In Your Box:

• Chard
• Garlic Scapes
• Head lettuce
• Komatsuna
• Radishes
• Salad mix
• Scallions
• Strawberries (full shares only)

Farm News

Most of this past weekend was devoted to simply surviving our first heat wave of the year! The humidity and warm nights were beyond uncomfortable, and thankfully I was able to take some time off of farm work to stay cool and sit in front of our air conditioner.

Thankfully we’ve had plenty of rain this month, so the heat was not a great stressor on the plants in the garden. Most of the plants really took off, putting on new growth and our first squash blossoms. 

Just a reminder that we’ll be delivering as usual next week, even with the 4th of July holiday towards the end of the week. Let me know if you’ll be unable to pick up your box, but otherwise I’ll drop off your boxes as regular.

This week’s box

This week we take a break from bok choy in favor of komatsuna, another great option in a stir fry that has more of a mustardy flavor than our other stir-fry greens. The leaves are nutrient-rich and taste great in soups as well. Komatsuna can also be used in place of spinach in any recipe calling for cooked spinach.

Speaking of spinach, unfortunately our once-promising crop in the field has succumbed to a disease that has turned all of the leaves yellow and left it wilting in the field. I’m not sure if this is the result of our weekend heat wave or all the rain we’ve had this month, but unfortunately our spring spinach has fizzled. We’ll plant it again in the fall and hope for better luck then.

In its place we have our first picking of Chard, a colorful cooking green in the same family as beets and spinach. The stems on chard can be eaten, unlike with kale, and the whole leaf works well in egg dishes in particular. We like it in egg bakes or omelets.

Also, we welcome garlic scapes to the box this week. Scapes are the long, curly critters with beaks. They grow off the top of the garlic plant and would eventually flower and try to produce seeds if left on the plant. These are remarkably expensive in most grocery stores, but the truth is that we have to remove them anyway. Once they are snapped off, the garlic puts all of its growing energy into its cloves. Basically, once it knows that it can’t reproduce by seed, it shifts its focus to its other means of reproduction–delicious and nutritious cloves. Scapes keep well in the fridge for up to a month and can be used just like garlic. The whole scape is edible, so chop it up small and enjoy.

Finally, our strawberry season looks to be largely a bust. Our plants look great and I’ve got them well weeded, but they just aren’t producing much fruit this year. I’m hoping they’ll respond well to our heat and provide a decent crop next week, but for now we only have enough to offer them in our full shares.

Komatsuna Soup

Ingredients:

• Komatsuna (1 bunch)
• Small onion or bunch of scallions
• Potato (1)
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup water
• Butter (1 tbsp)
• Chicken bouillon (1 cube)
• Bay leaf
• Salt and black pepper (to taste)
  How to make it:
  
  (1) Cut the komatsuna into 1 inch long pieces; slice the potato and onion thinly.
  (2) Melt the butter in a pan; sauté the onion until tender, then add the komatsuna and cook a little longer. Add the potato and stir until the butter has coated all the ingredients. Add the water, bouillon and bay leaf and bring to a low simmer.
  (3) When the potato is tender, remove the bay leaf and mix in a blender until smooth. (Mixing well produces better results).
  (4) Return the soup to the pan, add milk, salt and pepper. Serve hot.

Coming up

 We are expecting bok choy, garlic scapes, scallions, head lettuce, radishes, salad mix, beets and broccolini. And strawberries if they are willing!