At Dancing Roots Farm, summer=irrigation, and we pulled our first irrigation lines out on Saturday. What that means for us is that for the next few months, pulling driplines, straightening lines, taping up holes and unrolling or rolling up lines will be part of our daily operations. This is in addition to seeding, cultivating, trellising and harvesting. Gotta keep those crops happy and healthy!

In Your Share This Week

Lettuce –  Victoria Butterhead, Red Sails, Jester. These butterheads are a new variety we tried last year – quite the keepers. Jester is a creation of our favorite NW breeder, Frank Morton from Wild Garden Seed. Says Frank, “Crisp as ice, glossy, juicy as an apple, perfectly proportioned for a plate or a sandwich, flashy red spackles on semi-savoyed leaves with crazy-crisped margins like a Jester’s attire.”

Spinach – Olympia. Still going strong! Hope you’re making the best of it; we should have for at least one more week. Check out the interesting new recipe for the week.

Chard –  Fordhook Giant, Golden, Rhubarb

Beet Greens – Touchstone Gold These are a new absolute favorite. The beets and greens are awesome.

Cilantro &/or Parsley – Curly Parsley is Forest Green, Italian is Survivor.  For either cilantro or parsley, add to green & pasta salads, at the end of stir fries, or even alongside lettuce on your burgers!

Sugar Snap Peas Sugar Ann & Cascadia – We just steamed them for a few minutes then put a hefty pat of butter on top while still warm…. Heavenly!

Umpqua Broccoli – Add to the pan when the garlic whistles are almost done (see below), sprinkle with sesame seeds and a splash of sesame oil and tamari. Nice quick and delicious side dish.

Garlic Whistles – These are back for a few more weeks! These are from the precious stash of our own saved Chesnok Reds. For a real treat, cut into ~2” pieces and sautéed in butter until they start to brown a little and get a little crunchy. Use the entire piece, except the browning tip at the end of the flower.