Produce Subscription (Week 24)

We have decided winter is gone for the year! Yesterday put away the Carhart jacket/coveralls and today brought out the mosquito shirt/hood. Whew! The mosquitoes are hungry when they first hatch.

Very sorry about the lack of direction for some folks on pick up locations last week. I uploaded the newsletter/email before it was finished. The actual final version (on the website) did offer instruction but not much help; so sorry for the confusion. Hopefully this week is smoother for ya’ll. Dropsite Location Details

Welcome market shoppers! Enjoy your veggies and flowers this week.

More Green Power! The weather is good for the leafy greens, so in your boxes this week you’ll find the following:

Radish They are getting a little sassy as the temperatures warm!

Lettuce, red leaf Delicate leaves need a light dressing.

Lettuce, romaine Crisp and crunchy, bright green and beautiful.

Boc Choi (black summer) Yes, boc choi; you will come to love.

Braising greens triplets Check out the risotto recipe below— perfect!

Salad mix WLIG original

Spinach, loose leaf Keep it coming…

Chives Full flower now! Garlic chives are on the horizon, for a little twist.

Thyme The thyme needs a little time, but here is a little sprig for a nice creamy gravy.

And a sweet treat gift from the The Four Suns maple crew— Maple Sugar. Addictive flavor. I use a zester or grater to scratch out my daily serving over oatmeal or in tea/coffee or whatever needs a rich, bold, local sweetener.

Recipes for your consideration

Your chives would go nicely in the following recipe. Sourdough starter is easy to keep and gives a nice variety to bread products made at home.

Or dry your chives for later use when local onions are here, and you have sourced and started your sourdough starter!

How To Dry Your Chives:
Chop into ¼" pieces.
Oven drying— Spread thinly on cookie sheet; set oven for as low as possible (~140F), prop door open slightly, dry for 1hr, turn off heat, open door to cool slightly, then close door overnight.
Dehydrator drying— Spread thinly on rack; set temperature for 95F and dry until brittle (approx 6-8hrs)
Store well dried chives in sealed jar (add one of those dehydrating packs that come in your vitamin bottles.)

Carmalized onion sourdough biscuits
1 Tbsp margarine
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1 cup AP flour
2 tsp baking powder
¾ tsp salt
½ cup cold margarine
3 Tbsp chives
1 cup sourdough starter, unfed

Combine margarine, onion, maple syrup in pan over low-medium heat. Cook covered 30min, stirring every 5min, until caramelized. Cool and refrigerate until well chilled.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Work margarine into flour until uneven crumbles. Toss in chopped chives and caramelized onions. Cut in sourdough starter until dough cohesive.

Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and fold on itself 5-6 times until it comes together. Pat into 1" thick disk. Cut w/ 2 ½" biscuit cutter; pat together scraps and keep cutting.

Melt 2 Tbsp margarine and paint top of biscuits for add’l golden color. (optional)

Bake biscuits on parchment/cookie sheet @ 425F for 15-18min until just turning golden.

A rib-sticking, hearty meal comes out of this risotto recipe. Greens, hiding in plain sight. If you want to make a main course of this recipe, consider doubling and adding a protein (Italian sausage, Tofurky-brand, diced is oh-so-nice!)

Greens risotto

1 tsp sea salt
1 cup cooked, drained greens (mustard, spinach, kale, chard, wild greens (nettles, dandelions, lamb’s quarter))
Note: This will be a considerably larger volume of fresh greens!
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large shallot, minced (or chives, green onion, regular onion)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup Arborio risotto rice
2 to 4 cups vegetable stock/broth, divided
½ cup dry white wine (optional)
2 to 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 Tbsp margarine

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add a spoonful of salt.

2. Put the greens into the boiling water. Stir the greens and let boil for about 3-5

3. Remove the greens with a skimmer or tongs and immediately dump them into a big bowl of ice water. Once the greens are cool, drain them in a colander.

4. Roll up the greens in a cloth or tea towel. Twist one end of the cloth one way, then the other end of the cloth the other (like a candy wrapper) and squeeze out as much moisture as you can.

5. Chop the greens finely (don’t use a food processor, or you will get mush). The finer you chop, the smoother your risotto will be. Remove any stray stems.

6. Heat olive oil in a large saucier or heavy pot over medium-high heat; add the shallot. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring often.

7. Add the garlic and the rice and stir to combine. Stirring constantly, cook everything for a minute or so or until all the rice is well coated with margarine.

8. Stir 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 cup of the vegetable stock into the rice and increase heat to high. When the rice starts boiling strongly, turn down the heat to medium and stir often, at least every minute or so, until the rice absorbs the stock. Repeat with a second cup of stock.

9. When the second cup is absorbed, add the greens and the third cup of stock. If using store-bought broth, switch to water for this third cup—otherwise your risotto could become too salty. Stir well to combine. Keep stirring constantly to develop the creaminess in the risotto and to distribute the greens evenly. Let the stock absorb well. Add white wine and allow to absorb, stir well.

10. Add additional salt, if desired. The risotto may need another full cup of stock or water, as you want the dish to be loose, not firm (and you will need at least a little more stock to loosen the risotto for the nutritional yeast).

11. Add the final tablespoon of margarine as well as the nutritional yeast. Stir everything well and let the margarine and nutritional yeast melt in the risotto for about 2 or 3 minutes, stirring often. Serve immediately.
(From Organic Gardening website)

For Your Reading Pleasure

If you are wondering why you get red greens and (in the future) purple cauliflower and rainbow carrots and striped tomatoes and purple beans, the article below (tagged by my dad for me) is one of the reasons. The other is that they are just fun to grow / pick / cook / eat.

Breeding the Nutrition Out of Our Food

I have heard rumor from a friend about purple sweet corn (haven’t met it before), so maybe next year.

Farm News

The deer are settling into the nightly ritual of munching, getting chased, and then having a stern talking-to about staying away. They came down to the washing shed this evening while we were packing salad mix; Rog said they preferred their salad greens washed. I wish the fencing contractors would return our calls; why is it that when you want to hire a job, no one wants the work? So much for a recession! We have plans for an 8ft fence encircling the production fields; as you can glean, deer pressure it just too high. We have become known as the salad bowl of the valley! So if you are a spinach-phile, it is only a matter of time before they find the spinach. You had better get your sleeping bag, headlamp and a fog horn and get out here!

Not sure what is on the horizon for the next few weeks. The weather has put our best laid plans into shambles! Ce la farming, I suppose. Soil too wet for bed prep and direct seeding. Temperatures were too chilly for hot weather transplants. Broccoli is being odd, some bolting already (flowering) and some not even starting the head-stage. Kale is coming tho; don’t everyone jump thru the screen at once now. Everyone will get their share!

You didn’t meet The Machine last week (due to my web uploading error), so here he is in the onions last week. No one stops The Machine!

The Machine!

Everyone be careful now with the boxes! Open gently; return for pickup next week.

Have a wonderful week, and enjoy the vegetables.

We hope to feed you soon!

Roger and Lara