CSA Week 2---Great Greens and More

In The Share
TAT SOI: When a vegetable is this deep green, you know it's good for you
RADISHES: Slow to grow this spring, these are the first
BUTTERHEAD LETTUCE: The first butterhead of the season is always a treat
RED LEAF LETTUCE: Good for everything from sandwiches to salads
SPROUTING BROCCOLI: The plants in the field have started to make their first flower buds. Look for this broccoli cousin in your share for awhile.
BRAISING MIX: Greens that are best sautéed, perfect for a dish of mac & cheese & greens
GARLIC CHIVES OR ARUGULA:  Every dish deserves a little topping.

What to Do With Your Share
This is a good time of year to take advantage of the opportunity to add such an array of delicious, fresh greens to your meals. We offer a couple of suggestions here to compliment your shares. On the Asian green side of things, here are recipes for both bok choy soup and stir fry soup. These are both especially good if you have a good broth to use. Some folks keep it creamy with coconut milk.

The braising mix and sprouting broccoli make a nice addition to either a boxed or home-made version of mac & cheese. Greens can be a part of many dishes, adding both heartiness and nutrition.

Farm Report
It has been quite a couple of weeks since we last wrote.  On Tuesday last, we were a part of a six-person crew that carried out a controlled burn of the 150 acres of native grasses on the family farmland that surrounds us.

This was not our first rodeo, as they say, and we managed to get it all done safely by the early afternoon.  If you look closely, in the background is the green oasis of Fair Share Farm surrounded by the smoldering moon scape.

Native grasses have a long relationship with fire which reduces the competition from cool season grasses and shrubs, while at the same time cleaning up old thatch that can smother the new season's growth.

Meanwhile, the vegetable farm work continues at a Spring sprint.  The fields are filling up with the last of the cool season crops.  The weather has switched from winter to summer in a short week's time, so we will see how all of our lettuces, cabbages, carrots, onions and potatoes hold up.  The potatoes are just now peaking out of the soil.

Our new flock of laying hens (I guess they are technically pullets) are getting close to 3 months old and growing well.  We are hoping they start laying by the end of July.