Week #4

Week #4

• Spinach
• Kale
• Dill or sage
• Green garlic
• Lettuce mix
• Walnuts
• Chinese broccoli or Bok Choi or radish or turnip (not sure what to do with those delicious turnips and their greens? See recipe below!

The weeds are starting to get really annoying. It is crunch time with those buggers. Our horrid grass plague is really going wild, popping up everywhere. It is not too hard to pull out right now, but that is by hand. With a hoe it is much harder as it can be deep and clumped. Juve is stretched thin with fencing for the goats and sheep, feeding the wide variety of animals we have and weeding, tilling etc. I am planting every chance I get and trying to keep up with seeding and transplanting and weeding when I get a chance.

I spent the last two days in Corvallis with Diego at OSU Mom’s weekend. It was a blast, mainly just being with Diego hanging out and walking a ton (33,600 steps yesterday and > 15,000 today). We hit up the local farmer’s market, I bought tons of plants, wait don’t I sell plants? It was just a great time to be together. I came home late this afternoon and loaded the van for the plant sale at Catlin Gable School tomorrow morning. Polly and I have been planting every week since February and it is so rewarding to see them (our seedlings) so beautiful and ready to go into people’s gardens. I will be at Catlin Gable from 12- 4 tomorrow. Polly will be selling at Ben and Jerry’s on Hawthorne with the Birthing Way Midwifery School from 11- 4.

We start at the Beaverton Farmers Market next Saturday May 7^th from 8 – 1:30. Please do come and see me at either location. We have a huge variety of veggie, flower and herb starts available. We have everything from peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, basil, beans, corn, broccoli and much much more. You can also order directly from us at the farm from the list of starts I sent out earlier last month.

I hope to get the squash and pumpkins seeded this week. I have tons of flowers to get transplanted out into the field as well as the remainder of the onions, the first beans and more cukes. It is a great time of year if only we could work 24 hours a day. I am going to head to bed so I can rise early to get the harvest mostly done prior to heading to Catlin. Enjoy your veggies, peas and carrots are not far off.

Mom’s Rhubarb Coffee Cake

1 cup brown sugar

½ cup soft butter

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups fresh rhubarb cut in 1 inch pieces

2 cups unbleached flour (can use Namaste gluten free flour)

1 teaspoon baking soda (increase by ½ teaspoon if making gluten free)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk or soy milk (tofu sour cream with soy milk ½ and ½)

Topping:

½ cup soft butter

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup shredded coconut

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

1. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together. Add the egg and vanilla and mix well.
2. In another bowl, combine ½ cup flour with the rhubarb and mix to coat the fruit with the flour, set aside.
3. In a separate medium-sized bowl, combine the remaining flour and other dry ingredients. Mix well.
4. In a small bowl, mix the topping ingredients with a fork or pastry cutter. Set aside.
5. Add the dry ingredients, alternating the milk to the egg mixture. Mix just until combined. Fold the rhubarb into the batter and pour into a lightly oiled 9 X 13 inch baking pan. Sprinkle the topping over this and bake for 45 minutes or until a wooden skewer comes out of the center clean. Allow to cool slightly before cutting.

 

Spinach Salad with toasted Seeds

½ # spinach

3 cups sliced fresh mushrooms

1 cup toasted pumpkin seeds

½ toasted sunflower seeds

¼ cup toasted sesame seeds

1 cup thinly sliced red pepper

Dressing:

¾ cup extra virgin olive oil

¼ cup white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

2 teaspoons of crushed garlic

2 teaspoons prepared Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon mayonnaise

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Mix all the dressing ingredients together in a blender or with a whisk
2. In a bowl toss the fresh spinach with the mushrooms and bell pepper and toasted seeds. Dress and serve immediately garnish with sliced red pepper.

 

 

MORROCAN TURNIP AND CHICKEN STEW

 

 

2 cups cooked chickpeas

2 small (2 1/2 lb) chickens

3 Tb butter

1 Tb oil

2 onions

5 cups chicken stock

1/2 tsp white pepper

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/8 tsp powdered saffron

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 lb small turnips

2 cups chopped turnip leaves and stems

1/4 cup lemon juice

salt and freshly ground pepper

 

 

 

Rinse chickpeas in water and rub lightly to remove skins; drain and set aside. Cut chickens into quarters, removing wing tips and backbones; put them aside for stock. Melt butter and oil in a casserole and lightly brown chicken on all sides, cooking in two batches if necessary. Slice onions and stir into butter and oil to color. Then add the chickpeas, stock, pepper, ginger, saffron, and turmeric. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. Add turnips and greens and simmer 20 minutes more. Remove chicken and turnips to a covered warm dish. Boil sauce to reduce, mashing some of the chickpeas against the side of the pan to thicken the sauce; it may take 10-15 minutes to produce a nice thick sauce. Add lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Reheat the chicken and turnips in the sauce and serve.   Serves 6 to 8.  From The Victory Garden Cookbook.

Lemon –Lentil Soup

3 tablespoons olive oil or safflower oil

2 cups diced onions

2 tablespoons crushed garlic

1 ½ cups freshly diced carrots

1 cup diced potatoes

2 bay leaves

1 cup diced celery

1 cup dry red lentils (I would use the small French green lentils)

5 cups water or stock

¼ cup lemon juice

2 tablespoons fresh dill

4 cups packed fresh greens (spinach, kale or chard)

1. In a soup pot sauté the onions, garlic, carrots, and potatoes with the bay leaves in oil, just until the potatoes begin to soften about 15 minutes
2. Rinse and check the lentils for stones.
3. Add the celery and lentils to the soup pot and continue to sauté for about 5 minutes. Add the water or stock and reduce the heat to medium, Cover and simmer until the lentils and the vegetables are tender approximately 15 minutes.
4. Just before serving, remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice, chopped dill and greens. Stir until the greens have wilted. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.