Ramps Win The Title!!

And all through the forest, the people rejoice as the Ramps have risen to take the title in the 2014 bracket!!! They have chopped the Overwintered Spinach, snapped the Sugar Snap Peas, roasted the Mini Sweet Peppers and smashed the Sweet Potatoes on their way to Victory.  Even with Capt Jack trying to stack the deck with a free cookbook, the Ramps held their ground.

Thank you to all of you that have played along with us and we hope to be able to have more fun and games throughout the year!!

Picture of the Ramps coming up this week!

Today's victory is the perfect way to start spring Ramp Season, which is just around the corner! We plan to start harvesting them in the next 1 - 2 weeks!

Who Will Be Crowned 2014 Champion Vegetable

The Sweet Potatoes smashed the Rutabagas!  They move into the final round today to take on the Spring-time favorite - Ramps!  Here is how the bracket looks!  How did your picks stack up?

On the 'LIKE' side, the Ramps are really springing up to this occasion. We asked Alvaro to head out to the woods and check on the current Ramp progress. The picture below shows that they are just starting to show off their green tips.  I, for one, can't wait to taste one of these again! To choose these spring-time favorites  as overall champion vegetable, 'LIKE' our Facebook status today!

Capt Jack knew all along that the Sweet Potatoes would roast all the other competitors.  Now he wants your help to chop up the Ramps!  If the Sweet Potatoes can overcome the powerfully flavorful Ramps, Capt Jack says we will pick one lucky person who shares our status (voting for the Sweet Potatoes) and send them a Farm Fresh & Fast cookbook from FairShare! 'SHARE' our Facebook status today for your chance to win if the Sweet Potatoes win!

This is the last match-up this year - Make your votes count!  Tomorrow we will announce the Champion!!

Second Final Four Match-Up

Yesterday, as the Ramps were dicing up the Mini Sweet Peppers, Capt Jack was looking forward to the Sweet Potato and Rutabaga mash-up today. He is pretty sure he knows who will win, but only time will tell.

On the 'LIKE' side today we have Capt. Jack's favorite vegetable of all time - the Sweet Potato!  These sweet beauties have cured the competition thus far. First they roasted the Honeynut Butternut Squash, then they steamed the Broccoli Romanesco. Now we will see if they can mash up the Rutabaga team. To help the Sweet Potatoes go to the Championship round, 'LIKE' our status on Facebook today.

On the 'SHARE' side, we have the Rutabaga team. They buried the Celeriac in the ground during the first round and are still reeling over the Red Beet blow-out on Friday. These root veggies are looking to smash the Sweet Potatoes with a little butter, salt and pepper to help them go down. The Rutabaga team is looking to you for help to take down the competition, to help them move on - 'SHARE' our Facebook status today!

The winner of this round will move on to take on the Ramps for the Championship Title.  I am sure that Jack will be eagerly waiting to see the results tomorrow. Can you guess who he wants to win?

First Final Four Round!

Our final four has been set, and I can tell you that I have my first loss in my personal bracket picks.  I thought those pesky beets would win out over the Rutabaga, however we move on to the Final Four!

In the first round of the Final Four we have the Spring favorite, Ramps, taking on the Summer favorite Mini Sweet Peppers.  We watched as the ramps creamed the Overwintered Spinach and snapped the Sugar Snap Peas! Will these springtime favorites be able to dice up the Mini Sweet Peppers? To help the Ramps spring into the final round, 'LIKE' our Facebook post today.

The Mini Sweet Peppers have already shown their bite by stringing up the Green Beans and crushing the Sungold Tomatoes into defeat.  Now these colorful beauties are looking to out-shine the wild Ramps. Will they be able to shimmy their way to the final round? To help the Mini Sweet's sweeten the final round, 'SHARE' our Facebook post today.

Winter Division Championship Round!

We are officially crowning the Sweet Potatoes the Fall Vegetable champion, and let me tell you that Jack is eager for their next battle.  We had to hold him back, as we need to crown a Winter division champion first. As we draw to an end next week, we have decided that we will allow the vegetables to rest and recuperate over the weekend.  After today's battle, we will start up the Final Four match ups on Monday with Ramps vs. Mini Sweet Peppers. Then on Tuesday the Sweet Potatoes are going to try to mash up the winner of today's match. Here are the current standings.

As you may remember, the Rutabaga shredded the Celeriac in the first winter round. After that dicing, we are eager to see who will win in this match-up. These root beauties are considered a solid vegetable that stores well for a long period of time.  To help with their sweetness, we leave them in the field until after the first light frost to make them even better than the waxy ones you'll find in the store.  If you would rather have a Shepard's pie with a mashed Rutabaga topping, 'LIKE' our Facebook post today to root for the Ruties team.

