TOMTEN FARM

Purslane
Swiss Chard
Savoy Cabbage
Nelson Carrots
Cucumber
Fennel
Garlic
Dill

It has been interesting how quickly the summer crops took off this season. It seems like the hot temperatures that began in May and dominated throughout June have helped many fruiting Summer crops put on a lot of growth. Even so, we are a few weeks behind on our peppers, eggplants, and tomatoes. The plants are growing strong and look very healthy; but we had to push off planting in late April and early May because our cropland was not ready. This year all of our nightshade crops are located in our front crop field; a field which has extremely heavy clay soils. This means we cannot disc in cover crop residue and begin bed preparation until the soil has dried out significantly otherwise we create hard clay bricks which are not conducive for plant growth or proper soil drainage. This past March was too wet and cold for us to get this area ready, therefore it pushed us a few weeks late for each of these crops initial plantings. Over the past years we have been used to having tomatoes on our market tables by mid June and yet here we are approaching July and we are just beginning our early slim harvests. Worry not they will come and before we know it we will be socked in with multiple successions to harvest at once. Honestly last week as we were harvesting, we kept wondering why we were finishing so quickly and then it dawned on us that usually by now we have hours of tomato harvest and sorting as well as the tedious picking of padrons and shishitos three days a week. So on the upside is we have gotten a few weeks of respite and we can always use that in the summer.
Speaking of how quickly the summer crops have taken off so has the wild purslane. Normally we are harvesting it in mid July but because of the wet last 10 days, it is ready now and we have so much we thought the CSA should get to share. Below we have included the same traditional Purslane and Yogurt salad recipe as well as a link to the website with a multitude of recipes. In addition there are a number of other recipes from The New Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden. This week’s share lends itself to middle eastern cuisine and in our opinion there is not better book to guide you through its vast and diverse culinary traditions. Enjoy the share…..Brian and Autumn

45 Things To Do With Purslane

Purslane and Yogurt Salad – The New Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden
1 lb purslane (4 cups well packed)
1 cup plain whole milk yogurt
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 Tbls extra-virgin olive oil
salt and white pepper
If using purslane, pull the leaves off the stem but do include the stem if very tender. Wash the purslane , then dry it. Beat the yogurt with garlic, oil, and a little salt and pepper, and mix with the leaves.

Omi Houriya (Spicy Carrot Puree)– The New Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden
Make this fiery Tunisian salad with old carrots, which taste better, and add the flavorings gradually, to taste. The color is beautiful. Serve as a dip with bread or bits of raw vegetables.
1 ½ lb Carrots
Salt
4 Tbls Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
3 Tbls Wine Vinegar
2 cloves Garlic, crushed
½-1 tsp Harissa or 1 tsp Paprika and a good pinch Chile Powder
1 ½ tsp ground Cumin or Caraway
¼ – ½ tsp ground Ginger
Peel the carrots and cut into large pieces. Boil them in salted water until tender, then drain and chop them with a knife or mash them with a fork. Mix well with the rest of the ingredients and serve cold.

Michoteta (Feta Cheese and Cucumber Salad)– The New Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden

½ lb Feta Cheese
Juice of 1 Lemon
2 Tbls Olive Oil
1 red Italian or large mild Onion, finely chopped
½ large Cucumber, peeled and diced
White Pepper
Crumble the cheese with a tablespoon of water, using a fork, and work in the lemon juice and olive oil. Mix in the onion and cucumber, and add pepper.

Persian Sweet and Sour Stuffed Cabbage Rolls )– The New Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden

1 medium-sized Dutch White or Savoy Cabbage
1 ¼ cups rice
½ cup yellow Split Pease
1 large Onion, finely chopped
Vegetable Oil
1 lb ground Beef
½ tsp Tumeric
Salt and Pepper
½ Tbls Tomato Paste
¼ cup chopped flat-leaf Parsley
2/3 cup Wine Vinegar
2 Tbls Sugar

