In Your Share (April 2nd edition)

We have SUMMER SHARES for sale!! You can sign up & get more info HERE.

Yes – it was really wet this March – the wettest on record in fact! Despite almost twice the average rainfall last month, our winter crops did NOT drown and are producing quite well. Even record rains can’t stop the brassicas (ie. kale, collards & cabbage) from noticing the longer days of spring have arrived. In response to the increasing photoperiod, they begin pushing up tender flower stalks. The budding stem of the brassicas are known by a confusing array of names in the market – raab, rapini, rapa, rabe, quiletes etc. There are some purists who are opposed to playing fast & lose with botanical nomenclature, but I think it’s probably too late for that. There are a million varieties of flowering brassicas and it might be helpful it they all had their own distinct names. Ask us at pickup if you want to know exactly what plant your raab or rapini came from and we’ll let you know. The truth is that kale raab, Sessantina Grossa and Gai Lum are all super tasty and we’re glad to have them as harbingers of a hopefully sunnier spring to come!

 

You can download your Recipe Packet here.  These are written by my friend Katherine Deumling at Cook With What You Have. I’m excited to try her Indian Inspired Buttered Greens & Potatoes with the green tomato chutney I made last fall.

This week your share may include…

  • Beets: A few weeks ago I was in Mt Vernon, WA to present at a workshop on winter farming. I made sure to tell everyone about these Winterkeeper beets!! They are easy to grow and maintain their quality through the winter better than any other variety we’ve ever grown.
  • Collards: The leaves are smaller this time of year as they start to grow again in the spring sunshine but they’re still sweet, tender and tasty.
  • Rapini: This week we’re picking mostly from the kale & collards. If we let them the buds will eventually form flowers, then seeds so that the cycle can begin again. However our priority, is to snap as many of those little stems as possible so you can enjoy these tender sweet treats!
  • Leeks: These King Richard leeks make a wonderful potato leek soup or just saute the tender stems with some greens – winter comfort food!
  • Onions: The Copra’s are a good solid yellow onion that keep extraordinarily well through the winter.
  • Parsnips: Last week you had Root Parsley in your share – which looks alot like parsnips. This week, the real parsnips are back! If you’re a parsnip fan like I am you’ll enjoy this Love Song to a Parsnip. She recognizes that beyond the pallid & frumpy appearance is a lovely root vegetable with a complicated, intense and sophisticated flavor.
  • Purple Sprouting Broccoli: This has been coming on strong!! We are still just picking Rudolf, our earliest variety. We are also growing “Early” Purple Sprouting, but it is not living up to its name.  In addition to the little head of broccoli all the leaves and stems on the plant are sweet and tasty so enjoy those too.  
  • Popcorn: We love this Early Pink variety and I heard very enthusiastic reviews from some shareholders when I saw them this weekend! If you have a microwave you can put the whole cob in a brown paper bag and microwave it 1 min at a time for up to 3min. Most of the kernals will be popped off at that point so pour it in a bowl with some butter and salt & yum! BE CAREFUL – more than 4 consecutive minutes in the microwave  can cause the cobs to catch on fire!! Otherwise, take the kernals off the cob and make perfect popcorn the old fashioned way. 1 cob makes about 2 cups when it is popped.
  • Potatoes: This week there will be Yellow Finn and/or Desiree.

Coming soon… Cauliflower!