It's been a busy past couple of weeks leading up to the start of the CSA. With the dry weather throughout the month of May, a lot of the time that would normally be spent planting and weeding was instead spent setting up and running irrigation. Melissa probably spent 50 hours over the course of the month making sure we had irrigation running on all of our crops. To put that in perspective, that's roughly the same amount of time it would have taken to weed about 12 beds of beets and carrots or plant about 30 beds of lettuce! Thanks to Melissa's efforts, our vegetable plants have survived and are thriving, but we are playing a little bit of catch-up with many of our other farm chores.
Though we were sad to see the end of our asparagus and rhubarb season on Saturday, we were consoled by the knowledge that we will have a little more time freed up for other tasks this week. Some of that time will be taken up with planting and weeding, but some of that will also be devoted to harvesting some new crops!
This week in the CSA:
- Lettuce - We'll have red and green leaf as well as oakleaf varieties available this week. The regular leaf varieties are crisper, the oakleaf a little softer (like a butterhead lettuce).
- Red Ace Beets - It is still early in the season, so the beets are on the smaller side, but they are the perfect size to roast or boil and slice on top of your salad! The greens are edible too, and right now they are particularly lush. Cook beet greens like you would Swiss chard. They are tasty simply sauteed in olive oil with a little salt and lemon juice or garlic.
- Scallions
- Radishes
- Salanova lettuce mix - This cut lettuce mix has become a favorite in the store. It is a little crisper than mesclun mix and tends to keep longer.
- Arugula
- Red Russian Kale
- Baby Bok Choi - More tender than full-grown bok choi, these baby heads can be grilled, sauteed, steamed or just eaten raw in a salad (see the bok choi and strawberry salad recipe below).
- Tatsoi - This Asian green has a mild flavor and is delicious mixed in with other greens in salads or added to your sitr-fry.
- Mustard greens - This spicy green can be eaten raw or cooked. When cooked it takes on a milder flavor.
- Maybe spinach - The unusually hot and dry weather in May was hard on this crop. We will find out Tuesday morning whether enough survived our spring drought to make the harvest worthwhile.
CSA pick-your-own crops:
- Strawberries - Four varieties are ripe now: Earliglow, Brunswick, Sparkle and Chandler
- Sugar Snap Peas - You can sautee or stir fry these sweet peas - if they make it back to your kitchen without getting eaten!
- Dill
- Sweet William flowers
In the store:
Because it is early in our beet season, there will be no beets in the store this week. They will be available in the store very soon though! Also, we will have a limited amount of strawberries in the store on Tuesday and Thursday, but on Saturday we will have a larger amount. All other crops listed above for the CSA will be available in the store.
Bok Choi and Strawberry Salad
This recipe was in the recent Boston Globe article which we were featured in!
Dressing
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- ½ tsp Dijon mustard
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- ¼ cup olive oil
Salad
- 2 heads bok choi or 2 bunches baby bok choi
- ½ lb strawberries
- 3 scallions
- 1/3 cup roasted whole almonds, chopped
In a bowl, whisk the vinegar, mustard, salt, and pepper. Slowly whisk in ¼ cup of oil. If the flavor is too sharp, whisk in a little more oil. Taste for seasoning and add more oil, salt, and pepper, if you like. Cut the bok choi crosswise into 1-inch pieces. Coarsely chop the darker green strips. Rinse well and dry in a salad spinner. In a salad bowl, combine the bok choi, strawberries, and scallions. Add the dressing and toss lightly. Sprinkle with almonds.