To detach the cabbage leaves, cut a deep cone into the core at the stem end with a pointed knife and plunge the whole cabbage into boiling salted water. This will soften and loosen 1 or 2 layers of leaves. Detach these, and plunge again into the boiling water to detach more leaves, and continue until all of the leaves are separated. Cut very large leaves in half, but leave small ones whole.
Prepare the filling. Wash the rice and cook in boiling water until it is almost tender – about 10 minutes – then drain. Boil the split peas separately until tender. Fry the onion in 3 tablespoons oil until soft and transparent. Add the meat and turmeric and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until the meat changes color, then remove from the heat and add the rice and split peas, tomato paste, parsley, more salt and pepper. Mix well.
Lay the cabbage leaves on a plate one at a time. Shave off the thickest part of the hard rib if necessary. Put a heaping tablespoon of the mixture at the bottom of each leaf, bring the sides up over it, and roll into a bundle. Put a little oil at the bottom of a heavy pan, cover with a few broken leaves to protect the others from burning, then arrange over them rows and layers of stuffed cabbage rolls.
Mix the vinegar with an equal quantity of water, stir in the sugar, and pour over the rolls. Put a plate over them, cover the pan, and cook gently on a very low flame for ¾ – 1 hour, until rolls are very tender and the liquid has been absorbed, adding water if necessary. Serve hot or cold

Frisee
Red Gold Potatoes
Genovese Basil
Candy Onions
Summer Squash (Alexandria or Zephyr)
Cucumbers (Marketmore or Beit Alpha)
Russian Kale or Spigariello

It’s the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year; which means from here on out days will get a bit shorter, although we have a few months till it becomes noticeable. This is a big transition period here on the farm. After the solstice, we begin seeding our long season fall and winter crops. Next week we will begin trays of cabbage, broccoli, brussel sprouts, and cauliflower. Then a few weeks later seeding trays of all the bunching greens, radicchio, and other fall chicories. At the same time as we think about and begin our fall crops we are just beginning our Summer harvest, every week we will add a new crop or variety and within a month we will be inundated with cucumbers, beans, tomatoes, tomatillos, peppers of all from padrons to sweet varieties, eggplant, okra, chiles, and melons. July to September is filled with non-stop harvest. Over the coming week we will have our big garlic harvest, yay, it looks fabulous this year as well as, seed our later succession of dent corn and dry beans. Summer has begun and we are looking at a good and hot one.

Speaking of summer, our potato and cucumber crops are doing great, which makes us very happy as our tomatoes are coming on later than usual and the onion crops are filled with difficulty. Each year there are crops that do great and others that struggle. The potatoes and cucumbers have been enjoying the rainy hot weather we have gotten over the past few weeks. We are happy to offer them in the shares earlier than usual (for us) along with some delicious basil. We have included a load of recipes. The frisee salad that combines bacon, frisee, and potatoes is also delicious with additions of olives, hard-boiled egg, tuna, or tomatoes. We often make this pasta dish, sometimes without the green beans, as it is a super quick, easy, and so satiating. The squash recipes below were included last year, but we thought they were worth reposting as they are perfect for summer weather and interesting ways to use squash. Enjoy the share…..Brian and Autumn

Frisee Salad With Bacon

Farro and Cucumber Salad

Cucumber Basil Egg Salad

Pasta With Green Beans And Potatoes With Pesto

Zucchini Salad With Raisins and Pine Nuts – The New Book of Middle Eastern Food pg.87 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.

Fried Zucchini Slice with Yogurt – The New Book of Middle Eastern Food pg.86 by Claudia Roden
For this Arab and Turkish way of serving zucchini, the vegetables may be deep fried, grilled, or broiled.

1 lb Zucchini, cut into slices lengthwise
Olive or vegetable oil
Salt
1 ½ cups plain whole-milk or thick strained greek-style Yogurt

Deep-fry the zucchini in hot oil till lightly browned, turning the slices over once, then drain on paper towels and sprinkle lightly with salt. Alternatively, brush the slices with oil and grill or broil them. Serve hot or cold with yogurt spread over each slice.
Variations: The yogurt may be flavored with crushed garlic, mint, or dill.

Escarole
Arugula or New Red Fire Lettuce
German White Fresh Garlic
Flat Italian Parsley
Danvers Carrots
Fennel
Scarlett Queen Turnip
Russian Kale or Spigariello

5 Top Ways to Use Fennel Stalks and Fronds http://www.thekitchn.com/top-5-ways-to-use-fennel-stalks-and-fronds-ingredient-spotlight-183057

Sauteed Finocchio With Butter and Cheese – The Classis Italian Cookbook by Marcella Hazan
3 large Fennel or 4-5 small
5 Tbls Butter
Salt
3 Tbls Parmesan Cheese, freshly grated

Cut off and discard the tops of the fennel, cut the bulbous lower parts into vertical slices no more than ½” thick. Wash thoroughly in cold water. Put the sliced fennel and butter in a fairly broad saucepan, and add enough water barely to cover. Cook, uncovered, over medium-heat. If there is too much fennel for your pan, put in as much as it will hold, cover the pan, and cook for 5-8 minutes, or until the fennel has wilted and come down in volume. Add the rest of the fennel, mix well, cover the pan, and cook for 3-4 more minutes. Uncover the pan and cook, turning the fennel from time to time, until it is tender at the pricking of a fork, from 25-40 minutes all together. You may add as much as 1/3 cup of warm water if necessary, but at the end the fennel must have absorbed all the liquid and should have a glossy pale-gold color. Before removing from the heat, add salt to taste and the grated cheese. Mix well and transfer to a warm platter. Serve while hot.

