TOMTEN FARM

Scallions
Nicola Potatoes
Green Peppers (mild & hot)
Asian Long, Thai Round, & Dancer Eggplant
Mix Tomatoes
Tomatillos
Thai Basil
Shiso

Hot, hot, hot that sums up our feelings these days. The watermelon are beginning to ripen, the potatoes need to be out of the fields immediately, and any day now the okra will start popping off (and then it never stops).  We harvested over 400# of tomatoes last week and this week seems poised to be even more. Everything just feels really heavy this time of year and the days are long. We drink more water than you could imagine and its still never enough. As with every season, as long as we make it through July we are golden and this year is no different.
This week’s share includes all the nightshades: tomatoes, tomatillos, eggplant, potatoes, and a few peppers (mostly mild cubanelles; but also maybe a jalapeno or thai chile). This family of crops thrives when paired with aromatics, such as thai basil, scallion, garlic, and shiso, so get to making some deliciousness happen in the kitchen. In case you are unfamiliar, Shiso is used throughout Asia both medicinally and as an herb, especially popular in Japanese, Korean, and southeast Asian cuisines. In Virginia it is known as Perilla and is a native plant that is common throughout the Piedmont. On our farm we have the green variety and it grows on the edges of wood lines and in other slightly shaded areas. The wild variety is not as pungent as some cultivated types, but it is still amazing used in herb salads, spring rolls, and even granita; check out the recipe below

Eggplant Caponata

Tomatillo And Tomato Salad

Charred Tomatillo and Scallion Salsa

Japanese Eggplant with Chicken & Thai Basil

Miso-Glazed Eggplant Grain Bowls with Basil

Vietnamese Salad Rolls (Gỏi cuốn)
When we make these we let everyone prepare their own, as it makes for a really fun meal activity. As the recipe states, you can substitute various herbs’ we particularly like thai basil, shiso, and mint together. We always add julienned slivers of scallions and sometimes substitute shredded pork or shrimp for tofu. For dipping sauces we use a traditional Nuoc Cham and peanut sauce (recipes below).

Dai Mint and Tomato Salad – Hot Sour Salty Sweet by Jeffery Alford and Naomi Duguid
The Dai, like the Chinese, prefer their tomatoes a little green, just before their fullest sweet ripeness. Perhaps it’s an aesthetic question: The mix of green and red is more interesting to the eye than the uniform red of ripe tomatoes. Or perhaps it’s beacuase tomatoes enter the regional cuisine as a slightly sour vegetable, rather than with the sweetness and ripeness as their prime characteristic. All of which is to say that you should, as we do, use the tomatoes that please you. This salad is simple to make and delicious. It’s like a half-pounded Mexican salsa, ideal for scooping up with Thai-Lao Crispy rice crackers or sticky rice or pork cracklings.
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp salt
a little minced chile, jalapeno (optional)
1 cup tender mint leaves or Thai basil, coarsely torn
2-3 scallion, trimmed, sliced lengthwise into ribbons and then cut crosswise into 1-inch lengths
5 medium tomatoes, thinly sliced1 Tbls hot chile oil
Place the garlic and salt in a large mortar and pound together. Or place them in a large bowl and use the back of a flat spoon to mash them against the side of the bowl. Add the fresh chile, the mint, and the scallions and continue to pound or mash to soften and blend. Add the tomatoes and gently pound or mash until broken up a little. Add the chile oil and toss well. Serve the salad mounded in a shallow bowl, with the juices poured over.
Note: If the mint is coarse or rough, finely chop the leaves; or substitute Asian basil leaves.

Shiso Granita – Japanese Farm Food by Nancy Singleton Hachisu
15 green shiso leaves
¼ cup granulated sugar
Place the shiso leaves in a medium-sized bowl or 4-cup Pyrex measuring cup. Heat the sugar and 3 cups water to boiling in a medium saucepan, stirring the sugar to dissolve. Pour the boiling sugar water over the leaves and steep until cool. Set a strainer over a plastic container large enough to hold 3 cups and strain out the leaves. Cover and transfer the shiso-flavored sugar water to a freezer shelf. Let sit, undisturbed, in the freezer for 1 hour. Remove to the countertop, open the lid, and gently stir in the crystals that have formed on the perimeter.  Repeat this operation every 30 minutes, breaking up any larger crystals as you go. The finished granita should be flaky.  Serve alone in a glass bowl or goblet. This is also wonderful served alongside Fig Ice Cream and Plum Sorbet. Keeps frozen for several weeks.

