Harvest Newsletter

Greetings from the Garden!  This week's CSA box contains salad and braising greens, kale or cabbage, broccoli, carrots, basil, cucumbers, snap peas, green onions,  garlic scapes, and new potatoes.

Field Notes.  Ken has been busy as a beaver.  In addition to the usual planting and cultivating, he adds summer tasks of tying up tomatoes and cucumbers weekly,  picking some crops every other day like cucumbers and zucchini, along with  once a season jobs like mulching.  It is good he has long days to get all this done!  Actually he enjoys it and the crops look good, so it is quite satisfying.

I have added picking duties. The third crop of strawberries has crested.  I looked back and the strawberries started May 17th and with three different varieties that has meant a month and a half of strawberries.  Now the snap peas are producing in full force.  Next will be shell peas and green beans.  It is an exciting time of year as the food choices increase so dramatically.

From the Kitchen.  One day I added up the fruits and vegetables Ken and I ate that day - seven!  I had a couple of curved cukes.  Here is one of our favorite ways to prepare cucumbers.   After rinsing the cucumber run a fork lengthwise along the cuke to make grooves - it not only looks nice, it cuts the skin to smaller, more digestible pieces.  Slice and place in a bowl with salt for about a half hour.  Drain the liquid and save for stock or add to something you would add salt - sauces and gravies for example.  Then add to a bowl of a creamy dressing.  I use a bit of vinegar, pepper, sliced green onion tops, and any of the following: yogurt, cream, kefir.  Add herbs if you like - dill or parsley.  Voila!

It is also snap pea season!  Snap peas are an edible pod pea; just snap the little "cap" at the stem end and pull down toward the blossom end to remove any "strings."  I would also use the above dressing. for cooked snap peas.  I also like to combine peas with carrots The carrots take about 8 - 10 minutes to cook and snap peas take about 3 - 4 so I add them after the carrot slices have cooked about 4 minutes.

'Til Next Week, Judith and Ken