- Lettuce
- Sugar snap peas
- Zucchini!!
- Chinese broccoli
- Onions
- Chervil or cilantro
- Kale
- Cabbage? Or collards
- Radishes
Where did May go? We blazed through May and made up for a dreary April. Our onions are growing, the tomatoes are in bloom and the weeds are growing like wildfire. I continue to seed and transplant. Juvencio is weeding as fast as he can. The cucumbers and tomatoes need almost constant tending as they grow each day and don’t follow the rules. The cucumbers have beautiful tendrils that beg to climb and they tangle among themselves instead of reach out to the trellis.
We have been hosting party after party this weekend. We held our first farm to table dinner as a benefit to help fund Kitchen Table magazine. Brett Warnock https://kitchentablemagazine.com/ left us a few copies in the barn to share with those interested. It is a great zine that highlights farmers, local food culture, artists and the like. We partnered with Comida Kin’s Rodrigo and Mary who prepared the food and Kipperlin Sinclaire from Eat Drink Washington County who served up smiles and helped coordinate the efforts. We look forward to other opportunities to host and be part of the Washington County agriculture and food scene. We are percolating on how to put on a similar event for interested members.
There is so much going on here that I have to remember to lift my head from the weeds and look at Pride Month. Mijente is a non-profit “political home for Latinx and Chicanx people who seek racial, economic, gender and climate justice”. They are working to change the dialog and protect hard won rights from the political backlash taking place in the republican party. Consider making a donation today: https://mijente.net/donate/. Join us at the Beaverton Pride Parade on Sunday June 25th: https://www.pridebeaverton.org/
There is also the legislature making decisions about land use and funding for programs such as double up food bucks. I encourage you to reach out to your legislators and let them know that funding this program is essential to getting families in need more access to fresh produce. We use double up food bucks at the farmers market. This allows people to buy double the number of vegetable plants for their families. As farmers we too accept SNAP and double up food bucks getting families more produce for less out of their pockets. As a clinician I see the benefit to my patients who access SNAP and get double when they shop at local farmers markets for produce. Here is the link to reach out to your rep:
Calling all Oregonians! NOW is the time to contact your representatives and tell them how important DUFB is for our community to help secure funding for 2024-2025. In 2021, the State of Oregon invested $4 Million in the Double Up Food Bucks program, which is available through CSA, farmers markets, and some grocery stores. Since then demand for the Double Up program has skyrocketed. Our coalition is seeking $8 million from the State of Oregon, for the 2024-2025 seasons in order to ensure that DUFB Oregon gets the support that it needs! In 2022 alone, PNWCSA helped over 1,000 people purchase CSA shares with SNAP and Double Up Food Bucks. HOW TO HELP1. Send a short email to your Senator and Representative asking for their support on HB 2728. This is the most important (and easiest) action you can take! Click here to find out who your elected officials are.Feel free to use this template for your email and consider including this factsheet with your message. Make sure to include HB 2728 in the title of your email. Some legislators are also very active on social media. You can reach out to them with a short message of support via Twitter or Facebook if that’s your thing!2. Help us spread the word via social mediaShare what DUFB means to you or your farm, and why continued funding through HB 2728 would benefit you. Use the hashtag #supportDUFB and tag in PNWCSA & your legislators. You can repurpose any of the talking points, sample posts, or videos in our Advocacy Toolkit or create your own. |
Now I must head out to harvest, but first, Sue Kass is back at it with recipes:
Kale & Sugar Snap Pea Salad
Dressing:
3/4 c canola oil
1/2 c peeled chopped ginger
1/4 c miso paste
1/2 c rice vinegar
2 lemons or 2 limes, zest finely grated and juiced
1/4 c sugar
Salt, pepper
Salad:
2 Tbs sugar
6-8 dried apricots
1 medium bunch kale, roughly chopped
2 c sugar snap peas
4 oz crumbled feta
1/4 c almonds, toasted and coarsely chopped
2 Tbs fresh mint
Combine all ingredients for dressing in a blender or food processor.
In a small saucepan over low heat, combine sugar w 1/4 c water. Add the dried apricots
and poach just until rehydrated, then remove from heat.
In a serving bowl, combine the kale, snap peas and feta. Add salad dressing to taste, sprinkle with almonds and mint
Smitten Kitchen’s Sugar Snap Pea Salad with Miso Dressing
Serves 4
Salad
- Table salt for the pot
- ½ pound sugar snap peas, untrimmed
- ½ pound Napa cabbage, cut into thin ribbons (about 3 cups) – optional
- 4 ounces radishes (4 medium-large), julienned, or quartered and thinly sliced
- 3 large scallions (about ½ bundle), white and green parts, thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
Sesame Miso Dressing
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
- 1 large garlic clove, minced
- 2 tablespoons mild yellow or white miso
- 2 tablespoons tahini or sesame paste
- 1 tablespoon honey
- ¼ cup rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil
- Instructions
- Blanch sugar snaps. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, and prepare a small ice-water bath. Boil the sugar snaps for about 2 minutes, or until just barely cooked but still crisp. Scoop them out with a large slotted spoon, and drop them in the ice-water bath. Once cool, drain and pat dry. Trim ends and cut sugar snaps into thin slices. Toss in large bowl with cabbage, radishes, scallions, and 1 tablespoon sesame seeds.
- Make the dressing. Whirl all ingredients in a blender until smooth.
- Assemble the salad. Toss salad with half of dressing, and taste. Use more if you desire. Sprinkle with remaining sesame seeds.
- Store any leftover dressing in an airtight jar in the refrigerator and use on your next salad.
Bowties with Sugar Snaps, Ricotta and Lemon
As sugar snap season comes and goes all to quickly for my addicted tastes, consider this a template for any green vegetable — segments of asparagus, green beans, snow pea pods, or whole sweet peas — that you think might enjoy some lemon/ricotta/parmesan/salt/pepper treatment. Most of these other vegetables will benefit from 2 to 3 minutes boiling time, so add them earlier in the pasta cooking process.
Serves 4 to 6 (main course-style), up to 8 as a first course
Salt for pasta water
1 pound sugar snaps
1 pound dried pasta bowties
1/2 cup (about 1 ounce) finely grated pecorino romano or parmesan cheese
Glug, then drizzle, of olive oil
Coarse or fine sea salt for sprinkling
Ground black pepper or red pepper flakes
Juice of 1 lemon, plus more to taste
Few leaves of mint, slivered
1 cup ricotta; use fresh if you can find or have motivation to make it
Bring a large pot of well-salted water to boil. While waiting, string sugar snaps and cut into 1/2-inch segments. Cook bowties for two minutes less than the suggested cooking time on the package, then add sugar snaps to pasta. Cook for one minute more. Reserve one cup pasta cooking water, then drain sugar snaps and bowties. Add them back to the empty pot with 1/2 cup pasta cooking water, grated cheese, a glug of olive oil, salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cook on high for one minute, tossing constantly. Add a splash more cooking water if pasta looks too dry. Turn heat off, dollop ricotta all over in large spoonfuls and, without stirring, tip pasta mixture into a wide serving bowl. (I do this because I love the idea of finding slightly unmixed pockets of ricotta.) Drizzle pasta with a small amount of olive oil, then squeeze lemon juice over the whole dish, sprinkle with mint, and finish with an extra sprinkling of parmesan. Serve quickly; eat happily.