In your share this week:
- Salad Mix
- Micro Pea Shoots
- Japanese Turnips
- Garlic Scapes
We are anxiously waiting for more foods to be ready to harvest for the CSA shares. We hope to have Chinese cabbage and boc choi soon (maybe 2 weeks?). The zucchini plants have blossoms. We'll start pulling some fresh garlic soon too (after the scapes are off). Lots of items just about ready, but not quite. It's pretty typical for us to see a jump in what we can harvest around the 4th of July. Seems like this year will follow that pattern.
Garlic scapes are just starting to form. You are receving a small handful this week and you'll be getting a lot more over the next 2 to 3 weeks. This crops will only be availble for these few weeks, by nature of how the garlic plant grows, and then gone again until next year. Scapes store very well in a loose plastic sack in your refridgerator crisper, up to a month even. The entire scape is edible, but you'll want to discard any parts of the stalk that get "old" or "woody" (similar to how you cut off the end of asparagus) and some also prefer not to eat the blossom tip. Garlic scapes have become a much sought after item at Farmers Markets because they are so versatile. Our favorite recipe is Garlic Scape Pesto. We make it in large quantities and freeze to enjoy all year. I have seen several garlic scape pesto variations online, so you can experiment with different nuts or even make it vegan. Garlic scapes can be used in place of garlic in nearly any recipe (well, maybe not spaghetti sauce). When we get "too many", I will cut them up and freeze in small baggies. I've even dehydrated scapes with good success. Other ideas: pickled, sauteed, roasted, as a seasoning, etc. We've tried it all. It's all good!
We continue planting and weeding and growing great food. It's our hope to be done with all transplanting by the first of July. That will put us a little ahead of schedule. And will alow us to move on to other projects, mostly more weeding.
Crazy weather last week. We went from two nights of freezing temperatures - to our hotest day of the year (so far) - to torrential rains. Keeps us on our toes.
Have a great week and ENJOY your veggies!
Tara
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