It has been a good week!
The start of our CSA program and our farmers’ market is always an exciting time – exciting because of the friends we get to see again, and new people to meet, but also exciting because we are finally harvesting produce.
After months of preparation – seeding, transplanting, planting, watering, protecting, weeding, coddling … nothing makes a farmer happier than picking our 1st vegetables!
And you were happy to eat them!
A win win for everyone!
1st CSA pick-up.
A beautiful morning for the 1st Georgetown farmers’ market.
What’s in the box?
Green garlic, pea shoots, Chinese kale, bok choy, lettuce mix, arugula.
- Green garlic is a fresh garlic plant. At this time of year the bulb has not yet formed below ground, and the green top is still tender enough to eat, like a scallion or green onion. Green garlic is milder than fall garlic bulbs. Use them raw (sliced into salads or mashed with goat cheese for a spread) or cooked (sautéed with scrambled eggs maybe) anywhere you would use garlic bulbs. Store green garlic in the fridge.
- The box of pea shoots in your share this week is meant to be eaten – not planted! Place the box outside in partial shade or inside near a window. Keep them well watered & let them reach about 10-12 cm. Then use as desired – cut what you need and add them to your salad or sandwiches … If you cut them about half way down, leaving a stem & some leaves, they will grow back and you can harvest them again. (Cutting them all the way down at soil level gives a larger harvest – but only once.)
- I’m not sure we have ever included Chinese kale (also called Chinese broccoli or Gai Lan) in our CSA box. This Asian vegetable resembles broccoli in flavour, but is perhaps a little sweeter. Every part is edible – stem, leaves, flowers. Enjoy it raw in a salad or cook it – steam, boil, stir-fry or grill. Traditionally it is boiled whole until tender (1 or 2 minutes) and then served with oyster sauce and fried garlic (green garlic). It is excellent drizzled with oil and grilled whole on the BBQ for a few minutes. Finish it with a sauce – combine 1 tsp sesame oil, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp maple syrup. Let us know how you like it!
- Bok choy is one of my favourite green vegetables. It can be added to your salads, but most often is sautéed or stir fried. We like to cook some garlic or onion in a bit of oil (olive or sesame) for a couple of minutes, then add the bok choy and continue cooking until it is wilted but still bright green – around 5 minutes or less. Ginger or nutmeg are good with it too. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
- Lettuce mix & arugula complete the box this week.
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Around the farm this week …
Just enough rain to keep things lush & green – especially the weeds!
Time to stake, & mulch the tomatoes.
Blackberries almost ready to bloom.
Most of the spring flowers & shrubs in the garden are finished blooming. Now the wild roses & wildflowers are stepping up and putting on a show around the farm.
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