder dusted with confectioner sugar and a drizzle of chocolate sauce, was a pleasant end to a modest but decidedly different meal.

Russian Bear Cafe is as unpretentious as that lunch. Hidden in a leafy little mall off Eagle Road, this small, too-often-empty restaurant houses photos of onion-domed skylines, recorded Russian music and tablecloths draped in clear plastic. The kitchen is small and the microwave isn’t unused, but the Mironovs cook from scratch and much of what they bring to table is unseen in the rest of the Treasure Valley.

On another visit, I can’t say I was enamored of an oily Black Sea Salad ($5.25), the pale perogies ($11.25) and a rather bland stroganoff ($17.35). But I loved the bacon-wrapped, fried cheese and dried apricot appetizer ($6.25); pickled, spicy carrot strips ($4.50) and a side of roasted grains.

Renee Davies / Idaho Statesman Oleg Mironov and his wife Svetlana Mironov are the owners of the Russian Bear Cafe.

A stuffed cabbage entree ($15.95) had the same slowly building flavors I’d experienced at lunch. Two cabbage rolls filled with a light, meatloafy mixture of turkey, beef and rice came squiggled with sour cream and surrounded with a shallow pond of light tomato broth. It was, like the lunch soup, all about harmony, a mellow, mild first bite building to a surprisingly satisfying finish.

Oleg Mironov says the Russian north is known for homey, understated fare. The south, he says, gets a bit more bold.

The sorrel soup special ($4.95), no matter its actual provenance, was zippier than anything I’d had on previous visits. That leafy green with its surprisingly tart flavor, gave this clear broth a refreshing, eye-popping tang. Mironov says it’s a traditional summer soup often served lukewarm or cold. With bits of parsley, chunks of potato, chopped hard-boiled egg and another ubiquitous dollop of sour cream, it was a delectable green counterpoint to the mellower beet borshch.

The Russian-style smoked pork ribs special ($11.94) also had extroverted flavors. Three large, fatty ribs rich with smoke arrived with what Mironov called his grandmother’s secret sauce. Red, spicy, but lacking the cloying sweetness of many American barbecue sauces, it gave a sharp, garlicky bite to those deliciously greasy ribs.

You may have to prowl around the menu to find dishes that suit your palate and let those often subtle flavors build. But if you do, Russian Bear Cafe will prove worth the effort.

Read more: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2010/07/16/1268989/try-the-borshch-at-russian-bear.html#ixzz0tql8q6tR

According to a researcher at Washington State University, some peach growers in Oregon reported losing 50% of their crops last year. The flies originally came from Asia. The same species showed up in western Washington 2009, and again this year.

The Washington Blueberry Commission has been working with researchers to figure out how to control the fruit flies. Alan Schreiber is the director of the commission. He says it is unclear how major the damage will be.

Schreiber: “This pest is either gonna cost us a lot of money to control it or it is gonna cost even more amount in terms of loss production. We are really holding our breath in waiting to see if we had the ability to control the insect or not.”

Growers have been setting up traps to help catch the fruit flies. Doug Walsh is a professor at Washington State University. He believes organic growers are most susceptible.

Walsh: “Obviously, it’s a new pest in our area. The shame that we have right now is we had a very large increase in our organic blueberry production here in eastern Washington. We have a number of pesticides that can control this insect that’s relatively easy to control with the insecticides that are available, but it’s the organic producers and the backyard growers that I am concerned about. ”

Walsh also says the pest is seasonal, and they tend to increase in a warmer weather. He hopes that a cold winter in eastern Washington will help depress the fly population.

Copyright 2010 KUOW

To listen to this story go to Northwest Public Radio

Photo by Tom Banse

This weekend, around 30,000 people are expected to descend on Sequim, Washington for that small town’s 14th annual lavender festival. Organizers boast it is North America’s biggest celebration of the purple herb. Lavender festivals are blossoming all over the Northwest. There’s another one in Twin Falls, Idaho this Saturday and on San Juan Island, Washington Saturday and Sunday. Correspondent Tom Banse takes stock of what’s become a growth industry.