Shredded Carrot Salad –The Classic Italian Cookbook pg.406 by Marcella Hazen
No salad takes so little to prepare as this excellent carrot salad. Its tart, gently bracing taste is particularly welcome after a hearty, robust meal.

5-6 medium Carrots
1 tsp Salt
6 Tbls Olive Oil
1 Tbls Lemon Juice
Peel and wash carrots, and grate them on the largest holes of a grater. When ready to serve, add salt, olive oil, and lemon juice. (Parsley would go well in this dish). Toss thoroughly and serve immediately.

Spicy Escarole http://www.marthastewart.com/349961/spicy-escarole

Chioggia or Early Wonder Beets
Zephyr or Alexandria Squash
Swiss Chard
Dill
Baby Frisee
New Red Fire – Red Leaf Lettuce
Cabbage (Tendersweet or Early Jersey)
Fresh Onions (Bianca Di Maggio & Tropea)
A little something extra…

Finally we got some rain, soft gentle rain showers and within two days all the crops seem a little happier. Ok the weeds seem happier too. It was quite a respite to have some cool cloudy weather during the first week of June; but now we are ready to welcome back the heat and watch our Summer crops grow. We have almost finished planting peppers and tomatoes for the season and are waiting for the soil to dry up a bit so we can plant all of our watermelons and next succession of cucumbers, corn, and beans. It is crazy to think we will be starting our fall crops at the end of this month. Everything happens so quickly this time of year as the days get long. This week while returning from the post office, Brian spotted a 12lb Chicken of the Woods mushroom in the state forest bordering our property. Then the next day while driving back from the dump, another one, only 10 lbs this time. These mushrooms are difficult to miss as they are bright orange and have beautiful layers that look like shelves. These chicken of the woods are the Laetiporus Cincinnatus variety and were found at the base of oak trees, so great for eating. We had some delicious risotto with big chunks of wild mushroom and it was awesome. Then we started thinking about how to use so much mushroom in a short period of time and realized we should share it with our CSA members. Saturday folks will have already gotten a chunk, but for all you Tuesday folks be expecting a portion of chicken of the woods with your share this week. This is another great part about living out in the country, easy foraging. Check out this website for more information about Chicken of the Woods.

This week’s share includes summer squash, swiss chard, cabbage, and spring onions. For us this is marks the start of early Summer crops. Dill could be the real star this week as it goes famously with many of the vegetables in the share. Any coleslaw recipe can be delicious with some fresh dill added to it. A personal favorite of ours is sautéing squash with onions, dill, and some lemon. A super simple dish that can be served alone, mixed with pasta, or even spread on top of Sub Rosa bread. A scrumptious salad can be made with beets, dill, onions, feta, and chopped up frisee. So if you normally think of dill with cucumbers, please try to branch out as the dill is in peak form. We think you will be pleasantly surprised. Enjoy the share….Brian and Autumn

MOROCCAN BEET LEAF OR SWISS CHARD SALAD (SALADE DE BLETTES)

Hungarian-Style Summer Squash With Dill

Cavatelli with Beets and Swiss Chard

Lettuce (Panisse Oakleaf or Deer Tongue varieties)
Daikon Radish or Hakurei Salad Turnip
Broccol
Carrots
Mustard Greens
Napa Cabbage
Scallion

In this week’s share we have a number of new crops coming onto the scene, such as broccoli, chinese cabbage, mustard greens, and daikon radish. All of these crops belong to one crop family, Brassica. The weather and temperature fluctuations this spring have been exceptionally difficult on brassicas, especially the quick crops. The timing of our seeding dates coupled with low and high temperatures and inconsistent water, sometimes soaked and then dry for awhile, made many crops go quickly to flower, also called bolting. Two successions of broccoli raab, daikon radishes, yu choi, bok choi, and even some arugula bolted before they even developed much size. These are all crops that prefer temperate weather without extremes, especially when they are young seedlings. Alas our spring has been the opposite with 20-30 degree shifts from week to week with our heavy rains followed by hot and humid conditions, what a way to stress these plants. We will continue to get better at our timing and find varieties that are more adapted to inconsistent weather. All that being said, we are very happy to have at least some daikon radish along with beautiful napa cabbages, broccoli, and spicy mustard greens in one share.

