Papalo at the Greenmarket

papalo

While I was at the Traditional Community Kitchen tour at the Socrates Greenmarket last weekend, I stopped at the El Poblano Farm stand. They sell an awesome array of traditional Mexican products that they grow over on Staten Island. They gave me a taste – it is a bit citrusy with flavors reminiscent of cilantro, with a tiny bit of bitterness. It tasted wild. Really interesting.

I learned from a post by Homesick Texan, that papalo is an ancient herb found throughout Mexico, South America, and parts of the American Southwest. Some believe it has properties that help lower blood pressure.

The farmer from El Poblano Farm said he uses it in guacamole – I’d consider mixing it with cilantro for that and fresh salsa, as it is quite pungent. I was really happy to have discovered another new-to-me plant!

Chickens

chickens

chickens

While I was in Washington, I also got to visit my cousin’s chickens. She has four girls total and they will be egg laying hens when they get old enough – not meat birds.  In this picture, they are hanging out in their chicken tractor, which moves around the property. The chickens really help nourish the earth with their pecking and pooping.

It got me thinking about possibly having chickens of my own backyard. “City chickens” are becoming more and more common in NYC, believe it or not. At this point, I’ve joined Just Food’s City Chicken Meetup group to learn more about keeping chickens in the city!

Walking Onion

walking onion

My cousin also grows these “walking onions”.  These onions have a thin stalk relative to the size of their head, which breaks out into multiple cloves, reminiscent of tiny red onions. At one point the stalk will fall over and then, if the soil is right, they’ll set up in the dirt and create a new onion! This was another plant I hadn’t heard of before. I loved learning about these new-to-me plants.

Huckleberry

huckleberry

While I was in Washington State, I was introduced by my cousin Laura to actual, real huckleberries! Before, I’d only encountered huckleberries as part of the name “Huckleberry Hound“.  They grow on her property, near the evergreen trees. It was tart and reminded me of a pomegranate seed. Really tasty.