Henny Penny Farmette

If you want to eat a heart-healthy fruit this the fall, don’t automatically assume it has to be an apple.

One medium persimmon is loaded with vitamins, contains about six grams of dietary fiber, and has more potassium, magnesium, manganese, and iron than an apple.

Although apples do contain less sugar, carbs, and calories than persimmon, the latter fruit offers higher concentrations of antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins A, C, and K.

Persimmon antioxidants neutralize and help remove the free radicals that can damage DNA inside cells.Cellular inflammation triggers and sustains chronic disease. When free radicals, a natural byproduct of cell metabolism, builds up, it results in oxidative stress and inflammation.

The polyphenols found in persimmons help scoop the “bad” LDL cholesterol from the bloodstream and protect blood vessels from oxidative stress–good for the heart.

Persimmons contain beta-carotene and lycopene. These are converted by the body into Vitamin A that protects the eyes against macular degeneration. The Vitamin C in persimmons, acting alongside the fruits flavonoids, boosts the body’s immune defenses as well as lowering blood pressure.

So, if you’re headed to the grocery store, farmer’s market, or local orchard to pick up some heart-healthy fruit this fall, consider the health benefits of persimmons. Better still, reach for both types of heart-healthy fruit–persimmons and apples. Your body will thank you.

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 real Henny Penny Farmette is located in an inland valley east 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

The cool season of spring is the optimum time to grow seasonal greens for salads and healthy blended shakes. In my kitchen garden, I’ve planted a variety of lettuces, spinach, kale, and chard. Most salad greens are easy to grow also in containers, raised beds, and window boxes when gardening space is limited.

The newly planted Swiss chard shown here is a valuable source of Vitamins A, C, and K

Add compost and aged chicken manure to enrich the soil with nitrogen. Plant heirloom seeds about 1/2 inch in the soil, cover, and water. Within a week or 10 days, you should see the seedlings pop up. The greens will be ready to pick in about 25 days.

Water the plants to keep them hydrated but don’t drown the plants. When you are ready to make a salad, snip the leaves you want with kitchen scissors. New leaves will soon form if the roots are not disturbed and the plant continues to get nutrients and water.

Spinach can be started in seed cell flats and then transplanted into your garden when all danger of frost has passed

SALAD OF FRESH GREENS

1. Snip a variety of greens in the early morning. Wash and thoroughly dry the leaves.

2. Place them in a bowl and crumble on some sharp cheese such as your favorite goat cheese or a Gargonzola (blue-veined, sharp tasting, and crumbly).

3.  Add 1/2 cup sugared or candied walnuts.

4. Add some slice red onion and a handful of dried cranberries or chopped dried apricots.

5. Drop into the bowl some slices of a pear such as Bosc (considered the prince of pears).

6. Gently toss the salad and then spritz with red wine vinaigrette prior to plating on pretty salad serving dishes.

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If you love reading about gardening and other farming topics, check out my Henny Penny Farmette series of cozy mysteries that include A BEELINE TO MURDER, THE MURDER OF A QUEEN BEE, and A HIVE OF HOMICIDES.

The newest mystery in the Henny Penny Farmette series

• Delicious recipes

• Farm quips and quotes

• Tips for gardening and keeping chickens and bees

• An exciting whodunnit mystery