Yaya Carrots
Tendersweet Cabbage
Pickling or Marketmore Cucumbers
Sungold Cherry or Early Tomatoes
Romano Beans or Shishito Peppers
Candy or Red Candy Onions
Summer Crisp Lettuce
Cilantro or Dill

Sesame Carrot and Cucumber Slaw

Summer Grain Salad With Rainbow Carrots, Heirloom Tomatoes And Herbs

Braised Romano Beans

Anjula’s Cabbage, Carrot and Green Bean Thoran

Cowtown Coleslaw – adapted from A Cowboy in the Kitchen by Grady Spears & Robb Walsh
serves 4 – This peppery slaw is colorful and has a zing to it.
4 cups julienned Green Cabbage (can mix in about ¼ red cabbage too)
1 large or 2 small carrots, peeled and julienned
3 jalapenos peppers, stemmed, seeded, and julienned
1 Tbls fresh chopped dill
3/4 cups mayonnaise (preferably Dukes)
1/3 cup malt vinegar
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbls freshly squeezed lime or lemon juice
kosher salt to taste
freshly ground pepper to taste
Place all of the vegetables in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, and lime juice. Pour the dressing over the vegetables, season with salt and pepper, and toss to combine. Set aside in the refrigerator until serving time. Its best made and served on the same day.

Salata Horiatiki (Greek Country Salad) –The New Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden
1 head summer crisp lettuce, cut into ribbons
2 large firm ripe tomatoes, cut into wedges
1 cucumber, peeled, split in half through its length, and cut into thick slices
1 green pepper, cut into thin rings
1 large mild onion, thinly slices, the rings separated
8 oz feta cheese, cut into small squares or broken into coarse pieces
1 dozen or more black Kalamata olives
For the dressing
A good bunch flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
6 Tbls extra-virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt & pepper
Put all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Just before serving, mix the dressing, pour over the salad, and toss.

Sungold Cherry or Early Tomatoes
Summer Squash Mix
Romano Beans or Shishito Peppers
German White Garlic
Eggplant Mix
Basil

Well this week’s share shows a total transformation from Spring into Summer. We have never seen the eggplant and early peppers come on so quickly. Not that you cannot have them in late June or early July but we do not push for these crops to come on early, instead opting for a more balanced transition; but this year due to some of the weather patterns they came on quick once they flowered. The tomatoes on the other hand, we make effort to get in early and have by mid June and this year (likely due to weather, the swings of cooler weather with low nighttime temps) they have been coming on very slow. The plants are big and bountiful with a lot of green fruit; but ripening has been slow. The tomatoes that have ripened though are very large, dense, and tasty. It is amazing how each season offers a little something different and from communication with fellow farmers we are able to determine what is from broad weather patterns versus soil or management practices on our individual farm. Anyhow we are happy about the unseasonably temperate weather over this past weekend, the break in humidity and cool nights can be rejuvenating and entirely unexpected. We hope you all are enjoying this holiday weekend spending as much time outdoors as possible. So even if it means the tomato deluge is a little late this year, we are sure it will still happen and this week you finally get a little taste.  We have a load of recipes below; but most of these items are also great simply roasted or grilled with a little pesto drizzled on top to keep it simple. We hope you enjoy this jump into summer …..Brian and Autumn 

