Eating Local: What’s Growing in Door County’s Gardens Right Now

Red potatoes, which will soon be ready to pull from the ground, can easily be spruced up with some fresh parsley from the garden. Photo by Dan Eggert.

We’re lucky here in the county to be surrounded by gardens and farms. It may take a little bit of a drive to get there, but buying ramps, lettuces, and herbs straight from the garden – still with a little earth on them – there’s nothing quite like it.

The markets provide a higher quality of food and flavor: like grabbing a tomato straight from the garden and eating it like an apple, it’s so ripe and juicy.

So far it’s been a hot and humid summer. We’ve been without much rain. That means a lot of watering for gardeners and local growers. Fortunately there’s still a variety of produce and herbs to choose from when preparing a fresh, local meal.

Bob Merline has been growing herbs intensively for the past 15 years (though he’s been gardening far longer than that). His farm, located at 3588 Peninsula Players Road, currently has a healthy supply of basil, dill and parsley.

“It takes a little bit of experience fooling around with herbs to find out how wonderful they are fresh,” Merline said. “Basil, of course, is an absolute necessity in many kinds of pasta sauce. You can use raw basil on salmon or chicken. A beautiful hint of basil in a green salad is wonderful. We like to make a tomato, zucchini, garlic and basil pasta sauce.”

Using basil can also be as simple as getting some fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and crostini (“little toasts” in Italian) and layering it together with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar for a fantastically fresh snack or appetizer.

Merline said, “Parsley I use constantly, in everything. It goes in every potato dish and it’s a great garnish. Parsley tastes great with red potatoes. Boil the potatoes and add the parsley raw after you cook it. For mashed potatoes, it’s the same thing. Right when you’re ready to mash them, add the parsley.

As for dill, this herb tastes wonderful with fish, and is essential for pickling. Many salad dressings call for dill, from a zesty lemon dill dressing to something creamier, with mayonnaise, milk and seasoned salt.

A recipe for yogurt dill salad dressing found on the web (it’s as easy as google) sounds fantastic:

1 c. plain low fat yogurt
1/2 tsp. mustard – dry
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. horseradish
1/2 tsp. paprika
Minced garlic
1/2 tsp. dill weed
2 tsp. onion
2 tbsp. lemon juice or wine vinegar

Blend all the ingredients and chill it before serving over a bed of fresh greens.
Dill makes its presence known in most cucumber salads and also in gyros. Feeling experimental? Wasabi and dill tantalize the taste buds in a variety of recipes, dressings and sauces.

As for fresh produce, Merline says green beans are in full swing right now; tomatoes and peppers are widely available; broccoli, cabbages and cauliflower will be coming soon. Red potatoes should be coming out of the ground any day, and corn’s a week or two away.
Merline said, “Zucchini and eggplant are coming soon, and cucumbers are coming strong – it’ll be pickling season soon and a chance to use some of that dill!”

A trip to one of Door County’s many Farmer’s Markets freshens up any meal and supports the local economy.