So the sun finally came out, and you’d think we’d just be grateful, but nooooo…now we get to complain about moving irrigation lines and spending hours of each day watering the starts in the greenhouse. I’m just teasing, we are so not complaining. We love to water plants and move pipes around. It keeps us fit and trim, hard work, and we love it. And we are indescribably grateful for every ray of veggie growing sun power that comes our way. Our corn managed to miraculously germinate last week in spite of those cold days. Corn is tricky. The seed company sends warnings in CAPITAL BOLD PRINT about how the soil temperatures must be above such and such or the seeds will rot and never grow!! Last week we planted anyway because we knew that all that wintry nonsense just could not persist. All that faith I have pays off most of the time. We have many little corn babies poking up. Now we get to erase all the weeds around them with hoes of various shapes and sizes. Hoeing is sort of like sweeping the floor, clearing the field of weed seedlings so that our chosen veggies have access to all those rays of sun, and drops of water, and chunks of stuff in the soil.Hoeing is one of the few jobs around the farm that can be done standing upright, and so is considered more fun. Easy, even. Just like sweeping the floor. If done at the right moment, hoeing can make short work of a field, but if the moment passes, because we were busy doing something else, then it can become a bend over, crawl around and pull big weeds by hand situation. Not so good, that. We have two old fashioned Farmall Cub tractors set up with several hoe blades to do this work even faster. This season, however, due to some stubborn mechanical issues and the high price of fuel, we are relying more than ever on the beloved “wheel hoe”. Besides, after kneeling to harvest all morning, it’s nice to stand up and hoe all afternoon. We even have races. When hoeing , the weed is cut at the root or uprooted and left to wither. Another weed control tool we use is the propane torch. It is used to dehydrate the weed seedlings, and like hoeing is most effective when the weed seedlings are very tiny. Once they gain any size at all, they are a bigger problem. Staying on top of weeds takes up a lot of our time. It is satisfying to look back after you’ve cleaned up a section of the field and see only those plants you want lined up just so. Hoeing is one of the few jobs around the farm that can be done standing upright, and so is considered more fun. Easy, even. Just like sweeping the floor. Besides, after kneeling to harvest all morning, it’s nice to stand up and hoe all afternoon. We even have races. When hoeing , the weed is cut at the root or uprooted and left to wither. Another weed control tool we use is the propane torch. It is used to dehydrate the weed seedlings, and like hoeing is most effective when the weed seedlings are very tiny. Once they gain any size at all, they are a bigger problem. Staying on top of weeds takes up a lot of our time. It is satisfying to look back after you’ve cleaned up a section of the field and see only those plants you want lined up just so.

Last week we moved our portable field hoop houses from one section of the field to another and then we filled them up with tomato, pepper, and basil plants. Good for them and good for me, because that’s a few hundred less starts to water in the greenhouse. I like watering them, I do, it’s just that they are safer in the ground where they can grow roots and go get their own water if I get caught in traffic or something and can’t be there with the hose the minute they get thirsty. Plants in pots is risky business sometimes. Our whole farm has always been one long story of growing and learning and evolving and the greenhouse is part of it all. Someday it will evolve into one of those automatic things with fans and lights and watering booms, or maybe not. Maybe it’s just fine the way it is. Not all farms grow their own starts, some purchase them from greenhouse nursery businesses. It is another whole set of skills. We have bought starts on occasion over the years, but we find that it is necessary for us to watch them coming along in their pots to keep track of when to get their field places ready. It’s all woven together all these pieces of work and remembering.

Ahhhh beets! The beet root is perhaps the most controversial of the common garden vegetables. Many a palate has sworn off beet cookery, but the beet is making a comeback! For starters, beets are very versatile, lending themselves well to basic usage, both cooked and raw, and incorporation into recipes. Beets are high in nutrients, such as vitamins A and C, and also the carotenes. If you are using your beet greens, you can add in generous portions of vitamin C, calcium and iron. The joy of beets does not end there. Beets are tremendously long-storing, sweet and delicious, and colorful! No need to peel, only scrub clean; trace minerals lie just below the surface of the skin. Grate into almost any salad, cooked or raw. Cube beets into veggie soups or stews. Serve steamed beets sliced at room temperature tossed in olive oil with a dash of salt and pepper, or use a simple vinaigrette. Young beet greens can be enjoyed tossed raw into a mixed green salad. Try beet greens steamed or sautéed, or in any dish calling for a mild, tender green such as spinach. The beet stems are delicious as well.

Broccoli has evolved from wild cabbage varieties growing along the coasts of Europe and was first cultivated by the ancient Romans. Fresh broccoli has loads of vitamin A, C, calcium, potassium, and iron.

My friend Rachel makes a great pasta salad with broccoli, scallions, sesame seeds, sesame oil, and bell peppers. I think that she would sauté the peppers in the sesame oil, then cook the broccoli just a bit, and toss with the pasta, and as much sriracha red chili pepper sauce as you like. Sorry to mention bell peppers at a time of year when you have to get them from points south, as we just barely planted ours, but you can buy them at the store, or you can leave them out of the recipe. Recipes are just ideas, inspirations, you know.

Gina’s Grate Raw Beet Salad-Linda Derrickson, Sunporch Café
Scrub beets and carrots, then grate equal amounts, toss with oil and vinegar. Add a touch of honey for sweetness if desired. I like this mixture served over lettuce for an exciting, sweet, special salad.