In Your Share (June 6th edition)

We had a great work party this weekend – THANK YOU to everyone who came and helped us plant tomatoes, weed fava beans and seed popcorn : ) We got lots done and had a fun time too. Here is the schedule for the rest of the summer work parties & volunteer days. Hope to see you out at the farm!!

This week I think I’ll make my favorite sesame & soba noodle salad. It would be great way to use all those greens – napa cabbage, mizuna, mustards, raab and even radish tops would be a fine substitute for the more traditional choi. The green garlic & spring onions will go well with it too. Try my recipe here or another variation from CookWithWhatYouHave.com

This week your share may include…

  • Carrots: Same as last week just a bit bigger thanks to all the sunshine. The variety is Nelson, which is sweet and versatile growing well in spring, summer, & fall.
  • Fava Leaves: These are my new favorite addition to salad! They have an interesting complex flavor – sweet, nutty, with a hint of artichoke – seriously!
  • Mixed Brassica Greens: Your choice of Mizuna, Mustards or Spring Raab bunches.
  • Green Garlic: We planted these small garlic cloves last fall especially for spring harvest. The lighter green bottom of the stalk is the most tender part. The upper stem has good flavor but is not as tender so plant to cook it longer or use it for soup stock. The whole plant has a nice mild garlic flavor.
  • Lettuce Heads: These beautiful heads came from our new high tunnels. The high tunnel is a very basic greenhouses with metal hoops and a single layer of plastic covering. It just keeps the rain off and raises the temperature a few degrees. This one doesn’t even have sides on it right now, but the lettuce inside is weeks ahead of the lettuce outside. Varieties are both loose leaf types –  Tropicana  and New Red Fire.
  • Napa Cabbage -Wonderful baby heads are perfect cut in half & grilled or put under the broiler with a dash of olive oil.
  • Radish: These cute little red radish bunches are the first of the season. The variety is Cheriette and I’ve been impressed with their smooth bright red roots and not too spicy flavor. Tops are good to eat too.
  • Sweet Spring Onions: These sweet Walla Walla type onions  were planted last fall and grew well over the winter. The green tops and any flower stems poking out are edible too. Good on the grill or as a pizza topping.

Coming soon… Onion Scapes!!