Farm News – June 13, 2022
Hello everyone, I hope that you enjoyed the first week of your share, because week two will be similar. We still have tons (I wanted to write “lots” but Editor wants me to be more specific) of beautiful spinach, which I expect to continue for several more weeks. We are heavy on lettuce, so there will be two heads of different varieties in all but the smallest share size (time to make that BIG salad, lol).
We are picking peas prodigiously, so I suppose it’s time to polish up my pea puns (is there a Guinness record for alliteration?) The first round will be English or shell peas. A few groups received their first peas last week, so those folks will get either Snow or Sugar Snap this time around. I expect pea season to last for the next month or so; yummy… imagine whirled peas!
I must ask you to endure radishes once more for this round. Next week we will have salad turnips and after that there will be beets and carrots. I promise you will not see any more radishes in the shares again until the fall (unless you count daikon, which isn’t hard to do since they don’t come in bunches).
New for this week is bok choi, the first brassica of the season. Soon there will be Napa cabbage and broccoli. Also new for the season and perhaps altogether new for some of you (who we refer to as neophytes) are garlic scapes. These are the flower tops of the garlic plant which are said to have a mild garlic flavor, although I find them to be several notches beyond mild. They can be chopped finely and sautéed (perhaps in a stir-fry with the bok choi and those pesky radishes). Some folks put them in a blender and make a pesto out of them. My personal favorite method of preparation is brushed with olive oil, grilled, and used to top a portabella mushroom or your protein of choice. They will keep for weeks in the fridge, so don’t feel as though you need to use them immediately.
The share for this week will be: Lettuce, zucchini, radishes, bok choi, choice of arugula or tatsoi, peas, spinach, and choice of an herb (cilantro, dill, parsley, or chervil). Premium share will also include choice of escarole or endive (frisée) and a second herb.
Enjoy! Farmer John
