Nao Tou Yang Farms and Greenhouses Blog

Can you guess what this is?

2011-10-07T10:45:00.000-05:00

I asked this question to my friends on Facebook. The response I received was....An odd pineapple? Giant celery? Something scary? This my dear friends, is called a celeriac or celery root and is coming to a farmer's market near you.

Gourmet Garlic is here

2011-08-03T15:44:00.000-05:00

Our popular garlic has a strong pungent flavor when eaten raw and sweet flavor when cooked. It can store up to 9 months in dry and cool conditions. We hope to have garlic to last until Fall but stop in early for bigger bulbs or to stock up. Come visit us at the Minneapolis Farmer's Market.

Check out these garlic makeover pictures.

Before

After

Tomatoes, Peppers and Herbs are growing good

2011-04-13T09:07:00.035-05:00

Our greenhouse is almost full with tomatoes, peppers and herbs. We are looking forward to another great season at the Minneapolis Farmer's Market. Opening day is Saturday, April 30th so look for us there.

We will have many new heirloom tomatoes as well as our popular varieties. Some of our new selections were requested by customers and we are excited to be able to provide them.

Amish Paste

Arkansas Traveler

Black from Tula

Isis Candy

Pineapple

Polish Linguisa

Prudens Purple

Red Pear

Sungold

Sunsugar

San Marzano

Viva Italia

Yellow Brandywine

Yellow Pear

With the recent warm weather our garlic has emerged from the ground and looking very healthy. To our disappointment last year we ran out of garlic by Mid August. We hope to have enough garlic to last until the end the market season.

Our Japanese Cucumbers are in season

2010-07-12T23:46:00.008-05:00

Japanese cucumbers are great for eating alone, salads, or pickles. A type of burpless with tender skin, seedless, and no bitterness. Once you try this one, you'll be back for more. We will have these in season and pickling cucumbers too. Also in season are beans, beets, red and golden potatoes.

Our special garlic has been harvested from the fields and are drying in our greenhouse at this moment. We'll have a good supply until Halloween but it's not too early to stock up. Our larger garlic bulbs tend to run out earlier in the season. Stop by and see us soon.

Garlic Scapes

2010-06-02T11:20:00.006-05:00

We'll have garlic scapes at the Minneapolis Farmer's Market (Stalls 411&413) this weekend. Garlic scapes can be used in stir fry, pesto, or grilled. When cooked it has a sweet mild garlic taste. They are only available for a limited time so stop by and pick up your garlic scapes before they're gone for the season.

Spring is here...

2010-03-19T09:44:00.004-05:00

We have started our pepper seedlings and will transplant them into pots soon.

Here are some of the varieties that we will have this season at the Minneapolis Farmer's Market.

Lady Bell
Yellow Bell
Red Bell
Orange Bell
Sweet Banana
Cubanelle
Jalapeno
Mucho Nacho
Poblano
Habanero (Red and Yellow)
Cayenne
Aneheim
Cherry Bomb
Holy Mole
Hot Banana
Serrano
Thai
Gypsy

Don't see the pepper you're looking for? There's still time left to send in your request. Email me at SamanthaThao@aol.com

What to plant for 2010?

2009-12-08T16:16:00.002-06:00

We are currently researching new varieties of tomatoes, peppers and vegetables for the 2010 season. We also accept special requests for those hard to find and unusual plants. Please email us if you would like to make a special request. My email address is SamanthaThao@aol.com.

Garlic Planting for 2010

2009-10-07T09:18:00.007-05:00

Can you believe it's time to plant garlic for next years crop? We have gotten alot of rain and the ground has been wet. Here is Tou hand planting garlic. We space the garlic 6" apart and will cover them with 2" of soil. The garlic can be mulch overwinter but we have found that they grow fine without.

Our growing season

2009-08-09T21:14:00.005-05:00

Shallots

Green and wax beans

Beets

Anaheim chili, cayenne, and jalapenos

Shallots

2009-08-03T22:20:00.004-05:00

Tou and I have begun pulling the shallots out and letting them dry out in the field. They look great!. We'll start bringing them to the Minneapolis Farmer's Market this Saturday.

2009-07-27T11:13:00.001-05:00

We are finally done with the garlic harvest. Now they will go into the greenhouse to dry and cure for the next couple of weeks. Here is Tou loading up the tractor wagon.

2009-07-13T16:43:00.000-05:00

Matthew and pickle

A Trumpet Lily

Fresh Garlic

2009-07-13T16:38:00.003-05:00

Garlic for sale

Tou and me at the Minneapolis Farmer's Market

Freshly dug garlic

Some new pics from the Farm

Garlic Scapes

2009-06-16T14:00:00.002-05:00

In the next 2 weeks we will be removing the garlic scape (shoots/tips) from the garlic plants. This process of removing the scapes will give more energy back to the plant to produce a bigger garlic bulb. What most people don't know that this part of the garlic is delicious. When uncooked it gives a mild garlic flavor and goes great with pastas, soups, and salads. For cooking, it is a sweet flavor and prepared similar to asparagus. Put some on the grill with olive oil....yum

So this year, try something new. You'll be glad you did.

Scape Pesto Recipe

2009-06-16T13:54:00.000-05:00

I had one of the best Pesto when I was in Italy in the fall of 2005. Since returning, pesto has been my favorite Italian dish. I found a great Scape Pesto recipe on the internet.

Garlic scape pesto
1 pound garlic scapes
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
Olive oil (about 1/2 to 1 cup)
Pine nuts if available

Chop the garlic scapes into 3 inch lengths. Put it in the food processor and process until pureed. Add the parmesan and pine nuts and process until smooth. Slowly add the olive oil as the food processor runs and continue until all the oil is combined into the garlic. Store in an air-tight jar in the refrigerator.

Recipe copied from this website:

http://www.whatgeekseat.com/wordpress/2007/06/16/garlic-scape-pesto/

Fresh Herbs are available

2009-06-16T13:40:00.000-05:00

Garlic Scapes

2009-06-16T13:37:00.000-05:00

The garlic have been growing well. We have scapes available for the next 2 weeks at the Minneapolis Farmer's Market. We will also have fresh garlic too.

Garlic growing

2009-06-16T13:31:00.000-05:00

Garlic Growing on the farm

Christy and Tou at the Farmers Market - our first weekend

2009-05-11T10:59:00.001-05:00

Our Greenhouse

2009-05-11T10:51:00.000-05:00

Hi!

This is a picture of the greenhouse and plants we have ready and going to the Minneapolis Farmer's Market.

See you soon
Pang