This week is perfect for exploring Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, or Thai cuisine, with dishes that are fresh, bright, and oriented around greens. Make a quick stir fry served over noodles or rice, a Bahn Mi sandwich, scallion pancakes, salad rolls using Napa cabbage leaf as a wrapper, or simple soup. This week’s share is also great for making Asian pickles like Korean Kimchi or Vietnamese Dua Chua. Kimchi is a fermented pickle, combining salt and chile powder on whatever vegetables you use, such as napa cabbage, mustard greens, daikon radish, carrots, and scallions. Dua Chua translates to “pickled stuff” and is a sweet and savory mixture of white vinegar and sugar over julienned carrot and daikon radish. This condiment or salad is most often found on Bahn Mi. Dua Chua is s a quick refrigerator pickle or salad and it will last for up to a month. Whereas Kimchi needs a longer fermentation time and can take up to a month to be ready, but then it will last for for a very long time and can have a rich, dense flavor profile; making it worth the wait. Please check out the recipes below and enjoy the share…. Brian and Autumn

Easy to make Kimchi

Carrot and Daikon Pickle Salad

Skewered pancakes with vegetables and beef 

Spicy Mustard Greens and Daikon Radish with Crispy Sizzling Beef

Daikon, Carrot, and Broccoli Slaw

Miso Soup with Napa Cabbage and Udon

Escarole
Lettuce
Mesclun Mix
Fennel
Chioggia Beets
Russian Kale
Garlic Scapes

This may be your big bunch of Garlic Scapes for the season. If you are unfamiliar with these lovely things, they are a special delicacy that is available for about three weeks. The scape would eventually become the flower bud on each garlic plant. By pulling them out, more energy is put into growing the bulb which will divide into cloves, 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 (check out this website for recipes: http://www.saveur.com/article/-/Garlic-Scapes-Recipes). Have a great week and enjoy the share….Brian and Autumn

Garlic Scapes & Eggs
This recipe is terrific with garlic scapes, the flower bud that forms on certain types of garlic just before the bulb starts to bulge and divide into cloves.

1 cup chopped spring garlic
2 Tbsp olive oil
¼ cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
4 eggs
salt & pepper

Saute the garlic in the olive oil for 5 minutes or so, until soft and starting to brown. Add the cheese in an even layer and immediately crack the eggs on top. Fry the eggs over high, sprinkle with salt & pepper, then flip. The bottom should be a slightly charred mass of crispy, salty, garlicky goodness. Cook the yolks easy or hard as desired. Serves two for breakfast with toast and orange juice.

• Frisee
• Lettuce (butterhead, oakleaf, or romaine)
• Spigariello
• Carrots
• Hakurei Salad Turnips
• Scallions
• Dill

It really seems like the season is changing and summer is pushing its way onto the scene. We always find ourselves hoping for a few more mild days just to catch up and extend our spring crops a bit. This time of year though our main focus does become the summer crops, which fall mainly into two crop families: cucurbit and nightshade. Today we will discuss cucurbits; which include summer squash, cucumbers, watermelons, muskmelons or cantaloupes, and winter squashes. They can grow very well in Virginian summers, as they enjoy heat and sun and as long as they get a proper amount of water and nutrients they can produce abundantly. That being said, they do have some serious pest and disease issues to contend with; which is why in conventional farming there is a lot of insecticides and fungicides used, including a pre-emergent insecticide which is basically pumped into the plant making it toxic to the pests for up to 40 days. Growing these crops with organic methods is a totally different story and often labor intensive. It took us three years to come up with a system. We rotate our cucurbit crops into a different crop field/area every year. Then every succession within a year gets planted at least 10- 15 beds apart with beneficial cover crops planted in between to encourage good bugs (spiders and other predators of the cucumber beetle, squash bugs, and their babies which feed upon the plants) and pollinators (needed for healthy fruiting on the plants) to come into the area. We start all our cucurbit plants in a greenhouse instead of direct seeding them, as they need the extra head start before getting attacked by bugs or out grown by our weeds. When we plant the starts out into the field we run lines of drip irrigation to each row, we spray them with kaolin clay (a natural product that deters insects from eating the leaves and stalks) as well as other amendments that feed the plants and we cover them with a row cover (this allows light and water through but keeps bugs out) for a few weeks until we see flowering on the plants. The drip irrigation is important in that these crops need good amounts of water to produce well, but they are also very susceptible to diseases which can come from having wet leaves, especially in warm and humid conditions. At this point, the row cover is removed and the crop is again sprayed with Kaolin clay. After about a week, depending on the squash bug pressure, we will try to make time for hand removal of squash bugs and their eggs. This is the most time consuming job on our farm and something we will also do for potatoes (Colorado potato beetle), or beans (bean beetle) if we see a real increase in the bug pressure. It is important to do this hand removal before the bug population has jumped significantly. The objective is not to remove all of these predators, as that is impossible; but rather to keep the population limited and the plant growth and health a few steps ahead. In a worst case scenario we will spray these plants with a organic approved insecticide called Pyganic. This is not our first choice and a product we use as seldom as possible; because it kills beneficial bugs as well as predator bugs. When our succession is slowing down in production, we always flame the planting again trying to stop the bug population explosion. Our hope is that we can keep the populations somewhat under control so that our latter successions of squash and cucumbers will thrive. This is crop family that we grow and one system that we have dialed in enough to think it is successful at least on our farm.

