Preparing a write up for the produce I am going to dispatch for sale at Saturday’s Finkenstein Bush Market, is a good place to start taking this venture to the next level.

I alluded to the inevitable food inspired postings at the start of my blog -> Sugar & Spice

You may be able to tell from the origin of my blog, that the year 2020 was a game changer for me, and for many. The COVID lockdown certainly distilled in me a sense of self sufficiency, food security and resetting or priorities. Since then, I’ve been tinkering with various ways and means to become self-sufficient, while I slowly extricate myself from the security of a monthly paycheck.

Here it is, the first tangible product range, for sale on a (slightly) larger scale.

As promised on my product labels, I will extol the virtues and recipes of the DBP bounty on my blog.

Firstly, the brand “DBP”. No major mystery here, it is how we fondly refer to our farm, which is more formally known as DoornBoomPan.

Now for the juicy nuts and bolts that make up the emergence of the brand.

Health benefits.

“They say” , is a phrase I bandy about my dad often, to tease him on the basis of my “extensive scientific research”, which it is not. I do belief in living off the land, and organically produced fresh produce must be better than mass genetically modified foodstuff . But I choose to accept what the internet tells me about cancer-beating properties, anti-ageing benefits and so on.

So please do understand that the stated health benefits are not based on my lab-tested analysis. It is seemingly generally accepted benefits that our society has produced.

Dried parsley

Of course also available fresh, but quite simply, packaged as a dried herb for the busy city dweller, that all too often find a mysterious bunch of green withered mystery herb in that obscure herb drawer in the fridge. You bought a bunch of parsley for that Minestrone recipe you wanted to try, only to find you actually only needed a sprig or two for flavoring.

Make no mistake, fresh herbs are simply the best to use in cooking (and baking – but more on that later). But we do what we must to not waste fresh produce.

I purposefully keep the leaves as whole as possible, so that you may enjoy maximum aroma when you rub it between your fingers to release it over the food. Just clean your fingers first please.

Health benefits of parsley: “They say” it “may be useful” in beating back cancer, wrinkles and bloating. Stronger bones and bad breath.

10 Powerful Parsley Health Benefits You Never Knew | Reader’s Digest (readersdigest.ca)

Uses in cooking: Sprinkle over some freshly grilled vegetables and meats, just before taking off the grill.

Any dried herb can be used to brew a cuppa tea. I like adding the flavors I like, as and when I feel the need for a different taste combination. Parsley and Fennel seeds being just one example of a bespoke tea that you are not going to find in the shops.

Fennel seeds

Fresh fennel is a great aromatic herb, but I have not yet found the right way to preserve the aroma in a dried state. So the seeds are the best way to preserve that zing and makes for great tasting bread (especially rye bread) whether you mix in in during second proving of the dough, or sprinkle it over the top before popping into the oven.

The only way I can tell the difference between fennel and cumin, is by popping a few seeds into my mouth. Fennel has an almost liquorice flavor, cumin not, but I do enjoy both.

Health benefits of fennel seeds: Fennel seeds are used in many ways: mouth freshener, condiment in foods, alternative medicines and so on. Its leaves and twigs are boiled to cure many ailments etc. Fennel is a medicinal herb rich in Vitamin A, B6, B12, C, D, magnesium, Iron, calcium, sodium, carbohydrates, dietary fibers and potassium.

11 health benefits of Fennel Seeds that one should know (theayurveda.org)

Uses in cooking: Sprinkle over before baking your loaf in the oven, Mediterranean cuisine, pickling spice and so on.

Piquant Peppers (aka Peppadews)

Most of us probably first got to learn about peppadews by the piquant pickled version you buy in the shops, and then fill with feta cheese as a platter filler. In fact, I understand that the brand name PEPPADEW is reserved for use by that very company that brought it into our daily lives.

PEPPADEW® Products & Easy Recipes | PEPPADEW®

I was a bit slow to harvest this year, so have not pickled enough to sell, but they can be enjoyed in various other ways (in addition to the recipe ideas on the trademarked blog linked above) as listed below.

