Radishes
New Red Potatoes
Kale or Swiss Chard
Zucchini or Zephyr Squash
Summer Crisp Lettuce
Escarole
Scallions
Dill
Summer is here! The longest day of the year usually marks the coming of Summer crops which last well into the Fall. At Tomten Farm, these summer crops come on pretty slowly as we are a super labor limited operation. We cannot get all the summer crops planted and growing in the first two weeks of May; which would be ideal. We spend about 6 weeks planting out our first two successions of squash, cucumber and tomatoes (we do 4 total of these), all our peppers and eggplant, then pole beans, okra, and watermelon. This year we got a bit behind, those drought conditions followed by extreme wet, meant a lot of patience till areas were ready to be prepped; but they are all in the ground now. We just planted our third succession of tomatoes, squash and cucumbers this past week and are prepping high tunnel spaces for our final succession. The beginning of summer also usually marks the fading of a lot of our green leafy crops. We try to extend these crops when we can; but this will be the last kale and chicories until we get into the early Fall, and they will not be as tender as they were in May. Green salad crops will become sparse over the next few months; but we lean into cabbage, beets, cucumbers, and tomatoes to fill the void. The biggest transition for us is the when Summer begins, we begin to seed trays of seedlings for our fall and winter crops. In two weeks we will have our largest seeding of the year and within 4 weeks our greenhouse will be full, more full than in early Spring, as we grow a lot for the late Fall and Winter season. So our next two weeks will be filled with some bulk harvests of beets, carrots and cabbage. Getting them into cold storage for later in the summer. Our garlic is nearly dry and the onions have a few weeks to go and all are looking great, so lots of alliums in your future this season. Check out the recipes below and enjoy the share…..Brian and Autumn
Polenta Bowl With Garlicky Summer Squash & Kale
Red Potato Salad with Scallions & Radishes
Orzo Salad with Dill & Swiss Chard
Giant Beans with Greens
Uses escarole, kale, swiss chard, dill, and scallions
Mediterranean Rice-Stuffed Escarole
Salata Arabieh (Arab Salad) – The New Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden
Serves 4 – In this most common of Arab salads, all the ingredients are cut very small. Do not prepare it too long before serving, and dress it just before serving.
1 small head romaine lettuce
1 small red Italian or mild white onion or 5 scallions
1 small-med cucumber
2 tomatoes
4 radishes, thinly sliced
2 Tbls chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 tsp chopped fresh dill or chervil
1 Tbls chopped fresh mint
3 Tbls extra-virgin olive oil
Juice of 1/3 lemon
salt and pepper
1 small clove garlic, crushed
Shred the lettuce, chop the onions finely, and cut the vegetables into tiny dice, using a sharp knife. Put them in a bowl with the radishes and herbs. Make a dressing with oil and lemon juice, slat and pepper, and garlic if you like. Pour over the salad and mix well.