Produce Subscription (Week 27)

Ok, the rain stuff again…. (Can I belly-ache enough to jinx us into drought next season?)

Things are actually looking pretty good, considering. The hightunnel growth is absolutely incredible. A foot per week on the cucumber vines. How is that possible? Never mind the time-lapse camera setup, we can catch these puppies growing with the naked eye! Outdoor cucs are coming along too. The melons are just getting over their transplant shock and beginning to reach out a bit. The onions are looking absolutely fabulous! And the weeds are trying to conquer the universe! (But we have them in our sites.)

Your boxes will be in their respective drop site locations by 9am Wednesday. (Dropsite Location Details) Find the box with your name and have at it!

If you have any questions, please call Roger on his delivery phone 626 488 5437 (if before 10a) and the farm phone 715 426 7582 (if after 10am).

Brassicas and leaves are the focus in your boxes this week!

Kohlrabi These little space-aged beasties are unique; good for fresh eating/snacking as well as cooking like broccoli (stir-fry) or potato (baked fries) among other methods!

Broccoli More broccoli; hope ya’ll like broccoli. Lots of seeding and planting to make these little fellas produce prodigiously.

Mesclun Stick a handful or two in your morning fruit smoothie!

Lettuce, 2 heads Two different types, working thru the wide variety we have planted in the underwater field!

Turnips, salad Another, probably last pearly white bundle for adding crunch to your salads.

Kale (Dinosaur) Potently wonderful dark green kale for green smoothies, lentil stew, or flavorful sesame-ginger wilted kale salad.

Cabbage (Napa) Huge head of fluffy and crunchy, mildly mustardy Chinese cabbage that serves tasty fresh salads/coleslaw as well as satisfying Asian-style noodles/soups/stir-fry.

Baby leeks These little fillies are long in the field, surviving the winter. Unfortunately they are also entering their second year growing and thus going to flower. So, they have a firm central stalk (looks like a garlic scape in the field; same family) inside the layers of leek leaves. Not grocery store approved, but I couldn’t bear to toss such nicely savory seasoning. Slice lengthwise, rinse the layers well and then chop and use like onion in all of your cooking. They keep quite well too; store relatively dry in plastic.

Cilantro I have been made aware there are two types of people— those who relish cilantro with intensity and those who categorize it with dishwashing soap. Sorry to the later…I am one of the former!

Garlic chives I’m thinking about finely diced garlic chives with chopped cilantro in steamed rice with a pinch of sea salt and dollop of olive oil. Mmmmm, harvest night’s dinner indeed!

Sage Just in case you need an herb with depth for a rich bean stew for a rainy evening!

Recipes for your consideration

A quick-reference chart for Green Smoothies from simplegreensmoothies.com

Here’s an easy and tasty recipe for a sweet green morning or afternoon boost.¬

Purple Banana Smoothie

2-4 cups lettuce, kale leaves, or spinach
3?4 cup water (if using all fresh fruit, consider ice cubes instead to make a nice cold drink)
3?4 cup orange juice or peeled orange w/ seeds removed
1 cup strawberries (fresh or frozen)
1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1-2 bananas (fresh or frozen)
Handful raw walnuts, pecans or almonds
Add more water to adjust thickness to preference.

Place first two ingredients in a high-powered blender and let ’er rip! Then add fruit and nuts and repeat. Drink one-a-day to keep the cravings away!

For beginners, choose lettuce as your “green” and use less. Your tastebuds will become accustomed to more green as you go.

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We need to spread the cilantro around! Whip up this salad dressing for leafy greens, potato salads, pasta salads, cabbage salads, etc.¬

Cilantro Vinaigrette

1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup cilantro
3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice or seasoned rice vinegar
2 Tbsp water
2 tsp maple syrup, agave syrup, brown rice syrup
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/8 tsp sea salt
Pinch ground black pepper
Alternate: 1/4 cup garlic chives in place of garlic cloves

Place all ingredients in blender and process until smooth.
From: The Saucy Vegetarian by Joanne Stepaniak

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_Polenta is THE versatile staple. Seasoned nicely with leeks, you can eat it soft as described here; or you can spread the leftovers in a baking dish (1/2" thick) and let it cool. Cut it like brownies and store in fridge. You can fry it up for breakfast the next day! _¬

Soft Polenta with Leeks

2 Tbsp olive oil
3 large leeks, sliced lengthwise, rinsed and sliced crosswise
2 1/4 cup water
2 cup vegetable broth
1 bay leaf (or try a couple of fresh sage leaves)
1 cup dry polenta
1/3 cup grated parmesan-flavor vegan topping (Galaxy Foods)
1 Tbsp margarine

Sauté leeks in olive oil over medium heat. Cover and cook until leeks soften, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Add 2 1/4 cups water, broth and bay leaf.

Bring to boil. Gradually whisk in polenta. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook until mixture is thick and creamy, stirring often and thinning with more water if necessary, about 35 minutes.

Remove pan from heat. Discard bay leaf. Stir in 1 tablespoon margarine and grated parmesan-flavor vegan topping. Season polenta to taste with salt and pepper. Divide polenta among plates.
_ Adapted from Bon Appetit_

Everyone feel free to add your favorite recipes to the website.

For Your Listening Pleasure

If you haven’t heard any of them yet, have a listen to some TED talks.

" TED is a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or less). TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and today covers almost all topics — from science to business to global issues — in more than 100 languages. Meanwhile, independently run TEDx events help share ideas in communities around the world. "

Informative, funny, ingenious, creative. Much better than the reality TV show du jour!

The Brain in Your Gut

Cooking as Never Seen Before

What’s Wrong with our Food System

The Hunt for General Tao

Farm News

“Workin’ hard…workin’ Saturdays!” (Reference anyone?)

The wet fields are making it ever more difficult to get any direct-seeded crops into the ground, let alone the transplants. I fear a dirth of herbs and roots coming soon. Luckily most of what we do are transplants, and we have been cramming them in right an left on sunny days.

First high tunnel cucumber of the season, shared amoungst the harvest crew.

The first go-round of cover crop and mulch production in the fallow fields just got mowed. The mulch will be used for the outdoor peppers, eggplant and melons. The fields will be turned under and replanted with the summer cover, buckwheat. Bees are anticipating the bounty as we speak!

John running the sickle-bar mower on the 2-wheeled tractor; Rog is still “on the bench”.

Please bring your boxes back this week. Reduce – Reuse – Recycle (thanks!)

Have a wonderful week, and enjoy the vegetables.

Roger and Lara