CSA Newsletter

Greetings from the Garden!  This week's box has many types of lettuce and salad greens, braising greens, spinach, radishes, sorrel and chervil, green onions, asparagus, sunchokes, parsnips.

Field Notes.  Memorial Day weekend is a good time to look back, be grateful, and move ahead.  We are glad to be here and do what we do.  It is wonderful to start the season with water in the irrigation ponds.  It is great that the apples seemed to have blossomed without freezing temperatures.

Rye a couple weeks ago

Moving ahead we are working at planning and planting.  Ken has been deciding which rows of rye to turn up and plant and which to leave growing.  He had some sad news - the electric fencer seems to have lost its charge and there is some deer damage already.  There are many deer in the area and enough food for the does to reproduce and no predators.  This means at times the population is hungry and goes through fencing.  

Plastic drying before we fold it up and store 'til fall

Last week Ken removed the conduit and plastic that makes the hoopettes.  at first the garden looked a bit naked and vulnerable, but everything there can take a light frost.  Thursday night the forecast was for 32 degrees.  When I woke at 4 a.m. and checked it was 34.  When Ken woke at 5:30 it was also 34.  Neither of us saw any frost damage.  Usually we do not get frost after Memorial Day.  

Mustard and turnip tops

From the Kitchen. Braising greens.  I got a question last week from a new CSA member about braising greens - which and what do I do with them.  I refer to all the kale, brassica tops like kohlrabi, rutabaga, and the flavorful mustards like mizuna or red mustard or green wave mustard as braising greens.  Many folks just add as accents to salads.  If you salt or wilt braising greens, the zippy flavor backs up to a milder flavor.  I usually do a flash cook to just wilt.  I often saute onion, add the greens, and then add lemon juice, vinegar or any dressing you like.  We also add them to soups just before serving.  

Last weekend we were invited to a party and asked to bring finger food.  At first I was baffled as I usually bring tossed greens.  So instead I made a dip of yogurt, and some of Ken's pickled red bell peppers, pickle juice that I ran through the blender and garnished with chopped parsley.  I cleaned radishes and cut them in half so they would not roll off the plate.  It was a hit as there were no radishes to return home with us!  So try radishes on the hors d'oeuvres tray with a dip!

'Til Next Week!