Chard is amazingly resilient. Long after the arugula has given up and long before the spinach can thrive in the cooler temperatures of Fall, chard keeps our greens needs covered. Plus, due to their weird ways, each plant gives us multiple harvests, so we can have a steady supply of the green stuff with fewer plantings than you might think!
Now, innumerable sources say “saute swiss chard in olive oil with garlic”. That’s all well and good; a fine way of cooking most any greens really! However, I think we can look for something a bit more interesting, don’t you think?
Have you ever put fruit in a paper bag to let it get a bit more ripe? Or been told to place an apple or a banana with an avocado to make it ripen faster? These are not “old wives tales” but rather tried and true ripening tricks caused by ethylene gas.
Does the heat of summer give you the blues? Then try listening to some of the 
Sansa is a delightfully fruity and sweet early apple. Not commercially ‘pretty’, perhaps, with its non-solid pinkishyellowish/lightly russet-y color scheme, but it certainly looks beautiful to us! And you know we at North Star do not care much about looks anyway – it’s flavor that counts! Every year when the Sansa start coming in, I am reminded of how lovely they are. And then, as I cut them up for eating, I remember that they also don’t turn brown. Sensational!
This is Kelly’s third year at NSO and she does a bit of everything. She packs shares for the Vegetable and Fruit CSA, she harvests, weeds, and plants vegetables, she thins fruit, she makes deliveries, and she goes to school! She is currently attending St. Joseph’s University where she is working towards an Environmental Science degree. (Fun Fact: Kelly and her two daughters are all attending college at the same time...at different schools, thankfully!) When she does have a free moment, she enjoys kayaking and finding fun places to hike with her new dog, Sadie.
Who determines what is 'ugly'? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, certainly, but the perceptions of the beholder can be strongly influenced by outside forces.
Garlic has the reputation of keeping vampires at bay. I wonder if that's because WE love it so much we can't bear the notion that vampires would. Or maybe it's all an excuse to drape ourselves in ropes of amazing garlic? Or maybe vampires are really sensitive to garlic breath?
Do you love bright colors and awesome flavors as much as we do? Well, then, how fitting that on the heels of this year's crop of 
Joining the ranks of Farmer Ike’s other home-developed fruits and veggies (like apples, peaches, beets, carrots, and tomatoes) come some absolutely beautiful and delicious eggplant we've named "Purple Tiger"!
This are so cool, but alas, the batmobile will not fit inside. Unless they're like the