Whats in the Box:
Spinach, mesclun salad mix, romaine lettuce head, butter crunch lettuce head, baby beets with greens, baby lettuce mix, chives with blossoms, micro broccoli, bak-choi.
What’s going on at the farm:
This week is a pickup week for full season (Standard and Basic) members only. Bi-weekly members have the week off and will pick up again next week. It was another productive week of work on the farm. So many weeds were pulled by hand around many crops including our garlic and strawberries. All our greenhouse tomatoes were pruned and clipped for the second time and we will be pruning and clipping them weekly as they develop fruit this month. This past week was very busy harvesting and washing greens and getting shares out. We managed to get all the harvest in before this crazy heat wave we are having. I tilled in the fields that had the salad mixes and today am molding beds for our wide variety of hot peppers, watermelons, cantaloupes, and a second round of baby cucumbers, curly kale, broccoli, and more. In fact i’m working right through the holiday to keep everything watered in and use the valuable field time while I can be at home and not at market.
Choy: bak-choy are best used as a saute green or side dish but are also good with rice or in a stir fry with onions.
Buttercrunch lettuce head: These beauties came out super dense and perfect. This batch is different from the ones you had last week in that they were grown outside. I like splitting these right in half for a perfect wedge salad with some micro greens, carrot, chives, cucumber, and radish on top.
Romaine: This week we have more spring crops coming your way including some picture perfect romaine heads. These beauties really pack a crunch and we have been enjoying them at home as wraps for easy lunches when you’re busy and on the move. I like using the outer leaves of the romaine and the butter crunch for wraps to make mini sandwiches without bread!
Mesclun mix and lettuce mix: Mesclun is a blend of baby kale, lettuce, arugula, mustard greens, mizuna, and choy. It is a great, well-balanced salad mix with a little spice from the arugula and mustards. Our other mix is simply a lettuce mix with two colors of lettuce, in romaine and salad bowl types, it is also great for salads or mixing with the other greens or on sandwiches. I like to throw in some dried cranberries, or some crunchy seeds in my salads as well as chives.
Chives: The spicy chive blossoms on your chives make a great garnish for salads and other dishes. They are edible along with the chive which is our earliest onion offering. Use the rest of the chive to sautee with the choy in stir fry or sprinkled over your morning eggs or other dishes.
Micro Broccoli: It’s amazing how such small greens can pack such good flavor in but these micro greens are a rich and mild addition to any salad or finishing off any dish or entree you would appreciate the flavor of broccoli on. Micro greens and shoots also have more nutrition then full size greens!
Spinach: Spinach was not only Popeye’s favorite vitamin packed veggie but it’s one of mine as well. Spinach pie or spanakopita, quiche, and pasta dishes are great ideas for all sorts of meals with spinach. I enjoy spinach and lentils as well.
Beets: Our baby red beets are new this week and their sweetness is impressive, even sliced thinly and eaten raw. However, the greens are fantastic on these as well and I know we have a lot of greens early but do not miss out on sautéing these rich and dark greens. I like them lightly cooked with olive oil and garlic (use your scapes). They are so tasty and similar to chard (actually the same species as chard) so prepare them as you would swiss chard or spinach. The taste after sautéing is rich and pairs very well with the sweet roots and maybe some creamy cheese or savory herbs.
Enjoy the food and hope everyone had a safe and fun Memorial Day weekend!
