Week Three, 2009

Hello friends and members,
 
Welcome to Week 3 of our summer season!  It's certainly been feeling a bit more summery out there and all our crops are showing marked appreciation of the warmth and humidity.  These days of sun and rain with temps around 80 degrees are really ideal for plants, and especially important are warm nights.  When nights are warm the plants just continue to grow 24 yours a day, whereas when it gets cold at night the plants shut down and then spend half the next morning waking up and getting started.  They miss out on half the growing time they have when it's warm!
 
Another funny thing about the weather lately is the hit or miss nature of the storms.  On Saturday I was working all afternoon at the "Pizza Farm" (as Eli calls it) and it was dry as a bone.  I tilled up some beds and seeded the next round of beans and was considering watering the flowers.  I decided to hold off because the sky looked somewhat threatening.  When I finished, I hopped in the truck and headed up the road to our land.  Just as I got to Spear St, about a mile, it suddenly started raining torrentially.  I spun the truck around and raced back to the Pizza Farm to close up the greenhouses before the rain hit.  But it never did.  I sat there for a bit before deciding that it must have just been a quick shower.  Then I headed home.  When I got back to Spear St there was a lake about six inches deep at the intersection and it was still absolutely pouring!  I can't believe the difference a mile makes.  And this line(Spear St) seems like a divider time and again: wet to the east, dry to the west.  
 
This week's share will include: plentiful lettuce, mixed cooking greens, scallions, garlic scapes, beets, kohlrabi, radishes, bok choy, maybe first squash, baby fennel
 
In the u-pick garden, strawberry season still going strong, snow peas, herbs, daisies
 
Some Recipe ideas for scapes and kohlrabi:
 
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.
 


ROASTED KOHLRABI Hands-on time: 10 minutes
Time to table: 45 minutes
Serves 4 (smallish servings since roasted vegetables shrink so much)
1 1/2 pounds fresh kohlrabi, ends trimmed, thick green skin sliced off with a knife, diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon garlic (optional, to my taste)
Salt
Good vinegar

Set oven to 450F. Toss the diced kohlrabi with olive oil, garlic and salt in a bowl. (This can be done on the pan but you'll likely use more oil.) Spread evenly on a rimmed baking sheet and put into oven (it needn't be fully preheated) and roast for 30 - 34 minutes, stirring every five minutes started after about 20 minutes. Sprinkle with a good vinegar (probably at the table so the kohlrabi don't get squishy).


Enjoy!
D, E and e