Week Five Newsletter and Recipes

Greetings Friends and Members,
Hope you all had a great Fourth of July weekend.  We certainly couldn't have asked for nicer weather.  While I don't really enjoy hanging out in the hot sun all day, that sun does keep things growing like crazy-- especially when you add a little water.  I had to open my big mouth in last week's newsletter and talk about how it had been over a month since I'd had to run the irrigation in the field.  Sure enough, on Saturday morning I found myself down at Spear's filling up that gas can again for the water pump.  On Thursday we planted our weekly lettuce batch just before we got a nice heavy shower (just in time to thwart Thursday's U-pickers from getting at those coveted strawberries).  It was enough rain that I didn't have to fuss with watering on the 4th, which was nice.  But by Saturday, the little seedlings were wilting, and with no rain in sight, I had to fire up the pump.
 
Out in the field things are looking good.  The potatoes are flowering, which is something I always enjoy seeing.  Nice long rows of pretty purple and white blossoms atop healthy 3' tall plants.  The potatoes' arch enemy, the dreaded Colorado potato beetle, capable of defoliating entire plants in sort order, is just beginning to show up.  We keep them confused every spring by moving the potato patch to a different field.  This way, the adults who've spent the winter burrowed into the soil have to walk a long way to find their food.  By the time they do find them, the plants are big and strong enough to tolerate some munching.
 
This week's share:
 
Lettuce, Greens, Squash & Zucchini, Beets, Bok Choy, Baby Fennel (see Recipe), Kohlrabi, Scapes (see Recipe)
 
The 'maybe' list:  broccoli, radishes, cucumbers
 
U-Pick list:  Flowers (PLEASE SEE ATTACHED Flower Picker's Guide to review how to cut the flowers in order to keep them thriving well into the season!!!), Peas, Herbs, Strawberries (whatever remains)
 
Enjoy!  D, E, & e
 
RECIPES
 
Braised Fennel with Parmesan


2 Tablespoons butter or olive oil

2 to 3 fennel bulbs, trimmed and halved or quartered lengthwise

Salt and freshly milled pepper

½ cup dry white wine or water

1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Chopped fennel greens or parsley

 Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Rub a baking dish large enough to hold the fennel in a single layer with butter.  Steam the fennel for 10 minutes, then arrange in the dish.  Dot with butter or drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and add the wine.  Cover and bake for 20 minutes.  Remove the cover, baste the fennel with its juice, then add the cheese and continue baking until the fennel is completely tender, about 10 minutes more.  Serve with chopped fennel greens or parsley.


Garlic Scape Pesto

Ingredients:
1 cup garlic scapes (about 8 or 9 scapes), top flowery part removed, cut into ¼-inch slices
1/3 cup walnuts
¾ cup olive oil
¼-1/2 cup grated parmigiano
½ teaspoon salt
black pepper to taste

Method:
Place scapes and walnuts in the bowl of a food processor and whiz until well combined and somewhat smooth. Slowly drizzle in oil and process until integrated. With a rubber spatula, scoop pesto out of bowl and into a mixing bowl. Add parmigiano to taste; add salt and pepper. Makes about 6 ounces of pesto. Keeps for up to one week in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.