Early Spring CSA Week 5

This Week’s Veggies:

2 baby lettuce heads                                    New Zealand Spinach*
Bok Choi                                                     Pea Shoots*
Green Onions or baby Leeks                       Turnips*
Swiss Chard                                                 Baby Carrots*

Kale Raab                                                   *”Large” share items; not included

Oregano                                                        in the “small” share.

Potatoes—Chieftain Red

Please Remember to Wash Your Vegetables Carefully and Thoroughly.

This Week’s Recipe:

Anna’s obsession with cheese continues… as you might guess, I modified this recipe a bit.

Mashed Potatoes with Swiss Chard and Cheese

Bon Appétit | February 2001

1 bunch Swiss Chard 2 pounds potatoes, peeled if you like, cut into 2-inch pieces 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter about 1/2 cup (or more) warm whole milk 1 1/2 cups grated Gruyere cheese (about 6 ounces) Cook potatoes in large pot of boiling salted water until very tender, about 30 minutes. While they’re cooking, wash the Swiss Chard and chop it finely.  When the potatoes are done, drain well. Return potatoes to pot and mash until almost smooth. Set pot over low heat. Stir in the greens. Add butter and stir until melted. Gradually add 1 1/4 cups milk, mashing until smooth. Add cheese and and stir until cheese melts. Thin with more milk, if desired. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

News from the Farmers:

            Well, we’ve reached the end of the early Spring season—it’s amazing how much the fields change in 5 weeks.   When we started, the greenhouses were full of overwintered lettuces and salad greens, and winter cover crops were growing in all the fields; now the greenhouses are planted with tomatoes and peppers, we’re harvesting lettuce and radishes from the fields, and we’re transplanting the heat-loving crops into the fields: corn, beans, and tomatillos. 

            A big thank you to all of you for signing up for the early spring CSA—some of you are continuing with the main season, some we won’t see again until fall, and some have been planting their own gardens, and are now harvesting their own veggies at home.  It’s been great, sharing the vibrant growth of spring with all of you—this is the most hopeful season, and the most unpredictable. 

            We still have shares available for the main (20-week) season, so if you have any friends who are interested in a CSA share, tell them to drop us a line at mollysislandgarden@gmail.com. 

            Also, if you have any recipes you’d like to share, do email them to us!  I’d love to put them in future newsletters.  And if you have any feedback for us about the early Spring CSA—what worked well, what we can improve—let us know. 

            This week’s weather prediction is for sun, sun, and more sun—amazing!  Antonia and I both got our first sunburns of the year on Monday—we both couldn’t really believe it was sunny enough to get burned, and didn’t cover up in time.  We’ll be more careful for the rest of the week. 

            The veggies are growing like mad—you can almost watch the radishes grow, and the two beds of strawberries are blooming!  The weeds are growing, too, but at least the soil is finally dry enough that we can hoe speedily and effectively.  We’ve got quite the collection of hoes—hula hoes, diamond hoes, a Cobra hoe, and a sweet little triangular hoe we picked up from the Good Cheer Garden Sale last year.  Add to that our collection of hand hoes and wheel hoes, and we’re well equipped to hold our own against the weeds this summer.  A big thanks to our worktraders—we couldn’t do it without you guys!