Week Two

What an exciting week here on the farm! We made our very first restaurant delivery on Wednesday. You can find Chef Ron of Slabtown Pizza in Cashiers, serving up our produce this season. We are quite excited to be rejoining our Farmer's Market Family, after months away. Saturday will be our first official day back for the year.

No pictures this week, sorry. All the rain and wind has made it really hard to get outside with a camera. However, we have strawberries ripening, squash, cucumbers, and peas are blooming. As long as we can get some warm sunny days in this week, we should start seeing strawberries in 1-2 weeks, and squash in about 2 weeks. Lots of lettuce is well on its way too.

We know you had a pretty heavy load of greens with last week's shares. If you're anything like us, you're still making your way through it. So we'll be lightening your load, and adding some other local contributions for your enjoyment. Shares this week will include chocolate milk from Worley Farm and Mill Creek Creamery, and locally raised chicken eggs, which will be from either Graceland Gardens or Balltown bees. Instead of sending you home with even more fresh sage, we'll be baking up some wonderful apple cider sage dinner rolls for you to enjoy.

Fresh produce this week will include: Easter Egg Radishes, Scarlet Kale, Little Gem Lettuce, and Full-sized Radish Greens, and more baby bok choy.

Unlike baby radish greens, full-sized greens can stand up to some cooking. You can cook them in much the same way as collards or turnip greens. My favorite use for them is to chop the greens up into 1-inch strips, and throw it into some light, brothy soup, with garlic and pork meatballs. The radish greens are ready to serve as soon as the leaves turn a deep, vibrant green. You'll notice that the leaves have small, delicate thorns along the rib. Don't worry! As soon as the greens are cooked up, they'll disappear.

I think you'll really enjoy our Little Gem lettuce. It's one of my personal favorites from last season, and we always sell out of it when we feature it on our stand. The leaves are the perfect size to slap right on a sandwich; no tearing or cutting necessary.

I've found two recipe suggestions for you to try out, and a bonus recipe of my own for those of you who have baby Kale left from your last share.

First up is this recipe for baby bok choy in a classic piccata sauce. For me, nothing tastes like warm weather as much as something bright and lemony. I love this idea that breaks away from the typical asian-inspired flavors I usually think of when I think about cooking bok choy.

Next up, we have Cinnamon-sugar Radish chips. Ya'll these sound kind of weird at first, but they also sound delicious! And I'm all about making some veggies into some chips. We love our snacks here in the Sellers household, and anything that can help that snacking feel a little more guilt-free makes me a happy wife and mom. We're looking forward to trying this recipe out this week. :)

And last but not least, a green smoothie recipe, for those of you who have some baby Kale left from last week! I made this for the three of us the other morning, and both husband and son wolfed it down, so I consider this recipe a winner. It's earned its place in our family cook book.

You'll notice that this recipe calls for no ice, which is the way we prefer it. We keep halved, frozen bananas in the freezer. I buy a half-dozen or so, peel, and cut in half, then place on a tray/plate lined with wax paper, not touching, and allow to freeze for at least 3-4 hours, preferably overnight. Then, simply store your frozen bananas in a freezer bag or in a freezer-safe container. 

This recipe makes two servings.

You'll need:

• 1/2 Granny smith apple, seeds and stem removed, cut into chunks
• 1-1/2 bananas, frozen
• 1 whole orange, peeled, and seeds removed
• Two generous handfuls of baby kale, you can adjust this to your personal preference
• 4-6 ounces of milk
• 4-6 oz of greek yogurt
• 1/3 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
• 2 Tablespoons of raw honey
• 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice.

Place everything in a blender, and process until smooth. Start with the smaller amounts of milk and greek yogurt, and add more to adjust to your preferred creaminess and consistency.

I served this as a smoothie bowl for Bryer, and topped it with fresh blueberries, more shredded coconut, and toasted walnut pieces.

That's all for now! I hope you all have a wonderful memorial day weekend!

Week One and a Pesto Blueprint

CSA Week One is finally here! It feels great to have gotten this far into the season. One of the hardest things, for me at least, is the first couple of months. Between battling some pretty crazy spring downpours, roller coaster ride temperatures, and waiting for seeds to sprout, I feel like I've been waiting with bated breath for weeks on end. It feels genuinely miraculous, every time we see all that bare dirt out there start making the transition to green growing things! I'm looking forward to the next phase of our operation. Call me a weirdo if you want, but my favorite garden chores are pruning and weeding.

Here are just a few of the pictures of our progress so far:

Our chives are in their second year, and are blooming in profusion!

Sage is also in its second year. This picture is about a week old. They've since come into bloom, and the butterflies are in love!

A big batch of salad mix in our makeshift nursery tunnel. The day after this picture was taken, they were transplanted out into their garden bed.

Little Gem lettuce, one of favorites from last season, is back! These heads are nearly ready for harvest.

Our baby bok choi is flourishing under the shade cloth. 

Several different varieties of tomatoes, ready to go out in the garden.

Ground cherries are making a return this year!

We have nearly 300 strawberry plants in the garden this year, and so many blossoms! Juicy red strawberries, soon!

Arugula patch

Now for the good stuff! ;) This week, in your share, you'll find: Arugula, Baby Kale, Baby Bok Choi, Radish Greens, Chives and Sage.

I have two recipes to start you off for the year. This first one is a "blueprint" for pesto, which is a snap to make in the food processor, and a great way to use up a variety of different herbs and nuts, depending on your pantry and personal preference. The chart below recommends pine nuts or walnuts for your pesto, but my own personal favorite is toasted pecans. I bet it would also be pretty tasty with sunflower seeds! For a milder garlic flavor, try toasting whole peeled garlic cloves in the pan with your nuts.

This visual originally appeared in the blog Table Matters

The second recipe I've found for you is a Sage Brown Butter Sauce. This sauce is an easy and delicious way to elevate even the simplest of weeknight meals. You can cook it up in under 10 minutes, and drizzle it over grilled chicken, or steak, butternut squash, or potatoes of any kind.

We hope that you enjoy your share!