Welcome to our first share - and welcome back to many of you! And in this first week we welcome you all to the adventure of eating seasonally and locally - because we don't exactly know what will be in the share until we finish the harvest! The heat has made the cool weather crops a bit sulky and a little hard to predict. With more heat and not that much moisture on the horizon, we need to get these crops out of the field to make room for the happy summer campers.
So some, but not all, of the following veggies will be in your share. And if not this week, certainly in following weeks! Here's the scoop:
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| Lettuce - one or two heads - either Red or Green Leaf, Red or Green Bibb or Oakleaf |
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| Kohlrabi - alien looking veggie but so delicious! Peel the tough outer skin and find a tender, crunchy inside, perfect for slicing into "dippers" for hummus. Also good in stir-fries or roasted. Grate fresh kohlrabi with radishes and dressing of choice for a "kohl" slaw. When fresh, tastes like a cross between apple and cauliflower. Definitely in share. |
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| Curly Kale - very tender at the start of the season. Enjoy in stir-fries or Kale Salad. |
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| Beet greens with baby beets. Beet greens are loaded with iron, calcium and magnesium, so be sure to include them when you cook up a mess of greens! Maybe in share. |
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| A traditional spring treat - in salad or stir-fry. Maybe in share. |
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| "Rainbow Chard" - use like spinach - steamed, in stir-fry, or salad. Stems are tender too, just cook a little longer. Or use as a celery substitute for crunch in potato or veggie salads. Maybe in share. |
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| Radishes - a classic salad addition for crunch and color. This week we made Roasted Radishes Roasting takes the bite out of radishes and transforms them into a rich, mellow side dish. The radishes are the sulkiest in this weather, but there is still a lot of radish goodness in the bunch. |
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| Garlic Scapes - a rather new addition to American cuisine but a longstanding Asian traditional food. Garlic Scapes are tender seed stalks of garlic plants, removed so that growing energy can be concentrated in the bulb. Chop and add to salads, dressings, or stir-fries for a fresh garlic flavor. Definitely in share. |
STORAGE: Give the greens a quick rinse, dry and store in plastic or veggie-keeper bag. Roots such as kohlrabi, beets and radishes store best if separated from their greens. They will stay firm for a week or two if separated from their greens. Treat garlic scapes the same as greens. Kept in a plastic or storage bag, scapes will also keep a long time. You can freeze them as well.
NOTES FROM THE FARM: As you know, it has been an up and down spring, in terms of wide temperature vacillations. It's funny to talk about the heat now, when not that long ago...
When faced with a rather dire forecast of snow and ice, we knew we had to protect our early plantings. Here's what it looked like on April 20 as the snow started to accumulate after we spent the afternoon setting up row covers.
And here's what it looked like as we started to harvest the lettuce in your share. The row covers worked!
We hope that your "row cover" gave you good protection this winter and you are meeting the spring feeling as healthy and robust as our lettuce patch! Thank you again for joining us this season and we'll let our newest farm resident, Kali, say goodbye.
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Have a good week everyone! |
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