About the Harvest
Radishes:
Radishes are members of the cabbage family. Radish seeds can germinate in as little as three days and be ready for eating in under four weeks from planting. Radishes are a type of root vegetable, commonly eaten whole or sliced on salads. Radishes are crispy and crunchy and have a peppery flavor. There are five common radish varieties grown in the United States. The most well-known variety is the Red Globe radish which has red and white coloring.
Radishes may be round or elongated and they come in a wide range of colors, although the interior flesh is almost always white. Round Black Spanish is an old heirloom variety dating back to 1548. It grows to a larger size than the small red, pink, or white varieties, and has rough, dark brown to black skin over its roots, with a hotter flavor.
The daikon is a very large, elongated, white radish from Asia that grows to 14 inches long. Though many people think daikon radishes were cultivated in Japan, they actually originated in China. Interestingly, the Chinese word for carrot translates literally to “giant foreign radish.”
Chicken & Eggs:
Chickens became domesticated 8,000 years ago in Southeast Asia. Chickens are the closest living relative to dinosaurs. Chickens have better vision than humans and can see ultraviolet light. The color of chicken eggs is determined by the color of the chicken’s earlobe, not its feathers. There are more chickens on earth, about 25 billion, than any other bird and there are more than 60 breeds of chickens.
The New Hampshire Red is a breed developed in the early 1900s by New Hampshire farmers who wanted to improve on the existing Rhode Island Reds. The farmers focused on breeding hens that were fast growing, early to lay, and hardy in the colder winters of New Hampshire. Poulet a la Moambe is the national dish of Congo/DRC. It’s a chicken stew made with onions, tomato, herbs and spices. In Guatemala, Pepian de Pollo is considered the national dish. It is also a type of stew and is made with tomato, pumpkin seed, and chilis. In Indonesia, chicken is typically fried, ayam goring, or grilled, ayam bakar, and served with rice and a sambal.
People have been eating eggs since 1400 BC. Besides fowl, eggs from reptiles and other birds were also eaten. The domestication of chickens around 6,000 BC increased access to and consumption of chicken eggs. Hens typically lay an egg every 25 hours and lay mostly in warmer months when there is more daylight. Eggs are a great source of protein, are affordable, and versatile in their use.
The color of the yolk is determined by the hen’s diet. The rule of thumb is the darker the yolk, the more likely that the hen was free-range. Darker yolks are attributed to diets higher in green plants and deeply-pigmented plant materials, easily accessible by free-range chickens. Lighter yolks are a result of a diet high in wheat, barley, and corn meal. Eggs bought from a local farm will likely have darker yolks than eggs bought at a grocery store. Most of the nutritional value of an egg is in the yolk.