This week’s share includes delicious baby spring carrots and hakurei salad turnips. Eat them in a salad, make a quick refrigerator pickle, or put them in a quick stir-fry, they are delicious each and every way. Spigariello is back for a second year as we really like it and it seems to do better than broccoli raab in the fluctuating spring temperatures of Virginia. Spigariello (Cavolo Broccolo), a leafy type of broccoli that doesn’t produce a large head and has similarities to Tuscan kale, is like broccoli raab with less bitter pungency. When cooking it use the stalk, leaves, and floret. Frisee is in the chicory family, so a bit bitter especially after these hot days, but with the right amount of lemon and salt it becomes the most delicious balanced and flavorful salad green. One of my favorite spring salads is a coarse chopped frisee with croutons, bacon, scallions, herbs(dill or parsley), pecorino romano cheese, dressed simply with olive oil, lemon juice, and salt and then a poached egg on top. If you want a fuller meal add any combination of the following finely chopped radish, carrot, salad turnips, potatoes, olives, or nuts. A repeat from last year we have added a few scallion and turnip recipes from the wonderful Japanese Farm Food cookbook. Enjoy the share….Brian and Autumn

Three recipes from Japanese Farm Food by Nancy Singleton Hachisu

Young Scallions with Miso

Very thin young scallions

Organic brown rice miso

Clean the scallions. Cut off the root bottoms and any brown tapering of the tops. Peel off the tough or discolored outer layers. Spoon out a dollop of miso onto a medium sized plate. To eat, dip the scallion into the miso, scooping up about the same volume of miso to scallion. This simple dish makes a fresh before dinner appetizer and is especially good with mixed drinks or a beer.

Turnips and Turnip Leaves Pickled in Salt

8 tender turnips with leaves

2 Tbls sea salt

1 meyer lemon or 2 yuzu

2 small fresh or dried red chile peppers

1 tsp slivered ginger

Ratio: turnips:salt-10:4

Slice the tops of turnips and reserve. Cut turnips in half vertically, then crosswise into thin half rounds. Slice a couple of small handfuls of leaves into 2 by 1 ¼” pieces. Toss the turnips and leaves together in a bowl and sprinkle with salt. Gently but firmly massage the salt in to distribute well, encouraging the turnips to exude a bit of their water. With a very sharp knife or vegetable peeler, shave off the outer yellow zest of the lemon, taking care to avoid the bitter white pith. Stack small slices of zest and slice into very thin strips. Slice the chiles into thin rounds. Slide the zest, chiles, and ginger into the bowl of turnips. Massage one more time and serve immediately. Variation: slice carrots into thin rounds in place of the turnips. Make sure to slice very thin as they have less water content. Add some of the carrot leaves as well.

Clams simmered in Sake with Scallions

8 cups small clams

3 cups sake

4 scallions (both white and green parts cut into a medium dice)

1 tsp salt

2 dried japones or arbol chile pepper, crumbled

1 handful roughly chopped cilantro

cooked Japanese Rice for serving

Scrub the clams in several changes of cold water. Drop the clams into a large heavy pot with a lid. Glug in enough sake to fill the pot about three-quarters the height of the clams, then sprinkle with the scallions, salt, and chile peppers. Replace the lid and cook on high heat until the clams have opened. Stir in the cilantro and cook for about 30 seconds more. Serve in bowls as an appetizer or accompanied with Japanese rice. Discard any unopened clams.

