Welcome to a new season and your share in the farm’s bounty. We are so pleased to be harvesting for all of you this week. We always start small and rapidly increase the harvest. We have taken great care to handle your vegetables well, leaving any unsavory bits behind in the field, and washing every one. After a long winter of supermarket veggies, these greens will taste like the food of the gods.

I realize that these heads of lettuce are looking pretty small, and friends, that is just how it goes sometimes when you plant some seeds in February and wait for them to grow until June. These heads are approximately the same size in the field as others we planted a full month later. It is a nice opportunity for you to have a lettuce sampler experience and try four different baby heads at the same time. We should be up to normal size by next week, if the weather gives us any breaks. We have been doing this for a long time, fourteen years, and we sort of know what is going to happen next, things will grow. All they want to do is grow, in spite of inclement weather. This same week last year, the sun was already blazing and all those heads of lettuce were popping!! Last season was amazing, it will be a tough act to follow. But even in Washington, summer happens. It’s coming. I just know it. I have faith. The Collards and the Spinach don’t seem to mind the chill at all, they are growing like crazy out there at field two on Littlerock Rd.

Joi Choi is currently Nigel’s favorite vegetable, and he likes it straight, crunchy. You might like that, or you might like it stir fried, or chopped up into a green salad. You can saute the collards and Joi Choi together for a mixed greens dish. It’s good to cook the stems a little longer than the leaves. A little bit of sesame oil, rice vinegar, and soy sauce makes a good flavor combination with the greens. Serve with rice, or rice noodles, and you’ve got quick dinner.


Grilled Asian Chicken with Bok Choy, Shiitake Mushrooms, and Radishes
8 1” thick rounds red onion
8 large shiitake mushrooms, stemmed
8 radishes, trimmed, halved
4 baby bok choy, halved lengthwise
1 large orange bell pepper, cut lengthwise into 8 strips
1 1/4 cup Mango Sesame dressing, divided
6 boneless chicken breast halves with skin
Arrange all vegetables on large rimmed baking sheet. Brush vegetables lightly on both sides with 1/3 cup mango-sesame dressing; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Arrange chicken on sheet of foil. Brush both sides with 1/3 cup dressing, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Coat grill rack generously with nonstick vegetable oil spray. Prepare barbecue to medium high heat. Grill vegetables until just tender, turning occasionally, about 8 minutes for onion rounds and 4 minutes for others. Return all vegetables to the same baking sheet. Grill chicken until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side. Serve with vegetables and remaining dressing. Serve with rice.

The Sungold Cherry Tomato Plants have just burst into bloom, like so many flowering fairie ballerinas in yellow tutus and point shoes. The joy of seeing these blossoms now is almost on par with the joy of tasting all those fruits to come.
I am so happy with all of my plants this spring! Some of the vegetables get planted right into the ground from seeds, and others we like to give a little head start in pots in the greenhouse. We grow all of our own starts here and the greenhouse is often the site of many “traffic jams”, but this year, the flow of plant traffic has been smooth and all the trays of starts look so vibrant and healthy. We work at three separate fields totaling 16 acres, and field one is the home farm here, and it is very satisfying to be near so many lively starts. Sometimes I feel like the mommy to thousands of babies, other times I feel like the hostess of a great big party, “table for twenty tomatoes? Right this way, you’ll be very comfortable right here next to the table of chili peppers.” Who needs another drink? Oh, all of you. I need another hose, and another table. When I need another table for plants, I like to call Jonas out of his room to help me. The cute little boy on the cover of our CSA brochure is now a whopping 15 year old giant, very handy for moving heavy things. Our younger son Nigel is now nine years old, and very handy for help with drawing and writing jobs.

Mango-Sesame Dressing
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup mango chutney
6 Tbsp. Rice vinegar
3 large garlic cloves, peeled
6 3/4 tsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 1/2 tsp dried crushed red pepper
Combine all ingredients in blender. Cover tightly, blend until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Both the grilled recipe and the dressing are from the latest issue of bon appetit magazine. I shortened them up a bit to fit this page. For more information go to bonappetit.com/recipes.