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. Those big beautiful heads of lettuce were started from seeds in the deep darkness of February. We were thinking of this harvest long ago, thinking and planning and planting, then watering and weeding, and waiting and hoping. We become better planners, better farmers with each passing year of experience, and we are constantly learning the art of changing the plan to accommodate the weather and its effects.

We always plan to have varieties of vegetables in rotation for the CSA, so that each week you can all experience a new kind of treat. Sometimes, they don’t all grow at the same rate, and we end up giving some of you red lettuce and some of you green lettuce. This means not so much to you, receiving a great head of some kind of lettuce, but it makes it awkward for me to write a newsletter describing them all to you. Usually we get it right, but if, on occasion, what is in your box does not match the newsletter, you can be sure that it is still a good something. And if it is truly mysterious, you can always call the farm to find out what it is.
Having said all that, this week we got it right and all of you are getting the same things in your shares. Hurrah!

Most of todays harvest can be eaten plain, washed up and tossed into a simple salad. Spinach and baby bok choi can both be steamed just a bit and served with butter and salt. Or soy sauce. Bok Choi is commonly stir fried, wash, chop, push around a hot pan for a minute, maybe with oil, maybe not. When ever you come across a new item in your box, I suggest you try a bite of it and see what you think. If you like the bite, take another bite and keep going, no further instructions or recipes required. If the first bite doesn’t please you, look for a way to prepare it that may alter it’s character or disguise it. The disguising is something we sometimes do for the kids more than our own tastes. But baby bok choi is so sweet and crunchy, even children with discriminating tastes seem to enjoy it.

More news and information.

Our farm is enjoying it’s fourth year in relationship with the Gleaner’s Coalition. Last year volunteers visited the farm at least once a week to pick up extra produce, and plant our lettuce crops.
They will pick up any unclaimed csa boxes after the allotted times. If you know that you will not be able to pick up at any time, please call the farm, or Erica, or Lynn, to let us know. We can make arrangements to hold your box for you until the next day, or send it along with the gleaners to a person in need. If you have vacation plans for the summer, it’s nice to give your share to a friend while you are away, but if that doesn’t pan out, the gleaners are always ready to help. This group has done so much to get our veggies eaten and not wasted, we are eternally grateful. For more information go to www.gleanerscoalition.org.

In the spirit of waste not, want not, here is a recipe for Radish top soup. It comes from the Victory Garden Cookbook.
3-4 Tablespoons butter, divided 6 cups water or chicken stock
1 cup chopped onions or leeks salt
8 cups loosely packed radish leaves 1/2 cup heavy cream (optional)
2 cups diced peeled potatoes freshly ground pepper

Melt 4 TBSP butter in large saucepan, add onions, and cook until golden, about 5 minutes. Stir in radish tops, cover and cook over low heat until wilted, 8-10 minutes. Meanwhile, cook potatoes until soft in water or stock with 1 tsp. Salt. Combine with radish tops and cook, covered, 5 minutes to mingle flavors. Puree in food processor or blender. Add cream and remaining butter, if desired. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve hot. (Note: to serve cold, omit butter enrichment.) Makes 4-6 servings.

Ok, I need to confess to all of you right from the start that I don’t always make these recipes that I put in the newsletter. And when I do, I don’t usually measure the ingredients, especially for a soup. A recipe is just a suggestion, just an idea, not a precise mandate. So, while I have not actually tested this recipe, I have thrown in chopped radish tops to a creamy potato soup and enjoyed it very much.

Arugula Pesto
Wash up yer bunch of arugula and put it in the blender with a handful of nuts, a few cloves of garlic, and some salt and olive oil. Add parmesan. The ratio and amounts of the ingredients will affect the flavor and consistency of the pesto, and we find this to be a personal decision. We’ve never met a batch of pesto we didn’t’ like. We serve it with pasta, spread on bread, and licked off the serving spoons. Pesto is usually made with basil, but arugula gives it an exciting twist.