• Arugula or Mizuna
• Lettuce (green oakleaf or butterhead)
• Radishes
• Cilantro
• Green Garlic
• Russian Kale
• Young Broccoli Raab

We are back! It is May and the weather is officially warm and days are getting long. Every week in May the weeds get another step ahead of us and we struggle to get all our successions of plants in the ground on time, meaning right when they are ready. As always this busy time is also marked by the beginning of our CSA season. March and April were filled with a lot of activity. All our major Spring crops and early Summer crops were planted, irrigation was setup, broiler chickens put out onto pasture, crop field preparations were done and Winter farm projects were wrapped up. We were both really excited to plant perennial crops this spring. Since our first year on this land we have wanted to plant asparagus, blueberries, persimmons, and a perennial herb bed; but it took three years. As of last week we got them all in the ground. We are doing small amount of these crops with the hope of eventually having just enough for our CSA shares. In coming years we hope to plant chestnut and pine nut trees, as well as muscadine grape, gooseberry, currant, and elderberry plants. We will see how that goes, one step at a time.

This week in addition to having our first CSA shares, we are also processing our first batch of broiler chickens and planting our first cucumbers and beans along with our 2^nd successions of squash and tomatoes. Soon enough peppers, eggplant, and basil will also be in the ground. So we are off to a running start and the next three months will be a rollercoaster ride. We hope you enjoy. This week’s share is filled with spring goodies. Grab some strawberries and asparagus at market and you will have so many delicious recipe options. Both the raab and kale are delicious sautéed with green garlic and paired with eggs. Make some tacos and garnish with a radish, green garlic, and cilantro relish (marinated in lime and salt). Or make a simple pasta dish with asparagus, young greens, green garlic, and pecorino cheese. Check out the green garlic article and all the recipes below. Enjoy the share….Brian and Autumn

Asparagus, Radish, and Spring Green Salad

Chop asparagus into 1” pieces, poach till slightly tender, then immerse in a cold water bath and drain. Mandolin or thinly slice radishes, thinly slice scallions, and finely chop cilantro, parsley, or mint and add all to a bowl, sprinkle with salt, cover with juice from ½ a lemon, toss then set aside for 5-15 minutes. When asparagus has drained, add to the bowl, along with some crumbled goat or feta cheese and then some large handfuls of spring greens such as arugula, mizuna, tatsoi, or a mesclun mix. Drizzle with olive oil, toss, and add more salt or lemon to taste.

Weeknight Winner: Spicy Garlic Kale With Poached Eggs

Green Garlic: The Adolescent Allium

spring stir-fry: chicken, radish & green garlic

• Arugula
• Rutabaga
• Celeriac
• Escarole
• Fennel
• Storage Cabbage
• Kale (Tuscan or Russian)
• Cippolini Onions
• Dill

This is our last CSA share for 2014. The seven-month season is coming to a close; but we still have new items for you even in this final week. We cannot impress enough how the recent cold weather and below freezing conditions has added sweetness and developed flavors in a lot of our greens and root crops such as escarole, carrots, collards, kale, rutabaga, fennel, and celeriac. This time of year is when many of these crops really shine. Many of the greens may experience some slight tip burn from excessive cold, but they are simultaneously developing more sugar content and that makes them really delicious. We are hoping some of this week’s items might make it onto your Thanksgiving dinner table. Both rutabaga and celeriac make great additions to your regular mashed potato recipe for a more complex and exciting dish. The fennel brings a bright zing into any fall salad green dish, just thinly slice the root and marinate slightly in vinegar or lemon juice. If you cannot keep up with all if the root veggies or cabbage you have received over the past month, store them in your refrigerator, topped and wrapped in a plastic bag. They will keep well for months without losing flavor or texture and provide you sustenance long after your share is over. We thank each of you for choosing to support Tomten Farm over this past year. We have had a great time developing each week’s share to find interesting and tasty pairings for our produce items. Hopefully it has inspired lots of great meals in your homes. Enjoy the share and see you next year or maybe sometime this Winter… Autumn and Brian

Mashed Rutabaga with Sour Cream and Dill

Creamy Smoky Whipped Rutabaga

Vegetable Soup With Any Root

White swede (rutabaga) and celeriac soup with or without fish

Giving Root Vegetables Their Due

Stuffed Escarole “ Scarolla Imbottita” 

Arugula-Fennel Salad 

10 Recipes to Make Anyone Love Cabbage