Cheesy Zucchini-Eggplant Bake

Summer Squash and Basil Pasta

Marcella Hazan’s Pesto

Tomato & Shishito Stir-Fry

Charred Romano Bean Salad With Zucchini, Aioli And Pecans

Zaalouk (Spicy Eggplant Salad) The New Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden
1 ½ lb eggplant, peeled and cubed
5 cloves garlic, peeled
salt
3 large tomatoes (about 1 ½ lbs)
4 Tbls argan oil or mild extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbls wine vinegar
½ tsp harissa or a mixture paprika &ground chili pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
½ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
Boil the eggplants with the garlic in plenty of salted water, in a pan covered with a lid, for about 30 minutes or until they are very soft. Drain and chop the eggplants and garlic in a colander, then mash them with a fork, pressing all the water out.
Put the tomatoes in the emptied pan and cook over low heat for about 20 minutes, or until reduced to a thick sauce, stirring occasionally. Mix with the mashed eggplants and the rest of the ingredients and add salt.
Variation: Add the juice of 1 lemon (instead of the vinegar) and 1 tsp ground caraway or coriander.

Eggplant in a Spicy Honey Sauce –The New Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden
The sauce is a splendid example of the hot, spicy, and sweet combinations; which are a thrilling feature of North African cooking. Serve it cold with bread.
2 medium-large eggplants
olive oil
salt
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 inches fresh gingerroot, grated, or cut into pieces
1 ½ tsp ground cumin
large pinch cayenne or ground chili pepper, to taste
4-6 Tbls honey
juice of 1 lemon
2/3 cup water
Cut the eggplants into rounds about 1/3” thick. Do not peel them. Dip them in olive oil, turning them over, and cook on a griddle or under a broiler, turning them over once, until they are lightly browned. They do not need to be soft, as they will cook further in the sauce. In a wide saucepan or skillet, fry the garlic in 2 Tbls of the oil for seconds only, stirring, then take off the heat. Add the ginger, cumin, and cayenne or gorund chili pepper, honey, lemon juice, and water. Put in the eggplant slices and cook over low heat –either in batches, so they are in one layer, or together, rearranging them so that each slice gets some time in the sauce –for about 10 minutes, or until the slices are soft and have absorbed the sauce. Add a little water if necessary.

Fennel
Cucumber
Red or Chioggia Beets
Nicola or Red Gold New Potatoes
Misc Greens
Scallion
Parsley

Creamy Cucumber and Grilled Potato Salad

Braised Fennel and Potatoes

Fennel and Cucumber Salad

Raw Beet Salad With Fennel

Beet, Cucumber, and Feta Salad with Dill Vinaigrette

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.

Roasted Beets, Avocado, and Sunflower Seeds from Six Seasons by Joshua McFadden
1 lb beets
kosher salt & black pepper
extra-virgin olive oil
3 Tbls red wine vinegar
¼ cup salted roasted sunflower seeds
½ cup lightly packed roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley
4 scallions, trimmed, (including ½” off the green tops), sliced on a sharp angle, soaked in ice water for 20 minutes, and drained well
½ cup lightly packed, seeded, chopped pickled peppers
2 firm-ripe avocadoes
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Trim the tops and bottoms of the beets. Wash the greens and spin dry in a salad spinner. Rinse and scrub the beets to remove any mud and grit. Cut up any larger beets so that they are all about the same size.
Put the beets in a baking dish that’s large enough to accommodate all of them in a single layer. Season with salt, then pour ¼ cup water into the dish. Cover tightly with foil and steam roast until the beets are tender when pierced with a knife. Depending on the size, density, and age of the beets, this could take between 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Meanwhile, if you have beet greens to cook, heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Add a glug of olive oil, add the beet greens, and toss them until they are wilted and a bit stewed, about 5 minutes. Set aside until cool, then chop through them a few times.
When the beets are tender, let them cool until you can handle them, then rub or pare away the skins. Cut into ½-inch wedges or chunks and pile into a bowl. Add the greens.
While the beets are still warm, sprinkle with the vinegar, ½ tsp salt, and many twists of pepper. Toss to distribute the seasonings and let the beets absorb the vinegar for a few minutes. Add a healthy glug of olive oil and toss again. Let the beets sit at room temperature until you are ready to serve.
To assemble for serving, add the sunflower seeds, parsley, scallions, and pickled peppers and toss gently. Peel the avocadoes and cut them into neat chunks that are about the same size as the beet wedges, and add them to the beets too. Toss thoroughly but very gently, so you don’t mash the avocado too much. Taste and adjust with more salt, black pepper, vinegar, or oil. Serve right away.

