In the Share: Week Four

In the Share 

STRAWBERRIES: Here they come! Enjoy these first pickings. Be sure to save some for use in strawberry salad dressing (see below).

CHARD OR KALE: So good for you, these spring greens are at their peak. Unlike their spring buddies in the high tunnel, these greens have been able to enjoy the outdoors for the last several months, and grow with direct sunlight. Enjoy the difference each crop brings.

ROMAINE LETTUCE: We love romaine lettuce. Crunchy for a sandwich, or in a wholesome salad.

RED LEAF LETTUCE: A favorite time of year for us is when the fresh Spring lettuces meet strawberry season.

ASPARAGUS: One last picking this week. Once the strawberries come on, it is time to stop picking the asparagus and let it grow ferns for the summer.

SPROUTING BROCCOLI: Great in a frittata, or raw in a crudité with a mustardy dip.

GARLIC SCAPES: The garlic is ready for the shares, in scape form. This flower stalk is a great in a strawberry dressing. https://fairsharenews.blogspot.com/search?q=garlic+scape+dressing   Add extra strawberries and some mayo for an even creamier dressing.

SPRING ROOTS: A mix of turnips and radishes from the field.

Farm report 

The farm is flush with growth with the recent rains. After a month long dry spell in which whole days were spent laying irrigation, it feels good to have some damp. The new transplants and the ripening Spring crops are drinking up the moisture and growing before our eyes. The potatoes are ready for another hilling.

The Swiss Chard is ridiculously happy. Next door our insectary of flowers (not many flowering yet) and old seed has given us an early flush of roots, an unexpected bonus of radishes and turnips for the shares.

Rain means softer soil, and good conditions for turning under the cover crops in preparation for the sweet potato and fall crops. This was a particularly beautiful stand of ladino clover, crimson clover, sweet clover and barley.

If you have a chance, we encourage you to check out Farmer Tom’s presentation he gave on soil health for a recent Growing Growers workshop, which covers how we feed our soil the same way we feed our body, and what improvements we have made to the land during our 18 years of farming. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwjrPgl89xo&t=140s