- Head lettuce – finally we move on to head lettuce; butter, romaine, and leaf – you choose 2 heads
- Garlic – This is a Cal early variety, it is still young, with soft outer husk, but it is developing a richer flavor. Enjoy it in stir fries or roasted
- Green onions – make sure you use these every week, they are the healthiest of the alium family
- Sugar snap peas- Enjoy the candy of the garden. Please take only your share of the harvest by using the measure provided (a plastic bucket labeled “measure”)
- Kale
- Spinach or chard
- Chinese Broccoli or main crop broccoli
- Kohlrabi
- Radish or turnips – use the root, and the leaves. Cut away the damaged parts, those darn insects!
- Fennel – a new comer to the line-up this week, delicious raw and cooked, see recipes below
- Zucchini – a few, many more on the way!
Weeding is consuming our lives. We race to keep ahead with trellising and weeding dominating farm tasks this week. We continue to transplant and seed lettuce and green onions. We seeded some corn, never our forte, although Juvencio grew it for years in Honduras. It needs to be seeded here when the soil is warm enough and it usually has stopped raining by then, so getting it enough water seems to be a main issue. We continue to try.
We will seed many of the fall crops this week, the broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage that will grace the fall season. These crops have not done well this spring with the extremely hot days and alternating wet and dry, they are not happy.
Our tomatoes are starting to set fruit, we hope for a harvest by July. Most of the peppers are in and appear to be growing. The Eggplant is still considering it’s new environment and looks a bit shell shocked. We hope to get more pumpkins, and winter squash in the ground this week as some of the early crops come out and we retill.
Our sons are not around this weekend, so the note is short as I head out to harvest. Have a great week and check out the recipes below.
Spicy Pickled Broccoli adapted from The Joy of Pickling by Linda Ziedrich
1 bunch broccoli (about 1 1/5 pounds), florets and peeled, sliced stems
3 stems chopped green garlic (include plenty of the green since it’s just for flavor!) or 2 Tablespoons ‘regular’ chopped garlic
1 T dill seeds
1 T coarsely grated (or chopped) ginger
1 T yellow mustard seeds
1 T vegetable oil
2 1/2 cups white wine vinegar
2 1/2 cups water
1 t pickling or other uniodized salt (often called sea or kosher too, I think)
In a large bowl, toss the broccoli with the garlic, ginger, dill, mustard, and oil. Pack the mixture into a 2 quart jar. Combine the vinegar and water, and dissolve the salt in the liquid. Pour the liquid over the broccoli. Cap the jar. Store the jar in the fridge at least one week before eating. It should keep in the fridge for at least several weeks. Makes 2 quarts
Kohlrabi Pickle Chips from the Victory Garden Cookbook
1-2 pounds smallish kohlrabi, trimmed
3 small onions
1/4 cup pickling salt
2 cups vinegar
2/3 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon celery seeds
1/4 teaspoon tumeric
Peel and thinly slice kohlrabi and onions. Mix salt with 1 quart ice water, pour over the vegetables, and soak for 3 hours. Drain, rinse, and place in a bowl. Bring remaining ingredients to a boil, cook for 3 minutes, and pour over the vegetables. Cool, cover and refrigerate for 3 days
Kale and Lentil Soup
(Marilyn’s invention from Sue)
3 T EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
1 onion and 1 rib of celery (chopped and sauté for 4 minutes)
6-7 cups of water
2 cups chicken broth
1 ½ cups green lentils (rinsed and checked)
1 bay leaf
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
½ – 1 # kale (washed and sliced)
12 oz. Kielbasa (slice in 1” rounds)
16 oz. plum tomatoes
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
Sauté onion and celery for 4 minutes. Add water and chicken broth as well as lentils to the sauté mix. Add the bay leaf and red pepper flakes and bring to a boil. Decrease heat to a simmer for 30 minutes. Then add the Kale, kielbasa sausage, tomatoes and red wine vinegar. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook 15 minutes more and serve. Great the next day.
FENNEL VINAIGRETTE DRESSING
1/2 cup
1/2 cup
1/4 cup
1 clove
pinch
pinch olive oil
green leaf fennel leaves
lemon juice
garlic, peeled
salt
sugar
In a small saucepan, heat oil, fennel leaves, lemon juice, crushed garlic and salt and sugar. Simmer over low heat for 5 minutes.
Ellen Ecker Ogden, From: The Cook’s Garden catalog
Fennel Salad
Make 4 servings
Preparation time: about 20 minutes.
NOTE: The amounts are all approximate and flexible. This is a very improvisational recipe.
Ingredients
1 small head organic butter (Boston) lettuce, cleaned and spun dry
1 medium-sized bulb organic fennel, sliced paper thin (a mandolin works best.)
2 organic navel oranges, peeled and sliced into thin rounds
15 oil-cured or Kalamata olives, pitted and sliced
5 or 6 organic dried figs, cut into small pieces
1 – 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon organic lemon juice, plus more to taste if you like
1/2 cup blanched, slivered almonds, lightly toasted (optional)
Directions
1. Wash and dry the lettuce, then tear it into bite sized pieces into a large salad bowl. Add the fennel, oranges, olives, and figs, and toss.
2. Drizzle the salad with the olive oil, and toss until everything is lightly but thoroughly coated. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper, if you like, and toss again. Refrigerate until serving (but not longer than about 1 hour).
3. Just before serving drizzle in about 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice and sprinkle in — or top with —the almonds and cheese shavings, if you like. Toss quickly but thoroughly, and serve right away.