June 15th, 2009. Week #2.

The greens have arrived!  In your box this week:
1. Rainbow Chard
2. Kale (Red Russian and Dino/Lacinato varieties)
3. Arugula
4. Baby Bok Choy/Pac Choi
5. Lamb’s Quarters (the ones with white or pink powder on them)
6. Green Bunching Onions
7. Radishes
8. Sweet Hakurei Turnips (look like white radishes)
9. Lemon Thyme

I’ve been thinking of this week as a “blood building week.”  After a long winter, the nutrient rich harvests of spring have arrived!  Greens are full of digestable calcium, iron, and vitamin C.  Also, my chef friend Nick taught me that radishes help your body metabolize fat (perfect timing as one of the first spring vegetables following heavy winter foods).  Admittedly, this sudden influx of greens can appear daunting.  Try a raw salad of lamb’s quarters and turnip greens, with radish and turnip slices, and maybe some honey goat chevre cheese and raisins.  Also, greens cook down A LOT!  So an easy way to use them up is to steam, braise, or saute them.  EVERYTHING in this week’s box could be put into a mouth-watering mega frittata.  (That’s my plan for tonight’s supper!)  Even the radish greens are edible and an excellent source of nutrients.  (While they could be eaten raw, due to the texture I’d recommend cooking them.)

 This week at the farm has seen noticeable growth of leaves.  The Alcosa savoy cabbage is still winning the garden beauty contest, in my opinion.  Yesterday while Natalie and I were harvesting the bok choy we had to stop for a moment and admire how the Alcosa leaves glowed in the sun’s backlight, and how they are already curling up into gorgeous little round cabbage heads. 

Sunday was a social working day at the farm.  Some family friends stopped by, and while we were giving them a little tour our neighbor Pete (http://www.roselawnstables.com/) came by and invited us over to see his newly planted blueberry field.  So we all went over there for a bit, and upon returning met up with our beekeepers Jim and Thea, who had come up to the farm to check on the hives.  They got married a couple weeks ago, on a beautiful sunny afternoon under the big oak trees at Theodore Worth Park in Minneapolis.  It was a very beautiful and meaningful ceremony, and I felt lucky to be witness to it.  For their rings they formed beeswax from their hives into bands, made molds, and then poured gold into the molds.  Here is a photo of the newlyweds.  Thea is holding a frame mostly of honey, and Jim is holding a frame mostly of baby bees (aka brood).

Our main goal at the farm this week is to get more things mulched.  Mulch will relieve weed pressure, retain moisture, and give all those little soil creatures an easier place to live.  We like our soil creatures!  We hope you have a great week, and we look forward to seeing you again next Monday.  I predict your skin will be glowing and your hair will be super shiny after eating all these dark leafy greens this week!

Sincerely,
Chris, on behalf of the rest of the team