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ORGANIC FIELD GUIDE ORGANIC FIELD GUIDE
COMMON EDIBLE PLANTS GROW IT EAT IT LOVE IT
Health Power
Pears give a solid defense against damaging free radicals and are a great
source of dietary fiber. Vitamin C and copper help keep highly reactive free
radicals from causing oxidative damage to cells all over the body. Vitamin C
is water-soluble and defends almost the entire body except areas of fat. It
stops free radicals from oxidizing cholesterol into a sticky form that leads to
plaque buildup in blood vessels. It also protects white blood cells while they
fight off infection and reactivates antioxidant vitamin E. Because vitamin
E is fat soluble, by activating it vitamin C helps disarm free radicals in both
water-soluble areas and fat-soluble areas. Dietary fiber in pears acts to reduce
cholesterol, regulate blood sugar levels and support good digestion.
Vitamin and Mineral Content
Vitamins – C and K
Minerals – Copper and Potassium
Disease Prevention
Reduced risk of colon cancer, postmenopausal breast cancer, heart disease and
macular degeneration.
How to Grow
Make sure your pear tree suits your climate. They flower early. If frosts extend
well into spring, choose a late-flowering variety. Except for flowering, they
are winter hardy. Most cultivars need cross pollination to fruit properly. Plant
at least two trees that flower at the same time to get fruit to set. Tree height
depends on the cultivar you choose. You can find self-pollinating dwarf trees
with three cultivars grafted to one rootstock. This is a good option if space
is limited. Best time to plant is early spring. Choose a sunny, sheltered spot
with deeper soil. Prepare the soil by amending all around planting area with
well-aged compost or planting mix rich in organic matter. Be careful not
to over fertilize with nitrogen. This may stimulate too much new growth
vulnerable to the deadly fire blight disease. Test the soil to be sure pH is 6-6.5.
If not, nutrient deficiencies can cause deformities. Dig a hole wide enough and
deep enough to set the bare rooted tree so the existing soil line on the trunk
matches up with ground level and roots are unobstructed. A small mound of
soil in the center of the hole may help support the tree. Fill the hole with the
amended soil and pack it down lightly. Mulch around stem with a thick layer
of well-aged manure or compost to ensure nutrient availability. Keep the
soil moist by thorough watering. No need to water every day, but make sure to
water long enough to reach the root level. (Watering just the surface encourages
roots to grow upward.) You can thin out clusters or leave them alone, depending
on how big you want fruits to be. If you want large fruit, thin the center fruit in
each cluster near mid-summer. With several clusters on a branch, the weight can
make a branch break or severely warp. Avoid this by thinning clusters on these
branches to one fruit per cluster. Prune thick branches that block sunlight from
reaching the foliage. Each spring, spread a thin layer of organic fertilizer and
mulch over the roots. Pears take 2 or more years to bear fruit. Harvest fruit when
it easily detaches with a slight tug. Store in cool temperatures. Bring up to room
temperature before eating to soften and sweeten them up.
Insect Control
Pear tree pests are aphids, wooly aphids, winter moth, coddling moth, sawfly
and wasps. Fire blight is the most common disease. Remove aphids with a strong
water stream. Also, draw their predators (hoverflies and ladybugs) by planting
French marigolds nearby. Wooly aphids are more difficult to remove. They form
colonies on branches and cover themselves with a white waxy substance. Scrape
off as soon as you see them. Or spray with rotenone after petals fall. If that
does not work, cut them out. You can stop female winter moth caterpillars from
breeding on the lower trunk by securing a sticky ring around the tree to catch
them as they crawl up to lay eggs. Coddling moths lay eggs that hatch into fruit
maggots. Deter them with a pheromone trap hung from a branch. (Find at your
local nursery.) Sawfly quickly eat leaves off. Spray with an insecticide when you
see caterpillars on leaves. If wasps are a problem, make a trap by putting sweet
liquid in a container covered with a thin layer that has a hole in it. Hang this from
the tree. Wasps will enter the container and be trapped. For fire blight, find out
if your area is susceptible and buy a resistant cultivar. Otherwise, don’t prune too
much as new soft growth is most susceptible.