If “U-pick” lavender or lavender sachets aren’t your thing, maybe you’ll succumb to lavender body butter, ice cream, salad dressing, lavender BBQ rub, eye pillows or dog bandanas. Those are just some of the cottage businesses that have sprouted lately based on the fragrant herb.

Mary Jendrucko: “It just caught on.”

Mary Jendrucko and her husband planted a lavender farm near Sequim in 2000. Membership in her local growers’ association has tripled since then.

Mary Jendrucko: “I think it’s because the world is so crazy and people want to relax. Lavender has those known qualities for relaxation.”

Jendrucko says one nice side benefit of the dramatic growth in the lavender business is seeing farmland preserved which otherwise might be converted to housing developments.

Lavender businesses in Oregon recently reached the critical mass needed to form their own industry association. Last weekend, lavender lovers had no fewer than seven different festivals to choose from across the Northwest.

On the Web:

Sequim Lavender Festival

Oregon Lavender Association

Lavender Festival – Twin Falls, ID (July 17)

San Juan Island Lavender Festival (July 17-18)

Copyright 2010 Northwest News Network

Listen

Photo by Guy Hand

In this episode of the Market & Garden Report, correspondent Guy Hand talks to Clay and Josie Erskine of Peaceful Belly Farms about the fine art of watering.

(Sounds of sprinklers) (Hand) Watering seems so elemental, so simple.  It’s not.

(Clay) It’s kind of mysterious.  You don’t know if you’re doing it right or if you’re doing too much or not enough.  It’s really difficult to know.

(Hand) Farmer and garden class teacher Clay Erskine says you can’t just look at the ground and tell if it’s time to water — especially in our desert climate.

(Clay) I think people over water a lot because the surface will seem dry in the middle of the day and they go out there and everything looks parched and dry and dusty.  In our climate, unless you’re actively watering something, it’s going to look bone dry.  But it doesn’t necessarily need water.

(Hand) So you can’t look at dirt as an indicator.  Josie Erskine says you can’t even look at a drooping plant and always know it’s time to water.

(Josie) Some of your squashes and stuff will look like they need water, they’ll wilt, their big leaves will wilt or the melons will wilt, but they’ll be wet.  Bean plants sometimes can fool you too.  They’ll droop a little bit at their tops and they don’t need water yet.

(Hand) Over watering can be as bad as under watering.  So how do you know when enough is enough?

(Clay) There’s a whole technology of water that you can totally get into if you want to.  I mean you can get tensometers, where it has two different levels of water probes which tells you exactly when you need to irrigate.  But I believe that the best thing to do is just get out there and grab a bit of dirt.

Photo by Guy Hand

(Hand) By that, Clay means dropping to your knees and getting to know the moisture content of your soil.

(Clay)  Like these strawberries right here, they look dry.  But then once you get down in here and you just scratch just a little bit, I mean, not even a sixteenth of an inch, and there’s nice, dark soil there.

(Hand) Before watering, Josie Erskine says to scoop up some soil and if you squeeze it . . .

Photo by Guy Hand

(Josie) . . . and it kind of makes like a what I’d consider pie crust consistency, so like you can either kind of get it to kind of crumble or you can get it to make a ball if you want it to, you’re doing well with your water.

(Hand) So watering is a complex issue with a simple solution.

(Clay) I think the best advice is to just be in your garden and to notice what’s happening and to dig down and be aware of how your soil holds water.

(Hand) Or, as Josie likes to put it . . .

(Josie) The best fertilizer for you garden is your footprint.

(Hand) For Edible Idaho’s Market & Garden Report and Boise State Public Radio, I’m Guy Hand.

(Hand) Or, as Josie likes to put it . . .

(Josie) For Guy Hand, this is your Market Garden Report (Clay) Let’s go jump in the river.

Katherine Jones/Idaho Statesman Chandler's Steakhouse is a place for special occasions, and Lindsey and Shane Riffle chose Chandler's to celebrate their 11th wedding anniversary. "This is my favorite place," says Lindsey Riffle. She was debating about whether to get the filet mignon. "And then there's the lovely chocolate dessert to look forward to, too," she said.