Salad Mix
Spring Carrots
Daikon Radish
Napa Cabbage or Russian Kale
Suyo Long & Slicer Cucumbers
Cousa & Zephyr Squash
Tropea Spring Onion

Grilled Steak with Cucumber-and-Daikon Salad

Cucumber & Carrot Noodle Thai Salad

Kale and Cucumber Salad with Roasted Ginger Dressing

Chinese-style kale

Cabbage & Zucchini Okonomiyaki

Chinese Restaurant Style Stir Fried Napa Cabbage

Halibut with Spring Onion and Summer Squash Sauté

Fennel
Swiss Chard
Tendersweet Cabbage
New Golden Potatoes
Iceburg or Butterhead Lettuce
Frisee Heart
Scallion
Dill

Our workdays are steadily getting longer, as we head towards the longest day of the year. It seems like this time of year, we are always wrestling to keep up with all the tomato management (trellising, suckering, and feeding)  along with the other nightshade crops, while also tending to the weed and pest pressure in maturing spring crops. Over the past few years we have moved more towards using biodegradable plastic with landscape fabric in the pathways for our larger blocks of crops, such as our Winter squash & watermelon area or our large brassica plantings in both the spring and the fall. This has at least helped minimize the weed pressure because no matter how much we weed, come mid-May through June, the weeds can grow 6”-12” per week and when we are getting towards the end of a crop we cannot seem to manage late stage weeding, it is just too time consuming. So far this year both the indoor and outdoor tomato plantings look strong, as do the peppers and eggplant. Much can change though between the green leaf growth stage and ripening fruit stage. Point is there is a lot going on around the farm, sometimes more than one can focus on in a single walk through.  Every June we are getting ready to plant our latter summer crop successions of tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, and beans even as we wait to harvest some of our first successions. Our greenhouse is more or less empty and yet at the end of the month we will begin succession seeding for our fall crops and before we know it the greenhouse is full to the brim. June like October is when we have the most seasonal cross over. Right now we are still harvesting many spring crops (cabbage, greens, root, herb, fennel, lettuce, and chicory) while adding in new summer crops every week, potatoes this week, tomatoes and beans in a week or so, and soon after eggplant, followed by peppers.  Plus we are scheduling out large bulk harvests. Garlic was started last week and will get finished this Wednesday; soon we will store away cabbages, daikon, beets, and carrots so we have some for later in the summer. In a few weeks our storing onions will be harvested and cured in the barn and then right after that we will harvest the potato crop.  So with all this to do, we are lucky the days are long even if it gets a bit tiring.  This is the time of year to support all the farmers you know, because if it is a good growing season, we all have a lot of food to move. Shop often, bring friends and family who do not regularly shop through local outlets, and buy a lot. Have picnics, potlucks, and garden parties, and take huge dishes of vegetables or fruit to whatever social occasion. Think about freezing, canning, pickling, and preserving to enhance your options during the lean months. Tomatoes, cucumbers, and fruit are not the only crops to put up.
This week you get a nice mix of greens: swiss chard, cabbage, lettuce, and frisee, enjoy them while they last, as tthere is likely only a few more weeks in store then they are gone till September. Finally we have some fennel coming to you all. This was not a good spring for our fennel crop, as it got planted very late and it hates erratic shifts in temperature, especially with lots of heat; which is what we get here. It is on the small side, so not super succulent. It will be a great addition to a salad, especially a cabbage slaw or frisee and potato salad. We are also excited to be getting some of you the iceburg lettuce. Unlike California iceburg this will be flavorful yet have that fabulous crisp texture. We have a few recipes below for some delicious salads. Enjoy the share Autumn & Brian

