Food! Lots of food!

So as the semester is winding down, there are lots of good veggies ready to harvest in the garden! Our focus during class is mostly on harvesting whats ready to eat, fertilizing some crops that will still produce, and getting ready to clean up out plots. This week I took home carrots, green peppers, and flowers! I have lots of peas that are flowering, and tons of green tomatoes, so I hope they're ready to eat before I leave town for Winter break!

Holy cucumbers!

So finally its getting time to harvest some of our vegetables! Unfortunately, all of my zucchini and squash plants have died, so pretty much all I have taken home so far are cucumbers and lettuce. Still, I've made some pretty tasty dishes with them.

This simple, fresh salad is just red lettuce, cucumbers, olive oil, walnuts, salt and pepper. It was delicious, the fresh cucumbers really taste different than store bought!

I have literally taken home 10 cucumbers, and there's only so much a girl can eat. This cucumber water is a new and totally refreshing way to enjoy my bounty!

I have many green tomatoes, so hopefully I will have some to take home soon! And I can't wait to dig up my carrots and see how big they are!

Organic Labeling

These days its hard to sort through all the mumbo-jumbo that comes with organic labeling. How are you supposed to eat organic when you're not really sure whats what?

Here's a simplified breakdown of definitions from the UF IFAS Extension (http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu):

• 100% Organic = 100% of ingredients are certified organic, excluding salt and water.
• Certified Organic = 95% of ingredients are certified organic, excluding salt and water.
• Made with Organic Ingredients = At least 70% of ingredients are certified organic, excluding salt and water.
• No Label Claims = Less than 70% of ingredients are certified organic.

Keep in mind that only producers making over $5,000 per year need to be certified with an accredited program, which means that local small farms may use organic practices, but may not be "certified" or "100%" organic. Talk to your local farmers to learn more about the practices they use!