I suspect that more pin stripes and jewels drift through Chandlers Steakhouse on an average evening than any other restaurant in the Valley. Beyond the bar’s backlit glassware, the bird-of-paradise spiked bouquets, the white linen and honey-colored light, there’s a bank of private rooms where more than a few deals are surely made over pricey cabernet and center-cut filets. It’s the kind of place where a waiter announces a surf and turf special for $75 and nary an eye bats.

But Idaho being the egalitarian oasis it is, Chandlers also welcomes a smattering of T-shirts, Hawaiian prints and white-socked sandals. Its menu, too, tries to accommodate that wide spectrum of sensibilities – without dropping downmarket.

The bar menu, after all, has a fairly long list of reasonably priced dishes, including truffled pommes frites ($5), mac & cheese ($7.50), sliders ($12) and a deliciously simple roasted artichoke ($9). A step upscale is Chandlers’ signature appetizer, the Tower of Tuna ($14.50). That vertical cylinder is stacked with rainbow-colored layers of diced raw ahi, white hamachi, tomato and avocado. I’ve popped in more than once just for that light yet richly unctuous appetizer, chasing it (when I’m feeling flush) with one of mixologist Pat Carden’s locally famous if not thrifty Ten-Minute Martinis ($8).

Also on the lighter side of the regular menu, I’ve enjoyed a rocket salad ($7) with some of the most delicate, tender arugula I’ve ever tasted. Those baby arugula leaves are dressed with pine nuts, pancetta, shaved asiago, translucent slivers of pear and a light vinaigrette. It’s a dish that deftly shows that Chandlers’ kitchen can let the clean flavors of simple ingredients shine through.

That kitchen can also be a little heavy handed. I found the beef carpaccio’s ($14) subtle, raw beef flavor overpowered by an aggressive mix of watercress, mustard and horseradish. A drizzle of young olive oil and a squeeze of lemon would have better suited my palate.

Katherine Jones/Idaho Statesman Mixologist Pat Carden presents his locally famous Ten-Minute Martinis - "Vesper Reconsidered," the 2009 Martini Mixoff winner.

What did suit was the salmon. Though Chandlers Steakhouse has never struck me as a bastion of seasonality, the Alaskan King salmon entree ($27) I ordered in late June was by design or happy accident the most memorable expression of spring I’ve tasted this year. An elegantly plated salmon filet came centered over mashed potatoes accompanied by fresh morels, peeled asparagus and sauteed spinach. Married with a delicate sauce and a silky Benton Lane ’07 pinot noir ($10) from Chandlers’ extensive, by-the-glass wine list, the meal was stunning.

Artfully plated, but slightly less ethereal was the Sunday prix fixe item called Duck Two Ways ($27). (The Sunday menu offers seven fixed-price entrees; each includes soup or salad and dessert.) Although the confit of duck leg was a perfect balance of crisp skin and soft, succulent meat, the sliced breast was overwhelmed, not unlike that carpaccio, by a too assertive sour cherry and port wine reduction.

But where, you may ask, is the beef? After all, Chandlers is a steakhouse. Well, there’s plenty, from prime rib ($26) to Kobe flat iron ($36) to porterhouse for two ($56). And each is accompanied by three sauces: peppercorn, barnaise and red-wine roquefort. I tried the Cowboy steak ($38). A 22-ounce bone-in rib eye, it arrived crusty from an intense 1,800-degree searing, yet still juicy. Nearly as memorable was a side of roasted vegetables ($7) made of rough-cut chunks of carrot, parsnip, fennel and string beans.

For dessert, the fresh fruit cobbler ($7) was sweet but only whispered fruit flavor. However, the Tri-Fecta ($8) – three flourless chocolate tortes finished with cream and raspberry sauce – was a solid winner.

Chandlers isn’t perfect, but its polished service, award-winning cocktails, wide-ranging wine list, nightly live jazz and urbane atmosphere make it one of the most elegant watering holes and eateries in this egalitarian oasis.
Read more: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2010/07/09/1260951/chandlers-is-a-boise-classic.html#ixzz0tBjBMEV3

Ripe cherries wait to be picked in a orchard outside of Prosser, Wash. A new contraption nicknamed the cherry thumper may drastically change how those Northwest fruit get to market.

