CSA Newsletter

Greetings from the Garden! This week's box has lettuces, bok choy, kohlrabi, beets, salad and braising greens, asparagus, strawberries, green onions, parsley, oregano and the first of the peas.

Field Notes. Ken is busily cultivating and has most of the onion family up to date. Certain crops don't take weed pressure; if you don't stay on top of the weeds, you don't get much of a crop. Sunday night and last night he was out getting new beds ready and transplanting and planting. The garden and field keep changing as the crops come out and new ones go in -

The rain has come just as we needed it. Irrigation takes lots of time, and we are happy it has not been necessary often this season. It looks like hot weather is coming - good for the peppers, but stressful on the greens.

He is also spiffing up the place for the for the Garden and Field tour. Mark your calendars July 10th at 2 p.m. Ken does a garden tour, and then after a short walk through the woods to the field, he tours there. Finally we have some snack from the garden. RSVP so I know how many people to prepare for.

From the Kitchen. We are doing beets two weeks in a row as we have several every other week members. That way they don't get only beets or only carrots. We should move on to carrots next week. I think of beets, kohlrabi, and bok choy as bonus vegetables - you get both the greens and the stalks or roots. I use beets, bok choy, and kohlrabi tops in stir fry, soup, braised, and sometimes even omelets. We try to eat as many greens as possible and we use them everywhere. Everything I read tells me Americans don't eat enough green food. I am just trying to do my part to change that.

Oregano is a fragrant Mediterranean herb. I tend to use it in pasta dishes, and I like to dry some for winter stews. Oregano or marjoram is a great herb to accompany game meats like venison. Oregano is nice paired with lemon in Greek dishes or added to beans in Mexican style cooking.

These peas are snap peas - they are an edible pod pea. Snap off the stem end that looks like a little cap and pull toward the blossom end to remove any stringy fibers. They are nice in cream sauce, blanched and added to green or pasta or potato salads. We also use them in soups and stir fry. The amount of peas we get really depends on weather - if it gets too hot, they just give up. But Ken says when the peas season is short, the melons could be great.