Beets
Escarole
Candy Spring Onions
Broccoli or Cauliflower
Hakurei Turnips
Summer Squash
Dill or Basil
Oh it is starting to feel more summer like each day. The past few days have been sunny, warm, humid, and with late afternoon or overnight storms. Everything is growing with upmost speed as we get closer to the Summer solstice, meaning crops but also trees, hay fields, weeds, everything. It is time for lots of hoeing and weeding plus feeding our Summer crops so they stay healthy and disease free. We ate our first Sungold tomatoes yesterday, meaning they should be in your hands within a few weeks. The eggplant and peppers are growing strong. We are planting our 3rd succession of cucumbers and squash this week and are happy to say our okra, watermelon, and winter squash are in the ground. Due to limited labor at Tomten Farm, we always struggle to get all the Summer crops going as early as they could be. We have to stagger plantings throughout May and into the first week of June. But the weather finally cooperated and we have most Summer crops and the last lettuce and scallion of the Spring in the ground and our greenhouse cleared out to make room for garlic curing. Within 3 weeks we will begin the first of our Fall and Winter transplants, which is wild; but that is how it works. Over the next few weeks we work at weed management and summer crop health, storage onion and root crop harvests, and tomato trellising & suckering (a weekly endeavor).
This Spring we have had a few misshaps, always normal for us, but nonetheless will effect future yields and how much you will see them. The onion flies got to our storage onion crops in March and did a lot of damage, so our yield will be very low this year; but our candy onions (in your share this week) did great so over the next month you will see onions at least twice, enjoy them. They are delicious raw or cooked and use the greens, they are especially pungent and good in a stir-fry or braise, or with sauteed veggies. Deer and groundhog have gotten into our first outdoor beet crop, so the greens were munched badly, stunting growth and making them impossible to bunch. They will be in your share this week without greens, but tasting delicious. You will get either dill or the first basil of the season this week. Both pair great with so many of this weeks crops. The sprouting cauliflower is a newer crop for us and like broccoli you can eat the stem, in fact it is delicious. It is often roasted but can be used in a creamy pasta, stir-fry, or even blanched for a salad. Make lots of salads over the hot week and enjoy the share…..Autumn & Brian
Best Italian Zucchini Fritters
Chicken & Escarole Salad with Anchovy Croutons
Escarole & Golden Beet Salad with Toasted Hazelnuts