Henny Penny Farmette

We are a week away from autumn’s arrival. Gone from our farmette are the early summer apricots, nectarines, peaches, and summer table grapes. But ripening now is one of our favorite fall seasonal fruits, pomegranates. They are beginning to arrive at farmer’s markets. You’ll find them alongside seasonal apples, grapes, and pears.

On our Henny Penny Farmette, we’ve trained our pomegranate bushes into trees that stand six to eight feet tall with two or three strong trunks. Those trunks support lush canopies (green over summer and golden during the fall) along with a heavy crops of fruit. Our pomegranates range from baseball to grapefruit size. In the winter, the pomegranate trees lose their beautiful golden leaves but sprout new leaves early in spring.

Pomegranates are deciduous, fruit-bearing shrubs well known in ancient cultures ranging from India, across Central Asia, Iran, and the Mediterranean region. The arils or ruby red seeds have long been valued for their medicinal properties as well as their sweet-tart taste and abundant juice. They have well-documented properties valued for health benefits.

Those small red seeds and juice are packed with more antioxidants than red wine and green tea. In particular, pomegranates are rich in polyphenols, chemical-compounds that are anti-inflammatory and antioxidant.

Studies have shown that consumption of pomegranates and the juice reduces inflammation in the body and protects against heart and blood vessel diseases. The anti-inflammatory and antioxidant benefits contribute to the health many of bodily organs, including brain, heart, lung, liver, and kidneys. Pomegranates benefit urinary health by possibly reducing the formation of kidney stones. Studies are being done on potential anti-tumor properties of pomegranates that could aid in the treatment and prevention of cancer. The ancients valued the fruit as food and medicine, ideas that the modern world also embraces as studies continue in many areas on the benefits of the fruit on human health.

Eight Ways to Use Pomegranate Seeds and Juice:

You can use pomegranate arils to enhance the taste, appearance, and texture of food. Let your imagination be your guide.

1. Crush a half cup of arils and save the juice to drizzle over your favorite hot cereal or yogurt with dried cranberries and toasted coconut or any of your favorite toppings.

2. Toss a tablespoon of arils into a winter salad with lots of citrus, spinach, goat cheese, toasted walnuts, and pear slices. Use pomegranate juice in your dressing.

3. Try a few arils on hummus or toss a few onto waffles or pancakes.

4. Pop some arils on pizza or pasta.

5. Make some pomegranate molasses to use in your Asian and Middle Eastern dishes.

6. Sprinkle the juicy red arils with toasted coconut on panna cotta, for a delicious sweet dessert.

7. Use the juice to make a gelatin to layer into a trifle for a stunning holiday dessert.

8. Drain the juice from the crushed seeds and make pomegranate jelly. Or, use the juice as a tea flavored with fresh mint and a spoon of honey.

If you enjoy reading about country living and growing heirloom fruits, vegetables, and berries or keeping bees like we do here on our farmette, you also might enjoy reading my Henny Penny Farmette series of mysteries. Each book includes delicious recipes and tips for growing and harvesting heirloom produce along with strategies for caring for chickens and bees.

The stories are informed by my life here on the real Henny Penny Farmette located in an inland valley of the San Francisco Bay. These cozy mysteries as well my more than two dozen wellness and spirituality books are are available on Barnes and Nobles and Amazon or wherever books are sold. –ML

Tags: anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, antioxidant, green tea, heart, lung, medicine, polyphenols, red wine, urinary