Health benefits of Peppadews: All round healthy with fantastic amounts of vitamin C, beta-carotene (good news for those who don’t like carrots but need the beta-carotene) and dietary fiber.

Peppadews dried

I had to pack these because they look so pretty. I can imagine this being a center piece in a pretty glass bottle, perhaps with a candle and a single green leaf of some kind.

Dried, this herb is less spicy than fresh, but it packs a good amount of heat. There is no way to describe it accurately, because what I consider spicy food, my husband would not be able to tolerate, and what he describes as hot I would say is nice, not particularly spicy. So I’m afraid you are going to have to wing it when using it in cooking.

Either add it in quite early in the cooking process (stews and such), or first reconstitute by soaking in just boiled water before adding it to the food.

Peppadew powder

Same as above, you must determine your own degree of hotness. I find sprinkling it over my plated meal adds just the right amount of Zing, and the Husband sprinkles less, according to his taste bads buds.

If you add it to your pot (which is toiling on top of the stove or a potjie over the coals), the heat dissipates somewhat, so you can afford to be more generous with the amount you add.

Hot sauce

Here I saved you the trouble of prepping hot sauce. The peppers were first fried together with Onion, garlic and ginger, and then cooked with a good amount of apple cider vinegar (which has its own long list of health benefits) before being blitzed.

Small helpings on the side please – it is quite hot.

Wild rocket

Fresh this is an amazing peppery leaf. Similar to traditional rocket, but with less leaf surface.

Dried you can add half a teaspoon to your vinaigrette, or generous helpings to your spaghetti bolognaise sauce. Anywhere you would use Italian or mixed herbs.

Coriander seeds

I am convinced coriander must be family of avocado. Why you ask? Because you have exactly 20 min to enjoy avocado at its best, then it becomes overripe.

Fresh coriander similarly does not last long as a growing herb, but if you leave it to go to seed, it literally does that, produces the berries which become dried seeds. Makes the garden look untidy, but so worth it to add freshly ground coriander to salads, cooked meals, meat dishes especially, and of course, for making biltong pickling.

Moringa

You are not going to eat moringa for the taste. But you will devour it for the health benefits.

Johannes never came to ask for headache tablets, as he would chew on the seeds for headaches, diabetes and many more medicinal benefits.

Edema treatment, liver protection, stomach, bacterial diseases, moods, heart (physical and metaphysical), wounds, and the list goes on.

I enjoy the crispy leaves sprinkled over my muesli in the mornings, or work it into your daily smoothie.

Moringa: Benefits, side effects, and risks (medicalnewstoday.com)

Chamomile

The last of the herbs for the season, is for Chamomile tea (or for craft beer I have heard).

It’s truly a soothing herbal remedy that I take before bed time for a good night’s sleep.

“They say” it promotes digestive health, and is good protection against cancer.

Tomato pasta sauce

When you are stuck with an overload of ripe tomatoes, you make jam, and when you’ve made enough jam, you make pasta sauce.

Ideal for a quick meal after a busy day. Once you’ve cooked and drained your pasta, you simply mix in the sauce which should reheat with the pastas residual heat.

If you were truly busy during the day, you grab a pack of bacon, chop it up (even in its frozen state) fry it up, add the sauce to heat through, and then stir through the cooked pasta. Add some depipped olives if you wish, and voila, la vita e bella.

The ingredients are tomato, some peppadew powder, olive oil (from the zero waste store Zero-Waste (zerowastestore.com.na)), salt and pepper.

Tomato jam

I know, it’s a bit weird. A savory fruit (yes, it’s a fruit, the scientists say so) that is presented sweetly. But The Husband and The Father ganged up on me, so I had to produce this incongruity.

A cleaner jam than this you cannot get.

The tomatoes were skinned, then cooked with sugar and ginger. That’s it. Enjoy a generous helping on a fresh, thick slice bread and butter, or a dietary inspired thin scraping on toast.

Writing these kitchen thoughts made me famished, but the time spent writing these thoughts neatly brought me to tea time. Let me end with Stefan Edmuns’ wise words:

“Time is an illusion, timing is art”.