Add seasonal fruit and spice to craft a refreshing summer cocktail.
WRITTEN BY ANN SHEPPHIRD • PHOTO BY DAVID CALVERT
The signature cocktail. It seems everyone has one these days, with the best combining classic ingredients with fresh, seasonal (and, hopefully, local and organic) produce. With the bounty of summer produce available, it’s an exceptionally good time to create your own signature cocktail.
To give you an idea of how it’s done, we’ve created a signature cocktail (with recipes available at Ediblerenotahoe.com) that adds four ingredients easily available in the summer—watermelon, mint, lime, and ginger—to a classic cocktail. You also can create cocktails using items such as basil, lavender, cucumbers, and berries.
One of the reasons we chose ginger is that it is probably the most popular ingredient in a signature cocktail these days, and because it’s easily available. One adventurous local farmer couple has even attempted to grow Hawaiian ginger here in the Nevada desert.Ray and Virginia Johnson of Custom Gardens in Silver Springs started a crop of the tropical root last year and are growing it again this year.
Watermelon can be found from several local growers as well, including Custom Gardens, Lattin Farms in Fallon, Workman Farms in Fallon, and Carrol’s Corner in Yerington.
Ann Shepphird is the co-founder of GardenstoTables.com, a website for gardeners, cooks, and others passionate about supporting sustainable agriculture.
