It's a great week to be alive, friends. We have sweet, sweet strawberries and lots of delicious greens. While the weather is still cool but the soil is warming, the lettuce, arugula, tat soi and spicy mix are at their peak. Later, when the weather gets hotter, they will turn tough and bitter and we'll be craving tomatoes and peppers, so enjoy it while it lasts!
This week's photo is of Elissa Planz. This is Elissa's 5th year at Clagett Farm. She's managing 3 of our 4 pick-ups, her artwork graces many of the signs on the farm, and she is responsible for the herb and flower beds looking as lovely as they do. Thank you for your hard work, Elissa!
Announcements
Storing your produce: When you bring your bag of produce home, it will be worth your trouble to take a few moments to store them so they'll stay fresh as long as possible. The ideal for most of your vegetables is to keep them in a humid environment in the refrigerator (such as the vegetable drawer or a plastic bag) but not wet.
Loose salad greens should be washed, spun dry, and stored so they keep some loft and don't get crushed. A big clear plastic clamshell or tupperware is good for this purpose.
Scrub the roots, such as radishes and turnips, and remove the leaves you don't plan to eat. They transpire more with leaves on, so the roots will stay crisper without leaves.
Good luck trying to store the strawberries. Who can resist eating them all right away?
Reminder: you can pick up when you like. You don't need to call or e-mail to let us know when you plan to take your shares.
26-week members may pick up 1 or 2 shares any week for a total of 26 shares by the end of the season (mid-November). You don't need to let us know in advance which weeks you're coming. We'll have enough for everyone plus extra to donate to food pantries, so if you don't show up one week, there's more to give away. And when you take 2, we donate a little less. It's that easy.
13-week members, you may pick up your shares whichever 13 weeks you choose, without prior notice. You do not need to alternate weeks--you can take shares two weeks in a row and then miss an entire month. It's up to you.
This week's share
1 pint strawberries
1 cucumber (Have you noticed how thin-skinned and sweet they are? Don't bother peeling!)
1 bunch garlic scallions (Your last bunch of the year! Don't forget if you're looking for recipes, these are also commonly known as green garlics.)
1 bag arugula
1 bag bok choi (Wednesday & Thursday) or tat soi (Saturday)
Purple top turnips and French breakfast radishes
CHOOSE: a bag of small lettuce heads, spicy mix, tender red kale or collards (your pick-up site will probably only have 2 of these choices)
(This is the Red Russian kale.)
Recipe: Carrie's Double Garlic Scallion Pasta
I realized one perk of quarantine and face masks--you can eat a super-garlicky meal and the only people who will know are the people who ate it with you! So last night my daughter and I ate garlic scallions two ways in one dish, just to see how we liked it best. This meal happens to be vegan. I didn't pay much attention to quantities, so what I've listed here is approximate.
Set up a large pot of salted water to boil.
To a blender or food processor add the following, and blend to a smooth paste:
1-2 scallions, roughly chopped, both the green and white parts--everything but the roots
1/4 teaspoon salt (add more if needed once you taste the finished paste)
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1/4 cup toasted walnuts
lots of olive oil (1/4 cup or so--enough so it blends to a smooth paste)
Warm a few tablespoons of olive oil in a pan.
Finely chop a couple more garlic scallions (go ahead--use up the rest of the bunch). Toss them into the pan with a dried chili that you happen to have leftover from our bumper crop of chilies last year (or about 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes).
Is your pot boiling yet? If so, add pasta (3/4 pound? A pound? As you wish). And pour a 1/4 cup or so of that boiling water into the pan with the scallions and chili.
Cook the scallions until they're soft. The water should have cooked away.
When the pasta is cooked to perfection, drain it and add enough of the garlic scallion pesto you made earlier so that it's coated to your liking (you might have some leftover), then add in the cooked scallions from the pan. Add salt if needed.
Serve the hot pasta on a bed of arugula or spicy mix, torn into small pieces.
Coming Next Week
Garlic Scapes
Strawberries
Salad greens, kale and collards
Onion scallions
Hakurei turnips (the little white ones)
Radishes
Cucumbers
Zucchinis might start to trickle in. Expect everyone to get some by week 6
Here's a photo of the zucchini plants on their way to conjuring their first fruits. Between the plastic-covered rows is an aisle thick with dwarf white clover. We're lucky the zucchini survived that late, May frost! The cucumbers and melons beside them were not so lucky (you're enjoying cucumbers from the greenhouse this week, which were better protected).
Have a wonderful week!
Your Clagett Farm Team