Cracked New Potatoes with Fennel Raita

Egg Salad Sandwich With Dill

Iceberg Salad with Italian Dressing

Fennel, Orange, and Cabbage Slaw

New Cabbage with Scallions – The Taste of Country Cooking by Edna Lewis
The first time we would cook and serve our newly grown garden cabbage was on a wheat-threshing day. We would cut up many heads and cook them in a large iron pot with liquid from the pork shoulder and a small amount of fat for seasoning. Cabbage cooked that way was a hearty fare, good sustenance for hardworking men. We children usually had the food that was left over from the midday meal that night for supper and thought it was just great. No other food in the world seemed to have quite the good flavor of what was left over from a wheat-threshing dinner.
1 2-pound head new cabbage
1/3 cup tender green scallion tops, cut into ¼” slices
2 cups boiling water, or preferably stock from boiled pork shoulder
3 Tbls freshly rendered fat from bacon or ham
salt and freshly ground pepper
To prepare the cabbage, trim away the outside leaves and cut the head into quarters. Cut away the core, leaving just enough to hold the leaves intact. Place the pieces of cabbage in a bowl of cold water for about 15 minutes or so to wash out any dust or bugs, particularly if it has come straight out of the garden. Remove, drain in a colander, then place in a 3-quart saucepan and add the scallion tops to give added flavor and color. Pour the boiling water or stock over and toss the cabbage with two spoons to make sure that each piece is scalded. Add the fat so that it coats the cabbage, then turn the burner low so that the cabbage boils briskly but not too rapidly for 25-30 minutes –any longer and the cabbage will become too soft and its taste will change. Drain. Toss the salt to taste and a good grating of freshly ground pepper to heighten the flavor. Serve hot.

Boiled Swiss Chard Salad – The Classic Italian Cookbook by Marcella Hazan
1 bunch Swiss chard leaves
Salt
Olive Oil
1 or more Tbls lemon juice
Pull the leaves from the stalks (reserving the stems for another use, such as Swiss Chard stalks with Parmesan Cheese) and wash in a basin of cold water, changing the water frequently until it shows no trace of soil.
Put the chard in a pan with whatever water clings to the leaves. Add 1/2 tsp salt, cover, and cook over medium heat until tender, about 15 minutes from the time the liquid starts to bubble.
Drain in a pasta colander and gently press some of the water out of the chard with the back of a fork. Place in a salad bowl.
Serve cool (not refrigerated) or lukewarm, seasoning with salt, oil, and lemon only when ready to serve.

Escarole
Broccoli
Salad Mix
Russian Kale
Summer Squash Mix
Beets or Carrots
Genovese Basil
Fresh Garlic

Polenta Bowl With Garlicky Summer Squash & Kale

Escarole and Roasted Broccoli Salad with Anchovy Dressing

2Amys’ Escarole Salad, My Way

Moroccan Carrot-Zucchini Salad

Yogurt and Spice Roasted Broccoli

Sheet-Pan Chicken Meatballs and Charred Broccoli

Zucchini Salad With Raisins and Pine Nuts – The New Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden
The combination of raisins and pine nuts was brought by the Arabs all the way to Spain and Sicily.
1 lb Zucchini
4 Tbls Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
2 Tbls Pine Nuts
2 Tbls Black or Gold Raisins or Currants
1 clove Garlic, crushed and chopped
Salt and Pepper
2 tsp dried mint (optional)
Juice of ½ Lemon, or more
Saute the Zucchini quickly in the oil with the pine nuts, raisins, and garlic. Add salt and pepper and dried mint, if using, and cook, stirring, over moderate heat until the zucchini slices are just tender. Serve hot or cold with lemon juice squeezed over the salad.

Sauteed Greens with Olives (Misticanza) from Six Seasons by Joshua McFadden
The key to this dish is to cook it quickly at high heat so that you can taste each green in your mix.
extra virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
¼ tsp dried chiles flakes
10 cups lightly packed torn mixed greens (such as kale, escarole, turnip greens, beet greens, chard)
kosher salt & black pepper
¼ cup Kalamata olives, pitted & halved
2 Tbls lemon juice
Heat a glug of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring often, until just beginning to brown, about 2 minutes – don’t let it burn! Add the chile flakes and cook, stirring until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Add the greens a handful at a time, tossing until wilted between additions (if you can, start with the tougher greens such as kale or escarole). Season generously with salt and black pepper and cook until all greens are wilted and softened, about 3 minutes more after your last addition.
add the olives and 2 tablespoons lemon juice and toss to combine. Taste and adjust the seasoning with more chile flakes, salt or lemon juice. Finish with a nice drizzle of olive oil.

