Week Three: Yonder Farm

Hello~~ Just rototilled and prepped all the beds for another salad, spinach and herbs succession. We plant those every 2 weeks to keep the greens young and tender throughout the summer. I also prepped to transplant our squash, pumpkin, cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplant and peppers. I'm experimenting this year with a small lima bean and kidney bean planting —so curious how that will go!

Heads of lettuce grow in one of the many greenhouses on Yonder Farm.

This weeks box has more original salad blend but with pea shoots in it too! and green garlic from 8^th Street. What!!! More green garlic, what the heck!? I know, but it's so yummy and we have lots of it, and. . . I got a loose version of a recipe from Watershine, who brought a tasty fresh green garlic pesto spread to a potluck. So, chop the tender green garlic parts (and whites) into 1” pieces and whir them in a blender, add olive oil and salt. There you go, a savory bright green simple pesto for bread or noodles. I think it would be awesome with cashews or pine nuts in there, too. This could probably freeze well, either use ice cube trays, then release the frozen pesto cubes into a ziploc baggie, or re-use yogurt type “tupperwares” and drizzle more olive oil on top to preserve the bright green in the freezer. Though, with basil pesto, I often skip the oil seal, and it preserves just fine.

Also in the box are baby beets with their glorious tops! These bunches of beautiful vegie are all about the beet greens and the baby roots are just a tasty little bonus. They're from Yonder Farm.

Bruschetta with Sauteed Greens

Bon Appétit | March 1998 cuisine: Italian yield: makes 4 servings (recipe found on Epicurious

Ingredients: 1 tablespoon plus 12 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon minced garlic[[or green garlic from last week]

8 ounces greens (such as Swiss chard, spinach, or beet tops), stems removed, leaves sliced

4 6 x 3 x 1/2-inch slices country-style white bread, toasted, each slice cut in half crosswise

Grey Celtic salt (also called gros sel or gray salt) or other salt

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and stir 15 seconds. Add greens and sauté until tender, about 3 minutes. Place toasts on platter. Drizzle 1 1/2 teaspoons oil over each toast. Top with greens. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Amber harvests beets with delicious green tops at Yonder Farm.

Beet tops are also good in marinara with pasta, chopped for a simple broth soup or many other ways like their relation, spinach and chard. If you ever see a “blister” on a leaf of this family, tear it out and discard. It must have escaped our careful observation... a pest could be inhabiting the blister.

The rhubarb is from Michael Pilarski. It's exciting to have it in the CSA for the 1^st time ever! I remember picking rhubarb on misty, fog-laden mornings in Chimicum, back when we lived on the Olympic Peninsula. I worked on Gunning Farm by a rushing salmon creek, with compost piles made of shrimp and fish parts. My co-worker would turn them with a backhoe! Here's Michael's quick rhubarb sauce recipe: put some water in a saucepan, cut the rhubarb in chunks, boil then simmer 20 minutes, add honey or sugar (or agave) to taste. Good drizzled over ice cream (cold sauce), yogurt, granola, in or on pie, eat plain, or freeze for later.

The starts are from Watershine, a special package put together just for 8^th Street's CSA. It is 4 different flowers from Yonder Farm: the Lupine, Bee Balm, and Gruppenblau (old German salvia) are all perennials and the Stocks are annual, a fragrant treat for this year. The hummingbirds and bees will love them!

All the Best! ~~Shannon