PROSSER, Wash. — The legend of John Henry pits a “steal driving man” against a steam drill. John Henry wins the contest but in the long run, machines have prevailed in the American economy. Now, researchers at Washington State University are developing a modern day contraption that could put cherry pickers out of work. The “cherry thumper” is the size of a sedan. It thumps tree limbs to drop the fruit onto a conveyor belt. Correspondent Anna King went to check it out at WSU’s cherry test farm in Prosser.

During the cherry harvest nowadays, it’s not unusual to hear the pickers sing. Maria Arebalo belted this one out last season.
Sound: Maria Arebalo
But one day, the sound of cherry picking could be this.
Sound: Cherry thumper
This machine is nicknamed the cherry thumper. It looks like an oversized video game. With a seat, two joysticks and a robot arm. I get Matt Whiting a scientist with WSU, to fire up his invention.
Matt Whiting: “It’s comprised of a thumper, knocks the branches back, fruit fall onto a catching conveyor, they are brought up to the top of the machine, another conveyor brings them to the rear, leaf litter is removed in the field and there is a standard cherry bin collecting the fruit at the back of the machine.”

Qin Zhang, a member of the mechanical cherry harvest team, drives the cherry thumper at a test orchard outside of Prosser, Wash.

Sound: Machine thumping sound, conveyor squeaking sound [under]
Early summer is Whiting’s go time. He has just about two to three weeks during the peak of cherry season to do all his field research for the year. If Whiting can get this thing working properly, farmers could replace hundreds of cherry pickers with one thumper. Whiting says labor is one of the most expensive costs for cherry farmers.
Matt Whiting: “The holy grail would be to have a fully mechanized harvest. We’ve studied that the last few years and we found that the picking costs per pound have gone from by hand from 20 to 24 to maybe 25 cents a pound to 2 to 3 cents per pound using this prototype harvester.”

Whiting says that price includes the purchase of the machine. The U.S. Department of Agriculture thinks it’s such a good idea that it gave Whiting 4-million-dollars to develop the project. Now he has a team of 11 working on everything from nuts and bolts to consumer packaging.
It’s not the only contraption Whiting and his team are developing. They’re also working on a cherry shaker that looks like a weed-eater.

Qin Zhang and Matt Whiting of Washington State University show off their cherry shaker that’s in development and the fruit it can quickly collect.

Sound: Cherry shaker
It could be used in older farms where the trees aren’t suited for the thumper.
These two machines have big implications for the rural economy in the northwest and the cherries you buy in the store.
Last year during the peak of cherry harvest there were more than 40-thousand cherry pickers working in Washington alone. Mechanization means there would be far fewer of them. It also means farmers and consumers would have to get used to cherries without stems. The machines knock the cherries down and the stems stay on the tree. Stem-less cherries are already hitting a test market this summer in Missouri.
Sound: Thumper
If all goes well on the test farm – you might be see the stem-less orbs in your stores in about four more summers.
I’m Anna King outside of Prosser, Washington.

Copyright 2010 Northwest Public Radio

Listen to the audio of this story on KUOW public radio

Courtesy Outdoor Idaho

This Thursday, Outdoor Idaho will air a show on Idaho’s vibrant local food scene.  It’s a story that Idaho Public Television producer Thanh Tan has been working on since last summer — a subject dear to her heart. Here’s what Tan says about the show:

“I always tell people one of the pleasures of working at IdahoPTV is the fact that producers get to pursue projects they are passionate about. In my case, I love food. I cook for myself. I cook for my friends. For me, making a delicious dish from scratch is incredibly therapeutic. I believe the act of sharing food brings people together and sparks great conversations.

So when I got the green light to produce an Outdoor Idaho about the local food scene in Idaho – I was ecstatic! Production began in the summer of 2009. Since then, we’ve traveled all over the state to gather video and sound. We will continue to put the finishing touches on the show right up until the July 15 premiere.”

