Harvest Newletter

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