garden to table to garden

Cook: Stone Fruits

It is the height of summer and we are loving the incredible variety and quality of available stone fruits in season. This year has been a particularly good one for Texas peaches... 

Did you know that you can use all parts of a peach in your home cuisine? Turn team member, Chef Mike Lawson, teaches us how to utilize all parts of this delicious summer fruit at home and turn it into a simple and delicious summer dessert.

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  1. The meat: cut the peach in half, take out the pit. Sprinkle with a little brown sugar and roast (bake setting) in the oven on 350 degrees until softened.

  2. The skin: dehydrating the skins with a little sugar can make a delicious peach chip. You can dehydrate them in a dehydrator at 155 degrees, or use the ambient heat leftover from cooking in the oven.

  3. The pit: save the pits of your peaches and use a hammer or rolling pin to smash them in a plastic ziplock bag or parchment paper. the pits can be thrown onto your grill or in your smoker.

  4. The kernel: the kernels of stone fruits can be roasted and salted (they should be cooked and not eaten raw), and turned into a crunchy and savory snack.

Dessert Directions: Place the roasted peaches on a plate and base or top them with yogurt or cream. Sprinkle with granola or muesli. Garnish with the fruit chip. Drizzle with a little honey or peach glaze.

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Plant: Onions

Onions are one of the easier vegetables to grow in your urban backyard garden (or patio containers). They are also one of the first (and only) vegetables you can plant outside in January/February and not worry about the cold temps.

Now is the time to purchase and plant onion transplants in our local garden nursery stores. We bought one package of white, and one package of red (fyi, they are readily in stock at Redenta’s, North Haven Gardens, Ruibal’s). One bunch was plenty to spread amongst several homes and friends.

Here are three basic planting tips:

  1. Find a sunny spot (they need at least 6 hours of sun/day) and loosen the soil where onions will be planted (use a trowel or spoon to break up any compact spots; if soil is hard and dry, moisten it).    

  2. Plant each onion base (the part with roots) in the soil approximately four inches apart from each other. Don’t plant more than one inch deep.

  3. Water the soil deeply around all of the onions you’ve just planted. Keep them watered every week in the spring until they get growing. But do NOT overwater!

You should have mature onions somewhere between May and July. Here’s a helpful tip sheet from Texas A&M on planting and growing onions.

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