Courtesy Outdoor Idaho

“Eating Local” will look at the increasing numbers of small farm operations that sell directly to consumers, part of a growing local food movement that supports more than 50 farmers markets statewide.

Courtesy Outdoor Idaho

Thanh Tan says her research for the show reveals that America’s industrial food system brings seasonal goods to grocery stores year around. But it also sends locally grown crops and money out of state with food items traveling an average of 1,500 miles before arriving in stores.

“The opportunity to see how hard some farmers are working to diversify their crops and strengthen our regional food-shed says a lot about how much Idahoans care about each other and our economy,” Tan says. “After watching ‘Eating Local,’ you may never look at your food the same way again! At the very least, I think you’ll be inspired by what Idaho farmers have to offer — and wonder whether we’re capable of producing even more of our own food.”

Here’s a video clip of the upcoming show:

(Video: Watch this video on the post page)

“Eating Local” on Idaho Public Television’s Outdoor Idaho will air this Thursday July 15th at 8:00/7:00 p.m. MT/PT and repeats July 18 (Sunday) at 7:00 p.m. MT/PT. See it in HD July 15 (Thursday) at 9:00/8:00 p.m. MT/PT and July 18 (Sunday) at 8:00/7:00 p.m. MT/PT. The discussion continues on a live DIALOGUE on “Local Foods” July 15 (Thursday) at 8:30/7:30 p.m. MT/PT, which repeats July 18 (Sunday) at 5:30/4:30 p.m. MT/PT.

(Mulberry Music) (Hand) It’s not that mulberries aren’t tasty.  They are.  And they’re not rare or hard to grow.  Mulberry trees sprout where ever their seeds fall.  And the resulting 30 to 60 foot high plants are prolific.  What mulberries aren’t are easy to get to market.

(Bart Rayne) The picking is really fragile.  They shatter really easy, they fall off of the tree.

Bart Rayne of Next Generation Organics with boxes of mulberries

(Hand) That’s Bart Rayne.  He and his wife Elayne of Next Generation Organics in Homedale are here at the Capital City Public Market selling delicately picked and packaged mulberries.

(Bart)  You gotta be really careful picking them.  And so they don’t transport, they don’t really travel really well, so we pick ‘em right into these little containers, we can get a lid right on ‘em and then bring ‘em to the market, put them on display and that’s as few steps as we can get in there.

(Hand) Farmers’ markets provide the perfect and often only outlet for short season, fragile and unusual foods — like mulberries.

(Hand) So can you tell me what they look like and what they taste like. (Rayne) We almost equate it to like a Concord grape, they’re just a really mild flavor and not a lot of tartness really like a lot of other berries.  They look a lot like a black berry or like a logan berry, just real mild so they lend to a lot of different preparations it seems like.

Elayne Rayne of Next Generation Organics at the Capital City Public Market in Boise

(Hand) Can I taste one? (Rayne) Yeah, please.  (Hand)  It is really good, it’s very subtle, but tasty.  I can see how it would make great sauces or jams.  (Rayne) Yeah.

(Hand) Mulberries can also be made into wines, syrups or just eaten out of hand.  They make natural food and fabric dies and their leaves are that famous favorite of silkworms.  The Raynes found mulberries just growing on their land.

(Bart) We lived there for probably a couple of years before we even realized we had these trees on the property.  You know, we were back there with some friends and it was just like wow this tree has tons of berries on it.

(Hand)  The Raynes had to do a little research before realizing their mysterious found fruit was mulberry.  Elayne Rayne:

(Elayne)  We just love that the tree was there when we moved in that we didn’t have to plant it, we don’t have to do a whole lot of maintaining.  It’s just kind of a gift that was there.  It’s unusual and people are always really intrigued by it, which is fun.

(Hand) Farmers’ markets give small producers like the Raynes the chance to turn backyard surprises into marketable produce.  But the mulberry season is short.  Tomorrow may be the last Saturday the Raynes have their nursery rhythm berries at Boise’s Capital City Public Market.

(Mulberry music)

(Hand) For the Market & Garden Report and Boise State Public Radio, I’m Guy Hand.