CSA Newsletter

Greetings from the Garden! This week's box has lettuce, spinach, salad and braising greens, Asian greens like bok choy, turnips, kohlrabi, asparagus, sunchokes, green onions and parsley.

Field Notes. Ken has been busy with several maintenance jobs - getting the irrigation set in the field, mowing under the electric fence, cultivating, getting up the pea fence, and more. He is also transplanting hot weather crops and clearing space in the high tunnel. He set up a tent in the garden so the transplants didn't get stressed. Above 80 degrees the plants (and farmers) show signs of stress. When it is too hot to walk in the garden barefoot, it is too hot for most plants to do well. The micro-organisms are going deeper to get away from the heat as well.

Ken has been spending each Tuesday after the harvest clearing space for new plantings. This week he plans to expand the area for the pigs. Lots to do.

From the Kitchen. Since we are eating lots of salad, I have been experimenting with salad dressings. I have been doing a yogurt, thyme, homemade mayonnaise, lemon juice and honey, salt, and pepper that was well received. I also did an Asian with tamari, sweet wine, tahini, honey, salt and pepper with and without hot pepper. This was really nice with spinach. I also like a little feta cheese and walnuts with salads that have more spicy greens like mustard and arugula.
Try new dressings - it is easy. Most of our dressing has a sour like vinegar or lemon juice, a bit of sweet like honey, an oil or dairy like olive oil, toasted sesame oil, yogurt and a bit of salt and pepper.

This week's lettuce shows signs of heat stress: tip burn. I have taken most of the outer leaves so you may have more hearts than whole heads. As the weather gets hotter, the greens have stronger flavor. I adjust dressings to be more robust and add cheese and nuts to balance stronger flavor.

Grilled asparagus is great. And if you aren't up for grilling, use a bit of heat tolerant oil in a heavy skillet. Or steam or brush with olive oil and bake in the oven. And I use leftover asparagus (when there is any) in salads - pasta or quinoa is tasty.

Kohlrabi is a member of the brassica - cabbage family. It was developed to have a swollen, edible stem and greens like kale. We often peel, slice and salt the round bulbous stem. It is also good raw in salad, or cooked alone or in combinations with other vegetables like turnips. I cut the tops from the stems and store separately. I use tops like I would kale - quick cooked or braised. In Japan cooks slice vegetables and salt, press for an hour, rinse and serve as a pressed salad - delicious.