Tips
When fruit stops growing and starts changing color, stop watering to keep the tree
free of diseases. Pear trees grow tall but can be easier to harvest if shaped correctly.
Health Power
These young onions have beneficial phytonutrients like flavonoids and sulfur
compounds that work together to lower cholesterol, promote heart health,
and suppress inflammation. The flavonoid quercetin may bring a number of
benefits, including the antioxidant effect in protecting colon cells. Quercetin,
along with vitamin C, strengthens the immune system and works against
harmful bacteria and viruses that cause common colds or worse. Vitamin C also
has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that help deal with arthritis
and protect the cardiovascular system from cellular damage and plaque
buildup. Vitamin K supports healthy bone development by helping support
bone laying components and reducing bone break down by osteoclasts. Also
lowers blood pressure. Scallions are a good source of dietary fiber, helping
promote healthy digestion and preventing diarrhea. Folate promotes heart
health and is critical for healthy fetal nervous system development. Scallions
also encourage sweating and urination. In combination with those and the fact
that scallions are low in saturated fat, sodium and cholesterol, they are an ideal
food to include in a weight loss diet.
Vitamin and Mineral Content
Vitamins – K, C, A and B9 (Folate)
Minerals – Potassium, Iron, Manganese, Calcium, Magnesium,
Phosphorus and Copper
Disease Prevention
Eating vegetables in the Allium family, like garlic, onions, and scallions, may
reduce the risk of esophageal, stomach, colon, prostate and possibly breast
cancer. Regularly eating reduces pain associated with arthritis and symptoms
of asthma.
How to Grow
Scallions (also known as green, spring or salad onions) are a type of onion
pulled before they have the chance to develop a full root bulb. The most
popular and widely used varieties are perennial versions, Allium fistulosum
and Allium cepa. They produce high quality scallions in large quantity.
They can be grown from seeds or transplants. Plant seeds thickly about
one-half inch deep in well-amended fertile soil. If you want to start during
cold winter conditions, sow the seeds indoors until nighttime temperatures
rise above freezing. You then need to gradually wean them outdoors when
the weather warms up a little. Otherwise, plant the seeds or seedlings
outdoors a few weeks before the last frost. Keep rows more than 2 feet
apart and slowly thin seedlings out to 6 inches. Once the soil warms up,
mulch around and between the plants to deter weeds, retain moisture and
buffer the soil so it changes temperatures more slowly. Weed as needed.
Be careful not to damage the bulbs. Dry conditions cause bulbs to split.
Monitor the moisture level in the soil. Harvest when the shoots are a deep
green color and before base begins to swell, usually around mid-summer
to fall. The tips should be crisp yet forgiving. You can store in a plastic bag in
the refrigerator for about a week. They hold on to their flavor surprisingly
well when frozen.
Insect Control
Scallions are generally disease and insect free. They help deter pests
like Japanese beetles, carrot flies and aphids from other garden plants.
Interplanting is a great way to keep them disease and pest free while
helping others. As a preventative, work a good amount of humus into the
soil to create good drainage and prevent any potential bacterial or fungal
infections. Removing weeds also prevents pests like thrips from persisting
over winters. If you have a large, uncontrollable infestation, an insecticidal
soap works well in small quantities.
Tips
Mix in radish plants among the onions to deflect
root maggots away from the onions.
INGREDIENTS
4 pears, not quite ripe, peeled
with stems intact
1 bottle good quality, robust red wine
¾ cup cane sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla
½ cup bing cherries
INSTRUCTIONS
■ Stand pears in large saucepan.
■ Cover pears with sugar, lemon juice, vanilla, cinnamon stick, and wine.
Bring to a boil.
■ Simmer on low for 20 minutes.
■ Place each pear on shallow dish.
■ Add dried cherries to sauce and simmer until thickened.
■ Serve pears chilled and topped with wine sauce and cherry garnish.
Poached Pears in Cherry Wine Sauce
RECIPE CARD
Pears Scallions