In the first Winter match-up, The Red Beets sliced up the Beauty Heart Radishes to take the win.  But can they do it again against the Rutabaga's or will the beets get beat? We have the beets, we have the beets, we have the beets, yaahhh, we have them! The beets have come to this match-up with a quick win in mind. They are so versatile and colorful, it seems an unfair advantage in the looks department.  But they are not just a pretty vegetable, they also have a wide variety of uses from salads to desserts and everything in between. To show your love for these red beauties, 'SHARE' our photo on Facebook today!

So, who will come out as the hottest vegetable in today's dish?  Only you can decide.

Fall Vegetable Division Championship Match-Up

Yesterday’s match-up was inarguably a victory for the Mini Sweet Peppers! They were crowned as the leader of the Summer Vegetable Division and will go on to compete against the Ramps next Monday. Should be a great match-up!

 

Today we’re looking for the champion of the Fall Vegetable Division with the Sweet Potatoes taking on the Broccoli Romanesco. Let’s see how each of today’s competitors have prepared for this match-up:

The Sweet Potatoes have been cured by the wonderful heat and humidity of the greenhouse in order to bring the perfect sweetness to the table today. They’ve tried many different drills to ensure that they are ready for whatever greets them in this competition. Some are roasted, some have become fries, and some are pureed for a decadent piece of sweet potato pie. We’ll see if their preparations hold up against their competitors!

The Broccoli Romanesco is out of this world. As soon as this vegetable arrives to the match-up, you know it is going to bring a show that seems fit for a different planet! The intricate spirals prepared in a medley of stir-fried vegetables shows just how versatile this unique vegetable can be. I must say, in a bracket like this one that is a valuable trait to have! To help relax before the big match-ups, the Broccoli Romanesco also enjoys to be steamed and then mingled with a little pasta, garlic and olive oil. It looks as though the Broccoli Romanesco is really stepping up to the plate for this round.

Stay tuned to see who brings home the crown in the Fall Vegetable Division!

Final Summer Division Match-Up!

Yesterday we crowned Ramps as the champion in the Spring Vegetable Division, but today it is time to see who they will be competing against next – who will win the championship of the summer division? Both the Mini Sweet Peppers and Sungold Tomatoes chopped up their first competitors, but now that they are competing against one another, who will reign as the ultimate Summer Vegetable Division champion?

As you will recall the mouth-watering, sweet and adorable Mini Sweet Peppers are not small when it comes to flavor! These colorful peppers are unforgettably sweet when eaten raw or cooked.  Stuff these little ones with cheese and the competition seems almost non-existent – they are that good! Some of their relatives – the jalapeños –shared some words of advice, "Bring the heat!" We’ll see if it helps these sweet, crispy peppers bring home a victory for the Summer Vegetable Division.

Matching up against the Mini Sweet Peppers is the flavorful and succulent Sungold Tomatoes! These small tangerine-orange tomatoes pack an “intense fruity flavor” that is unlike any other tomato of the season! These are great when popped in your mouth or dried and saved for a special treat to enjoy in the winter. With the small size of these tomatoes, it’s evident that size will not be a determining factor in today’s match-up. The sungolds are hoping their intensity will carry them through to a win in today’s battle.

Who will top the leaderboard in the Summer Vegetable Division? Two bright and sun-shining competitors, but there can only be one winner. Let the game begin!

Who Will Win the Spring Vegetable Division?

We have made it past the first round of match-ups and our sweet sixteen vegetables have been narrowed down to the elite 8. Yesterday the Beauty Heart Radishes won in a close match-up with our Red Beets. Here is your updated bracket of your elite 8 vegetables:

Furthering the fight for champion, today the infamous spring Ramps will battle the crisp Sugar Snap Peas to be crowned leader in the Spring Vegetable Division! Being that both of these vegetables hold a brief window of availability, the match-up could go either way! We’re looking forward to seeing the results.

On the ‘LIKE’ bench today we have the Ramps ready to ramp it up for another battle. The ramps thought that this battle might be stronger than the last so they brought along two of their favorite pairs – eggs and pesto. We think with this support system, the ramps will be bringing quite a punch!

On the ‘SHARE’ bench we have the sweet, but feisty, Sugar Snap Peas. These peas are showing up today having had many preparation methods under their pods – roasted, steamed and even raw, just to name a few. Sounds like quite a recipe for success if you ask me! We shall see if these preparations can carry them onward in our competition.

 Stay tuned tomorrow when we will reveal who won today’s battle and move on to see who will take home the championship in the Summer Vegetable Division!