Roasted Beets, Avocado, and Sunflower Seeds from Six Seasons by Joshua McFadden
1 lb beets
kosher salt & black pepper
extra-virgin olive oil
3 Tbls red wine vinegar
¼ cup salted roasted sunflower seeds
½ cup lightly packed roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley
4 scallions, trimmed, (including ½” off the green tops), sliced on a sharp angle, soaked in ice water for 20 minutes, and drained well
½ cup lightly packed, seeded, chopped pickled peppers
2 firm-ripe avocadoes
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Trim the tops and bottoms of the beets. Wash the greens and spin dry in a salad spinner. Rinse and scrub the beets to remove any mud and grit. Cut up any larger beets so that they are all about the same size.
Put the beets in a baking dish that’s large enough to accommodate all of them in a single layer. Season with salt, then pour ¼ cup water into the dish. Cover tightly with foil and steam roast until the beets are tender when pierced with a knife. Depending on the size, density, and age of the beets, this could take between 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Meanwhile, if you have beet greens to cook, heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Add a glug of olive oil, add the beet greens, and toss them until they are wilted and a bit stewed, about 5 minutes. Set aside until cool, then chop through them a few times.
When the beets are tender, let them cool until you can handle them, then rub or pare away the skins. Cut into ½-inch wedges or chunks and pile into a bowl. Add the greens.
While the beets are still warm, sprinkle with the vinegar, ½ tsp salt, and many twists of pepper. Toss to distribute the seasonings and let the beets absorb the vinegar for a few minutes. Add a healthy glug of olive oil and toss again. Let the beets sit at room temperature until you are ready to serve.
To assemble for serving, add the sunflower seeds, parsley, scallions, and pickled peppers and toss gently. Peel the avocados and cut them into neat chunks that are about the same size as the beet wedges, and add them to the beets too. Toss thoroughly but very gently, so you don’t mash the avocado too much. Taste and adjust with more salt, black pepper, vinegar, or oil. Serve right away.

Cucumbers
Sugar Snap Peas
Yu Choy or Bok Choy
Bibb & Oakleaf Lettuce
Napa Cabbage or Mustard Greens
Candy Sweet Spring Onion
Hakurei Turnip
Daikon Radish
Cilantro

This spring we have seen a tremendous amount of bug pressure, especially on our quick brassica crops (hakurei, radish, mustard, arugula, yu choy, bok choy, Asian cut greens), which you will see a lot of this week. Flea beetle is usually not an issue for us; but this spring they abound along with our more usual spring pests: brassica root maggot, harlequin bugs, leaf hoppers, and cucumber beetle. The bug pressure combined with extremely dry conditions has led a lot of these crops to be a bit stressed, with holey leaves and a less attractive appearance. This can lead to shorter storability, so some of the greens need to be used more quickly. In contrast, until it got super hot, the lettuce crops loved the dry (controlled watering) and temperate conditions. Each vegetable family has slightly different needs, making our diversity of crops so important in producing a consistent amount of food throughout each season. And now, now we finally got some rain and I can say there is vast difference in the landscape on our farm. Everything is deeper green and now we will see the weed pressure blow up. Luckily we have been managing a lot of our crops better than ever, but those few carrot and herb beds we haven’t had a chance to get to, are now an emergency.
The share is going to be quite big this week and we are beginning to see a shift towards some summer crops, even with this strange cool dip in the weather over the weekend. It is a rare year when we have Sugar Snap peas, let alone at the same time as cucumbers. This is a great share for venturing into stir-fries, hand making salad rolls (find some mint, use that lettuce, and some tofu or shrimp), and playing around with Thai salad recipes. Check out the recipes below and enjoy the share…..Brian and Autumn

Mustard Greens with Mooli | Daikon Radish with Mustard Greens

Yam Khai Dao (Fried egg salad) – Pok Pok by Andy Ricker
You must find some thai chiles, celery leaf (meadowacre), and carrot; This recipe is soooo delicious, a must try!

