Here’s the weather since March from our vegetable crops’ point of view: Cold and rain, rain, cold, hail, rain, cold, cool, rain, then a blazing heat wave. (!!) As the plants try to adjust themselves and figure out how to respond, we are looking at a little lighter harvest this week. Good thing we have LOTS of spinach! In addition to the 2 different & delicious salads on back, spinach makes a great lasagna filling, sandwich stuffer, and simple side dish when very lightly steamed.
In Your Share This Week
Salad Mix – A mix of 10 – 12 different lettuces. Use alone or add to head lettuce for an exceptional salad.
Longstanding Bloomsdale Spinach – David Landreth was born in England in 1752. He established one of the first commercial seed companies in America. “Bloomsdale” was named after their farm in Pennsylvania in 1847. Already a tasty heirloom, in 1925 more breeding work to encourage bolt resistance resulted in the upgrade known as Long Standing Bloomsdale. This is the only open pollinated spinach we grow.
Kale Rapini – Like we had the first week, these are the side shoots of our overwintering kale. Use rapini like broccoli: Chop into ½ -2” pieces and add to scrambled eggs or stir fries; steam whole and top with butter; sauté in a little oil or butter first, or add raw to cream of mushroom, vegetable or miso soup. This will be the last week of these.
Zlata (russet) & D’Avignon (red & white) Radishes – This will be the last week of radishes for a long time. Just a few more to grate or slice thinly into salads. Great sautéed and added to miso soup.
Thyme – Thyme’s strong, pungent flavor is known throughout the world. It adds pep to most soups, casseroles and breads. Put dried herbs on pizza or in the pizza base. Add a teaspoon per recipe for bread, rolls or biscuits (savory scones). Make Thyme Butter by blending softened or melted butter, herb leaf & flowers; Keep refrigerated. It’s awesome on baked potatoes or winter squash in the winter. Most importantly: Medieval knights wore scarves embroidered with a bee hovering over a sprig of thyme as a symbol of courage, and Shakespeare refers to the herb being in the beds of fairies.