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Greetings from the Garden! This week's CSA box has salad and braising greens such as lettuce, pea shoots, sorrel and/or arugula, beet and turnip thins, mizuna and tatsoi, spinach, and flowers, parsnips, salad turnips, and asparagus
Field Notes. Ken has been working long days. Sunday he transplanted the bulk of the onion crop - a LOT of tiny onion plants he had seeded in trays in early February. He has planted some potatoes, many cabbage, and has tomatoes and peppers in the mobile high tunnel. he has lost a few tomatoes and peppers to cut worms, but has been finding and eliminating the cut worms and replacing plants with extras he has saved.
In addition to all the transplanting, Ken has been preparing beds and planting seeds as well.. Some crops lend themselves to transplanting while others like root crops are best planted as seeds directly into the soil. Ken is also watching the weather for rain (no hail please) and so he can stay on top of opening and closing greenhouses.
Ken is also teaching a monthly Let;s Garden class on the third Saturday from April to October. If you know any gardeners who want to hone their skills, please let them know. Details are on events on face book or web site.
From the Kitchen. Spring brings spinach and asparagus. I think of them both together. Spinach is packed with nutrition, but it has oxalic acid which bothers some people in the form of kidney stones. Asparagus flushes the system of oxalic acid so we tend to eat them both. Here is a supper I brought out to Ken in the field: pasta tossed with my mayonnaise and chives with cooked bacon and seared asparagus spears and a side of salad with beer and dessert.
Last week I froze spinach for winter quiches and soups (see prior blog entry for the how to). Two standard sized colanders became four pint bags after blanching. Once we have some extra asparagus I also freeze one or two quart bags for a cream of asparagus soup in winter. We feel like it is a cleansing food.
Spinach is a favorite with many folks. I tend to pair spinach with any of the following - cooked with eggs and chives, in salads with feta cheese and hard boiled eggs, and as a last minute addition to soups and stews.
Here is a potato salad and spinach salad - my lunch on Saturday
Asparagus is best lightly cooked. Many people who don't like asparagus have had overcooked mushy stuff in past. I like to pan sear it in a heavy skillet with some oil or fat that takes heat, or brush it with olive oil and grill it. That seals in the flavor.
Salad turnips are a spring delight. We have been growing them for years, and they are catching on in popularity. They are a mild Asian turnip that is often sliced and salted. I use them raw like radishes and cooked like purple turnips. The greens are a nutritional power house. I usually flash cook them or add them to soups right before serving. Enjoy!
'Til Next Week, Judith
We start storing food whenever we have surplus. We freeze, dry, and can much of what we grow for later use. Right now greens are at their peak. I usually freeze some now to eat in late winter for variety. One of my favorites is to freeze spinach in pint containers. Once egg season starts in February - March, and we have surplus eggs, I use it for quiche. Greens are a great last minute addition to lentil or other soup. Since the greens have been cooked, just thaw and add just before serving.
To freeze: Get everything together and clear space. I use one or two large kettles, two colanders, a slotted spoon, two large bowls, and freezer bags.
Rinse spinach while the water in the kettle is coming to a boil. I pull any long stems.
Plunge spinach in boiling water. I put half a colander in each pan of boiling water. I like to use less spinach per pan so the water temperature remains high and it blanches quickly.
Watch for color change - about a minute or two.
Remove with slotted spoon. It has reduced in size dramatically.
Chill in cold water immediately to stop the cooking process.
Once spinach has cooled, I squeeze out excess moisture.
Then I place in small bags and squeeze the air out. Date bag and place in freezer.
I use the blanch water in cooking - bone broth, soup stock, cooking water, sauces, etc.
Tips and Variations: Some people steam rather than blanch. Some people use ice instead of cold water to keep as much nutrition as possible.
Greetings from the Garden. This week's CSA box focuses on greens - salad, spinach, braising, mizuna, Tokyo Chinese cabbage, parsnips, chives, and French breakfast radishes.
Field Notes. After wrapping things up for our annual spring opener, Ken is out of the pottery studio for a while. Now that he does not divide his time between pottery and field work, he has been making amazing progress. He has the garden ready to plant several crops.
Ken also is ready to install the replacement fence on the south side of the garden
He is constantly planting and moving things to his nursery in the garden, and a cart by the back door. Here transplants adjust to being outside - growers call this hardening off.
And last week a group of young farmers came and we formed assembly line of lifters, turners, drillers, pluggers, and sealers. What were we doing? Putting shiitake spawn into oak logs. It takes a while before we get any mushrooms. We shall see!
From the Kitchen. Greens! Ken has been pulling dandelions and bringing them in for me to cook. Last night I sliced some home made venison chorizo, cooked it in a cast iron skillet, added a scant tablespoon butter, then milk. Added chives and dandelion greens just before serving over pasta.
