In Your Box:
- Bok Choy
- Garlic scapes
- Head lettuce: Mini Romaine
- Radishes
- Salad mix
- Scallions
- Spinach
Farm News
Usually by now the weather has given me something to complain about. Too hot, too humid, too wet, too dry. But this year? It’s hard to complain when the weather is picture perfect nearly every day, with periodic rainfall just often enough to keep the gardens watered but not flooded. Sometimes you just have to accept that life is pretty good and that Minnesota’s weather isn’t always awful. Until next week, at least….
Even as we move further into harvest season, I’m still busy adding more plants to our fields. In order to have fresh lettuce nearly every week and successional plantings of seasonal crops, I continue planting crops every week until early August. It’s not nearly the frantic planting pace of early May, but it’s one more thing keeping me busy throughout the growing season. At this point all of our garden beds are filled, but as soon as a bed is harvested there’s a new crop ready to take its place. The lettuce in your box this week will have its field taken over by rutabagas this weekend, while the spinach bed will become lettuce we’ll be eating on Labor Day.
This week’s box
Bok choy is one of our staple spring crops, as it favors cooler weather and grows quickly while so many other crops are waiting for summer heat. Unfortunately we had two weeks’ worth of bok choy freeze during a very cold night in mid-May, so these survivors might be all we get until the fall. Bok choy is great in a stir fry or soup and the whole leaf can be eaten. Just snap off the leaf from the stem, wash thoroughly, and chop finely.
Once again we have garlic scapes in 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.
Scallions (green onions) are another regular in our early CSA boxes. Scallions should be kept in the fridge and last for at least a week. To use them, just cut off the root base at the bottom and dice them up. The greens are edible and delicious, so you can include the leafy tops as well. Green onions are great raw as a topping or can be lightly sauteed just like bulbing onions.
- Deliveries will be as normal next week, even with the 4th of July holiday.
- Please return your boxes! You are welcome to take the box home with you when you pick up, but please return it next week when you come back for more veggies. You may also empty the box into bags or your own box and leave it at your delivery site.
Grains and Greens Casserole
- 2 TB olive oil
- ½ onion
- Bok choy or komatsuna, chopped into small pieces
- 1 bunch kale; stems removed and coarsely chopped
- 10 oz baby spinach
- 2-4 garlic scapes; minced
- 3 cups cooked brown rice (or quinoa/barley/lentils or a combination)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 3 eggs; beaten
- 2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Oil a 13 x 9 baking pan
- Add olive oil to the skillet or wok at medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and saute for 5-7 minutes.
- Add all the greens (in small batches) to the wok and cook until wilted.
- Remove greens from heat to a large bowl and cool. Stir in cooked grains and add salt/pepper. Stir in eggs and cheese.
- Transfer to a prepared baking dish and cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Remove foil and cook until the top is lightly browned.
Coming up
Next week we are expecting tat soi, scallions, garlic scapes, head lettuce, radishes, salad mix, summer squash and spinach.
Fox & Fawn Farm 