Stir-Fried Baby Turnips With Spring Onions, Green Garlic and Tofu

Ginger Soy Yu Choy

Smashed Cucumber and Sugar Snap Pea Salad With Jerk Vinaigrette

Napa Cabbage and Cucumber Slaw

Tom Kha Kai

Frisee
Arugula
Swiss Chard
Butterhead Lettuce
Red Gold New Potatoes
Carrots or Beets
Garlic Scapes
Dill

This past week has been extremely productive on the farm, perhaps we were taking advantage of the really comfortable working conditions. Last Sunday we had our first CSA work share day of the season and we got a lot done. We planted summer crops; sauce and specialty greenhouse tomatoes, all the eggplant, and about half of the peppers, weeded the potato field, cleaned seedling trays, pounded stakes in for the peppers, and trellised the high tunnel tomatoes. Later in the week, along with our stellar work crew, we hand weeded and hoed -carrots, beets, fennel, mustards, lettuces, and our larger brassica block, cleared and prepped beds in a tunnel for the next round of tomatoes, prepped and planted the winter squash, seeded okra, potted up basil succession 2 seedlings (their high tunnel space is not ready for them), all while Brian was running non-stop irrigation. Have we mentioned that we have had less than a ½” of rain in over a month and now we are into 90degree temps, so keeping crops hydrated is the number one priority right now. We are quite happy that we invested in shade cloths for our high tunnels this season. Usually it’s an issue from late June through August, when it is super hot and we have flowering crops in our tunnels. Too much heat can cause the flowers to drop, hence less fruit. We have been meaning to invest in shade cloths for years, but finally got around to it this past winter. Anyhow we already have one up and are planning on getting the others up this week, as this early heat wave is a reminder to get it done.
This week’s share included our garlic scapes, we are at peak harvest of this very short seasonal crop. We have this lovely delicacy for only two or three weeks each year and we look forward to them all spring.  A longish scape will be equivalent to 1-2 cloves of garlic. You can mash them, mince them, or use in bigger pieces for some garlic punch. The scape would eventually become the flower bud on each garlic plant. By pulling them out, more energy is put into growing the bulb, making for larger garlic in the end. The scape on its own is tender with a little crunch and has a superb garlic flavor without a ton of heat. They will store in a plastic bag for at least 3 weeks, but can also be pickled using the brine for a basic dilly bean recipe and they make amazing additions to any pickle plate. Other options for the scapes are making garlic butter (blend the scapes, mix with softened butter and a little salt, then using wax paper make the butter into a log roll, wrap in plastic wrap, freeze, and use as needed.) or garlic scape pesto. Feel free to use them as a substitute for garlic in recipes, just add more volume than recipe requires, as the scapes are definitely more subtle than a clove of garlic. We have included many recipes below that call for garlic in them, try using the scape as a substitute.  This share makes me want a meal of boiled new potatoes with garlic scape butter and dill, paired with your favorite protein, and a finely chopped frisee salad tossed in a salty, lemony vinaigrette topped with grated/marinated carrots or beets and your favorite cheese. But that is just me. Enjoy the share……Autumn & Brian

Chickpea Salad with Carrots and Dill

Greens Gratin
Use 2 garlic scapes to replace garlic cloves in the recipe

Beet & Blue Cheese Salad

Simple Roasted Beets & Garlic Scapes

Arugula, Frisee, and Red Leaf Salad with Strawberries

Frisee & Arugula Salad with Mustard Bacon Vinaigrette
Our frisee is much larger than in the recipe, 1 head is more than sufficient. Also play around with adding finely grated salty hard cheese, olives, grated/marinated beets or carrots, as well as herbs to this salad if you want.

New Potato & Frisée Salad

Swiss Chard & Potatoes