CSA Newsletter

Greetings from the Garden!  This week's box has spinach, lettuce of many sizes and colors, salad greens, braising greens, pea shoots, beet thins, lambs quarters, bok choy or mizuna, parsnips, gobo(burdock), sunchokes, and onions.

Field Notes.  Ken has been busy catching up with planting.  Saturday we got hail and some ice pellets; it was too windy and cold, so Sunday he went all out!  He planted various members of the onion family, celery root, carrots, beets, and parsnips.

Ken is also doing related jobs like getting irrigation in place.  Each spring it is time to get out the pump, hoses and fittings and get it all set up for use.  He is also working on fencing

Although it has been cold this spring, there are signs of progress:  The garlic that was planted last fall is coming up.
And we have gone from ice pellets to eighty degrees in three days!

The strawberries are blooming.  Some blossoms froze out in that last cold, so we will see what we get!


From the Kitchen. We have been eating green.  I braise greens with sauteed onions and eggs and some of Ken's pickled red peppers with eggs for breakfast.  Salad for mid day and then greens in soup at supper.  Spinach is great paired with hard cooked or pickled eggs in a salad.  It is great in scrambled, baked egg dishes like quiche.  And I add it to soups just before serving - lentil soup and tomato soup are good with spinach.  

I also do the braising greens and Asian greens like mizuna and bok choy in stir fry or wilted in soups. 

We have both green and red bok choy this spring

Parsnips are a spring favorite around here.  At first I scrub, slice, boil four minutes, drain, and cook in a heavy skillet in butter just to the point where they start to brown and caramelize.  The last cool night I roasted some with sliced onion, olive oil and herbs - thyme.  And they are great paired with curry especially in a cream soup.

Sunchokes have inulin, an insulin cousin, so they are very helpful for people with blood sugar issues.  My only rule with sunchokes is do not cook for long as they can turn to grey mush!  Think of them as a crunchy addition to salad or stir fry.  They are a great local seasonal substitute for water chestnuts.

"Til Next Week!

Crazy Weather

Ken moving slush Saturday morning May 4th

We are experiencing unusual weather this spring.  March had several night time lows in the single digits.  April brought cooler weather and LOTS of snow.  The snow continued into May, and I was washing and pricing pottery in snow and slush.  Our spring opener weather included heavy slush in the morning on Saturday - a first. 

Kiln shed during snow Saturday May11th

And now today, on the Saturday of Mothers Day weekend, we had a blast of cold air - wind gusts to 35 miles per hour, first small hail, and then snow.  When the hail started Ken and I raced out to close the hoopettes in the garden - no one wants pre - shredded lettuce!  It was bitterly cold - very odd for May.

Jack with a layer of snow May 11th

The animals, including old Jack the Dog took it in stride - that is snow on him, not dandruff!

CSA Newsletter

Greetings from the Garden!  This box has red and green lettuce, salad greens, braising greens, Asian greens, spinach, lamb's quarters, radishes, parsnips, sunchokes, burdock root onions, potato onions, and potatoes.

Field Notes.  Well, a week ago CSA members braved snow to pick up their boxes!   We woke up to 14 inches of snow on Thursday.  I was working on washing and pricing pottery for our event here.  

Ken was moving tiny plants up from 3/4 inch soil blocks to 2 inch soil blocks. 

He also was checking plants in greenhouses and laying fiber over the ones that are not cold tolerant.  He has been opening doors and vents in all the greenhouses and hoopettes, and checking weather forecasts to determine how tight to shut everything up each night.  The greenhouses get a bit hot for the greens on sunny days, but the tomato transplants love the heat.

Ken spent Monday evening transplanting.  With the longer days he puts in longer work days, and with all the transplants waiting for open warm soil, he has his work cut out for him!  The irrigation ponds are filling up, and the soil is damp.  It is a good way to start a growing season.  Last year's early heat and lack of snowfall meant dry conditions.  This year looks good!

Ken pointed out the first of the garlic shoots coming up through the mulch in the field - pretty exciting to see green plant tips!  And the green manures are coming up as well.  

From the Kitchen This week we have sunchokes - also known as Jerusalem artichokes.  They are an indigenous cousin of the sunflower.  We dig and eat the tubers.  I just scrub carefully at the place where the reddish outer skin or scales overlap.  They have a crunchy slightly nutty flavor that is great raw in salad, pickled with a little garlic, hot pepper and turmeric, and used in any recipe that calls for water chestnuts.  I like to slice and saute them with onion or garlic and add a splash of tamari.  I also used them in a spinach dip in place of the water chestnuts.

Spinach -  fresh spinach.  It is so versatile - good in salad, nice in soups, great in cooked egg dishes like quiche or omelettes.  Add spinach to a dish and now it becomes Florentine - tomato soup Florentine for example.  This time of year I have pickled eggs and I like them sliced on top of a spinach salad - or hard boiled eggs.  

