It’s an amazing time of year…our Spring Plant Sale & Farm Day was last weekend, with scores of wonderful people coming to visit our little farm. Thank you!
Our Farm Share part of our CSA began this week, with boxes of our vegetables reaching many families here in Chesterfield. We love how many families are now turning to us for the most nutritious, delicious vegetables to be had!
This Saturday is the start of our nearest market, the one embedded here in our Chesterfield community: the Brandermill Green Market is in the open-air of the quiet Market Square parking lot. It offers the wonderful farmers’ market basics in a safe spot where kids can run and parking is close and easy. There’s our Certified Naturally Grown vegetables and organic bread. There’s meat, cheese, eggs. Fresh pasta. Conventional vegetables and fruit. Potted plants, baked goods, sweet treats, breakfast biscuits, body care products, and some crafts (but not too much!). Pay us all a visit. We will have our usual array of spring vegetable bounty: Salad Mix, Radishes, Turnips, Hearty Greens Mix, Arugula, Spinach, Kale. And lovely baskets of bread, baked in our wood-fired oven on Saturday morning. The market is open from 9-12, each Saturday from now through October.
All of the photos in today’s newsletter are by the wonderful Tisha Lyn Photography. We are so grateful for Tisha capturing these bits from our farm this week, including our imperfect edges, broken pallets and all.
This week’s harvest includes:
Arugula, Cucumbers (a few), Garlic Scapes (a few), Hearty Greens Mix, Kale, Microgreens, Spinach, Radish, Turnips, and our Organic Bread.
PLANTS available: Tomatoes (Brandywine, Pineapple, Rose, BetterBush, Patio, Oaxacan Jewel, Chef’s Choice, Arkansas Traveler, Kellogg’s Breakfast, Mortgage Lifter), Cucumber, Yellow Squash, Zucchini, Lettuce, Spinach, Swiss Chard, Eggplant (tradition), Bell Pepper, Parsley, Dill. (Market Share orders: please specify from this list in the notes section of your order. We can’t list them all online…
2016 Market Share CSA Members: Reserve your selection online to pick up Saturday, May 7th at our farm, at the Brandermill Green Market, or at the Farmers Market @ St. Stephens. Everything remaining after pre-orders will be available for purchase at the Brandermill Green Market and at the Farmers Market @ St. Stephens.
This week’s Farm Share will most likely include:
Salad Mix, Hearty Greens Mix, Kale, Spinach, Radishes, Turnips, and Cucumber or Garlic Scapes.
* Neither the cucumbers nor the garlic scapes have been producing as well in the past week as we had hoped, so half of our shares will get one, with the other half receiving the other. So it goes with our best laid plans for these vegetables.
Recipe Suggestions:
Kale, Spinach, and Hearty Greens Mix can all be treated the same: Enjoy raw or cooked with your favorite dressing or sauce. We love these hardier greens with the dressing massaged into them (literally squeeze the greens with your hands to allow them to soak in the dressing.) Our simplest go-to? Pour olive oil & balsamic vinegar and grind sea salt over the greens. Wash your hands well, massage in the dressing, and then wash your hands again. To cook them: We love them steamed with soy sauce. Chop into small bits to make these easy for young children to eat. They also can be cooked into any casserole or quiche. Combine with any protein as a saute/stir fry (chicken, tofu, sausage, etc.) Or top the steamed greens with nuts and/or cheese.
Salad Mix is a mix of tender lettuces that are best raw. (We don’t often cook these, but sometimes do) They are best served with a simple dressing and your choice of optional toppings. Our radishes and turnips are great sliced raw on the Salad Mix. Add nuts, cheese, boil egg, etc, to make it a complete meal of veggies, protein, and fat.
Radishes and Turnips can be treated the same. They are both great raw – slice and top with butter or goat cheese and sea salt. Or slice on top of salad. Or cut in half and roast with butter, salt, pepper, and garlic. (Yes! You can roast radishes!) Or slice into rounds and saute with butter, salt, and garlic. OR Dice the radishes into small pieces and mix with cream cheese (or goat cheese) and sea salt and spread on toast or cream cheese. Kids go crazy for this!
Cucumber – You likely need no advice on this. Slice and enjoy straight, or top a salad.
Garlic Scapes – This is likely the unknown vegetable in this week’s share. This is the curly, tender, top of the garlic plant. It is harvested about a month in advance of the bulb. Think of them like onions or garlic, but even better. You can dice them and toss raw in a salad, or cook with any recipe like garlic. OR – They are so good they can be served alone. We rough chop them into 2-inch long pieces and saute with butter and salt and then serve as a side dish. They are only in season for about 2 weeks so relish them!
Enjoy ~
Janet, Dan, and the whole Broadfork crew
