We have had a productive week. The greenhouse is emptying out of all those tomatoes and the next round of summer seedlings have started. We finally felt it was warm enough to plant the tomatoes…..and then the overnight temperatures still dipped pretty low. The plants needed to get in the ground they were about ready to walk out of their pots! We planted 166 heirloom tomato plants. The usual rainbow assortment of cherry tomatoes that look so pretty mixed together and delicious slicers and paste too. We look forward to tomato season every year. The pea vines are just starting to flower, the cabbage is heading up, and the potatoes leafing out nicely. We got all the zucchini and summer squash in too. Lots of things checked off the list. With the rain and cool temperatures is seems as if many crops double in size overnight. Weeds too have enjoyed the moisture and cool temperatures but we have just started our second pass through the beets and carrots and staying in front of everything so far. We are excited that our organic sweet potato slips are being shipped this week from Oklahoma State. They are shipping late due to the cold. It will be nice to get this last big job completed. I am sure I will say this many times throughout the summer but this is sure a different growing season than last year. Opposite in every way.
Hope everyone enjoyed the rhubarb last week. I tripled the recipe and made 3 crisps. Gave one away and somehow overnight 1 1/2 of the remaining 2 disappeared! Scott said in the morning he has had his share of rhubarb for the season! Unfortunately, Maeve told me it tastes like rotten tomatoes and would only take that 1 bite.
Maeve harvesting the carrots.
We started these carrots in the greenhouse on March 3rd in large crates and then moved them outside when it was warm. TRUE baby carrots are always a delicious treat in the Spring. They are oh so sweet and tender and makes me realize every year with the first bite that any commercially grown carrot tastes like chewing on cord wood. Also, did you know the bagged baby carrots sold in the grocery store are really just big ugly ones mechanically ground down and then soaked in bleach to keep the orange color since they are skinless…..ick!
We wash the carrots in an old wringer washing machine. A huge time saver. It works great for the beets too.
Filling the wringer washing machine to wash the carrots.
A peek inside at the carrots.
Scott and Maeve having a quick snack break.
WHAT IS IN YOUR BOX
As we were prepping the boxes this week we felt like bag maniacs!! A reminder that the bags are biodegradable. We dislike packaging/plastic as much as many of you do and avoid overly packaging the veggies as much as possible. However, these leafy greens in the early boxes need to have a sleeve on them to stay ridged and fresh. The bags help retain moisture and prevent wilting.
CARROTS- Just shy of a pound for everyone. Beautiful TRUE Baby Carrots. A gourmet treat! Very tasty roasted in the oven. Carrots have strong cleansing properties and are effective in detoxifying the liver and great for your skin.
MIZUNA– A leafy Japanese vegetable that is used in a Japanese soup called nabemono. A mustard green. The taste is a combination of bitter and peppery. The leaves are green and serrated; the stalks are narrow and white. Both leaves and stalks are edible. Can also be stir fried, pickled, and eaten in salads. Makes a great pesto with a few cashews and tossed with farro or your favorite pasta. It reminds me of arugula. It also freezes well after a quick blanching for future meals. Very rich in vitamins E,C,A and high in Magnesium. Beneficial to all lung and airway functions.
SPINACH-A smaller bag this week as we picked heavily last week. With this cooler Spring we are hopeful that it will stick around for awhile.
RADISH-2 little gems this week. A longer one with a white tip called French Breakfast and a round beauty called Rover.
Harvesting the radishes. We grow them under row cover for pest protection.
Pac Choi--We have finished harvesting the crop this week. This variety is called Win-Win Choi.
The romaine lettuce triple rinsed and ready to be bagged.
Romaine Lettuce-Delicious, crunchy leaves. For some reason this variety is one of my favorites…These are the ones that work great as your “bread” for sandwiches as they are a bit more ridged.
This is a good week to have a nice mixed green salad with all your meals. Lots of different flavors, colors and textures.
BEST GUESS FOR NEXT WEEK
radish, salad turnips in scarlet and white, lettuce, and vitamin greens
Pac Choi and Mustard Greens Soup with Poached Egg
Recipe: Pac Choi and Mustard Greens Soup with Poached Egg
This recipe features local produce from 9 Bean Rows Farm, Birch Point Farm, Loving Dove Farm and locally produced products from Food for Thought.
Ingredients
Farm fresh local onion
Farm fresh local garlic
Farm fresh local ginger
Celery
Local olive oil
Farm fresh local carrots
Farm fresh local pac choi
Farm fresh local mustard greens
Tamari
White pepper
Farm fresh local eggs, poached
Directions
Mince one half cup onion, four large garlic cloves and an one inch section of ginger. Slice one cup celery and add onion, garic, ginger and celery to a large metal soup pot with two tablespoons olive oil. Cook the onion mixture for ten minutes uncovered on medium heat.
Slice one cup carrots into matchsticks. Remove two cups pac choi leaves from stems. Slice pac choi stems and chop pac choi leaves into one inch pieces. Remove two cups mustard greens from stems and chop mustard greens into one inch pieces.
Add carrots, pac choi stems, pac choi leaves and mustard green leaves to onion mixture with one teaspoon tamari, one quarter teaspoon white pepper and five cups water. Cover soup pot and bring to boil, then reduce to medium low and cook covered for five minutes.
Serve soup sprinkled with sea salt and a poached egg.
Remember Pinterest is a great source for recipes and information on vegetables you may not be too familiar with.
I’m having some trouble with posting recipes for some reason….I am not that good with the whole cut and paste thing just yet…Will attempt again this week.
foxlinecityfarm 
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