I love to use feta cheese in a dressing for spinach salad - it is a really tasty pairing.  Spinach likes cool damp weather, and this week's spinach is just beautiful.  Enjoy!

'Til Next Week!

CSA Newsletter

Greetings from the Garden!  This box has salad greens, braising greens, Chinese cabbage, mizuna, claytonia, the first spinach, lambs quarters, onions, potato onions, potatoes, burdock, sunchokes, radishes, and parsnips.

Field Notes.   Like that old song - what a difference a day makes!  Spring arrived Sunday as I was finishing syrup, and I had all the windows open.  Now we head outside, and are monitoring temperatures in all the growing spaces.  Like Goldilocks we don't want it too hot or too cold, but just right!  From 70's to freezing outside with more heat possible inside means opening and closing most days. 

For Ken the push is on.  He has been cleaning up the sap buckets and other equipment and is starting to plant outside the covered areas.  So much to catch up this season!  It feels great to get over wintered roots out of the ground, and crops into the ground.  Ah, spring!

Ken has also been working for our event here this weekend.  
 

And I have been washing and pricing pottery that will be for sale.

From the Kitchen.  Spring roots always add variety to the winter's fare.  This week we add parsnips and burdock.  Parsnips are a carrot cousin - only sweeter.  The old fashioned way to serve them is scrub, slice, boil or steam to al dente, and then saute in butter until they just start to brown and caramelize. They are great in soups.  I like a creamed potato, parsnip and curry  soup.

Burdock is a new vegetable for many people.  It is common in Asia where people consider it a health food - packed with minerals and eaten as a blood and liver tonifier and spring cleanse.  I usually do a Japanese cooking style called kinpira. 

What is kinpira? Kinpira is a Japanese cooking technique. 

In spring one uses carrots and gobo - burdock root - cut into matchsticks. In summer chefs combine thumb sized pieces of Asian eggplant and green pepper. And in fall squash like our buttercup cut into thin crescent shapes is common.

Start with a cast iron or heavy skillet. Toast some sesame seeds and set aside. Use a cooking fat or oil that can take heat, and add some dried hot red pepper flakes if desired.


Add the vegetable that takes the longer cooking time (gobo in spring and green peppers in summer). 

 Cook over high heat, and keep stirring. 

Add the second vegetable. Cook to al dente. 

Add a teaspoon to tablespoon of sugar, Stir to caramelize, but don't burn. 

Add a splash at a time of a sweet cooking wine like Japanese mirin or sherry. I use homemade parsnip wine. 

Finally add some good quality tamari or soy sauce. Top with the toasted sesame seeds and serve.

 

The sequence is important as the sugar and sweet wine seal in the flavors. Experiment as everyone seems to like a different ratio - some like it hotter, others like it sweeter or saltier. The end result is a toasted sweet, salty glazed vegetable with a bit of crunch. Delicious!


Til next week!

Greens - Mizuna, Claytonia, Tatsoi

People requested greens identification - Here is Mizuna.  It is a mild Asian member of the cabbage often found in salad mixes.  We usually grow mizuna 3/4 to full size.  It is great in salad or in a mix of braised greens, added to soup just before serving.  Beautiful, nutritious, and tasty.

Here is claytonia.  It thrives in cool temperatures.  It is called that lilypad green by many of our CSA members.  It is mild and a lovely addition to salads for its juicy crispness.  People also like it braised as well.

Tatsoi, like mizuna is an Asian member of the cabbage family that is often found in salad mix.  Its bright green leaves and white stems are a beautiful addition to any salad.  It also braises beautifully.

Lambs quarters is often considered a weed.  It grows only in rich soil and is very nutritious.  It is mild.  I toss leaves in salads or braise the whole plant chopped  

Spinach is great in salads and braised and in soups.  I like spinach in egg dishes - omelettes, quiche and so on.

Parsnips Recipe

Usually as we dig parsnips the weather is getting warmer.  So I am not thinking oven.  When today's temperature drop to 32 degrees, Ken requested I roast some parsnips and onions.  I scrubbed the parsnips, cleaned a couple onions and tossed with olive oil and thyme, salt and pepper.  Placed in a hot oven and stirred every few minutes.  

Result: delicious.  Thank you, Ken for the idea.

Arugula Suggestions

Arugula was featured in the St Paul Sunday paper.  Some ideas include chopped arugula with other vegetables tossed with cooked pasta.  Arugula pesto with garlic, olive oil, and toasted walnuts.  As a green in sandwiches.  Chopped and added to your favorite pilaf.  

Salad ideas included Parmesan, artichoke, and olives or diced apricot, crumbled feta and toasted almonds or crumbled Gorgonzola, toasted pecans, and dried cranberries.  If you design a great arugula dish, please let me know so I can share it!