During those last cool mornings I heated up some soup stock, added small eggs and poured into a bowl of rinsed, chopped greens. And speaking of soup, I plan to make curried cream of parsnips, potatoes, chive and more
Radishes reflect their growing weather. Radishes grown when it is cool are cool; those grown during three weeks of hot weather will be hot. These are mild
'Til next week, Judith
After the spring opener weekend, I decided to take a walk with the camera for the Harvest newsletter. So much is blooming early with the warm weather! Trillium usually bloom around Mothers Day.
The plums in the orchard are popping
June berry or service berry shrubs are at peak
June berries and Nanking Cherries are bridging the blossom season
And some tulips are opening, too
As spring unfolds, there are more and more greens and fresh food to harvest. This week we add lambs quarters, a European import that grows in rich soil and is a nutritional power house. It is a mild green and I usually pull the leaves and add to salad or chop the whole plant and braise - lightly cook.
The sorrel we harvest is a semi - perennial from France. It is a lemony flavored green high in vitamin C. I like it in salad, added to braising mixes, and warmed in butter in place of any recipe that calls for lemon butter - like fish.
Claytonia or miners lettuce likes cool spring weather. That is its season. It is a mild flavored succulent that delights many people for its juicy texture. Some families call it "that water lily green."
It is a great addition to any green combination - raw or braised
Ken spent part of Saturday getting ready to move the mobile high tunnel to its summer location. As the temperature rises, the greens no longer need protection and will do better in the cooler air out side! The more carefully Ken prepares, the easier the move goes. He pulls weeds along the track, pounds down t posts, and finally takes up all the clips and anchors. Then he calls me and I head down.
We had a slow spot when one of the eighteen wheels came off the track. Once righted it was smooth rolling to the new spot.
Then Ken has to reinstall all the anchoring clips, posts, etc.
Now we are putting fiber on the greens on cool nights and Ken has the mobile high tunnel closed up so the soil warms up for the heat loving crops that he will transplant soon
Greetings from the Garden! This week's CSA box has salad and braising greens, spinach, arugula, potatoes, parsnips, carrots and the first radishes
Field Notes. Sunday we moved the mobile high tunnel off the spring greens as they no longer need the heat and protection from cold temperatures, and Ken wants to heat the soil in the summer location for the tomatoes, peppers, etc. It takes time but soon the heat loving crops will be in the soil.
Ken is also working soil for beds for full season crops like onions. Onions grow based on length of day and once the days shorten they slow down - no matter what size they are - so early transplanting is crucial. He is also working on perennial crops like raspberries and asparagus.
And he is planting and transplanting. It is a busy time
I have been washing and pricing pottery for our spring opener this coming weekend Saturday and Sunday May 2nd and 3rd 10 - 5. In addition to pottery we will have produce. And honey and maple syrup. You can come out and self tour the gardens and fields.
From the Kitchen. Today marks an auspicious day - our first solid vegetables that were planted in 2015! As much as I love the spring dug roots like parsnips, I find the first radishes magic. I like radishes in salads. And radishes make a great salad on their own. Slice, salt let sit about a half hour. Drain any liquid, rinse if you are concerned about salt then combine radishes, chives and a dressing of sour cream or yogurt, a bit of honey, pepper and lemon juice or vinegar - voila!
Each year I give my basic salad dressing recipe - a tart like lemon juice or vinegar, a fat like olive oil or yogurt or sour cream, a bit of something sweet like honey, maple syrup or sugar, a pinch or salt and pepper. For mild greens I use light oils and maybe a fruit vinegar like raspberry vinegar. For robust greens like the mustard in the braising mix I like to make a more robust dressing by adding chives or garlic, and apple cider vinegar in place of lemon juice or a light vinegar. Of course there are infinite combinations - I love feta cheese with spinach, and blue cheese and cottage cheese in dressings. I really like to pair my dressing with the greens - lighter dressing with milder greens and more robust dressing for more robust greens. Experiment to see what you like and continue to experiment as the greens change with the season. Enjoy!
'Til next Week, Judith
We start storing food whenever we have surplus. We freeze, dry, and can much of what we grow for later use. Right now greens are at their peak. I usually freeze some now to eat in late winter for variety. One of my favorites is to freeze spinach in pint containers. Once egg season starts in February - March, and we have surplus eggs, I use it for quiche. Greens are a great last minute addition to lentil or other soup. Since the greens have been cooked, just thaw and add just before serving.
To freeze: Get everything together and clear space. I use one or two large kettles, two colanders, a slotted spoon, two large bowls, and freezer bags.
Greetings from the Garden. This week's CSA box focuses on greens - salad, spinach, braising, mizuna, Tokyo Chinese cabbage, parsnips, chives, and French breakfast radishes.
