June 29 Newsletter

Farm Happenings

I can not believe the fourth of July is almost here. The fourth is the date by which some crops MUST be in, or there will be no crop. Beans and corn are the ones that come to mind. Perhaps because those are the crops I am struggling to get in the ground.

Luckily, we just got done planting the rest of our beans yesterday. We did get some beans in at the main garden, but several varieties had to go in at the McClelland farm. Our idea was to plant pole beans all along the fence, but that just didn’t happen this year. But we have several varieties of pole beans now in the ground, as well as some bush snap beans, bush shell beans, and lima beans. I am not sure when the lima beans will be ready, but if you are a fan, you might have to let us know and pick some up in the early fall, as I am not sure they will be ready before the last pick up. I am thinking that because Easter was so late this year that it is just going to be a late season. Although it sounds funny to base your crop predictions off of Easter, you may or may not know that Good Friday is the last full moon before the vernal equinox. So the tradition of planting on Good Friday has some roots in biodynamic farming. (Though I think some would argue potatoes need to be planted during a dark moon, but that is a topic for another time.) Regardless, I am letting you all know that some of our crops will be a little bit later than we may have expected, but little by little we are getting them in in the nick of time.

What’s in the Bag…

Green Garlic: This is the last of the fresh garlic until we have our large cured bulbs.

Shell Peas: More shell peas…Happy shelling!

Snow Peas: More Snow Peas.

Beets: More beets…Don’t forget that the tops are delicious too. The food network has a plethora of beet salad recipes, they all look delicious. We suggest cutting off the greens and storing them separately as they can leach water from the root.

Turnips: You have tasted the greens. Now you get the roots. I personally like them both, but the roots are a little more versatile. They make a great addition to mashed potatoes.

Onions: These are stronger than green onions, milder than our winter onions.

Napa Cabbage: Just to let you know, I am trying a different variety of Napa Cabbage in the fall. This variety was not my favorite…for taste or performance in the garden. I like to eat my Napa Cabbage raw, though this is wonderful braised.

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Head Lettuce: There are a couple of different varieties of this growing in the garden but they are similar. Did someone say lettuce wraps?

Recipes

Due to the electronic nature of this newsletter, I am going to include links to some recipes, rather than the recipes themselves.

Lettuce Soup: http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2008/06/tangy-herbed-lettuce-soup-2.html

Linguine with Pea Pesto: http://smittenkitchen.com/2011/06/linguine-with-pea-pesto/#more-7628