Week 6 of the Main Season CSA

This Week’s Veggies:

Carrots

Cabbage

Broccoli

Strawberries

Cilantro

Snap Peas

Salad Mix

Basil*

Purple Kohlrabi*

Mustard Greens*

Nancy Butterhead lettuce*

*”Large” share items; not included in the “small” share.

Please Remember to Wash Your Vegetables Carefully and Thoroughly.

This Week's Recipe: Carrot and Broccoli Stem Slaw

1 bunch salad turnips (or kohlrabi, or bok choy, or whatever is lurking in your refrigerator)
1 bunch carrots
Broccoli stems
1 cup chopped green onions
1/3 cup seasoned rice vinegar
2 1/2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
1 1/2 tablespoons Asian sesame oil
1 1/2 teaspoons chili sauce

3 cloves garlic, crushed or minced finely

Fit food processor with large-hole grating disk. Working with a few pieces at a time, push turnips, carrots, and broccoli stems through feed tube until all vegetables are grated. Transfer vegetables to medium bowl. Add green onions. Whisk vinegar, ginger, oil, garlic, and chili sauce in small bowl to blend; pour over vegetables and toss to coat. Season with salt and serve.

News from the Farmers:

The gloomy weather continues... luckily, I don't have to worry about running the irrigation system. And the cabbages and broccoli are certainly enjoying this damp, cool weather; on the other hand, the zucchini plants look ready to burst with frustration: they are still tiny little things, but trying hard to bloom and make fruit. They are very jealous of the greenhouse plants: the tomatoes have stretched to the top of their trellis strings, the peppers are setting fruit, and the little Mexican Sour Gherkins are sending out long viny tendrils. For those of you who missed them last year, the Sour Gherkins are one of my favorite odd veggies: the plants look like miniature cucumbers, but the fruits look like dollhouse-sized watermelons. They are bite-sized, crunchy and lemony-- not a lot of yield, but so much fun that I had to grow them again this year. The beets in the field are starting to fill out, but it will still be a couple weeks before they are big enough to harvest-- this year's varieties include Bull's Blood, Chioggia, Merlin, and Touchstone Gold. We had trouble getting the seeder setting just right for the beets this year: The first bed is too thick, the second bed is too thin. For the third planting, I sat down with the seeder and adjusted seed cups, brushes, etc. until I was sure I had it just right, then planted two beds, to make up for the earlier mistakes. Sure enough, those beds germinated just right. So, we'll be short on beets for the first part of the summer, but then we'll have an abundance.